Participants: Pr. David Klinedinst
Series Code: DPR
Program Code: DPR000005A
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00:07 It was April of 1994
00:11 And a great controversy was 00:15 Early in a small African nation 00:19 But its name was Rwanda 00:23 For many years to people rooms have dominated the landscape of the country and ask 00:27 Hootoos and the Tootsies. For years 00:31 They had learned to coexist together peacefully 00:35 they worked together, they played together, they even 00:39 went to church together. but all that changed one 00:43 terrible day in 1994. When the Hootoos 00:47 president boarded is plane in order tp go on an international trip 00:51 but minutes after takeoff his plane was shot down 00:55 he was murdered and assassinated in cold blood 00:59 nobody knew who did it or why 01:03 immediately the Hootoos in the government blamed the 01:07 Tootsies and through a series of brainwashing and propaganda 01:11 they put the word out that the Tootsies were to blame 01:15 that they were the enemies of the country and in order for the country to 01:19 survive all Tootsies must be exterminated 01:23 and so for the next few weeks when the sun 01:27 went down at night Hootoos would arm themselves 01:31 with machetes and clubs and weapons 01:35 they would scour their village and neighborhoods 01:39 and burst into homes of Hootoos neighbor, rape the 01:43 women, and butcher the men and children. 01:47 and in about 100 days 800,000 01:51 people lost their lifes in that 01:55 blood stain nation and all the while the United States 01:59 said nothing. The United Nations 02:03 did nothing. The world turned a blind eye 02:07 to the massacre. It was the worst 02:11 conflict ever to hit the African soil 02:15 perhaps some of you may remeber that But you know revelation talks 02:19 about another great controversy one that is 02:23 far worse than the Rwandan Genocide. One that surpasses 02:27 any world war put together on the face of the earth 02:31 Revelation calls it the controversy between good and evil 02:35 or this conflict between Jesus Christ and 02:39 Satan because the Bible tells us that it was Satan 02:43 who first brought woe and sin and sorrow to this planet 02:47 that he has been working to try to pull mankind away 02:51 from God and since that time Jesus has 02:55 been working against him. The Devil has been trying to destroy 02:59 us Jesus wants to save us and to bring us back 03:03 to God and so as we study this controversy 03:07 in the book of revelation we are gonna find out that this earth 03:11 is the playing field and more specifically every decision 03:15 that we make in our heart and our mind is another playing field 03:19 for that great controversy in fact tongiht 03:23 we are gonna answer these three questions. Number one how 03:27 did this controversy begin? 2nd, how 03:31 did sin come into our world where did the devil come from? 03:35 and third what is the solution. And 03:39 im happy to say that revelation gives some clear answers to 03:43 all three of those questions so I want you to take your bibles and 03:47 turn with me to revelation 12 03:51 and begin in verse 7. "and war broke 03:55 out, Where? in heaven Micahel 03:59 and his angels fought with the dragon and the dragon and his angels 04:03 fought but they did no prevail 04:07 nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer 04:11 so that great dragon was cast out 04:15 that serpent of old who is called the devil and satan 04:19 who deceives the whole world he was cast to the 04:23 earth and his angels were cast 04:27 out with him now we are gonna stop there for a second 04:31 right here revelation gives us the picture of 04:35 a great controversy it gives us a picture of this 04:39 conflict where it says that Michael and his angels fought against 04:43 the dragon and his angels and what revelation is 04:48 telling is really the shocking truth that at one point 04:51 Satan was a faithful angel in the courts of heaven 04:56 do you realize that. Revelation tells us taht he was 05:00 once a mighty cherubim who loved God who honored 05:04 God who was willing to follow the principles of God 05:08 but the Bible also tells us that at some point 05:12 in his existence Satan lost his love for his 05:16 Creator It came to the point where 05:20 he began to plant insidious seeds in the minds of the 05:24 other angels that God is not love that God 05:28 cannot be trusted that Holy angels should not have 05:32 to follow God's principles they should not be subjecty to God's lawes 05:36 holy angels should be able to rule themselves and over a period 05:40 of time which the bible does not say how much time he 05:44 continued to plant these seeds of deception until it eventually 05:48 broke out in a full scale rebellion that a 05:52 portion of the angels actually sided with Satan and 05:56 tried to take over the throne of God and when 06:00 that happened revelation tells us that God was 06:04 basically forced to cast out Satan and his angels 06:08 and he became a fallen angel and he was cast where? 06:13 to this earth. 