Participants: Ivor Myers, Atonte Myers
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000018
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00:16 Welcome to "Battles of Faith".
00:17 We're your hosts, Ivor and Atonte Myers. 00:20 Today we are going to switch gears. 00:25 We have the last five or four programs talking about 00:28 the French Revolution. 00:29 We're going to continue to see some really exciting things. 00:34 Today's program is entitled "The Science of Re-creation". 00:39 Some of you out there may have been listening to the 00:42 past programs, especially young people 00:45 and you've decided 'Hey, I want to 00:47 fully give my life, my heart over to God. 00:50 And I want Him to recreate in me a new heart." 00:53 We're going to be talking about that today 00:55 and we're going to be using the creation week, 00:58 the creation 7 days that God talks about in Genesis 01:01 as a backdrop, and see how He can actually do that 01:04 in your life and in your heart today. 01:06 So, we're very excited about this program. 01:08 - Yes. We've been discussing the issue of this beast 01:12 from the bottom of the pit, Revelation 11, 01:14 we've looked at the French Revolution 01:16 and, in one of our earlier programs, we noted 01:19 that evolution was one of the teachings 01:22 that sprung out of the French Revolution. 01:25 I want to say here that the purpose of evolution 01:28 is to discredit the creation account. 01:32 It is to cause people to no longer believe that 01:36 the creation is a valid thing, 01:39 according to the Word of God. 01:41 - And yes, the enemy of souls wants to destroy, 01:44 where God wants to create new things, and rebuild 01:47 and give you life; and Satan wants to destroy. 01:49 So, that's all a part of what he is trying to do 01:51 through the beast from Revelation. 01:53 - That's right. We saw that this beast 01:55 arose out from the abyss and, the abyss takes us back 01:59 to that place where the world was before it was inhabitable, 02:04 or rather in a habitable state. 02:06 We notice that this principle of evolution, 02:11 while it may be rejected by Christians, and it should, 02:17 because evolution just teaches that we got here somehow, 02:20 on another level there is a spiritual evolution 02:27 that the Devil utilizes in terms of trying to manipulate 02:32 the environment, change the environment so that 02:35 the people will adapt to that environment. 02:39 So, we've been talking about those things, 02:41 but in this program we're going to see that 02:46 the spiritual evolution that the enemy is using, 02:51 not only is its purpose to stop literal creation, 02:55 but also spiritual re-creation. 02:58 We're going to go to 2 Corinthians 5:17 03:02 and we're going to notice there that the Bible tells us: 03:06 [text on the screen] 03:15 Different translations carry the word "creation" 03:18 instead of "creature". 03:20 In other words, when God recreates us, He calls us 03:23 'a new creation'. 03:25 And that links us to the seven-day week of creation. 03:30 In other words, is it possible that we could find, 03:34 in that seven-day creation the very pattern which God uses 03:40 to recreate the old man, to recreate those who 03:45 are lost in sin. And the answer is 'Yes'. 03:49 And again, we're going to see that the Devil's plan 03:54 of evolution is not only to discredit the 03:56 literal account of creation, but also to stop the process 04:02 of spiritual recreation. 04:04 So, let's go to Genesis 1. 04:06 Atonte, I'm going to ask you to read verses 1 to 4: 04:10 [text on the screen] 04:29 Okay. Here we have day number 1. 04:32 First thing in creation, and the first thing we notice 04:35 is that the earth was what? Without form, void 04:39 and darkness was upon the face of the deep. 04:42 - And that's how we are when God finds us; 04:45 when, before we have given our hearts and our lives to Him 04:48 we are very void and there's lots of darkness. 04:52 - Void, lots of darkness, there're things we don't 04:54 understand, we're living in a way that's anti-God, 04:57 anti-Bible and we're just really walking in darkness. 05:02 Proverbs 4:19 says: 'The way of the wicked is 05:06 as darkness. They know not at what they stumble.' 05:09 And we see here that this principle of being anti... 05:12 I know from me, before I became a Christian 05:16 there was a realization that all that I had was emptiness, 05:22 was without form, it was void, 05:25 and this feeling is the first feeling that comes upon 05:28 a person in the process of salvation. 05:31 Before they know who the light is, they get this feeling 05:34 of emptiness. Something is missing. 05:36 - And we can also say that that's the Holy Spirit 05:39 moving upon someone, because we don't just create 05:43 that in ourselves. Without the Holy Spirit 05:45 we wouldn't know that we were void and in darkness. 