Participants: John Dinzey
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000172A
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00:20 Hello and welcome to A Sharper Focus.
00:23 Welcome to Wednesday night Bible study here 00:26 in the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church. 00:29 And when we say Thompsonville, 00:31 I now have to say Thompsonville, Illinois 00:34 'cause as I was in Michigan 00:35 and I saw a man with a T-shirt that said, Thompsonville, 00:38 and later I asked and they told me 00:39 that there's a Thompsonville in Michigan. 00:41 So Thompsonville, Illinois, we are here at Route 149, 00:46 and just before you get on to the connection 00:49 where Route 149 meets the Route 34 00:52 on the left hand side 00:54 more or less about almost a mile, 00:56 you'll find the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:58 the 3ABN, The Three Angels Broadcasting Worship Center. 01:02 And you are welcome to participate 01:03 in the Wednesday night Bible study here with us, 01:06 here with the group of people that are with us. 01:08 You can study the Bible together. 01:10 Not only that, we can pray together. 01:12 We also encourage you to come 01:14 during our Sabbath day worship service 01:17 which is on Saturday. 01:18 Saturday mornings we are here beginning at nine, 01:21 some people are here before, 01:23 but you are welcome to join us for worship 01:25 and to praise God's name. 01:27 Now those are the ones we are mentioning, 01:28 there are other activities that take place at the church. 01:31 There are prayer groups, 01:32 there are people that meet on Friday and different days 01:35 but these are the ones 01:36 that we are going to mention to you, 01:38 and if you need more information stop by 01:41 the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church or call. 01:44 Now we want to encourage you to grab your Bible 01:47 or something to find that has the Bible, 01:50 like a tablet, computer, phone, 01:53 whatever it may be but also we encourage you 01:55 to find something to write with 01:57 because we want to share some scriptures with you 02:00 that we hope you will continue to study. 02:03 So when you have 02:04 the Wednesday night Bible study, 02:06 we want you to be like the people in Berea. 02:08 Look into the scriptures to see 02:10 if these things are true. 02:12 My name is John Dinzey. 02:14 It's a pleasure to be with you 02:15 during this hour to study God's Word together. 02:17 Is it good to study God's Word together? 02:19 Would you say amen? 02:20 Amen. Amen. 02:22 It's good to study God's Word together. 02:23 And before we launch into our study, 02:25 I would like to ask you to join me in prayer, 02:27 then we may ask the Lord to be with us, 02:29 the Lord to guide us and the Lord to speak to us. 02:33 So let's go to the Lord in prayer. 02:35 Our loving heavenly Father, 02:38 we thank You for Your goodness and Your infinite mercy. 02:42 We thank You, Lord, 02:43 that Your mercies are new every morning 02:46 and we come before You in Jesus' name 02:48 to ask for Your blessing. 02:50 The blessing of the Holy Spirit 02:52 that we may understand Your words 02:54 and that we may fight courage 02:57 and hope in Your Holy Scriptures 02:59 because we know you have a message for us, 03:02 a message for us as individuals, 03:04 a message that will help us understand Your great love, 03:08 also the warning that You have for us 03:10 that we may be ready for the soon coming of our Lord 03:14 and our Savior Jesus Christ. 03:16 Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayer. 03:17 We pray that You will bless everyone 03:19 that is here 03:20 in the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, 03:22 and everyone that is joining us 03:23 wherever they may be in the world. 03:25 We thank You, Father, 03:26 for this medium of Three Angels Broadcasting Network 03:29 that through television, radio, and the internet 03:33 is bringing the everlasting gospel 03:34 to the world. 03:36 Praise Your name and thank you for joining us in this study 03:39 in Jesus' name, amen. 03:40 Amen. 03:42 Well, brothers and sisters, I have to tell you 03:45 that I am not very good 03:47 at coming up with titles to messages. 03:50 And so when they asked me for a title, 03:52 they took me by surprise 03:53 because that was completely out of my mind. 03:55 And so I... 03:56 The first title I submitted, 03:59 I was like, "Wow, that's a long title." 04:01 And it wasn't that good I guess, 04:04 but we came up with this title 04:06 and there was no comment made about it, 04:08 so we kept this one. 04:10 So this title is called, "Christ return confirmed." 04:14 Christ return confirmed. 04:16 And if you continue to be with us, 04:19 I will tell you where this title came from, 04:22 Christ return confirmed. 04:25 So let's go to our study, 04:27 and we begin with Genesis 3:15. 04:32 Genesis 3:15. 04:35 Now we are unfortunately 04:38 living in a world where sin exists. 04:43 And we live in a country 04:48 and you live in a country 04:49 where perhaps you may trust a few people around you, 04:54 but you don't know when someone may show up at your house, 04:57 or something may happen that is a calamity, a tragedy 05:01 and something that will cause you harm 05:04 or your family harm. 05:06 We got into this mess because Adam and Eve 05:10 accepted to sin against God 05:13 and sin against the commandment of God. 05:17 So in Genesis 3:15, God is talking to Adam and Eve 05:22 and He has a message for the serpent. 05:25 Satan used the serpent as a medium to tempt Eve, 05:31 and now God is talking to the serpent 05:34 in Genesis 3:15 in the hearing of course of Adam and Eve. 05:40 And in this verse, 05:41 we find a promise from the Lord 05:43 because even though the devil had defeated Adam and Eve, 05:48 God sent them a message of hope in Genesis 3:15 05:50 which are these words. 05:52 "And I," that is God, 05:54 "will put enmity between you and the woman, 05:58 and between your seed and her seed. 06:02 He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." 06:07 And so here we have God telling us 06:11 that He would put some separation, 06:14 some, not total communion 06:19 but that God will bring in an enmity, 06:23 a separation between 06:25 the woman and the seed of the woman 06:30 and the seed of the serpent. 06:33 In other words, those that follow the devil. 06:36 And so God was going to bring in the seed, Jesus Christ, 06:41 to crush the head of the serpent 06:44 with is the mortal blow. 06:46 If you want to kill a serpent, a snake, 06:49 people know that you crush their heads. 