Participants: Pr. David Asscherick
Series Code: DP
Program Code: DP000004
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00:14 The presentation tonight is entitled: "Discover Bible"
00:17 "Prophecy's Answer for Human Suffering." 00:20 Really, what begins tonight is the first in a 3 part series, 00:25 the first tonight, as we've already said, "The Answer" 00:28 "for Human Suffering", and we take tomorrow night off, 00:31 but we'll be back Thursday and Friday for parts 1 and 2 00:34 of a series entitled "Discover the War Behind the Wars." 00:38 These 3 presentations fit together as a single unit. 00:44 That is going to set up the next 2 presentations, which I am 00:48 very excited about, which you should be as well, 00:51 those presentations are entitled "Discover Does Jesus Christ" 00:55 "Have a Twin", and the next night is "Discover the Actual," 01:00 "Definite, Certain, Unavoidable Identity of the Antichrist". 01:03 Some people say "Wait a minute, you're actually going to" 01:07 "tell us who the Antichrist is?" No, I'm not going to tell you, 01:10 what we're going to do is look at it from the Bible 01:12 and you will tell me who the Antichrist is, I'm not kidding. 01:16 We'll put all of the identifying characteristics up 01:18 from the Bible, not from a man and you will be able to tell me 01:22 at the end of the evening exactly who the Antichrist is. 01:26 You say "Why don't you just do that tonight?" 01:28 "That's really what we'd like to hear tonight". 01:31 The problem there is we have to set these things in their 01:34 proper context. 01:38 Tonight is the 4th night of our series, and if you've been 01:42 paying attention you'll see a very logical sequence 01:45 in what's taking place. The first night was basically 01:47 an introduction. 01:52 We asked basic questions like "What is prophecy?" 01:55 and "How can we understand prophecy?", 01:57 and "Where can I find true and reliable prophecy?" 02:00 And we looked at those 2 keys for understanding Bible prophecy 02:03 and particularly the book of Revelation. 02:05 Nr.1- in the book of Revelation the Old Testament is 02:10 the foundation, and Nr.2- Jesus Christ is the focus. 02:14 So the opening night was an introduction. 02:17 Then the second night we looked at this statue. 02:20 Our message was entitled "Discover Ancient Babylon" 02:23 "and How They Foretold the End of the World", and this gives us 02:26 a sense of where we are in the sweep of time. 02:30 Have you ever been to one of those large malls, 02:34 or maybe a large shopping center and they'll have 02:37 those billboards that show all of the different stores, 02:40 all of the different cafeterias, and there'll be a little 02:43 red dot there and it says: "You are here." 02:48 I've discovered something, I've been here all my life. 02:52 There's never been a time in my life when I wasn't right here, 02:55 so I look at that sign and think "Oh, the sign knows" 02:57 "where I am, I am, in fact, right here." 03:00 But in terms of a prophetic sense what this gives us 03:04 is a grand sweep of time and let's us know 03:08 "You are not here." 03:12 "You are here!". 03:15 The head of gold - Babylon; the chest and arms of silver 03:19 Medo-Persia; the belly and thighs of bronze - Greece; 03:22 the long legs of iron represented Rome; 03:25 the feet of iron and clay represented divided Rome, 03:29 and the very next thing that happened was the stone 03:33 struck the image on the feet and that stone became 03:37 a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 03:40 You're all "A" students. So what we did 03:43 that second night is said "where are we in the grand" 03:46 "sweep of things?" 03:47 Then last night we asked the question "Okay, so we're living" 03:50 "down in those toes, down in those feet of iron and clay," 03:53 "but just how near is the end", and last night we presented 03:57 what I consider to be very compelling evidence 04:00 that we are living in the very closing hours of this earth's 04:04 history; that is to say that this thing is wrapping up 04:08 rapidly. If you agree with that 04:10 I want you to raise your hand and say amen. 04:12 - [Audience replies] Amen. - That's exactly right, 04:13 we did our best last night, we gave 10 signs of the times, 04:16 and somebody's going to say, a skeptically minded person's 04:18 going to say: "Oh, those signs of the times have been around" 04:21 "forever, there's always been earthquakes, there's always" 04:24 "been famines, there's always been pestilence," 04:27 "there's always been wars and rumors of wars, etc, etc", 04:29 but what were the 2 illustrations, the 2 analogies 04:32 that Jesus gave us to understand the context of those signs 04:35 of the times? What was the first one? 04:38 Labor pains, and what was the second one? 04:42 A fig tree, and do you remember that those 2 analogies 04:45 have 3 things in common, let's see if you can 04:47 remember those, they were both visible, and they were both 04:53 progressive and they were both climactic. 04:56 So what Jesus is saying is that these signs are not new 04:59 signs, they're not some new thing, it's things that have 05:03 been happening throughout the sweep of history, 05:05 but just before the end they will increase in both, frequency 05:12 and in intensity. What 2 things did I say everyone? 05:16 Frequency and intensity. So you get this sense 05:19 that these things are happening with greater frequency, 05:21 greater intensity, until eventually it reaches 05:24 a fever pitch. Just as in labor pains 05:26 they are further apart and then closer and closer, 05:29 and eventually you have a baby, and so too with the fig tree, 05:33 it becomes tender and it puts forth its leaves 05:35 and eventually a fig, and then summer. 05:39 So what this has done for us in the first 3 nights 05:41 has really set a context. Night Nr.1 is the simple 05:44 introduction, the next 2 nights gave us a sense of urgency 05:49 that it is not business as usual. 05:52 It gave us a sense of what everyone? [Audience] Urgency. 05:54 And that's really what we're trying to do here, 05:56 is create a sense that something is happening in the world. 06:02 What we're going to begin now is to go in to the great 06:05 books of Daniel, Revelation and other books 06:08 and begin to unpack some of these monumental 06:11 and amazing prophecies with this context of urgency. 06:15 In fact tonight we're actually going to be taking 06:20 a preliminary look at the Antichrist, we will talk about 06:23 the Antichrist, but remember, the focus of the book 06:26 of Revelation is not the Antichrist, it's Jesus Christ. 06:29 Tonight we will actually be taking a preliminary look 06:34 at who this Antichrist figure is, and what he intends 06:38 to do. 06:39 So let's begin by looking at our study guide, 06:41 hopefully everyone of you has a study guide. 06:43 I want to reiterate that if you bring friend, Nathan said this, 06:46 I want to reiterate it, by all means, you bring 5 friends, 06:49 you get 5 free CDs, you bring 10 friends, you get 06:52 10 free CDs, listen, we are not about making money, 06:54 I couldn't care less about that, we want this message 06:57 to get out. 07:00 So notice this with me, we're right there on the study guide, 07:02 you have that there in front of you, and we'll begin 07:04 by looking at the opening 2 paragraphs. 