Participants: James Rafferty
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000113
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:23 Again we welcome you to Anchors of Truth 00:25 night number 3, presentation number 3, 00:28 in a five part series dealing with the transformation 00:32 of America tonight as we look at the overall prophetic landscape 00:38 that pretty much shaped the world that we find 00:41 ourselves in just now. 00:42 And I think you can agree with me that the messages have been 00:46 plain and powerful and very practical and very timely. 00:50 That's what I like, I think, about these Anchors messages. 00:54 The speakers that come, each one seems to tap into 00:58 the flavor, the tenor, the texture, the tone, the taste 01:01 of life as it is right now. 01:03 And James Rafferty is no exception. 01:07 He, currently from southern California, is with us. 01:11 And we've tried to treat him a little bit better, 01:13 it got a little warmer today. 01:14 Instead of snow we gave him rain. 01:17 Of course, we followed the rain with ice. 01:20 So we're doing the best we can, but mother nature 01:22 is not cooperating. 01:23 But he is a trooper. 01:24 And I want to thank all those of you who came out this evening, 01:28 because the rain has frozen, it is now ice. 01:30 And we heard some horror stories of people being frozen 01:34 in their cars on the way here. 01:36 But God is good and our hearts are warm. 01:38 And it's sunshine in our souls each time we stand and sit 01:42 in the presence of Jesus. 01:43 So welcome to Anchors of Truth to our lords and ladies here 01:47 in the house and to those who are watching around the world. 01:50 We anticipate a good night again. 01:52 James is father of two, husband of one wife, Rise. 01:57 And she is a great friend of this ministry also, 01:59 and is co-founder of Light Bearers Ministries 02:02 which now includes James Rafferty, Ty Gibson, 02:05 Jeffrey Rosario, and David Asscherick; 02:08 a mighty team for the Lord. 02:11 And we are so happy to have him here. 02:13 We're looking with great anticipation forward to 02:16 this message tonight, The Transformation of America. 02:20 How many are really looking forward to the 02:23 coming of the Lord? 02:26 Do you ever sit and think about what it will be to be in heaven? 02:30 No more pain. 02:31 You know, it occurs to me that we don't know what 02:34 will be in heaven, because eye has not seen, ear has not heard. 02:37 So you don't really know what will be in heaven. 02:40 We're a little more comfortable talking about what 02:43 won't be in heaven. 02:44 So think of something bad that won't be there 02:47 and we can praise the Lord for that. 02:48 No sickness, no death, no pain, no sorrow. 02:51 But what a day of rejoicing that will be 02:55 when we all see Jesus. 02:57 That's going to be a great, great day. 02:58 We're going to pray and then move out into that song 03:02 that talks about the day of rejoicing that will be 03:05 when we all get to heaven. 03:07 Father God, we praise You and we thank You 03:12 for Jesus, who is Lord and Savior. 03:15 We thank You for the Sabbath day. 03:18 We thank You for the six days of labor, 03:22 but we are especially thankful for that seventh day, 03:27 the blessed day, the sanctified day, 03:31 where we can commune with You. 03:35 We're thankful for the temple in time that has been erected 03:38 since creation, that very special day. 03:41 And so Father, on this Sabbath day we ask You now 03:45 to be the honored Guest. 03:47 That through Your Spirit You will speak to our hearts 03:50 and make us truly sons and daughters of the Most High God. 03:56 May we walk Your walk, talk Your talk, 03:59 and live Your life as we move towards that day 04:05 of great rejoicing when we shall see Jesus 04:09 face to blessed face. 04:11 Bless us tonight and each day until that day 04:14 is made a reality. 04:16 Be with our speaker. 04:17 And we thank You dear Father. 04:18 In Jesus' name, amen. 04:32 Sing the wondrous love of Jesus, 04:39 sing His mercy and His grace. 04:46 In the mansions so bright and blessed 04:53 He'll prepare for us a place. 05:04 While we walk the pilgrim's pathway 05:11 clouds will sometimes overspread the sky. 05:18 But when traveling days are over, 05:25 not a shadow, not a sigh, a sign. 05:34 When we all get to heaven, 05:42 what a day of rejoicing that will be. 05:48 When we all see Jesus, 05:56 we'll sing and shout the victory. 06:07 Let us then be true and faithful; 06:14 trusting Jesus, serving Jesus every day. 06:21 Just one glimpse of Jesus in glory 06:29 will the toils of life repay, repay. 06:39 Onward to the prize before us, 06:46 soon His beauty we'll behold. 06:53 Soon the pearly gates, they will open, 06:59 and we shall tread the streets of gold, of gold. 07:10 When we all get to heaven, 07:18 what a day of rejoicing that will be. 07:24 For when we all see Jesus, 07:31 we'll sing and shout the victory. 07:37 For when we all get to heaven, 07:46 what a day of rejoicing that will be. 07:52 For when we all see Jesus, 08:00 we'll sing and shout, we'll sing and shout, 08:07 we'll sing and shout the victory. 08:33 Wow, these guys, they can sing, they can preach. 08:38 They can preach, they can sing. 08:39 I'm thinking of C.A., I'm thinking of John Lomacang; 08:43 those 3ABN guys. 08:44 I guess if you want to work for 3ABN, you can't just preach. 08:46 You've got to be able to preach and sing, 08:48 or sing and preach. 08:50 So I don't qualify, because I can barely preach, 08:53 and I definitely can't sing. 08:55 How are you doing this evening? 08:57 Glad you're here. 08:59 Glad you braved the weather. 09:01 Because I had a hard time braving the weather. 09:03 I went out to my car and I realized it was frozen shut. 09:07 There was ice over the whole thing. 09:09 I'm glad I didn't have a long way to go. 09:11 Well, we are talking about a very important subject tonight. 09:15 The title of tonight's meeting is, 09:17 The Transformation of America. 09:20 And I want to start with a story. 09:22 It happened to me quite a few years ago. 09:24 Actually, it's been 25 years ago. 09:27 I was just a brand new Christian. 09:32 And, well, I had been raised a Catholic 09:36 and then became converted through Calvary Chapel Church, 09:41 which is kind of a non-denomination church. 09:43 And then ended up going also to a Pentecostal church. 09:47 And finally, I encountered Adventists through my sister. 09:52 And through a process and Bible studies, I became an Adventist. 09:58 And I hadn't been an Adventist for very long 10:01 when a buddy of mine and myself decided to try something 10:06 we thought would be an interesting experience 10:08 for us and for others. 10:10 Every Sunday we decided to open the phone book 10:14 to the yellow pages to the section of churches. 10:18 And we would open up to the churches and one of us would 10:20 close our eyes and we'd take our finger 10:21 and we'd put our finger down. 10:22 Wherever we landed, that's where we'd go to church on Sunday. 10:26 And we would go to the church and we'd go to the Sunday school 10:29 and we'd sit in the Sunday school, the two of us. 10:33 And you know, we weren't there to be, you know, 10:37 argumentative or debative or anything like that. 10:39 We were just there, we just had one question we wanted to ask. 10:42 And the question was, "You know, we're pretty new converts. 10:44 We've, you know, I was raised Christian. 