06:17 you see it is actually a sad story to realize that sin 06:21 came into existence because one loving 06:25 angels or rather one unfaithful angel rebelled 06:29 against his loving creator 06:33 but when you think about it the same rebellion that he instigated in the courts 06:37 of heaven he has now brought to this earth becasue 06:41 he plants the same insidious seeds in our minds 06:45 in mankind that God is not love that God cannot 06:49 be trusted that mankind is too sophisticated 06:53 we need not be subject to the principles and the commandments of God 06:57 and as a result we have all kinds of woe 07:01 and heartache and sorrow right here on this earth beacsue think about it 07:05 when some of the angels in heaven pulled away from the principals of 07:09 God's word did it bring pain yes or no 07:13 indeed and so here on this earth the more 07:17 the devil pulls us away from the principles of happiness 07:21 contained in the bible the more suffereing we begin to see 07:25 on the face of the earth that is the great controversy which 07:29 revelation begins to talk about. But you know 07:33 revelation is not the only book in the bible that gives us a glimpse 07:37 into this rebellion I wanna go all the way back 07:41 to the old testament because God gave some of his old 07:45 testament prophets a bigger window into this 07:49 controversy. Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 14:12-14 07:53 Isaiah Chapter 14 and I want to start reading in verse 12 07:57 You want to go Isaiah chapter 14 08:02 and what you are going to read here rather interesting 08:06 God actually gave Isaiah 08:10 a picture into what was going on 08:14 in the heart of Satan when he rebelled the Bible 08:18 is actully going to reveal his inter most thoughts 08:22 Isaiah Chapter 14 and verse 12 08:26 The Bible says, how 08:30 you are fallen, from where? 08:34 heaven oh Lucifer son of the morning how you are 08:38 cut down to the ground you who weaken the nations 08:42 for you have said in your heart I will ascend into 08:46 heaven I will exalt my throne above the 08:50 stars of God I will also sit on the mount 08:54 of the congregation on the farthest signs of the north I will 08:58 ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like 09:02 the most high. I'm gonna pause there 09:06 for a second here in Isaiah we are 09:10 told that the devil's name in heaven was actually what? Lucifer 09:14 now see, Lucifer simply 09:18 means daystar which indicates to us that 09:22 he was a glorious a beautiful and a mighty angel 09:26 that God had actually given him power and authority 09:30 over a portion of the angels but you see 09:34 Lucifer has now become synonomous with evil 09:38 because Lucifer is a fallen angel 09:42 and really that influences our world even today because when you think about it 09:46 if you have ever watched a science fiction movie 09:50 many times, they tend to give the most villanous character 09:54 in the film. What do you think? they call him Lucifer. 09:58 When is the last time you saw a mother who has just given birth 10:02 to a baby lay that baby on her bosom and look to the nurse 10:06 and say you know I'm gonna call him Lucifer 10:10 that never happens, I'mm sure its happened somewhere but it is very rare 10:14 becasue even today Ludifer in synonymous with evil 10:18 in fact I'll give you anotehr example of how the Bible influences the 10:22 modern world let us take a girls name what girls that comes 10:26 from the Bible that mothers nver name daughters? 10:30 you got it Jezebel because that has become synonymous with evil 10:34 as well so here you have Lucifer now 10:38 a fallen being leading a rebellion against his creator 10:42 and Isaiah shows us what he was thinking 10:46 in his heart taht he will ascend into heaven 10:50 that he will exalt his throne above God's 10:54 in that he says I will be like the Most High 10:58 and he was willing to do anything 11:02 to get the trhone of Heaven and that included 11:06 instigatinga full scale rebellion 11:10 against God. That is a very sad story 11:14 when you think about it. An angel. Lucifer 11:18 who was given probably everything 11:22 an angel could want. Honor and glory 11:26 living in perfect paradise in teh courts of heaven and for 11:30 whatever reason it just wasnt enough and when he 11:34 rebelled, he was cast out of heaven 11:38 along with those angels that chose to follow him 11:42 and he continues to bring that rebellion upon us taht we 11:50 can be our own God that 11:54 we dont have to be subject to a higher auithority or 11:58 to a creator and as he continues to lead us away from God 12:02 we become separated from him becasue sin 12:06 separates us from God just like sin separated the fallen 12:10 angels who decided to follow lucifer. 12:14 but you know Isaiah is not the only old testament 12:18 prophet that was given a glimpse into this conflict. 12:22 i wanna take you somewhere else you'll find that revelation actually takes 12:26 us all throughout the different books of the Bible I want us to go to the book of Ezekiel 12:30 now this one I already have written on the screen for you 12:34 because it brings up some very important points here it is Ezekial 28 12:38 verses 13-16 12:42 Because this is going to answer the question did God 12:47 create the devil. Ezekial 12:51 28:13 12:55 This is God speaking to Lucifer. 13:39 Now Im gonna go back to something written int he middle of that passage. notice the bible 13:43 says of Lucifer that he was a 13:47 created being. And that when he was created he was 13:51 what in all his ways. Perfect. 