Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000032
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:14 live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:17 Last Day Events with John Lomacang. 00:22 Hello friends and welcome once again to the 3ABN Worship Center 00:25 located here in southern Illinois at the 00:28 Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:30 We're glad that you've chosen once again to tune in. 00:32 And we know that the Lord has a blessing in store 00:35 because we're going to open His Word again tonight 00:37 as we did last night. 00:39 As you know if you tuned in last night, this is the second 00:42 in a five part series on the topic of last day events. 00:47 And I want to encourage you to invite a friend. 00:49 And once again, if you're in driving distance, 00:51 we do need some live bodies. 00:53 We have people that are here, but your presence would 00:55 greatly be appreciated. 00:56 And we're going to ask the Lord tonight to bless our hearts 00:59 as we turn to His Word. 01:02 As you may remember, last night the topic was entitled, 01:04 The Final Countdown. 01:06 Tonight the title is, The Final Stage. 01:08 And tomorrow night, we're once again back at 7:00 pm Central, 01:12 so don't forget that. 01:13 If there are those that may have forgotten 8:00 pm tonight, 01:15 call them now before we get into the message 01:17 and remind them that it is on the air. 01:19 Tomorrow night's message is entitled, The Final Coalition. 01:23 And then Saturday morning at 11:00 o'clock, it is entitled, 01:26 The Final Apostasy. 01:28 And on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm, it is entitled, 01:31 The Final Act. 01:32 Everyone of them, we're relying on God's Holy Spirit to be the 01:35 guide and the power and the one to teach us. 01:38 Now I'm preaching less and teaching more. 01:41 I believe there's a need to be taught. 01:44 What exactly is happening around us has a whole lot less to do 01:47 with what's happening in the world, and I believe a lot more 01:49 to do with what's happening in the Christian church. 01:52 So turn your ears on and ask the Lord to direct your ears, 01:56 your eyes, and your heart. 01:57 So let's bow our heads tonight and ask Him to guide us. 02:02 Father in heaven, we thank You for the willingness on the 02:06 part of those that have tuned in to hear what the Spirit 02:09 has to say to the churches. 02:11 Lord, I know that once again I'm just a human vessel. 02:15 And I do pray that tonight once again You will impart 02:19 to me the clarity, also the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 02:24 To teach, Lord, is a great responsibility. 02:27 To preach is a great call on one's life. 02:30 And I ask tonight that I'll be less considered and Christ will 02:33 be the One that is considered, His voice will be heard. 02:36 So take these words and bring them to life, 02:39 and find that intended heart looking for truth 02:43 and looking for Jesus. 02:45 And this we pray in Your precious name, amen. 02:50 Tonight, we're going to open with a Bible text. 02:52 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 7, a very important text. 02:56 And when I thought about the five titles for this series... 03:00 As you know, the theme, the overall theme is the last days. 03:04 When I thought about the titles, I was down in the Virgin Islands 03:08 and I was sitting there saying, "Lord, what can I preach on 03:11 about the last days. 03:12 There's so much to say. 03:14 And as I asked the Lord, as I woke up one morning, 03:17 I said, "Lord, what do I title the individual topics? 03:21 What do I say on night to night?" 03:23 And the Lord gave me the five topics and told me to use 03:26 the word "final" over and over and over and over again. 03:29 Because I do believe we're living in the final hours 03:32 of earth's history. 03:33 I believe we're living in the final days. 03:35 And as I said a moment ago, I want to reiterate this, 03:37 more of the things that are happening in the last days 03:41 has to do with what's taking place in the Christian church. 03:44 There are not a whole lot of changes in the world. 03:47 They are happening with greater intensity 03:50 and on a larger scale. 03:53 There are more earthquakes, and more volcanoes erupting, 03:55 and more intense storms, and more crime and more violence. 03:59 We talked about those things last night. 04:02 But if I were the devil... 04:03 Which I'm not. Amen, somebody. 04:06 ...I would really aim at the very structure and organization, 04:11 that God has built, for my defeat. 04:15 I would do all I can in my power to try to bring down the 04:18 only thing on earth that God really loves. 04:21 He doesn't love the casinos, He doesn't love the movie theaters, 04:24 He doesn't love the gambling halls. 04:26 He loves the church. 04:27 And if I were the enemy, I would, like a coach 04:30 on an opposing football team, I would study the tapes 04:34 of every church member. 04:36 Study the loopholes, try to find a way to get in. 04:38 Just like he studied Eve in the Garden of Eden. 04:40 If you look at that, there was a woman in the very beginning 04:44 at the entrance of deception. 04:46 And there is a woman at the end, at the close out of deception. 04:50 The devil attacked a woman in the very beginning, 04:53 he's going to attack a woman again. 04:54 The woman in the end is the church. 04:56 So he has been focusing on the church for thousands of years. 05:01 And now, he's at the height of his attempt to deceive, 05:06 to kill, and to destroy. 05:09 That's why this verse is so vitally important. 05:12 1 Peter 4 and verse 7. 05:14 Listen to what a converted apostle says to us. 05:19 He says, and let's read this one together. 05:33 You know what that means? 05:34 When you say your prayers for your toast in the morning, 05:37 you're not as serious as when a crisis comes your way. 05:39 I mean, honestly. 05:40 He is saying, pray as though we're living in a crisis hour. 05:44 He's saying, pray as though your life depends on it. 05:46 As one person put together the acronym, PUSH; 05:50 Pray Until Something Happens. 05:53 What happened on the day of Pentecost happened 05:55 as a result of prayer. 05:58 At every stage in the conversion and the power of His apostles 06:03 or His prophets, it happened because they prayed. 06:06 The way that Jesus received His strength for His trial; 06:08 He prayed, He beseeched the Father. 06:11 And that's why Paul the apostle says we ought to 06:13 pray without ceasing. 06:14 Not only kneeling down, but be in a constant 06:16 attitude of prayer. 06:17 Because we're not safe for a single moment 06:19 without the power of prayer. 06:22 But in light of the last days in which we live, 06:24 we have to be serious. 06:25 We have to be serious and we have to be watchful 06:28 in our prayers. 06:30 I remember when I lived in California, my wife and I 06:33 when we lived out there together. 06:34 That's a good thing to do when you have your wife. 06:35 To live together. Right? 06:38 We lived in northern California. 06:40 But before we moved there, we lived in Orlando, Florida. 