05:47 - That's right. You can, by looking back, remember 05:53 you felt the Spirit of God beginning to hover 05:56 upon the face deep, as it were, 05:58 beginning to hover over you and bring this realization 06:01 of emptiness in your heart. 06:04 I believe that, once you've come to 06:05 the state of realizing that all that the world has to offer, 06:09 its music, its entertainments, all these things are empty. 06:13 - I can remember the Holy Spirit doing that. 06:16 I can remember when the Holy Spirit first started 06:21 talking to my heart. 06:22 I was in college, and I would be at clubs and 06:25 living and feeling very empty, and listening to music, 06:29 and going to movies that were not 06:31 at a fine or uplifting God 06:33 and feeling really empty inside. 06:35 - That' s right. And then, once that 06:37 emptiness becomes a reality, once you realize this is empty, 06:42 I need something more, that's when, I believe, Atonte, 06:46 God speaks and says: 'Let there be light!'. 06:51 And I think of 2 Corinthians 4:6 and it says: 06:54 [text on the screen] 07:06 God commands that light to shine out of darkness 07:11 and this is where that process of salvation 07:14 begins, and this is why the enemy, through his 07:17 spiritual evolution, is trying to stop you from 07:21 even getting to the place where you say: 07:23 'You know what? This is empty.' 07:25 That's why he tries to make the world seem 'Oh, this is 07:30 so exciting, it's so fun', because, once we come 07:33 to the realization that 'Man, this empty', 07:35 we are on the way to salvation, 07:39 we are on the way to being recreated in Christ. 07:43 God says: 'Let there be light' and the Bible says 07:45 'there was light'. 07:48 All of a sudden you begin to see things 07:50 that you didn't see before and feel ways that 07:53 you didn't feel before. You begin to see 07:55 'Wait a minute, there's a clear difference between 07:57 what? Light and darkness.' 08:00 - I can remember always listening to secular music 08:03 during the week, and then, on Sabbath, 08:06 I would put on Christian music because it was the Sabbath 08:08 and I wanted to worship God, but when this light came on, 08:11 as we're talking about, I started to listen to 08:15 godly music all throughout the week. 08:17 It was like my desire for that secular music 08:20 was being transferred to more godly music 08:23 and that's when I knew something was happening 08:24 into my life. I remember a friend stopping me and saying: 08:27 'You're listening to church music and it's Wednesday. 08:30 You know, it's not Sabbath!' And I said: 08:32 'You know, this is what I want to listen now.' 08:33 God does that for us, He takes away those desires 08:36 and replaces them. 08:37 - That's right. So, He says 'Let there be light' 08:39 which now takes us to day number 2. 08:42 So, why don't we look at verses 6 to 8. 08:48 [text on the screen] 09:08 - Okay. Here we have, on the second day, 09:10 God is now separating the waters from the waters, 09:15 and it is separated by air. 09:19 And, it's so interesting, when we begin to look 09:22 at the process of salvation, when God brings light into 09:27 our life, when He says 'Let there be light', 09:29 and we begin to see the difference between light 09:32 and darkness, the next thing that happens 09:35 is that God separates us. 09:38 And you would say: 'What does that have to do 09:39 with waters?' Well, if you look at 09:40 Revelation 17:15, this is in a symbolic context, 09:45 speaking of waters upon which the harlot 09:49 was seen sitting. And Revelation 17:15 it says: 09:52 [text on the screen] 10:01 When the Bible says here, in the second day of creation 10:05 that God separated the waters from the waters, 10:08 we can look at that, and, in a spiritual context, see that 10:10 the very next step in the process of salvation, 10:12 after God shows us what is light and what is darkness, 10:15 He then separates us from the crowds 10:19 we used to hang with. 10:21 He then separates us from the places that we used to go, 10:25 from the things we used to do, He calls us, as it were, 10:27 out of the world. 10:30 - And that's a powerful thing, when He does that. 10:33 And you'll find that when God is recreating a new heart, 10:36 He will separate you from, maybe some of your old friends, 10:40 not that you don't like them and you'll treat them badly, 10:43 but you just don't have the same things in common. 10:45 And they will even, kind of realize that, 10:48 and maybe kind of just distance from you, 10:50 but you still pray for them and you love them. 10:53 - That's right. 2 Corinthians 6:14 and on: 10:58 [text on the screen] 11:33 God calls us to separate. 11:36 Once we have been shown what light and darkness is, 11:38 He calls us to separate. 