A Sharper Focus

Gifts of the Spirit - Part 3

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: ASHF

Program Code: ASHF000182A


00:01 Music...
00:22 Hello and welcome to our Wednesday night Bible Study
00:25 here at the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:26 Thank you so much for taking the time to tune in
00:28 as we continue our study on prophets...
00:32 what the Bible says about true and false prophets
00:35 and the gifts of the Spirit
00:37 so all you need tonight to follow along is the Bible
00:41 and just in a few moments
00:42 we'll tell you where to download a copy of the lesson,
00:44 but we'd like to welcome you with a hearty "Amen"
00:46 can we all say, "Amen. "
00:47 Audience: Amen.
00:49 And wherever you're joining us from,
00:50 we know that this is going to be a blessing
00:52 when we ask for the Lord's guidance
00:54 and for the Holy Spirit to be our teacher,
00:56 so, right now, before we do anything else,
00:58 let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
01:00 "Loving Father in heaven,
01:02 we thank you so much for your goodness and your mercy
01:04 and surely for your grace,
01:06 we pray that you will guide our minds tonight
01:09 as we open your Word,
01:10 we pray that you'll be our teacher...
01:12 such a vitally important topic as the prophets...
01:16 the true and the false... the gifts of the Spirit...
01:20 we pray that tonight you'll just give us wisdom
01:23 and not only understanding
01:25 but also a determined heart to serve you,
01:27 we pray in Jesus' name, amen. "
01:30 Now we're in lesson number 41
01:33 and if you'd like to get a copy of that,
01:37 go to the following website, ASF.3ABN.org
01:40 download lesson number 41,
01:43 maybe you've done that before,
01:44 but there are additional questions added to it
01:47 and the copy that you download should have 23 questions.
01:51 Make sure each of you has that,
01:53 you should have 23 questions.
01:55 Now, we always sing our theme song before we go into our Study
02:00 and our theme song is, "Victory in Jesus"
02:02 join us as we sing that song together.
02:05 Music...
02:14 I heard an old, old story,
02:17 How the Savior came from glory
02:21 How He gave His life on Calvary
02:25 To save a wretch like me,
02:29 I heard about His groaning,
02:32 Of his precious blood's atoning,
02:36 Then I repented of my sins,
02:40 And won the victory.
02:44 O victory in Jesus,
02:48 My Savior, forever.
02:52 He sought me and bought me
02:55 With His redeeming blood,
02:59 He loved me ere I knew Him,
03:03 And all my love is due Him,
03:07 He plunged me to victory,
03:10 Beneath the cleansing flood.
03:14 I heard about a mansion
03:18 He has built for me in glory.
03:22 And I heard about the streets of gold
03:25 Beyond the crystal sea;
03:29 About the angels singing,
03:33 And the old redemption story,
03:37 And some sweet day I'll sing up there
03:41 The song of victory.
03:45 O victory in Jesus,
03:48 My Savior forever.
03:52 He sought me and bought me
03:56 With His redeeming blood;
03:59 He loved me ere I knew Him,
04:03 And all my love is due Him,
04:07 He plunged me to victory,
04:11 Beneath the cleansing flood
04:15 He plunged me to victory,
04:20 Beneath the cleansing flood.
04:25 Amen.
04:26 Tonight's topic is, "The Gifts of the Spirit"
04:32 what is that? Say it with me...
04:34 The Gifts of the Spirit.
04:37 Now, before we get to the gifts,
04:39 what we're doing first is we're outlining
04:42 how to understand and know
04:44 whether or not a person is a true prophet of God.
04:48 We've been covering that from week to week
04:50 but what I wanted to start with you tonight is
04:53 a couple of passages that
04:55 in the beginning of the lesson we went to this verse,
04:58 I'm going to point to Amos 3 and verse 7,
05:01 if you have your Bibles, turn there with me.
05:04 Amos 3 and verse 7, there is an assurance text,
05:08 this is not just an assurance text,
05:12 but this is an insurance text
05:14 because the Lord makes a promise that we can hold on to
05:18 in Amos 3 and verse 7
05:20 and the very first word
05:23 really brings the point home very clearly.
05:26 Notice the very first word.
05:28 What's the first word in Amos 3 and verse 7, what is it?
05:31 "Surely... surely the Lord God does nothing,
05:36 unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. "
05:42 So, the Bible says, if God's going to do anything,
05:45 who is He going to reveal it to?
05:47 His servants the prophets.
05:49 Is He going to do anything unless they know?
05:51 No... He'll know first and then He'll inform them next
05:56 before He does anything
05:57 so anything that happens... God knows it
06:01 then He reveals it to His servants the prophets
06:03 then it happens.
06:05 It will never happen
06:07 unless He reveals it to His servants the prophets.
06:09 That's an assurance
06:10 and for that very reason,
06:12 I want you to now turn to the book of 1st Kings
06:18 for that very reason Satan always seeks to misguide
06:23 or to preempt... whenever God is at work with His prophet
06:28 and He sends prophets that are not sent by God
06:33 to try to preempt the work that God's prophet is going to do.
06:37 Now, I'm turning to 1st Kings chapter 13.
06:40 This is a very interesting story
06:44 and it could be simply summarized...
06:47 "The Sin of the Prophet"
06:50 is the way that it's summarized.
06:52 Now, 1st Kings chapter 13
06:57 begins with the word in verse 1 or the phrase...
07:02 "And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel
07:06 by the word of the LORD,
07:09 and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
07:13 When you go down throughout the story
07:15 it begins to point out that the one who was sent...
07:18 God sent His prophet
07:21 to communicate a particular message.
07:22 so we're going to go down to verse 7.
07:24 The king's name is mentioned clearly... Jeroboam
07:28 but now we go down to verse 7,
07:30 "Then the king said to the man of God,
07:34 'Come home with me and refresh yourself
07:39 and I will give you a reward. '"
07:42 You see, the man of God communicated to the king
07:44 what He needed to know
07:45 and the king wanted to reward the prophet of God
07:48 but God told Him not to go home with anyone
07:50 and notice what he said,
07:52 Verse 8: But the man of God said to the king,
07:57 "If you were to give me half your house,
08:00 I would not go in with you;
08:03 nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. "
08:07 Verse 9, "For so it was commanded me
08:11 by the word of the...
08:12 by the word of the LORD,
08:14 'You shall not eat bread, nor drink water,
08:18 nor return by the same way you came. '"
08:20 So... it says in verse 10...
08:22 "So he went another way
08:24 and did not return by the way he came to Bethel. "
08:28 So the Lord sent His prophet and the Lord said,
08:31 "Don't go back the same way"
08:32 because He said...
08:34 the reason why... the Lord sees before we see.
08:36 Amen.
08:38 He sees what's ahead of us before we see what's ahead of us
08:40 so the Lord said, we're in 1st Kings chapter 13,
08:43 so the Lord said to the... to the man of God...