10:46 My friend wasn't, Ty wasn't. 10:48 But we've come to believe, we've come to understand 10:52 that the Bible teaches, this Book teaches, 10:55 that we should go to church on Saturday. 10:57 And we're just wondering why you folks keep Sunday. 11:03 That's our question." 11:04 We had some amazing, amazing experiences. 11:08 Incredible experiences doing that. 11:10 And I think it was good for us, I think it was good for them. 11:13 We met with pastors, Bible workers. 11:16 We had Bible studies with different churches. 11:19 Different explanations were given to us. 11:21 And of course, it sharpened us, sharpened them. 11:23 We'd study together. 11:25 Sometimes we'd go through these long discussions. 11:27 And I remember this one particular church 11:31 we were studying with. 11:32 There were two guys there, two pastors there, 11:34 and they had a library. 11:35 We went to their library and we showed them 11:37 from their library that the very message we were teaching 11:39 was what their history of their church taught and believed. 11:44 And I'll never forget how they responded to us. 11:48 Because, you know, this was 25 years ago. 11:51 And they said, "You know, basically what you're saying," 11:56 they said to us, "what you're saying basically is that 11:58 this country is going to repudiate the principles 12:01 upon which it was founded. 12:03 Religious liberties, civil liberties are going to be gone. 12:06 Because in order for what your saying of prophecy to happen, 12:08 these things have to be put aside." 12:09 And they said, "We just can't see that happening. 12:11 There's just no way we could see this country doing that. 12:15 It just isn't going to happen." 12:17 And that was, you know, that was about 25 years ago. 12:21 Mid 80's, 26 or 27 years ago. 12:24 And so we said... 12:26 Because you know, God just calls you to plant the seeds. 12:28 You can't convert people. 12:30 Nobody could convert me. 12:31 I was stubborn and I was persistent. 12:33 The only thing that could get me was the Word of God. 12:36 You know, so we're not called to convert other people, 12:38 but we're called to be seed planters, and sharing of the 12:40 truth, and being witnesses, and being Christ-like. 12:42 And so I just said to them, I said, we said, "Listen," 12:45 we said, "if what we're saying is true, 12:50 and if some time down the road, some time down the road 12:56 a change did take place, the description of this nation 13:00 as we see prophetically did actually begin to speak like 13:04 a dragon, that the principles of Lamb-like freedom 13:08 and liberty were transformed into the principles of the 13:12 dragon, would you reconsider?" 13:15 Now those men were in a church in Spokane, Washington. 13:18 And maybe they're listening tonight, may they'll 13:21 hear this program, I don't know. 13:23 But I believe that now is the time to reconsider. 13:26 I really do. 13:27 I believe we are there. 13:29 And we are so close that it's scary. 13:33 Actually, I'm not totally super nervous 13:37 about this message. 13:39 But I'm a little bit, just a little bit. 13:41 Because, I don't know, I think at a certain place 13:44 at a time in history we're going to get in trouble. 13:46 I think about Jeremiah, you know. 13:47 Jeremiah had a message for his people and it wasn't 13:49 a very popular message. 13:50 Because his message was viewed as being against the nation. 13:54 And so they put him... 13:57 They... 13:58 I don't want to say what they did to him because 13:59 I don't want to give anyone any ideas. 14:01 But I think that we are standing right now on the very verge 14:08 of the collapse of freedom as we once knew it here in America. 14:12 And the question we have to ask ourselves is, 14:14 how did it happen? 14:15 And the answer... 14:16 I know we could spend a lot of time going through a lot of 14:19 ideas and theories, information, but I'd like to 14:26 just go to the Bible tonight. 14:27 What do you think? 14:28 I'd like to just go right into the Word of God. 14:30 Because I believe God tells us exactly how we got here. 14:33 Matthew chapter 24 is one of three chapters 14:36 we're just going to reference here. 14:37 Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. 14:40 We're going to go in that order, because that's the order 14:42 that we find in the gospels; Matthew, Mark, and Luke. 14:46 And each one of these chapters, Matthew 24 is where we'll start, 14:50 and then Mark 13, and then Luke 21, 14:53 are parallel prophetic chapters with the books of Daniel 14:57 and Revelation. 14:58 If you study carefully, you're going to find that 15:00 these are Christ's very own prophetic narratives 15:06 of Bible prophecy. 15:08 They parallel especially the book of Revelation, 15:11 because they begin in Christ's time and take us all the way 15:13 down to the second coming of Jesus. 15:15 And Jesus tells us here what it's going to be like. 15:17 He's actually got a repeat and enlarge in these three chapters, 15:21 but also a dual application prophecy here. 15:25 We don't see this in every prophecy, but it's 15:27 definitely here in Matthew 24. 15:28 Because Jesus begins by telling the disciples that 15:33 the temple in Jerusalem is going to be destroyed in such a way 15:37 that not one stone is going to be left upon another. 15:39 And so they asked Him this question in verse 3, 15:42 "And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto 15:44 him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when shall these things be? 15:48 And what shall be the sign of thy coming, 15:50 and of the end of the world?'" 15:52 There's the duality of this prophecy. 15:55 You apply this duality to Mark 13 and Luke 21. 15:58 Because each one of these chapters is again 16:01 layered on the other. 16:03 They are repeat and enlarge. 16:04 Each one of them fills out the picture a little bit more and 16:06 gives us a fuller understanding of this prophetic scenario. 16:09 So this first chapter, Jesus Christ is indicating 16:13 what signs are going to proceed the destruction of Jerusalem, 16:17 70 AD, and then same signs repeated for the end of the age 16:22 and the second coming of Jesus Christ. 16:24 He puts the two together in this prophecy. 16:28 Now our interest is not going to be primarily 16:30 to the destruction of Jerusalem. 16:32 That's past history, it's already happened. 16:33 We could go through this and show how all of these things 16:36 were fulfilled before Jerusalem was destroyed. 16:38 At least the first 13 verses including 15 were fulfilled, 16:44 and onward a couple more there. 16:45 But we want to primarily look at how these verses 16:48 apply to us today. 16:49 Now notice this in verse 4. 16:51 "And Jesus answered and said unto them, 16:53 'Take heed that no man...'" What? 16:56 "...deceive you." 16:57 That point, that sign, that warning is given by Christ 17:02 two more times in Matthew 24. 17:04 Do you think it's important? 17:06 It is vitally important. 17:08 It is three times as important as any other sign 17:10 that is only given once. 17:12 In other words, and this is the reason why we began with 17:15 the lie, we began with Genesis chapter 3. 17:18 You remember that, we talked about the lie. 17:20 That how in John 8:44, that the devil is the father of lies. 17:25 And then we talked a little bit about it in Revelation, 17:28 in Revelation chapter 21. 17:30 Liars will be outside the city. 17:32 I told you about my experience as a young man and how 17:33 I lost faith in my mom because of Christmas. 