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Series Code: RAD
Program Code: RAD170006A
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00:01 What does the future hold?
00:02 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty? 00:05 The book of Revelation provides hopeful answers for today, 00:09 tomorrow, and forever. 00:11 Join Mark Finley, author, and world renowned speaker on a 00:15 journey into the future with 00:21 We're back again for another study on the book of Revelation. 00:25 Revelation unmasks the plans of Satan, and reveals the plans 00:30 of God in these last days of earth's history. 00:33 Understanding Revelation is crucial for every believer, 00:37 every Christian, in fact for everybody in the world. 00:39 So as we enter into this important topic today, 00:42 let's bow our heads to pray. 00:43 Father in Heaven, reveal to us the truths of Your Word. 00:48 Help us to see clearly the majesty, the beauty of 00:52 Christ as we study. 00:54 And as we look tonight at the great power of Jesus to change 00:59 lives in Revelation, give us hope and confidence. 01:02 We pray in Christ's name, Amen. 01:04 Our topic for this presentation is titled, 01:11 And let's begin by going on a journey. 01:14 We're traveling to the island of Patmos. 01:17 Patmos is in the Aegean Sea. 01:20 There are really two ways to get to Patmos. 01:23 You can travel from Greece. and if you travel from Greece, 01:25 And if you travel from Greece, it will take you 01:28 overnight on a boat. 01:30 The journey might be a little rough on the sea, 01:34 so I much prefer going from Turkey. 01:37 From Turkey you travel from a little 01:39 port city called Kusadasi. 01:42 I've made that trip many a time, and it's about 01:45 a two hour journey. 01:47 Traveling from Kusadasi you often will see the beauties 01:53 of nature, because the sea is very tranquil, very peaceful. 01:56 It's just an absolute magnificent journey. 01:59 We're traveling to the island of Patmos to discover why early 02:04 Christians had such death defying faith. 02:07 We're traveling there because we want to explore what was the 02:12 depth of their commitment to Christ, and why they could face 02:15 such persecution, why they could face death, 02:19 and yet not yield their faith. 02:22 Let me give you a little background of Patmos. 02:24 Patmos is about nine miles long. 02:26 As you come into the port it becomes quite obvious that 02:30 the island is rocky. 02:31 It was a barren outcrop in the days of John, 02:36 when he was exiled there. 02:38 It's the end of the 1st Century and John is tried by the Pagan 02:44 Romanian Emperor Domitian. 02:45 Domitian claimed himself to be a god. 02:48 And because John refused to give him allegiance, obeisance, 02:52 because John refused to burn incense to the Caesars, 02:56 John was exiled on the island of Patmos. 02:59 It was there, during that exile, during that period of time after 03:05 being persecuted, after being threatened, after being beaten, 03:11 that John was sent there to the island of Patmos. 03:15 And what we're exploring in this program is, 03:19 what is it that gave these Christians that 03:23 living faith within? 03:25 Why didn't they compromise in the face of such oppression? 03:31 What enabled them to hold on? 03:33 While John was on the island of Patmos God revealed to him 03:38 the message from the book of Revelation. 03:41 While he was there the island was illuminated, 03:46 at least John's mind was, with the glory of God as he received 03:50 those visions in the book of Revelation. 03:53 John saw Jesus anew. 03:56 He saw Jesus afresh. 03:58 He was reminded again on that island of the Christ that he 04:02 walked with, the Christ that he talked with, the Christ that 04:06 worked so many miracles that John personally witnessed as 04:10 Jesus touched the eyes of the blind, and they were opened, 04:13 as Jesus ministered to the sick and the dying, 04:17 and John saw them healed. 04:19 He was reminded by that angel visitor who gave him the 04:23 vision of Revelation. 04:24 He was reminded of the majesty, the power, 04:28 the greatness of Christ. 04:30 John, on that island, began to carefully write down, 04:34 carefully chronicle this power of the Living Christ. 04:39 Because of what John saw in Christ's life when he walked 04:43 and talked with Him, because of what John experienced 04:47 in Christ's life, and because of the visions that God gave to 04:51 him in the book of Revelation, John's faith just soared. 04:55 The old man with the weather beaten face, with deeply etched 05:00 lines in his face, with graying hair, and trembling hand wrote 05:05 down that vision in the book of Revelation. John writes 05:20 John says, Are you facing trials? 05:23 Are you facing difficulties? 05:24 Are you facing challenges in your life? 05:27 I am your companion in tribulation. 05:30 And Christ has lit up my life, and He will 05:34 light up your life, too. 05:35 John isolated, John persecuted, John oppressed, John separated 05:43 from family and friends. 05:44 You would think the man would have been discouraged. 05:47 You'd think he would have been downhearted. 05:49 You'd think that he would have given up his faith. 05:51 You'd think he would have said, God, I've served You all my 05:53 life and where are You now? 05:55 But John knew something about Jesus. 05:58 He knew the promise of Christ in Matthew 28:20, where Jesus 06:03 said, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. 06:07 So when John writes, he writes, 06:25 John was there not because he was an unbeliever, 06:29 but because he was a believer. 06:32 But what gave him such death defying faith? 06:36 What was it that moved John to be so faithful to Christ 06:43 in the face of these circumstances? 