Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000026
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from the 3ABN Worship Center
00:17 and the Fresno Central Church. 00:19 Truths That Matter with Stephen Bohr. 00:23 Hello and welcome to another Anchors Of Truth. 00:27 And this is a series that began early in this year 00:31 and has continued and has been extremely well received. 00:35 It's such a pleasure for us to come into your living rooms, 00:39 into your homes, and into your cars by radio and by television 00:44 and to bring you the beautiful message of the gospel of 00:49 Jesus Christ as it is contained in the three angels messages 00:53 of the book of Revelation. 00:55 And so we are excited about this particular series 00:59 with Pastor Stephen Bohr. 01:02 This series is entitled, Truths That Matter. 01:06 And we have some real truths that are so important 01:10 for people to understand and to look at it in a more 01:15 detailed manner for these last days. 01:18 Pastor Stephen Bohr is the head of the ministry 01:22 entitled, Secrets Unsealed. 01:25 He is also pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 01:28 in Fresno California. 01:30 This is a man who has been extremely well prepared 01:35 to do a series like he is going to be doing this week. 01:38 He has been a teacher, he's a pastor, 01:41 he's been an administrator, and now he heads up 01:45 a ministry that is totally dedicated to preaching 01:50 the prophecies of the Bible throughout all of the world. 01:54 Pastor Bohr is a much sought after speaker for camp meetings 01:59 and for series in all different parts of the world. 02:03 And we are so happy that he can join with us. 02:06 He's going to be presenting this series in English and Spanish. 02:12 So if you get 3ABN Latino and you'd like to hear this series 02:16 in Spanish, you can turn to 3ABN Latino and watch it there. 02:23 Before he comes, we're so privileged that Melody Firestone 02:27 can be with us. 02:29 Melody has been a gifted singer. 02:32 God has used her through all these many many years. 02:37 We appreciate so much her dedication to this ministry 02:42 and to the Lord Jesus Christ. 02:44 And right now, she's going to sing for us a song entitled, 02:49 Change Me Now. 03:12 You were denied, then crucified, 03:22 yet You prayed to Your Father to forgive us. 03:31 We caused You pain time and again, 03:40 still You laid down Your life because You loved us. 03:49 I was guilty then, here I am again. 04:00 Against You only have I sinned. 04:07 So change me now, never let my heart grow cold. 04:17 Change me somehow, purify this needy soul. 04:27 Look into my heart and tell me what You see. 04:37 Cleanse me when You find any wicked way in me. 04:45 With Your tender touch, Lord, I need You so much 04:54 to change me now. 05:01 The seeds I've sown, the deeds I've done, 05:10 by the power of Your blood please remove them. 05:19 Restore my joy, I need You Lord. 05:27 I need more of Your love so You can use me. 05:36 Will You search my heart with Your holy light? 05:47 Take every wrong and make it right, 05:54 Lord hear my cry. 05:58 Please change me now, never let my heart grow cold. 06:08 Change me somehow, purify this needy soul. 06:18 Will You look into my heart and tell me what You see. 06:27 Cleanse me when You find any wicked way in me. 06:36 This very hour fill me with Your power. 06:44 I want to be so close to You Jesus, 06:49 that nothing stands between us. 06:54 With Your tender touch, Lord, I need You so much 07:03 to change me now. 07:10 Lord change me now. 07:33 Let's pray. 07:35 As we come into Your presence today, Father, 07:38 and as we study this very important subject, 07:42 we ask for the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 07:46 We realize that we're living in the last remnant of time. 07:49 The devil's deceptions are stronger than ever before. 07:52 And we want to understand how to stand on the solid rock, 07:57 the solid rock of truth. 07:59 And so we ask that You'll be with us in our study today. 08:02 And we thank You for hearing our prayer. 08:05 For we ask it in Jesus' name, amen. 08:10 About 9 years ago, a gentleman attended some meetings 08:15 that I led out for in a very large European city. 08:22 Now last year, about 9 years later, this same individual 08:27 attended a series of meetings that I did in the same place. 08:31 I remember distinctly he attended, this was 08:34 last December, he attended on a Wednesday evening. 08:38 And after we had preached, he came to the door, shook my hand 08:42 and said, "Pastor, when are you going to speak 08:49 about what happens with people when they die?" 08:54 I wondered why he would ask me this question 08:56 because I hadn't planned to address this specific issue. 09:00 I later found out that the pastor who organized this event 09:04 had prepared a brochure, a publicity brochure, 09:08 without my advice and it placed some general topics 09:13 that I was going to speak on. 09:14 And among those topics was what happens when a person dies. 09:19 So the pastor had placed this in the advertizing brochure 09:23 but I didn't know anything about it. 09:25 Well I told this gentleman, I said, "You know, I'm not 09:28 going to address this issue specifically in this series 09:32 of meetings because we're dealing with Bible prophecy. 09:35 However if you wish, I'll be glad to come and visit you 09:39 in your home and we can discuss this particular issue, 09:44 which I see is very very important in your mind." 09:47 He said that would be good. 09:49 And so we set a day and a time. 09:52 It was actually two days later. 