06:43 And having never been to California up to that point, 06:46 there were no GPS's, you know, no satellite units. 06:50 Just a good old Rand McNally map. 06:52 And so having never been there, having never driven that far, 06:55 we had our old rickety 1976 Toyota Corona. 06:59 And I've talked about that car a thousand times. 07:02 Both of the fenders... 07:03 That was a car from New York City 07:05 and because of all the salt on the streets of New York, 07:07 both of the fenders had cancer. 07:10 And they were rusted from the bottom. 07:12 And when you drive down the highway, the fenders would 07:14 pull the car to the left and to the right as a good gust of wind 07:17 caught the front of the car. 07:19 But I remember packing up that vehicle and taking that 07:22 McNally map, Rand McNally map, and photocopying every page 07:27 from Orlando, Florida all the way to Placerville, California. 07:31 There was a lot of pages. 07:32 I stapled them together, I highlighted them. 07:35 And what was nice about that is, we have never seen 07:39 the Pacific Ocean before. 07:40 But the Pacific Ocean was on the west coast. 07:43 In order to see it, we had to get to the west coast 07:45 to see the Pacific Ocean. 07:47 My wife got use to reading the map and so as we looked at the 07:50 mile markers, she would tell me what the next city 07:53 coming up would be. 07:55 Texas and the small cities along the way, all through the 07:58 southern states, and right up the north west coast. 08:02 And I remember very well, each page represented a 08:05 stage in our journey. 08:09 After three days and almost 3000 miles, we caught a glimpse 08:14 of the Pacific Ocean for the first time. 08:16 What a sight it was. 08:19 But it said to us that we were on the final page 08:25 of our journey, at the final stage in our journey. 08:30 We couldn't see the ocean until the final stage of the journey. 08:35 It was impossible to see the ocean until we got 08:37 to the west coast. 08:39 So because we were on the west coast, 08:42 we could see the Pacific Ocean. 08:44 Because we were near the final stage of our journey, 08:47 the ocean was now within view. 08:49 Let me take that to the next level. 08:53 These are not the last days just because of the signs. 08:57 But because we are living in the last days, these are the signs 09:02 of the last days. 09:04 Let me say it another way. 09:06 The signs that we see today could not appear 09:08 until the last days. 09:10 The signs simply confirm we are at the final stage 09:15 in our journey. 09:16 Let me say that one more way. 09:17 The signs of the last days could not appear 09:20 at any other time anymore than we could see the 09:24 Pacific Ocean from Florida. 09:28 So why are we seeing the signs? 09:32 We are seeing the signs around us because we are 09:34 living in the last days. 09:36 They could not appear at any other point in human history. 09:42 That's why the words of Jesus are relevant 09:44 in John 14 verse 29. 09:46 He said: 09:55 All the things that are happening are for us to believe. 09:58 I believe we're living in the last days. 10:00 Anybody else? 10:01 I believe we're at the final stages, and I'm excited. 10:04 And you'll find that over the next couple of meetings, 10:05 that what is more relevant about this series, 10:08 and I would hope to say not necessarily completely unique, 10:11 but what I've sought to do is focus less on what's happening 10:14 in the world and more of what's happening in the church. 10:16 Because the world is not Satan's enemy, 10:18 the world is Satan's friend. 10:21 In other words, in a football game, I could care less 10:23 what the people in the stand are doing. 10:25 I'm more concerned about what the other team is doing. 10:28 I'm more concerned about what they're doing in the huddle, 10:30 what signs the coaches are making, 10:32 what kind of plays they're about to run, 10:34 and how hard they're going to hit me. 10:35 We are on the field. 10:37 The church is on this side and Satan and his host 10:39 are on that side. 10:41 And the signs of the last days have a lot more to do 10:44 with what Satan is doing in the church 10:46 than what he's doing in the world. 10:48 Notice why we can look with assurance to the signs 10:52 and know that we are in the last days. 10:54 Isaiah the prophet says in Isaiah 46 and verse 10, 10:57 he says that God is able to... 11:09 In other words, where we are today was predicted 11:11 thousands of years ago. 11:13 The final stage was constructed from components 11:17 manufactured by prophecy. 11:19 By what word did I say? By Prophecy. 11:22 Prophecy is our Rand McNally map. 11:25 Prophecy is our mile markers. 11:27 We know where we are because prophecy is reliable. 11:30 And it's only reliable because God is reliable. 11:34 It's His Word. 11:35 Look at 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 20. 11:38 When prophets wrote these words down, I want to say to you, 11:40 none of the prophecies came from men. 11:44 They were simply the ones who wrote it down. 11:47 2 Peter 1 and verse 20 says it this way. 11:57 Now when I think about that, I think about preachers nowadays 12:00 that in the middle of their sermon they say, 12:02 "Oh, I just got a prophecy." 12:04 You better be careful if that's the kind of preacher 12:07 that you are under. 12:09 Because God doesn't just shoot prophecies into people's heads 12:12 without somebody to check it out, without somebody 12:15 to verify whether or not that's from God. 12:17 Amen? 12:18 A whole lot of that nowadays. 12:19 I remember giving my first Revelation seminar. 12:22 And I'm moving fast tonight because I have a lot to cover. 12:24 So listen like a New Yorker. 12:26 If not, you can get the DVD. 12:30 But I remember giving my first Revelation seminar. 12:33 There I was a young preacher in my one and a half year period 12:36 of my first church. 12:38 I was so nervous I lost ten pounds. 12:40 You can look at me and tell I can't afford to lose ten pounds. 12:44 But I was totally enthusiastic, totally energetic. 12:48 We lived in Weaverville, California up in the mountains 12:50 of northern California 2500 feet above sea level. 12:53 And in our town, we had 16 churches. 12:56 We had more churches than we had bars. 12:58 Not a bad thing, but it was quite a controversy 13:01 to begin a Revelation seminar in a church where 13:03 all 16 churches taught 16 different things, at least. 13:08 Well I found out, I said to the city fathers, 13:11 "Where can I put advertising?" 13:13 They said, "Anywhere." 13:14 I said, "Are there any advertising restrictions?" 13:16 They said, "There are none." 13:17 So I took advantage of that. 13:20 I put stickers in mailboxes, I put stickers in phone booths, 13:24 I put stickers on store windows. 13:26 Everywhere you went from east to west in Weaverville, 13:29 you would see some kind of sign indicating that a 13:32 prophecy seminar was coming up. 13:34 I even had a banner made that crossed Main Street. 13:37 Can you imagine, across 149 from one side of the street 13:42 to the other on two buildings. 13:43 This big ole huge banner, "Revelation seminar beginning," 13:46 and all the nights and the titles up there. 