Battles of Faith

Jury Selection

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ivor & Atonte Myers

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Series Code: BOF

Program Code: BOF000047


00:14 Welcome to Battles of Faith.
00:16 We're your host, Ivor and Atonte Myers,
00:19 and we're with Power of the Lamb Ministries.
00:22 I have never had the honor to serve on a jury.
00:25 I have been called but never chosen.
00:28 You know the Bible talks about a jury selection,
00:32 that's going to happen in the future.
00:35 And this jury selection, I want to be a part of,
00:38 I don't want to be not chosen for this selection.
00:42 That's right, Atonte, our study today
00:44 is gonna take us into this
00:45 incredible concept of a jury selection.
00:48 And in order to understand
00:50 that we are going to take a look at the word of God.
00:53 And get a context of this jury selection,
00:58 why it's necessary and what it's all about,
01:02 so, let's journey right into the Bible,
01:04 we invite you to home to get your Bibles.
01:06 And we're gonna start with the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 28
01:10 which is speaking about the fall of Lucifer from heaven.
01:14 It's talking about his rebellion
01:17 and how he would be ultimately judged.
01:21 So let's go ahead and pick up reading from verses 14 and 15.
01:26 And verse 14 says,
01:28 "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth,
01:31 and I have set thee so,
01:33 thou wast upon the holy mountain of God,
01:35 thou hast walked up and down
01:37 in the midst of the stones of fire.
01:39 Thou wast perfect in thy ways
01:41 from the day that thou wast created,
01:43 till iniquity was found in thee."
01:47 The Bible here is describing Satan as a covering cherub.
01:51 Now we learned in our previous program
01:53 that a covering cherub was an angel
01:56 that was found in the very presence of God,
02:00 hovering over the very throne of God if you will.
02:04 We recollect looking at the Old Testament sanctuary,
02:07 seeing there that sanctuary that God had given Moses to,
02:12 had instructed Moses to build,
02:14 was a miniature model of his kingdom in heaven,
02:18 of his throne room in heaven.
02:20 And so as we look at this Ark
02:23 that was found in the most holy place
02:25 was covered by a mercy seat.
02:27 All of this represented,
02:28 the mercy seat represented God's throne.
02:31 The ark, the law upon which that throne rested,
02:35 simply shown that the foundation
02:37 of God's throne in heaven is his law.
02:41 On either side of this,
02:42 of this mercy seat were two covering cherubs.
02:46 And the job of these angels,
02:51 if you were, was to protect or reverence the law of God.
02:57 And so we see here that Lucifer was one of these two angels
03:01 before he rebelled.
03:02 The Bible says, then that inequity was found in him,
03:05 and we also saw that inequity
03:07 according to 1st John Chapter 3 verse 4
03:10 is transgression of the law.
03:13 The very law that Lucifer was to be defending,
03:15 he ends up turning against and the Bible says as a result,
03:19 that there was war in heaven.
03:21 Now this brings us to this issue of jury selection.
03:24 Because something very important needs to be understood here.
03:29 Most people, a lot of people
03:30 when they read this story about this rebellion
03:33 that took place in heaven.
03:34 The question will often come up,
03:36 why didn't God immediately judge
03:39 Lucifer like right then and there.
03:41 Why didn't He just destroy him right then and there?
03:43 And many people have that question. Yeah.
03:46 Because they were if He would have just destroyed him there,
03:49 then He wouldn't have been able to come
03:52 and tempt us here on earth. Exactly.
03:54 Like he tempted Adam and Eve. Later on exactly. Right.
03:57 So we're gonna take a look at another scripture
04:00 that's going to give us insight into this question.
04:03 Now this scripture is found in
04:04 Deuteronomy Chapter 19 verses 16 through 19.
04:08 So, Atonte, I'm gonna ask if you read that
04:12 unless I get there before you.
04:14 Well, let's see. Deuteronomy 16.
04:15 We're having a race and I think you might have won but..
04:18 Verse 19, okay, I'll go ahead and read.
04:19 Actually I think I did get there first, okay. All right.
04:23 "If a false witness rise up against any man
04:26 to testify against him that which is wrong.