13:55 in all his ways until iniquity was found 13:59 in him. You see it is important to understand 14:03 God did not create the devil. God 14:07 did not create evil to be on the face of the earth 14:11 that was not part of his original plan. What God did 14:15 is he created a perfect loyal angel who 14:19 used his freedom of choice to rebel against God 14:23 and iniquity was found inside him because truthfully 14:27 where does sin begin. In the ehart 14:31 andthen from the heart we act out on it 14:35 Ezekial says that violence was found in lucifer from within 14:39 and eventually he acted out on it ina full scale 14:43 rebellion and when that happened God cast him 14:47 out of heaven and into this earth 14:51 but that leads us to a question that 14:55 many people ask. Does God 14:59 know the future yes or no. Does he know 15:03 the end from the beginning indeed he does so many wonder 15:07 if God knew that Lucifer was gonna turn 15:11 evil, if he knew Lucifer would rebel 15:15 and cause this heartache why did God 15:19 create him to begin with. How many people think that is a good question 15:23 can i see your hands. Sure it is anybody who maybe is 15:27 reading the Bible for the first time would be very apt to answer that question 15:31 or ask that question so this is where we have to understand 15:35 the concept of free will. You see God 15:39 did not create his angels nor does he create us 15:43 as robots who are forced and programmed to follow him 15:47 we have a choice because you 15:51 cannot developa love relationship with a robot 15:55 in order to develop a love relationship with a 15:59 being you create they must have the freedom to choose 16:03 to love you back let me give you an example lets take a husband and a wife 16:07 relationship. Now it may be there are some wives here 16:11 who may be thinking you know if I could just open my husbands 16:15 head and program his brain to think exactly 16:19 like I do and do waht I want him to do 16:23 we would have the perfect relationship and 16:27 conversely i suppose some men would also 16:31 say you know if I could program my wife to think like me and do what i want 16:35 then yes life would be perfect 16:39 on the outside that might seem 16:43 logical, but let me ask youa question 16:47 could you truly fall in love with each other 16:51 you could not because in order for a love relationship 16:55 to develop two people must have teh freedom 16:59 to love each toher back. If you are forced 17:03 to do it, it is not love 17:07 someone has the freedom to choose there is always the risk 17:11 that they mauy not choose to love oyu back 17:15 probably all of us have faced that pain inaour life weather it is a dating relationship 17:19 that broke up or a marriage that broke up 17:23 and that is a very very painful experience 17:27 see God knew that if he creates us with the freedom to choose 17:31 there is the risk that we might cause Him pain 17:35 by choosing not to love him 17:39 back. But God takes that risk becasue he loves 17:43 us enought o give us liberty and the ability to choose 17:47 all of us are created with the desire for freedom 17:51 and liberty in fact there are many citizens of countries 17:55 around the world crying out for that same liberty 17:59 even our forefathers wrote that liberty is an 18:03 inalienable right something that God put inside of us 18:07 and they were right about htat. God gives us a free 18:11 will. But we can go farther than that. 18:15 Yous ay well ic an understand why 18:19 God gave them the freedom toc hoose but what about 18:23 this question. A quwestion that somebody is bound to ask one 18:27 once satan was given the freedom to choose whether or not he rebelled, once 18:31 he made that choice why didn't God just destroy him when he rebelled 18:35 couldn't you see someone reading the Bible and in revelation 18:39 it says that Lucifer rebelled against God and he was cast out of heaven 18:43 and where was he cast? To this earth. Could you see someone 18:47 asking the question, God! WHy did you send him down here 18:51 why did you give hima chance to bring woa 18:55 woe to this earth why ddin't you just destroy him why 18:59 didnt you give a lightning bolt and blot him out of existence? You know 19:03 according to human thinking that would sound like a logical idea 19:07 but there is two reasons at least that God 19:11 did not do that. One has to do with 19:15 fear. Now think about it 19:19 i want you to picture the angels here. Lucifer has told them 19:23 that his way is better thanGod's so as soon as Lucifer 19:27 questions God and steps out of line boom God kills him 19:31 and blots him out of existence imagine in your mind the conversation 19:35 the otehr angels would have had. boy did you see what happened to Lucifer> 19:39 as soon as he stepped out of line God killed him. Boy we 19:43 better tow the line or God may kill us too. 19:47 And the angels would have began to serve God 19:51 out of fear becasue they were afraid not to 19:55 and you see when you have a relationship of fear 19:59 that is not something God wants with his creation 20:03 the Bible says perfect love casts out 20:07 all fear so to have a love relationship, 20:11 fear cannot be involved 20:15 in this earth we would call a relationship of fear a dysfunctional relationship 20:19 you know a psychological term. I'll give you an illustratuion 20:23 unfortunately all of us have probably seen 20:27 or heard about a woman who was being abused 20:31 by her husband and 20:35 for whatever reason continues to go back over and over and over again 20:39 because she is afraid she is afraid that if she leaves 20:43 that he will do worse to her or that he may 20:47 find her children and so she stays with him 20:51 not because shes in love with him but because 20:55 it is an enslaving relationship of fear 20:59 we would call that dysfunctional. That is not the kind of relationship God 21:03 wants with his angelic beings or with the human beings 21:07 that he created. He wants free choice 21:11 he wants a relationship of love and so taht 21:15 the angels would not fear him he did not destroy Satan on the spot 21:19 second