06:51 And so this was a promise 06:53 that God was going to send His only begotten Son 06:57 to save those that are willing to be saved, 07:00 and I hope you are one of those 07:03 that wants to be saved through Jesus Christ. 07:06 And so this is the promise of the Lord. 07:09 And since that promise was made, 07:12 it entered into the heart of the sons of God, 07:16 those that love the Lord to see that reality come to pass. 07:21 When the Son of God will crush the serpent's head 07:25 and we will be totally liberated from sin, 07:29 its consequences, its effects, and even the atmosphere of sin 07:34 because even the atmosphere of sin 07:36 is not desirable. 07:38 And I don't know 07:39 if you had been in a place or have entered somewhere 07:42 where there's this heavy air that is negative 07:46 and you just don't feel good being there. 07:49 Has anybody been in a situation like that? 07:51 I have also. 07:53 And don't feel comfortable, 07:54 want to leave as soon as possible. 07:56 And so, God wants to completely deliver us from sin, 08:01 its influence, its cause, its destruction 08:04 and God will completely do that in the time of the end. 08:08 Now, not only do we have this promise, 08:12 but we have many promises in the Bible 08:14 concerning the second coming of Jesus Christ. 08:18 I would like to take you to the New Testament 08:20 which speaks of something in the Old Testament 08:24 which was one of the prophets of the Lord that may, 08:27 that presented a message to God's children. 08:30 That is in Jude 14-15. 08:34 Jude 14-15. 08:36 There is one chapter, so we say Jude 1:14-15. 08:42 And so, I hope you write this down 08:44 because as time seems to be escaping us, 08:48 I will begin reading a little faster 08:51 and so let's go to Jude 1:14-15. 08:54 "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, 08:58 prophesied about these men also, saying, 09:01 'Behold, the Lord comes 09:04 with ten thousands of His saints, 09:06 to execute judgment on all, 09:09 to convict all who are ungodly among them 09:12 of all their ungodly deeds 09:14 which they have committed in an ungodly way, 09:17 and of all the harsh things 09:19 which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'" 09:22 So we see here that he is talking literally 09:27 about the second coming of Jesus Christ. 09:29 Now he uses a term, "ten thousand of his saints," 09:32 which means an innumerable company 09:34 of his saints. 09:36 And so this is also a promise of the hope 09:39 that was in God's children for Jesus to return. 09:44 When you go to 1 Kings 8:56, 09:48 1 Kings 8:56, 09:50 there's a wonderful declaration there 09:52 in 1 Kings 8 09:57 I'm sorry verses 56 10:00 1 Kings 56, 10:02 God had made many promises 10:04 to the people of Israel that if they were faithful, 10:07 God will be faithful and bless them abundantly. 10:11 And we come to a time when God had done that, 10:14 the people had been faithful to the Lord 10:16 and the Lord fulfilled His promises. 10:18 Notice what 1 Kings 8:56 says, 10:21 "Blessed be the Lord, 10:23 who has given rest to His people Israel, 10:26 according to all that He promised. 10:29 There has not failed one word of all His good promise, 10:35 which He promised through His servant Moses." 10:40 Marvelous. 10:41 We see here a declaration that every one of the promises 10:46 that God had made were fulfilled by God. 10:49 Not one word failed. 10:52 Praise the Lord. 10:53 And so we can see evidence 10:56 that when God promises something, 10:58 He keeps His promise. 11:00 Would you say amen to that? 11:01 God keeps His promises. 11:03 And, of course, 11:05 many of the promises of the Lord 11:06 come up on conditions of faithfulness, 11:09 obedience to Him, 11:12 and so you can go to many places, 11:14 you can find some of the promises 11:16 that God made to His people, 11:18 just read the Book of Exodus, read the Book of Deuteronomy, 11:21 and you'll see many promises there. 11:23 So now we want to invite you 11:26 to go to Job 19 11:28 Job 19:25-27. 11:32 Now when I mentioned Job, many people remember Job 11:35 as a man that went through horrendous things 11:40 as he encountered one tragedy after another. 11:45 Satan was attacking this man 11:48 practically in a horrendous way. 11:51 We've talked about this in other times 11:53 during the Wednesday night Bible study. 11:55 But notice the hope 11:57 that burned in the heart of Job. 12:00 Job 19:25-27, notice, 12:04 "For I know that my Redeemer lives, 12:08 And He shall stand at last on the earth. 12:12 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, 12:15 That in my flesh I shall see God, 12:18 Whom I shall see for myself, 12:20 And my eyes shall behold, and not another. 12:23 How my heart yearns within me!" 12:27 And so he is talking about the second coming. 12:31 When everything is said and done, 12:32 I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand. 12:36 That means He will be in control, 12:38 He will be in-charge, 12:40 He, my Redeemer will stand at the latter day 12:45 as it says in the King James. 12:46 And he is talking 12:48 that even after his flesh is destroyed, 12:50 he is talking about the resurrection 12:51 because he says, "After my skin is destroyed, 12:54 this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God," 12:57 talking about the resurrection when we shall be transformed 13:00 in the twinkling of a night at the last trumpet 13:03 we shall be changed. 13:05 This corruptible shall put on incorruption 13:08 and this mortal shall put on immortality, 13:12 thus, that is what the Bible says. 13:14 Would you say amen to that? 13:15 Praise the Lord. 13:16 I want to take you to another promise 13:18 found in the Book of Psalms 50, 13:20 Psalms 50, and we are going to read Psalms 50 13:25 and this one we will begin in verse 3. 13:30 Psalms 50:3, 13:33 and this is what the Bible tells us. 13:36 "Our God shall come," praise the Lord," 13:40 and shall not keep silent. 13:41 A fire shall devour before Him, 13:44 and it shall be very tempestuous 13:46 all around Him. 13:47 He shall call to the heavens from above, 13:49 and to the earth, that He may judge His people." 13:53 So even in the Book of Psalms, 13:54 you find promises of the Lord's coming. 13:57 Verse 5, what is He gonna do? 13:59 "He is gonna gather My saints together to Me, 14:03 those who have made a covenant with Me 14:06 by sacrifice." 14:08 He is gonna what? Gather His saints. 14:10 And those who had made a covenant with Him 14:13 by sacrifice. 