08:45 the one he gave the message to the king through,
08:48 He said, "When you go back, don't eat with anybody,
08:50 don't go to their house, don't sit with them,
08:53 don't drink water with them
08:55 and by-the-way, to stay safe, go a different way. "
08:59 Let's follow the story showing you how...
09:03 showing you how Satan seeks
09:05 to preempt the work of the prophet of God.
09:08 Verse 11, "Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel,
09:11 and his sons came and told him all the works
09:15 that the man of God had done"
09:18 so you have a prophet... then you have the man of God...
09:20 now this old prophet...
09:24 he is old and he is a...
09:27 go ahead, say it Yani... Yani: Prophet.
09:30 He is old and he's a prophet
09:32 but watch... not everyone that's called a prophet
09:37 is a prophet of God.
09:38 Pause.
09:41 And he says in verse 11,
09:43 "Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel,
09:45 and his sons came and told him all the works
09:48 that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. "
09:51 Bethel means, "The house of God. "
09:53 "They also told their father
09:55 the words which he spoke to the king.
09:58 And their father said to them, 'Which way did he go?'"
10:02 He didn't go back the same way he went:
10:05 "For his sons had seen which way the man of God went
10:10 who came from Judah.
10:12 Then he said to his sons, 'Saddle the donkey for me. '
10:15 So they saddled the donkey for him;
10:18 and he rode on it, and went after the man of God
10:21 and found him sitting under an oak. "
10:23 Notice, a prophet went after the man of God,
10:28 Satan comes after those who are doing God's work,
10:32 He went after the man of God.
10:35 Look at this, and it says:
10:38 Found him sitting under an oak.
10:41 Then he said to him,
10:42 "Are you the man of God who came from Judah?"
10:44 And he said, "I am. "
10:46 Then he said to him,
10:47 "Come home with me and eat bread. "
10:49 And he said, "I cannot"
10:52 because the Lord told him not to.
10:54 "I cannot return with you nor go in with you;
10:58 neither can I eat bread
11:00 nor drink water with you in this place.
11:03 For I have been told by the word of the LORD,
11:07 'You shall not eat bread nor drink water there,
11:11 nor return by going the way you came. '"
11:13 Here's the point I want to just bring up
11:15 before we read the very next verse,
11:17 if someone comes along and says... they are a prophet,
11:19 but they are not a prophet of God,
11:22 the prophet of God should have no association with him at all.
11:25 Did you get that?
11:26 The person that speaks for God
11:28 should have no association at all
11:30 with the person that does not speak for God
11:33 even though he may call himself a prophet.
11:36 That's a lot...
11:38 and you'll see how this fits into the lesson tonight
11:41 but look at the key verse, this is where Satan comes in
11:45 verse 18: He said to him...
11:48 that is the old prophet... said to the man of God,
11:51 "I too am a prophet" or... I am a prophet also
11:54 "I too am a prophet as you are"
11:57 and here's where the lie came in,
12:00 "And an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD,
12:05 saying, 'Bring him back with you to your home,
12:07 that he may eat bread and drink water. '"
12:10 But he... what?
12:11 but he lied to him and look at this,
12:15 "So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house,
12:19 and drank water. "
12:20 Now, there's a particular point I'm going to emphasize
12:22 by reading the story because today you'll see
12:25 how... how relevant this is for today.
12:28 Now it happened... in verse 20: As they sat at the table,
12:32 that the word of the LORD came to the prophet
12:35 who had brought him back;
12:36 and he cried out to the man of God
12:40 who came from Judah, saying,
12:41 "Thus says the LORD:
12:43 'Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord,
12:45 and have not kept the commandment
12:48 which the LORD your God commanded you,
12:50 but you came back, ate bread,
12:52 and drank water in the place of which the LORD said to you,
12:56 "Eat no bread and drink no water,"
12:58 your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers. '"
13:02 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk,
13:05 that he saddled the donkey for him,
13:07 the prophet whom he had brought back.
13:09 So when he was gone, a lion met him on the road
13:13 and killed him.
13:14 And his corpse was thrown on the road,
13:16 and the donkey stood by it.
13:18 The lion also stood by the corpse.
13:20 And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road
13:25 and the lion standing by the corpse.
13:28 Then they went and told it in the city
13:30 where the old prophet dwelt.
13:32 So when the prophet who had brought him back from the way
13:36 heard it, he said, "It's the man of God
13:38 who was disobedient to the word of the LORD.
13:40 Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion,
13:43 which has torn him and killed him,
13:44 according to the word of the LORD
13:46 which He spoke to him. "
13:48 This is a very... a very chilling story...
13:51 because the chilling aspect of it is,
13:53 God had a prophet who He said,
13:56 "Go tell the king what you need to tell him
13:59 and when you go back, no matter who needs you
14:01 along the way, don't stop... "
14:02 but somebody comes along and says,
14:04 "I'm a prophet too. "
14:06 And today you have that going on in the world.
14:08 There are many people... there are many...
14:11 so, let's go to the question now
14:12 because this lays the foundation perfectly...
14:15 this lays the foundation perfectly
14:17 for Question Number 14.
14:20 When the Lord gives you a message
14:23 and He says, "Don't stop and ask anybody anything,
14:27 don't even go back the same way you came... "
14:29 He says, "Don't have association with anybody
14:32 because I'm not sending anybody"
14:33 but somebody comes along and says, "I'm a prophet also"
14:36 and I think that's how the King James Version says it,
14:39 "I am a prophet also... I too am a prophet... "
14:42 be careful and here's the reason,
14:44 Jesus, I believe...
14:46 because He is the One who knows...
14:49 the One who gives wisdom... the One who gives direction...
14:52 the One who has spoken these things to us,
14:54 look at His warning...
14:56 Question Number 14,
14:57 "What did Jesus warn us about concerning the last days...
15:02 What did Jesus warn us about concerning the last days?"
15:08 Notice what He says, very powerful... Mathew 24:24,
15:12 Matthew 24:24, that's a chilling story.
15:16 It's a chilling story
15:18 and today in our world you got schools of prophets,
15:23 you got prophets selling oil, prophets selling napkins,
15:27 prophets selling splinters of the cross,
15:30 prophets on television saying, "If you send them this amount,
15:33 you're going to get the blessing on the way. "
15:35 False prophets are all over the place,
15:38 but the man of God who has measured up
15:40 to the test of a man of God,
15:44 should never have association with anyone
15:46 who God has not given the authority to speak for Him.
15:50 Matthew 24:24,
15:51 what did Jesus warn us about concerning the last days?
15:54 here is the answer, let's read this first one together.
15:56 It's on the screen, "For... " what?
15:58 "false Christs and false prophets will rise
16:02 and show... " what?
16:04 "great signs and wonders
16:06 to deceive, if possible, even the elect. "
16:10 Now I want to bring this passage out
16:11 because it didn't say the elect will be deceived
16:14 but it says, "If possible... "
16:15 which means, are the signs going to be amazing?
16:18 Oh yeah, you can't...
16:20 you know, you can't trust...
16:21 you can't trust the sleight of hand...
16:24 today they give them a new word, they wall them illusionists.