13:48 People going through on their way to the west would see it, 13:51 people on their way to the east would see it. 13:52 And on the opening night, the town hall was jam-packed 13:58 with pastors from every denomination. 14:02 I never forgot that. 14:04 After about the first week, we moved the series of meetings 14:06 to our church, and the controversies began. 14:10 Every church. 14:11 Five churches in the town started prophecy seminars. 14:16 All of them for the purpose of what? 14:18 Taking people away from my seminar. 14:21 And the town was kind of like this. 14:22 If somebody drove up to your church and they had a car 14:25 like a Honda Accord with a black front mask on it, 14:33 everybody in town would know exactly who that car is, 14:36 who that car belongs to. 14:37 Everybody would know, "That's Dean's car at a Baptist church." 14:40 Or, "That's John's car at an Adventist church." 14:43 Everybody knew who's car was there. 14:44 And the preachers watched and observed that very carefully. 14:46 So they all began having Revelation seminars. 14:48 Baptist church, even the Catholic church. 14:50 My good friend, Pastor John Lawrence... 14:55 I don't call anybody "father" but God. 14:57 Amen, somebody. 14:58 He had a seminar. 14:59 And after my meetings were done, I said, 15:01 "Pastor Lawrence, what does your church believe about prophecy? 15:03 What does your church teach about Revelation?" 15:05 You know what he said to me? 15:07 "Actually, our church doesn't have a position on Revelation." 15:10 I said, "So why did you have a prophecy?" 15:11 And he smirked. 15:13 Because they wanted to keep people from hearing what 15:15 I had to say about Bible prophecy. 15:18 And you know, friends, that's exactly why we have to keep 15:21 in mind that no prophecy that occurs is of any 15:24 private interpretation. 15:25 Look at the next verse, 2 Peter 1 verse 21. 15:29 Not a single prophecy was born in the mind of men. 15:32 Very careful nowadays when you have all these prophecy 15:34 churches, and prophecy programs, and prophecy CD's, that people 15:37 are telling you how to be prophets. 15:39 That's not the way that God does it. 15:40 The Bible says: 15:52 Man cannot reveal what we cannot see. 15:55 Only God can see the future. 15:57 In the courts of Babylon, Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar 16:00 these words, Daniel 2 verse 28. 16:02 Notice what he said to a great king, he said: 16:17 So when a prophecy is fulfilled, it is a reminder that 16:19 God wants us to know. 16:20 God is not going to allow anything to happen 16:23 unless He reveals it to His people first. 16:26 Notice Amos chapter 3 and verse 7. 16:28 The Bible verifies this. 16:30 The first word there is "surely." 16:44 Get that, God does not reveal His secrets to people 16:47 that don't serve Him. 16:48 God does not reveal His secrets to those who do not obey Him. 16:52 Acts chapter 5 verse 32 says, God reveals His messages 16:59 to those who obey Him. 17:01 God does not reveal to those who do not obey Him. 17:05 Matter of fact, one of the most significant prophecies 17:07 in the Bible that confirm that we are in the final stages of 17:09 earth's history is in Daniel chapter 7 17:11 and Daniel chapter 2. 17:13 God outlined the four major kingdoms of the 17:16 span of human history. 17:18 There in Daniel 7 verse 17 we read these words. 17:30 Very quickly for those who know Bible prophecy... 17:32 And by the way, this is not about breaking down that 17:34 prophecy in detail. 17:35 I'll cover that spanning over the next few meetings. 17:39 But we have Babylon symbolized by the lion and the gold. 17:42 We have Medo-Persia symbolized by the bear in Daniel 7 17:46 and the silver in Daniel 2. 17:48 We have the leopard-like beast or the bronze 17:51 image of the statue symbolizing Greece. 17:53 Then we have that fourth one. 17:55 Very important for our meetings. 17:57 We have the fourth one that was iron in the metal man. 18:01 And it was a great and dreadful and terrible beast 18:04 that had iron teeth. 18:06 Brethren, I tell you what; if I saw a bear, a lion, 18:09 or a leopard, I wouldn't be terribly frightful. 18:13 But if I saw a great and dreadful and terrible beast 18:16 with iron teeth and iron claws breaking everything in its path, 18:21 I would run to mama. 18:22 What do you say? 18:23 I would run for my life. 18:25 I wouldn't even want to see that in a zoo. 18:27 Because something with iron teeth could 18:29 break through iron bars. 18:31 That's what the Bible says, great iron teeth. 18:34 And look at verse 23 of Daniel chapter 7. 18:49 And at the very height of Rome's reign, it was so significant, 18:54 it's impact religiously was so significant 18:57 that Protestant reformers noted that Rome symbolized 19:02 a system of Antichrist. 19:05 Now, I want you to put your ears on now. 19:07 Because in an attempt to lead the world to believe that the 19:09 Antichrist was only a character of the future, 19:12 Rome began a four hundred plus year campaign of deception. 19:21 They sought to come up with a theory 19:24 to push the Antichrist to a single man 19:27 way down toward the end. 19:30 It was called, the secret rapture. 19:33 It was formulated in the year 1585 by a Jesuit from a 19:40 city named Salamanca. 19:41 His name was Francisco Ribera. 19:43 He lived from 1537 to 1591. 19:46 He also had a fellow Jesuit by the name of Luis de Alcazar. 19:51 He was also from Seville. 19:53 The difference between these two guys is, 19:54 one was a futurist and the other was a preterist. 19:57 A preterist is somebody who says all these prophecies 20:00 are in the past. 20:02 Well the people weren't buying that. 20:05 So Francisco Ribera came up with one that says 20:09 the Antichrist is coming way down in the future. 20:12 So he picked a single verse in Revelation chapter 4. 20:15 Revelation chapter 4 verse 1 says it this way, 20:18 in that there's the sound of a trumpet heard, 20:20 and then John says, "And I heard a voice say, 'Come up here.'" 20:24 And Francisco Ribera said, "Ah, that's a good place." 20:27 So he said, that voice that says "Come us here," 20:30 is actually calling the church out of the world. 20:33 So he used that to begin to build what's called today, 20:36 the secret rapture. 20:37 But if you read verse 2 in Revelation chapter 4, 20:40 you begin to see that who is being called up there 20:43 was John the revelator. 20:44 And then he says, "I was caught up in the Spirit." 20:48 God was simply calling John into vision, not calling the 20:50 church out of the world. 20:52 But the goal of the Jesuits was to do this: 20:54 to take the heat off of Rome during the 20:56 Protestant Reformation. 20:58 But Martin Luther, one of the Protestant reformers, 21:01 Huss, Zwingli, Calvin, Melanchthon, 21:04 they began to rise up and to protest all the errors 21:08 the church was teaching. 21:10 And during the 4th century... 21:12 Sorry, during the 15th century, they began what's called today, 21:16 the Protestant Reformation. 21:18 But I want you to notice the way that Satan 21:20 put this structure together. 21:21 I'm going to show you actually ten steps tonight on how 21:24 the secret rapture has come to where it is today. 