06:45 John writes words of hope to to you and to me. 06:57 This is the message that John records about Jesus. 07:01 Jesus is speaking to John, and Jesus is speaking to you, 07:05 He's speaking to me in this passage. 07:17 And for John that made the difference. 07:20 For John that made all the difference. 07:22 Jesus was more than a good man. 07:24 Jesus was more than an ethical philosopher. 07:27 Jesus was more than a good religious teacher. 07:30 Jesus was more than simply a moral figure 07:34 in this earth's history. 07:35 Jesus never had a beginning. 07:38 He was the first and the last; alpha, the first letter 07:41 of the Greek alphabet, omega, the last letter. 07:45 Jesus says, I'm the First and the Last; 07:47 no beginning, no ending. 07:49 I've existed with the Father from eternity. 07:51 And He says, I was dead, but I'm alive forevermore. 07:57 See, that made all the difference. 07:58 If Christ is divine, if Christ is eternal then although our 08:04 earthly lives can be threatened, and taken from us, 08:08 Jesus indeed can give us life eternal. 08:12 And when John listened to the living Christ say to him, 08:21 That made all of the difference, because John knew that even if 08:25 his life were taken, even if he died, that eternal 08:30 life awaited for him. 08:33 John knew definitely that there was something beyond. 08:38 You see, if Jesus is resurrected from the dead, He is more than 08:43 human, He's divine. 08:45 If Jesus went into the grave and came out, if the resurrected 08:51 Christ came forth from the grave with new life, 08:56 He has power over the grave. 08:58 So therefore John and the believers down through the 09:02 century were willing to face death because they knew 09:07 that beyond death there was a new world waiting for them. 09:11 They knew that one day Christ would come, one day the dead 09:16 would be resurrected. 09:17 They knew that Jesus was divine. 09:27 If Jesus is really divine, if He's not simply a good man, 09:31 if He's not simply an ethical philosopher, if He's not simply 09:36 a good moral teacher, if Christ is everything that He claimed 09:40 to be, then His promise of eternal life is what 09:46 really matters in life. 09:49 You know, our lives come and they go. 09:53 I think about it in relation to my own life. 09:56 I've been preaching the gospel, standing on the great platforms 10:01 of the world now for more than fifty years; standing preaching 10:06 to tens of thousands of people, and I think how 10:08 quickly your life goes on. 10:11 You know, I was thinking about aging the other day, 10:14 and somebody said this to me: they said, You know you're 10:18 getting old if you bend over to tie your shoe and you say, 10:23 What else can I do when I'm down here? 10:25 You know you're getting old. 10:27 You know, I remember so often when I was young, 10:30 I used to speak really fast. 10:32 I've slowed down some bit. 10:33 And I would walk on the platform. 10:35 I mean really pace back and forth, and back and forth. 10:39 And in those years we didn't have microphones like this; 10:42 no accouterments at all. 10:44 When I started preaching we just had a microphone, 10:47 and it had one of these long cords on the back. 10:50 So I'd always take the microphone, 10:52 tie it around my neck... It was one of these large microphones. 10:55 ...stick the cord someplace back out of my suit, 10:59 and try to have the cord behind me so I didn't get my legs 11:02 all wrapped up in it. 11:04 And as I was walking along this cord is coming out of me like a 11:06 tail coming out of my backside. 11:08 And one night I was preaching, I was really excited. 11:11 I was young, and I was speaking really fast. 11:13 And this cord's coming out of my backside. 11:15 And a little kid on the front row turned to his mother. 11:18 He didn't know I heard him. 11:19 And he said, Hey, Mom, is that where they plug that guy in 11:22 to give him all the energy? 11:24 You know, sometimes now I wish I had one of those cords. 11:29 Aging is something that we all experience. 11:32 We live, and we die. 11:35 And unless Jesus comes every one of us are 11:39 headed to the grave. 11:40 We're headed to the grave where our bodies decay, 11:43 where bones are just left. 11:47 Is that all there is? 11:49 If Christ is not divine there is little hope over the grave; 11:53 there's little hope after death. 11:56 If Christ was not really resurrected from the dead, 11:59 if this living Christ who John believed in, who John gave his 12:05 life for, if He's just a good man, then the grave is a dark 12:10 hole in the ground, and death is a long 12:12 night without a morning. 12:14 But scripture is true. 12:23 If Jesus is divine, more than simply offering us eternal life, 12:27 as important and valuable as that is, 12:30 but if He's really divine, He can change our lives today. 12:34 He can make us new men and new women. 12:36 We can live again with this Christ. 12:45 Because Christ had changed his life, and he knew that the 12:49 promise of eternal life was real. 12:51 He knew that Christ could offer him eternal life. 12:55 Down through the ages, through Roman persecution, 13:00 through the persecutions of the past, Christians have faced 13:05 the stake, they have faced martyrdom, they've faced 13:10 the lions in the Coliseum, because they believed 13:16 that Christ was divine. 13:18 They knew that death was a little matter 13:21 because of the living Christ. 13:24 And in modern times many a Christian has been imprisoned. 13:29 Totalitarian states, authoritarian regimes have 13:34 imprisoned Christians, and they've experienced horrible, 13:38 unspeakable torture. 13:40 Why? Because they believed that Jesus was 13:44 more than a good man. 13:46 They believed that Jesus was more than an 13:48 ethical philosopher. 