16:27 I remember, you know, the illusionists...
16:29 they have so many famous ones,
16:31 I don't want to even remember the name
16:32 but years ago... David Copperfield
16:34 and... David Copperfield... a very well-known one,
16:37 and you know you have Edgar Cayce,
16:39 you have so many other prophets that claimed to have that gift,
16:42 but in fact, they were lying prophets,
16:44 we're going to point that out also,
16:46 because sometimes, a prophet will say something
16:50 and portions of it will come to pass
16:53 and they'll say, "See there, I'm a prophet"
16:55 and if you look at the story we just read,
16:58 you'll notice that the old prophet
17:00 that lied to the man of God...
17:03 the Lord used His mouth to tell the man of God
17:08 that he had gone the wrong way...
17:11 in the very same way, check this out,
17:13 in the very same way that Saul...
17:15 when he went to the Witch of Endor
17:17 and she brought up this conjured spirit
17:21 that looked like Samuel,
17:23 he spoke to Saul... and warned him what the Lord had said
17:27 pause
17:31 which says to me,
17:32 the Lord can communicate through trees,
17:35 He can communicate through a donkey... didn't He do that?
17:38 Balaam's donkey...
17:40 can you imagine, Balaam was a prophet of God
17:43 and Balaam... going awry for money
17:46 was... was propositioned to curse the children of Israel
17:49 but he couldn't curse them
17:50 and on his way to do his evil deed,
17:53 the Lord started talking to him through a donkey
17:55 and the donkey...
17:57 wouldn't that get your attention if your donkey starts talking?
17:59 He starts talking to him through an animal
18:01 and he doesn't pay attention to the animal
18:03 and the animals says,
18:05 "What have I done to you wrong that you keep hitting me?"
18:08 So the question is, which prophet was dumber?
18:10 Which one was dumb... the animal or the prophet?
18:13 The prophet was
18:15 but notice what it says,
18:18 so here's the answer, "What warning...
18:21 what did Jesus warn us about concerning the last days?"
18:23 False prophets...
18:26 and they'll show what kind of signs?
18:28 Great signs and wonders to deceive if possible...
18:33 now the reason why they won't or cannot deceive the elect
18:36 is because the elect
18:38 are shielded by the truth of God's Word...
18:41 the elect are shielded by the truth of God's Word
18:44 so if someone comes along... let me give you an example.
18:48 We're going to go now to a very...
18:50 and there are some that we read before...
18:52 so I'm just going to quote them off the top of my head,
18:54 Isaiah 8 and verse 20, the Bible says,
18:57 "To the law and to the testimony:
18:58 if they do not speak according to this word,
19:00 it is because there is... " how much light in them?
19:03 "there is no light in them at all. "
19:05 So if somebody comes along and says, "I'm a prophet"
19:07 you got to simply ask the first question,
19:09 "Do you honor the commandments of God?"
19:11 "Well, uh... some of them...
19:13 they've been nailed to the cross...
19:15 well they're... they're just for the Jews. "
19:16 When you start modifying that and turning away...
19:19 you say, "Sorry, see ya... "
19:20 because the Lord made that clear.
19:23 "To the law and to the testimony... "
19:25 and wouldn't Satan focus on distorting God's message
19:31 when he knows as Amos 3 verse 7 says,
19:34 he knows that before God does something,
19:36 He's going to let his prophet know
19:38 to warn His people before it happens
19:41 and that's how you see the pattern all through the Bible.
19:43 God... before He allows anything to come...
19:46 any calamity or any blessing or any direction,
19:49 He tells His prophet first then they tell the people of God
19:52 and they know that when it happens,
19:54 God has spoken.
19:56 Now, the next two questions... so write that down...
19:59 great signs...
20:00 and don't forget... it says, "if possible. "
20:03 What phrase did I just say? "If possible... "
20:06 that means, it's not possible but it's going to be so close
20:10 that unless you check out what a person does... by God's Word,
20:13 you could be deceived
20:15 because people could twist stuff.
20:16 They'll say phrases like this and this is the...
20:19 this is the closest twist you get in the Bible.
20:21 "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. "
20:25 That's not in Scripture.
20:27 It says, "I would rather be absent from the body
20:30 and be present with the Lord. "
20:32 So, they're going to say,
20:33 "To be absent from the body is to be... "
20:35 that's not in Scriptures
20:36 and the devil also came to Christ and says,
20:38 "Cast yourself down... He will give His angels charge over you"
20:43 he said that to Jesus
20:45 and he left out the middle of the verse,
20:47 "He'll keep you in all your ways. "
20:50 So, the devil can quote Scripture also,
20:53 he leaves out the key components
20:54 that will prevent you from being deceived
20:56 but he couldn't deceive Jesus because He is the Word, amen.
21:00 Couldn't deceive Jesus, so, when you see this,
21:02 false Christs and false prophets will arise...
21:05 as a matter of fact, go with me to Revelation 13,
21:08 I want to just give you a... a follow-up Scripture on this,
21:11 Revelation chapter 13 because we're living in the day and age
21:15 where we haven't seen anything yet...
21:18 we haven't seen anything yet.
21:20 Satan is going to come with great power...
21:23 great signs... great wonders...
21:25 and the world is going to be deceived by it.
21:29 Okay, look at Revelation chapter 13, all right,
21:34 pause
21:36 speaking of this Power to come,
21:37 verse 13, it says,
21:42 "He performs... " what kinds of signs?
21:46 "great signs,
21:48 so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth
21:53 in the sight of men. "
21:54 Can you remember two other examples in Scripture
21:57 where fire came down from heaven as a response...
22:00 as a sign that God sent it?
22:01 Two key ones.
22:03 Mount Carmel... that's right, in response to Elisha's prayer
22:07 and what was the other one, very key...
22:09 the day of Pentecost, the day of Pentecost...
22:14 cloven tongues as of fire...
22:16 it was the sign of the Holy Spirit coming down.
22:19 So, all of a sudden, you have now the devil saying,
22:21 "Well, God brought down fire
22:23 and destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,
22:25 He brought down fire
22:26 and destroyed Jerusalem for disobedience,
22:29 He brought down fire on the day of Pentecost in response,
22:32 He brought down fire in response to Elisha's prayer,
22:35 let me do the same thing, it says, "He brings down...
22:39 he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth
22:43 in the sight of men. "
22:44 and look at verse 14, and he does what?
22:47 "and he deceives those who dwell on the earth. "
22:52 That's the earth... that's the world he's talking about,
22:54 not just the... not just a local area.
22:56 "... by those signs which he was granted to do
23:00 in the sight of the beast... "
23:01 and then what happened as a result?
23:04 "Telling those who dwell on the earth,
23:07 to make an image to the beast
23:09 who was wounded by the sword and did live. "
23:11 And you see this...
23:13 and I just... very candid with you,
23:14 these... these signs are going to happen
23:17 here in the United States.
23:18 Satan appearing as Christ...
23:20 uniting the world together under false signs
23:23 that he's going to be given the power to do...