reason think this through 21:23 Satan claimed that his program was better than God's 21:27 did the angels know what Satan's program was had 21:31 they ever seent he rpogram of sin carried out anywhere 21:35 not really all they had known was the perfect 21:39 paradise that God had given them surrounded with 21:43 unutterable love that should have been enough 21:47 for them. But in order to be fair this is basically what 21:51 God does. He says alright i will give lucifer a chance 21:55 i will send you downt ot he earth 21:59 and if and only if the people allow you i will allow you 22:03 to carry out your program. I wil lallow human beings 22:07 and the universe to see what sin is and when time is all said 22:11 and done and i will let them choose who they want to follow 22:15 but see there is catch to that. The only 22:19 way Lucifer, Satan would be allowed to carry out his 22:23 program on this earth is if human beings opened the door 22:28 human beigns had to choose to follow Satan 22:32 way and to see his program and so now 22:36 when you go back to the book of Genesis you begin to see the 22:39 fall of Adam and Eve which opened the window 22:44 for Satan to bring his rebellion to this planet. 22:48 let's go back now we started in revelation so where are we going right now 22:52 Genesis. In Genesis we started int eh last book of the bible now we are in the 22:56 first book of the Bible becasue the great controversy' 23:00 is cahnging playing fields now it started 23:04 in the courts of heaven now it is coming down to planet earth 23:08 and into our hearts and minds so lets go back to Genesis 23:12 3 and lets notice how sin came into 23:16 this plabnet. Genesis 3 23:20 verse 1-6 23:24 Genesis 3:1-6 23:32 The Bible says, 23:36 now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord 23:40 God had made and he said tot he woman 23:44 has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the 23:48 garden? And the woman said we may eat 23:52 the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the 23:56 tree which is in themidst of the garden, God has said you shall 24:00 not eat it nor shall you touch it lest 24:04 you die. Now was God clear there 24:08 was there any mistaking what he said. don't eat it, don't touch it 24:12 or you will die. verse 4. Then the serpent 24:16 said to the woman you will not surely die 24:20 the first lie ever told on the face of the earth 24:24 for God knows that in the day that you eat of it your eyes 24:28 will be opened and you will 24:32 be like God. Knowing good and evil 24:36 so whent he woman saw taht the tree 24:40 was good for food, taht it was pleasant to the eys 24:44 and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate 24:48 and she also gave to her husband with her 24:52 and he ate. Now we have to stop right here 24:56 there are so many lessons pictured 25:00 in that passage that we often skip over them too fast 25:04 Here now the devil apparently 25:08 changes himsel finto a serpent and 25:12 he plants himself right beside the tree of knowledge of good and evil 25:16 the one tree that God said they should not 25:20 go near now there is a principle there God didn't 25:24 allow him to roam all the other parts of 25:28 the garden trying to find adam and eve he 25:32 was apparently limited to that one area where God had told adam 25:36 and eve they are not to go. Se ehow 25:40 fair and just God is. He didnt just throw satan to adam and eve 25:44 he was restricted to that part 25:48 of the garden adn genesis leads us to believe that somehow 25:52 eve finds herself near that forbidden 25:56 tree and as she nears it 26:00 she notices the serpent in its branches adn teh serpent 26:04 begins to talk to her now ive gotta stop right there 26:08 i can tell you that would not have worked 26:12 with my wife becasue as soon as she wouldve seen that snake she wouldve been out the door you know 26:16 running away she would not even have waited for the thing to speak so they 26:20 she wouldve had to been tempted another way am i right honey yes or no 26:24 absolutely. Now if it was me i guess none of us know 26:28 what we would do but ic an tell you if i saw a snake and that thing 26:32 started speaking to me i wouldnt be waiting around to see what it said 26:36 but Eve listened and he says to her 26:40 has God said you cant eat of any of the trees? 26:44 now did God sayt hat? He did not. God did not 26:48 say you cant eat any of them he said you can have all of them except 26:52 the one in the middle. You see 26:56 how the devil is already trying to twist God's word 27:00 and confuse Eve, and then finally Eve said 27:04 to him, this was her mistake. She stood there and had a conversation with 27:08 the devil when temptation comes our way God says 27:12 run pray get away from it dont even 27:16 put ourselves in a position where we can be tempted 27:20 now there are sometimes when we may not have control over that 27:24 when things happen at work we cant stop what people do 27:28 but within our power God tells us not to 27:32 purposely put ourselves ina position where we know 27:36 that weak human nature is going to be tempted 27:40 now she begins to reason witht he devil which is always a very 27:44 bad idea. And she says oh no god says we 27:48 can eat of all the tress just not the one int he middle. God says when we eat of it we die 27:52 it will bring death into this world. And teh devil 27:56 comes right back and says you will not 28:00 surely die. And i want you to notice 28:04 what he says next becomes very important there is someting here 28:08 that is directly ties to revelationa nd isaiah 28:12 he says 28:16 God knows 28:20 in the day you eat of this fruit, your eyes will be open 28:24 you will have special knowledge 28:31 you will be like God. in other words he is insinuating 28:35 God is withholding something good from you 28:39 why this tree the fruit in this tree is something that is good 28:43 it is something desirable if you eat of it you'll know good and evil 28:47 youll have a higher knowledge that you have now! 28:51 you will be like God who was it that isaiah 28:56 said wanted to be like God? Lucifer. 