07:07 It says: If God is so good, how many of you believe 07:10 that God is good? I believe the very same thing, 07:14 that's exactly right, God is good. 07:16 It says: If God is good then why does the world 07:19 seem so bad most of the time? Why do bad things happen 07:24 to good people, and why does there have to be so much pain, 07:28 suffering and sorrow in the world today? 07:32 What is going on? Next paragraph: These are 07:35 all legitimate questions and good questions. 07:39 Some people think that there are no answers to questions 07:42 like these; this is the very kind of question that I used 07:44 to ask as a skeptic when a Christian would try to witness 07:47 to me at high school, or at the university I was studying at, 07:50 tried to tell me about Jesus and how Jesus saves, 07:52 and I would just say: "Come on now, if your God is so good," 07:55 "then explain all the pain, suffering, death, disease" 07:57 "in the world", and I would just blow them off. 08:00 Most of them, unfortunately, could not give good, 08:03 compelling, Biblical answers to that very simple question. 08:08 Notice the rest, it says: Some people think that 08:10 there aren't answer to questions like these; I used to be 08:12 one of those people. They are wrong. 08:16 The Bible gives the answers to these questions, 08:18 they are not pat or easy answers, but they are good, 08:23 powerful and even logical answers. 08:28 Suffering, pain and death are terrible indeed, 08:32 but the Bible, and the Bible only, can give us a compelling 08:34 context with which to understand these things. 08:38 Behind it all the heart of God cries out for the devotion, 08:43 salvation and worship of His people. 08:48 I'm looking forward to tonight's message, but before we get 08:51 right into the Bible, we're going to first pray. 08:55 You're going to discover that your capacity and your ability 08:58 to understand spiritual things, if you've not already 09:00 discovered this, is not primarily based upon 09:03 your intelligence or your education, it's based upon 09:06 your willingness to submit yourself to the One who wrote 09:09 the Bible, are we all together on that? 09:12 The simplest way I know how to communicate that is this: 09:14 "I will" is more important than "I.Q." 09:18 The Bible says spiritual things are spiritually discerned, 09:21 so it's not "my intelligence" or "my degree", or whatever 09:24 it might be that helps me to understand this book, 09:26 the Bible says that spiritual things are spiritually 09:29 understood, so we have to pray and ask the author of the book 09:33 to become the instructor in the book. 09:37 That's why we pray, we don't just pray as a formality 09:39 and say: "Well, you know, it's a religious meeting," 09:41 "we might as well pray." Not at all. 09:43 When we pray we are very seriously asking the God 09:46 who inspired the book to now come down into this room 09:48 and be the one who instructs in this book. 09:53 So let's begin with a word of prayer. 09:54 Father in heaven, we pause for a moment because we do not 09:58 take these things lightly, we don't take these things 10:02 serendipitously Father, this is serious, and we want 10:05 to understand Your word for us in these strange 10:08 and unusual times in which we're living. 10:11 Father, this is the Discover Prophecy Seminar, we want 10:15 to know better and Biblically just what is coming 10:19 upon the world. So Father, tonight as we 10:22 open Your word we ask the You would open our hearts. 10:25 You have told us that spiritual things are spiritually 10:28 understood, so tonight clear away the debris from our minds, 10:32 the distractions from our minds and give us, over the course 10:36 of the next 50 minutes or so, a sense of focus on You 10:41 and Your word, and Your will and Your plan for our lives. 10:46 Help us Father to have more than just an intellectual exercise 10:50 and experience. Help us to submit and surrender 10:53 ourselves to Your word and to Your will, 10:57 for we ask it in Jesus' name, let all of God's people 11:00 say amen. Alright, let's get into our 11:04 topic, open your Bibles to the first book of the Bible, 11:08 the book of Genesis. Genesis 1. 11:15 You'll notice your study guide subheading says: 11:17 "In the beginning God and good." 11:23 In order to understand the present condition of our world, 11:26 we must first understand its original condition as it came 11:29 fresh from God's hand. What was that original 11:33 condition described in Genesis, the book of beginnings. 11:36 Note the following verses, I've given you a list of them, 11:39 we'll just look at them quickly. I'm beginning in Genesis 1:1: 11:42 "In the beginning God created the heaven's and the earth." 11:46 "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon" 11:48 "the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering" 11:51 "over the face of the waters. Then God said, Let there" 11:56 "be light, and there was light. And God saw the light" 12:00 "that it was good, and God divided the light from" 12:04 "the darkness." Jump down to verse 10. 12:06 "And God called the dry land earth and the gathering" 12:09 "together of the waters he called seas, and God saw" 12:12 "that it was good." Notice verse 12: 12:15 "and the earth brought forth grass and the herb" 12:17 "that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree" 12:19 "that yields fruit, who's seed is in itself, according" 12:22 "to its kind, and God saw that it was good." 12:25 Verse 18: "And to rule over the day and over the night," 12:28 "and to divide the light from the darkness, and God saw" 12:30 "that it was good." Verse 21: "So God created" 12:34 "great sea creatures and every living thing that moves" 12:37 "with which the waters abounded according" 12:39 "to their kind, every winged bird according to its kind," 12:43 "and God saw that it was good." Verse 25: "And God made" 12:46 "the beasts of the earth according to its kind," 12:48 "cattle according to its kind and everything that creeps" 12:50 "on the earth according to it kind, and God saw" 12:53 "that it was good." Verse 31, the last verse 12:55 of the chapter: "Then God saw everything that He had made" 12:59 "and indeed it was very good, so the evening and morning" 13:03 "were the 6th day." 7 times in Genesis 1, 13:06 7 times in the creation account Moses records 13:11 under the inspiration of God, "it was good." 13:15 And then when He comes to the end He says it was very good, 13:19 so we can safely surmise that in the beginning everything 13:23 was good. 13:26 There are many words that you could use to describe the world 13:29 that we are living in today, and there are certainly 13:31 good things, there are certainly wonderful things 13:34 in the world today, but good would probably not be at the top 13:38 of the list. Just last night we looked 13:41 at 10 signs of the times, and unfortunately, all but 1 of them 13:45 was bad news. The only 1 that is good news 13:49 was the 10th one, and that's that the gospel is going 13:52 to all the world, and that's the greatest of the great news. 13:55 The reality is that we live in a world that is wracked with pain, 13:59 and suffering, and sickness, and death, and disease. 