13:49 They believed that Jesus was more than a moral teacher. 13:53 They believed that Jesus Christ was divine. 13:57 You look at the Middle Ages, and you look at the 14:00 Waldensians who faithfully studied the Bible, 14:03 and when they were attacked by the armies of Rome, 14:05 many of their children were thrown over mountain cliffs; 14:09 dashed on the rocks below. 14:11 Hundreds, thousands, of these people were 14:13 destroyed mercilessly. 14:15 Why? Why would they hang on? 14:18 Why would they not give up their faith? 14:20 Because they believed in the reality of eternal life 14:25 that Jesus Christ could give them. 14:27 We see that down through the ages. 14:30 We see it through the scriptures, we see it in the 14:32 early centuries, we see it in the Middle Ages, 14:34 we see it now in our generation. 14:37 But what evidence did they have that Christ was divine? 14:41 Was their faith built merely on an emotional feeling within? 14:45 Was it based on some kind of an electrical impulse that goes up 14:50 and down the spine? 14:51 Their faith was based on something much 14:54 more solid than that. 14:56 Their faith was based on something that would last 15:00 and endure; not a warm, fuzzy feeling in their hearts. You see 15:09 And as the result of that, when you study scripture, 15:12 when you go from Genesis to Revelation, you find why John 15:18 and the other believers had such death defying faith. This book, 15:30 It sums up all the evidence down through scriptures 15:35 that Christ was who He claimed to be, and that His offer of 15:40 eternal life was real. 15:43 Let's go back and see some things that Jesus 15:46 said about Himself. We turn now to 15:58 Now notice what Jesus said about Himself. 16:01 He said, I lived with the Father in heaven. 16:04 I've come down from heaven. 16:06 Jesus claimed to be the Eternal Christ. Jesus said in 16:21 So all of Scripture testifies of who Jesus is. 16:26 They testify of His divinity. 16:28 They testify that He was more than a good man. 16:32 All of Scripture testifies that Christ was 16:35 the Divine Son of God. 16:36 Jesus claimed to be the great I Am. 16:40 He claimed to live with the Father in heaven forever. 16:43 Now let's look at this idea. 16:45 Let's probe this a little more. 16:48 Let's suppose, for our purpose of discussion, 16:52 that Christ was not divine. 16:53 For purpose of our discussion, let's suppose that Christ 16:56 was simply a good man. 16:58 Let's suppose, for our purpose of discussion, that Christ 17:01 was a moral teacher. 17:02 If that is true, and He claimed to be divine, He claimed to be 17:08 eternal, He claimed to be the Divine Son of God, 17:10 then you have one of only a couple of alternatives. 17:13 1. That Jesus could have been lying. 17:16 He said that He was the Divine Son of God. 17:19 If He was not, was He consciously lying? 17:22 How could you claim that and read Matthew 5, 6, and 7, 17:27 the Sermon on the Mount? 17:28 How could you claim that Jesus was lying and look at the moral, 17:32 ethical claims of Christ? 17:33 Even those people who deny His divinity say that His ethical 17:39 claims are some of the highest in the world. 17:42 I mean if your enemy slapped you on one cheek, turn the other. 17:45 Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. 17:49 If you look at the claims of Christ, and even atheists say 17:53 this is the highest moral ethic in the world. 17:55 But you can't have it both ways. 17:57 You can't say, Well, Jesus is a liar, and He has 17:59 this high moral ethic. 18:00 But then you could say, Well, maybe He wasn't telling 18:04 the truth, but He didn't know He wasn't telling the truth. 18:06 What do you call that? a person who's not telling the truth, 18:08 and they don't know it? 18:10 You'd call them a crazy person. 18:11 How could you ever say Christ is a crazy person? 18:13 I mean you look at the miracles that He wrought that are 18:16 recorded in scripture, you look at the statements that He made, 18:19 some of the most profound. 18:20 So if He's not lying, and He's not a crazy person, and He says 18:24 He comes down from heaven repeatedly, 18:26 and He says He's eternal, the only alternative is to study 18:29 the evidence, and see what the evidence says. 18:32 The only logical alternative is that Christ is all 18:35 that He claimed to be. 18:37 So let's explore that evidence, that evidence about Jesus, 18:41 that evidence in the Old Testament. 18:44 Remember what Jesus has said? 18:45 He said, Search the Scriptures for they are they that do what? 18:49 What do they do everybody? 18:51 They testify, Jesus said, of Me. 18:53 So let's look through the Old Testament and see how the 18:57 Scriptures of the Old Testament do testify of Jesus. 19:01 The prophecies of the Old Testament point out that 19:05 Jesus Christ was divine. 19:07 Many of these prophecies are very specific, 19:11 and they take you down through the ages of time. 19:15 These prophecies were given by the prophets of the 19:19 Old Testament hundreds, some of them thousands 19:23 of years in advance. 19:25 The first prophecy deals with 19:29 In fact Jesus' biography was written beforehand. 19:32 Most people's biography was written after they die, 19:36 or some write autobiographies while they're still alive. 19:39 But Jesus' biography, surprisingly enough, was not 19:42 written after He died, neither was His biography necessarily 19:47 written while He was still alive, but His biography was 19:51 written well in advance. 19:53 We see in the prophecies of the Old Testament the 20:03 of Christ and the events that surrounded it revealed ahead 20:07 of time, and we see the 20:09 revealed in advance. 20:11 All of these things were revealed hundreds, yes, 20:15 that's right, hundreds, and some of them thousands 20:19 of years in advance. 