Discover

Bible Prophecy's Answer For Human Suffering

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. David Asscherick

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Series Code: DP

Program Code: DP000004


00:14 The presentation tonight is entitled: "Discover Bible"
00:17 "Prophecy's Answer for Human Suffering."
00:20 Really, what begins tonight is the first in a 3 part series,
00:25 the first tonight, as we've already said, "The Answer"
00:28 "for Human Suffering", and we take tomorrow night off,
00:31 but we'll be back Thursday and Friday for parts 1 and 2
00:34 of a series entitled "Discover the War Behind the Wars."
00:38 These 3 presentations fit together as a single unit.
00:44 That is going to set up the next 2 presentations, which I am
00:48 very excited about, which you should be as well,
00:51 those presentations are entitled "Discover Does Jesus Christ"
00:55 "Have a Twin", and the next night is "Discover the Actual,"
01:00 "Definite, Certain, Unavoidable Identity of the Antichrist".
01:03 Some people say "Wait a minute, you're actually going to"
01:07 "tell us who the Antichrist is?" No, I'm not going to tell you,
01:10 what we're going to do is look at it from the Bible
01:12 and you will tell me who the Antichrist is, I'm not kidding.
01:16 We'll put all of the identifying characteristics up
01:18 from the Bible, not from a man and you will be able to tell me
01:22 at the end of the evening exactly who the Antichrist is.
01:26 You say "Why don't you just do that tonight?"
01:28 "That's really what we'd like to hear tonight".
01:31 The problem there is we have to set these things in their
01:34 proper context.
01:38 Tonight is the 4th night of our series, and if you've been
01:42 paying attention you'll see a very logical sequence
01:45 in what's taking place. The first night was basically
01:47 an introduction.
01:52 We asked basic questions like "What is prophecy?"
01:55 and "How can we understand prophecy?",
01:57 and "Where can I find true and reliable prophecy?"
02:00 And we looked at those 2 keys for understanding Bible prophecy
02:03 and particularly the book of Revelation.
02:05 Nr.1- in the book of Revelation the Old Testament is
02:10 the foundation, and Nr.2- Jesus Christ is the focus.
02:14 So the opening night was an introduction.
02:17 Then the second night we looked at this statue.
02:20 Our message was entitled "Discover Ancient Babylon"
02:23 "and How They Foretold the End of the World", and this gives us
02:26 a sense of where we are in the sweep of time.
02:30 Have you ever been to one of those large malls,
02:34 or maybe a large shopping center and they'll have
02:37 those billboards that show all of the different stores,
02:40 all of the different cafeterias, and there'll be a little
02:43 red dot there and it says: "You are here."
02:48 I've discovered something, I've been here all my life.
02:52 There's never been a time in my life when I wasn't right here,
02:55 so I look at that sign and think "Oh, the sign knows"
02:57 "where I am, I am, in fact, right here."
03:00 But in terms of a prophetic sense what this gives us
03:04 is a grand sweep of time and let's us know
03:08 "You are not here."
03:12 "You are here!".
03:15 The head of gold - Babylon; the chest and arms of silver
03:19 Medo-Persia; the belly and thighs of bronze - Greece;
03:22 the long legs of iron represented Rome;
03:25 the feet of iron and clay represented divided Rome,
03:29 and the very next thing that happened was the stone
03:33 struck the image on the feet and that stone became
03:37 a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
03:40 You're all "A" students. So what we did
03:43 that second night is said "where are we in the grand"
03:46 "sweep of things?"
03:47 Then last night we asked the question "Okay, so we're living"
03:50 "down in those toes, down in those feet of iron and clay,"
03:53 "but just how near is the end", and last night we presented
03:57 what I consider to be very compelling evidence
04:00 that we are living in the very closing hours of this earth's
04:04 history; that is to say that this thing is wrapping up
04:08 rapidly. If you agree with that
04:10 I want you to raise your hand and say amen.
04:12 - [Audience replies] Amen. - That's exactly right,
04:13 we did our best last night, we gave 10 signs of the times,
04:16 and somebody's going to say, a skeptically minded person's
04:18 going to say: "Oh, those signs of the times have been around"
04:21 "forever, there's always been earthquakes, there's always"
04:24 "been famines, there's always been pestilence,"
04:27 "there's always been wars and rumors of wars, etc, etc",
04:29 but what were the 2 illustrations, the 2 analogies
04:32 that Jesus gave us to understand the context of those signs
04:35 of the times? What was the first one?