17:37 And how that there's no such thing as a white lie. 17:39 Because every little lie is one little block 17:43 in the building of deception. 17:47 Which unsettles our faith, our confidence, in truth 17:51 or in anything that is true. 17:53 And so, I think this is one of the reasons why 17:55 Jesus says, you know, children are... 18:00 That's the kingdom of heaven right there. 18:02 Because they're trusting. 18:04 They believe what you tell them. 18:07 You know, when we get older we get wiser and we say, 18:08 "No, no. No, no, no, no. 18:10 I can't... nope, nope, nope. 18:11 Oh, you think you can... you think you can... 18:14 Now way, I'm not going to believe that. 18:16 No way am I going to believe that. 18:17 Yeah, and there's Santa Clause and a tooth fairy, right?" 18:21 See, our confidence is completely unsettled. 18:23 It's unsettled. 18:24 And that is what we see as a danger here in the context 18:28 of Matthew 24. 18:29 There is deception that is all around the signs. 18:34 And that deception is a major player in the end of time, 18:37 according to Revelation chapter 13. 18:39 We're going to look at that a little bit more as we go on. 18:42 And then He goes on and He says, "For many will come in my name, 18:44 saying, 'I am Christ,' and will deceive..." 18:46 A few. 18:48 Many will be deceived. 18:49 So be careful when people tell you religious things 18:53 and your conclusion is, "Well that can't be true because 18:55 most people don't do that." 18:57 "Well that must be right because everyone's doing that." 19:00 Many will be deceived. 19:01 Not a few, many. 19:03 So the many aren't necessarily right. 19:05 In fact, the indications are from Christ 19:07 the "many" are going to be wrong, 19:08 the "many" are going to be deceived. 19:10 "You shall hear," verse 6, "of wars and rumors of wars." 19:14 Have we heard those things? 19:15 Hold onto that. 19:17 "See that you be not troubled." 19:19 Are they troubling us? 19:21 Are wars and rumors of wars troubling us? 19:25 "All these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 19:27 Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. 19:29 There shall be famines, and there will be pestilences, 19:34 and there will be earthquakes, in different places. 19:37 All these are the beginning of sorrows." 19:38 We're going to just move to Mark here in a second, 19:41 but I want to emphasize one thing right here. 19:42 And that is, the word, "sorrows," means birth pangs. 19:46 These signs are described by Christ as those that will 19:50 increase in intensity and frequency. 19:54 They will get more intense and more frequent as we move 19:58 toward the fulfillment of these prophecies. 20:02 Do we see natural disasters becoming more intense 20:05 and more frequent? 20:06 Do we see pestilence, even though we live 20:08 in an age, you know, when we have great health coverage, 20:12 supposedly healthcare, modern science. 20:14 But we live in an age when disease of every kind... 20:17 I mean, we haven't seen anything yet, because it's going to 20:20 get more intense and more frequent more so, even worse. 20:24 We live in a time when there's war and rumors of war 20:27 that are growing in intensity and frequency. 20:29 Now look over in Mark chapter 13. 20:32 I don't mean to rush you but we're repeating the same thing, 20:35 so I'm not going to feel bad about this. 20:36 We're not leaving this point. 20:38 Mark 13, and I just want to emphasize one thing here. 20:40 We're not going to spend a lot of time here. 20:41 But Mark 13, when Jesus talks about this again, 20:45 verses 1 and onward, again He says, verse 5, 20:49 immediately, "Take heed lest any man deceive you. 20:53 Many will come in my name saying, 'I am Christ,' 20:55 and will deceive many. 20:56 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; 20:58 see that you be not troubled. 21:00 They're the beginning of sorrows," birth pangs. 21:01 Now, going over again to Luke 21. 21:05 And the reason why I just wanted to stop in Mark 21:07 primarily is because I wanted you to notice 21:11 that each one of the gospel writers includes a chapter 21:16 on end time events. 21:17 There are some things that are left out by Mark. 21:18 You know, Mark is a very short gospel, 13 chapters, 21:21 14 or 15 chapters. 21:22 Very short, but he does include this. 21:26 Matthew includes it. 21:28 Luke includes it. 21:29 What about John? 21:32 John said, "You know what?" 21:35 Or God said, "You know what? 21:37 I'm not going to give you a chapter. 21:38 I'm going to give you a whole book. 21:40 Revelation. 21:41 I'm going to give you a whole book on end time events. 21:43 Because it's important, it's significant. 21:46 And I know people are going to be a little bit scared 21:48 about that, so I'm going to go ahead and bless that book. 21:50 Blessed are those that hear and read and keep the things 21:52 that are written in that book. 21:53 So you'll be happy to know the things that are in 21:57 the book of Revelation," that's what God is saying. 21:58 Okay, Luke 21, again it begins with... 22:02 Well, it starts a little bit differently. 22:04 About the widow and her mite, casting in her offering. 22:07 But then it goes on in verses 7 and onward. 22:12 They asked him about these things. 22:13 "And he said," verse 8, "Take heed that you be not deceived. 22:18 Many will come in my name saying, 'The time draws near.'" 22:23 We could spend a little bit more time on that, 22:24 but we don't have time. 22:25 Now here's the key verse, here the key verse is. 22:27 Now notice these verses. 22:28 "But when you shall hear of wars and commotions..." 22:32 And that word, "commotions," means, instability, 22:36 disturbances, confusion. 22:42 "...be not..." What's the next word? 22:46 "...terrified." 22:48 That word, "ptoeó," means, to terrify. 22:56 Does it bring to your mind something 22:59 that is in our world today? 23:02 How about terrorism? 23:05 See, Jesus is indicating here in the context of last day events, 23:09 in Luke 21 He's indicating here that there are going to be 23:13 wars and rumors of wars that are going to cause disturbances, 23:17 they're going to cause instability, 23:18 and they're going to cause people to be terrified. 23:21 And because people are terrified, going on, 23:25 "Then said he to them, 'Nation shall rise against nation, 23:27 and kingdom against kingdom. 23:28 And there are going to be great earthquakes in different places, 23:31 and famines, and pestilences; 23:33 and fearful sights and great signs there shall be 23:36 in the heaven," or from heaven. 23:39 I just think it's so interesting. 23:41 Because this leads right into this unity of nations, 23:46 this persecution that comes against God's people, etcetera. 23:49 I think it's so interesting to think that there are 23:51 two things here that are happening that are 23:52 so applicable to us. 23:53 There's terrorism that's scaring people and causing instability. 23:57 And then there are fearful sights. 23:59 Nation is rising against nation. 24:01 And there are these fearful sights that are taking place 24:03 all over the world. 24:05 And when I think about the weather, 24:07 and what clearly now, evidently, is laboratory experiments 24:15 in these different countries and different ways of 24:17 manipulating the weather... 24:18 America does it. 24:20 Russia does it, other nations do it. 24:22 ...and changing the weather patterns, etcetera. 