09:54 And the pastor and I went to visit this gentleman 09:57 in his home. 09:59 We soon discovered that this person had very individual 10:04 personal reasons why he wanted to talk about 10:08 this specific subject. 10:11 He told us the story of what had happened in his life 10:15 in recent months. 10:16 See, he and his wife had attended a 10:19 non Seventh-day Adventist Church. 10:21 His wife had been baptized in that church, but he had 10:24 never been baptized even though he attended with her. 10:27 And for many many years, they both had attended this church. 10:32 After a few years in attendance, they had a falling out 10:36 because of a bad example that was given by one of the 10:38 elders of the church. 10:40 And they quit attending that particular church. 10:44 Five months before my visit to this European country, 10:49 this individual lost his wife due to a devastating 10:55 bout with cancer. 10:57 He had been married for 22 years. 11:01 And as we sat there at his kitchen table, he was 11:04 overwhelmed with sorrow and grief at her death. 11:08 In fact, he cried his eyes out as he sat there at the table 11:14 telling us the story of the loss of his wife. 11:17 He told us that after his devastating loss of his wife 11:22 to cancer he had searched for literature that would help him 11:26 to deal with the grief, the deep grief that he felt. 11:31 A friend of his recommended that he read some material 11:35 written by a very famous Swiss psychiatrist, which you might 11:41 recognize the name of this individual. 11:43 Her name is Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. 11:47 Now Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, for those of you who are 11:50 not acquainted with her works, dealt extensively with the issue 11:55 of the phenomenon of dying. 11:58 In fact, she wrote a very famous book. 12:00 The title of the book is, On Death And Dying, 12:04 which was published in 1969. 12:07 In this book, she proposed that people who are 12:10 terminally ill, they go through five stages as they prepare 12:16 for the moment of death. 12:18 Those five stages are; denial, anger, bargaining, 12:23 depression, and acceptance. 12:25 Now according to those who have studied the phenomenon 12:28 of death, they say that people don't go through any particular 12:32 order of these stages, but everyone to a greater or 12:35 lesser degree goes through these five stages. 12:40 I personally remember Dr. Kubler-Ross because 12:43 I was at Andrews University in the year 1972 12:46 and she was invited to speak at a Nursing Symposium 12:49 there at Andrews University. 12:51 And I saw the advertisement and I knew that she was a 12:54 famous figure, and so I decided that I would go and I would 12:57 listen to her lecture, which was very very interesting. 13:01 Now Dr. Kubler-Ross, in the late 1970's, developed a very keen 13:06 interest in out-of-body experiences, in spiritualism, 13:11 necromancy, which means the attempt to communicate 13:14 with the dead. 13:15 She also came to believe that Christianity teaches the 13:20 doctrine of reincarnation. 13:23 This 72 year old gentleman that I was visiting with the pastor, 13:27 who had lost his wife, described how he believed 13:31 that after death souls of dead people go through a dark tunnel 13:36 and come out on the other side on a glorious sphere of light 13:41 with an incomparable feeling of peace and love. 13:47 In fact, he told me that his friend had assured him 13:50 that he had actually been contacted by 13:54 this individual's wife. 13:56 And according to his friend, his wife had the same appearance 14:01 and the same tone of voice, and told him several things 14:05 about their history together. 14:08 Now how do you respond to something like this? 14:12 Well the fact is, as Seventh-day Adventists, 14:15 we know that there is no such thing as a soul that leaves the 14:19 body at the moment of death. 14:22 So we had our work cut out for us. 14:25 Now I said to this gentleman, "I believe, and you correct me 14:30 if I'm wrong, but there's nothing in the world that 14:32 you would like more than to see your wife and know 14:35 that she's doing well. 14:36 Is that right?" 14:38 He said, "Of course, that goes without saying." 14:40 Then I went to the Bible and I showed him several passages 14:44 from the Bible that speak about the state of man in death. 14:47 I read passages where the devil told Eve that she would not 14:53 surely die, when God had said that if they ate from the tree 14:57 they would surely die. 14:58 I also told him about the experience of the witch of Endor 15:02 and how the appearance of Samuel appeared to Saul 15:07 through the work of this witch. 15:09 In other words, I gave him a study on the state of the dead. 15:12 Also reading the passage where says that Satan is able to 15:16 transform himself into an angel of light. 15:20 After going through the Biblical evidence as well as I could 15:23 within the time constraints that we had, I presented 15:26 to him a hypothetical case. 15:29 I said to him, "Let's suppose that at any given moment 15:34 your wife, or what appears to be your wife, 15:38 should appear in that doorway, and speak with the same voice, 15:43 and have the same physical appearance, and tell you 15:46 things that only she knew about her relationship with you. 15:50 And she told you that she's in a better place where all is love 15:54 and where all is peace and all is joy." 15:58 And then I asked him, "Would you feel like you would like 16:03 to be with her?" 16:06 Then I said, "This would be a most trying experience, 16:08 wouldn't it. 16:10 Your reason, your eyes, your heart, your mind, 16:16 your feelings, your emotions, your intuition, all tell you 16:23 that this is your wife. 16:26 Would you be willing to believe what the Bible says instead of 16:30 what your senses and your reason, and all of these 16:33 other things, are telling you? 16:35 Would you be willing to say, 'The living know that they 16:38 will die, but the dead know not anything.' 