14:03 What happened? 14:05 In the beginning everything was good, it was even very good. 14:10 Notice the next paragraph, this point is highly instructive. 14:16 In Genesis 1 and 2, before the entrance of sin, the world 14:21 was perfect, beautiful and untainted by death, 14:25 disease or pain, a perfect couple - Adam and Eve 14:29 of course - in perfect love, in a perfect environment, 14:33 with a perfect God. You can't get much more 14:35 perfect than that. So then, what happened 14:37 to create the state of affairs we see today? 14:40 Pain, and suffering, and death, and disease are the rule, 14:43 not the exceptions. In order to understand this 14:46 go with me to the first book of the Old Testament 14:50 to the first book of the New Testament, what book is that? 14:53 Matthew 13, go there with me. 14:56 Again, if you have somebody sitting next to you 14:59 who is not getting to the verses or the chapters 15:01 quite as quickly as you, be sure to help them. 15:05 Matthew 13, here we find Jesus telling a parable. 15:10 A parable is a simple story that illustrates a larger 15:14 spiritual truth. Matthew 13. 15:19 We're going to take a look at a parable in which Jesus 15:21 describes a man who planted a field. 15:26 Notice in your study guide: In Matthew 13:24-30 15:30 Jesus tells a parable, that is a story that illustrates 15:33 a spiritual truth, about a field that was planted 15:36 by a farmer. In verse 37-43 He explains 15:40 the parable, let's look at this parable together. 15:43 Matthew 13:24, are we all there? 15:50 "Another parable He put forth to them saying:" 15:55 "the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed" 15:59 "good seed" - there's our word again, that's the same word 16:02 that we saw in Genesis 1, isn't it? 16:05 Verse 25: "But while men slept his enemy came and sowed" 16:07 "tares" - that is weeds, "among the wheat" 16:10 "and went his way, but when the grain had sprouted and produced" 16:13 "a crop, and the tares also appeared, so the servants" 16:16 "of the owner came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow" 16:20 "good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?" 16:23 In other words, where did the weeds come from? 16:25 Verse 28: "He said to them, An enemy has done this." 16:28 "The servants said to him, O, would you like us then" 16:31 "to go and gather them up? But he said no," 16:33 "lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat" 16:36 "with them. Let both grow together" 16:40 "until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest" 16:43 "I will say to the reapers, First gather the tears" 16:46 "and bind them in bundles to burn them," 16:48 "but gather the wheat into my barn." 16:50 Now, we don't have to wonder, we don't have to guess, 16:52 we don't have to conjecture as to what this parable means 16:55 because Jesus gives us the interpretation beginning 16:58 in verse 37, go to verse 37: "He answered and said to them," 17:02 "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man," 17:06 who's the Son of man? Jesus Christ. 17:09 Verse 38: "The field is the world, the good seeds", 17:14 4 times He uses that phrase if you're paying attention, 17:18 He says it's "good seed" 4 times. 17:22 "The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares" 17:26 "are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them" 17:30 "is the Devil, the harvest is the end of the age," 17:35 "and the reapers are the angels." 17:37 Fascinating. Jesus tells a very simple story, 17:40 not difficult to understand, He says it's a story of man, 17:43 he went out and he sowed some seed in his field. 17:45 The workers, and all of those who were working in the field 17:49 had seen him sow the good seed, they knew that it was good seed, 17:52 but later when they came back to investigate there was weeds 17:55 among the wheat, and they went to the man and said: 17:58 "hey, didn't you sow good seed in your field?" 18:00 "Where did the weeds come from?", and here's what 18:02 I want you to notice: in the parable Jesus does not have 18:05 the man saying: "Well, when you weren't looking I snuck" 18:08 "some bad stuff in with the good". 18:11 What Jesus says is 5 words, 5 of the most important 18:16 words in all of the Bible, "An enemy has done this." 18:20 Let's say that together: "An enemy has done this". 18:24 Look at the top of the study guide: what kind of seed 18:27 was originally sown in the field? Good seed. 18:30 This agrees perfectly with Genesis, it began good, 18:34 even very good. According to verse 28 18:37 who planet the weeds? An enemy. 18:40 In verse 39 Jesus identifies this enemy and He says 18:43 that enemy was who? The Devil. 18:46 Here's something I want you to get a hold of, this is 18:50 a fascinating concept: Jesus accepted no personal 18:55 responsibility for the presence of weeds. 18:58 I want to say that again: in the parable Jesus does not have 19:01 the man who sowed the seed, being Jesus, the Son of man, 19:04 accepting any responsibility for the presence of tares, 19:08 He says 5 words: an enemy has done this. 19:16 Well, who is this enemy? Go with me from Matthew 13 19:21 to Luke 13, you're in Matthew, the next book is Mark, 19:25 and the next book is Luke. Matthew, Mark, we're going 19:29 to Luke 13. >From Matthew 13 to Luke 13. 19:34 Incidentally, we're working our way towards Revelation 13, 19:37 we're going to spend a fairly significant amount of time 19:40 tonight talking about the Antichrist, but we need 19:42 to work our way there so we can understand it 19:45 in a Biblically holistic manner. 19:48 Luke 13, Jesus tells a story, it's actually not a story 19:55 that He tells as a parable, it's the recounting of an experience 19:58 that Jesus had. Luke 13:10: 20:04 "Now He was teaching in one of the Synagogues" 20:07 "on the Sabbath, and there was a woman who had" 20:10 "a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and she was bent over" 20:15 "and could in no ways raise herself up." 20:18 "But when Jesus saw her He called her to Him" 20:20 "and He said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity," 20:24 from your sickness, "and He laid His hands on her" 20:27 "and immediately she was made straight and glorified God." 20:31 Verse 14: "But the ruler of the Synagogue answered" 20:34 "with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath" 20:37 "and he said to the crowd, There are 6 days in which men" 20:40 "aught to work, therefore come and be healed on them" 20:43 "and not on the Sabbath day. Then the Lord answered" 20:47 "and said, Hypocrite," Jesus was not being a name caller here, 20:50 the word "hypocrite" comes from the Greek word "hypokrites", 20:53 which means "actor", Jesus says "You're an actor," 20:56 "you're wearing religious clothes, you're talking" 20:58 "religious language, you're hanging out in religious" 21:01 "places, but really you're an actor." 