21:29 I want you to note the screen, the first step. 21:30 It began with the man by the name of Francisco Ribera 21:34 who taught that Rome was not an antichrist system, 21:38 and that the secret rapture would occur before the 21:40 Antichrist reign, before the seven year tribulation. 21:44 And he published his findings in 1593 in a manuscript. 21:48 After he died, his manuscript was kept by the 21:54 Archbishop of Canterbury. 21:56 Dr. S. R. Maitland, he was appointed the keeper of the 22:00 manuscript in Lambeth Palace in London, England. 22:05 When he read Ribera's views, he republished those in 1826, 22:11 again in 1829, and once again in 1830. 22:14 That was the second stage, if you noticed. 22:16 The second stage in the transforming of this prophecy 22:20 into something nowadays that is not supported by the Bible. 22:24 But the third phase was a man by the name of Emmanuel Lacunza. 22:29 He was a Jesuit from Chile. 22:31 He lived in the 17th century from 1731 to 1801. 22:35 He supported Francisco Ribera's beliefs about the rapture 22:38 and he published his writings in 1827. 22:41 But get this, listen carefully. 22:44 Instead of putting on his published writings, 22:47 "Emmanuel Lacunza," he published it under a fictitious name. 22:51 He used a rabbi's name that he came up with. 22:55 He used the name Juan Josafat Ben-Ezra. 23:01 So when the next person who read his views about the 23:04 secret rapture, they thought that it was written 23:07 by a converted Jew. 23:09 And they said, "Oh, the Jews have embraced 23:12 the rapture theory. 23:13 The man that thought it was taught by a Jew was a man 23:16 by the name of Edward Irving. 23:18 He was the next stage in the formation of the secret rapture. 23:22 Minister Edward Irving. 23:25 He contended that Lacunza's writings were the work of 23:28 a converted Jewish scholar. 23:30 And then he embraced it, as it's called today, 23:32 the pre-tribulation rapture. 23:34 I'm teaching now so follow carefully. 23:36 Those who followed Edward Irving's convictions 23:38 were called Irvingites. 23:40 What were they called? 23:41 Irvingites. 23:42 However, here's the point, because of his contemporaries, 23:46 they began to see what he said and what the Bible says. 23:49 And because his teachings were not supported by the Scriptures, 23:52 he was put out of his church. 23:54 They dismissed him from the Church of Scotland. 23:56 They said, "You can't teach that and be 23:57 a part of the Church of Scotland." 23:59 But you know what he did? 24:00 Instead of dropping the teachings, 24:01 he began his own church. 24:02 He began what was called, the Catholic Apostolic Church, 24:05 which was the foundation for what is now today 24:08 the Pentecostal Church. 24:10 This is history. 24:12 This is clever history. 24:14 What I'm telling you is recorded. 24:15 You can follow it yourself. 24:17 But after him came a young teenage girl by the 24:20 name of Margaret McDonald. 24:22 That was the next stage or the fifth stage in the conveyance 24:26 of the secret rapture. 24:27 In the 1830's, this young Scottish girl said that 24:29 she had visions. 24:31 She claimed to have a vision that revealed to her that the 24:35 secret rapture was true. 24:37 But prior to her claim, Edward Irving claimed also 24:43 to receive a vision about the secret rapture. 24:46 So what happened was, because of her vision 24:52 Edward Irving was convinced that he was on the right path. 24:55 But there was a sixth phase to the conveyance of the rapture. 25:00 A man by the name of John Nelson Darby. 25:03 By the way, what I'm covering, when the movie, 25:06 The Rapture, came out... 25:07 Or what do they call it? 25:08 Yeah, Left Behind. 25:10 When that came out, I was living in California. 25:13 Christians were standing on the roads giving out free tickets 25:16 to their churches to show this movie, the Left Behind movie. 25:20 But what they didn't know... 25:21 And this is something that many that owned the book 25:23 would do well to do. 25:24 Turn the book around, if you own it, and look at the 25:26 very bottom of the back of the book. 25:27 In small almost hard to read letters is this 25:30 single word, "fiction". 25:34 It's Christian fiction that has taken the church by fire storm 25:39 as doctrinal integrity. 25:41 Every single book on the back, small little letters, "fiction". 25:44 Check it out if you've got it on your shelves. 25:46 Pull it off and see it. 25:47 And what upsets me is that it's sold in the Christian bookstore. 25:51 Even though there's a big ole sign over the top of it 25:53 that says, "fiction," people still believe it as though 25:56 it's doctrinally sound. 25:59 So John Nelson Darby, he embraced the secret rapture 26:02 theory because he was a follower of Dr. S. R. Maitland, 26:05 the Archbishop of Canterbury. 26:07 He embraced it. 26:09 But his contemporaries also said to him, 26:11 "This is not scripturally sound. It's not based on the Bible." 26:14 And they encouraged him to abandon it. 26:17 It was then labeled Darbyism. 26:20 He was also called the father of the 26:23 modern dispensational theory. 26:25 In other words, you've heard the phrase, "dispensations"? 26:28 They say the dispensation of law and the dispensation of grace. 26:31 There is no scriptural support for Dispensationalism. 26:34 It was put together by John N. Darby on the 26:37 foundation of the teachings of Francisco Ribera, 26:41 who's main goal was to take the eyes of the people off of 26:45 the Roman Catholic Church during the dark ages. 26:48 Darbyism was published, 26:52 and Darbyism is alive and well today. 26:55 But that's not the last stage. 26:56 When John Darby heard about Margaret McDonald, 27:03 he also visited her. 27:06 And he was convinced that her revelations were genuine. 27:10 And it further strengthened his support 27:13 of the dispensational view of the secret rapture. 27:16 But it continued. 27:17 This was very clever. 27:19 This was probably the most magnificent step taken 27:22 to give life and security for the rapture theory. 27:25 The next stage, the seventh phase, was introduced by 27:28 a man by the name of Cyrus Ingerson Scofield. 27:33 Hold onto your hats. 27:35 Some of you already have your eyes open. 27:36 He lived from 1843 to 1921. 27:39 He embraced Darbyism, which was the foundation that he 27:42 got from Francisco Ribera. 27:44 And both of them were teaching on the secret rapture. 27:47 In 1909... 27:48 What year did I say? 1909. 27:53 ...the false teaching of the secret rapture received 27:56 its largest push because Cyrus I. Scofield 28:06 created the very first Scofield Reference Bible. 28:12 I have a slide of the reference Bibles. 28:14 When it was created, it was embraced as the book of books. 28:17 Now hold that there for a brief moment because I want 28:18 you to see something. 28:19 On the far left is the Scofield Study Bible in blue for the 28:23 New International Version. 28:24 In the center is for the New King James Version. 28:26 And the black cover is for the King James Version. 