24:25 And we're seeing fearful things taking place. 24:28 As Matthew said, that are going to increase in 24:31 intensity and frequency. 24:33 Strange weather patterns taking place all over the world. 24:37 Because we're messing with the weather. 24:40 And this is exactly what Jesus told us would be a sign. 24:43 There would be terrorism and people will be 24:45 unstable and scared. 24:48 And if you would have told me that this country 24:53 of America would transition from the principles 25:00 of religious and civil freedom to reveal the principles 25:05 of the dragon, if you would have told me that 20 some years ago, 25:09 I would have said, "Yeah, I believe that by faith." 25:10 Just like in 1984 when I accepted the Adventist message, 25:14 I believed that Communism was going to fall. 25:16 By faith I believed that. 25:18 Because that's what prophecy indicates. 25:20 Prophecy tells us who the end time players are. 25:22 And Communism isn't in there. 25:23 So I believed that by faith. 25:24 But in 1989 that faith was validated, was confirmed. 25:32 It went sky high... 25:36 ...when Communism actually fell. 25:39 And now today, that faith is again... 25:41 Because if you were to ask me, 25:42 "Well how do you think that's going to happen?" 25:43 I would have said, "I'm really not sure how 25:44 that's going to happen." 25:46 But today I can say, "Wow, it's happening." 25:49 Our fear of terrorism is taking away our rights. 25:53 And we're happy to see them go. 25:55 I mean, we're not happy to see them go, 25:56 but you understand what I'm saying. 25:58 We're willing to see them go. 26:00 We're willing for this to happen. 26:04 This instability, this terrorism, 26:07 that Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, don't be terrified," 26:11 this instability is causing us to just give them up. 26:13 Now, in the prophetic sweep of history, God fills in 26:17 more and more of the details. 26:19 That's why I wanted to introduce you, at least those of us 26:22 who are listening in our audience, TV viewers, 26:25 to Matthew 24, and Mark 13, and Luke 21, and make sure 26:29 we put those into the pot with Daniel and with Revelation. 26:32 We know those are twin prophetic books, 26:34 but we need all of the information we can garner 26:36 in order to properly align ourselves with the 26:39 path that God has given us. 26:41 Remember, there's a lot of paths out there. 26:42 There's a lot of interpretations out there. 26:44 There's a lot of information being floated out there. 26:48 And we've just got to stay focused on the truth 26:51 that God has given us. 26:52 So God gives us this sweep of history. 26:56 He goes all the way back, you know even to Genesis, 26:58 but prophetically Daniel, Daniels' time, Babylon, 27:01 Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. 27:03 Then you have the little horn power, 27:05 the papal Roman power, taking us through the Dark Ages, 27:09 all the way down to the rise of America, 27:12 the wound in 1798, America rising up in 1776. 27:16 And then America comes on the scene and says, 27:18 new land of freedom. 27:20 And out of that comes, well, our present day situation. 27:26 The history of the Bible is telling us what we see 27:31 taking place in the history of the world. 27:33 But it tells us ahead of time. 27:35 And we can gain confidence for what hasn't happened yet 27:38 by looking back at what has happened 27:41 and lining it up with Bible prophecy. 27:43 That gives us confidence to believe God is right on track. 27:46 What God says is true and we can trust Him. 27:49 We can believe what He says. 27:53 Last night we looked at some of the principles 27:56 that identify America in prophecy. 27:59 We looked, for example, at the fact that 28:02 this power was another power, it was a new nation, 28:06 coming on the world scene. 28:07 Another beast, another nation, rising up out of the earth. 28:12 The earth as opposed to the sea. 28:14 A less populated place on the planet, 28:17 as opposed to the multitudes, nations, peoples, and tongues 28:19 of Europe where all these other powers arose in that area. 28:23 It was depicted as having two horns with no crowns. 28:26 So it wasn't going to be another monarchy, 28:27 another king and queen type. 28:29 It was going to be a republic. 28:31 It was depicted as having two horns that were lamb-like, 28:35 which indicates liberty and freedom, civil and religious. 28:42 And of course, this all came about because we had 28:48 people, men and women, people who were brave enough 28:54 to pave this whole new path for the world. 29:00 A path I think that God had ordained in His prophetic Word. 29:03 The Declaration of Independence, at least the signers of 29:06 the Declaration of Independence were brave men 29:08 with brave families who were willing to venture out 29:12 and give to the world and to us a brave new way of life. 29:19 Now when we look at prophetic history, it's important that we 29:23 don't just dismiss all of these different nations 29:26 as if God has a favorite or an only one, 29:30 because God loves the world. 29:33 And the reason why God calls anyone, like He called Abraham, 29:37 and Isaac, and Israel, and then the Hebrew nation, 29:42 is because He wanted to use them to share with the world 29:46 this great love. 29:48 It's only when they fail to do that, it's only when people 29:51 fail to do that, it's only when nations fail to do that, 29:53 that God says, "You know, I can't, I mean, I want 29:57 to work through you, but if you don't let Me work through you, 29:59 I'm going to have to go and try something else." 30:01 So He does that first with His own people. 30:04 They're the ones that actually forsake and turn away from Him. 30:07 So that's why God leads them into Babylon, because He 30:09 wants to reach Babylon. 30:10 And there are some faithful people in His church still, 30:13 like Daniel and his friends who are going to be 30:15 witnesses for Him in Babylon. 30:16 And then Nebuchadnezzar, I mean, you think about it. 30:19 Nebuchadnezzar passed a couple of laws 30:22 that basically said, "The God of heaven is the God. 30:24 The God of the Hebrews is the God. 30:25 You need to worship Him, He's the only true God." 30:29 He testified to that in Daniel 2, 30:31 and wrote another law in Daniel 3. 30:34 And again testified in Daniel 4. 30:35 In fact, Daniel 4 is his own personal testimony. 30:38 People ask me, "Do you think Nebuchadnezzar 30:39 will be in heaven?" I say, "Read Daniel 4. 30:41 Just read Daniel 4." 30:42 It matches up with Revelation 12. 30:43 Nebuchadnezzar overcame by the blood of the Lamb. 30:45 I mean, he was just praising God. 30:48 And that was after seven years of being a wild man. 30:52 But Belshazzar didn't get it. 30:55 And so God transitions again. 30:57 When we look at the history of these nations, 31:00 it's not as though God isn't working through them 31:03 and mindful of them. 31:04 When Medo-Persia came, God says in Isaiah 45, 31:07 "Cyrus is My anointed. 31:09 I'm going to open the gate so he can go in 31:11 and he can take over and take this thing a little bit further. 31:13 Because Belshazzar is just not wanting to do this. 31:16 Even though he has all this information, you know." 31:18 Daniel said, "Hey, you have all the history of your grandfather. 31:21 You have all the history. 31:22 You know that you live and move and breath in God. 31:25 Share that with the world." 31:26 He said, "No, I just want to party. 