29:00 and he is now putting the same thought in the mind 29:04 of human beings and when eve 29:08 took of tht fruit and ate it and ave it to her husband 29:12 that opened the door. That gave 29:16 permission to Satan to begin to carry out 29:20 his program of sin on this earth 29:24 and from that moment on, every 29:28 person that was born into this world after Adam and Ever 29:32 is born with sin all 29:36 ready in them. Do you understand that? 29:40 You see traditionally we think sin is only bad things we do 29:44 well that is part but it is like a disease we are all 29:48 born with like a cancer inside of us 29:52 you see that sin means we are born with a tendency 29:56 to do whats wrong it is easier for me to do wrong 30:01 than it is for me to do right when I am left on my own 30:05 sinful human nature now to give an example of that Im 30:09 always safe to use myself. Lets suppose that I am putting siding 30:13 on my house. And I am outside nailing it together 30:17 etc and low and behold im not paying attention, the hammer slips 30:21 boom i hit my finger and automaticallt in less 30:25 than half a second maybe something comes out of my mouth 30:29 that shouldnt come out of the mouth of a christian the curse word 30:33 flys and I am mortified i cant believe that i said that 30:37 because I actually have to think about doing right 30:41 the word came out quickly nad naturally becasue 30:45 it is part of my nature it is easier for us to do wrong 30:49 than it is to do right I'll give you 30:53 another example we could even use children for this actually im gonna use 30:57 my two little girls. I have two little girls. 9 and 6. Sweetest cutest 31:01 things youd ever imagine but let me ask you a question do you think 31:05 I have to teach my two girls how to fight with each other 31:09 i dont have to teach them that they do it automatically 31:13 it is in thei rnature and not just my children 31:17 all children because they have the same human nature iactually have to 31:21 teach them how not to fight do you think 31:25 you have to teach your children how to be selfish and hoard their toys 31:29 do you have to teach them that come on now youre not being honest 31:33 no they do that automatically 31:37 it is part of this tendency towards evil 31:41 that we were born with ever since sin came into this world 31:45 you can read about this it is actually in the book of romans 31:49 Romans 3:23 says, 31:53 for all have sinned and fall short of the 31:57 glory of God no whow many people here believe 32:01 the bible can i see your hands howmany people does it say sin 32:05 All. Does that leave any one out. No human 32:09 being. All of us are already born with sin 32:13 inside of us. But then it gets worse 32:17 the wages of sin according to Romans 6:23 is death 32:21 now lets just think this 32:25 through for a second so far do those two verses give us 32:29 good new yes or no that isnot good news. If all 32:33 of us are born with sin, some of us ahve sin inside of us 32:37 that we willeventually act out on and the Bible says teh result 32:41 of sin is death because that is what sin does it separates us from God 32:45 it means eventually we will die eternal death and be eternally separated 32:49 from Him. That is not good 32:53 that means from the time of Adam and Eve every human being would 32:57 be hopeless and unable to be saved 33:01 that is not what God wants 33:05 now pictur eGod's dilemma. man has 33:09 just sinned. Opened the door 33:13 to Satan's programming 33:17 God's law says the wages of sin is death. The sinner 33:21 must eventually die or sin would exist forever. 33:25 But God created man 33:29 God loved man. God 33:33 doesnt want man to have to die 33:37 so how does God get rid of sin 33:41 but save man who is a sinner at the 33:45 same time 33:49 and that is where prophecy introduces to us 33:53 what the Bible calls the gloriuous plan 33:57 of salvation. I want you to read with me John 3:16 34:01 if oyu would. the Bible says, for God 34:05 so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 34:09 son. That whosoever believeth in Him 34:13 should not perish but have everlasting life 34:17 see what God did 34:21 is Jesus took the form of a human being 34:25 that he would lead the perfection of heaven 34:29 a place where all anbgels bow to him 34:33 in adoration that he would come down here 34:37 and take our nature that he would walk this earth 34:41 for 33 and a half years, this chaotic 34:45 sin ridden earth and allow himself to be nailed to a cross 34:49 that he would pay that death penalty for us 34:54 and when we accept him as savior he would allow his righteous 34:57 life to count for you and for me 35:02 see that is what the Bible calls the plan of slavation which had been formulated 35:05 from the foundation of the world. 