28:29 He has made sure that if you don't like the NIV, 28:32 the King James Version lovers has a Bible for them. 28:35 In every one of these Bibles the study notes were formulated 28:41 by Francisco Ribera going way back to 1585; 28:45 a great plot to take the eyes of the reformers 28:51 off of the true place that Rome had in Bible prophecy. 28:55 Today, it's known as Darbyism. 28:57 It's now also called the new word, Dispensationalism. 29:00 Really, it's really more like sensationalism 29:03 rather than Dispensationalism. 29:05 No disrespect to those who believe it, 29:07 but it's not scripturally sound. 29:09 It's not found in the Bible. 29:11 The Scofield Study Bible and the study notes 29:14 are both non-biblical teachings. 29:17 It's also called The Gap Theory, where they take the last week 29:21 in the 70 week prophecy and they cut it off and put it 29:25 way way down in some undetermined date in history. 29:29 In other words, they say, that last 7 days occur when 29:33 the rapture happens. 29:34 So when the church disappears, this theory says, 29:37 now the 7 years begin, the last 7 years on the 70 week prophecy. 29:44 If you want some material, write me at 3ABN 29:46 and I'll try to get some to you. 29:48 Now, don't all inundate me now. 29:51 But this is all beautifully packaged for those of you 29:55 who don't understand this, to truly understand this. 29:57 Because as I said earlier, the devil has cleverly found ways 30:01 to lead the Christian church down the wrong path. 30:05 In the same way that he's used the hip-hop industry 30:08 to bring hip-hop music into the church and rock music 30:11 into the church, he's found ways to bring lies into the church 30:14 and package it in Christian books. 30:17 So now, is there anything wrong with the NIV, 30:19 the New King James, and the King James? 30:20 Be careful with some of the translations. 30:22 I'm not going to give you an entire study on translations. 30:24 Because some of the Bibles take out entire verses. 30:27 But the problem is the study notes. 30:30 You see, in the Scofield Study Bible, if you follow his 30:34 study notes, here are some of the things you find. 30:36 You come to discover, based on his notes, 30:40 he connects texts together that are not interrelated 30:42 to build the secret rapture. 30:44 He also connects texts together to make you think that 30:47 where the Bible mentions the first day of the week, 30:50 it means the Sabbath. 30:53 He also connects texts together where there's the teaching of 30:56 eternally burning hell, he makes you believe it is eternal. 31:02 It took the devil about 500 years to get it 31:04 to where it is today. 31:07 But that's not the last contributor in its entire 31:10 construction of the rapture theory. 31:13 Scofield study notes talk about the Gap Theory. 31:16 The restoration of the nation of Israel. 31:18 That's why our government has such a push, 31:20 "We've got to defend Israel." 31:21 Because our government is pushed by religious individuals 31:24 who believe that Israel one day is going to be converted. 31:28 That's the whole thing about the coalition with Israel. 31:32 Also the conversion of the Jews, the pre-tribulation rapture, 31:35 and the millennial earthly reign of Christ. 31:38 Christ is not coming down here to reign with us. 31:42 We're going up there to reign with Him. 31:44 What do you say? 31:45 I'm not looking to be down here a thousand more years. 31:47 I want to be in the kingdom that He's preparing for me right now. 31:50 If you read John 14, He says, 31:52 "I go to prepare a place for you. 31:55 And if I go to prepare a place, I will come again to receive you 31:59 so that where I am in heaven, there you may be also." 32:03 He's not coming down here with us. 32:05 That's why they're trying to reform the earth. 32:06 Trying to get the earth... 32:08 God is not reforming this. 32:10 He's going to make it all over again. 32:13 He's not putting it up to politicians and the Palestinians 32:17 and the Jews to fix the earth. 32:19 He's going to do it Himself. 32:20 He's the Creator and He's also the re-Creator. 32:22 Amen, somebody. 32:24 But this trek continued. 32:25 The next man to contribute to this whole thing was a 32:27 man by the name of Hal Lindsey. 32:30 I think I have a picture of his book 32:32 called, The Late Great Planet Earth. 32:35 15 million copies were sold when it hit the presses. 32:42 And everybody thought the world was going to end 32:45 somewhere in the 1980's. 32:46 This book hit the presses in 1970. 32:49 15 million copies hot. 32:52 Once again, it re-awakened. 32:53 Do you see how the devil works? 32:54 Just about the time the fire is about to die, 32:56 he throws another log in there and stokes it 32:59 to keep a lie flaming from the pulpits 33:02 of places where the word of God should be taught. 33:06 But what did he do? 33:07 Listen to how TIME magazine says it. 33:09 This is really interesting. 33:10 TIME magazine Specials says... 33:12 This, by the way, is from time.com by Kayla Webley, 33:15 and this was May 20, 2011 that this was written. 33:20 Listen to these words. 33:36 Notice they say "nonfiction". They gave it biblical status. 34:07 If you think Hal Lindsey is the last one, 34:09 tighten your seatbelts. 34:11 Let's go to the next stage. 34:12 The next great contributor was a man I talked 34:15 about just a moment ago. 34:16 His name was Tim LaHaye and his writer was Jerry Jenkins. 34:20 The Left Behind series... 34:21 If you think that 15 million is a lot, this 16 volume series, 34:26 the Left Behind series, 75 million books were sold. 34:32 Not to count the movies, not to count the children series, 34:35 not to count the literature, 34:36 and not to count all the non-scriptural Bible studies 34:39 that were sold and taught from the pulpits of the world. 34:43 Some of them are still teaching it. 34:45 Matter of fact, Discovery Channel did an exposé 34:48 when Pastor Doug Batchelor was on, they did this thing about 34:51 End Time Prophecies. 34:52 Some of you may have seen it. 34:53 In that very same exposé, they did a clip on the secret rapture 34:57 and they said, and I quote, "Millions of Christians have 35:00 embraced a belief in the secret rapture, 35:03 and it's not supported by scripture." 35:06 But you know what? 35:08 You tell a person that believes the rapture that it's not 35:09 supported by the Bible, you know what they say? 35:11 They still believe it. 35:13 One of the best deceptions is to look for something 35:16 that's not going to happen. 35:19 Waiting to be snatched away, only to face the tribulation. 35:25 But I've got good news for you. 35:26 Don't fear the tribulation. 35:27 Because the Bible says, "He that dwells in the secret place of 35:30 the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." 35:33 Put your thinking caps on. 35:35 When the plagues came to Egypt, the Israelites were there. 35:39 But what kept them? The blood of the Lamb. 35:43 God didn't take them out before the plagues fell. 35:45 All ten plagues fell while they were in Egypt. 35:47 What protected them? The blood of the Lamb. 35:49 Revelation 12 verse 11, "They overcame him by the 35:52 blood of the Lamb." 35:54 That's our protection. 35:56 Not some secret place that's up there in purgatory. 