31:27 I just want to hang out here with my friends and just party." 31:31 Daniel said, "Well Nebuchadnezzar, 31:33 he was like a tree, you know. 31:34 All the animals gathered under him and it gave, you know, 31:37 shade for the animals, and life for the birds. 31:42 I mean it was just like, you know, taking care." 31:44 In fact, when Daniel was rebuking Nebuchadnezzar, 31:46 he said, "You know what, you need to repent 31:49 and take care of the poor and the needy." 31:52 That's the point. 31:53 The same point of Matthew 25 is the same point 31:57 of Daniel chapter 3. 31:59 It's the same point. 32:01 Take care of people. 32:03 Love people. 32:04 Feed people. 32:06 Look after people. 32:08 That's what government really is suppose to do. 32:10 Government isn't bad when it does that. 32:11 The principles of government can be really good. 32:13 In fact, even when Paul was sitting on death row, 32:15 even when he was there under Nero, 32:17 he wrote Romans chapter 13. 32:19 He talked about how we need to submit to the powers that be and 32:21 pay taxes to the powers that be. 32:22 And they are a sword in the hand of God 32:25 to take care of evil doers. 32:27 There's a place for government and for nations. 32:31 And that's why God worked through all of these nations. 32:33 He worked through Medo-Persia and the nations of Europe. 32:37 I mean, when you look at Rome, God used Augustus Caesar 32:41 to call His Son, Jesus Christ, to Bethlehem 32:44 where He was suppose to be born. 32:45 It was the decree of August Caesar 32:47 to pay taxes and sign up for the censor. 32:49 Remember that? 32:50 And boom, Luke chapter 2. 32:52 There comes Jesus born in Bethlehem 32:54 because of that decree. 32:56 And of course, through the Dark Ages God still 32:58 worked through the church. 33:00 All the great reformers were honest men. 33:03 You've got Luther, he was a Roman Catholic. 33:05 Huss, Roman Catholic. 33:06 Gerome, Calvin, all these men, standing for the truth 33:11 and what was right until they couldn't stay with that 33:14 nation or denomination anymore. 33:16 Because God was moving them on, God was moving us on. 33:19 God has a plan, a purpose, for the world. 33:22 And so there, as this one nation goes down 33:25 another one comes up. 33:27 And this nation is espousing the principles of the Lamb. 33:34 Those are the principles we need to hold onto. 33:35 So tonight as we go through this message, 33:37 please understand that you can stand for the principles 33:42 that have made this country great, that have made this 33:45 nation great, even though government, even though 33:48 people, even though other individuals, even though 33:50 programs and systems may be straying from those principles, 33:56 failing those principles, we can still stand 33:58 for those principles. 33:59 We can still stand proud for those principles. 34:02 So John picks up this sweep of history and takes us 34:08 all the way down into the time in which we live. 34:11 And by the way, I just want to recommend, 34:13 if you have not ever seen a copy or read a copy of the book, 34:17 The Great Controversy, you've got to get a copy of that book. 34:19 And I'm just going to encourage our viewers 34:21 call into 3ABN, write into 3ABN. 34:24 Get a copy of the book, The Great Controversy. 34:25 Because that book really helps to give an understanding 34:30 of a lot of this history and the sweep of history 34:32 down through time. 34:33 Very important as it lines up with Bible prophecy. 34:37 Now, sandwiched in the layers of all this history 34:40 is the meat, if you will. 34:42 The vital foundational truth of Jesus Christ 34:48 and the everlasting gospel. 34:50 It's everywhere. 34:51 It's even in Revelation 13, the Lamb slain from the 34:53 foundation of the world. 34:55 The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 34:58 From the very beginning God has always had a plan. 35:01 And if it was from the foundation of the world, 35:03 that means it was before anyone was born. 35:05 Who did Jesus die for? 35:07 Who, at the foundation of the world, who did He say 35:09 He was going to die for? 35:10 Well, there were only two people that needed salvation. 35:12 You know who they were. 35:14 There was Adam and there was Eve. 35:16 Just those two. 35:18 Jesus died for Adam and Eve. 35:20 He was slain from the foundation of the world. 35:22 You understand, He wasn't actually literally slain, but 35:25 He decided, it was predetermined, the Bible says. 35:30 Predestined. 35:31 Jesus was predestined to be our Savior from the 35:33 foundation of the world to be the Savior of Adam and Eve. 35:35 But you know, if He's going to be the Savior of Adam and Eve, 35:37 guess who He's going to be the Savior of. 35:40 Every single person that came from Adam and Eve. 35:44 Is there anyone on planet earth that is excluded from that? 35:49 Zero. 35:50 So right there in Revelation 13 we have this beautiful truth 35:54 of God's plan of salvation, the everlasting gospel. 35:59 Now, that has to be part of the package. 36:03 Because that keeps us on center. 36:05 It's so easy for us to get distracted by a lot of the 36:07 the things that are happening; conspiracy theories, a lot of 36:10 the, you know, dark shadowy things that are taking place. 36:13 The Bible says we shouldn't even talk about some of these things. 36:15 Shouldn't even talk about them. 36:16 ...and get off track. 36:18 And so we've got to have something that 36:19 keeps us on track. 36:20 And that's what the Lamb does, that's what Jesus does. 36:22 That's what Jesus... 36:23 The Lamb is the most repeated symbol 36:25 in the book of Revelation. 36:26 And finally God's people get it. 36:28 I mean, it's easy to get distracted by Babylon, 36:30 and distracted by the beast, and distracted by the dragon, 36:32 and distracted by all the things that are taking place. 36:34 But finally, it says in Revelation 14, God's people 36:37 follow the Lamb... 36:38 What's the next word? 36:40 ...wherever... 36:41 I like the King James, "...whithersoever He goes." 36:45 It that hard to understand? 36:46 That King James, "whithersoever." 36:49 They just follow Him. 36:51 Because they've tried everything else. 36:53 And they fall into all this other stuff, 36:54 and they finally figure it out, "You know what? 36:56 Huh, we've just got to follow the Lamb. 36:58 In fact, that's about all I can do. 37:01 That's about all I can actually do is just follow the Lamb." 37:04 And it's not always easy to keep focused. 37:08 But getting back to our message tonight, 37:11 the transformation of this nation 37:14 that is predicted in this Bible prophecy 37:17 in Revelation 13. 37:20 We've got to recognize the difference between the 37:24 principles of God's kingdom, of Jesus, of the Lamb, 37:29 and the principles of the power of the dragon. 37:31 Now here are three differences that I want you to consider 37:35 if you want to identify where God wants us to be 37:39 compared to where the dragon wants us to go. 37:44 Number one, deception. 37:48 Revelation 13, let's just look at it real quickly. 37:50 Revelation chapter 13, we don't have to look at it quickly. 37:52 We can settle right in here. 37:55 Revelation chapter 13 talks here in verse 11 about this 38:00 other power, beast, kingdom, earthly kingdom or power, king, 38:04 coming up out of the earth. 38:05 Less populated area of the world. 38:07 Having two horns; principles that govern its power. 38:11 Like a lamb; Lamb-like principles of 38:13 religious liberties, etcetera. 