20:21 Let's begin with the birth place of Christ. 20:24 Micah 5:2. Micah makes this prediction 20:28 seven hundred years in advance. 20:31 And Micah says, 20:39 How did Micah know seven hundred years in advance that 20:44 Christ would be born in Bethlehem? 20:47 There's so many places that Jesus could have been born. 20:51 You remember the hometown of Jesus was not Bethlehem at all. 20:56 His hometown was Nazareth, and Nazareth is in the North 21:00 part of Israel in Galilee. 21:03 Bethlehem is more South in, or Central in Judea. 21:07 The journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem, and then on to 21:11 Bethlehem was 90 miles, or 150 kilometers. 21:15 Now let me ask you a question. 21:16 I want you to imagine Mary is nine months pregnant. 21:21 A decree goes out by Caesar Augustus that all the world 21:26 is going to be taxed. 21:27 Mary and Joseph travel on a donkey. 21:31 Now I'm not sure if the viewers of this telecast are going to 21:36 travel on a donkey if you're a woman, 21:39 and you're pregnant nine months. 21:41 Most American women, and most women around the world, 21:44 don't take donkey rides at 9 months pregnant for 90 miles. 21:50 But Mary and Joseph go on that journey, that arduous journey, 21:56 and they travel these 90 miles. 21:58 Why wasn't the baby born along the way? 22:03 Why wasn't the baby born in Jerusalem? 22:08 700 years before, Micah the prophet predicted of all the 22:14 thousands of cities in Judah, that Christ would be born in 22:21 one city, Bethlehem. 22:22 How could he pick out that one city? 22:25 The Bible is not a common book. 22:28 The prophets of the Bible write with divine insight. 22:31 And Jesus Christ is not a common man. 22:34 Mary and Joseph come to Bethlehem the exact night 22:38 of Jesus Christ's birth. 22:42 Miraculously, Christ is born exactly where the 22:46 Bible says He would be. 22:48 In the book of Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah the prophet makes another 22:54 prediction over 600 years before the birth of 22:57 Christ when he says: 23:08 Again, a virgin would conceive, and Immanuel means God with us. 23:14 How did Isaiah the prophet know that Jesus would 23:19 be born of a virgin? 23:21 Do you remember the experience in Matthew's gospel where it 23:28 discusses the angel coming to Mary? 23:31 Mary finds that she's pregnant. 23:34 Mary finds that she is with child. 23:37 She's troubled by that. 23:38 She's never been with man, and as a result of that she is 23:43 embarrassed, confused. 23:44 She doesn't know what's going on. 23:46 And the angel comes to her, explains to her that her 23:50 pregnancy is the result of a divine conception; 23:55 that the Holy Spirit conceives Christ in the womb of Mary. 24:00 And Jesus' birth was supernatural. 24:04 He, the Divine Son of God, unlike any human being, 24:10 born not naturally, but supernaturally. 24:14 Christ is more than a good man, more than an ethical 24:18 philosopher, but the Divine Son of God predicted. 24:21 You see, Christianity is not based on a whim. 24:25 Christianity is not based on a fancy. 24:27 Christianity is not based on some warm feeling. 24:30 Christianity is based on substance. 24:33 The prophecies of the Old Testament reveal very clearly 24:38 who Christ is: the Divine Son of the living God. 24:43 The angel comes to Mary, and the gospel of Luke records it 24:46 as well as Matthew. 24:57 Exactly in fulfillment to the prophecy of Isaiah made 700 25:03 years, or 600 and some odd years, almost 680 years before 25:09 we see the prophecies fulfilled with precision, with accuracy. 25:14 Now do you remember when Jesus is born 25:18 in Bethlehem, the angels sing 25:24 The angels salute His birth with song. 25:28 The angels sing praise and glory to the Divine Son of God, 25:33 coming forth from the womb of Mary in that humble 25:37 circumstance in Bethlehem. 25:40 Jesus, the Divine Son of God. 25:44 Now one of the oldest prophecies regarding the birth of Christ 25:47 comes from Numbers 24:17. 25:52 And Numbers says this: 26:01 Do you remember the story of the wise men 26:05 coming from the East? 26:07 One of their prophets had predicted that a star would be 26:13 in the sky leading them to the Messiah. 26:17 And as they read this prophecy, the star shall come out of 26:22 Jacob, the wise men sensed something unusual, 26:26 something supernatural. 26:27 They sensed that, indeed, the Messiah was to be born. 26:32 They followed that star until the bright luminous body 26:37 stayed in the heavens over Bethlehem. 26:41 And the wise men came to Bethlehem. 26:44 How did the Bible know hundreds of years in advance that a star 26:49 would guide the wise men? 26:50 How did the Bible know hundreds of years in advance that Jesus 26:53 would be born of a virgin? 26:55 How did the Bible know that hundreds of years in advance 26:58 that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem? 27:00 See, it's not one prophecy. 27:01 Prophecy after prophecy, prophecies that are really 27:05 precise, prophecies that are really accurate, prophecies that 27:12 are too specific to be given by guess work, or by accident. 27:19 These prophecies reveal who Jesus is. 27:23 Are you beginning to see, are you beginning to understand 27:27 why John, on the island of Patmos, 27:31 had such death defying faith? 27:33 Are you beginning to sense why he believed that Jesus 27:38 Christ was the Messiah? 27:39 He saw the fulfillment of these prophecies of the Old Testament. 27:43 He understood clearly who Jesus Christ was. 27:48 When we come to that understanding, that Christ is 27:52 divine, that He stands head and shoulders above 27:55 any earthly leader. 