36:00 Oh, I'll talk about that tomorrow night. 36:04 75 million books and DVD's were sold. 36:07 Christian churches hosted showing the Left Behind DVD's 36:10 in their churches. 36:11 And by the way, it's still sold today as fiction 36:13 in the Christian bookstores. 36:14 But most people miss that stamp, "fiction". 36:20 Here's a slide of Tim LaHaye's book, the Left Behind series. 36:25 I think they may have shown it already. 36:26 75 million books. 36:28 But I want you to hear what was said about this entire series. 36:32 This was taken from the Huff Post, huffingtonpost.com, 36:37 September 5, 2001. 36:59 "Fictionalized image." 37:02 Get that. 37:03 This is what they're telling you. 37:16 Now Tim LaHaye still believes in the secret rapture, 37:19 but what he does not support is the prediction of the day. 37:22 He said that Harold Camping is not right. 37:27 But he still supports the secret rapture. 37:29 Duh. 37:31 That's not a very theological word. 37:34 But in other words, wake up. 37:35 If it's not in the Bible at all, whether you predict the date 37:39 or not, it's not going to happen. 37:41 Am I right? 37:43 Look at the words of Jesus, Matthew 24 verse 36. 37:54 And then we have the final, not the last, but the final 37:57 and most significant contributor to the secret rapture. 38:00 I said to you earlier, if I were the devil, I would 38:02 come after the church. 38:03 And boy, Satan is like Mike Tyson without gloves. 38:08 He's ripping our ears off because we don't want to hear 38:10 what the Spirit says. 38:12 And the churches, multiple millions would rather believe 38:16 the secret rapture than believe the word of God. 38:20 They use 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 where it says, 38:22 "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, 38:25 with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet call of God. 38:28 And the dead in Christ shall rise first." 38:30 If you read that verse, it's anything but secret. 38:32 "The Lord Himself descends from heaven with a shout." 38:36 Secret? 38:37 I haste to say it's not. 38:39 "With the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet." 38:42 How many times have you heard a silent trumpet? 38:46 And David the psalmist says, "Our God shall come 38:48 and shall not keep silent." 38:51 Let me tell you something. 38:52 New Years Eve does not happen, it's not a silent event. 38:55 Amen? 38:56 The championship of a football game is not 38:58 celebrated in secret. 38:59 Neither is the NBA finals. 39:00 Neither is the World Series for baseball. 39:02 Why would the greatest event of the ages be a secret event? 39:06 Why would the God who loves us come back and say, 39:10 "Come on Dick, let's go." 39:12 I don't want to be cynical here, but that's what actually 39:15 people are believing. 39:16 So somebody will be flying an airplane and all of a sudden, 39:18 the pilot is gone. 39:19 Somebody will be driving a car. 39:20 You've seen the posters, "In case of the rapture, 39:22 this car will be unmanned." 39:23 It's based on a lie. 39:25 Please, do your homework. 39:27 Don't be caught by something that's not going to occur. 39:34 I may be excited. 39:35 Just pray for me. 39:38 Jesus also warned us. 39:41 Harold Camping, he predicted that May 21 would 39:44 be the day of judgment. 39:45 Here's a picture of a sign that people saw about that thing. 39:49 Remember this, "Judgment Day, May 21, 2011." 39:52 My wife and I were in Oakland, California around May 21st. 39:56 We took a picture in front of Harold Camping's building. 39:58 If I was thinking, I would have had it on the screen. 40:00 Nobody was there but the radio station was still on. 40:05 And on the next day, May 22nd, was our 28th anniversary. 40:10 I could have told Harold Camping the world was 40:11 not going to end that day. 40:13 We had an anniversary celebration. 40:15 Not that it would be the reason why the world doesn't end. 40:21 But after that, he had I think, a stroke or something 40:23 because he was so disappointed that he was again incorrect. 40:26 When you try to predict something that's not 40:28 going to occur, you will be incorrect over and over 40:31 and over and over again. 40:33 You'll never be correct. 40:35 Like trying to hit a baseball and there's nobody throwing one. 40:41 But notice what Jesus said. 40:43 This one took about five hundred years to construct. 40:47 It is a deception. 40:48 And loving Christians, people that love the Lord... 40:51 I'm not talking about people that don't like Jesus. 40:53 I'm not talking about people that want to be lost. 40:55 I'm talking about people that sincerely love the Lord. 40:58 I'm talking about people who are waiting for this great and 41:01 glorious deliverance out of this cruel sinful world. 41:04 But they've been taught and they've been duped 41:08 by a lie from the pits of hell. 41:11 And it's not going to occur. 41:13 But Jesus warned us that these are days of deception. 41:15 Matthew 24 verse 11. 41:27 He also warned His disciples. 41:29 It's amazing, in the outlaying of the last days in Matthew 24, 41:33 you notice He doesn't mention earthquakes first, 41:35 or wars and fires and floods. 41:36 He doesn't mention disease first. 41:38 The first thing He says, Matthew 24 verse 4, 41:40 look at what He says. 41:41 The first thing He says. 41:51 Do you think He was just picking words? 41:53 No, He was saying the devil is going to deceive you. 41:56 Matter of fact, you read Revelation chapter 12, 41:58 he deceives the whole world. 42:01 His angels were cast out with him. 42:03 He's got workers everywhere to deceive the entire world. 42:06 Which takes me down to this quotation, a very powerful one, 42:10 from the book, Christ Triumphant, 42:12 page 143 and paragraph 2. 42:14 Notice what it says. 42:27 And he's working most effectively under the guise 42:30 of Christianity. 42:31 Now you know what? 42:33 A person may come in here and try to sell us drugs, 42:35 pornography, sex, all that stuff, lottery tickets. 42:38 Nobody is going to buy that. 42:39 Am I right? 42:40 Come on, say amen. 42:42 Aren't going to be buying that. 42:44 But if he packages it in the Bible, now get that, 42:47 God's Holy Book, false study notes. 42:53 Be careful when you study your Bible based on the study notes. 42:58 Check out the beginning. 42:59 There are a couple of, not just Scofield study notes, 43:02 but there are a number of other contributors that follow 43:04 Scofield's train of thought. 43:05 And I could show you my Bibles. 43:06 I have a number of them that the notes themselves, 43:08 if you follow them, you'll believe all kinds of stuff 43:10 that's not supported by the text itself. 43:15 But Jesus said these days would come. 43:18 Look at this, Isaiah 4 and verse 1. 43:20 Seven churches. 43:21 Look at what he says about all seven of them. 43:24 Isaiah 4 verse 1. 43:28 The motif is the last days. 43:33 The seven women are the seven churches. 43:36 Who's the man? Jesus. 43:41 "Food;" we've got our own doctrines. 43:45 "Apparel;" our own righteousness. 43:50 "Your name;" Christian. 43:53 "Many will come in My name saying, 'I am Christ,' 43:56 and will deceive many." 43:57 There are folk that are opening churches up all over the place. 