35:10 Do you realize the Bible tells us that God the father 35:14 and God that son and the Holy Spirit 35:18 had already formed the plan of slavation before Lucifer 35:22 ever rebelled.They had a plan 35:26 already made in their minds that if men or if angels 35:30 would use their free will to rebel against him 35:34 that Jesus would be the one who would come 35:38 and pay the death penalty for us 35:42 God will not change the wages of sin 35:46 so God himself ocme sint he form of jesus 35:50 to pay that death penalty so you realize what that means 35:54 Jesus is the answer can you say amen he took 35:58 the blame for our sins he is the one that offers 36:02 forgiveness he allows his perfect life to count for us 36:06 so that when someone accepts christ as their savior 36:10 their unrighteous life, their filthy rags as teh Bible 36:14 says was laid on Jesus on the cross that 36:18 he was stricken because our sins 36:22 he took the blame. 36:26 Think somethign trhough. How many fo you ahve ever experiences 36:30 guilt when you know you did something wrong 36:34 how does guilt feel. Lousy doesnt it 36:39 let me ask you something some people can barely 36:43 their own guilt for wrong choices they have made 36:47 do you realize when Jesus died on 36:51 the cross fo calvary, he was 36:55 bearing the guilt and responsibility 36:59 of every single sin 37:03 that would ever be comitted on the face of this earth 37:07 for thousands of years by billions 37:11 and billions of people. he 37:15 felt as though he was the one that committed all the sins 37:19 the murders the robberies. See, Jesus didnt just 37:23 simply die because he hung on a cross thats part of it tats 37:27 why the Bible alludes to the fact that he died form a broken heart he felt 37:31 that separation from God because he was bearing the guilt 37:35 of the world an awful feeling of guilt we can't even begin 37:39 to understand that is why in the garden of gethsemony Jesus said Father 37:43 if possible let this cup pass from me 37:47 he was already feeling that guilt 37:51 Jesus did that fro you he took your guilt 37:55 so that you could take his righteousness and that you could 37:59 be saved can yousay amen so here is what I wanna do 38:03 in our time remaining tonight. We understand 38:07 the great controversy we understand the war between 38:11 good and evil and how sin came to the world which by the way 38:15 this is also why God does not stop every bad thing from happening 38:19 see we sometimes wonder, God it isnt fair 38:23 good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to 38:27 good people why God 38:31 it is part of the great controversy 38:35 if God stopped every evil thing from happening in this world 38:39 we would never get a true picture of what sin really is 38:43 we would never get a true picture of how much 38:47 we need slavation and how much we need christ 38:51 crucified so even though it breaks God's heart 38:55 to see the tragedies and atrocities 38:59 that happen on this earth the majority of the time God does not stop 39:03 it form happening but he does promise that in the end 39:07 when he comes all wrongs will be made right 39:11 he is allowing us to see what sin is 39:15 so that we will choose to follow him and to gain eternal 39:19 life. And so now here is the question 39:23 how do i accept Jesus as my savior 39:27 you say why should you cover this ina prophecy seminar 39:31 sometimes we think this is not a prophetic subject 39:35 but i wanna ask you a question what is the purpose of the book of revelation 39:39 is the purpose to educate 39:43 us about antichrist and the mark of the beast? oh we 39:49 might say that is a secondary purpose but what is the main purpose 39:53 to lead us toa saving relationship with Jesus Christ 39:57 that is what all prophecy is meant to do to point 40:01 us to Jesus not to antichrist 40:05 not to mark of the beast yes we'll study those things but prophecy points us 40:09 to the cross so for me i feele that it would be un 40:13 contionable for me to spend a few weeks going through 40:17 20 some topics in the bible 40:21 and never once explain how do I accept Jesus Christ 40:25 as my savior that is what i wanna do 40:29 in our time remaining see many poeple ask the question 40:33 what do i do to accept Jesus 40:37 am i supposed to say a few magic words? 40:41 if I just go tochurch and sit ina pew does that mean he is my savior? 40:45 do i have to come forward ina na altar calla nd do something 40:49 how do I accept him as my savior you will be amazed 40:53 how many people do not know the answer to that question and just 40:58 assume because they sit in a pew and listen to sermons that they 41:02 have accepted him so what i would like to do is 41:06 take you through the three steps of accepting christ 41:10 as your savior because in every meeting that ive done 41:14 almost always there is at least one person who realizes i have never accepted 41:18 Him as my savior and chooses to do so 41:22 on that night. for some this may be a review to help us recommit our 41:26 life to Jesus but i dont feel i can go any farther in revelation 41:30 until we talk about how i invite Jesus into 41:34 my life. SO i would like to share with you the three steps 41:38 Step 1. Repentance 41:42 now the order is not what is important there may be a different order 41:46 in these three steps God works with people in different ways but yous ee repentance 41:50 is when I experience a sorrow for sin 41:54 that i am desiring something better thanwhat i have 41:58 now we talked about this in our question and answer 42:02 period. That i am going down a path where I am not following 42:06 God his principles arent in my life and so those choices 42:10 are bringing me pain and heartache and I want something 42:14 better than what I have now. That is God's 42:18 holy spirit trying to reach us and give us the 42:22 gift of repentance notice what is says in John 6:44 42:26 on the screen. Jesus spoke these words 42:38 now this reminds me of a story 42:42 there was a man going to a set of revivals 42:46 much like this and he went ot the preacher 42:50 because one night the preacher used this very verse that 42:54 talked about the father drawing people and the man was intrigued by it 42:58 so he went to the preacher after that meeting and he said preacher you read that verse 43:02 from John 6:44 let me ask youa question when i come home 43:06 from work each night i am so dog tired 43:10 i just wanna sit in my chair, order a pizza, and 43:14 rest and relax and watch TV the rest of the night i dont wanna go out 43:18 anywhere but there is something deep inside of me 43:22 that says you ought to go to that meeting tonight. 