14:14 In other words, those that have chosen 14:16 to be faithful to the Lord. 14:19 Now let's go to one of the precious promises 14:22 in the Bible found in the New Testament 14:24 in John 14 14:28 and many people know this by memory. 14:31 John 14 14:32 and we are going to read 14:34 verses 1, 2, and 3. 14:39 John 14:1-3. 14:40 This is one of the verses 14:42 that very young I learned in memory 14:46 and my father used to quote it quite often. 14:48 Notice what the Bible says. 14:49 "Let not your heart be troubled, 14:52 you believe in God, believe also in Me. 14:55 In My Father's house are many mansions, 14:57 if they were not so..." 14:59 What is He gonna do? 15:00 "I would have told you. 15:02 I go to prepare a place for you. 15:04 And if I go to prepare a place for you, 15:07 I will" what? 15:09 "Come again and" what? 15:10 "Receive you to Myself, that where I am, 15:13 there you may be also." 15:15 Some of these words remind you of the verse 15:17 we just read in the Book of Psalms. 15:19 "Gather His saints." 15:21 This is what He says, "I will receive you to Myself, 15:25 that where I am there you may be also." 15:27 So here is the place where I found 15:31 the title to today's message. 15:33 It's a promise from Jesus 15:35 that He will come again and receive us to Himself. 15:39 In other words, the promises that He has made 15:42 He will fulfill. 15:44 And Jesus is promising, 15:45 "I will return. 15:48 I will come again and receive you to Myself." 15:51 So I am telling you that Christ has confirmed His return. 15:56 He has confirmed His return. 15:58 You know after flying 16:01 from place to place you discover, 16:03 especially when you fly overseas, 16:05 that the airlines want you to confirm your flight. 16:09 They want to know that you are gonna show up for, 16:13 to sit on your seat that you have purchased 16:15 and sometimes they are not so... 16:19 They are not pushing this 16:21 as much as they used to 16:23 because even today, 16:24 you don't even have to call them, 16:26 you can just go online and check the information, 16:29 make sure that your flight is your correct flight 16:31 and say I want to check-in. 16:33 You can check-in 24 hours before 16:35 you even go to the airport. 16:37 And so you are confirming. 16:40 And Jesus Christ has confirmed His return 16:43 and He will return for those that love Him, 16:45 and I hope you have that hope in your heart. 16:49 Jesus Christ has confirmed His return, 16:52 and I say, praise the Lord for that. 16:54 Would you say amen? Amen. 16:57 Now, we would like to take you to a scripture 17:01 that helps us understand a little bit 17:03 about when He would return. 17:09 So for this we go to 2 Thessalonians 2. 17:16 2 Thessalonians 2, 17:19 and we are going to look at a few verses there, 17:23 2 Thessalonians 2. 17:25 In 2 Thessalonians 2, there is a warning for us 17:30 from the Apostle Paul 17:32 and we have to begin in verse 1 for this warning. 17:37 "Now, brethren, 17:39 concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 17:43 and our gathering together to Him..." 17:47 Notice again the word gathering together with Him. 17:49 "We ask you, 17:51 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, 17:54 either by spirit or by word or by letter, 17:58 as if from us, 18:00 as though the day of Christ had come. 18:05 Let no one deceive you by any means, 18:08 for that Day will not come 18:10 unless the falling away comes first, 18:14 and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." 18:19 We'll stop there for now. 18:20 Now notice that Paul 18:22 is bringing a message to his brethren 18:26 because some were thinking 18:27 Jesus Christ is coming soon. 18:29 This is the hope of Christians for hundreds of years, 18:32 Jesus Christ is coming soon. 18:33 They were excited about this. 18:35 But Paul is trying to help them to remain faithful 18:39 but also not to expect 18:41 the coming as soon as they were thinking. 18:44 He warned them 18:46 that they would come a falling away, a what? 18:50 A falling away and this is what we are going to read 18:53 now in verse 3. 18:56 We read verse 3... 18:58 Did we read verse 3 already? 18:59 Yes, he says, 19:01 "Let no one deceive you by any means, 19:03 for that Day will not come 19:05 unless the falling away comes first, 19:07 and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." 19:12 Now you will notice that the words, 19:14 "that day will not come" 19:17 are in italics, 19:19 in some of the Bibles they are italicized 19:20 which means 19:22 that they are not in the original Greek, 19:25 in the manuscripts 19:26 or in the letters of the Apostle Paul 19:28 but the translators thought it fit in. 19:32 And really, if you look at the context, 19:34 you will see it seems to fit. 19:36 Would you agree to that? 19:37 It seems to fit. 19:39 When you look at the context, it seems to fit. 19:42 If not those words, some words close to that. 19:45 Now he says there will be a falling away 19:49 that comes first before Jesus returns. 19:53 What does the Apostle Paul means 19:55 by a falling away? 19:57 We are going to talk about that in a moment. 19:59 Now notice what he says. 20:02 He says, the man of sin is to be revealed. 20:07 And he also calls this man of sin, 20:09 the son of perdition. 20:12 Question, what does the word perdition mean? 20:17 The word perdition means someone that is lost. 20:21 You read in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world 20:24 that He gave His only begotten Son, 20:26 that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish 20:28 but have everlasting life." 20:30 And those that have everlasting life 20:35 are not lost. 20:38 So you hear some people, 20:39 "Do you want to be saved or do you want to be lost?" 20:41 And this is the same understanding 20:42 we have here. 20:44 This man of perdition is a man of sin, 20:47 the Bible says, that will be lost, 20:49 that will perish because of his sins. 20:52 And so the Bible says 20:54 that he is the son of perdition. 20:57 And we are going to look at a text 20:58 where this word is used again in another place. 21:01 But first, we want to talk a little bit 21:04 about this falling away, falling away. 21:09 We'll briefly explain that this way. 21:11 Jesus says, "If any man will come after me, 21:15 let him take up his" what? 21:16 "Cross daily and follow Me." 21:20 This is what Jesus said. 21:22 This falling away, if people, 21:24 they have decided 21:25 not to take the cross of Christ, 21:27 not to follow Jesus, but to leave and go away. 21:31 In other words, they choose not to follow Jesus, 21:34 they are following another master 21:37 who will lead them to perdition. 