43:59 Do you know why? Because it's the biggest 44:00 tax shelter in the United States. 44:03 It's the biggest way to get into people's pockets, 44:05 to take people's money. 44:06 You know what? 44:07 I need to say something for those of you who may not 44:09 understand where I stand as a pastor. 44:11 My check doesn't go up or down based on how many people are 44:15 packed in the building. 44:17 My check comes in the mail like your check. 44:18 Maybe direct deposit. 44:20 So we're not motivated to tell you what you want to hear. 44:22 We're motivated to tell you the truth. 44:27 I'm not a pilot that just likes to fly. 44:29 I want to get you to your destination. 44:31 Amen? 44:32 So when you get on the plane, they always say before the 44:34 doors are closed, "The next stop for this plane is 44:37 Los Angeles, California. 44:38 If that's not your final destination, please exit now." 44:42 I wish churches would say that, "Our next destination is heaven. 44:45 If this church is not taking you there, please exit now." 44:49 And a whole lot of folk would be walking out. 44:54 Look at 2 Corinthians 11 verses 13 to 15. 44:57 And my point is, don't determine the truth by the way the 45:00 preacher looks and sounds, but by what the Bible contains. 45:04 Because Satan has ministers that work for him. 45:08 That's what Jesus said. Here it is. 45:11 2 Corinthians 11 beginning with verse 13. 45:35 An angel of light; that's how he came to Jesus in the wilderness. 45:51 Everybody is going to have to pay for what they say. 45:53 Am I right? 45:54 That's why I'm not going to tell you a lie. 45:55 Because I'm not standing before God saying, 45:57 "I didn't mean to lie to them." 45:59 No, Jeremiah 23. Listen to it, read it. 46:01 It says, "Woe unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the 46:06 sheep of My pasture." 46:07 There's one Shepherd, and He's says, 46:09 "My sheep will hear My voice." 46:10 John chapter 10. 46:12 "Other sheep I have that are not of this fold." 46:13 But He says, "Them also I must bring." 46:15 John 10 and verse 16. 46:17 So in these last days, God is calling His sheep 46:21 to follow the only Shepherd that tells you the truth; 46:24 Jesus Christ. 46:26 But let's keep on going. 46:28 The Bible also reveals why ministers reject 46:29 and teach against the truth. 46:31 John 3 and verse 19. Look at it. 46:34 The Bible says this. 46:45 How many pastors have you seen... 46:47 And this is a tender subject. 46:49 This is a very tender place to tread 46:51 because the Bible says, "Be Careful. 46:52 Deal with everybody who is in transgression 46:54 with tender gloves. 46:55 Because, but for the grace of God, there go us." 46:58 So many who are not in the task of standing with integrity and 47:03 staying in the Word and prayed up and staying up 47:06 are falling like flies because the darkness is revealing that 47:10 their deeds are really evil. 47:13 That's what is happening in our world today. 47:14 Pray for them. 47:15 But the other reason why many people are rejecting 47:18 the truth is person gain. 47:19 Romans 16 verse 18. 47:21 I like to use the Bible. That's a good thing to do. 47:23 What do you say? 47:24 Romans 16 verse 18, notice what Paul says. 47:41 You know what we call that? Preying on folk. 47:43 Not praying for them, but prey. 47:46 Praying mantis trying to find a way into their pockets. 47:50 I'm sick of that. 47:52 My stomach turns when I go to a church and 47:54 I hear ministers lying. 47:55 I want to stand up, but out of respect I don't do it. 47:57 Oh so many times, I was that close to getting up and just 48:00 blowing the service apart. 48:02 Now they would have probably beat me up and threw me out. 48:06 But God is going to deal with that. 48:09 Deception. 48:10 Here's another reason why many people 48:11 don't like the truth. 48:12 Luke 16 verse 13. 48:18 Deception; another reason for this is right in this verse. 48:42 Mammon was a god that was synonymous to money. 48:47 There are a whole lot of people in it for the money. 48:49 And we, us pastors in the Adventist church, we say, 48:52 "You know we're not in this for the money. 48:55 Because we're not getting rich being Adventist pastors. 48:57 But we've got a retirement plan that's out of this world." 48:59 Can you say amen. 49:02 I've got fire insurance and life insurance. 49:06 God has given me security from the fires to come. 49:08 Isn't that right? 49:09 I've got life insurance. 49:11 Eternal life in Jesus Christ. 49:13 So I've got to be honest. 49:14 He's employed me to tell the truth. 49:16 And that brings me great joy. 49:18 I'm excited about the audience here, but I'm even more excited 49:21 about those who are watching. 49:22 Because many of us know this to be true. 49:24 But those who are listening and watching, if you've never 49:26 heard this before, I want you to pray. 49:28 If there are things that I've said that you want to 49:30 know about, contact 3ABN. 49:33 3ABN.org, you'll find out about it. 49:35 We've got a whole staff of pastors that will be glad to 49:38 walk with you through the Bible. 49:39 We're living in too late a history to hide the truth 49:42 from those who want to know about it. 49:44 People want money, a lot of people want money. 49:47 There are pastors that talk about their salaries. 49:49 I remember a preacher once said to me, "I have more money in my 49:51 pocket than you make in an entire year." 49:54 And I thought to myself, well that's terrible. 49:55 But then I also remembered, you can't buy your way to heaven. 49:59 Am I right? 50:00 You've got to go under the blood of the Lamb. 50:02 Salvation is a free gift. 50:04 We're saved by grace through faith, that not of yourselves. 50:07 It is the gift of God. 50:08 He paid for it and I'm going to accept the gift free of charge. 50:11 But you know when you accept the gift, 50:12 there's some responsibility. 50:13 Am I right? 50:14 Responsibilities, tell the truth. 50:17 The end result of those who prefer a lie in place of 50:20 the truth is spelled out here in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 50:23 verses 11 and 12. 50:25 Follow these words. 50:26 It's a frightful thing to handle error and to do it in delight. 50:30 It's a frightful thing to purposefully and intentionally 50:34 say, "I don't want to hear the truth." 50:37 If somebody is coming to your house, give them bad directions 50:41 and see if they don't get upset. 50:43 Wouldn't they get upset? 50:45 If somebody wants to call you, give them the 50:46 wrong phone number, see if they don't tell you about it. 50:49 But doesn't it frighten you that when you tell people a lie, 50:53 they don't get upset. 50:54 But when you tell them the truth, they get upset. 50:57 When you try to open somebody's eyes, they get mad at you. 51:00 Tell me that the spirit of the Antichrist is not behind that. 51:03 Tell me that there's a different spirit. 51:04 So when somebody says, "I love the Lord," 51:05 that doesn't mean a thing me. 51:07 "If you love Me," Jesus said, "you'll keep My commandments." 