27:57 When we come to that understanding we fall at our 28:00 feet and worship Him like the wise men did. 28:03 We fall at our feet like these wise men did, who followed the 28:07 star, because wise men and wise women still come to 28:12 the Lord Jesus Christ. 28:13 They still kneel before Him and give Him their gifts, 28:17 the gifts of their worship, the gifts of their praise, 28:20 the gifts of their talents, the gifts of their lives, 28:24 because this Divine Christ invites us to come. 28:28 He says, Come unto Me all you that are burdened and heavy 28:31 laden and I will give you rest. 28:34 Now the prophecies of Isaiah not only predict that Jesus 28:37 would be born of a virgin, but the prophecies of Isaiah predict 28:41 the very ministry of Christ. 28:55 Just pause and think of that prophecy for one moment. 28:59 The prophecy which says, 29:05 Men and women poor in spirit, men and women discouraged 29:09 with the guilt and shame of their sin, men and women who 29:14 are poverty stricken, and longing for eternal life, 29:18 Jesus came and He preached good tidings, the good news that 29:22 through His grace, and by His power, 29:24 they could be saved in His kingdom. 29:26 The Bible says He came to preach good tidings to the poor. 29:29 He sent me to heal the broken hearted. 29:31 Think about that woman at the well, that Samaritan woman 29:35 in John the 4th Chapter. 29:37 She's broken, she's bruised, she's crushed. 29:40 Men have used her body as a play thing; but she has little 29:45 value and little worth. 29:46 And she meets Christ, and He satisfies the longing of her 29:51 soul, satisfies that inner thirst that she has for purpose 29:56 and meaning in life. 29:58 Jesus came and He preached good tidings to the poor. 30:01 Jesus came and He healed the broken hearted. 30:04 Our text goes on. He came 30:12 Think about it. Those captive by sin, those shackled 30:17 by the habits of sin. 30:19 Think of it! He opens the prison to those that are bound, 30:22 those that are possessed with demons, and demoniacs. 30:26 He delivers them. I have seen God do that. 30:29 The living Christ touched men and women then, 30:32 and He can touch men and women today. 30:34 I remember on one occasion I was preaching in Mexico. 30:37 It was in a large stadium in Mexico City. 30:40 There were probably 12,000 people in the stadium. 30:45 And I was making an appeal, an appeal for men and women 30:49 to come to Jesus, an appeal for men and women to experience 30:53 the power of Christ in their life. 30:54 I was preaching this very message that you're hearing 30:58 tonight, showing from prophecy that Jesus is 31:02 the Divine Son of God, showing that He could break the shackles 31:05 of sin, and that men and women could go free. 31:08 As I made the appeal, and people began to come forward, 31:11 there were many at the altar. 31:13 But then I looked through the crowd and I saw two men 31:18 carrying a woman down the aisle. 31:20 One man, who I learned later was her husband, 31:23 had her underneath her arms, carrying her, and the other man 31:27 had her by her feet. 31:28 What I didn't know at the time was this woman was 31:32 sitting in the meeting. 31:33 She had been dabbling in demon worship. 31:35 And when I began to make the appeal for Christ she ran out 31:39 of the auditorium, and was lying in the parking lot 31:41 screaming, and writhing. 31:43 Her husband and this man carried her down the aisle. 31:48 Now they dropped her there at my feet. 31:51 I looked at the woman. 31:53 It didn't appear she was breathing. 31:54 And I looked down at her, and I knelt before her. 31:56 All of these other people are standing there. 31:58 It was hot and oppressive. 31:59 And as I began to pray over her she screamed, 32:02 and she began to kick, and kick, and kicked me, 32:05 and screaming, and wailing. 32:06 I'd just talked about the power of God. 32:10 12,000 people were in the auditorium. 32:13 Is the power of God real? 32:15 And as I prayed over this woman, and continued to pray that 32:19 Jesus would deliver her, she fell limp. 32:22 Now don't misunderstand me, not every case that claims to be 32:27 demon possessed is. 32:28 There are certain psychological problems that people may have 32:31 that may manifest themselves in symptoms. 32:34 There are three levels of demonic oppression. 32:37 First every one of us can be tempted by the Devil. 32:40 That's one level of demonic activity. 32:43 We can be tempted by the Devil. 32:45 Jesus was tempted by the Devil. 32:46 He never yielded. That's demonic activity. 32:48 There also can be another level of demonic activity, 32:51 and that's oppression. 32:53 The more you yield to the temptations of Satan the more 32:56 oppressed you can be. 32:57 And then there also, if a person chooses to worship at the altar 33:02 of Satan, they can become possessed by demons. 33:05 Now the Devil can't just come in and take over your mind. 33:08 That's totally impossible, unless we have a choice, 33:13 a volitional choice of the will. 33:15 Because if the Devil can just come in and take over our mind 33:18 without any choice of our will, he could come 33:20 and take over anybody. 33:21 God respects human freedom. 33:24 But if we choose to walk in the way of the evil one, 33:27 choose to worship at the shrine of the occult, we open our mind 33:31 to those demonic activities. 33:32 As I prayed over this woman, she fell limp. 33:36 We sat her on a chair, finished the appeal, 33:39 and we took her off to the side. 33:41 There was a little sparkle in her eyes, and she said, 33:43 I'm delivered! I'm delivered! 33:45 She was! We got her now reading the Bible. 33:49 I shared with her that wonderful book, Steps To Christ. 33:51 And week after week this woman followed Jesus. 33:55 This woman was delivered by the grace of Christ. 