21:39 Because if the man of sin, 21:41 the son of perdition is deceiving people, 21:44 he is leading them to the same place he is going, 21:47 to perdition. 21:48 In other words, as we understand it, 21:51 he will suffer the wages of sin which is death. 21:55 And be thrown into the lake of fire 21:58 and eventually die because the Bible says, 22:00 that is the second death. 22:03 So let's go to the idea of falling away. 22:06 When the Christians accepted Jesus Christ, 22:10 when they began to preach, you see in the Book of Acts, 22:14 and you continue reading in the Book of Acts, 22:16 many people were being saved. 22:19 They were accepting Jesus Christ 22:21 as their personal savior and the day of Pentecost, 22:24 how many people were saved, or accepted salvation? 22:29 About 3,000 people. 22:31 And you keep reading and it says, 22:33 they were added to the church daily 22:36 such as should be saved. 22:39 Eventually you started reading in this, 22:40 you'll find that there's persecution. 22:42 The Apostle Paul, before he was Paul, 22:45 he was what? 22:46 Saul and he was a persecutor of the Christians. 22:51 For a while, the Christians were being persecuted 22:54 mainly by the Jews. 22:56 Excuse me? 23:03 Being persecuted mainly by the Jews. 23:07 The Romans 23:10 did not know what to think of the Christians. 23:12 They just thought 23:14 this is another sect among the Jews. 23:17 Excuse me? 23:18 Losing my voice here. 23:27 They thought it was another sect 23:28 among the Jews. 23:30 Didn't really bothered too much with them. 23:32 But eventually, history reveals 23:34 that also the Romans persecuted the Christians. 23:38 So for a while, the Christians, which were mainly Jews, 23:43 were being persecuted by Jews 23:45 and by the Romans. 23:47 And so these 23:50 faithful followers of the Lord remained faithful. 23:56 But the Apostle Paul said, there would be a falling away. 24:00 What does this mean? 24:01 Some people would go astray. 24:03 Some people will stop following the Lord. 24:05 And the Bible speaks to us 24:06 concerning this 24:07 in one of the places is Revelation 12. 24:10 Revelation 12:13-14 24:13 are the first verses we're gonna read. 24:16 Revelation 12. 24:20 If you found it, please say amen. 24:23 Amen. 24:24 Revelation 12:13, 24:26 "Now when the dragon 24:28 saw that he had been cast to the earth, 24:31 he persecuted the woman," 24:33 that is the followers of Christ, 24:35 "who gave birth to the male Child. 24:38 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, 24:43 that she might fly 24:45 into the wilderness to her place," 24:48 to a place of safety, 24:50 "where she is nourished," by the Lord, 24:53 "for a time, times and half a time, 24:57 from the presence of the serpent." 25:00 What does the serpent want to do? 25:02 He is persecuting the woman to destroy the woman, 25:05 destroy the church. 25:07 And notice that it says, time, times and half a time. 25:12 So time, one, times is two, and then half a time. 25:17 So it's three and a half times. 25:19 Now this time, times and half a time 25:24 is spoken of in different ways in the Bible. 25:28 And one of the places 25:30 that you'll find it is in Revelation 11:3. 25:35 In Revelation 11:3, it refers to this time, times, 25:40 and half a time as 1260 days. 25:46 1260 days. 25:48 We are talking... 25:49 When it says time, it's talking about one year, 25:52 times, two years, that makes three 25:54 and the half a times, that's half a year. 25:57 And we are talking about half a year, 26:00 notice that it says 1260 days. 26:03 What you must do is take into account 26:05 the Hebrew accounting of a month. 26:10 The Hebrew accounting of a month, 30 days. 26:13 Yes, there were some days with 29 26:15 but they round off to 30 days. 26:17 And it equals to 360 days in a year. 26:22 And these 360 days in a year, 26:25 if you would multiply 3 by 360 26:31 and then you add the other 60, 26:34 you will find 1260 days. 26:37 So Revelation 11:3 speaks of it as 1260 days. 26:41 When you go to Revelation 6, 26:44 you will notice that 26:45 this is referred to as 42 months. 26:50 And once again, time, times, and half a time. 26:55 Or in Daniel, it speaks of it as the dividing of time. 26:59 In other words, the dividing of a year, 27:02 a prophetic year. 27:04 So it's three and a half times. 27:05 Please do not get confused by this. 27:07 We are still talking about 1260 days, 27:10 prophetic days, which equals to 1260 years. 27:14 1260 years. 27:16 So in Revelation 12:6, 27:18 you will find 42 months. 27:20 In Daniel 7:25, you will find again, 27:24 time, times, and half a time. 27:26 And you will also find this in Daniel 12:7. 27:30 Daniel 12:7. 27:32 And in this verse that we just read, 27:35 Revelation 12:14, 27:36 it is mentioned as time, times, and half a times. 27:40 And notice that we read that the serpent, the dragon, 27:44 that is the devil went after the woman 27:48 to persecute the woman. 27:49 But then it describes that the woman 27:52 was given two great wings 27:55 as of an eagle to fly into the wilderness, 27:58 and the wilderness is a place that is not heavily populated. 28:02 When people want to get away from cars, 28:06 and pollution, and the hustle and bustle of life, 28:09 they like to go to the forest, 28:10 they like to go to the wilderness, 28:13 and camp out, and be alone. 28:15 So the church to protect itself 28:19 from the corruptions of the world 28:21 and from persecution, the Lord got involved 28:23 in the process of protecting her 28:25 because it says that the Lord had a place for her 28:28 and nourished her. 28:30 What are we trying to say? 28:31 That for 1260 years, the true followers of God 28:37 were in hiding. 28:39 And they would come out 28:41 only to share the gospel with others 28:43 because persecution was active. 28:45 And so let's talk about these 1260 years. 28:50 We continue our reading in Revelation 12, 28:53 we now go to verse 15. 28:54 Revelation 12:15, 28:56 notice the action of the serpent 29:00 following the woman. 29:01 It says, "So the serpent spewed water 29:04 out of his mouth like a flood after the woman." 29:08 What does an excessive amount of flood do in an area? 29:12 It drowns people. 29:14 So it says here that the serpent spewed water 29:17 out of his mouth like a flood after the woman. 29:20 What comes out of the mouth of the devil? 29:23 What comes out of the mouth of the devil 29:25 is confusion, deception. 29:28 And so the devil works through people in the world 29:33 that want to follow him. 29:36 So the devil used people to bring confusion 29:40 and false doctrines into the church. 