04:38 Labor pains, and what was the second one?
04:42 A fig tree, and do you remember that those 2 analogies
04:45 have 3 things in common, let's see if you can
04:47 remember those, they were both visible, and they were both
04:53 progressive and they were both climactic.
04:56 So what Jesus is saying is that these signs are not new
04:59 signs, they're not some new thing, it's things that have
05:03 been happening throughout the sweep of history,
05:05 but just before the end they will increase in both, frequency
05:12 and in intensity. What 2 things did I say everyone?
05:16 Frequency and intensity. So you get this sense
05:19 that these things are happening with greater frequency,
05:21 greater intensity, until eventually it reaches
05:24 a fever pitch. Just as in labor pains
05:26 they are further apart and then closer and closer,
05:29 and eventually you have a baby, and so too with the fig tree,
05:33 it becomes tender and it puts forth its leaves
05:35 and eventually a fig, and then summer.
05:39 So what this has done for us in the first 3 nights
05:41 has really set a context. Night Nr.1 is the simple
05:44 introduction, the next 2 nights gave us a sense of urgency
05:49 that it is not business as usual.
05:52 It gave us a sense of what everyone? [Audience] Urgency.
05:54 And that's really what we're trying to do here,
05:56 is create a sense that something is happening in the world.
06:02 What we're going to begin now is to go in to the great
06:05 books of Daniel, Revelation and other books
06:08 and begin to unpack some of these monumental
06:11 and amazing prophecies with this context of urgency.
06:15 In fact tonight we're actually going to be taking
06:20 a preliminary look at the Antichrist, we will talk about
06:23 the Antichrist, but remember, the focus of the book
06:26 of Revelation is not the Antichrist, it's Jesus Christ.
06:29 Tonight we will actually be taking a preliminary look
06:34 at who this Antichrist figure is, and what he intends
06:38 to do.
06:39 So let's begin by looking at our study guide,
06:41 hopefully everyone of you has a study guide.
06:43 I want to reiterate that if you bring friend, Nathan said this,
06:46 I want to reiterate it, by all means, you bring 5 friends,
06:49 you get 5 free CDs, you bring 10 friends, you get
06:52 10 free CDs, listen, we are not about making money,
06:54 I couldn't care less about that, we want this message
06:57 to get out.
07:00 So notice this with me, we're right there on the study guide,
07:02 you have that there in front of you, and we'll begin
07:04 by looking at the opening 2 paragraphs.
07:07 It says: If God is so good, how many of you believe
07:10 that God is good? I believe the very same thing,
07:14 that's exactly right, God is good.
07:16 It says: If God is good then why does the world
07:19 seem so bad most of the time? Why do bad things happen
07:24 to good people, and why does there have to be so much pain,
07:28 suffering and sorrow in the world today?
07:32 What is going on? Next paragraph: These are
07:35 all legitimate questions and good questions.
07:39 Some people think that there are no answers to questions
07:42 like these; this is the very kind of question that I used
07:44 to ask as a skeptic when a Christian would try to witness
07:47 to me at high school, or at the university I was studying at,
07:50 tried to tell me about Jesus and how Jesus saves,
07:52 and I would just say: "Come on now, if your God is so good,"
07:55 "then explain all the pain, suffering, death, disease"
07:57 "in the world", and I would just blow them off.
08:00 Most of them, unfortunately, could not give good,
08:03 compelling, Biblical answers to that very simple question.
08:08 Notice the rest, it says: Some people think that
08:10 there aren't answer to questions like these; I used to be
08:12 one of those people. They are wrong.
08:16 The Bible gives the answers to these questions,
08:18 they are not pat or easy answers, but they are good,
08:23 powerful and even logical answers.
08:28 Suffering, pain and death are terrible indeed,
08:32 but the Bible, and the Bible only, can give us a compelling
08:34 context with which to understand these things.
08:38 Behind it all the heart of God cries out for the devotion,
08:43 salvation and worship of His people.