11:39 Another interesting thing is that, God, 11:43 when He separates us... 11:46 the Bible says there that in the second day of creation 11:48 there was air that separated the water from the water. 11:53 And, beloved, one of the things about the air 11:57 that are described in the Bible, or wind... 11:59 wind is likened to the Holy Spirit. 12:03 And it is only through and by the Holy Spirit, 12:06 the Holy Spirit is what divides, symbolically speaking, 12:11 the waters from the waters. 12:13 It is what takes us out from the world 12:15 and allows us to be separate from 12:19 the world. And the Holy Spirit 12:21 has a very important part because it is the thing that 12:25 draws us and enables us to keep that separation 12:28 from that things that we used to do. 12:30 - Right. And we need to pray for the Holy Spirit 12:34 and ask the Lord to give us the Spirit so we can have 12:37 discernment on 'Lord, what would you want me to do? 12:40 What is right? What is wrong?' 12:42 Especially if there're young people out there who are 12:44 searching, who just don't want to do things 12:47 because their parents do it, but because they want to understand 12:50 'Lord, what is the proper entertainment for me to do? 12:52 Who should I cord?' or whatever questions you may have. 12:56 It's the Holy Spirit that is going to give you 12:57 that discernment. 12:59 - That's right. I think of John 3:5 13:00 where Jesus is speaking to Nicodimus and He says: 13:05 'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit 13:11 he cannot enter the kingdom of God.' 13:13 And we find there those two elements 13:15 on the second day of creation: water and air, 13:18 water and the Spirit, it says in John 3:5. 13:21 In 1 Corinthians 10: 1,2 it says: 13:26 [text on the screen] 13:39 Again you have these elements of air and water 13:42 symbolizing a new birth, a new creation, 13:46 being born again, and being baptized into 13:49 Jesus Christ. This is the second step of salvation. 13:51 We see light and dark, day 1, day 2, symbolically 13:55 speaking. I'm not saying this happens in 7 days, 13:58 but symbolically speaking, the stir of God 14:01 separates us from the world and we are born again, as it were, 14:06 through this separation. 14:08 And when this happens, it's a very exciting thing, 14:11 and people can tell, you can see it, 14:14 there's actually a new light that is being formed within you, 14:18 and those who knew you from before, it's very evident. 14:21 I can remember, when God started to do this for me 14:24 and I would meet people in the store, 14:26 I would have such an excitement because of 14:28 what God was doing that, you know, 14:30 if they said 'Hy' to me I would want to share 14:33 with them about Jesus and how He can really recreate 14:36 a new person within us. 14:38 And so, there'll be an excitement when this happens, 14:41 and you'll want to share with others. 14:42 - That's right. Now, we're going to go ahead 14:44 and look at day number 3. 14:45 Atonte, I'm going to ask if you would read verses 9 to 12: 14:49 [text on the screen] 15:27 - Okay. On day number 3 you have fruits being brought 15:31 from the earth. 15:33 And, I think it just goes off immediately. 15:36 Yes, when God calls us out of the world, 15:39 when God shows us the difference between light and darkness, 15:41 the next thing that He calls of us to do 15:44 is to bear fruits. 15:49 I think of Luke 8:15 where Christ is giving 15:53 a parable here. It says: "But that on the good ground 15:58 are they, which in an honest and good heart, 16:00 having heard the word, keep it, 16:02 and bring forth fruit with patience." 16:06 This group of people in this parable, 16:08 are described as those who hear the word, who come out 16:11 of darkness, who are separated and who are keeping the Word 16:13 and bearing fruit. 16:16 And I think of John 15:5 where Jesus says: 16:18 "I am the vine, you are the branches: He that abideth in me 16:23 and I in Him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: 16:26 for without me you can do nothing." 16:29 - And I think "fruit" is actual things that are changing 16:33 in our life and people can see, 'Hey I can see what's going on, 16:36 there's major changes', 16:37 but also witnessing to other people. 16:39 I know that, when this started to happen in my life, 16:42 shortly after I met my husband Ivor, we would have some 16:46 of the best times going to minister to other people. 16:49 We would visit people in a hospital ministry 16:51 and we would love to minister to and for people 16:55 on Sabbath afternoons, who were sick in the hospital. 16:58 We would go from door to door and ask people 16:59 if they wanted Bible studies or prayer, 17:02 all different kinds of things like that. 17:04 And it was kind of a full circle, or cycle. 17:08 When God is giving you light and you share it 17:10 with other people, you get the benefits and the blessing. 