23:26 that he's going to be allowed to do...
23:27 and then pointing people back to the first beast
23:30 of Revelation chapter 13...
23:33 the risen healed power of the kingdom of Rome
23:39 which right now... if you look at the hierarchy of Rome,
23:43 there's no power on earth with such great power as them
23:46 although they've been going through their recent scandals,
23:50 their power still stays... as far as dignitary and politics.
23:54 Let's go to... now... Question Number 15.
23:57 This is a fascinating... this is a fascinating example
24:01 of what we just talked about
24:02 why you have to be really, really careful
24:05 because if the devil's going to show great signs and wonders,
24:09 he's going to try to bring the false... so close to the true
24:12 that it will be hard... except by the Word of God
24:16 to tell the difference.
24:17 It will be very difficult except by the Word of God
24:20 to tell the difference.
24:22 Now... okay, here I am...
24:24 pause
24:26 okay, now here's the question, Number 15, here it is,
24:28 "Why are signs and miracles unreliable in following God...
24:34 why are signs and miracles unreliable in following God?"
24:39 And as you go to Deuteronomy now,
24:40 we're going to go to Deuteronomy chapter 13,
24:43 and this question extends into two questions...
24:46 these answers extend to the two questions.
24:49 "Why are signs and miracles unreliable?"
24:51 Okay, here it is,
24:54 let's start with verses 1 and 2 of Deuteronomy chapter 13,
24:59 it says: "If there arises among you a prophet or a... " what?
25:04 "dreamer of dreams,
25:07 and he gives you a sign or a wonder... "
25:10 and watch this...
25:12 "and the sign or the wonder comes to pass,
25:16 of which he spoke to you saying,
25:19 'Let us go after other gods... which you have not known...
25:24 and let us serve them... '"
25:25 let's go on... that's what happened...
25:28 so notice what he's doing...
25:30 he's... he's making... let's pause...
25:31 because we're going to go to verse 3 and 4 in just a moment,
25:33 the first thing he does is... let's look at the answer,
25:38 "Why are signs and miracles unreliable in following God?"
25:42 somebody tell me...
25:44 I don't often open up but somebody tell me... why?
25:46 Pause.
25:48 Okay, I'll answer it,
25:50 because somebody might perform a sign or a miracle
25:53 to get you to serve a different God.
25:56 That's what he says, he might say,
25:59 "Let us go after other gods which you have not known
26:02 and which you have not served"
26:03 and he'll give you a sign and he'll say,
26:05 "Okay, if you think that signs and wonders and miracles
26:08 is an evidence of a true God,
26:09 here is a sign... here is a dream...
26:11 it happened... so, let's go follow this god"
26:14 pause
26:16 and you might say, "Well, it is true,
26:18 you did tell me and it did come to pass,
26:20 so, therefore, maybe I should follow another god. "
26:23 but that's not... that's not the end of the story,
26:26 so, write the answer down, here it is.
26:28 "Why are signs and miracles unreliable in following God?"
26:31 It's an attempt... it could be an attempt
26:35 to get you to be...
26:37 an attempt to create an allegiance with a different god
26:41 and you'll see that as the story unfolds...
26:44 this is very powerful
26:45 because there are people...
26:47 I remember we were in Hawaii a number of years ago...
26:50 oh... a long time ago...
26:52 so long ago... it was before you needed ID to get on the plane.
26:56 That's a long time ago... in the '90s
27:01 and the reason why this is amazing is because
27:03 we were going to Hawaii
27:04 pause
27:06 and we went to a church on Sabbath
27:08 really, really close to the beach
27:09 so there were some people that said,
27:11 "Hey, come go walk down to the beach with us"
27:13 and we walked... and it was such a beautiful area,
27:15 we looked at the sand
27:16 and this was a side of the island we had never seen before
27:18 and they said... so we had a small car...
27:22 we parked and it was in visual sight of us
27:26 and we had...
27:27 our wallets in the trunk, Angie had her purse...
27:30 I had... whatever I had, I think I put it in her purse,
27:33 whatever... it was in the bag in the trunk
27:36 and we went back and when we got to the hotel,
27:38 we opened the trunk and there was her bag...
27:41 her wallet was gone, my wallet was gone,
27:44 I mean, gone...
27:46 and I thought, "This is crazy"
27:51 and thankfully, it was before you needed ID,
27:55 all you needed was a ticket,
27:56 so, that was back then, if you... any of you older now,
27:59 if you remember, you buy a ticket
28:00 but you won't use the "return" part
28:02 and you would sell it to somebody if they wanted it,
28:04 remember that, anybody ever did that?
28:05 well, that was back in the day, but you can do that now
28:08 so, I made a funny little video on the bed...
28:12 "My wallet is stolen, it's all gone, I feel horrible"
28:14 and we found out later on, that while we were...
28:17 and the car was locked...
28:19 in the short time it took us to walk just like...
28:22 maybe from here to the kitchen
28:23 for those of you who know how far that is
28:25 and turned around and walked back to the car,
28:27 they had broken into the car,
28:29 popped the trunk... closed it without us hearing
28:31 took what they wanted and just left,
28:33 pause
28:36 but that's just half the story,
28:38 a few days earlier while we were in the room
28:41 just thumbing through the channels,
28:45 we came to show that we thought was quite innocuous
28:48 and unthreatening, it was David Copperfield
28:51 and David Copperfield... he's an illusionist
28:54 and he makes airplanes disappear
28:56 and cows show up in milkshake bottles
28:59 and all kinds of strange stuff
29:02 so, here we are... he shows...
29:04 he says, "Hey, for those of you that are watching this Program,
29:07 I'd like you to participate in this next puzzle. "
29:09 I said, "Angie, turn that off... turn that off...
29:11 that's the devil trying to put... turn that off.
29:14 she said, "I'm a participate... "
29:16 she said, "Now, it couldn't really be that bad of a problem"
29:19 I said, "Honey, turn it off. "
29:20 She said, "But how many other people are participating,
29:23 we... he could not possibly... "
29:25 so he put all these things,
29:26 guess this... guess this... guess this... guess this
29:28 guess this... and he eliminate...
29:29 eliminate... eliminate, eliminate
29:30 and he gets down to about seven steps later
29:32 and he says, "And the number you picked was... "
29:34 and she said... oh yeah, he said,
29:37 "Touch the screen
29:38 and put your hand over the number you selected"
29:40 and she touched the screen,
29:42 and that was the number he had selected
29:45 whatever the number was
29:47 and he said, "That's your number"
29:49 and she went, "Aaahh... "
29:50 she said, "How could he know that
29:52 because all these other people are participating
29:54 all over the world... everybody...
29:55 how can they all have chosen the number 12?"
29:57 I said, "Honey, you let the devil in"
29:59 and two days later, our wallets got stolen
30:03 and I said, "Honey, I... "
30:05 I couldn't help but to say,
30:06 "Now, if you hadn't let him in our room,
30:08 he wouldn't know what color our wallets were. "
30:10 Audience: Laughter.