08:48 I'm looking forward to tonight's message, but before we get
08:51 right into the Bible, we're going to first pray.
08:55 You're going to discover that your capacity and your ability
08:58 to understand spiritual things, if you've not already
09:00 discovered this, is not primarily based upon
09:03 your intelligence or your education, it's based upon
09:06 your willingness to submit yourself to the One who wrote
09:09 the Bible, are we all together on that?
09:12 The simplest way I know how to communicate that is this:
09:14 "I will" is more important than "I.Q."
09:18 The Bible says spiritual things are spiritually discerned,
09:21 so it's not "my intelligence" or "my degree", or whatever
09:24 it might be that helps me to understand this book,
09:26 the Bible says that spiritual things are spiritually
09:29 understood, so we have to pray and ask the author of the book
09:33 to become the instructor in the book.
09:37 That's why we pray, we don't just pray as a formality
09:39 and say: "Well, you know, it's a religious meeting,"
09:41 "we might as well pray." Not at all.
09:43 When we pray we are very seriously asking the God
09:46 who inspired the book to now come down into this room
09:48 and be the one who instructs in this book.
09:53 So let's begin with a word of prayer.
09:54 Father in heaven, we pause for a moment because we do not
09:58 take these things lightly, we don't take these things
10:02 serendipitously Father, this is serious, and we want
10:05 to understand Your word for us in these strange
10:08 and unusual times in which we're living.
10:11 Father, this is the Discover Prophecy Seminar, we want
10:15 to know better and Biblically just what is coming
10:19 upon the world. So Father, tonight as we
10:22 open Your word we ask the You would open our hearts.
10:25 You have told us that spiritual things are spiritually
10:28 understood, so tonight clear away the debris from our minds,
10:32 the distractions from our minds and give us, over the course
10:36 of the next 50 minutes or so, a sense of focus on You
10:41 and Your word, and Your will and Your plan for our lives.
10:46 Help us Father to have more than just an intellectual exercise
10:50 and experience. Help us to submit and surrender
10:53 ourselves to Your word and to Your will,
10:57 for we ask it in Jesus' name, let all of God's people
11:00 say amen. Alright, let's get into our
11:04 topic, open your Bibles to the first book of the Bible,
11:08 the book of Genesis. Genesis 1.
11:15 You'll notice your study guide subheading says:
11:17 "In the beginning God and good."
11:23 In order to understand the present condition of our world,
11:26 we must first understand its original condition as it came
11:29 fresh from God's hand. What was that original
11:33 condition described in Genesis, the book of beginnings.
11:36 Note the following verses, I've given you a list of them,
11:39 we'll just look at them quickly. I'm beginning in Genesis 1:1:
11:42 "In the beginning God created the heaven's and the earth."
11:46 "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon"
11:48 "the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering"
11:51 "over the face of the waters. Then God said, Let there"
11:56 "be light, and there was light. And God saw the light"
12:00 "that it was good, and God divided the light from"
12:04 "the darkness." Jump down to verse 10.
12:06 "And God called the dry land earth and the gathering"
12:09 "together of the waters he called seas, and God saw"
12:12 "that it was good." Notice verse 12:
12:15 "and the earth brought forth grass and the herb"
12:17 "that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree"
12:19 "that yields fruit, who's seed is in itself, according"
12:22 "to its kind, and God saw that it was good."
12:25 Verse 18: "And to rule over the day and over the night,"
12:28 "and to divide the light from the darkness, and God saw"
12:30 "that it was good." Verse 21: "So God created"
12:34 "great sea creatures and every living thing that moves"
12:37 "with which the waters abounded according"
12:39 "to their kind, every winged bird according to its kind,"
12:43 "and God saw that it was good." Verse 25: "And God made"
12:46 "the beasts of the earth according to its kind,"
12:48 "cattle according to its kind and everything that creeps"
12:50 "on the earth according to it kind, and God saw"
12:53 "that it was good." Verse 31, the last verse
12:55 of the chapter: "Then God saw everything that He had made"
12:59 "and indeed it was very good, so the evening and morning"
13:03 "were the 6th day." 7 times in Genesis 1,
13:06 7 times in the creation account Moses records
13:11 under the inspiration of God, "it was good."