16:41 What would your choice be in this case? 16:44 Would you go by what the Bible says or would you go 16:48 by what appearances say?" 16:52 It appeared to be an eternity, but this individual's eyes 16:55 opened wide, and for a few moments he was speechless. 17:03 We had prayer and we left. 17:08 It really is too bad that this individual did not attend 17:11 any of the other meetings that were left during that week. 17:15 Which leads me to believe that he had been so persuaded by 17:21 this friend of his and by what he had read in the writings of 17:24 Elisabeth Kubler-Ross that he could not believe that the 17:29 Biblical testimony was more trustworthy that the testimony 17:33 of his senses, his feelings, his intuitions, his reason, 17:38 and his senses. 17:40 Now the title of our study today is, The Acid Test. 17:44 Now why would I call it The Acid Test? 17:47 Well, we use that expression very frequently, don't we. 17:52 Let me explain the reason why. 17:54 You see, when individuals want to test precious metals to 17:59 see if they're really precious or not, what they do is they 18:03 take a small drop of a very powerful acid, nitric acid 18:09 for example, and they put it onto the metal surface. 18:13 Now when the metal is not a precious metal, 18:16 what happens is that the acid fizzles on the metal. 18:23 But when it's a precious metal, like gold for example, 18:26 you can put the acid on it and it doesn't bubble, 18:29 it doesn't fizzle because this is a genuine precious metal. 18:35 In other words, there is an external test that you can apply 18:38 to gold to see if it really is gold because your eyes can 18:43 certainly deceive you into believing that gold is gold 18:46 when it really isn't. 18:48 It other words, this external test is a decisive immediate 18:52 cheap and simple way of testing metals to see 18:56 if they are genuine or not. 18:59 You can't rely on what people tell you. 19:01 You can't rely on the fact that it looks like gold. 19:06 You can't rely on the idea that it tastes like gold. 19:09 I don't know if you can really taste gold, but you see 19:12 in the movies, you know, they kind of bite the gold. 19:15 I suppose there's something in the consistency that will 19:17 help them decide whether it's true gold or not. 19:20 Now you can't go, in other words, by anything 19:23 that your senses tell you to determine whether the gold 19:27 is really gold or not. 19:28 If you do not apply an external test to the metal, 19:32 you might just come to the point of buying fool's gold 19:37 instead of real gold. 19:39 The Bible tells us, folks, that the devil has huge deceptions 19:43 planned for the human race in these last days. 19:47 I'd like to read some texts from Scripture where we find 19:50 a description of how Satan has planned tremendous deceptions 19:55 in this world, particularly at the very end of time. 19:58 The first passage is Matthew chapter 24 20:01 and verses 23 through 25. 20:08 Here Jesus is speaking and He's warning His followers, 20:11 He's warning His disciples and He says this, 20:15 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' 20:20 or 'There!' do not believe it. 20:23 For false christs and false prophets will rise..." 20:28 And now notice this. 20:30 "...and show great signs and wonders to deceive, 20:33 if possible, even the elect." 20:37 Did you catch that? 20:39 Even the elect. 20:41 And then He says in verse 25, 20:43 "See, I have told you beforehand." 20:47 In other words, "I've warned you that the devil's deceptions 20:49 are going to be so great that he will deceive 20:52 even, if possible..." 20:54 Although the expression really means that he's not going to 20:57 be able to, but it'll be a trial. 20:59 "...he will deceive even the elect, almost." 21:03 Another passage is Revelation chapter 16 and verses 13 and 14. 21:10 Once again, underlining the devil's deceptions 21:13 in the last days. 21:14 It says there, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 21:20 coming out of the mouth of the dragon, 21:22 out of the mouth of the beast, 21:24 and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 21:26 For they are spirits of demons..." 21:29 And notice what they do. 21:30 "...performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth 21:34 and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle 21:37 of that great day of God Almighty." 21:41 So we're told here that spiritualism will play 21:44 a huge role in deceiving the kings of the earth 21:47 and the whole world in the last days. 21:50 Another interesting passage that shows that there is 21:53 going to be much deception, even in the Christian world 21:56 at the end of time, is found in Matthew chapter 7 21:59 and verses 21 to 23. 22:01 Matthew chapter 7 and verses 21 to 23. 22:05 And by the way, this passage is speaking about Christians. 22:09 Don't believe that every miracle and every sign 22:11 is performed by God even when Christians are doing it. 22:14 Because Scripture makes it absolutely clear that even 22:18 Christians will counterfeit the true at the end of time. 22:25 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord...'" 22:29 Are these Christians? 22:31 Of course, they wouldn't be calling Him, "Lord, Lord" 22:33 unless they were Christians. 