17:12 So, when this happens you don't stay idle. 17:14 You actually start to bear fruit. 17:16 - Right. And that fruit would also represent 17:18 the fruit of righteousness, but God doesn't only call us 17:21 to see the difference between the light and the darkness, 17:23 He doesn't only call us to come out from 17:26 the negative things that we were doing, 17:28 but now He calls us to engage in a pro-active righteousness, 17:32 doing things that are right and beginning to exercise 17:36 righteousness. This is how we begin to bear fruit. 17:41 So, we've got day number 1, we've got day number 2, 17:43 we've got day number 3: bearing fruit. 17:45 And now, notice day number 4. Genesis 1:14 to 18: 17:52 [text on the screen] 18:25 - Okay. This is just exciting because we think about 18:29 as we become Christians and as we come out of the world 18:31 and begin to bear fruit, God now says: 18:34 'I have given you a new guiding light in your life. 18:40 Before, when you were in the world, 18:41 you were walking according to your own stars, your own light. 18:43 Now, I've given you new light. 18:47 And I think about the sun. The Bible describes Jesus 18:50 as the Sun of Righteousness. 18:53 He is that new light in our life that helps us to divide 18:56 light from darkness. 18:59 You see, before, it was just a matter of 'I think this is 19:02 wrong' 'I think this is right', but now, in Jesus, 19:05 He is our dividing light, and through His teachings 19:11 we discern what is right and what is wrong. 19:13 - And it says 'rule', 'it rules over the day'. 19:16 And we know the moon rules over the night. 19:18 But isn't the sun... help me science people there, 19:21 isn't the moon a reflection of the sun at night? 19:24 Okay, there we go. 19:25 - Another thing. Psalm 119:105, another light that God 19:29 has given us, Psalms 119:105 says: 19:32 "Thy word is a lamp onto my feet and a light unto my path". 19:36 We've got the Word of God, the Old Testament 19:39 and the New Testament, we've got 19:42 the greater light, and the lesser light, 19:44 the Word of God and even the spirit of prophecy 19:48 seen as a lesser light to a greater light. 19:50 So, we've got these principles. 19:52 God says: 'You now have this light in your life. 19:54 Let the light shine.' 19:57 And as Christians we ought to guide our lives by 19:59 the light. It says the stars also, 20:02 in the Bible. Stars are symbolic not only of God's people, 20:06 Daniel 12:3- 'they that shine as the brightness 20:09 of the firmament...shall shine as the stars forever' rather, 20:13 but also of angels. The Bible tells us that we are surrounded 20:17 by an innumerable company of angels and witnesses. 20:21 So, day number 4 invites us to have a new light, 20:26 to have a new light in our life. 20:28 I'm going to look at day number 5. 20:29 [text on the screen] 20:52 - Okay. On day number 5 we have the creation 20:55 of two kinds of animals: birds and fish. 21:00 And, if you're thinking, you're going: 21:03 'Wait a minute! I know what this is', because 21:05 what was the first thing that Jesus said to His disciples 21:09 as He was calling them on the sea shores? 21:12 He said: "Come and follow Me, and I will make you 21:16 fishers of men." 21:19 You see, after we have understood what the Bible 21:22 is saying to us, what the Bible is teaching, 21:24 it has become a new light in our life, 21:26 the next thing God calls us to do is to go 21:28 and be fishers of men, to go out there 21:31 and to share with others what we have learned. 21:35 And again, the whole purpose of Satan's principle of evolution 21:38 is to stop the process of recreation. 21:40 His whole purpose of manipulating the environment 21:43 is so that we won't realize that we're in darkness, 21:45 we won't come out and be separate, 21:47 we won't bear fruit onto righteousness, 21:49 we won't have new light in our life, 21:52 and we, certainly, won't share this with others. 21:55 - And see, if my husband and other members of the group, 21:59 when they were in their rap music, wouldn't have accepted 22:03 what the Holy Spirit, what God was trying to do... 22:05 there's hundreds of people who are being blessed 22:10 by his and the others' ministry. 22:13 I mean, now you're a pastor, you're able to reach 22:16 hundreds of people, or thousands, 22:19 and now you're able to do that. 22:20 And if you wouldn't have responded, you wouldn't 22:21 have been able to do that. And Satan didn't want 22:23 them to respond. And he doesn't want you to respond either. 22:26 Because he knows that you have a circle of people 22:28 that only you can reach. 22:30 - That's right. That's a proper verse in 22:31 Ecclesiastes 9:12 which actually uses the analogy 22:35 of birds and fish. It says: 22:36 [text on the screen] 22:50 God calls us, as Christians to go out there 22:53 and to go fish and bird hunting, 22:55 to go and become fishers of men, to redeem 22:59 those who have been caught in the snare of the devil, 23:02 who are trapped in the abyss, or the black hole 23:05 that Satan has sprung upon this world. 