29:44 And this is what he is talking about here when he says, 29:46 and the devil spewed water out 29:47 like a flood to swallow the woman, 29:50 to confuse her and lead her astray. 29:53 And so, during the 1260 years, 29:57 there was confusion that came in amongst some people 30:00 and people were lead astray with the false doctrines 30:04 that the devil presented. 30:06 So I ask you, if you have 30:12 some pure grape juice and you add... 30:17 If you have half a glass of grape juice 30:19 and you add half a glass of water, 30:21 do you have 100% grape juice? 30:25 When you go to the store, when it's not a 100% juice, 30:27 they call it a grape drink. 30:29 That means it's not a 100% pure. 30:31 And so in the same manner, 30:33 the devil tried to add false doctrines 30:38 to confuse God's children. 30:40 And today, the fact 30:44 that there are so many denominations 30:46 speaks to you of the success that the devil has had 30:50 in bringing confusion into the Christian world. 30:53 But please understand that the woman, 30:56 the true church, the true followers of God 30:57 were hiding in the wilderness 30:59 while the visible church that was in the city 31:03 and continue to operate, 31:05 they had accepted false doctrines 31:07 and adopted some pagan ideas into the worship 31:11 and into the doctrines 31:15 were not the true followers of God. 31:17 They were teaching the people that would listen to them 31:19 false doctrines, 31:21 the mingling of truth and error. 31:24 Not a 100% pure. 31:26 And so this brought confusion among the people. 31:29 But the Bible says that God nourished 31:33 protected the woman from being completely overcome 31:37 by the flood of false doctrines that came in. 31:41 Notice what it says in verse 16, 31:42 "But the earth helped the woman, 31:45 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood 31:48 which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth." 31:51 In other words, the Lord protected God's people 31:53 so that they would not be completely wiped out. 31:56 And this angered the devil because he realized 32:00 that he was not gonna be completely successful 32:03 and this is what in verse 17 says, 32:05 "And the dragon was enraged with the woman." 32:10 And notice how he identifies these people that are faithful. 32:15 He went to make war with the rest of her off spring 32:19 who keep the commandments of God 32:22 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 32:26 Those are not the ones 32:28 that have not fallen away, those are the ones 32:30 that are still following the pure doctrines of the Lord. 32:34 And the devil is trying to go after them. 32:36 He says, he makes war with them, 32:39 and he is enraged with them. 32:40 And so, for 1260 years, the woman is protected. 32:45 And now I like to take you back 32:48 to 2 Thessalonians 2 once again, 32:52 and let us put together what we have just said. 32:56 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, "Now, brethren, 32:59 concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 33:02 and our gathering together with Him, 33:05 we ask you, 33:07 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, 33:09 either by spirit or by word or by letter, 33:11 as though the day of Christ had come. 33:13 Let no one deceive you by any means, 33:15 for that Day will not come 33:17 unless the falling away comes first, 33:19 and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." 33:23 And notice some of the characteristics 33:26 of this son of perdition. 33:27 "He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God 33:33 or that is worshiped, 33:34 so that he sits as God in the temple of God, 33:38 showing himself that he is God." 33:43 So this is one of the characteristics. 33:46 This is a person that makes other believe 33:51 to be a leader of the Lord, 33:54 that's why he says 33:55 that he is in the temple of God, 33:57 but he says that he is God. 33:59 And you have to ask yourselves, where have we seen this before. 34:03 Can we go into history and see if any religious leaders said, 34:09 sat in the temple of God as God. 34:11 Question, do we have any evidence in the Bible 34:14 that the Apostle John did this type of thing? 34:17 No, there is no evidence that the Apostle John 34:19 did this type of thing. 34:21 Sitting in the temple of God, letting others worship him. 34:24 Do we have any other...? 34:27 How about Paul? 34:29 A Great man of God. 34:30 A great servant of the Lord. 34:32 Surely God was using him. 34:34 Could he not sit in the temple of God 34:36 and be worshipped as God? 34:38 Paul would not have it. 34:39 He said, he was a born servant. 34:41 A servant of the Lord. 34:43 Question, what about Peter? 34:45 Some people claim he was the first pope. 34:47 Did he sit in a church 34:49 and be as God and was worshipped? 34:52 I tell you that Peter in no way accepted this. 34:55 And we had some occasions where you see some people 34:59 tried to kneel before the apostle, 35:01 he would say, "No, get up, I am also a man." 35:04 And so Peter would not do this. 35:06 None of the apostles would do this. 35:08 This is a man of sin, a person fallen away 35:11 from the true commandments of God, 35:13 the true doctrines of God 35:15 and now takes some of the authority of God, 35:18 wants to take some of the authority of God 35:20 and show himself as God. 35:22 We don't have much time to talk about this. 35:24 We just want to establish the point that Paul said 35:27 that Jesus Christ will not come until the falling away comes. 35:31 In other words, Paul told us that 35:38 don't look for Jesus Christ to come 35:40 until this falling away takes place 35:42 and the man of sin is revealed. 35:43 Brothers and sisters, 35:45 we have historical facts to let us know 35:47 that this man of sin which we understand 35:50 is the Roman Catholic Church system 35:56 which persecuted Christians and it is in history, 36:00 persecuted Christians and from 538 BC 36:03 when it was in great power and authority, 36:07 I said BC but it's A.D, 36:08 538 AD to 1798 AD 36:14 when the pope is taken captive by the armies of France. 36:20 Taken captive and his authority, 36:22 his power is removed 36:24 and he is no longer the authority 36:27 who could say to kings, "Get off the throne. 36:30 You're no longer authorized to be in the throne." 36:32 And that's what the pope had power to do 36:34 for a period of time. 36:36 Several hundred years this was in power. 