43:26 there is something good waiting for you there you need to go and open up the word 43:30 of God and even though I am so utterly exhausted 43:34 something pulls me out of that chair to cme to that meeting 43:38 preacher is that like what Jesus said, is that God drawing me 43:42 and the preacher said yes sir it is that is God trying 43:46 to draw you to something better 43:50 see i believe that is what is happening to everybody who is here tongiht 43:54 God is drawing you i mean im no fool lets be honest it is friday night 43:58 it is not like there is nothing else you could be doing int his world right 44:02 i mean you could be going to a restaurant you could be home watching TV you could be 44:06 cleaning the house although i dontknow anybody taht particularly likes cleaning the house but there is a 100 other 44:10 things you could be doing its not like you arent busy 44:14 but for some reason the holy spirit has drawn you 44:18 and you have responded to dedicate an hour or an hour and a half of your time 44:22 to come and open up th word of God becasue you want something better 44:26 believe me it is not your human nature drawing you 44:30 here tonight that is God's holy spiit drawing you 44:34 to Jesus wanting to give you that something better 44:38 can you say amen so when you begin to experience that 44:42 is God trying to reach a person 44:46 but then comes step 2 becasue not everybody 44:50 responds to the desire for smething better 44:54 step 2 is then confession this is where 44:58 I admit that i ama sinner i recognize 45:02 that i have sinned in my life and I need a savior and I actually 45:06 take the step of in prayer asking 45:10 Jesus christ into my life ro forgive me cleanse me of sin 45:14 and become my savior i cant just sit there 45:18 adn assume it i must ask him and give him 45:22 permission to do so Jesus will not force his way 45:26 into our lives that is where the Bible compares 45:30 our relationship with God as marrying him 45:34 think about it when I met Marquita and asked her to marryme 45:38 in collegedale tennessee or technically we were in 45:42 Chatanooga it was thanksgiving time 45:46 it was a year after we graduate we were going down to visit her family for thanksgiving 45:50 and we had gone to one of the special parks we had gone to 45:54 and had a pier over one of the lakes we had gone there many many times 45:58 in fact i can remmeber that 46:02 i had decided long before we ever left home that i was gonna ask 46:06 her to marry me over thanksgiving so 46:10 we were sitting there 46:14 on the pier and she has a different version of the story 46:18 but she is not speaking so youll hear my version you can ask 46:22 her about hers later she says taht I 46:26 just pussyfooted around before i ever asked the question and took about an hour 46:30 before i would get the wordsout of my mouth i dont quite remember it that way 46:34 but that is what happened but eventually i got down on my knees 46:38 and i said marquita i love you would you marry me 46:42 would it have been a good idea for me to go ahead 46:46 and rent a hall and send invitations before i even 46:50 asked her to marry me would that be good idea? 46:54 probably not now i could have gone on faith im pretty sure she would have said yes 46:58 but oyu ought to ask the person first it is the same 47:02 with Jesus i must ask Him to be my savior 47:06 he already wants to but ive got to invite Him in 47:10 in fact in 1 John 1:9 47:14 he gives us this promise. 1 John 1:9 says 47:22 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to 47:30 think about the promise that says 47:34 he is guaranteeing us that if we ask 47:38 him to be our savior if we confess that we are a sinner who needs forgiveness 47:43 it says if he is faithful he will wipe our 47:47 slate clean he will cleanse us from all unrighteousness 47:51 because he takes the unrighteousness away from our record book 47:55 and he gives us his righteousness 47:59 now i have to tell you a story connected to this 48:03 i have a preacher friend who was 48:07 once invited to go to a christian school 48:11 and speak for their week of prayer 48:15 when they have chapel services during a spiritual week of emphasis 48:19 and so while he was there the officials came to him and said listen 48:23 we had one of the trouble makers 48:27 and would you have a counseling session with him so the preacher 48:31 friend said id love to. i love bad boys i used to be one 48:35 and os they put him in this roomand this kid just 48:39 walks into the room and you could see attitue written all over his face. 48:43 big chip on his shoulder so he goes and he 48:47 asked the preacher let me ask you a question 48:51 does God see and hear everything we do and the preacher knew 48:55 this was a trick he was being led into something but he had to answer it honestly 48:59 and what is the answer? yes 49:03 so the kid says 49:07 in chapel today you said we have to go confess our sins to God 49:11 well if he sees and hears everything i do why do i gotta go tell him 49:15 about it if he knows you think that is a goodquestion? 