Participants: Atonte Myers, Ivor Myers
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000013
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00:14 Welcome to Battles of Faith, I'm Atonte Myers,
00:17 - ... And I'm Ivor Myers. - Today we're continuing 00:20 our discussion on the entertainment industry. 00:23 Once you've decided to escape the black hole which we call 00:27 "the entertainment industry", and then you allow God 00:30 to give you the strength to fight your giants, 00:33 then you have to become a survivor, and that's what 00:36 we're going to talk about today, we've entitled 00:38 this program "Survivor", and we know that there's a new 00:41 reality program that deals with this issue, so we're going 00:44 to be going back and forth about that program, 00:46 taking some practical lessons from that as well. 00:49 We don't know a whole lot about the program because we've 00:52 never watched it, we have seen the title and we have 00:55 the gist of what it's talking about... 00:56 ...And we have friends that watch it. 00:57 We have friends that know what the program is about, 01:00 so we're going to be taking that title, "Survivor", 01:03 and taking that concept of being a survivor and applying it 01:07 to real reality, if I can use that word. 01:12 We are looking at what it takes to be a survivor in the last 01:17 days because we know that the enemy of souls is trying 01:20 everything he can to eliminate as many people as he can 01:24 from entering into the city of God. 01:27 We're going to invite you to open your Bibles with us 01:30 and we're going to be taking a look at what it takes 01:32 to be a survivor, so we invite you to join us, and we're 01:36 going to be looking at Revelation 6:15-17, 01:42 and we're going to see what this has to share for us, 01:45 so Atonte's going to read that for us. 01:48 The Bible says: [text on screen] 02:17 So we've got that concept right there of survivors. 02:20 The question is asked: "Who shall be able to stand?" 02:24 And really, it is the wicked that are asking this question, 02:27 they are hiding from the face of God, from the wrath 02:30 of the Lamb, they are hiding from the destructive power 02:33 coming from that second coming event, and they're asking 02:36 the question: "Who is able to stand?", and we find that there 02:40 is a people, there will be a people in the last days 02:43 who are able to stand, those who will survive the second 02:48 coming, and I know that you want to be a part of that group 02:51 of people that survive the second coming, I know we 02:52 want to be a part of that group of people that 02:55 survive the second coming, we want to be survivors. 02:58 The Bible goes on in the very next chapter, 03:01 Revelation 7:1-3 to describe those survivors, 03:05 and it says there: [text on screen] 03:37 So what Revelation 7 does is it takes us back a little bit 03:40 before this event of the second coming because the 4 angels 03:44 are holding back the 4 winds and they're saying: 03:47 "Don't let any disastrous thing happen to the earth" 03:52 "until we have sealed the servants of our God" 03:55 "in their forehead", those who are sealed are those 03:58 who are able to stand before God, those who are able 04:01 to stand through, and survive through the second coming. 04:05 And you'll only be able to stand if you have that 04:08 supernatural connection with God. 04:10 That's right, what we're dealing with here is a war game, 04:13 you think about that TV series "Survivor", it's all about 04:18 who can outlast who. Well, in this context 04:22 we are dealing with a real live war game. 04:26 It is not the survival of the fittest, but it is the survival 04:31 of the those who are in Christ, and this is why Satan is doing 04:36 everything in his power to eliminate as many as he can 04:39 because guess what, he doesn't want anyone standing, 04:42 he doesn't want anyone to be able to survive that 04:45 second coming of Christ, he wants to take out 04:48 as many as possible. So again, we want to see 04:51 what does it take to be a survivor. 