38:15 By the way, a lot of people say, "Oh, this means that 38:17 we're a Christian nation." 38:18 Yes and no. 38:20 It depends on how you define Christian nation. 38:22 A Christian nation in the days of the founding fathers was 38:26 a nation that allowed no other religion but their religion. 38:31 "This is the only religion we're going to have. 38:32 It's going to be this one." 38:34 And so from the founding father's perspective, 38:36 this wasn't necessarily a Christian nation. 38:38 200 years later we look back and we say, "Well, this was 38:41 indeed a Christian nation compared to the pluralism 38:43 and the immorality that we think about today." 38:46 In other words, it was based upon the principles of 38:47 religious liberty and civil liberty, but it was based upon 38:50 the principles of morality. 38:54 It was based upon the principles of God's law. 38:56 The first four commandments never to be enforced upon 38:58 the populous, but the second, the last six, definitely. 39:01 From that perspective, yes. 39:03 But it would allow freedom for all religions. 39:07 Lamb-like freedom. 39:09 Jesus was the same way, you know. 39:10 His disciples at times would get a little bit, you know, 39:13 kind of like...exclusive. 39:16 "Jesus, we saw someone casting out devils, 39:18 but he doesn't follow with us. 39:19 Uh, so we forbade him. 39:21 'You can't camp here, you can't be... 39:23 You've got to go back to wherever you came from. 39:25 You can't be in our country.'" 39:26 Jesus said, "No, don't forbid him." 39:29 Those are the principles of the Lamb. 39:31 The principles of liberty. 39:33 They were at a Samaritan village and the disciples, 39:36 they want to spend the night. 39:38 And the Samaritans say, "No, you're going to Jerusalem. 39:39 We're not having you here." 39:41 And the disciples say, "Hey, what do you mean? 39:43 This is the Messiah. 39:44 Jesus, according to the Old Testament, let's call 39:46 fire down from heaven on these guys." 39:48 Jesus said, "You don't know what manner of spirit you're of. 39:50 That's the spirit of the dragon right there." 39:54 Of course, they're quoting the Old Testament. 39:55 So we've got to be careful there how we apply that, right? 39:57 But Jesus is making a proper application, because 40:00 He knows the time and the place in which He is right now, 40:04 and that does not apply to this time. 40:06 He's saying, "You can't quote that and apply it to here. 40:09 Doesn't apply. 40:10 I've come to give people freedom to reject Me. 40:14 The Samaritans don't want Me to spend the night? 40:15 It's their loss. 40:17 The Messiah, I'm their... It's their loss. 40:19 If the Gennesarets don't want Me to be here 40:22 because the swine got lost, I'm going to leave. 40:26 I'll go." 40:27 Of course, He came back. 40:29 God always comes back. 40:30 We may push Him away, but He'll always come back, 40:32 come back, come back. 40:34 Until we absolutely completely decide, "That's it." 40:37 And He does, He honors our choice. 40:38 Which is the wrath of God, by the way. 40:40 The wrath of God is not Him being more 40:42 angry than anyone else. 40:44 The wrath of God is Him finally giving us up 40:46 to the thing that we persistently choose. 40:48 Honoring our choice. 40:50 Honoring our choice. 40:51 So really, when we talk about the wrath of God, 40:53 we're talking about Him handing us over to the beast. 40:56 Because that's the choice we finally make. 40:58 He doesn't want to do it. 41:01 He longs to save us from that choice 41:03 and the consequences of that choice. 41:04 Seven last plagues, etcetera. 41:06 Which is really the outworking of that power 41:10 and the powers of this earth. 41:11 In fact, you think about Revelation 11:14 and onward 41:15 when the kings of this world become the kingdoms 41:16 of the Lord and of Christ. 41:18 He comes to judge those who have destroyed the earth. 41:21 And you look at the seven last plagues and you realize the 41:23 sun is scorching men, where you realize the seas becoming 41:26 as the blood of a dead man. 41:27 It's happening already. 41:29 Right now it's happening. 41:31 These things are happening. 41:32 Hail the weight of a talent, 70 pound hail, already happening. 41:37 The seven last plagues are not some kind of supernatural 41:41 judgment that God imposes on the world. 41:43 It's when God, Revelation 7, let's loose the four winds 41:46 and allows the consequences of our tampering with nature 41:50 and with each other, etcetera, to come. 41:52 Right now He's holding it back. 41:53 He's holding back, He's holding back. 41:54 We see a little bit of the vials kind of seeping through, 41:56 but He's holding them all back. 41:58 But when His wrath is finally released, 42:01 without mercy, He lets it go. 42:04 God, many times in the Bible, is pictured as 42:07 doing what He allows. 42:10 So we see this in the context, beautiful context, 42:15 of Revelation and we recognize a God of love. 42:21 Three principles. 42:22 First one, Revelation 13, we were reading in verse 11. 42:26 Let's get to verse 12, "And he exercises..." 42:28 He speaks like a lamb, "He had two horns like lamb, 42:31 and spake as a dragon. 42:32 And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, 42:35 and causes the earth and them that dwell therein 42:37 to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 42:40 And he doeth great wonders, so that he makes fire 42:44 come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 42:46 and," verse 14, "deceives them..." 42:49 Deceives them. 42:50 That's what Jesus talked about in Matthew 24 and 42:53 and Mark 13 and Luke 21. 42:54 Deception. 42:56 Now I really want to emphasize this a little more. 42:59 But let me just give you two more principles before we do. 43:02 He caused, he forced, Revelation says, 43:05 it says here, verse 14, "And deceives them that dwell 43:08 on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had 43:10 power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them 43:12 that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image 43:13 to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 43:16 And he had power to give life to the image of the beast, 43:18 that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause..." 43:23 That word means, force. 43:24 That words means, put pressure on. 43:27 That's the same thing we see in Matthew 24, 43:28 "You'll be hated of all nations for My names sake." 43:31 That the context of that, it talks about... 43:34 I'm just going to give you the word, because 43:35 I want to make sure I got this 100% accurate with 43:39 what the Bible is saying. 43:40 Matthew 24, you don't have to turn there. 43:42 I'll just give you the word here. 43:44 It says, "And they shall deliver you up to be afflicted." 43:48 That word means, to pressure. 43:49 You're going to be delivered up, you're going to be pressured. 43:52 You're going to be caused, you're going to be forced, 43:53 you're going to be squeezed, you're going to be pushed 43:55 in a certain direction. 43:58 You feel that? 44:00 You feel like, "I've got to be careful what I say. 44:02 I've got to be politically correct. 44:03 I've got to be careful about my biblical principles." 44:05 "If I'm a radio talk show host and I tell you what I think 44:08 about certain things that the Bible teaches, I might 44:11 lose my position here." 44:13 We can't talk freely anymore about what we believe. 