30:14 And thankfully, we didn't have a lot of stuff,
30:16 we just had a few credit cards at the time,
30:19 and... but it was still traumatizing because any...
30:22 come on ladies, if you lose your wallet,
30:24 is that the end of life for most of you?
30:26 Pretty close, right?
30:28 Audience: Laughter.
30:30 I had old pictures that I never got back...
30:32 I had my... you know... and then, the Bank traced it...
30:34 they used it in gas stations and different places in Hawaii,
30:37 but we haven't got back anything,
30:38 and I had a copy of my Social Security Card in there
30:41 that I always carried around with me... never got it back,
30:44 that's what happened to it, I was wondering how I lost it,
30:46 just reminded me...
30:48 but here's the point, this sign or wonder that came up
30:51 notice what the prophet said...
30:53 notice what the dreamer... the liar said,
30:55 it came to pass... and then he says,
30:58 "Now, let us go after other gods which you have not known
31:02 and let us serve them. "
31:03 Pause.
31:05 So, the reason why we cannot use miracles
31:08 as an indication that this person is led by God,
31:12 is because when they do not measure up,
31:15 because the devil could perform signs and wonders.
31:17 He could easily do that.
31:19 He did that in Egypt...
31:21 when Moses threw down a rod, he duplicated that,
31:25 Janness and Jambres resisted him with a miracle of their own
31:28 and James talks about that in the book of James.
31:31 They... they resisted the miracle that God had wrought
31:34 but, let me tell you something,
31:36 God will always give you ways of knowing
31:38 whether or not this is a prophet from Him.
31:41 Let's finish it, let's go to the next two verses.
31:45 Question Number 16, here it is.
31:47 "What are the issues behind God allowing miracles?"
31:51 Now you go to ask... very important question...
31:54 "Why would God allow a false prophet to perform a miracle?"
31:59 Why would He allow it?
32:02 Pause.
32:03 Very important question, right?
32:05 Let's go to the same chapter verse 3 and 4
32:07 here it is,
32:11 "You shall not listen to the words of that... " who?
32:16 "prophet or that dreamer of dreams,
32:19 for the Lord your God is... " what?
32:22 "testing you to know
32:26 whether you love the Lord your God with... " how much?
32:29 "all your heart and with all your soul.
32:32 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him... "
32:37 and do what?
32:39 "keep His commandments and obey His voice;
32:42 you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. "
32:46 So, when this prophet comes along,
32:47 you can be sure that he's not a person
32:49 that honors the commandments of God
32:50 so the Lord says, "Let me see if a miracle... "
32:54 this is huge...
32:55 "is a miracle by a false prophet is enough
32:59 to get my people away my commandments. "
33:02 Did you get that?
33:04 He says, "If all it takes is a miracle
33:07 to get you to stop honoring my commandments,
33:10 then you're really not grounded. "
33:13 So he allowed the test to come
33:15 and there are many people today... and I hate to say it
33:18 I know some people that are even through the years...
33:20 members of our church...
33:22 I know of a... years ago... a pastor went to a...
33:25 he had a bad disease... bad leg or something...
33:28 he was praying like Paul to get healed
33:31 and he wasn't getting healed
33:32 so he went to this "Miracle Service"
33:35 and he got healed or so he thought
33:38 and the next week he came up walking just perfectly fine.
33:43 What he did not know...
33:44 whatever was happening in his life...
33:46 he was... he was afflicted by the devil...
33:49 the devil removed it...
33:50 but the Elders in his church said,
33:52 "Pastor, how did you get healed?"
33:54 This is an Adventist Pastor...
33:55 "How did this happen?"
33:57 He said, "I went to a Miracle Service,
33:58 they prayed over me and the affliction left. "
34:00 He said, "Pastor, are you willing
34:03 for us to pray over you and here's our prayer,
34:06 'If this is not from God, reverse it. '"
34:09 This is a true story,
34:12 "If this is not from God, reverse it. "
34:14 They prayed over him and it reversed.
34:17 He was limping around again.
34:18 You know what happened?
34:21 He went to a false prophet
34:24 to get an answer where God would not answer him.
34:27 Saul did the same thing, God would not answer Saul
34:31 and Saul went to a witch
34:33 and then guaranteed that the witch
34:35 would receive God's protection.
34:37 He said, "As long as I live,
34:39 the Lord your God will not bring any harm to you. "
34:41 He promised a witch divine protection.
34:44 Pause.
34:48 When you are not obedient to the commandments of God,
34:51 you'll find yourself eating at the table of a witch
34:54 because the witch put some food together for Saul to eat.
34:58 So you got to be careful.
35:00 The commandments of God is the line of demarcation
35:03 that's going to help you... that's going to protect you.
35:06 Let's go to Revelation 12:17,
35:08 this is a... this is an example of it.
35:10 By-the-way, don't go yet, sorry, don't go yet
35:13 because we didn't finish the story... it has one more verse,
35:15 one more verse...
35:16 so, what are the issues behind God allowing miracles?
35:19 What's the issue?
35:20 "You're being tested. "
35:21 Say it again, Marlina, you're being tested.
35:24 He is... he is trying to figure out
35:26 what is... what's strong enough
35:27 to get you away from honoring my commandments
35:29 and there are people that know the Sabbath is right...
35:32 there are people that understand the truth of God's Word
35:35 but they'll find themselves in other places
35:37 trying to get miracles and trying to get...
35:40 your... your ship is coming in
35:41 and somebody's going to bless you
35:43 if you put this oil in your lamp
35:45 all these kinds of nonsense
35:46 and they're going to the false altars of men
35:48 that are not chosen by God
35:50 and some of them get their answers
35:52 but what happens?
35:53 They walk away from the commandments of God.
35:55 We had a lady in one of our churches,
35:57 remember she used to come to Wednesday night prayer meeting,
35:59 remember in Fairfield, California.
36:00 She used to come to Wednesday night Prayer Meeting
36:02 all the time, she was a faithful lady,
36:04 our Prayer Meeting used to be full...
36:06 our chapel was full out on to the hallway,
36:07 she'd come all the time and she'd say,
36:09 "Pray for me to get a job, pray for me to get a job...
36:11 pray for me to get a job... " well, she got a job
36:14 and we didn't see her for a few weeks
36:17 that is... on Sabbath...
36:19 we said, "Haven't seen you for a few weeks. "
36:21 She said, "Well, the Lord answered my prayer. "
36:24 I said, "Well, praise the Lord, what happened?"
36:27 I got a job working at such-and-such a company
36:30 but it's on Sabbath. "
36:31 Is the Lord going to give you a job
36:34 that gets you to violate the Sabbath, yes or no?
36:36 No...
36:37 I said, "Really?"
36:38 She said, "But I've been praying the Lord answered my prayer
36:40 and I got this job, it's a very good-paying job. "
36:42 I said, "But would the Lord give you
36:44 an answer to violate His commandments?"