22:35 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' 22:38 shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does 22:41 the will of My Father in heaven. 22:43 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not 22:49 prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, 22:55 and done many wonders in Your name?'" 22:57 These are Christians, right, because they're doing it 22:59 in the name of Jesus. 23:01 And what is Jesus going to say? 23:02 "Oh yea, you cast out devils and you prophesied and you 23:05 did many signs and wonders. 23:07 Yea, you're Mine." 23:08 Is that what Jesus says? No. 23:10 Verse 23, "And then I will declare to them, 23:13 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who 23:18 practice lawlessness.'" 23:20 So the Bible tells us that the devil's deceptions at the 23:23 end of time are going to be huge. 23:25 They're going to be so great that he will deceive even, 23:29 if possible, although it isn't, even the very elect. 23:33 And of course, the question that begs to be answered is this. 23:36 How can we keep from being deceived in these last days? 23:42 The answer, folks, is that we need an external standard 23:46 to compare everything with. 23:49 We cannot trust anything inside of us. 23:52 We can't trust our mind, we can't trust our heart, 23:55 we can't trust our reason. 23:56 We need an external standard that can apply, so to speak, 24:00 the acid test. 24:02 Something not in us, but something outside of us. 24:06 And what is that standard? 24:08 Folks, the only standard, the only external trustworthy 24:12 standard to detect the difference between error 24:15 and truth is found in the holy word of God; 24:19 the Bible, the Holy Scriptures. 24:22 You know, the devil, at the very beginning of human history, 24:26 used different methods to lead Adam and Eve into sin. 24:31 I'm not going to amplify this point very much because 24:34 in Cracking the Genesis Code series, I have a whole lecture 24:37 on the five methods that the devil used in the Garden of Eden 24:41 to deceive Adam and then to deceive Eve. 24:44 Basically what the devil did was, first of all, 24:47 perform a counterfeit miracle. 24:50 And he did that by giving the snake the apparent 24:53 ability to, what? 24:54 To speak. 24:55 Secondly, he misquoted Scripture. 24:59 He left out an expression that totally changed the 25:02 meaning of the text. 25:03 He tried to lead Eve into following her reasoning powers 25:08 independently of God. 25:10 He got Eve to follow the testimony of her senses. 25:13 She saw that the fruit was good to eat 25:16 and it looked like it was going to taste good. 25:19 And to her ears, it sounded like it was going to give her wisdom. 25:23 All of her senses are involved. 25:25 And then of course, we know that the devil used Adam, 25:28 he used Eve, another person to tempt Adam into sin. 25:34 So the devil uses people also to tempt people. 25:37 And so at the very beginning, the devil tried to use, 25:41 and he was successful; miracles, misquotation of Scripture, 25:45 reason, the senses, and other people, to lead people into sin. 25:51 Now I believe that those are the same methods that 25:53 the devil is going to use at the end of time. 25:56 And folks, what was the protection of Adam and Eve 25:59 when the devil came with all of these methods? 26:01 They had only one protection. 26:03 And that was, God said that if we eat from the tree 26:06 we're going to die. 26:07 And we live by every word that proceeds out of 26:09 the mouth of God. 26:11 You know, the fruit looks good. 26:13 It sound like it's going to give me wisdom. 26:15 You know, and it looks like it's going to taste good. 26:18 And your reasoning seems persuasive and you seem to 26:22 know somewhat something about the word of God. 26:24 You know, you use all of these arguments, but we live by 26:28 every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. 26:30 Their only protection was found in strictly obeying 26:34 the word of God. 26:35 And that is the only test at the end of time. 26:39 Those who do not follow what the Scriptures say 26:42 ultimately will be deceived. 26:45 Yet today, people accept all sorts of standards 26:49 other than the Bible. 26:50 They go by reason, by science, by philosophy, by feelings, 26:55 by emotions, by signs and wonders, 26:57 by what the experts say. 27:00 And even within our own Seventh-day Adventist Church 27:03 we have theologians who say, "Well you know, the Bible 27:06 was good for a pre-scientific simplistic society. 27:09 But today we have far more knowledge 27:11 and we're far more educated and sophisticated 27:14 than in Biblical times." 27:16 I'd like to read you some statements from the 27:19 pen of Ellen White on the importance that she gives 27:22 to the Bible in distinguishing truth from error. 27:25 Because folks, we're going to read in a few moments 27:28 that the Spirit of Prophecy tells us that in the last days 27:31 the devil is going to perfectly counterfeit people who 27:36 passed away and is going to make them appear to 27:39 people who are alive. 27:40 They are not the relatives, they are the not friends. 27:43 But they look exactly the same, they speak exactly the same. 27:46 The counterfeit is absolutely perfect. 27:49 And unless we are willing to answer, "I see you, I hear you. 27:53 What you say is logical. I feel you. 27:56 The Bible, however, says 'The living know that they will die, 28:00 but the dead know nothing.' 28:02 You are not my relative and you are not my friend." 28:06 Ellen White had this to say in the devotional book, 28:08 That I May Know Him, page 195. 28:43 So she says that the "claimed enlightenment of the 28:46 Spirit within must be tested by the word of God 28:49 which is the detector of the pure wheat." 