51:09 That's the test. 51:10 He that says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, 51:12 Jesus says is a liar and the truth is not in him. 51:16 1 John chapter 2 verses 3 and 4. It's there. 51:18 Examine them by the truth. 51:19 Look at what the Bible says. 51:20 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 11 and 12. 51:42 You know what, I don't join churches because of 51:44 music programs any more than I get on an airplane 51:47 because of the entertainment. 51:49 I get on an airplane because it is going where I want to end up. 51:51 Am I right? 51:52 So there are some churches that have got all kinds of good music 51:55 and great choirs and kicking bands and programs, 51:58 clothes and food for everybody in the line. 52:02 But I'll never forget those words in the back of my mind, 52:04 the echo of Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 to 23. 52:07 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, 52:10 have we not prophesied in Thy name, 52:12 cast out demons in Your name, 52:14 and done many wonderful works in Your name?' 52:16 And He will profess to them, 'I never knew you. 52:19 Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.'" 52:21 In other words, you loved sin, you embraced it, 52:24 and you thought by giving out clothes, that would 52:26 buy your way to heaven. 52:27 Salvation is a free gift. 52:28 But it's for those that love the truth and those that love Jesus. 52:31 Can you say amen. 52:33 That's why during the construction stage, 52:35 during the final construction of the final stage 52:38 we only have one safeguard. 52:40 And that's Jesus and His word. 52:43 I'll go back to that map. 52:44 You know what, my wife and I would be still in Texas 52:46 somewhere trying to find California 52:48 if it were not for the map. 52:50 You can't even say, "Now, I think... 52:52 ...I think... 52:55 ...California is... 52:56 ...that way. 52:58 Unreliable. 52:59 But some people fly by the seat of their pants 53:00 when it comes to theology. 53:02 And we smile. 53:04 I did that for a particular reason. 53:08 That is just as cynical and as ridiculous 53:11 as taking what God clearly says, ignoring it, 53:14 and still trying to find your way by sticking your finger up 53:17 in the wind to find California all the way from Florida. 53:21 There are loving people that are in the bus 53:24 that think that the bus driver is telling the truth. 53:27 But the sad reality is, the Bible says if the 53:29 blind leads the blind, they both fall into the ditch. 53:32 But you know what, people are not blind because 53:34 they can't see. 53:35 Jesus made it very clear to the Jewish nation, 53:37 "You have closed your eyes. 53:38 Lest you see with your eyes and hear with your ears, 53:41 and be converted." 53:43 When our eyes are open, it leads to conversion. 53:45 We see the truth, but we also see Jesus more clearly. 53:47 We're living in a very fragile age. 53:49 It's time to understand that during the construction 53:52 of the final stages, again and again, 53:55 at the end of a rope of destruction, 53:58 at the end of the road of deception and disappointment, 54:00 there's a man saying to us... 54:02 Our last text for tonight, John 14 verse 6. 54:05 Jesus is still alive and well today. 54:08 And He's still calling to those who are in darkness 54:11 to come to this marvelous light. 54:12 He's still saying, "You don't have to stay there 54:14 and enjoy the choir and go to hell singing Christian songs." 54:18 He's saying, "I am the way." Look at the text, brethren. 54:33 My wife and I were in California for two years 54:36 with the Heritage Singers. 54:41 Still had that old rusty car. 54:44 1976 Toyota Corona with all of its cancer. 54:48 It had air conditioning, but the fan didn't work. 54:51 So the only way to cool down was to drive really really fast 54:55 with the air duct open so that it could blow the air in. 54:57 You know, you've got to find ways to make the thing work. 55:03 When we left California, I said to my wife, 55:05 "Honey, we're going to take our time. 55:06 We don't have to rush. We know we're going to Florida." 55:10 She said, "It took us three days, 1016 miles a day. 55:13 I'm not doing that again. We're going to take out time." 55:16 Guess how long it took us to get home. 55:17 Three days. 55:19 You know why? 55:20 Because we had loved ones on the other end. 55:23 We had family on the other end. 55:25 We had difficulty in the journey. 55:26 We got through the deserts of Texas at night, 55:28 one night, and our headlights just stopped working. 55:29 Bam, in the middle of the freeway the lights went out. 55:32 I had to pull off the road. 55:33 Brethren and sisters, when the lights go out, 55:35 don't drive in the dark. 55:36 Pull off the road and fix the lights 55:38 before you continue your journey. 55:40 We're on our way home. We need our lights. 55:42 We're driving at night. It's dark out there. 55:46 We got off the road and fixed the lights. 55:47 Some of you need to fix the lights. 55:49 You're driving without lights. 55:51 Jesus says His word is a lamp unto our feet 55:53 and a light unto our path. 55:55 Fix the lights. 55:56 If your preacher doesn't have it, get out of that vehicle 55:58 and get into a vehicle where they have good headlights. 56:00 Amen, somebody. 56:02 My wife got tired of driving. 56:03 She said, "I'm not driving anymore." 56:05 But you know what I said? "That's all right. 56:07 I'll drive for both of us." 56:09 She got in that seat and slept. 56:10 And I remember, I tell you what, 56:11 when we got through Georgia and we finally saw a 56:15 sign ahead of us that said, "Welcome to Florida," 56:18 my wife was asleep and I said, "Honey, look at the sign, 56:20 'Welcome to Florida,'" and she was as wide awake 56:23 as at any other point in the journey. 56:24 Eyes peeled and wide open. 56:26 You know why? 56:27 Because she knew that not far from that sign was home. 56:30 Brethren, all the signs around us tell us 56:32 that we are nearing home. 56:34 Not far from the signs around us in the world 56:36 says that we're nearing home. 56:38 It's time to turn the lights on. 56:40 It's time to walk in the light while we have the light, 56:43 lest darkness comes upon us. 56:45 So tonight, I want you to bow your heads 56:46 and I'm going to say a short word of prayer, 56:47 because this is a critical hour. 56:49 Father in heaven, we thank You for Your truth, 56:51 it's so magnificent. 56:53 How can we but desire anything but the light 56:57 in this dark world. 56:58 I pray that You will lead those who are sincere, 57:00 that you'll even open the eyes of some of these preachers 57:02 that are going awry and give them an opportunity 57:05 to turn around, pull off the road, turn on the light, 57:08 and follow Jesus as He leads us home. 57:10 Bless the message that went forth. 57:12 And may Your name be honored and glorified. 57:15 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 57:19 Friends, don't forget tomorrow night. 57:21 The message is going to be, The Final Coalition. 57:24 Power packed. 57:25 7:00 pm Central time. 57:28 May God bless you. 57:29 We look forward to seeing you then. 57:30 God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17