36:47 She wouldn't answer me, she said, "Well, I was praying
36:48 she said, "Well, I was praying and I asked Him... "
36:50 let me tell you, the devil will hear your prayers
36:52 and will bring an answer to test you
36:54 and the Lord will allow it
36:55 because He knows the secret issues of our hearts.
36:57 He'll allow that test to come,
36:59 He'll say, "She's not really dedicated to me, watch this. "
37:02 You know what happened?
37:04 Not only did she accept the job,
37:06 but in about six months, she was a Lutheran Minister,
37:10 left the church all together and joined the Lutheran Church
37:14 and compromised in her head that,
37:16 "At least I'm still serving God. "
37:18 Ended up at a different altar all together
37:21 and that shows that she really wasn't grounded.
37:23 We always wondered...
37:24 "This... you know... what's going on here?"
37:26 But I'll give you a flip side of another story.
37:28 We had another guy who was a trucker
37:31 and he kept trying to find a job
37:33 from week to week to week to week
37:36 and one Sabbath he came to me and he said, "Pastor... "
37:38 this is in California... in another church that we pastored
37:40 and he said,
37:42 "Well, if we don't get an answer this week,
37:43 we're going to be moving back to Michigan. "
37:44 And this was in Antioch, California
37:47 and I said, "Ron, what's the issue?"
37:49 He said, "Every trucking company requires me to work on Sabbath"
37:53 I said, "Ron, I'll see you next Sabbath. "
37:55 He said, "I told you if I don't get a job, I'm leaving...
37:57 we're gone. "
37:59 I said, "I'll see you next Sabbath. "
38:00 He said, "Well, how could you say that?"
38:01 I said, "Because you made a declaration
38:03 that you will not dishonor God's Sabbath
38:04 so God's going to bless you. "
38:06 He called me next Thursday, "Pastor, guess what?"
38:10 I said, "What?"
38:11 He said, "I got a job and at the interview I told them
38:14 I'm shutting my truck down before sunset on Friday,
38:17 I'm not moving it until sunset on Saturday,
38:20 and they said, 'That's just fine. '" Amen.
38:23 Audience: Amen.
38:24 But he honored God and he got the job,
38:27 you see, sometimes God will stretch you
38:29 to see whether your allegiance is to His truth
38:32 or to something else
38:33 and that's what the problem is,
38:35 when your allegiance is not to God's Word,
38:37 He will send a prophet along to give you what you asked for,
38:40 He'll let the devil answer your prayer.
38:43 That's a crazy concept,
38:45 but the devil says, "Hey, I got a great miracle for you. "
38:49 "Expect your miracle... "
38:51 that's what you hear on television now-a-days
38:52 not "follow God's Word" but "expect your miracle"
38:54 and people are flocking by the thousands...
38:57 if we put up a sign, "Miracle Service... free oil...
38:59 free prayer cloths"
39:01 you won't have place for this parking lot.
39:03 But if we say, "Come and learn the truth of God's Word"
39:06 "I don't want to hear no nothing about truth... "
39:07 that's a miracle... we want everything like a microwave.
39:10 That's not a part of the message tonight
39:12 but I just want to put that in there.
39:14 But I want to just make that point
39:15 because that's what's happening.
39:17 The Lord is... He's making sure that when the end comes
39:20 and He's going to give His final message to the world,
39:24 He's going to make sure that everybody in that army
39:27 wants to be there.
39:28 That's what He did to Gideon's army.
39:30 How many did they begin with?
39:31 Audience says something...
39:33 How many...? No... no...
39:34 large... large number than that
39:36 how many?
39:39 30,000 and the Lord said, "Too much... "
39:43 "How many of you don't want to fight?"
39:45 20,000 of them went home.
39:47 And the Lord said, "Gideon, too much... "
39:50 So they said, "Test... go down by the brook
39:53 and have them drink water,
39:55 whichever man put their face all the way down to the water
39:57 send them home
39:58 but those who drink and keep their eyes up looking around,
40:00 keep them. "
40:01 He narrowed it down to 300,
40:03 He said, "That's all I need"
40:05 and Gideon said, "Lord, 300...?
40:07 Do you realize the large...
40:08 do you realize the army against us?"
40:10 The Lord told Gideon,
40:12 "I can deliver you by many or by few. "
40:15 So, don't let numbers even indicate
40:18 that God is on your side.
40:20 God plus one is the majority,
40:23 Elisha... case in point
40:25 so don't listen to them
40:28 because if they don't keep the commandments of God,
40:30 I don't care what they give you,
40:31 I don't care what they promise you,
40:34 don't take it... don't associate...
40:36 let's go to Question Number 17,
40:38 "What are the issues behind God allowing miracles
40:41 to see whether or not you are allegiant to His commandments. "
40:45 That was clearly pointed out,
40:47 hold fast to Him, love Him with all your heart.
40:51 Question Number 17, look at this
40:54 and this is a two-parter...
40:56 "What council does God give concerning false prophets?"
40:59 Oooh... now we're staying in the same chapter,
41:03 what council does God give concerning false prophets?
41:06 Ha...
41:08 I'm enjoying my lesson, I don't know about you...
41:11 I'm just... "Thank you Lord for helping me out tonight. "
41:14 Pause.
41:16 Here it is, Deuteronomy 13 verse 5,
41:18 now this is continuation from verse 1 to verse 4,
41:22 now verse 5, so this prophet that comes up
41:24 with all these miracles and makes things happen,
41:26 look what the Lord said we should do,
41:28 "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams
41:32 shall be... " what?
41:33 "put to death,
41:35 because he has spoken in order to turn you away
41:39 from the Lord your God,
41:41 who brought you out of the land of Egypt
41:44 and redeemed you from the house of bondage,
41:48 to entice you away...
41:51 to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God
41:54 commanded you to walk.
41:56 So that you... so you shall put away the evil from your midst. "
42:01 So what the Lord is saying,
42:02 "If there's somebody like that in the middle of...
42:04 stone him to death... get rid of him. "
42:06 Get that evil away from you
42:08 because he's trying to do... what?
42:10 He's trying to deceive you.
42:11 I brought you out of Egypt and you see the exact reason...
42:14 is because this Deuteronomy by-the-way
42:18 is the latter...
42:19 Deuteronomy is written to the children of the...
42:22 of those who came out of Egypt.
42:23 You see, Exodus, Leviticus... are for the adults,
42:27 Deuteronomy is written to the children that came out of...
42:31 they grew up now in the course of 40 years
42:34 so they didn't see all the foolishness
42:36 that their family did,
42:38 those that died... 23,000 in one day...
42:40 they didn't see all that stuff, they remembered like saying...
42:43 "Well, do you remember that?"
42:44 "Ah, very vaguely. "
42:46 So, the Lord said, "Now let me...
42:47 let me give you some experiences here"
42:49 so the Lord allowed them to face some of the same things
42:52 to see whether or not they were fit to go into Canaan
42:55 and sadly enough, out of all the men that came out of Egypt,
42:59 pause
43:01 only Joshua and Caleb...