04:30 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is,
04:33 shall stand before the Lord,
04:34 before the priests and the judges,
04:36 which shall be in those days.
04:39 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition and behold,
04:43 if the witness be a false witness
04:45 and hath testified falsely against his brother.
04:48 Then shall ye do unto him,
04:50 as he had thought to have done unto his brother,
04:53 so shalt thou put the evil away from among you."
04:56 Okay. So, this was a principle that our God had given to Moses.
05:01 That whenever a controversy came up between two parties,
05:05 there had to be a third party if you will.
05:09 A jury that would decide between the two parties.
05:15 Now that's a very fair principle God lays out
05:19 for a very simple reason.
05:21 Let's say that someone wanted to,
05:23 you know, take you to court, Atonte.
05:25 And you said, all right, I'll see you in court and,
05:29 you know, I know you don't even a chance of winning the case.
05:33 You and the person go to court,
05:34 and the person is sitting there in the courtroom
05:38 and he's excited because he just knows that
05:40 he's got this case all sort out.
05:43 And when they say all rise, because the judge is walking in,
05:46 to that person's horror,
05:48 they see you walking in, you are the judge.
05:51 How fair would that be. That would not be fair at all.
05:54 You know, that would be unjust actually. Right.
05:57 For the person being accused to sit as judge over the accuser.
06:02 There has to be a third party. Right.
06:05 So as we lift this principle that God had given to Moses,
06:10 and place that principle in the context of the rebellion
06:14 that occurred in heaven.
06:16 We need to ask ourselves a question,
06:17 how many sides were there in this rebellion?
06:22 The Book of Revelation Chapter 12 verses 7 through 9,
06:25 tells us about this war.
06:27 And it basically divides it into two sides,
06:29 it says Michael and his angels
06:33 fought against the dragon and his angels.
06:37 So how many sides were there? Two.
06:40 Two sides and only two sides.
06:42 You were either for God or against him,
06:44 for Lucifer or against him.
06:47 So you see here there is a stale meat
06:49 that appears to be taking place in heaven.
06:53 But there is something very key,
06:55 back in that passage we read earlier,
06:57 Ezekiel, Chapter 28 towards the end of that passage.
07:01 I believe is verse 17, God is speaking to Lucifer
07:06 and He says to him, "I will cast thee to the ground,
07:11 I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."
07:16 Now every time I think about this,
07:18 I like to use my imagination and imagine Lucifer saying,
07:23 wait a minute, lay me before kings,
07:24 by the way that term to be laid before,
07:27 to be laid before kings is a term
07:29 that is synonymous with judgment.
07:32 It's as though God was saying to Lucifer,
07:34 I'm going to have kings judge you or behold you.
07:39 And so I can imagine Lucifer saying,
07:40 wait a minute, who you're gonna get to judge me
07:42 because don't you see that all heaven
07:45 has been polarized into two sides,
07:48 like who are you going to get to judge me.
07:52 It was beyond at that time, Lucifer or Satan's imagination.
07:57 Because they were no other...
07:58 Or understanding. Right, or understanding.
07:59 That's right. Because what we're going to find
08:01 is that God creates as it were a third party,
08:08 a jury if you will.
08:10 Let's go over to the Book of Genesis.
08:13 Genesis in fact, you know what let's not go to Genesis,
08:16 let's go to the Book of First Corinthians Chapter 6,
08:21 First Corinthians Chapter 6.
08:23 The Bible tells us something absolutely amazing here.
08:28 Because you probably guessed the answer already,
08:30 who would be that jury, who would be that third party
08:34 that God would use to judge Lucifer.
08:38 Atonte, would read verses 1 through 3.
08:42 "Dare any of you, having a matter
08:44 against another go to law before the unjust
08:48 and not before the saints?
08:50 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world.
08:53 And if the world shall be judged by you,
08:55 are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
09:00 Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
09:02 How much more things that pertain to this life?"
09:05 Amazing verse First Corinthians 6:1-3
09:08 tells us that the saints are going to judge the world
09:14 and the saints are going to judge angels.