49:19 i do. You ever think about the answer 49:23 if God sees and hears everything we do 49:27 he knows we're a sinner why do i have to confess 49:31 which he knows about 49:35 lets illustrate it this way 49:39 lets suppose ill use Mark since hes on the front row 49:43 lets suppose after the meeting tonight im out there int he lobby shaking hands and greeting people 49:47 and as mark walks by the devil puts a dirty thought in my mind 49:51 and I decide to stick out my foot and trip him 49:55 and he falls on his face and i laugh and say oh mark is 49:59 such a dunce he cant even balance and stay on his feet hahaha 50:03 and Mark being the good chrisitian is gonna get up and dust himself 50:07 off turn the other cheek and walk away 50:11 later that night before i go to bed Marquita gets ahold of me 50:15 she says David 50:19 why did you do tht 50:23 to Mark? You tripped him, made fun of him, 50:27 you embarassed him that was an awful thing to do 50:31 and now i am feeling guilty. and i think 50:35 oh honey youre so right ic ant believe i did that in front of all those people 50:39 what kind of an example am i oh what a horrible thing and that 50:43 night i cant sleep the next morning i cant eat my breakfast i 50:47 cant wait for a meeting that night to apologize to mark 50:51 I say mark im so sorry the other night 50:55 i tripped you, you fell, i laughed, amde fun 50:59 mark would you forgive me 51:07 now let me ask you a question 51:11 when i go to mark and tell him 51:15 am i telling him something he doesnt lready know? 51:19 if anybody knows what i did its mark 51:23 but i confess becasue it is restoring my relationship 51:27 with mark and it is relieving me of my load of guilt 51:31 that is why we confess our sins to God 51:35 it is restoring our relationship with him it is allowing 51:39 Jesus tot ake that load of guilt off of our backs 51:43 that is why confession is important 51:47 it is not telling God what he doesnt know he already knows that it allows us 51:51 to reconnect with him and God tells 51:55 me i can go directly to Jesus to confess 51:59 my sins according to 1 John 1:9 52:03 but then theres step 3 52:07 may times we stop after the first 2 and have the impression 52:11 oh well i just speak words and now i confess 52:15 and live like the devil but god wants more 52:19 he doesnt want to leave us alone at the moment 52:23 we accept him he wants to move on to the third step 52:27 conversion where the holy spirit 52:31 no wbeigns to cahnge us and takes 52:35 the bad and turn it into good 52:39 change the way i think change my speech 52:43 and that doestn happen ina day does it 52:47 now we can be saved ina moment we can accept Jesus as our savior in one moment 52:51 genuinelty and truly but being changed and confronted 52:55 happens over time doesnt it 52:59 when i give my life to Jesus does that mean my nature changes 53:03 or that i will never be tempted or never fall again in fact 53:07 it is quite likely the devil will work harder than ever before 53:11 and so now the spirit does a work of conversion 53:15 and transformation taht is why Jesus said in Matthew 27 53:19 26:41 53:35 You know what watch and pray simply trtranslate 53:39 it means spending time with jesus 53:43 in Bible study and prayer 53:47 paying attention to one spsiritual 53:52 life. You see the best way I can open 53:56 my heart to the holy psirit to do this work of transformation 54:00 is by spending time in the bible every single day 54:04 setting aside those thirty minutes where i read God's 54:08 love letter to me i let my 54:12 heart be immersed in Hima nd change 54:16 who i am and through prayer 54:20 i share my life with God one christian 54:24 writer said prayer is like opening your heart to God 54:28 as you would ot a friend. Not about facny 54:32 and special words it is about being who you are and speaking toGod 54:36 does he care about the little insignificant things yes or no 54:40 indeeed he cares aout the sparrow that falls 54:44 he cares about you and me 54:48 i can talk to him about the thigns i talk to afriend about 54:52 becasu ehe is my best friend you see in the bible 54:56 God speaks 55:00 to me and in prayer i speak to him and as i spend time wit him 55:08 the hoyl spirit changes me 55:12 and he converts me 55:16 to be more like Jesus as time passes 55:20 You say how fast? 55:24 well i gues sit depends on how completely we're willing to submit 55:28 and surrender to God see we all have low point sin out 55:32 experience we all go through valleys 55:36 sometimes fast or sometimes slow but 55:40 the wodnerful thign is Jesus says i will never leave you 55:44 i wil never forsake you infact jhe 55:48 gives us this promise. 55:56 maybe youre thinking 56:00 i need to accpet Jesus 56:04 i have never actualyl prayed that prayer 56:08 maybe there are people her ewho wanna say 56:12 you know i jusrt need to rededicate my life to christ 56:16 i wanna invite you to take out 56:21 than the usual cards 56:25 this is special and says revelations 56:29 king. There are soem in english, some in russian 56:33 becasue we have some russian speaking folks with us in this semianr 56:37 now if oyu do not have this card that says revelations king 56:41 i invite you to raise your hand andushers will get you one |
Revised 2015-10-21