21:03 "Actor", He says, "does not" 21:05 "each one of you on the Sabbath lose his ox or a donkey" 21:08 "from the stall and lead it away to water it?" 21:10 Now look at verse 16, fascinating, there are 4 words 21:14 that are central to this text, "So aught not this woman," 21:18 "being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound", 21:22 "think of it for 18 years, be loosed from this bond" 21:26 "on the Sabbath day?" What are the 4 words 21:29 in verse 16: "whom Satan has bound". 21:34 Notice again, does Jesus take any responsibility for 21:38 the woman's condition in her infirmed state, yes or no? 21:41 None at all, in fact, it's just like the Devil to bend you over, 21:45 and it's just like Jesus to straighten you up. 21:49 Notice what He says here: "Aught not this woman," 21:54 "being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound". 21:58 Fascinating, just like those 5 words in Matthew 13, 22:02 "An enemy has done this", here He says, 22:05 "whom Satan has bound", takes no personal responsibility 22:09 for her sickness, but gets all of the glory for her wellness. 22:14 "An enemy has done this." Look at your study guide, 22:17 let's fill in the blanks. 22:21 Look at the study guide: Here is an essential point, 22:23 Jesus confirms what Genesis described, namely, 22:25 that God made things very good. According to Jesus the Devil 22:30 is the one who has ruined it, he is the responsible party. 22:34 Read Luke 13:10-16, which we've just done, in this story 22:37 who does Jesus credit for binding the woman? 22:41 Satan. The word "Satan" is a 22:44 transliteration of the Hebrew "satan", it's a Hebrew word, 22:52 and the word simply means "an enemy", 22:58 or "an opponent", or "an adversary", that is 23:02 "one who stands against." Just as Jesus had said 23:05 "An enemy has done this", so too here He says: 23:09 "Satan, the enemy, the opponent, the adversary," 23:13 "put this woman into her infirmed condition." 23:17 You're in Luke 13, go to Luke 10, just 3 chapters 23:21 before that, Luke 10. 23:28 Luke 10, notice verse 18, Jesus speaking: [text on screen] 23:48 I want to just say something right at the outset: 23:52 some people say there is no such thing as the Devil. 23:55 How many of you have heard that before? 23:57 You've talked to somebody about these kinds of things, 24:00 they say: "Aww, there's no such thing as the Devil!" 24:02 Raise your hand if you've heard that before, sure you have 24:05 Let me say something here: [text on screen] 24:10 Notice what Jesus says here, fascinating, Luke 10:18: 24:14 "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." 24:22 Satan's hometown is where? I want you to notice something 24:27 very interesting, Jesus uses the word "fall". 24:33 You can fill in the blanks: Satan's hometown is where? 24:35 "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven", the word "satan" 24:38 means "enemy" or "adversary", so you're right up to speed. 24:40 I want you to think about something, if I'm walking 24:43 down the street with Nathan, and Nathan can be 24:45 a little bit of mischievous person every now and then, 24:48 you've probably pick that up already, and let's just say 24:50 that Nathan is feeling like a little bit of a rascal 24:52 and he pushes me down, which he's never done up to this point 24:56 but he might some day, I don't ever let him get 24:59 right behind me, but anyway, [Audience laughs] 25:01 if he pushes me down, who's fault would my falling down be? 25:06 Nathan says "yours", no, it would be his. 25:10 But now I want you to imagine, if I was walking 25:12 all by myself and I tripped and no one else was around 25:17 me to push me down or coerce me, who's fault would it be now? 25:20 It would be my fault, unless of course, if you live in the USA 25:23 and there was a little crack there, and we'd say: 25:25 "Oh, you know, it's the municipalities department" 25:28 "because the crack is too big, no personal responsibility." 25:31 The point here is I want you to notice what Jesus says; 25:34 He doesn't say: "I pushed Satan", He doesn't say: 25:37 "I kicked him out", what He says is: "I saw Satan fall" 25:42 "like lightning from heaven." What we're going to discover 25:46 this evening is that the responsibility and 25:49 the culpability for his actions are his, that the responsibility 25:56 rests upon his shoulders. Notice our study guide: 26:00 What happened in heaven? Is Jesus really saying 26:04 that Satan, this character "The Devil", came from heaven? 26:07 That's exactly what He's saying. Ezekiel the prophet, 26:10 go with me in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel, 26:13 that might take you a little bit to find, I actually 26:15 just opened right to it, Lord, praise His name. 26:18 So you open it up, you'll be right in Psalms probably, 26:22 and then you can go to Isaiah, and then Jeremiah, 26:24 and then Lamentations, and then Ezekiel. 26:27 You can find Ezekiel, it's one of the larger books 26:29 in the Old Testament. Ezekiel 28. 26:36 Here we find Ezekiel comparing Satan to an ancient 26:43 and evil king, the king of Tyre, Ezekiel 28:11. 26:48 I want you to notice that as we read this passage 26:52 the word "perfect" occurs 3 times. 26:58 Ezekiel 28:11: "Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me" 27:02 "saying, Son of man," that's God speaking to Ezekiel, 27:06 "take up a lamentation", or cry, "for the king of Tyre" 27:10 "and say to him, Thus sayeth the Lord, God". 27:12 Some people say: "This doesn't have anything to do" 27:15 "with the Devil, this doesn't have anything to do with" 27:18 "Satan, this is only the king of Tyre", hardly! 27:20 What Ezekiel is doing under the inspiration of God, 27:23 God is saying: "Listen, I'm going to talk to you" 27:26 "about this power, this evil man, the king of Tyre," 27:28 "but what I'm really interested in is the power behind" 27:31 "the king of Tyre." It'll be a little bit like saying: 27:34 "I want to talk to you about Hitler", but Hitler is not 27:36 an end in himself, there's some power behind Hitler 27:39 that caused Hitler to be a Hitler, or a Mussolini to be 27:42 a Mussolini, or a Mao Zedong to be a Mao Zedong, 27:44 He says: "Take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre," 27:48 and then He begins to tell us about this power, 27:50 this angelic rebellious power behind the King of Tyre. 27:55 Notice the rest of verse 12: "You were the seal" 27:58 "of perfection," - I would underline in your Bible 28:02 if you're in the custom of underlining in your Bible, 28:04 "full of wisdom and perfect in beauty." 28:07 Notice 2 times right out of the gate He says: 28:12 "You were perfect." Verse 13: "You were in Eden." 28:16 Quick question for you, was the king of Tyre in Eden? 28:21 No, but was Satan in Eden? Absolutely, he was. 28:25 "You were in Eden, the garden of God." 28:28 "Every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz" 28:33 "and diamond, the beryl, onix and jasper, sapphire, turquoise" 28:37 "and emerald with gold, the workmanship of your timbrels" 28:41 "and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created." 