09:18 Now we know we're not talking about heavenly angels
09:20 because they have no need to be judged.
09:22 Right. We're talking about those fallen angels.
09:25 That's right. It's an amazing thought, Atonte,
09:28 that God, one of the reasons that God created humanity
09:33 was to serve as jurors in the Supreme Court of heaven.
09:40 I mean, what a call, what a privilege to be able to,
09:44 to be invited to serve in such an office.
09:47 Let's look at another verse very quickly,
09:49 it's found in Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26.
09:52 Because you'll remember in Ezekiel 28,
09:55 the Bible says that,
09:57 that God was going to lay Lucifer before kings.
10:02 In Genesis 1:26, when God creates Adam and Eve,
10:05 the Bible says that -- it says.
10:08 "And God said, let us make man in our image,
10:11 after our likeness and let them have dominion
10:15 over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
10:17 and over the cattle, and over all of the earth,
10:20 and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
10:23 Dominion, who is it that has dominion but a king.
10:29 Adam and Eve were created as kings
10:33 who were ultimately to serve as judges in this crisis,
10:39 this conflict that had unfolded in heaven.
10:42 In fact there's another verse in
10:43 Revelation Chapter 1 verse 5 and 6.
10:47 Revelation Chapter 1 verse 5 and 6
10:49 where the Bible specifically tells us
10:53 that this was part of Jesus' mission to make us kings,
10:58 it's Revelation 1:5 and 6 it says,
11:01 "And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness,
11:04 and the first begotten of the dead,
11:06 and to the prince of the kings of the earth.
11:09 And to him that loved us, and washed us
11:11 from our sins in his own blood."
11:15 And has made us what? Kings and priests.
11:19 'Unto God and his Father, to him be glory
11:23 and dominion for ever and ever."
11:24 So we're clearly told here
11:26 that God desires us to be those kings,
11:31 those priests that will be called to serve jury duty.
11:37 And this is a privilege. It's a privilege.
11:39 To be called to serve in God's jury,
11:42 and just like here on Earth, in our country I should say,
11:49 there is, there are regulations and rules on
11:53 who can be selected to be a part of a jury.
11:57 You cannot have any knowledge of this crime
12:02 or be associated with people who are involved.
12:04 Right. With this situation.
12:06 And it's amazing because,
12:08 as you look at that characteristic,
12:09 having very limited knowledge about the crime,
12:12 where was humanity when this rebellion occurred in heaven.
12:17 We weren't even created? We weren't created.
12:19 If you look at the creation account,
12:22 there is no account of angels
12:23 being created in during those six days.
12:27 So we know that the angels were around
12:31 way before Planet Earth was created.
12:34 So we fit the, we fit the bill there,
12:37 as human beings who were not around when the crime occurred.
12:42 There is another characteristic that jurors must have
12:47 and that is that jurors must be law abiding citizens.
12:53 So any people in jail or in prison
12:55 right now cannot be jurors.
12:57 You have a criminal record,
12:59 it eliminates you from being a juror.
13:00 And when God created Adam and Eve,
13:03 in fact Romans Chapter 2 verse 15 speaks about
13:07 how the law has been naturally written
13:10 on the hearts of mankind.
13:12 And so we know that when Adam and Eve
13:14 were created in their perfection,
13:16 they were law abiding citizens of the kingdom of God.
13:22 So they weren't there when the crime happened,
13:24 they were law abiding citizens of a kingdom of God.
13:27 And we also know that a juror is chosen
13:31 because he must have sound discernment. Right.
13:36 Be able to discern between what?
13:38 Good and evil. Good and evil.
13:41 And of course, Adam and Eve were created
13:45 with this very power to be able to
13:50 discern between good and evil.
13:52 And that's an interesting point, Atonte, because
13:57 when Satan comes to Eve in the Garden.
14:00 By the way, how does he come to them?
14:04 Why does he come to them?
14:05 Because he knows if these are ones that are to judge me,
14:14 I think I need to try to bribe the jury.
14:17 That's right and you've heard of that happening
14:20 maybe not so much here in America,
14:22 but in other countries where the jury
14:26 or those who are to judge this person are bribed.