04:53 Well, according to Revelation 7:3, first of all, 04:57 we must be sealed with the seal of God, 05:01 and what that means is that we must receive God's image, 05:05 we must receive God's likeness in our foreheads, 05:08 and we know that the forehead represents the mind, 05:13 and God says: "I'm going to take your mind, and I want" 05:16 "to seal My image and My glory on your mind. " 05:20 So one of the things that we need to understand is that God 05:23 wants to work with our minds, that's where the sealing 05:26 process takes place. In fact, in Romans 12:2, 05:34 the Bible says there: [text on screen] 05:53 So God tells us through His Scripture, He says 05:57 that we are renewed through the mind, one of the ways 06:00 in which we're going to survive is by giving our minds 06:03 fully to Jesus Christ. 06:06 Because this program is called "Battles of Faith", we're 06:09 revealing his battle plans, one of his major battle plans 06:13 is to always try to corrupt our mind and to keep us 06:18 watching things, or listening to things, or seeing things 06:21 that are not edifying to us, and that will take us away 06:25 - from God. - That's right, 06:26 that eliminate us from the group of survivors. 06:29 Here's the good news, there will be a group of survivors, 06:31 the question is: will I be in that group of survivors? 06:34 Will you be in that group of survivors? 06:35 That's the real issue, it's not an issue of "will there be" 06:39 "any survivors", there will be, why? 06:41 Because the Bible has spoken it, God has seen it already 06:44 in the future, there will be a people who come out 06:47 and make their stand with Christ and survive through the last 06:51 great crisis that comes upon this earth. 06:53 Again, we're see that the entertainment industry 06:59 as a whole, is one of those ways in which Satan is trying 07:02 to eliminate people from the category of survivors. 07:05 And again, I think the good news is that Satan is already 07:08 a beaten foe, he wants to make us think that he is not, 07:12 but he is, so if we connect with Jesus the way He is 07:17 desiring to connect with us, we'll be perfectly fine 07:20 because I think people might hear this and become afraid 07:23 and think: "There's so many crazy things going on" 07:27 "in our mind", sinful thoughts, all kinds of things, 07:30 but God is able to purify and cleanse us, it's His job, 07:34 we just have to surrender to Him to be a survivor. 07:37 That's right. Who else is a survivor? 07:40 Let's go to Matthew 25, and we're going to find 07:44 that those who are wise are survivors, Matthew 25:1-13 07:51 give the parable of 10 virgins, and these virgins are broken 07:57 up into 2 categories, survivors and non-survivors, 08:01 those who are wise and those who are foolish. 08:05 So we've got to understand that we get wisdom 08:08 from the word of God, and we get power to walk 08:14 in that wisdom through the Spirit of God, 08:17 through the Holy Spirit, it's not just enough to know 08:20 what the difference is between right and wrong, but we've 08:23 got to act out that difference as well, we've got to live 08:26 that difference out in our actions and in our hearts. 08:29 The Word has to be a part of us. 08:32 That's right, so you've got 5 wise, 5 foolish virgins, 08:34 they all fall asleep and this cry goes out that 08:38 the bridegroom is coming, so they all wake up in survival 08:42 mode, but 5 of them are unprepared, they did not take 08:46 the necessary time to secure the oil that was in their lamps 08:52 and then the Bible says that they basically had no oil left, 08:56 their oil was going out and their lights, therefore, 08:58 were dimming, and because of that they were unprepared 09:02 for that final event. We want to make sure that we 09:05 have oil in our lamps, and that our lights are burning, 09:10 so those who are survivors are also those who are wise, 09:14 those who have oil in their lamps. Let's go look again 09:18 at Matthew 13:45,46, and Atonte, I'm going to ask you to read 09:23 - that for us. - Matthew 13:45,46. 09:31 The Bible reads: [text on screen] 09:45 One of the other identifying marks of a survivor is this: 09:51 those who are willing to sell all that they have 09:54 in order to follow Jesus Christ. When I was in the music 09:58 industry and we had an 8 album contract, 10:00 totaling somewhere between $700,000-$800,000, 10:04 - I gave that up. - That was all that you had. 10:06 That was all that I had... let me rephrase that, 10:10 I thought that that was all that I had. 10:12 I thought: "Oh, that's a pat on the back, I actually" 10:15 "gave up $800,000", but let me tell you, that was only 10:18 the beginning. Religion, Christianity, is not 10:21 about giving up, but it's about the willingness to forsake 10:24 everything because of your joy and your love for Jesus Christ. 