28:46 So he was created. Verse 14: "You were the anointed cherub" 28:51 "who covers, I established you, you were on the Holy Mountain" 28:55 "of God, you walked back and forth in the midst" 28:59 "of the fiery stones," notice it again in verse 15, 29:02 "you were perfect in your ways from the day you were created" 29:08 "until iniquity was found in you." 29:13 Here the prophet Ezekiel, under the inspiration of God, 29:16 is basically tearing back the curtain, tearing back 29:20 the seen from the unseen in the same way that we might 29:23 separate this wall; this wall was up the first night 29:25 and there were so many people here we had to open 29:28 the wall and we get to see what's on the other side 29:30 that's basically what God is doing through the prophet 29:33 Ezekiel, He's tearing back the wall so we can see 29:35 what's going on behind the scenes. 29:38 Many of you have been to a movie before, or a play, 29:41 and what's happening on the play and stage is only just the part 29:45 that you get to see, what's really happening is behind 29:48 the scenes. The prophet Ezekiel says: 29:52 "You were created perfect" 3 times, who would have 29:58 created him? God, 30:01 and he says it 3 times: "You were created perfectly". 30:07 He says "you were the anointed cherub", what is a cherub? 30:12 That's an angel. Look at that again. 30:16 Verse 14, "You were the anointed cherub who covers". 30:20 That is unusual language, that is sanctuary language. 30:25 You say: "What is sanctuary language?" 30:27 Very simple. In the Israelite economy, 30:30 the most important building in all of the Israelite economy 30:33 was the sanctuary, later became Solomon's temple. 30:36 The temple consisted of 3 parts. 30:41 You had the courtyard, which was in the outside, 30:44 the outer court, and then if you walked into it 30:47 you had the Holy Place, and then you walked into 30:50 the Most Holy Place. There were several articles 30:53 of furniture. In the courtyard you had 30:55 the altar, in the Holy Place you had the altar of incense, 30:57 and the table of showbread, and the lamp stand, 31:00 but if you went into the Most Holy Place there was 31:04 only 1 article of divine furniture, what was that? 31:07 That was the Ark of the Covenant, you saw Harrison Ford 31:09 in the movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark". 31:13 There was the Ark of the Covenant and it was basically 31:16 a glorified box. In that golden box, 31:19 what was in there? Does anyone know? 31:23 There were several articles, but the most important article 31:25 was the very 10 commandment stones, and on top 31:28 of that box, that was called the mercy seat, 31:32 and there were 2 carved angels that came up, 31:36 representing the very angels that dwelled in the presence 31:40 of God. Between those 2 angels 31:43 there was a supernatural light that radiated from 31:46 the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary, that light 31:50 was called "The Shekinah Glory". Like it says in Psalm 80:1: 31:56 "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that dwellest" 31:59 "between the cherubim, shine forth." 32:03 That was the very presence of God in the Most Holy Place, 32:06 and those carved angels represented the very angels 32:11 that stood in God's immediate in presence, in heaven, 32:16 around His throne. When Ezekiel says: 32:19 "You were the anointed cherub that covers," 32:21 what he's saying is: "You were one of the angels" 32:24 "that dwelt in God's immediate presence." 32:29 Fascinating. 32:32 Look at your study guide, fill those in. 32:35 "You were in the garden of Eden", verse 14 says 32:39 "You were the anointed cherub" which is an angel. 32:43 Notice the next paragraph: This angel was created perfect. 32:49 1 aspect of that perfection was that God invested him 32:54 with genuine free will, that is the ability to make 32:59 his own choices. Underline this next part, 33:03 I've put it in italics, but it is absolutely essential. 33:07 True love in order to be love must have the right 33:12 to say no. 33:17 What makes love so special is that it is voluntary. 33:22 If love wasn't voluntary, if love was forced, 33:26 it wouldn't be love at all. In fact, in the English language 33:28 we have a very ugly word for forced love, 33:31 we call that "rape". Love in order to be love 33:34 has to have the right, has to have the potential, 33:38 has to have the prerogative to say "no thank you." 33:43 In order for love to be what God intended it to be, 33:47 we have to have the opportunity to say no. 33:50 April 4th, 1999, I was married to the most beautiful woman 33:53 I've ever seen in my entire life, and she's sitting 33:56 right there in the front row, it was a lovely wedding, 33:58 the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to. 34:01 [Audience laughs] 34:03 Everything looked great, except the groom, and he looked okay. 34:07 [Audience laughs] 34:10 And I remember my wife coming down the aisle of that church 34:14 in her beautiful, resplendent, radiant glory, and as she walked 34:18 down my knees began to move like this, literally, 34:21 my knees began to shake. I'll tell you a true story 34:24 very quickly, just about 3 months before, my wife's 34:26 brother, my brother in law, had been married, 34:29 I had been asked to stand in the wedding. 34:32 It was one of those churches that have 4-6 steps 34:35 that lead up to the altar and Falisha and Christian, 34:37 they were standing at the altar like this, 34:40 and the groomsman went back like that, and the bridesmaids 34:43 went back like that, and I was the third groomsman 34:45 standing in the middle of the stairs. 34:47 There was a gentlemen just ahead of me, 34:50 and in the middle of the wedding I noticed that he began 34:53 to sway, he began to rock like this. 34:57 Literally, right in the middle of the wedding 34:59 he fainted directly into my arms. 35:03 I just saw him falling and I caught him - right in the middle 35:06 of the wedding, and of course, Falisha and Christian could hear 35:08 that something was going on, but it was their wedding, 35:11 they didn't turn around to see, so I had this guy 35:14 in my arms, several hundred people there at the wedding 35:17 and I just picked him up and carried him out. 35:19 Well, we got him into the back and we slapped him around 35:21 a little bit, gave him a little bit of orange juice 35:23 and he straightened up. We actually got him back out, 35:26 he stood out there again and Falisha and Christian 35:28 turned around, walked out, didn't even know 35:31 what had happened. [Audience laughs] 35:32 In fact, you can see it right on the video, it was just 35:34 made to order. I can just imagine, 35:35 the angels were at the wedding, just enjoying it, 35:37 and they see this guy begin to sway and they say: 35:39 "Get that guy!" and they pushed him towards me 35:41 because he fell perfectly into my arms. 35:44 If he'd fallen just a little that way it would have been 35:47 a disaster. Well anyway, I was married 3 months later 35:49 and a doctor friend of mine was there and said 35:52 the reason that he fainted is Nr.1- he probably didn't get 35:55 a good breakfast, and Nr.2- he locked his knees. 35:57 So I had this phobia on my wedding day of locking my knees. 