36:39 So Paul tells us, 36:40 "Don't look for the second coming of Christ 36:43 until the falling away takes place." 36:45 So when can we look 36:47 for the second coming of Christ to take place? 36:49 After 1798. 36:52 So, brothers and sisters, we have a guide 36:55 to help us understand that after 1798, 36:58 we can begin expecting that Jesus Christ will come 37:02 to rescue His people. 37:03 If you understand that, would you say amen? 37:05 Amen. Praise the Lord. 37:07 So this falling away took place, 37:11 and the Bible, we hope to get to Revelation 13 to read 37:16 some of those scriptures as well. 37:18 Let's go now to this idea of the son of perdition, 37:22 the son of perdition. 37:25 In John 17:12, this phrase, 37:30 "the son of perdition" appears again. 37:33 John 17:12, 37:35 Jesus is talking to the Father, 37:38 and in John 17:12, 37:41 He says this to the Father. 37:43 "While I was with them in the world, 37:45 I kept them in Your name, "talking of His disciples, 37:50 "those whom You gave Me I have kept 37:55 and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, 38:01 that the Scripture might be fulfilled." 38:03 Question, who is Jesus talking about here? 38:07 Judas. 38:09 Jesus is talking about Judas. 38:11 And He is saying, "None of the disciples are lost 38:14 except the son of perdition." 38:16 Judas. 38:18 Why did Jesus call Judas the son of perdition? 38:22 Jesus called Judas the son of perdition 38:25 because Judas chose to follow what the devil wanted. 38:29 So he was called the son of perdition 38:31 because he chose to the bidding of the devil. 38:34 What did Judas choose to do? 38:37 He chose to betray Jesus Christ 38:41 and when he chose to betray Jesus Christ, 38:44 you will see this 38:45 during the time of the Last Supper, 38:47 it says that Jesus says to Judas, 38:53 "What you are going to do, do it quickly." 38:56 And there's a time when Judas gets upset and it says, 38:59 "Then the devil entered Judas." 39:04 Judas made the decision. 39:05 He became a son of perdition. 39:09 And those that follow the devil are children of perdition. 39:14 And so this man of sin 39:17 that sits in the church as a leader 39:22 and as a someone to be worshipped 39:25 is called a son of perdition in the Bible 39:28 because follows, because this individual, 39:31 this system follows the false doctrines 39:35 that the devil brings out. 39:38 Now, as we continue in 2 Thessalonians, 39:40 we go back there, 39:41 2 Thessalonians 2, we go to verse 5. 39:45 2 Thessalonians 2:5. 39:47 There's much more 39:48 that we can say about these things 39:50 but we have to limit ourselves. 39:52 2 Thessalonians 2:5-10, let's go there. 39:56 "Do you not remember that when I was still with you, 39:59 I told you these things? 40:00 And now you know what is restraining, 40:03 that he may be revealed in his own time. 40:06 For the mystery of inequity," it says in the King James. 40:09 In the New King James, 40:10 it uses for the mystery of lawlessness 40:13 because this power is against the law of God. 40:18 And it says, "For the mystery of inequity, 40:21 the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, 40:24 only he who now restrains will do 40:26 so until he is taken out of the way. 40:29 And then the lawless one will be revealed 40:31 whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth 40:34 and destroy with the brightness of His coming." 40:40 And notice verse 9, 40:42 "The coming of the lawless one 40:43 is according to the working of Satan, 40:46 with all power, signs and lying wonders, 40:50 and with all unrighteous deception 40:52 among those who perish, because they did not receive 40:55 the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 40:58 And here's the difference. 40:59 The love of the truth, that they might be saved. 41:03 And when you see this verse 41:06 that the coming of the lawless one, 41:07 the son of perdition, the signs and lying wonders, 41:11 it reminds you 41:12 of what is written in Revelation 13, 41:15 that they do great wonders 41:16 even calling fire down from heaven. 41:19 So let's go to another sign that will help us understand 41:23 that Jesus Christ is coming soon. 41:25 Let's go to Matthew 24. 41:28 In Matthew 24, we are going to read verse 14. 41:33 Matthew 24:14, 41:34 if you know it by memory say amen. 41:36 Amen. 41:38 Several of you know this by memory. 41:39 Matthew 24:14, it says, 41:41 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached 41:46 in all the world as a witness to all the nations, 41:50 and then the end will come." 41:54 When will it come? 41:56 When the gospel is preached in all the world, 42:00 then the end will come. 42:02 "For a witness unto all nations." 42:03 You see, the gospel of Jesus Christ 42:05 must go to all the world. 42:08 And as you consider the times we are living in 42:11 as we mentioned in other occasions. 42:13 We are living in the times 42:15 when the gospel could be preached 42:17 in a short time. 42:18 If God's people would come together 42:23 and say let's finish this work that God has given us. 42:26 Let's go to all the nations and finish the work. 42:29 Right now, 42:32 I can tell you 42:36 that the Christian church has grown tremendously. 42:41 But there is a lot of work to be done. 42:44 Can you believe that there are some places 42:46 was no Christian church? 42:50 No Christian church. 42:52 But I tell you, 42:54 the work can be done in a short time. 42:58 Today, transportation is faster than ever. 43:02 You can get to places with cars and motorcycles if you wanted. 43:07 You can get to places pretty fast. 43:09 You can fly to places. 43:11 You can go on train. 43:13 But you can get to places fast. 43:15 This work could be finished very fast. 43:19 We have the printed page. 43:21 You can print thousands, thousands in an hour. 43:26 All of our pamphlets and books, 43:29 Bibles that contain the gospel message 43:33 and give them away. 43:36 You also have digital formats of Bible studies 43:41 that people can find on the internet 43:43 that you can easily send by email to people, 43:45 that you can post online on Facebook 43:48 or other social media, easy to share the gospel, 43:51 easier than ever to share the gospel. 43:54 And if people would come together 43:56 and say let's finish this work, 43:58 the work could be done in a very short time. 44:01 Adding to this, is the power of mass media. 44:06 Radio. 