10:29 I think when you're comparing giving up worldly things, 10:34 but receiving Jesus, you're really not giving up that much 10:37 at all; it's not a big sacrifices because worldly 10:40 things aren't edifying, they don't give you the peace 10:44 - and the joy like Jesus does. - That's right. 10:46 If you look at giving up a lot of these things in 10:49 the entertainment industry and you're going: "Oh no," 10:51 "woe is me", that's already the wrong spirit. 10:56 The spirit that should be driving us is a love 10:58 for Jesus Christ, is finding that pearl and falling so in 11:03 love with that pearl that you willingly go and sell all that 11:08 you have, symbolically speaking you're not concerned with 11:12 the things of this world anymore, you're willing to give 11:15 up anything and everything. There's some people 11:18 who are saying: "I don't want to give up everything for Jesus," 11:21 "I'll give up some things, but not everything", 11:24 but in this parable, this man was willing to sell all. 11:27 Christ is not going to ask you to give up everything 11:31 in your life, everything that you own, but we need 11:34 to be willing to give up all, so that when Christ says: 11:38 "I want you to get rid of this, this is going to harm you," 11:41 "this is no good for you", that we already have a willing 11:43 - heart to do that. - That's right, we have to have 11:46 that mindset. I think of Malcom X, 11:50 and the movement that he had in the 60's, not that I totally 11:54 agree with everything, but there are some interesting aspects 11:58 to that movement. It was definitely a group 12:01 of young people who started that and followed him 12:05 in that, and one of his mottos was "By any means necessary", 12:10 and they were willing to follow Malcolm in anything that he did, 12:14 and go anywhere that he went, we shouldn't do that 12:18 with a man, we shouldn't follow a man, but with God 12:20 we should be saying: "Lord, by any means necessary," 12:24 "whatever it takes, whatever I have to do that You want" 12:27 - "me to do, I'm willing to do. " 12:29 - That's right. 12:31 - That should be our mindset. - Well let's look at another 12:32 symbol, or another sign rather, of those who survive. 12:38 Not only are they willing to sell all, but they are also 12:42 properly armed. So let's go ahead and look 12:45 at Ephesians 6:10-13, and we've been reading 12:52 this text quite often through this series, Ephesians 6:10: 12:59 [text on screen] 13:31 "Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth. " 13:35 So one of the signs that we see here, one of the identifying 13:39 marks, one of the necessary things that we need to have 13:42 in order to be survivors, we need to have the armor 13:45 of God, we need to be girt about with truth, and in this age 13:51 truth is under assault, we're being told that there's 13:53 no such thing as absolute truth, and we've got to 13:57 realize that as Christians, Jesus Christ Himself said: 14:01 "You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free", 14:05 so we've got to be girt about with truth, but it goes on 14:08 to say: "having on the breastplate of righteousness". 14:14 That breastplate protects the heart, and we know 14:18 that the enemy of souls is after our hearts, he's after our 14:22 emotions, he wants us to be emotionally attached 14:26 and connected to the world, so when we put on 14:29 that breastplate, Christ is giving us power to keep our 14:33 emotions focused upon Him, to protect our emotions, 14:38 to guard them from the things of this world, 14:40 and have them set, the Bible says: "Set your affections" 14:44 "on things that are above, not on things that are" 14:47 - "on the earth. " - That's right, and I'm going 14:50 back to the truth part, the only way to know the truth 14:53 is to be in the Word, to know the Bible for yourself. 14:57 And for young people that's very very important. 