28:52 In the book, Christ Triumphant, page 331, she says: 29:24 And by the way, we have the example of Jesus Christ. 29:27 When the devil came at Jesus in the mount of temptation, 29:31 Jesus didn't say, "Well, it doesn't exactly feel right, 29:34 it doesn't really make sense. 29:36 You know, my senses tell me that it's wrong." 29:40 No. 29:41 When the devil came at Christ, what did Jesus say? 29:44 He said, "It is written." 29:47 And if you look in the gospels, all four gospels, 29:50 you'll find that constantly, Jesus, whenever He met His 29:53 enemies and His enemies came with arguments, 29:56 Jesus said, "But what sayeth the scriptures? 29:59 What is it that is written?" 30:01 In other words, the external standard that Jesus applied to 30:05 everything was, what is written in the word of God. 30:09 That was His only protection against the devil. 30:12 In her classic book on prophecy, The Great Controversy, 30:16 Ellen White made this remarkable statement. 30:57 Notice she says it's not the "opinions of learned men, 31:00 the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of 31:02 ecclesiastical councils, or the majority." 31:05 She says none of these individually or together is to 31:09 determine whether a point of religious faith is true or not. 31:12 She ends by saying this: 31:25 In the same book, The Great Controversy, page 593, 31:29 Ellen White had this to say. 31:40 Now I want you to listen carefully to what I'm 31:42 going to read next. 31:43 She has just said the antichrist is going to perform 31:47 marvelous works in our sight. 31:48 Now what are those marvelous works going to be like? 31:50 She says: 32:04 What is a perfect counterfeit? 32:07 It's when a counterfeiter makes a S100 bill that even the 32:10 government can't determine that it's counterfeit. 32:12 That is a perfect counterfeit. 32:15 She's saying: 32:32 Several years ago, I was teaching theology in the 32:35 city of Medellin Colombia. 32:38 I spent six years there as a missionary. 32:42 And one day I went to a store to pay for some merchandise 32:46 that I'd bought and I took out a 10,000 peso bill. 32:50 And I gave it to the lady at the cash register 32:54 to pay for the merchandise. 32:56 She took the 10,000 peso bill and she put it in the light 33:02 and then she wrinkled the bill in her hand. 33:06 And I knew I was in trouble when she said to one of the policemen 33:10 that was nearby, "Come here. 33:14 This man just gave me a counterfeit 10,000 peso bill." 33:19 I said, wow. 33:20 So the policeman came, another policeman joined him. 33:24 One took me by one arm and the other took me by the other arm 33:26 and they led me to a room in the back of the store. 33:30 And one of them said to me, "Sir, where do you 33:35 have the machinery?" 33:37 I said, "What machinery?" 33:38 He said, "For making counterfeit bills?" 33:40 I said, "I don't make counterfeit bills. 33:42 You know, I don't look at a bill every time I'm going to pay." 33:46 He said, "Well, you should." 33:48 He said, "Where do you work? What do you do?" 33:50 I said, "Well, I'm a teacher of theology." 33:52 And I named the name of our school; 33:55 Instituto Colombo Venezolano. 33:57 And when I said that, his face totally changed to the positive. 34:02 He said, "Oh, you teach at that school? 34:03 That's a good school." 34:04 I was feeling better now. 34:06 "It's a good school with good people. 34:08 They're very very honest. They're good citizens." 34:11 He said, "Now, I know that you're not a counterfeiter. 34:15 But let me show you for the future what you need to do 34:19 in order to know if a bill is counterfeit 34:21 or whether it's genuine." 34:22 And so the first thing is, he asked that the lady at the 34:25 cash register give him the counterfeit bill and to 34:27 give him a genuine bill. 34:29 He placed the counterfeit bill in the light 34:31 and he said, "Look at the face of Simon Bolivar," 34:35 who was the liberator of Colombia. 34:37 It was kind of blurry, it wasn't clear. 34:40 He took the genuine bill and he put it in the light 34:42 and the face was absolutely clear. 34:44 He said, "See, on the counterfeit bill his face 34:47 is just blurry, it's not clear." 34:49 I said, "Oh okay, now I have one idea of how to do it." 34:52 He said, "Also look in the light. 34:54 The counterfeit bill has no brown line running through it. 34:57 But look, the genuine bill has a brown line running through it 35:00 when you look at it in the light." 35:01 I said, "Oh that's right, you know I hadn't 35:03 noticed that before." 35:04 Then he took the counterfeit bill and he wrinkled it. 35:07 And when he wrinkled it, it stayed wrinkled. 35:10 But when he took the genuine bill, he wrinkled it 35:14 and then, it was made out of a kind of paper that 35:16 just kind of started opening on its own. 35:19 And then he took the counterfeit bill and 35:22 he put it under a black light that he had there. 35:24 And you know, it was like nothing happened. 35:26 And he took the genuine bill and he put it under the light. 35:29 And sure enough, the circles on the bill shown in bright purple. 35:36 So he said, "Whenever you get a bill, you make sure that 35:39 you put it up in the light and that you do everything that 35:42 I've told you to do. 35:43 Because that way you can distinguish between a 35:46 counterfeit and a genuine." 35:48 Now to me, the counterfeit bill looked pretty genuine 35:52 just to the naked eye. 35:54 But I needed to apply external standards to make sure 35:58 that it was a genuine bill and not a counterfeit bill. 36:01 So every time I went to the cash register after that, 36:04 I would make sure that the bill was genuine. 