36:00 [Audience laughs] I'm telling you a true story, 36:02 my wife comes walking down the aisle and she comes up, 36:07 and I'm standing there like this: [shows position] 36:11 [Audience laughs] Have you ever tried to stand 36:15 like this for a long time? It's not easy! 36:18 So I started to kind of shake like that, and my wife 36:21 says to me right there in the ceremony, she says: 36:23 "What are you doing?" [Audience laughs] 36:25 I said: "Sweetie, I'm trying not to faint." [Audience laughs] 36:30 Anyway, praise the Lord, I made it through, 36:32 I didn't faint, but here's the point: there came a time 36:36 in that ceremony where the minister turned to me 36:40 and said: "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully" 36:42 "wedded..." "I do!!!" 36:44 And then he turned to her and he said: "Do you take" 36:47 "this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" 36:49 And she said: "I do." Praise the Lord! 36:54 And praise God there was no pause there either, 36:57 she said: "I do", now here's what made it so special: 37:03 nobody was standing there with a gun when the minister said 37:07 "Do you?" This guy stuck it in her ribs 37:11 and said: "You better!" [Audience laughs] 37:15 What made her "I do" so special is that she had the right 37:18 to say "I don't". 37:24 Beloved, think about it from God's perspective. 37:27 God is a real God who desires a real relationship 37:30 with real beings. 37:34 As 1 person has put it, God would rather wrestle 37:37 with the stubborn will of man than reign supreme 37:41 over rocks and trees. God has given us this thing 37:45 called free will, it is a dangerous thing, 37:49 but it is absolutely essential if there's going to be 37:52 anything like true love. Sometimes in the past 37:56 I've taken my computer out, in fact, maybe I couldn't do it 37:59 exactly right now, but I could sort of show you 38:01 what I do, I take out my computer and I program it 38:04 to tell me that it loves me. I take my computer out, 38:06 and I set it on a little stage, I didn't do it this time 38:09 because I just wasn't ready for it, and I set it there 38:11 and I saw: "Good evening computer", and the computer says 38:13 "Good evening David". I say: "How are you doing" 38:16 "this evening computer?" And the computer says: 38:18 "I'm doing well." And I say: "Computer..." 38:20 "Yes David", "...I love you." 38:22 And then it says: "I love you too David." 38:25 Then it says: "I love you, I love you, I love you," 38:28 "love you, love, love, love..." And when it's all done 38:31 I close the computer and I ask this question: 38:33 "Do I fell any better now that my computer loves me?" 38:37 Do I fell any better? No. You want to know why? 38:41 The computer doesn't have a choice not to love me. 38:45 I made the computer love me. If we don't have a choice 38:48 in this thing, then our love is non love. 38:52 Does that makes sense? So God creates this 38:56 beautiful angelic creature named "Lucifer", he dwells 39:01 in the very presence of God, he was perfect, 39:04 but he had been entrusted with a very dangerous thing 39:09 and that thing is the power to choose, and he did choose. 39:14 Go to Isaiah 14. 39:22 In Isaiah 14, that's just back through Jeremiah, 39:26 you get into Isaiah 14, we being to see with a little more 39:29 detail what was happening in the mind of that angel. 39:34 Isaiah 14, we're at the top of page 3 [in study guides]. 39:40 The prophet Isaiah gives us a deeper look into what 39:43 is taking place in the mind, in the heart of this angel. 39:48 Isaiah 14:12, what's the first word of Isaiah 14:12? 39:53 "How". Somebody's going to say: 39:58 "Listen, how does a perfect being in a perfect environment," 40:01 "made perfectly by a perfect God, commit a sin?" 40:05 Yes, that is difficult to explain, but you shouldn't be 40:08 so worried that you don't understand it, even the prophet 40:11 Isaiah wondered how it happened, notice what he says in verse 12: 40:15 "How are you fallen?" There's that word again. 40:19 Jesus had said: "I beheld Satan fall like lightning" 40:23 "from heaven." Here it is: "How are you fallen from heaven?" 40:27 That agrees perfectly with what Jesus said, "O Lucifer", 40:31 that means "light bearer". "Son of the morning," 40:34 "how are you cut down to the ground, you who weaken" 40:37 "the nations." Verse 13, he begins to give us 40:40 an insight: "For you have said in your heart, I will" 40:43 "ascend into heaven, I will exult my throne above" 40:46 "the stars of God, I will sit also on the mount" 40:49 "of the congregation on the farther sides" 40:51 "of the north, I will ascend above the heights" 40:54 "of the clouds, I will be like the Most High." 40:57 Notice the emphasis is on "I". Satan had an "I" problem. 41:07 At the center of sin is "s. I. n." 41:14 The originator of sin is Satan, Lucifer, who began to think 41:18 about "I", at the center of pride is "p. r. I. d. e." 41:26 "I will be greater, I will be grand, I will be something." 41:31 He desired that which was not rightfully his. 41:35 Lucifer the light bearer, an exalted angel, 41:39 became Satan, the fallen foe, that is what the Bible teaches. 41:45 He had an "I" problem, he was created perfectly, 41:49 but he made a choice, and God being the gentlemen 41:54 that He is, honored that choice even at significant cost 41:58 and risk to Himself, and that is the God of the Bible, 42:01 the God of the Bible is a gentlemen. 42:05 He will not force His way into your heart, 42:08 He will not force His way into your life. 42:11 In fact, He says in Revelation 3:20: 42:13 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock", but then He says 42:16 "you aught to let me in", He doesn't say: 42:18 "Behold, I stand at the door with a SWAT team" 42:21 "and I'm going to bust the door down, and I'm going to come" 42:24 "in there and I'm going to make you love me, whether you" 42:27 "like it or not." 42:29 Love is the foundation of God's government, but love 42:34 must be allowed to say no. God did not create Satan, 42:39 that's going to be a huge surprise to many of you. 42:43 God did not create Satan, God create Lucifer, 42:50 and Lucifer by his own free will became Satan. 42:56 If you and I were walking down the street and we saw 42:58 a man who was in the gutter who was drunk, 43:01 we wouldn't say: "What kind of a woman would give birth" 43:03 "to that?" 43:06 Come on, that's not what his mother gave birth to, 43:09 his mother gave birth to a beautiful, bouncing, innocent 43:12 little boy, and sure, environment plays a role 43:15 in these things, we're not suggesting that it doesn't, 43:18 but ultimately at the end of the day, and the final 43:20 analyses, if someone becomes that it's because of their own 43:23 choices. We live in a day and age 43:27 in which there is basically no personal responsibility. 43:29 If I do something wrong it's my dad's fault, 43:31 if I do something wrong, it's my mum's fault. 