15:01 I know nowadays it's not cool, or it's not in to be a student 15:07 of the Word, even if you do go to church, you just "kinda go" 15:10 to church, and maybe sing songs, but to really know your Word 15:14 as a young person, you don't see as many young people 15:17 knowing the Word as you did in the past. 15:19 To know the truth, the only way to know the truth 15:21 - is to be in the Word. - That's right, I remember 15:24 when I had just become a Christian and I was surrounded 15:28 by young people who were just on fire, I'm talking 16-19 15:34 years old, and these kids new their Bibles backwards 15:37 and forewords, and I was going: "How do you know the Bible" 15:41 "like this?", and I wanted to be so much like them, 15:44 not knowing anything about the Bible I thought: 15:47 "Man! This is amazing, to be young to know your Bible" 15:50 "backwards and forwards", it had a profound impact 15:54 on me, and if you're listening our there and you're a young 15:56 person, don't let the Devil tell you it's not cool 15:59 to know your Bibles. Don't let him tell you that 16:02 you're too young to know your Bible. 16:05 We have lots of young friends who are deep in the word 16:08 of God, and brothers and sisters, it is one of the best 16:11 thing that we can give our minds to: the study 16:15 - of the word of God. - It's very refreshing 16:17 to be around young people who know the word of God 16:20 because again, God is calling you, you are that next 16:24 generation that He wants to use to finish this work. 16:28 The people that you see leading out in church now 16:31 and doing all of those things, they are going to pass 16:34 and God needs young people to take their place, 16:38 and He needs strong young people who are connected to Him 16:41 - and He's calling you. - That's right. 16:43 Verse 15 says: "Your feet ought to be sod with the preparation" 16:46 "of the gospel of peace", those who survive 16:49 are those who are wearing the gospel boots of peace. 16:53 We talked about this before, the Bible says in Romans 16:20 16:56 that the God of peace is going to bruise Satan under our 16:58 feet shortly, we have got to learn how to maintain 17:03 our peace in Christ because the Devil wants to come 17:06 to steal that peace, to steal those gospel shoes. 17:09 You know, if I'm walking around, there's serpents on the ground, 17:12 I'd like to have boots on. I don't like snakes, 17:16 and I don't want a snake bite, when I have on boots 17:19 I don't have to worry about the serpent's bite. 17:21 - He's very afraid of snakes. - That's right. 17:24 And God says that if you wear the gospel boots, you have 17:27 no need to be fearful of the bite of the enemy because 17:30 you're protected, your feet are guarded and protected 17:33 and they're going to walk only in good ways and good paths. 17:36 That's right. Satan is not one to be feared 17:38 because Jesus has already beaten him, we don't have 17:41 to be afraid. 17:43 Verse 16 reads on: "Above all, taking the shield of faith," 17:47 "wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts" 17:50 "of the wicked. " This verse, we need to realize 17:54 that this shield of faith, these weapons we think are 17:58 imaginary weapons, I believe that these weapons 18:01 are real weapons. We've got to plug into 18:04 them by faith, we've got to realize that that shield... 18:07 the Bible says "The angel of the Lord encampeth" 18:10 "round about them that fear Him" and I believe that God 18:13 has angels surrounding people, and when we put our trust 18:17 and our faith in Jesus Christ, He sends those angels, 18:21 they are like a shield around us and the enemy can't penetrate 18:26 because we are surrounded by God's shield. 18:30 So we want to make sure that as survivors, if we want 18:34 to be survivors, we've got to say: "Lord, put that shield" 18:37 "around me, when I'm walking in the street and I feel" 18:41 "all the the temptations being thrown at me, that I will" 18:46 "see my shield around me, spiritually understand that" 18:50 "my shield is surrounding me, that Lord, You are" 18:53 "protecting me and I will not fall, no dart will come in" 18:57 "and pierce my heart or my mind. " 18:59 That's right, because Satan will hurl darts at you. 19:02 We don't want to make it seem like once you make this 19:06 decision that you're not going to have trials and you're not 19:09 going to have temptations because you will, but again, 19:12 God is more powerful and He will help you stand and be a survivor 19:15 Verse 17 reads: "And take the helmet of salvation", 19:20 that's the next thing we need to be guarded with, 19:23 and what is a helmet? The helmet goes over the head 19:26 and protects the mind. 19:30 The enemy is trying to bombard the mind with those fiery darts, 19:35 he's trying to send those thought bombs into your 19:38 mind, that's what the word "darts" means there, it means 19:41 "missiles", "belos", the Greek, so Satan has these 19:44 missiles, these thought bombs that he'll just send to you, 19:47 you'll go: "where'd that thought come from?" 19:50 God says: "I want you to put on the helmet of salvation," 19:53 "guard your mind, don't let the enemy put thoughts in there," 19:55 "and I will keep your mind stayed on Me. " 20:00 That's how we wear the helmet of salvation. 