36:07 And I would give it to the lady at the cash register 36:10 and she would take it and she would put it in the light. 36:12 She would apply all the tests. 36:13 And then when she gave me a large bill back, I would 36:17 take those large bills and I would put them in the light 36:19 and look at them also. 36:20 And one day, one of the ladies at the cash register said, 36:23 "What, don't you trust me?" 36:24 I said, "I trust you just as much as you trust me." 36:28 Are you understanding my point? 36:30 You know, things can look like the real thing, but they're not. 36:36 They only way you can know that something is genuine 36:39 is by applying an external test. 36:42 And the same is true with the issue of our feelings, 36:46 our emotions, our reason. 36:48 They all have to be subjected to the external clear authority 36:53 of the word of God. 36:54 In other words, the best way to detect a counterfeit 36:57 is to know the genuine. 36:59 Now Satan has some incredible deceptions planned 37:03 at the end of time. 37:04 You know, in just the last couple of days as I was 37:07 watching television, I saw two individuals on two different 37:10 programs saying that they had out-of-body experiences, 37:15 that they had, you know, supposedly they were 37:18 clinically dead and they saw their body on the 37:23 operating table as the soul was flying off into the air. 37:26 And then they went through a dark tunnel and they 37:28 came into a sphere of light and peace where 37:31 everything was tranquility. 37:32 And then they were so sorry that they were forced to come back 37:35 through the dark tunnel, and the soul once again was 37:39 made to incorporate itself in the body. 37:42 This is something that is becoming very very 37:44 prevalent in the world today. 37:45 Some, even Pat Robertson, believes that this is proof 37:48 that there is life after death. 37:50 But the questions is, is this a proof of life after death? 37:55 People might feel it, people might see it, 37:58 people might think that it's true. 38:01 But to our experience, we always have to apply 38:05 the testimony of Scripture. 38:07 You know, Ellen White had a very interesting vision once. 38:09 She had many interesting visions, but this is one of 38:11 her more particularly interesting. 38:13 She saw this train going at the speed of lightening. 38:19 And it seemed to her that the whole world was on the train. 38:23 And the angel that was giving her this vision sometimes would 38:27 speak in the vision to her, and said, "Look at the conductor." 38:32 And Ellen White said she looked at the conductor. 38:34 He appeared to be a very dignified charismatic 38:37 individual that all of the people on the train admired 38:41 and looked up to. 38:43 And she herself says that she was confused. 38:46 She said to the angel, she said, "Who is that?" 38:51 The angel said, "It's Satan disguised as an angel of light. 38:56 He has deceived practically the whole world. 38:59 And the world is going at the speed of lightening 39:02 to perdition." 39:05 Now she was talking about the tremendous 39:07 growth of spiritualism, the tremendous growth of the occult. 39:11 Now she wrote this shortly after the Fox sisters 39:15 went through their phenomena in New York. 39:19 What would she write if she was writing today? 39:22 What she wrote has been proved absolutely true. 39:25 Now notice what she said immediately after 39:27 that train vision. 39:30 She talks about what the saints need to know, 39:33 what God's people need to know. 39:34 This is what she says. 40:35 So what do God's people need to know in these last days, 40:39 those who are faithful to the Lord? 40:41 They need to know their Bibles. 40:42 They cannot follow their feels, their emotions, their senses, 40:46 their intuitions, what others say, the majority. 40:49 They simply have to go by what God says in His holy word. 40:53 And God's word says, "The living know that they will die, 40:56 but the dead know nothing." 40:58 In The Great Controversy page 552, Ellen White 41:03 once again speaks about how the devil is going to 41:05 attempt to use spiritualism in the last days. 41:08 She says about Satan: 41:17 Now, how close is the counterfeit to the genuine? 41:34 Wow, the counterfeit is perfect. 42:01 That's an amazing statement. 42:03 The counterfeit is what? 42:05 The counterfeit is perfect. 42:07 What is a perfect counterfeit? 42:09 It is when a counterfeit $100 bill is identical 42:14 to the naked eye to the genuine $100 bill. 42:19 Satan has incredible deceptions prepared for the human race, 42:23 particularly in the area of the state of the dead 42:26 and spiritualism. 42:29 In the book Maranatha page 209, Ellen White constantly 42:33 warned about this. 42:34 She said, speaking about the Christian world 42:37 at the end of time. 43:03 Now, it's interesting here that she says that the 43:06 Christian world said that, what? 43:09 That angels talked with them. 43:12 Now you need to understand what people understand about 43:15 angels these days. 43:16 You know, we know that angels were created 43:18 before this world existed. 43:20 The angels preexisted planet earth. 43:23 But do you know what the idea is in the world today, 43:25 even in the Christian world today in many circles? 43:28 It's the idea that angels are people who died 43:33 and went to heaven, and now they come back to this earth 43:37 to comfort and to help those who still walk on this earth 43:40 in a human body. 43:41 And that is what she's addressing when she says here 43:45 that "they declared that they had the truth, that miracles 43:48 were among them, that angels from heaven talked with them, 43:52 and walked with them, that great power and signs and wonders 43:56 were performed among them, and that this was the 43:59 Temporal Millennium..." 