14:29 That's right. Either with money or whatever
14:31 to try to change the decision
14:34 that they were originally going to make.
14:35 That's right, exactly and that's exactly
14:38 what we find Lucifer doing.
14:39 We find him basically okay, if this is who is to judge me,
14:45 then I need to disqualify this juror,
14:48 I need to make it so that this jury is eliminated
14:53 from jury selection and think about this.
14:56 What Satan is really trying to do,
14:58 he doesn't want his judgment to come.
15:00 So he is trying to eliminate every juror, that's it.
15:04 He wants a hung jury if he will,
15:07 he wants a jury that's been disqualified,
15:09 he doesn't want to be judged.
15:11 Because he knows that sentence is coming.
15:14 And you know, he is really not creative
15:16 if you think about it because he saw that
15:18 his argument worked with a portion of the angels.
15:22 So he thought, you know, I'm gonna try this again.
15:24 Exactly.
15:25 On these creative human beings and Eve fell for it.
15:28 Exactly. If we look at Genesis Chapter,
15:31 Genesis Chapter 3 verses 1 through 6,
15:35 we don't need to read the whole thing.
15:37 But I just want to look at verse 4.
15:42 The Bible says here, after Eve says to the serpent,
15:44 you know, God has said,
15:45 we cannot eat of the tree or else we'll die.
15:48 The Bible says "And the serpent said unto the woman,
15:50 Ye shall not surely die."
15:53 Verse 5 says "For God doth know that
15:55 in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
15:59 and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil."
16:07 Now, it's very interesting here because the word Gods
16:10 is that the Hebrew Elohim, and it means judges.
16:15 So it's almost as though Lucifer is saying,
16:17 hey, you want to be a real good judge,
16:19 eat from this tree and then
16:21 you will be a really, really good judge.
16:24 You will really know the difference
16:26 between good and evil,
16:28 but wait God had already created them.
16:31 With that capacity.
16:32 To know the difference between good and evil,
16:34 they knew that eating from the tree was evil.
16:37 Because God said so. Because God said so.
16:39 Not to eat of it. And so Satan brides the jury.
16:43 He convinces Eve that she is to eat from the tree.
16:46 And by the way, Satan did not say to Eve, Eve,
16:53 would you like to be evil.
16:55 Eve would not have fallen for that. Right.
16:58 He said, Eve, you can be like God, you can be like God.
17:06 But you don't have to obey Him in order to be like Him,
17:08 you can be like Him without obeying Him.
17:11 It's the very same argument he used on the angels in heaven.
17:15 Isaiah Chapter 14 verse 14 speaking of the fall of Lucifer.
17:20 Lucifer said, "I will be like the most High"
17:24 and what he meant by that was I can be righteous
17:30 and holy all by myself.
17:32 I don't need a law to tell me how to be righteous and holy.
17:35 And so that same argument that deceived the angels
17:39 in heaven into thinking yeah,
17:42 God doesn't have the market on righteousness,
17:44 you know, we can be righteous and still do our own thing,
17:46 we're free moral agents.
17:48 And if we're really free, why do we need a law?
17:50 That very same argument he uses on Eve.
17:53 And Eve, the Bible says when she saw
17:56 that the tree was good for food,
17:59 and that's another amazing thing.
18:00 Because the tree was not good for food.
18:02 God had said, it was not going for food.
18:04 But after she listened to Satan, her view of things changed.
18:10 And you know not only was Satan successful
18:13 in using this trick on the angels in heaven and on Eve.
18:18 But this is what he is daily attempting to do with each
18:21 and everyone of us everyday.
18:23 And when we give Satan an ear,
18:26 because Eve was listening to him first,
18:29 it starts to sound good to us and our judgment
18:34 or discernment starts to change
18:35 and it is possible without the power of God
18:38 to make the wrong decision.
18:39 But the point is, don't give Satan an ear to hear his words.
18:43 That's right. We can learn a lot from this particular portion
18:48 of scripture because it is revealing to us
18:50 how Satan works.
18:53 How he operates.
18:54 He tells us that we don't need to do exactly what God says.
18:58 We can still be good, we can still be righteous.