44:18 Not that we haven't perhaps violated that to some degree. 44:22 I'm speaking now corporately as Christians, 44:24 that sometimes we're a little too hard, a little too over the 44:27 edge with the way that we talk about other people. 44:29 God loves everyone. 44:31 So we've got to be careful there and balanced. 44:33 But to say nothing? 44:36 To be so constrained and restricted and forced 44:39 in this certain direction by the rest of the world, 44:42 by the rest of these powers. 44:46 Causes them. 44:47 And then the last principle here, notice what it says, 44:52 "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast," 44:54 verse 15, "that the image of the beast should both speak 44:56 and cause, that as many as would not worship 44:58 the image of the beast should be..." What? 45:00 "...killed." 45:02 Three principles; deception, force, and death. 45:06 Deception, force, and death. Deception, force, and death. 45:09 Those are the principles that God wants us to work away from. 45:15 Deception is the first one. 45:18 And I think it leads right into the others. 45:20 And there is where I want to start. 45:21 Because I don't think anyone here tonight really is thinking 45:24 that they're going to kill anybody. 45:26 I don't think so. 45:28 And maybe force. 45:30 I struggle with that. 45:31 16 year old daughter. 45:33 Okay, maybe I want to force her not to do things 45:36 that I are foolish, maybe. 45:39 So I struggle with that a little bit. 45:41 But, the Lamb is convincing me to give liberty 45:47 to my daughter. 45:48 To some degree, I'm still a parent until she's 18. 45:51 I remind her of that. 45:53 But, you know, I don't want to be so controlling over that 45:57 that when she's 18 she says, "Okay, I'm out of here." 46:01 Oh man. 46:02 I could talk for the rest of the time about that. 46:04 And we've only got 10 minutes left. 46:06 So from the beginning Satan works through deception. 46:08 That's what we've seen, that's what we've understood. 46:10 He has used deception to force our hand 46:14 to choose the knowledge of the good and evil. 46:17 That's what he did with Eve. 46:18 He said, "Hey, look at... No, God... 46:20 Did God really say... No, no. 46:22 This, I'm walk... Look, I can talk." 46:25 And we kind of went, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." 46:27 Pretty soon, boom. 46:28 We're doing that, we're eating that. 46:30 And you know, that's the same thing that we feel, 46:32 the peer pressure that we feel. 46:34 "Come on, it's not going to be that... 46:35 It's a... look at me. I'm not... 46:36 Are you saying you're not going to... 46:37 Oh, come on. God's going to... 46:39 Not a big deal." 46:41 It's a simple formula that we can 46:43 trace back to the garden of Eden. 46:44 There's nothing new in Revelation. 46:46 It's the same thing that he used back then. 46:48 He's using the same thing again. 46:49 In fact, Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 46:52 We don't have time to go there now. 46:53 But if you read the whole chapter, it's really powerful. 46:55 It talks about how, "I want you to be a virgin, 46:57 but I'm afraid that the devil, just like he did with Adam and 46:59 Eve back there, he's going to do the same thing again; 47:01 another gospel, another Jesus, another Spirit. 47:03 Ministers of...light. 47:06 Angel of light. 47:08 So it's deception, force, and death. 47:10 It's the principle of the dragon. 47:12 It's the natural outworking of our natures. 47:15 Even the best of us, think about this, tend to lie. 47:20 I bring that up because I think it's really practical. 47:23 And I want to give you some history on this. 47:25 Okay, the first experience that we find, I think is very clear; 47:28 Abraham. 47:31 Abraham. 47:32 Genesis chapter 12. 47:33 He lied about his wife, Sarah. 47:36 He lied in chapter 12, and then he lied again in chapter 20. 47:40 He lied to Pharaoh, the Egyptians, 47:42 and then he lied to Abimelech, which was the Philistines. 47:46 And both times it was serious. 47:48 And it's really interesting, because really he wasn't lying. 47:50 Kind of like a white lie, because, you know, 47:51 Sarah was his sister. 47:54 But God... 47:57 God, the God of truth and not deception in any way or form, 48:01 said, "This isn't going to work, Abraham. 48:05 You are going to be the head of this nation, 48:07 this Lamb-like nation, this people that I'm 48:09 calling out of deception. 48:11 Can't do this. 48:12 You've got to be a witness for Me to Abimelech 48:15 and to Pharaoh, and to everyone else. 48:17 So, can't go there." 48:19 Remember that time when Abraham and Sarah were told 48:21 they were going to have a child? 48:23 And Sarah laughed? 48:25 And the angel said, probably Christ, 48:29 "You laughed." 48:30 What did she say? 48:31 "Didn't. didn't laugh." 48:33 "Yes you did." 48:35 It's serious. God is serious. 48:37 It's important. It's an important principle. 48:39 In fact, Abraham passed it on to Isaac. 48:42 Isaac did the same thing with Abimelech, no less. 48:46 Genesis 26. 48:48 And there were serious consequences. 48:50 Why to the people? 48:52 Why not to Abraham, why not to Abimelech? 48:54 I mean, to Abraham and to Isaac. 48:56 Why to the people? 48:57 Because God wants us to realize that when we lie, it has 49:00 serious consequences for the people that we're lying to. 49:05 God needs a people through which He can tell the truth, 49:08 the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 49:11 And those people are pictured in Revelation. 49:13 They are the ones that stand before the throne of God 49:16 without guile in their mouths. 49:17 No guile, whew. 49:19 I mean, we often point to the Ten Commandments, 49:21 but I just want to go back to Revelation 14 and think about 49:24 that for a little bit; no guile in your mouth. 49:26 Wow, that's practical. That's powerful. 49:31 That's something only God can do. 49:34 And He will do it, He promises to do it. 49:35 He does it with Abraham, with Isaac. 49:37 He's going to do it with us. 49:39 So, we're going to stand without this deception. 49:43 This is going to be one of the identifying marks of 49:45 God's remnant people. 49:48 This "follow the Lamb" people "wherever He goes." 49:50 Standing without deception. 49:53 He rids us of this. 49:54 We become, we become, I would like to say we become 49:57 sensitive to deception. 49:59 At first it's like, okay we're convicted. 50:01 Someone came to me, they said, "You know, 50:02 that really hit home with me. 50:04 I'm convicted about that." 50:05 I said, "Yeah me too, I'm convicted about it too." 50:07 Because I'm so convicted about it, because I've realized often 50:12 that I actually do tend to lie when I didn't 50:16 really know that I was. 50:18 It's like, you know, so much of a pattern. 50:21 And now I'm catching it. 50:22 So I'm sensitive to it. 50:24 Okay, I'm sensitive to it. 50:25 So that's where Jesus starts. 50:27 He starts with the sensitivity, and then He indicates... 50:29 Because I think that the reason why He needs to get this 50:31 out of our system is because if we don't get it out of 50:34 our system, we're not going to be able to discern deception. 50:38 If we are part of the web of deception, we're not 50:41 going to be able to discern deception. 50:44 Look at Jacob. 50:45 He deceived his father. 50:47 And then what happened to him? 50:48 He was deceived. 50:51 He was blinded, didn't see it coming. 