44:08 Radio can reach not just one person 44:12 but thousands of people in a moment of time, 44:15 millions of people in a moment of time. 44:18 Given the right amount of power and the right place 44:22 where this antenna is, 44:24 radio could reach millions of people at a time. 44:27 Television can do as well. 44:29 Reach millions of people at a time. 44:32 And not only local broadcast 44:35 but even 3ABN that is on satellite 44:38 reaching millions of people in a moment of time. 44:41 This work can be done very quickly. 44:44 So we are living in a time when this work could be done 44:47 very quickly in a short time. 44:50 You've heard of perhaps dark colonies 44:52 we have in this area, 44:53 some places where we say, "Well, there's not 44:55 a Seventh-day Adventist church in that town, 44:57 or that town, or that town." 44:59 If God's people would come together 45:02 and there are tools unlike ever before 45:05 to preach the gospel 45:06 while you don't even have to talk. 45:08 I've heard of people giving Bible studies 45:09 without even being able to say a word. 45:13 Why? 45:14 I remember walking in the streets of Chicago 45:18 and a man stopped me. 45:19 He goes... 45:21 And he handed me a card and I looked at it. 45:26 And it said, "I am mute. 45:28 I am not able to speak and I pass out these cards 45:32 to let people know that I cannot talk 45:35 but I want them to have this message." 45:37 And here he gave me a little message. 45:39 He could not talk 45:41 but he was able to give me a message. 45:43 And when I read that he was mute 45:44 I looked at him and he goes... 45:46 As a matter of fact, this man was on a wheelchair. 45:49 And so, you see, 45:50 you don't even have to have the capacity to talk. 45:52 As a matter of fact, you can give people DVDs, 45:55 you can even send people sermons digitally. 45:59 Isn't that amazing? 46:00 There are more ways to preach the gospel than ever. 46:03 And I believe this work can be done quickly 46:06 if people will surrender their lives 46:07 to the Lord and say, 46:09 "Here I am Lord, what do You want me to do? 46:12 And so what Jesus said can happen very quickly. 46:17 Jesus said, "This gospel of the kingdom 46:19 will be preached in all the world 46:20 for witness unto all nations and then the end will come." 46:23 How many would like to see that happen? 46:25 Amen. 46:26 Praise the Lord. I also. 46:28 And so the one that knows 46:32 that the gospel has been preached 46:35 in all the world is the Lord. 46:37 There's only so much that we can do 46:40 because we can't monitor everyone 46:42 going out to different places. 46:44 We don't know that Brother Joe or Sister Marie went to such 46:48 and such a house unless they let us know. 46:51 'Cause we hear of people going to places, I've heard of people 46:54 carrying satellite dishes 46:56 so that people can watch 3ABN over river beds, 47:00 up mountains, going to places 47:03 where there's no electricity 47:05 and connecting through solar panels 47:07 so they can have electricity so that people can watch 3ABN 47:10 at least for a little while as long as the battery lasts. 47:14 And I say, praise the Lord. 47:16 Praise the Lord 47:17 that 3ABN is reaching places 47:19 unlike ever before. 47:20 And so this message can be preached quickly 47:24 all over the world and we have the promise 47:29 that Jesus' disciples 47:31 were blessed with the Holy Spirit, 47:33 we will be blessed with the Holy Spirit. 47:35 We understand this to be called the latter rain. 47:40 And if you ask for the blessing of the Holy Spirit, 47:43 the Lord will give you the Holy Spirit 47:45 so that you may be used according to God's will 47:48 to bring the gospel. 47:50 So, brothers and sisters, I want to share with you 47:53 what is written in Daniel 12. 47:56 In Daniel 12, Daniel considering the things 47:59 that were shown to him, he was anxious. 48:02 He wanted to know 48:03 when these things were gonna be. 48:05 He wanted to know more. 48:06 And he was distressed. 48:08 He was perplexed. 48:10 How could this be, Lord? 48:11 He began to understand a little bit about the time. 48:15 But the Lord revealed something to Daniel 48:18 that we must understand. 48:20 Notice in Daniel 12:9. 48:24 In Daniel 12:9, 48:28 we have these words told to Daniel. 48:30 "And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, 48:34 for the words are closed up 48:36 and sealed 48:38 till the time of the end." 48:43 So as we look at history, 48:46 we understand this time of the end began in 1798. 48:51 Brothers and sisters, 48:52 according to the Book of Daniel, 48:53 according to the prophecies of Daniel, 48:55 we are living in the time of the end. 49:00 It was said to us that this book is sealed 49:03 till the time of the end. 49:04 When did people really begin to understand 49:07 the Book of Daniel? 49:09 It was after 1798 that people began to study Daniel 49:15 and began to connect the dots, as they say, 49:17 to see how time prophecies have been fulfilled, 49:22 were being fulfilled and they began to understand 49:27 that they were living and that we are living 49:29 in the time of the end. 49:31 One of the prophecies they studied was Daniel 8:14. 49:36 And you can continue in Daniel 9. 49:38 There are time prophecies in Daniel 9 as well 49:42 as you see that they are in Daniel 7, 49:47 as well as in Daniel 11 and Daniel 14. 49:51 And people began to study this more after 1798, 49:54 in the 1840s etcetera. 49:57 And we understand 49:58 that we are living in the time of the end. 50:00 So I say to you, 50:02 we are living in the time period 50:03 when Jesus Christ can return. 50:06 How many of you here can say that you have seen signs 50:09 that tell you that Jesus Christ is coming soon. 50:11 Would you raise your hand? 50:13 Praise the Lord. 50:14 I also see signs. 50:15 There are scriptures 50:17 that tell us about these things. 50:18 For this, we now invite you to turn to Matthew 24. 50:21 In Matthew 24, 50:26 something marvelous happens. 50:29 Because the disciples ask questions 50:32 that I would have asked if I had heard Jesus say 50:35 those same things and anxious to know 50:38 when the end would come 50:40 and when Jesus Christ would return. 50:42 Notice Matthew 24:1-3. 50:45 "Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, 50:50 and His disciples came to show Him 50:52 the buildings of the temple. 50:54 And Jesus said to them, 50:56 'Do you not see all these things? 50:58 Assuredly, I say to you, 51:00 not one stone shall be left here 51:03 upon another, 51:05 that shall not be thrown down.'" 51:07 The disciples were shocked. 51:09 There were amazed at the words of Jesus. 51:11 Looking at the temple, it was a magnificent structure. 51:15 Massive stones. 