44:01 In other words, the millennium of peace. 44:03 "...which they had been expecting so long." 44:05 And then she says: 44:20 She's speaking there about God's remnant 44:22 people at the end of time. 44:23 How can this little group of people say that they're right 44:26 and everybody else, the great majority of people 44:29 on planet earth are wrong? 44:33 Did you know, by the way, that the devil is going to 44:35 attempt to counterfeit the second coming of Christ? 44:38 You know, the Biblical text for this is found in 2 Thessalonians 44:41 chapter 2, and you can read it at your leisure, 44:44 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verses 9 through 12. 44:48 Now if you read this passage, the whole of the passage 44:53 beginning with verse 1 through verse 12, 44:55 you're going to find that two comings are referred to. 44:59 The first coming is the coming of Jesus Christ. 45:02 In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 1, 45:05 the apostle Paul speaks about the coming of Christ. 45:07 The word that is used is the word, parousia. 45:11 Later on in the passage in verse 9, speaking about 45:14 the devil's counterfeit second coming, it says the lawless one, 45:19 his coming, it's the same word, parousia, 45:23 his coming will be with many signs and wonders. 45:27 In other words, what this passage is saying 45:30 is that the devil is going to try to counteract the 45:33 second coming of Christ by having a counterfeit 45:36 second coming of Christ before Jesus actually comes. 45:40 I'd like to read from The Great Controversy 45:42 page 625 where Ellen White describes what the devil is 45:46 going to do in these last days. 45:48 This will be at the last remnant of time. 45:51 The Great Controversy page 625. 46:53 This is the devil doing this. 47:19 You see, he's even going to speak some of the 47:20 truths that Jesus spoke. 47:29 Now here, more people are going to detect that it's the devil. 48:02 These are words from 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 48:21 What is the litmus test? 48:23 The Scriptures. 48:24 It's not what your eyes see, what your ears hear, 48:28 what your heart feels, what your intuition says, 48:30 what your reason says, what other say, 48:32 what philosophy says, what science says. 48:34 It is what God's word says. 48:40 She says: 48:54 Do you know why the devil really wants to use spiritualism, 48:57 why he wants to convince people that the dead are not dead, 49:00 that they can come back and communicate with the living? 49:03 There's a very simple reason. 49:05 When people believe that, they have absolutely no 49:08 protection from error. 49:11 Because whatever these entities come as, disguised as relatives 49:15 and disguised as friends, they are going to believe that 49:18 this is their relative, this is their friend, 49:20 send from heaven and they will buy any teaching 49:23 that these entities give. 49:25 No matter how contrary it is to Scripture. 49:27 So the devil knows that this is a method that is 49:30 totally under his control. 49:32 But if God's people are based on Scripture, 49:35 and they understand the Scriptures, 49:37 and they're willing to answer, 49:38 "I see you, I hear you, I feel you. 49:42 But the Scriptures say, 'The dead know nothing.' 49:46 Depart from me, for you are not my relative." 49:50 That's the only safety that we're going to have. 49:52 This is a very important doctrine; 49:54 the doctrine of the state of the dead. 49:57 I'd like to read in closing, one more statement that we find 50:00 in Signs Of The Times, May 18th 1882, 50:04 where she's referring once again to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 50:07 By the way, all of the statements that I've read 50:10 can be corroborated by passages from Scripture. 50:13 Can the devil make individuals or purported individuals 50:19 who died, reappear? 50:22 You remember the story of the witch of Endor? 50:24 Yea, the witch of Endor supposedly brought Samuel 50:28 to speak with Saul. 50:30 So we see that the devil can counterfeit relatives 50:37 and friends, and have them come and speak to those 50:39 who are yet alive. 50:41 Now Ellen White, in commenting on 2 Thessalonians 50:43 chapter 2, says this. 51:00 Have you ever read where it says that God shall send upon them 51:02 a strong delusion that they should believe the lie? 51:05 You know, so people say, "See, God goes around 51:07 deluding people." 51:08 No, they want to be deluded so God says, "I'm not going to 51:11 force the truth on you. 51:12 I'll just step back, I'll let you make your choice." 51:14 That's what she's saying. 51:16 And the reason is because they rejected the Scriptures. 51:18 She says, "Because the children of men reject the plainest 51:21 teachings of His word, and trample upon His law, 51:24 God leaves them to choose that which they desire." 51:27 "They spurn the truth," that's the key. 51:31 "They spurn the truth, and He permits them to believe a lie. 51:36 They refuse to yield to the convictions of the Holy Spirit, 51:41 and Satan, transforming himself into an angel of light, 51:45 leads them captive at his will." 51:49 And then she gives this very important counsel. 51:53 She says, "If men were but conversant with the word of God, 51:58 and obedient to its teachings, they could not be thus deceived; 52:06 but they neglect," listen carefully, 52:09 but they neglect the great detector of fraud..." 52:14 What is the great detector of fraud? 52:17 The Bible. 