33:59 What does scripture say? 34:03 He did that then and he still does it now. 34:05 He came to open the prison for those that were bound. 34:09 He did it then, and He still does it now. 34:13 The scripture is very, very clear when it talks about 34:16 the power of Christ. 34:17 He delivered. He, Jesus, healed. 34:21 Jesus forgave. Throughout scripture we see this Christ 34:27 who's powerful, this Christ who heals, 34:30 this Christ who forgives, this Christ who walks 34:34 into people's lives, this Christ that raised men and 34:37 women from the dead. 34:38 We see this Jesus throughout scripture. 34:41 More than divine, more than a good man, more than an 34:45 ethical philosopher, but the Divine Almighty 34:48 Son of the Living God. 34:50 Now the prophecies at the end of Christ's life, 34:54 those prophecies came to very sharp focus. 34:57 Those prophecies came to very specific fulfillment. 35:01 Some of the most amazing prophecies ever given 35:04 were given at the end of Christ's life. 35:07 Let's look at them. 35:09 We'll go to the city of Jerusalem. 35:11 Jesus spent the last hours of His life here in Jerusalem. 35:15 And there in that city we find one of the most 35:19 amazing prophecies. 35:20 Jesus is celebrating the Last Supper. 35:22 His disciples are gathered around him. 35:25 And Jesus says to him, One here, one of My disciples, 35:30 will indeed betray Me. 35:32 The disciples are shocked. 35:34 But soon Judas leaves the Last Supper, and he goes out on his 35:38 fateful mission to betray Christ. 35:42 But did you realize that the betrayal of Jesus was predicted 35:49 over a thousand years in advance? 35:51 Listen how it's put in the book of Psalms. 36:07 A familiar friend, one who would be eating that communion 36:11 supper with Christ; that one would betray Christ. 36:15 Did you notice what the text said? 36:17 The one whom I trusted, the one who ate bread with Me, 36:20 My familiar friend. 36:21 Psalm 41, a thousand years before Christ, predicted the 36:28 betrayal of Jesus by Judas. 36:30 But yet the prophecy becomes even more exact. 36:35 It becomes even more precise. 36:37 Do you remember how much Jesus was betrayed for? 36:42 Do you remember it? 36:43 What was it? You're right! 36:45 It was thirty pieces of silver. 36:47 Did you know that that prediction 36:50 was in the Bible, too? 36:52 Zachariah the prophet predicts, Chapter 11, verse 12 and 13: 37:01 Why was it not thirty-five pieces of silver? 37:04 Why when Jesus was betrayed, why wasn't it 37:08 forty-two pieces of silver? 37:09 Why was it precisely thirty pieces of silver? 37:13 Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave 37:16 in the days of Christ. 37:19 You know, prices fluctuate. 37:22 The price of a loaf of bread today is different than the 37:26 price of a loaf of bread fifty years ago. 37:28 The price of gasoline for your car is different today 37:31 than it was thirty years ago. 37:34 How did Zachariah know hundreds of years in advance that the 37:39 exact price of a slave would be thirty pieces of silver? 37:44 How did he know that Jesus would be betrayed for exactly 37:49 thirty pieces of silver? 37:51 When you look at the precision of these 37:53 prophecies, they are amazing. 37:56 Now this particular prophecy goes on. 37:59 It tells us the amount that Jesus would be betrayed for: 38:04 thirty pieces of silver. 38:05 But not only does it tell us the amount that Christ would be 38:09 betrayed for, but it tells us the result. 38:12 In other words, what would happen with the money. 38:16 Now you recall exactly what the Bible teaches, 38:20 and what the Bible says. 38:21 After Judas betrayed Christ for that thirty pieces of silver, 38:27 he began to feel so discouraged, so disappointed, so shamed 38:32 for what he did that he came back to the priests. 38:35 He threw that blood money down on the floor. 38:39 What did they do with the blood money? 38:41 They took it and bought a field to bury strangers in. 38:46 They took that money and purchased that field 38:51 as a burial ground. 38:53 What does the Bible say about what would happen to that money? 38:56 What does it say, not only about the result of Judas throwing 38:59 the money on the floor in the temple, but the place that 39:02 would be purchased? 39:03 The Bible is incredibly precise. 39:12 Exactly what the Bible said would happen. 39:15 But then scripture goes on. 39:22 That's what Zachariah's prophecy said would happen. 39:25 Hundreds of years in advance it's predicted by Zachariah 39:29 and then Matthew describes the historical 39:32 events of what happened. 39:33 And it happened exactly as the Bible predicted. 39:45 predicted exact details that would take place right 39:49 around the cross of Calvary. 39:51 Look at Isaiah 50:6 says this: 40:01 You remember the story well. 40:04 Christ is lashed to a column. 40:07 He's stripped to the waist. 40:10 The executioner approaches Jesus, and the Bible says in 40:21 They come and they spit in His face. 40:23 They take that leather whip, and as they do, 40:27 the leather whip is embedded with jagged metal, and bone. 40:31 And they whip Him again, and again, and again. 40:34 The whip is wrapped around Him. 40:36 The executioner pulls it back, and it rips out 40:39 the flesh of Christ. 40:41 Many people going through that beating, many people going 40:45 through that whipping died from the loss of blood. 40:48 There they took a crown of thorns, 40:50 and they jammed it upon His head. 40:53 Blood ran down His face. 40:55 They whipped Him, and beat Him again, and again, and again 40:58 in that flagellation. 41:00 But yet this was predicted hundreds of years in advance. 41:08 Jesus' biography, not written after He died, 41:14 written before He died, and confirmed in the New Testament 41:18 in the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 41:22 Jesus, of course, tried there before Pilot, and Pilot says, 41:28 Who shall I release to you? 41:31 Shall it be Christ or Barabbas? 