19:03 We can be all right and do something opposite
19:06 from what God says.
19:08 And there is a danger in that because many people
19:10 are falling for this deception of self-righteousness.
19:14 Self sanctification and again,
19:17 not until we see this conflict and how it unfolded in heaven
19:21 can we really begin to understand
19:23 its implications for us here on Earth.
19:26 Like God has called me to be a juror.
19:29 He's called you to be a juror.
19:32 He has called you to be juror.
19:34 And so what is the devil trying to do?
19:36 He is trying to eliminate you,
19:39 he is trying to say to God, come on,
19:40 are you going to use this guy, this girl as a juror,
19:44 they're not even keeping your commandments.
19:47 They're not even following your will, how can you use them.
19:50 This is exactly what he says to Adam and Eve,
19:55 you know, once Adam and Eve fall, it's like okay.
19:58 Were these the ones that you're gonna use.
20:01 And so the question now becomes what does God do?
20:05 Does God say, well, Adam and Eve,
20:07 I wipe my hands clean of humanity,
20:09 you know, you're no good you're out of here.
20:12 What does he do?
20:14 By the way, before we even answer to that question.
20:16 Another very interesting point is,
20:18 just as when Satan was cast out,
20:22 because he rebelled against the will of God.
20:25 He was cast out of heaven.
20:27 The very same thing happens to Adam and Eve.
20:31 They sin, and the Bible tells us in
20:34 Genesis 3 around verse 21 to 24
20:38 that God removes Adam and Eve from the garden. Why?
20:44 Because they rebelled against His will,
20:47 against the foundation of His government.
20:52 And so it appears that mankind has been trust out,
20:57 but God did not just put them out,
20:59 He did something else.
21:00 He came into the garden and the Bible says,
21:04 He gave us a promise. That's right.
21:07 It's found in Genesis Chapter 3 verse 15.
21:11 And it basically in a nutshell states that one would come,
21:18 we know that one to be the Messiah,
21:21 and the Messiah would ultimately gain victory over Satan
21:26 and redeem humanity, in other words...
21:29 Praise the Lord.
21:30 The whole purpose of the gospel is to restore us
21:35 to being a law abiding citizens of the kingdom of God,
21:40 who have sound discernment and judgment.
21:45 And are able to discern between good and evil.
21:48 That's the whole purpose of the gospel.
21:50 God wants to restore us, to the original creation.
21:55 And you know, it's just so awesome
21:58 how Adam and Eve they did go against the will of God.
22:02 And they did not believe in His,
22:06 I mean they did at a point believe in his word,
22:08 but when Satan came and tempted Eve to do what she did,
22:14 then they were no longer following the will of God.
22:17 But then God had already made away,
22:20 already had a plan on how to restore them and us.
22:25 And that's the loving kind God that serve. Exactly.
22:30 The Book of Romans Chapter 8 describes the carnal mind.
22:34 When Adam and Eve were created,
22:36 they were created with a spiritual mind.
22:38 But when they sinned, when they rebelled against God,
22:43 that was the birth as far as
22:45 humanity goes of the carnal mind.
22:47 And the Romans Chapter 8
22:50 describes that carnal mind to a tee, here's what it says,
22:55 Romans Chapter 8 verse 7 it reads,
22:59 "Because a carnal mind is enmity against God,
23:04 for it is not subject to the law of God,
23:08 neither indeed can be."
23:10 So look at the pattern, Lucifer in heaven, a covering cherub,
23:15 standing over the law of God or the Ark of God,
23:19 which is the foundation of His throne.
23:21 Lucifer rebels against that law and he has cast out of heaven.
23:25 God creates humanity in part to serve as jurors,
23:30 in this trial between God and His angels
23:34 and the devil and His angels.
23:35 Satan sees are these are the jurors who have to judge me.
23:38 He goes and he bribes the jury to get them
23:41 to turn against the law of God,
23:45 and they too are cast out of heaven.
23:49 Paul here in New Testament writes,
23:51 the carnal mind, if you want to know
23:53 if you have a carnal mind, just go down the law of God.
23:55 And anyone of those laws that you say,
23:57 I don't think I need to keep that.