20:02 These are the things that we need to have on in order 20:06 to survive. Finally we're going to read 20:08 in the last part of verse 17: "... and the sword" 20:11 "of the spirit, which is the word of God. " 20:14 Again, we have got to carry that sword, this is a battle 20:18 of faith, we don't want to go on the battlefield without 20:22 - our weapons. - That's right. 20:24 When we were reading in the first part of 17 and talking 20:27 about the helmet of salvation, which protects the mind, 20:30 again, this is why one of Satan's major battle plans, 20:35 the way that he's trying to sweep the word, and sweep 20:38 millions of young people around the world is through 20:41 the entertainment industry because everything that we see 20:44 and hear goes right into the mind, and if we keep putting 20:47 corruption and wickedness and evilness into our minds, 20:51 then by beholding we will become changed, so to put on 20:55 that helmet of salvation is to protect your mind, 20:58 and to protect it from those evil things of the world, 21:00 and that means cutting off those worldly avenues 21:04 that Satan has come through into your mind. 21:07 Verse 18, we're going to end with this particular portion 21:10 of Scripture, verse 18, it says: "Praying always" 21:13 "with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. " 21:18 So above everything else, we need to be in prayer, 21:21 we need to have that communication flowing between 21:23 us and the Father. When you're on a battlefield, 21:27 you've got to have communication with the command center, 21:31 or the command post. Well, it's the same thing 21:33 in the Spiritual conflict: the Devil wants to come in 21:36 and cut off that communication so that as you are here 21:39 behind enemy lines you have no communication and you don't 21:42 know where to go, or what to do, Christ says: "Make sure" 21:45 "that your communication system is intact", 21:48 "and by so doing, I will be with you, I will guide you" 21:52 "and instruct you in the way that you shall go. " 21:55 That's right, Jesus wants to be our leader and our teacher. 21:58 Atonte, one more point on becoming a survivor 22:02 is found in Revelation 14:4 where the Bible describes 22:07 this same group of people and it describes them 22:10 in this way: "these are they that follow the lamb," 22:14 "withersoever He goes. " One of the identifying marks 22:17 of a survivor is that they're willing to follow Jesus Christ 22:20 wherever He leads, there's not a place where they say 22:23 "This far and no further, if Jesus asked me to do this," 22:26 "I'm not doing it", but they're willing to follow Him 22:29 all the way. 1 more, Revelation 12:11, 22:33 the Bible speaks of what I like to call "a code of honor", 22:38 all warriors should have a code of honor. 22:40 In Revelation 12:11 it says: "They overcame him" 22:44 "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their" 22:46 "testimony, and they loved not their lives unto" 22:50 "the death". What's the code of honor? 22:53 Death before dishonor. You see, the Christian is 22:56 supposed to have such a high and holy understanding, 23:02 a high and holy reverence for Jesus Christ that they would 23:07 rather die than disregard, or than go against Jesus Christ, 23:15 so that code of honor is what sets aside a survivor. 23:20 A survivor says: "I will do whatever it takes to walk" 23:24 "in Christ, even if it means the sacrificing of self. " 23:30 We have 1 more point that I'm going to share, and the Atonte 23:32 you're going to share a lovely prayer, but one of the things 23:36 about a survivor, and probably the most important thing 23:39 is that we need to understand that survivors are being 23:43 selected for a very important reason. 