13:15 And then when He comes to the end He says it was very good,
13:19 so we can safely surmise that in the beginning everything
13:23 was good.
13:26 There are many words that you could use to describe the world
13:29 that we are living in today, and there are certainly
13:31 good things, there are certainly wonderful things
13:34 in the world today, but good would probably not be at the top
13:38 of the list. Just last night we looked
13:41 at 10 signs of the times, and unfortunately, all but 1 of them
13:45 was bad news. The only 1 that is good news
13:49 was the 10th one, and that's that the gospel is going
13:52 to all the world, and that's the greatest of the great news.
13:55 The reality is that we live in a world that is wracked with pain,
13:59 and suffering, and sickness, and death, and disease.
14:03 What happened?
14:05 In the beginning everything was good, it was even very good.
14:10 Notice the next paragraph, this point is highly instructive.
14:16 In Genesis 1 and 2, before the entrance of sin, the world
14:21 was perfect, beautiful and untainted by death,
14:25 disease or pain, a perfect couple - Adam and Eve
14:29 of course - in perfect love, in a perfect environment,
14:33 with a perfect God. You can't get much more
14:35 perfect than that. So then, what happened
14:37 to create the state of affairs we see today?
14:40 Pain, and suffering, and death, and disease are the rule,
14:43 not the exceptions. In order to understand this
14:46 go with me to the first book of the Old Testament
14:50 to the first book of the New Testament, what book is that?
14:53 Matthew 13, go there with me.
14:56 Again, if you have somebody sitting next to you
14:59 who is not getting to the verses or the chapters
15:01 quite as quickly as you, be sure to help them.
15:05 Matthew 13, here we find Jesus telling a parable.
15:10 A parable is a simple story that illustrates a larger
15:14 spiritual truth. Matthew 13.
15:19 We're going to take a look at a parable in which Jesus
15:21 describes a man who planted a field.
15:26 Notice in your study guide: In Matthew 13:24-30
15:30 Jesus tells a parable, that is a story that illustrates
15:33 a spiritual truth, about a field that was planted
15:36 by a farmer. In verse 37-43 He explains
15:40 the parable, let's look at this parable together.
15:43 Matthew 13:24, are we all there?
15:50 "Another parable He put forth to them saying:"
15:55 "the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed"
15:59 "good seed" - there's our word again, that's the same word
16:02 that we saw in Genesis 1, isn't it?
16:05 Verse 25: "But while men slept his enemy came and sowed"
16:07 "tares" - that is weeds, "among the wheat"
16:10 "and went his way, but when the grain had sprouted and produced"
16:13 "a crop, and the tares also appeared, so the servants"
16:16 "of the owner came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow"
16:20 "good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?"
16:23 In other words, where did the weeds come from?
16:25 Verse 28: "He said to them, An enemy has done this."
16:28 "The servants said to him, O, would you like us then"
16:31 "to go and gather them up? But he said no,"
16:33 "lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat"
16:36 "with them. Let both grow together"
16:40 "until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest"
16:43 "I will say to the reapers, First gather the tears"
16:46 "and bind them in bundles to burn them,"
16:48 "but gather the wheat into my barn."
16:50 Now, we don't have to wonder, we don't have to guess,
16:52 we don't have to conjecture as to what this parable means
16:55 because Jesus gives us the interpretation beginning
16:58 in verse 37, go to verse 37: "He answered and said to them,"
17:02 "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,"
17:06 who's the Son of man? Jesus Christ.
17:09 Verse 38: "The field is the world, the good seeds",
17:14 4 times He uses that phrase if you're paying attention,
17:18 He says it's "good seed" 4 times.
17:22 "The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares"
17:26 "are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them"
17:30 "is the Devil, the harvest is the end of the age,"
17:35 "and the reapers are the angels."
17:37 Fascinating. Jesus tells a very simple story,
17:40 not difficult to understand, He says it's a story of man,
17:43 he went out and he sowed some seed in his field.
17:45 The workers, and all of those who were working in the field
17:49 had seen him sow the good seed, they knew that it was good seed,
17:52 but later when they came back to investigate there was weeds
17:55 among the wheat, and they went to the man and said:
17:58 "hey, didn't you sow good seed in your field?"