43:03 pause
43:06 and that, by-the-way is 20 years older... and 20 years and older
43:11 because they were the ones that were responsible.
43:13 20 years old and older... they were the ones responsible.
43:17 So, notice what it says, did I finish the text?
43:20 Did I finish it? Yes, I did.
43:21 So write this down,
43:23 "What council does God give concerning false prophets?"
43:25 What does He say?
43:27 "Put them to death. "
43:29 Now, I'm not... I'm not passing an edict tonight...
43:32 that's... go around start killing people.
43:34 But I'm saying that's how the Lord feels
43:37 about those who do not speak in His behalf.
43:39 Pause.
43:40 All these ridiculous people.
43:42 Go with me to Jeremiah chapter 27,
43:44 I want you to see this
43:46 and we're going to go to Revelation 19 and verse 20
43:48 in just a moment.
43:49 I want to add some... inserts from other passages in here,
43:52 Jeremiah...
43:57 Jeremiah 27... look at verse 15
44:03 okay...
44:08 Jeremiah 27 verse 14
44:12 and Jeremiah... Jeremiah
44:16 Jeremiah does not give false prophets a break,
44:20 shouldn't... but notice what he says in Jeremiah 27,
44:25 this is... this whole chapter
44:27 is the conflict with false prophets.
44:30 It says in verse 14, "Therefore... "
44:32 Well, let me just... let me just kind of go to verse 12 because:
44:38 I also spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah
44:40 according to all these words saying,
44:42 "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon,
44:46 and serve him and his people, and live!
44:49 Why will you die, you and your people,
44:52 by the sword, by the famine,
44:54 and by the pestilence,
44:56 as the LORD has spoken against the nation
44:59 that will not serve the king of Babylon?"
45:01 Now watch this.
45:02 "Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets
45:08 who speak to you, saying,
45:10 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon,'
45:13 for they prophesy... " a what?
45:16 "a lie to you; for I have not sent them,"
45:20 says the LORD,
45:21 "yet they prophesy a lie in My name... "
45:24 didn't we read that earlier? "Many will come in my name... "
45:27 "they prophesy a lie in My name,
45:29 that I may drive you out, and that you may perish,
45:34 you and the prophets who prophesy to you. "
45:38 In other words, the Lord is saying,
45:39 "They're saying I said stuff and I didn't say it. "
45:43 Look at one more, Jeremiah 14:14.
45:46 Jeremiah the prophet of stern rebuke,
45:49 continually had to give the children of Israel guidance
45:52 because they just wouldn't listen,
45:55 Jeremiah 14:14 is another one,
45:58 Jeremiah 14:14...
46:01 Pause.
46:05 I'll start with verse 13,
46:09 once again the Lord is talking about the Israelites
46:12 to Judah particularly: Then I said, "Ah, Lord God!
46:16 Behold, the prophets...
46:18 prophets say to them, 'You shall not see the sword,
46:22 nor shall you have famine,
46:24 but I will give you assured peace in this place. '
46:28 And the LORD said to me,
46:29 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name.
46:32 I have not sent them, commanded them,
46:36 nor spoken to them;
46:37 they prophesy to you a false vision,
46:41 divination, a worthless thing,
46:43 and the deceit of their hearts. '"
46:46 Notice what... and that's what happened.
46:48 God was continually trying to lead Israel...
46:51 continually trying to lead Judah...
46:53 but all along the way, they encountered people
46:56 who claimed to be... what?
46:57 Fair... a prophet...
47:00 and the whole thing was to keep them from their destination
47:05 and today, that's what's happening in our world.
47:07 You can find them by the... by the penny... everywhere...
47:12 but be careful of the ones
47:14 and these are the ones you have to be careful of...
47:16 the ones that come in Jesus' name.
47:19 Pause.
47:20 They claim His name.
47:21 Pause.
47:23 I remember reading a passage, 1st John 2 verse 3 to 4...
47:25 3 and 4 to somebody,
47:27 and he said, "That's harsh Pastor. "
47:29 I said, "If I were the one that wrote it, yeah, that is harsh
47:32 but the Lord wrote it, I didn't write it,
47:34 I'm just communicating the test. "
47:36 If somebody says to you... because you know now-a-days
47:38 you can just go to the nearest Army and Navy Store,
47:42 there's really a nice one in... in West St. Louis,
47:45 a beautiful Army and Navy Store
47:47 I like all that kind of paraphernalia
47:48 you know the caps and the camouflage and all that stuff
47:50 and I like those army types of things
47:53 but you can go buy a... you could buy a Navy Uniform,
47:55 you could buy an Air Force uniform,
47:57 you could buy an army uniform,
47:58 you can buy the whole regalia, and say you're a soldier
48:02 and they'll say, "What Platoon?"
48:04 You have no clue... you just look the part.
48:07 you could buy a police uniform...
48:09 that happened, a lady was driving home in Florida
48:11 and a car was coming behind her... the lights were flashing
48:14 and she had heard about somebody being pulled over
48:18 and she refused to stop, she sped up...
48:21 because a few days earlier a police...
48:24 a guy that "looked" the part of police
48:26 pulled someone over... had on the full regalia...
48:30 robbed them at gunpoint and shot them
48:32 and it wasn't a police.
48:33 So, even if they look the part,
48:36 test them by the Word of God, amen.
48:38 God always tests them by God's Word.
48:40 Question 17, Revelation 19 verse 20 is the second part.
48:44 The second part... the Bible is full of tests...
48:48 full of tests...
48:50 because there are a lot of nice...
48:52 I mean, there are lot of nice people in the world
48:53 but you got to check it out.
48:57 Pause.
48:59 "What counsel does God give concerning false prophets?"
49:03 Revelation 19 and verse 20,
49:05 "Then the beast was captured, and with him the... " what?
49:08 "false prophet who worked signs in his presence,
49:13 by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast
49:18 and those who worshiped his image.
49:21 These two were cast alive into the lake of fire...
49:25 into the lake burning with brimstone. "
49:28 Pause.
49:29 So, you see, what is the prophet's job there?
49:34 To get people ready...
49:36 the false prophets are to get people ready
49:38 to receive the mark of the beast
49:41 because the Mark of the Beast is contrary to the Seal of God,
49:45 the Seal of God is in the Law of God.
49:49 The Mark of the Beast is in the creeds
49:51 that represent the power of the Beast
49:54 and I tell you the coalition
49:56 is going to be quite an extensive one
49:58 when Babylon is pulled together.
50:00 Okay, let's go to Question Number 18,
50:03 we're making some good headway,
50:04 I think... I don't want to prophesy anything falsely
50:08 but we may not finish tonight.
50:11 Okay, Question Number... what question did I say?
50:15 Question Number 18, let's go there,
50:17 here it is, "What makes the gift of prophecy indispensable...
50:24 What makes the gift of prophecy indispensable?"
50:28 Matthew 26 verse 56 what makes it indispensable?
50:33 Pause.
50:35 I began the Program by saying,
50:37 "God will not do anything
50:39 unless He tells His servants the prophets. "
50:41 When He tells them... then it will happen.