50:54 I don't know if it's a psyche thing, you know, 50:57 you carry this kind of guilt, whatever, and then you just 50:59 allow things to happen because you're not real... 51:02 Whatever it is, God wants to get us out of it 51:05 so that we're not susceptible to it. 51:07 Why is this important? 51:09 Well, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 51:12 Let's just look there, we've got a few minutes left. 51:16 Let's just look at 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 51:19 This is very significant. 51:21 I was in Pakistan for... 51:24 I said Pakistan, I really meant to say Pakistan, because 51:27 I was raised in London and that's one of the words 51:29 that gives it away. 51:30 But I still say it with a slight British accent. 51:33 I was raised in Pakistan. 51:34 No, I was raised in London. I was in Pakistan. 51:38 People say, "You were raised in London? 51:40 How come you don't have an accent?" 51:41 I was raised in London, and I still say Pakistan. 51:44 And I remember doing a series there for all these pastors 51:47 and they were asking about the antichrist. 51:48 I didn't have time to get through the entire series, 51:51 but they just wanted me to tell them about the antichrist. 51:52 And I said, "I can't do that. You know, I haven't set up. 51:54 I haven't explained that." 51:55 So they said, "Well, give us something." 51:56 I said, "Okay, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2." 51:59 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 52:01 I just want to highlight three verses. 52:03 I said, to these pastors I said... 52:05 And, you know, I went back there and did another series 52:07 there and went through the whole process; 52:08 the antichrist, mark of the beast, the whole thing. 52:09 It was really powerful. God blessed. 52:12 But I said, "If you want to understand how to be prepared 52:18 against the antichrist, just read these verses." 52:20 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 beginning here 52:23 with verse 9. 52:26 "Even him," that is talking about the man of sin, 52:28 "whose coming is after the working of Satan with all 52:30 power and signs and lying wonders, 52:36 with all," verse 10, "deceivableness 52:39 of unrighteousness in them that perish." 52:41 Why did they perish? 52:42 "Because they received not the love of the truth, 52:47 that they might be saved. 52:49 For this cause God shall send them..." What? 52:52 "... strong delusion, that they believe a lie. 52:56 They all might be damned who believed not the truth, 52:58 but had pleasure in..." 53:00 We need to have pleasure in righteousness. 53:01 We can't have pleasure in deception. 53:03 We can't have pleasure in a lie for whatever reason it is. 53:06 We can't do that. 53:07 Abraham said, "Well, you need to tell them you're my sister 53:09 because if you don't tell them you're my sister, 53:12 and you're so beautiful, they may kill me 53:14 so they can have you." 53:17 Wow. 53:18 Talk about trusting in God, huh? 53:23 You see how easy it is for us to waver. 53:25 We think along human lines. 53:28 Friends, I'll tell you something right now. 53:30 According to the Bible, if it wasn't for God 53:32 we would be dead. 53:34 Just right now, we're just going to die. 53:36 So don't worry about all these other things 53:38 that can happen to you in this world. 53:40 Because there is a lion that is going around 53:46 seeking whom he may devour. 53:47 And if it wasn't for the guardian angels... 53:50 Psalm 91, He'll send His angels, verse 11, 53:53 to give charge over you and to hold you up in all His ways. 53:57 If it wasn't for the angels, we'd be dead. 53:59 So just... It's settled. 54:01 Okay, now we can just be honest before God. 54:03 We're standing before Him without guile. 54:04 We just trust in Him. 54:07 Just trust in Him. 54:08 See, Paul is basically saying that those who refuse 54:13 to receive the love of the truth are the ones 54:16 who are going to be deceived. 54:17 And also the power of deception is that those who are deceived 54:22 genuinely end up believing a lie. 54:26 How does that happen? 54:27 Well, look at Pharaoh and the plagues. 54:30 It isn't that God sends strong delusion. 54:31 God sends evidence, He sends light. 54:33 He wants to enlighten us. 54:35 But when we reject the light He sends, 54:37 our hearts get hard. 54:39 Pharaoh's heart got harder and harder. 54:40 God sent more and more light, it got harder and harder. 54:42 God wants to enlighten us, but He knows that if we reject 54:45 that light He has to send more light. 54:47 And if we reject that light, more and more and more. 54:49 And pretty soon, there's nothing that can... 54:51 And so the strong delusion is actually suppose to be 54:55 that which opens our hearts to the truth. 54:57 But because we love a lie, we don't love the truth, 55:00 it because a delusion and we settle into the lie. 55:03 And this is the difficulty that God has. 55:06 The Pharisees were the same way. 55:07 I mean, talk about Jesus being the strongest... 55:10 And careful what I'm saying here. 55:11 ...the strongest strong delusion. 55:12 Let me put it this way. 55:13 This is the way the Bible puts it. 55:14 He was a stone of stumbling. 55:16 Was He meant to be a stone of stumbling to the Pharisees? No. 55:21 He was light. 55:22 He was the greatest light that came into the world. 55:24 But as they began, right at His birth, 55:28 they wouldn't listen to the reports of the wise men. 55:30 They wouldn't listen to the reports of the shepherds. 55:32 As they began their rejection of Him, 55:34 and that continued and continued, 55:35 He became a stumbling stone. 55:36 He became a strong delusion to them. 55:38 They said, "No way, that can't be the Messiah. 55:40 Look at where He came from, look at the way He's dressed, 55:42 look at the way He acts. 55:43 That can't be the Messiah." 55:45 Because they loved the lie they rejected the truth. 55:51 So God wants to pull us away from the lies. 55:53 We're out of time right now, but I just want to close 55:56 just with a thought. 55:57 There's a few other things here, and hopefully I can 56:01 share a little bit of them tomorrow. 56:05 I've bought a lot of used cars. 56:07 Never bought a new car. It's not worth it. 56:09 You drive off the parking lot and just lose, you know, 56:11 thousands of dollars, so I buy used cars. 56:13 And what I do when I buy a used car, I've learned, 56:16 what I do is I go and I get a title report. 56:21 It's a few dollars, but it's worth it. 56:23 It tells you all about the car. 56:24 If it's been in any accidents, what the title is like. 56:26 You know, if the miles are actual, etcetera. 56:28 It's a title report that helps me to know if I'm making 56:31 a good choice. 56:34 This Book is the title report. 56:41 This is it. 56:42 Whenever a doctrine, truth, whatever it is 56:46 that anyone is trying to sell you comes along, 56:50 get a report. 56:51 Find out if it is what they claim it is, 56:57 if it is what they claim it is, by going to the Word of God. 57:01 This Word is what will keep us in the end. 57:05 Love it, believe it, hold onto it. 57:07 Don't deny it. 57:08 And don't lower that ideal of God, 57:11 even if you're not reaching it. 57:12 God understands. 57:13 It's His job to get you there, not yours. 57:16 Keep the standard where it is in the Word of God, 57:21 and He'll take you safely into the kingdom. 57:23 Amen? Let's pray together. 57:24 Father in heaven, thank You tonight for Your Word, 57:27 the picture of prophecy... |
Revised 2014-12-17