41:34 And the crowd cries out, Release unto us Barabbas. 41:38 What shall I do with Christ? 41:39 Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! 41:43 Come with me to Calvary's cross. 41:46 Come with me and watch the nails driven through His hands. 41:50 Come with me and watch the spear wound in His side. 41:54 Who is this that hangs between heaven and earth? 41:57 Who is this who hangs on this cross with blood running down 42:02 His face, with sorrow in His eyes? 42:05 Who is this who hangs there? 42:08 He is Jesus, the One worshipped by 10,000 times 10,000 angels. 42:14 The One who at His very word angels winged their 42:20 way to worlds afar. 42:22 The One who cast this world into space. 42:26 The One at whose very word He created sun, moon, and stars. 42:31 Who is this that hangs there but the Divine Christ, 42:34 the Creator of the Universe. 42:36 Who is this with the blood tinged face? 42:39 Who is this crying out on that cross of Calvary, 42:42 Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. 42:46 Who is this? More than a good man. 42:48 More than an ethical philosopher. 42:51 More than a moral teacher. 42:53 He is the Divine Son of God tabernacling in human flesh. 42:58 If Christ is not divine, He cannot offer you eternal life. 43:02 If He didn't live from eternity with no beginning and no ending, 43:06 He can't give you a life with no ending. 43:09 He is Jesus, the Divine Son of God. 43:13 And all the demons in hell could not destroy the faith of Jesus. 43:23 On that cross He triumphed over the principalities 43:28 and powers of hell. 43:30 And there hanging on that cross, two thieves, 43:33 one on either side of him, and one thief looks and says, 43:37 If you're the Son of God come down from the cross. 43:39 He could have come down. 43:41 He could have called 10,000 angels. 43:44 But the other thief says, Remember me when You 43:47 come into Your kingdom. 43:48 And Jesus looks at that thief, and says, I say to you today, 43:52 this day that it looks like I can't save anybody, 43:54 this day with nails through my hands, this day with a crown of 43:58 thorns upon my head, this day of darkness, I say to you today, 44:03 You will be with Me in heaven. 44:05 There's never been a man, never been a woman who sincerely 44:11 and honestly asked for God's grace, 44:13 and forgiveness, and not found it. 44:14 He is the Divine Son of God. 44:17 He can offer you forgiveness. 44:19 He can offer you grace. 44:21 He can offer you mercy. 44:23 This very day, wherever you are, the death of 44:27 Christ was for you. 44:29 Will you turn your back on that death? 44:31 Will you walk away from that grace? 44:35 Will you turn your back on that mercy? 44:38 You know, the Bible predicts that Christ would be crucified. 44:43 It's quite fascinating. 44:44 You look at Psalm 22:16 a thousand years 44:47 in advance David says: 44:50 Now here's the question: How did David know? 44:55 How did he know that Christ would be crucified? 44:59 Stoning was the method of capital punishment 45:02 in the Old Testament. 45:04 Either stoning, or some people were hung by a rope on a tree. 45:07 Crucifixion did not yet exist in the days of David. 45:12 How did they know? 45:15 You see, remember when Mary was cast at the feet of Christ? 45:20 What was the Jewish method of trying to destroy her? 45:23 The Jewish Pharisees wanted to do what? 45:25 They wanted to stone her. 45:27 But yet how was it possible that David would know that 45:33 Christ would be crucified? 45:34 You see, crucifixion was practiced from about 45:38 150 B.C. with the Romans... 45:40 It was very common. 45:41 ...to about A.D. 320 45:43 One of the good things that Constantine, the Roman Emperor, 45:46 actually did was do away with crucifixion. 45:49 But it was practiced for about that 450-470 year period. 45:53 It wasn't practiced in the days of David. 45:56 The Jews method was to simply stone people. 46:00 They didn't crucify them. 46:01 But yet, David knew, through divine prophetic insight, 46:06 that Christ's hands would be pierced. 46:09 David knew that only because God revealed it to him. 46:13 And why did God reveal these prophecies so clearly and 46:18 precisely down through the centuries? 46:21 To show to you and to me, without a shadow of a doubt, 46:24 that faith is not based on some warm fuzzy feeling inside. 46:27 Faith is not based on some emotional response. 46:32 You don't have to check your brains at the door when you 46:35 become a Christian. 46:37 When you become a Christian you accept the evidence, 46:39 the evidence that is irrefutable, the evidence that 46:42 is undeniable, the evidence that is so precise, and accurate, 46:46 and clear from scripture. 46:47 That's why John had such death defying faith 46:50 on the Island of Patmos. 46:51 That's why he could write the book of Revelation at a time 46:55 of persecution and oppression, with such hope and confidence. 46:58 That's why we can have such hope and confidence at the end, 47:01 because Jesus, indeed is the Divine Christ. 47:10 He was indeed the Divine Son of God. 47:13 And this living Christ, who is the Divine Son of God, 47:17 has changed the lives of thousands of people 47:19 down through the centuries, and He can 47:21 reach out and touch you. 47:23 He can reach out and change your life this very night. 47:27 This living Christ can forgive your sins. 47:31 This living Christ can take away your guilt. 47:34 This living Christ can take away your shame. 47:37 This living Christ can give you peace. 47:40 This living Christ can give you purpose. 47:42 This living Christ can give you forgiveness. 