50:43 but it will not happen unless He tells them, Amos 3 and verse 7,
50:47 "Surely the Lord God does nothing,
50:49 except He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets. "
50:52 All right... look at verse... Matthew 26 verse 56
50:56 and here's what the Bible says,
50:57 Pause.
50:59 "But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets
51:04 might be... " what?
51:06 "might be fulfilled.
51:08 Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled. "
51:12 This was... this was when the fear...
51:15 this was when the fear of the crucifixion of Jesus was coming,
51:19 the disciples were nervous, they thought that...
51:22 "How could Jesus be persecuted this way?"
51:25 Well, this had to be fulfilled.
51:26 In the next chapters you find the disciples
51:29 hiding behind some closed doors
51:33 and people... "false prophets" say
51:35 that was the Sunday Service.
51:36 Pause.
51:38 But they were hiding behind the doors for fear of the Jews.
51:41 When they heard about the persecution
51:45 that Jesus was going to face, they said, "We're out of here,
51:48 thank you Master but we're out of here. "
51:50 All of them forsook Him and did what?
51:52 They all fled... but what happened according to...
51:55 what happened to Jesus was... so that all...
51:58 so that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled
52:01 and when you see everything that happened in the life of Jesus
52:04 happened according to prophecies
52:06 so, it could be a verification
52:07 that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah.
52:10 Now, if you looked at the life of Christ
52:12 and something that was prophesied did not occur,
52:15 you can be sure that Jesus is not the Christ,
52:18 but everything that happened in the life of Christ
52:21 was prophesied in the Old Testament
52:23 and it came to pass
52:24 and He said, "I'm going to tell you these things
52:26 so when it comes to pass, you will believe
52:29 but it will never lead you away from His commandments.
52:32 Amen.
52:34 So the answer is,
52:35 "What makes the gift of prophecy indispensable?"
52:37 What makes it indispensable based on this?
52:40 The Scriptures will be fulfilled that's right,
52:44 it's indispensable,
52:45 those words will happen, the Scriptures will be fulfilled
52:47 it will be fulfilled, that's right, okay.
52:52 Now we're going to start diving...
52:54 taking a little turn here
52:55 because we laid some really serious foundation
52:57 about how to avoid being deceived by false prophets
53:01 so, we're going to take a turn now
53:03 and we're going to start building on the foundation
53:05 of understanding the gifts
53:06 but let's go ahead and do a couple of more things
53:09 before we get to that.
53:11 Question Number 19...
53:12 Question Number 19,
53:13 "What assurance does the Bible give concerning a true prophet..
53:17 What assurance does the Bible give concerning a true prophet?"
53:22 Okay, and that is Jeremiah 28 verse 8 and 9.
53:28 It says, "The prophets who have been before me
53:34 and before you of old
53:37 prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms...
53:41 of war and disaster and pestilence. "
53:45 And verse 9,
53:46 "As for the prophet who prophesies of peace,
53:50 when the word of the prophet comes to pass,
53:54 the prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has... "
54:00 What? "truly sent. "
54:05 So... and by-the-way,
54:06 just so that you don't see a... a contrast here
54:10 that may be confusing in any sense
54:12 everything that a prophet prophesies must come to pass.
54:16 When it does, you can know...
54:19 you say, "God sent him. "
54:21 Pause.
54:23 God sent that prophet.
54:25 Pause.
54:27 "As for the prophet who prophesies of peace,
54:30 when the word of the prophet comes to pass,
54:33 the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has sent. "
54:36 Last night we were reading...
54:38 Angie and I were reading in the book of 2nd Kings
54:40 about Benhadad... I think it was...
54:42 Benhadad... Benhadad was sick...
54:44 and Benhadad didn't like the news anyway
54:47 so, Benhadad sent to Elisha...
54:49 he says, so...
54:51 a certain man from Benhadad came to Elisha and says,
54:53 "What's going to happen to Benhadad?"
54:55 He said, "Can I tell Benhadad he's going to make it?"
54:57 He said, "You can tell him he's going to make it...
55:00 sure you can tell him that...
55:01 but the Lord told me... he's going to die...
55:02 you can tell him anything
55:05 but the Lord told me he's going to die. "
55:06 So, he went back to Benhadad
55:08 and said, "You're going to make it. "
55:09 And Benhadad knew that this was not going to happen
55:12 so, he put water...
55:13 he put water over his own face and took his own life.
55:16 He put a towel full of water over his own face
55:21 and drowned himself he... he knew...
55:22 and earlier... and Elijah...
55:24 in Elijah's day...
55:26 before Elijah passed the mantle to Elisha,
55:28 the false kings that were against the Israelites
55:33 always wondered...
55:34 "How... how do they always know what we're up to?"
55:36 And they said, "They got Elijah...
55:39 he knows what you're thinking while your sleeping. "
55:42 So, they said, "Where could we find him...
55:44 where could we find him?"
55:47 It's amazing... God always lets His prophet know
55:50 so, the prophet of God is resting securely
55:54 and the house is surrounded in which he is
55:58 pause
56:01 and he wakes up in the morning and his servant says,
56:03 "We're surrounded... "
56:05 Elisha says, "Relax... relax... "
56:10 and he goes outside and he sees all these men
56:13 and he says, "Lord... " to his servant...
56:17 "open his eyes that he may see. "
56:20 And the Lord opened, I think it was Gehazi's eyes,
56:22 if I'm mistaken... I'll correct that later...
56:26 the Lord opened the eyes of his servant
56:28 and he said... he saw around... in all the mountain around
56:34 chariots of fire and horses,
56:38 those chariots surrounding the army...
56:41 can you hear the chariots ready, just a mmm... mmm...
56:45 can you hear the fire crackling?
56:47 "Lord, open his eyes that he may see"
56:49 and he said to his servant,
56:51 "They that be with us are more than they that be with them"
56:56 and the prophet prayed, "Lord, blind them... "
57:01 and the Lord blinded the whole army... led them to Samaria
57:05 "give them something to eat" and when they were eating
57:10 "Lord, open their eyes"
57:11 And He opened the eyes of the soldiers
57:14 they realized, "they could kills us"
57:17 and then he says, "Go home"
57:19 and they went back to their king
57:21 and the Bible says, "And they came no more"
57:23 they didn't come back because they said to their Commander,
57:26 "You want to fight them, you go back,
57:28 after what we saw, there's no way we're going back. "
57:30 You see, when you can trust God's Word,
57:33 God's Word is reliable, can you say, "Amen. "
57:35 Beautiful stories of the reliability
57:37 of the prophet of God...
57:38 never to fear but here's the test,
57:40 if they do not speak according to the commandments of God,
57:43 it's because there is no light in them.
57:45 Friends our study has come and gone,
57:47 keep studying God's Word
57:49 and we can guarantee you, by the Word of the Lord,
57:52 if it doesn't make sense one day,
57:53 it will come into a sharper focus.
57:55 God bless you.


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Revised 2018-10-30