51:17 And they wondered, "How can this be?" 51:20 To them, the destruction of the temple 51:23 meant the end of the world. 51:26 And they came to Jesus and wanted to know 51:32 what He meant by that. 51:34 That's where we continue Matthew 24:4... 51:40 I'm sorry, did we read verse 3 yet? 51:44 Not yet, verse 3. 51:45 Matthew 24:3, 51:46 "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, 51:48 the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 51:52 'Tell us, when will these things be? 51:55 And what will be the sign of Your coming, 51:58 and of the end of the age?'" 52:00 To them, there were connected. 52:03 And actually there were not 52:04 because the destruction of the temple, 52:06 Jesus knew would take place in a few years. 52:10 About 30, about 40 years after Jesus died, 52:17 crucified and was risen. 52:20 And so Jesus combined the two things together 52:23 and He began to answer them. 52:25 Notice what He says. 52:29 "And Jesus answered and said to them, 52:31 'Take heed that no one deceives you. 52:34 For many will come in My name, 52:36 saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 52:38 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. 52:41 See that you are not troubled, 52:43 for all these things must come to pass, 52:44 but the end is not yet.'" 52:47 So wars and rumors of wars 52:50 do not necessarily indicate 52:53 that the end is there. 52:55 He says, those things must come to pass but the end is not yet. 52:58 Notice, "For nation will rise against nation," 53:00 verse 7, "and kingdom against kingdom. 53:03 And there will be famines, pestilences, 53:05 and earthquakes in various places." 53:07 Verse 8, 53:08 "All these are the beginning of sorrows." 53:10 Brothers and sisters, 53:11 we have seen the beginning of sorrows. 53:13 We have seen nation rising against nation, 53:16 kingdoms against kingdoms. 53:18 And we are living in the time of the end. 53:21 Concerning the destruction of the temple, 53:23 we know that it took place in what year? 53:26 70 AD. 53:28 What Jesus said actually took place. 53:31 The Romans, when they were fighting 53:33 against the Jews... 53:38 They received the orders, 53:39 "Do not do anything against the temple." 53:43 If you read history, you will discover 53:45 that the Jews were throwing things 53:48 and they kept agitating the situation 53:50 and the Romans became upset 53:52 and began to throw torches into the temple. 53:55 There was a great fire in the temple. 53:58 And things were just being burned 54:00 and all the gold that was in the temple 54:03 was just melting and melting away 54:06 and was running in between the stones. 54:08 And literally the soldiers tried to take 54:11 the gold out of the... 54:16 Out from between the stones 54:17 and they began to turn stones over 54:19 to try to get to the gold 54:21 and what Jesus said actually took place. 54:23 That's why 54:26 there is no part of the temple left. 54:29 Because just as Jesus said, the stones were removed, 54:32 they tried to get to the gold, there was massive destruction 54:36 and many hundreds and thousands of Jews died. 54:40 They had not listened to what Jesus said. 54:42 Because Jesus said, 54:44 when you see Jerusalem encompass about the army, 54:46 know that the desolation there of is near. 54:50 And when you see this happen, leave. 54:52 And Christians, Jews, 54:56 Christian Jews that saw this 54:59 because the Romans surrounded Jerusalem 55:02 as if they were about to attack 55:04 and packed up everything, 55:05 turn around and left 55:07 and came back several years later 55:10 and then fought against the Jews 55:12 and destroyed the temple. 55:13 But the followers of the Lord remembered the words of Jesus 55:17 and left Jerusalem, 55:18 they did not come back and they were saved. 55:21 So, brothers and sisters, what Jesus said came true. 55:25 What Jesus said in John 14 is true. 55:29 And so, we want to take you 55:32 to the promise of Jesus 55:35 in Matthew 24:36. 55:39 Notice Matthew 24:36, we're gonna read two verses 55:43 because our time is nearly over. 55:45 Matthew 24:36 and 37, 55:47 "But of that day and hour no one knows, 55:50 not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 55:53 But as the days of Noah were, 55:55 so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." 55:59 And it describes how things were going to be. 56:02 Notice, "For as in the days before the flood, 56:04 they were eating and drinking, 56:06 marrying and giving in marriage, 56:07 until the day that Noah entered the ark, 56:09 and did not know until the flood came 56:11 and took them all away, 56:13 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 56:16 The two men will be in the field, 56:18 one will be taken and the other left. 56:19 Two will be in the field, one will be taken, 56:23 one will be left. 56:24 Two women will be grinding at the mill, 56:25 one will be taken and the other left. 56:27 Watch therefore, for you do not know 56:29 what hour your Lord is coming. 56:31 But know this that if the master of the house 56:33 had known what hour the thief would come, 56:35 he would have watched 56:37 and not allowed his house to be broken into. 56:39 Therefore be you also ready, 56:43 for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." 56:48 So I tell you, brothers and sisters, 56:51 Jesus Christ is coming with great power 56:54 and great glory. 56:55 These verses that we just read 56:57 are not talking about the secret character, 56:58 they are talking about 57:00 the difference between two people, 57:02 one is saved, the other one is lost. 57:04 One in the field, one is saved, the other one is lost, 57:07 because the coming of Jesus will come 57:10 with power and great glory. 57:12 Continue reading in Matthew 24, 57:14 "It is written that he will come 57:16 with power and great glory, 57:18 with the sounding of a trumpet." 57:20 But this is the message 57:21 we want to leave with you today. 57:23 Christ's return has been confirmed. 57:25 He said, He will come back and He will. 57:28 But He is telling us in Matthew 24:44, 57:33 "You do not know when this time is coming. 57:36 Therefore, you also be ready for the Son of man is coming 57:39 at an hour you do not expect." 57:42 And I would like to invite you to get ready 57:44 for the second coming of Jesus Christ. 57:46 You do not know when it's coming 57:48 but Jesus wants you to be a participant 57:51 in helping others know about Jesus Christ 57:53 and you can share a part 57:54 in bringing the gospel to others 57:57 and Jesus Christ will be your savior. 58:00 Continue following Him. He is coming soon. |
Revised 2018-07-30