18:00 "Where did the weeds come from?", and here's what
18:02 I want you to notice: in the parable Jesus does not have
18:05 the man saying: "Well, when you weren't looking I snuck"
18:08 "some bad stuff in with the good".
18:11 What Jesus says is 5 words, 5 of the most important
18:16 words in all of the Bible, "An enemy has done this."
18:20 Let's say that together: "An enemy has done this".
18:24 Look at the top of the study guide: what kind of seed
18:27 was originally sown in the field? Good seed.
18:30 This agrees perfectly with Genesis, it began good,
18:34 even very good. According to verse 28
18:37 who planet the weeds? An enemy.
18:40 In verse 39 Jesus identifies this enemy and He says
18:43 that enemy was who? The Devil.
18:46 Here's something I want you to get a hold of, this is
18:50 a fascinating concept: Jesus accepted no personal
18:55 responsibility for the presence of weeds.
18:58 I want to say that again: in the parable Jesus does not have
19:01 the man who sowed the seed, being Jesus, the Son of man,
19:04 accepting any responsibility for the presence of tares,
19:08 He says 5 words: an enemy has done this.
19:16 Well, who is this enemy? Go with me from Matthew 13
19:21 to Luke 13, you're in Matthew, the next book is Mark,
19:25 and the next book is Luke. Matthew, Mark, we're going
19:29 to Luke 13. >From Matthew 13 to Luke 13.
19:34 Incidentally, we're working our way towards Revelation 13,
19:37 we're going to spend a fairly significant amount of time
19:40 tonight talking about the Antichrist, but we need
19:42 to work our way there so we can understand it
19:45 in a Biblically holistic manner.
19:48 Luke 13, Jesus tells a story, it's actually not a story
19:55 that He tells as a parable, it's the recounting of an experience
19:58 that Jesus had. Luke 13:10:
20:04 "Now He was teaching in one of the Synagogues"
20:07 "on the Sabbath, and there was a woman who had"
20:10 "a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and she was bent over"
20:15 "and could in no ways raise herself up."
20:18 "But when Jesus saw her He called her to Him"
20:20 "and He said to her, Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity,"
20:24 from your sickness, "and He laid His hands on her"
20:27 "and immediately she was made straight and glorified God."
20:31 Verse 14: "But the ruler of the Synagogue answered"
20:34 "with indignation because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath"
20:37 "and he said to the crowd, There are 6 days in which men"
20:40 "aught to work, therefore come and be healed on them"
20:43 "and not on the Sabbath day. Then the Lord answered"
20:47 "and said, Hypocrite," Jesus was not being a name caller here,
20:50 the word "hypocrite" comes from the Greek word "hypokrites",
20:53 which means "actor", Jesus says "You're an actor,"
20:56 "you're wearing religious clothes, you're talking"
20:58 "religious language, you're hanging out in religious"
21:01 "places, but really you're an actor."
21:03 "Actor", He says, "does not"
21:05 "each one of you on the Sabbath lose his ox or a donkey"
21:08 "from the stall and lead it away to water it?"
21:10 Now look at verse 16, fascinating, there are 4 words
21:14 that are central to this text, "So aught not this woman,"
21:18 "being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound",
21:22 "think of it for 18 years, be loosed from this bond"
21:26 "on the Sabbath day?" What are the 4 words
21:29 in verse 16: "whom Satan has bound".
21:34 Notice again, does Jesus take any responsibility for
21:38 the woman's condition in her infirmed state, yes or no?
21:41 None at all, in fact, it's just like the Devil to bend you over,
21:45 and it's just like Jesus to straighten you up.
21:49 Notice what He says here: "Aught not this woman,"
21:54 "being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound".
21:58 Fascinating, just like those 5 words in Matthew 13,
22:02 "An enemy has done this", here He says,
22:05 "whom Satan has bound", takes no personal responsibility
22:09 for her sickness, but gets all of the glory for her wellness.
22:14 "An enemy has done this." Look at your study guide,
22:17 let's fill in the blanks.
22:21 Look at the study guide: Here is an essential point,
22:23 Jesus confirms what Genesis described, namely,
22:25 that God made things very good. According to Jesus the Devil
22:30 is the one who has ruined it, he is the responsible party.