43:33 Away with this nonsense, ultimately, you are the arbiter 43:37 of your own destiny, take responsibility for your actions, 43:41 take responsibility for your choices and stop blaming 43:43 the world. [Audience] Amen. 43:46 Satan made a choice, God did not create a satan, an enemy, 43:51 God created a Lucifer, 3 times He says: "You were perfect", 43:55 but part of that perfection was the opportunity, the ability, 43:59 the potential to say: "No", and he exercised that right, 44:02 and God honored him, as the gentlemen that He is, 44:04 and he made Satan, Lucifer himself did it. 44:13 What did Lucifer want? What did he want 44:17 when he began to take those precipitous steps? 44:22 He wanted a higher position. It says 3 things in 44:26 your study guide, it's really 4. He wanted 4 things: 44:30 Nr.1- a higher position, he says "I want to go up", 44:33 we'll talk more about that in a future lesson. 44:36 He wanted an exalted throne, that is he wanted 44:39 the government of God himself. He wanted rulership 44:42 and dominance, and Nr.4 has been purposefully put in bold 44:47 faced font, he wanted worship. What we're going to discover 44:52 this evening is that in the book of Revelation worship 44:55 is the issue. 45:01 Without further ado open your Bibles with me 45:05 to the New Testament book of 2 Thessalonians. 45:10 You'll find Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 45:13 Colossians, then you'll find Thessalonians, 45:16 look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3. 45:23 We move into the portion of this presentation that deals 45:27 with the Antichrist, and you're going to learn a great deal 45:31 right now about the Antichrist. 45:34 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Paul writing to the church 45:40 in Thessalonica says these words: "Let no one deceive you" 45:44 "by any means, for that day", in the context it's 45:48 the second coming, "for that day will not come" 45:51 "unless a falling away comes first, and the man of sin" 45:55 "is revealed, the son of perdition" - that is 45:57 the Antichrist, he's talking about the Antichrist 46:00 being revealed. He refers to him as the man of sin 46:03 and the son of perdition. Verse 4: "Who opposes" 46:06 "and exalts himself above all that is called God" 46:09 "or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple" 46:18 "of God, showing himself that he is God." 46:22 Notice on the 3rd page of your worksheet: According to the book 46:26 of Revelation, the dividing issue at the end of time 46:29 will be the issue of worship. Note the way the apostle 46:32 Paul describes the Antichrist power in 2 Thessalonians 2, 46:34 which we've just read, do you see any similarities 46:37 between the Antichrist's attitude and Satan's? 46:40 - [Audience replies] Yes. - Sure, both wanted to exalt 46:43 themselves against, or over, God. 46:46 Both long for that which is not rightfully theirs. 46:49 The Antichrist goes into the temple of God, not to show 46:52 that he is against God, but what does the Bible say? 46:56 To show that he IS God. 46:59 That's a subtle point that many people miss. 47:01 People say: "Oh, this Antichrist thing is going to be" 47:03 "a piece of cake, he's going to show up on the scene," 47:06 " 'anti' means against, he's against Christ," 47:08 "you'll be able to pick him, it'll be easy." 47:10 "It's like shooting a fish in barrel", hardly! 47:13 The Antichrist doesn't go into the temple of God 47:15 to show that he's against God, he goes into the temple of God 47:17 to show that he IS God. We'll spend more time on that 47:22 in just a moment. But notice: for the purpose 47:24 of what? He exalts himself above all 47:26 that is called God, that's the next line, or that is 47:32 worshipped. Worship is not a scientific word, 47:36 worship is a religious word, and worship at the end of time 47:41 will be the issue. With that in mind 47:43 go to Revelation 13, this is the Antichrist chapter 47:48 of Revelation, Revelation 13, we're going to read 47:52 the first 4 verses of Revelation 13. 47:58 You're going to see this strange, unusual, conglomerate 48:01 beast, don't get hung up on the details, we'll come back 48:05 to this, we'll spend plenty of time, but just very quickly 48:08 I want you to see something fascinating, and fundamental, 48:11 and illuminating about the Antichrist. 48:14 Revelation 13:1, John says: "And I stood on the sand" 48:19 "of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea" 48:23 "having 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his horns 10 crowns," 48:28 "and on his heads a blasphemous name." 48:31 We're going to go through all of those identifiers, 48:33 don't worry about that, we're going to spend lots of time 48:36 in this chapter, hang in there. Verse 2: "The beast which I saw" 48:40 "was like a leopard, his feet were like the feat of a bear," 48:44 "his mouth like the mouth of a lion", notice this, 48:47 "the dragon gave him his power, and his throne," 48:51 "and his great authority." This is an artist's 48:54 representation of what this beast may have looked like 48:57 to John, notice the feet of a bear, the mouth of lion, 49:00 the body of a leopard, these 10 horns, and it says 49:02 the dragon gave him his power, his throne and his great 49:06 authority; you say: "Well who's the dragon?" 49:08 Look in Revelation 12:9, we could pass a hat around, 49:15 we could take a vote and decide who we think the dragon is, 49:18 no no, the Bible interprets itself. 49:23 Look in Revelation 12:9, there's no doubt about it: 49:26 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old" 49:30 "called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world" 49:33 "he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out" 49:36 "with him." So according to the Bible's 49:38 own interpretation, who is the dragon? 49:41 Satan and the Devil. 49:47 Notice in Revelation 13:2 that the dragon, that is Satan, 49:51 gives this creature, this power, this person, 49:55 his power, his throne and his great authority. 49:59 Now you might be saying: "Who, I've never seen a beast" 50:02 "like that, surely we'll recognize the Antichrist" 50:05 "when he shows up, I mean he's going to look like that," 50:07 "we'll know him." Beloved, the book of Revelation 50:09 is written is symbols. 50:12 You say: "Well what does that mean?" 50:14 We'll spend lots of time on what that means, in fact, 50:16 if you're really paying very carefully attention 50:19 I'll give you a little heads up here, the beasts on this 50:22 flier right here, the beasts on this backdrop, 50:24 are from Daniel 7: a winged lion, a bear raised up 50:27 on 1 side, a 4 headed leopard, and a beast with 10 horns, 50:30 that's Daniel 7. Now take a look over there, 50:32 feat of a bear, body of a leopard, mouth of a lion, 50:35 10 horns, do you see the parallels everyone? 50:37 We'll spend lots of time on that, now look at verse 4. 50:40 Notice the switcheroo. 50:42 That's a technical term, some of you may have never heard that 50:45 term before, it's a technical, it's a theological term, 50:48 I apologize for using such a fancy term. Verse 4, it says: 50:52 "So they worshipped" - there's our word, "they worshipped" 50:56 "the dragon." Who's the dragon? 50:59 - [Audience replies] Satan. - Notice what that verse 51:02 is saying: "they worshipped the devil." 