23:46 Revelation 20:4 speaks about those who come back to life 23:50 after Jesus comes again, those who are raised back to life, 23:53 those who are caught up in the clouds with Christ in heaven, 23:56 and it says that they lived and reigned with Christ 23:59 for 1000 years, but it also says that judgment was given 24:02 unto them. Well why? 24:04 According to 1 Corinthians 6, the Bible says that we 24:08 are going to judge angels. There's going to be a judgment 24:12 during that period of time known as "1000 years", according 24:16 to Revelation 20, but before that, in fact in this time 24:20 right now, there is a judgment going on according 24:23 to Revelation 14:6, and this judgment is a judgment 24:28 for jurors. In other words, God is looking 24:32 to see whom He can find, who are intelligent judges between 24:37 right and wrong so He can select them for jury service 24:43 in the kingdom of heaven for 1000 years. 24:46 Do you know what that means? It means that if I'm here 24:49 on earth and I'm saying: "I don't see anything wrong" 24:52 "with this", and "I don't see anything wrong with that", 24:54 what does that mean? It means that God can't 24:57 trust us for that judgment that's to take place in the city 25:00 of God; so what the Devil is trying to do is he's 25:03 trying to confuse our judgment, trying to show that we 25:08 really exercise bad judgment, and in so doing he eliminates 25:13 those out of the group of survivors, those who are able 25:16 to judge between right and wrong. 25:19 The best way to trick a Christian these days 25:22 is to put the word "Christian" before anything, 25:25 so you have: "Christian boxers", "Jesus help me as I" 25:29 "attempt to knock this man out", you've got 25:32 "Christian hip-hopping", and "Christian rock", 25:34 and all these different things, and you trick a Christian 25:37 just by putting the word "Christian" before there, 25:40 we've got to learn how to discern between right 25:43 and wrong, and that's what makes a survivor. 25:46 Before we can be survivors we have to surrender, 25:49 because that's what Jesus did, He surrendered all, 25:51 and He was a survivor. This is a prayer about surrender. 25:54 It says: "Today Lord, because I love You, I choose to offer" 25:57 "my body to You as a living sacrifice. I ask You to be" 26:00 "in control of everything in my life: what I eat," 26:03 "what I drink, my entire lifestyle, not so I can earn" 26:06 "Your love, but in awe that You already love me. " 26:09 "I know that Your thoughts and Your ways are not" 26:11 "my thoughts and ways, but I ask You to enable me" 26:13 "to be in Your Word so much that I will know Your ways" 26:17 "and Your thoughts. Change me from the inside" 26:19 "out, my thoughts, my desires and my actions. " 26:22 "I don't want my own thoughts and my ways anymore. " 26:26 "Lord, please replace mine with Yours, give me the courage" 26:29 "and the strength to obey Your will as You reveal" 26:32 "it to me, not just an outward obedience," 26:34 "but from the inside, from a heart that has been" 26:37 "cleansed by You. Please search my heart" 26:40 "and soul, enable me to see clearly where I'm failing You," 26:43 "where my thoughts and attitudes have built a wall" 26:46 "between You and me; please show me where self has" 26:49 "risen up to block the working of Your Spirit in my life. " 26:52 "I surrender to You all my anger and bitterness," 26:55 "my fear and hurt, my pride and my unforgiving and judgmental" 26:59 "thinking, everything that has prevented me from being" 27:02 "filled with Your love and Your Spirit. " 27:06 "Please reveal any root cause for these negative feelings" 27:08 "so I can surrender them to You, and receive Your forgiveness" 27:11 "and cleansing from all unrighteousness. " 27:14 "I refuse to act on my own thoughts, emotions and desires" 27:17 "that do not take into account Your word. " 27:20 "I recognize that anything that doubts Your sovereignty" 27:23 "in all things can't be of faith, so I submit my will" 27:26 "to Yours, I want to glorify Your name in all my thoughts" 27:30 "and desires and actions today, please fill me with Your" 27:33 "Spirit, and enable me to reflect You fully. " 27:36 "Change my heart, O God. " 27:40 Amen Atonte! Those who would survive 27:42 must first surrender, and that's exactly what Jesus Christ 27:45 is calling us to do. Hollywood has what's called 27:48 a walk of fame, and here we're told that the stars 27:52 are immortalized, their names are written in stone, 27:55 but if you read Revelation 2:17, Jesus says: "I will write" 27:58 "your name in a stone", which means your name will truly 28:00 last forever, and we pray and hope that your names 28:04 will be written in those stones. Until next time, 28:07 may God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17