52:18 "...they neglect the great detector of fraud..." 52:22 And she says what the consequences are. 52:24 "...and the mind becomes confused and corrupted," 52:29 by two things, "corrupted by the deceptive arts of men, 52:35 and the secret power of the father of lies." 52:40 In other words, deceived by men and deceived by Satan himself. 52:46 So how important is it to understand the Scriptures 52:50 when it comes to the issue of the state of the dead? 52:53 It's a matter of life and death. 52:55 Now coming back once again to the illustration I gave 52:57 at the very beginning. 52:58 I've prayed for this individual, 53:02 this individual who claims that, you know, his wife's soul is 53:07 in a better land and has come to believe these ideas that were 53:11 shared by the psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. 53:14 I pray that the Lord will open his eyes and that he'll 53:17 be able to see the deception. 53:18 But it's so difficult to see it when you're caught up within it. 53:24 Now in our next two studies together, we're going to analyze 53:28 a passage from Scripture that has been greatly misunderstood. 53:31 You know, several years ago, I presented a series called, 53:34 Misunderstood Texts On The State Of The Dead. 53:37 And you're going to be seeing a little bit about this 53:39 at the end of this presentation. 53:42 And I studied several texts that can be misconstrued 53:46 and misunderstood about the state of the dead. 53:48 People say, "Well, what about the thief on the cross? 53:51 Jesus said, 'Today you will be with Me in paradise.'" 53:53 What about the apostle Paul who wanted to be absent from 53:56 the body and present with the Lord? 53:57 What about the rich man who went to burn in the fires of hell 54:01 in the story of the rich man and Lazarus? 54:03 What about the fire that never goes out? 54:05 What about Paul's desire to depart and be with the Lord? 54:09 What about the souls that are crying out from under the altar? 54:12 What about the dead who stand before God? 54:14 What about where Jesus said, 'Don't fear those who can 54:17 kill the body but can't kill the soul?'" 54:19 What do you do with all those texts? 54:21 The fact is folks, that all of those texts, if you study 54:24 them carefully, none of them are teaching that the dead 54:26 are not dead or that man has a soul inside that flies off 54:29 at the moment of death. 54:30 The problem is, people are many times careless in their 54:34 study of Scripture. 54:35 They study Scripture in the light of their own preconceived 54:38 ideas and preconceived notions. 54:40 Now the passage that we're going to study in the next two 54:43 sessions together, it's going to take us two, 54:44 is that phrase in the book of Hebrews chapter 12 where it 54:49 speaks about "the spirits of just men made perfect." 54:54 I didn't deal with that particular topic in 54:56 the State Of The Dead series. 54:57 There are several texts that I didn't deal with. 55:00 But I decided that I would deal with this one specifically in 55:04 detail, studying the historical context, studying the grammar, 55:09 studying the syntax, where it appears within the book, 55:12 studying the vocabulary that is used. 55:14 In other words, exhausting every resource possible to 55:18 see what this expression really means, "the spirits of 55:22 just men made perfect." 55:25 I believe that when we study this passage, 55:27 you're going to say, "Wow." 55:28 How this passage has been greatly misconstrued 55:32 by most Christians in the world today. 55:34 It's amazing when the passage is so clear when you study it 55:37 carefully within the context of Scripture. 55:40 So we have several very interesting things to study. 55:44 And in this series also, we're going to be dealing in the 55:46 last two lectures, it's a series of five, 55:48 we're going to be dealing with the question of the Sabbath. 55:52 And we're going to do it from a different perspective, you know. 55:55 Ellen White says that the Sabbath is the seal of God. 55:59 But when you read the writing of the apostle Paul, 56:02 it says there that the Holy Spirit is the seal of God. 56:04 Some people say, "Well, Ellen White contradicted the Bible 56:07 because the Bible says the Holy Spirit and Ellen White 56:09 says that the Sabbath is the seal of God." 56:12 Well once again, we're going to notice that when we study 56:14 things very carefully, there is no contradiction. 56:18 There's only a contradiction within our own thought patterns 56:20 because we have not searched the Scriptures carefully enough. 56:24 So I hope that we'll all continue tuning into these 56:27 programs, and that this will be a blessing to us, 56:30 and make us stronger in the faith, make us build on 56:33 the solid rock so that when the wind of the devil's deceptions 56:36 come, we can remain firm in the midst of the storm. 56:42 Let us pray. 56:44 Father in heaven, we thank You for the privilege of 56:46 doing this series on the state of the dead and on the Sabbath; 56:51 two cardinal issues in this end time period of human history. 56:57 I just ask, Father, that You will bless these lectures. 57:00 That not only will they bless us who are gathered here, 57:04 but that You will reach millions upon millions of people 57:07 in the world who are deceived on these very important issues 57:11 and who are making decisions, even as I speak now, 57:13 either for or against the truth. 57:16 I ask, Lord, that You will reach many souls 57:18 with the truth of Your word. 57:20 And that You will continue to bless our studies together. 57:23 We pray in Jesus' name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17