51:04 Is that what that verse is saying, yes or no? 51:06 - [Audience replies] Yes. - It's exactly what that verse 51:09 is saying, but what? I mean, come on, give me 51:12 a break; if the Devil walked in here tonight as the Devil 51:14 with a great big sign around his neck, a placard that said 51:17 "I'm the Devil", and he stood up in front and he said: 51:20 "Fellas, ladies, worship me." Would you worship him? 51:22 - [Audience replies] No. - No way, do you think 51:25 the Devil knows that? Of course he does, 51:27 the Bible says he's subtle, he's clever, he's like a thief, 51:30 he's foxy, he knows that. If the Devil came in 51:33 and announced himself as the Devil and said: "worship me", 51:35 no one's going to go for it, the Devil knows that, 51:38 but he still longs and desires for worship, and praise, 51:41 and honor. 51:47 So he has to get a front man, but watch what happens: 51:52 he gets his front man, say here, he gets his front man 51:57 and he gives his front man, willingly, his power, 52:00 his throne, his great authority so that when you 52:03 worship the front man, who are you really worshipping? 52:07 The one who set him up. Look at verse 4 again, 52:10 look at the switcheroo in verse 4. 52:13 "So they worshipped the dragon, who gave authority to the beast" 52:17 "and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast?" 52:21 "Who is able to make war with him?" 52:24 Look at your study guide. 52:27 Page 3, down there at the end: Revelation 13 is the Antichrist 52:32 chapter, according to verse 2 who gives the Antichrist 52:38 his power, his throne and his great authority? 52:40 Who is it everyone? The dragon. 52:42 Who is the dragon according to Revelation 12:9? 52:45 Satan. Note carefully the switcheroo 52:48 in verse 4, when the beast is worshipped, who else 52:50 is worshipped? [Audience] Satan. 52:52 You've got it, and here Satan gets the longing desire 52:54 of his heart, worship. How does he get worship? 52:58 By setting up this Antichrist front man who goes into 53:03 the temple of God to show himself that he IS God. 53:06 Beloved, think that through for a moment: the longing 53:09 desire of Satan's heart is to receive worship, 53:12 but he's smart enough to know that nobody 53:14 would worship him if they knew who he was, so he gets 53:17 a front man, a religious figure, he sets him up with his power, 53:20 his seat, his great authority, but when you worship 53:23 the front man you're really worshipping the one 53:25 that propped him up. 53:29 You can take a look on the back page of your study guide, 53:32 it says: surveying worship in Revelation 13 and 14, 53:35 what do the following verses have in common? 53:37 You look at Revelation 13 and 14, everyone of those verses 53:41 contain the word "worship". 53:47 That is the central issue. Some people think: 53:50 "It's going to be a political issues", surely there will be 53:52 political elements involved, but the primary issue on 53:55 the great landscape of the Antichrist and his conflict 53:58 with God's church is not politics, it's worship. 54:03 In fact, you find very little about politics in the book 54:07 of Revelation, but you find a whole lot about worship. 54:09 I'm going to prove this to you, and this is absolutely 54:12 incredible. The pivotal issue at the end 54:15 of time in the end of time in the book of Revelation 54:19 is the issue of worship. Go with me to the last part 54:24 of your study guide: Unquestionably, the most 54:28 audacious thing Satan ever did is found in Matthew 4, 54:31 you know Matthew 4, it's the story of the temptation 54:35 in the wilderness. Jesus had been fasting in the wilderness, 54:39 Satan came to tempt Him, he urged Jesus to make stones 54:42 into bread, Jesus refused with the plain: 54:45 "It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by" 54:48 "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." 54:51 Satan then urged Jesus to cast Himself from the pinnacle 54:53 of the temple, again Jesus refused: "It is written" 54:56 " 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God.' " 54:59 And then the final one the Bible says that he showed Him 55:01 all the kingdoms of the world, and all their glory, 55:04 that's verse 8, and he said: "All these things" 55:07 "I will give you if you just fall down and worship me." 55:12 Jesus responded with utter indignation: "Away with you" 55:16 "Satan, for it is written 'You shall worship the Lord' " 55:19 " 'your God and Him only shalt thou serve' ", this is 55:23 where Satan's rabid and ridiculous idea reached 55:26 its pathetic height. He had that audacity to ask 55:30 Jesus, the Creator and the Redeemer, to worship him. 55:34 Think of it, at that very moment Jesus the creator 55:37 held Satan's existence in His very hand, it would be 55:40 like you walking into your house today, and your little 55:42 goldfish in your goldfish bowl says: "Worship me!" 55:46 And you say: "Worship you? I'm going to eat you." 55:49 [Audience laughs] 55:51 The height of insanity, the height of intoxication 55:56 and inebriation. Satan had the audacity 56:01 to ask his own creator, to ask the Redeemer of the world 56:05 to worship him, this is case in point that the central 56:08 issue pulsating in the perverted heart of Satan 56:12 is to receive worship. 56:17 So what is the Bible prophecy's answer for human suffering? 56:20 It's very simple, God did not create Satan, 56:24 God created a being named Lucifer, Lucifer made 56:27 his own choice and created Satan. 56:29 Jesus said 5 words "An enemy has done this", 56:32 and then He said 4 words: "whom Satan has bound", 56:35 the Devil is responsible, but what does he want? 56:38 He wants worship, how's he going to get it? 56:40 Through the Antichrist. 56:43 I want to ask you a question as we close, has this all 56:46 - made sense, yes or no? - [Audience] Yes. 56:49 Okay, this is just the first message, remember I told you, 56:52 3 of these next 3 messages all fit together like a whole. 56:55 We won't be here tomorrow night, but we'll be back 56:58 on Thursday and that presentation is entitled: 57:01 "The War Behind the Wars", and we're going to go 57:03 right into Revelation 12, and you're going to understand 57:06 Revelation 12 like perhaps you never have before. 57:09 Before we close I want to ask you a question: 57:12 who will you worship, who will you serve? 57:15 Raise your hand if you say "I want to serve Jesus," 57:17 "forget about this Antichrist stuff, I want to serve the Lord" 57:20 Let us pray together, Father in heaven, tonight 57:23 we have seen in Your word, not just from the words of a man, 57:26 the ideas of a man, no, from Your word we have seen 57:28 that You are not responsible for the pain, suffering, 57:31 sickness, death and disease in the world today, 57:33 we've also seen that the core issue in the book of Revelation 57:36 is the issue of worship, and that the longing desire 57:39 of Satan's perverted and intoxicated heart 57:41 is to receive worship. But Father, today we say 57:45 with Joshua: "As for me and my house, I will serve" 57:48 "the Lord", in Jesus' name let all of the saints of God 57:51 say amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17