23:58 I can be like God, I can be just like Jesus
24:01 and not keep that one, that one doesn't matter.
24:04 At that moment, you know,
24:05 what mind you're operating out of, it's the carnal mind.
24:09 Jesus has come to restore in us a mind
24:16 that is subject to the will and to the law of God.
24:21 Satan's battle is the exact opposite.
24:23 He wants to make us law breakers,
24:27 he wants to make us so that we are confused about
24:30 what's good and what's evil and you know,
24:33 we can look at society today.
24:35 And we can see just how confused.
24:38 Wow! Society is about good and evil.
24:42 And one of ways that he is so successful
24:44 in doing this is keeping us out of the word of God,
24:47 and keeping us from an intense prayer life with God.
24:52 Because it's only through true communion with God,
24:55 are we able to discern good and evil.
24:58 We're so many thousands of years away from
25:01 perfect humanity and through generational sense and just,
25:06 with cultivated sense.
25:08 We as very difficult for us a simple human beings
25:10 to be able to discern, and that's why
25:13 we need to get to know Jesus for ourselves through His word,
25:17 through an intense prayer life with Him.
25:19 Yeah, it's interesting and, you know,
25:20 you may be sitting although watching
25:22 and just thinking about all the things
25:24 you maybe seeing in the news and how,
25:27 you know, things that are,
25:29 that you once thought were good,
25:32 our society is now calling it evil.
25:35 Or things that were obviously wrong.
25:37 Evil. Society is saying, it's okay.
25:39 It's okay, it's good, there is nothing wrong with that news
25:41 and if you say something is wrong with that then.
25:43 You're in trouble.
25:44 You know, you're in trouble watch out.
25:45 So the devil is flipping this thing because he know,
25:48 he understands the high calling
25:51 that has been given to humanity.
25:52 He understands the high calling that has been given to you.
25:55 I mean, it's like we're walking around,
25:56 not realizing that God has called us to serve as jurors.
26:01 Now we know that we don't serve as jurors now,
26:03 that jury duty begins at a time in the future.
26:07 And we're gonna deal with that in a future program,
26:10 but suffice it to say now that the entire conflict
26:14 that's going on right now is simply about Satan
26:17 trying to eliminate the jurors.
26:19 And God trying to create jurors,
26:22 people who are law abiding,
26:23 who are discerning between what's right and what's wrong.
26:27 And this is the Gospel in a nutshell.
26:30 Because this is the reason Christ came,
26:33 this is why Christ is calling us unto Him,
26:35 because He wants to put His law
26:37 in our minds and in our hearts. Amen.
26:40 So fit us for the very kingdom of heaven
26:43 that Lucifer was once a part of, but has now been cast out.
26:47 That's right. And so again it is so important for us
26:51 to just to spend that quality time.
26:54 There are so many distractions with media,
26:58 with just I mean not just media with just busyness of life.
27:02 I mean even for us Christians who are in ministry
27:04 just in doing ministry things.
27:06 We can sometimes get so busy
27:08 that we don't spend the quality time with God
27:10 and we can also become very confused
27:13 and not as discerning as we should be as well.
27:16 That's right. And God tells us pray for wisdom.
27:18 That's right. Because we need it in this time.
27:21 Judges need to be wise, jurors need to be wise,
27:25 and Satan who was very wise himself
27:29 is seeking every possible way to eliminate you as a juror.
27:33 And so I hope in this program that you have discovered,
27:37 wow, you know, I thought my calling was
27:39 to be a doctor or you know even a pastor..
27:41 That's secondary.
27:42 That might be secondary, but the ultimate,
27:44 your ultimate purpose is that you've been called
27:46 to fulfill the will of God.
27:48 And part of that is that God is calling you to serve,
27:52 God is calling you to jury duty, don't skip out on jury duty.
27:56 That's right, and there is much more to this series.
28:01 And on the next program you don't want to miss
28:04 because we're gonna be talking about going more specific,
28:06 going more deeply into the blueprint,
28:09 God's plan for salvation.
28:10 Until next time, God bless.


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Revised 2014-12-17