23:07 - So, now we're moving on to day 6. And it says: 23:12 [text on the screen] 23:30 - Okay, this is really a problem Atonte. 23:32 I know that, when I became a Christian and I came 23:35 out of darkness and I began to study the Bible, 23:38 not began and go out there immediately and witness, 23:40 I just knew this is it, I would never have to struggle 23:44 with the sin again. Yes! Victory!! 23:47 And a couple of weeks later I notice that the old man 23:50 was still there. That old carnal man was still there, 23:55 who, by the way, the Bible in 2 Peter 2:12 23:59 describes the old man, or wicked humanity 24:03 as beast. Notice what it says: 24:04 "But these, as natural brute beasts, 24:06 made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of things that 24:10 they understand not; and shall utterly perish 24:13 in their own corruption." 24:14 That is just one example of the Bible relating the carnal 24:19 nature to an animal nature, 24:22 and in this process of salvation people that get in, 24:24 they get excited and... 24:26 We just baptized someone a couple of weeks ago 24:27 and this person was just feeling victorious, 24:30 had stopped chewing tobacco, and the day of his baptism 24:35 was like all of a sudden he felt the urge, 24:39 and by God's grace, he has been faithful, 24:40 but the urge springs up. 24:42 When we understand that the beast's nature 24:45 is there to try to dominate us, we can rejoice, 24:50 because in the very same day the Bible says God made man 24:52 in His image. And this is where that conflict takes place, 24:58 between the image of God and the image of the beast. 25:01 And we can praise God because, in Christ, 25:04 when we have the image of Christ in us, 25:06 God says to us we ought to have dominion over 25:10 the beasts of the earth. 25:14 And praise God, He says that very same thing to us, 25:15 'Listen, don't worry. These beasts may be vicious, 25:18 your carnal nature may be vicious, 25:20 but in Me, I have given you victory. 25:23 Dominate this beast!' 25:25 - So, young people out there whoa are saying: 'The things 25:29 of the world, they're to hard to give up. I'm struggling. 25:31 I won't be able to do it.' This is God's promise. 25:34 as we can see, as He created the earth that actually 25:36 we can look at it and say spiritually He can do 25:39 the same thing for us as we're struggling with these 25:42 spiritual issues. 25:44 - That's right. And day number 7, Atonte. 25:46 Genesis 2:1 25:49 [text on the screen] 26:07 - This is beautiful. Jesus says 'Come onto Me all ye that labor 26:11 and I will give you rest'. Jesus invites us to rest 26:16 from the wickedness of this world. 26:19 And in so doing, when we follow those steps of creation, 26:23 when we are led through this process of creation, 26:26 God is ultimately trying to lead us to rest, 26:30 to rest in Christ. The devil's purpose is 26:34 to manipulate the environment so that he can 26:37 stop the process of re-creation. 26:40 And he does it through music, through entertainment, 26:42 through humanism, all these different philosophies 26:45 with a specific intent of stopping and eliminating 26:50 the process of re-creation. 26:51 - That's right. He doesn't want it to happen in you, 26:54 because he knows once it does, you're his enemy. 27:00 Then you have the power to fight against him, 27:02 and he wants you to be on his camp, on his side, 27:04 and God wants you to be in God's camp, on God's side. 27:08 - That's right. We've been looking at the science 27:10 of how this beast from the abyss has been operating, 27:13 and in this program today we've looked at 27:15 the science of re-creation. 27:17 In our programs coming up, we're going to continue 27:19 to look at the science of how God redeems His people, 27:23 and I'm telling you, it's a wonderful thing 27:25 when we study the science of God, the science of salvation. 27:28 We see that there are principles that God has laid down for us, 27:32 that will be for our best benefit. 27:34 - I think that there might be some people out there 27:36 who only have gone through half of this re-creation process 27:39 or maybe none. If you're gone through only half 27:42 and you see the rest and you feel the Holy Spirit moving you, 27:46 give in to that spirit and allow Him to 27:47 take you the rest of the way. 27:49 - That's right. It is a full week of creation. 27:52 And we don't know how long this process takes. 27:54 God knows, but He invites us to partake of this process 27:57 and to start immediately. 27:59 - That's right. 28:00 Well, we're all out of time. 28:01 Until next time, God bless! |
Revised 2014-12-17