47:45 This living Christ can give you a reason to live today, 47:49 tomorrow, and forever. 47:51 A hardened Roman soldier came to the cross, and this Roman 47:57 soldier was no namby-pamby spineless jellyfish. 48:03 He had seen death before. 48:06 He had seen men and women hung up on the trees before. 48:10 He had killed many a man. 48:12 He had killed many a child. 48:14 You know, the Romans at times would take a baby and throw 48:16 it up in their arms in the viciousness of battle, 48:19 and pierce that child with a sword. 48:23 These people knew bloodshed, they knew battle, they knew war. 48:27 The Roman Centurion came to that cross, and he listened to 48:32 Christ's words, Forgive them, for they don't know 48:35 what they're doing. 48:36 He listened to Christ as He spoke to the thief and said, 48:39 I'll remember you when you come into paradise. 48:43 I will be there when I am ascended to the Father. 48:46 And I will guarantee you eternal life based on your faith in Me. 48:52 The Roman Centurion heard that. 48:54 And this hard-hearted, calloused Roman Centurion knelt at the 49:00 foot of the cross and found Christ. 49:04 I don't know how hard your heart is. 49:08 I don't know how many times you turned away from Christ. 49:11 But I know this, this living Christ is alive. 49:27 Jesus is alive! The tomb did not hold Him! 49:38 Jesus isn't lying in His tomb. 49:55 The Christ who lived, the Christ in whose life all these 50:02 prophecies were fulfilled, the Christ who hung on that cross 50:09 for you, the Christ who lives for you, the Christ whose tomb 50:17 is empty is reaching out to you right now. 50:22 One night I was preaching in Mexico and a family sat in about 50:29 the third or fourth row just smiling, beaming, 50:33 eyes sparkling; husband and wife, and son. 50:37 And I met Hosea after the meeting and I said, 50:41 Your family looks to me like the model Christian family. 50:44 Hosea dropped his head, he looked up. 50:47 He said, We have not always been this way. 50:52 I said, Hosea, tell me your story. 50:55 He said, I was a drinking, angry man. 50:59 Often I came home and slapped my wife. 51:04 Very often I began to yell, and scream. 51:08 I created havoc in the family. 51:10 He said, You see my son; ten years old? 51:13 One day my son took a knife, and I had come home angry, 51:17 and I was about ready to beat my wife, and my son jumped 51:21 on me with this knife to stab me. 51:24 And he said, I flipped him over, gave him some slaps, 51:29 and took the knife. 51:31 But I began to recognize that something was wrong. 51:34 I began to recognize that I needed a change in my life. 51:38 A Christian neighbor, a Seventh-day Adventist, 51:41 began to visit us. And that Adventist opened the Bible, 51:46 and I began to understand about Christ. 51:51 First this believer, this Christian woman, studied the 51:56 Bible with my wife and son. 51:57 They had new hope, and new joy, and they began to pray 51:59 with me, then I joined the Bible studies. 52:01 And, Pastor, my life is changed, because I said to Jesus, 52:06 Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. 52:10 I'm the potter, you're the clay. 52:12 Jesus, if you're divine, take me in your hands, 52:20 and make me over again. 52:22 Christ did that for Hosea. 52:25 And, Christ, my friend, can do that for you as you come to Him 52:30 just now as Tim sings. 52:33 And as you kneel and say, Have Thine Own Way, Lord, 52:37 Have Thine Own Way. 52:39 Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. 52:51 Thou art the potter, I am the clay. 53:02 Mold me and make me, after thy will, 53:14 while I am waiting, yielded and still. 53:25 Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. 53:37 Search me and try me, Savior today. 53:47 Wash me just now, Lord, Oh wash me just now, 53:58 as in Thy presence, humbly I bow. 54:11 Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. 54:21 Wounded and weary, Lord now I pray. 54:31 Power, all power surely is Thine. 54:41 Touch me and heal me, Oh Savior Divine. 54:53 Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. 55:04 Hold o'er my being absolute sway. 55:14 Fill with Thy Spirit, till all shall see, 55:25 Christ only, always, living in me. 55:42 Is the Spirit of God touching your heart? 55:48 There is somebody watching this broadcast that needs Jesus. 55:55 There's somebody watching this broadcast that right now wants 56:02 to say, Lord, have Thine own way in my life. 56:05 Lord, I need You desperately. 56:08 I sense tonight that You are the Divine Christ, 56:12 and I sense that without You I'm lost. 56:18 I'm powerless. Jesus, I need You, and I need You right now. 56:23 The thief needed Him, and he found Him. 56:27 The Roman Centurion needed Him, and he found Him. 56:31 Christ is reaching out to you right now. 56:34 As I pray would you like to say, Lord, 56:37 have Your own way in my life? 56:40 Lord, I'm giving you my life right now. 56:43 Let's pray together. 56:44 Father in Heaven, thank You for Jesus. 56:47 Thank You that He is more than a good man, 56:50 and an ethical philosopher. 56:52 Thank you that His offer of eternal life is real, 56:54 that we can reach out and have it right now. 56:56 Thank you for the power of Christ that's available to us 56:59 to change us, to make us over again, 57:02 men and women, boys and girls. 57:04 And, Lord, we open our hearts and we say to You, 57:06 Have Thine own way, Lord. 57:09 In the name of Christ, Amen. 57:12 Thank you for joining us for another of 57:16 Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 57:17 Don't miss one of this series. 57:19 We are setting a background, but we're going to go deeply 57:22 into the prophecies of the book of Revelation. 57:24 God bless you, and may your week be filled with His grace. |
Revised 2018-03-19