22:34 Read Luke 13:10-16, which we've just done, in this story
22:37 who does Jesus credit for binding the woman?
22:41 Satan. The word "Satan" is a
22:44 transliteration of the Hebrew "satan", it's a Hebrew word,
22:52 and the word simply means "an enemy",
22:58 or "an opponent", or "an adversary", that is
23:02 "one who stands against." Just as Jesus had said
23:05 "An enemy has done this", so too here He says:
23:09 "Satan, the enemy, the opponent, the adversary,"
23:13 "put this woman into her infirmed condition."
23:17 You're in Luke 13, go to Luke 10, just 3 chapters
23:21 before that, Luke 10.
23:28 Luke 10, notice verse 18, Jesus speaking: [text on screen]
23:48 I want to just say something right at the outset:
23:52 some people say there is no such thing as the Devil.
23:55 How many of you have heard that before?
23:57 You've talked to somebody about these kinds of things,
24:00 they say: "Aww, there's no such thing as the Devil!"
24:02 Raise your hand if you've heard that before, sure you have
24:05 Let me say something here: [text on screen]
24:10 Notice what Jesus says here, fascinating, Luke 10:18:
24:14 "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven."
24:22 Satan's hometown is where? I want you to notice something
24:27 very interesting, Jesus uses the word "fall".
24:33 You can fill in the blanks: Satan's hometown is where?
24:35 "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven", the word "satan"
24:38 means "enemy" or "adversary", so you're right up to speed.
24:40 I want you to think about something, if I'm walking
24:43 down the street with Nathan, and Nathan can be
24:45 a little bit of mischievous person every now and then,
24:48 you've probably pick that up already, and let's just say
24:50 that Nathan is feeling like a little bit of a rascal
24:52 and he pushes me down, which he's never done up to this point
24:56 but he might some day, I don't ever let him get
24:59 right behind me, but anyway, [Audience laughs]
25:01 if he pushes me down, who's fault would my falling down be?
25:06 Nathan says "yours", no, it would be his.
25:10 But now I want you to imagine, if I was walking
25:12 all by myself and I tripped and no one else was around
25:17 me to push me down or coerce me, who's fault would it be now?
25:20 It would be my fault, unless of course, if you live in the USA
25:23 and there was a little crack there, and we'd say:
25:25 "Oh, you know, it's the municipalities department"
25:28 "because the crack is too big, no personal responsibility."
25:31 The point here is I want you to notice what Jesus says;
25:34 He doesn't say: "I pushed Satan", He doesn't say:
25:37 "I kicked him out", what He says is: "I saw Satan fall"
25:42 "like lightning from heaven." What we're going to discover
25:46 this evening is that the responsibility and
25:49 the culpability for his actions are his, that the responsibility
25:56 rests upon his shoulders. Notice our study guide:
26:00 What happened in heaven? Is Jesus really saying
26:04 that Satan, this character "The Devil", came from heaven?
26:07 That's exactly what He's saying. Ezekiel the prophet,
26:10 go with me in your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel,
26:13 that might take you a little bit to find, I actually
26:15 just opened right to it, Lord, praise His name.
26:18 So you open it up, you'll be right in Psalms probably,
26:22 and then you can go to Isaiah, and then Jeremiah,
26:24 and then Lamentations, and then Ezekiel.
26:27 You can find Ezekiel, it's one of the larger books
26:29 in the Old Testament. Ezekiel 28.
26:36 Here we find Ezekiel comparing Satan to an ancient
26:43 and evil king, the king of Tyre, Ezekiel 28:11.
26:48 I want you to notice that as we read this passage
26:52 the word "perfect" occurs 3 times.
26:58 Ezekiel 28:11: "Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me"
27:02 "saying, Son of man," that's God speaking to Ezekiel,
27:06 "take up a lamentation", or cry, "for the king of Tyre"
27:10 "and say to him, Thus sayeth the Lord, God".
27:12 Some people say: "This doesn't have anything to do"
27:15 "with the Devil, this doesn't have anything to do with"
27:18 "Satan, this is only the king of Tyre", hardly!
27:20 What Ezekiel is doing under the inspiration of God,
27:23 God is saying: "Listen, I'm going to talk to you"
27:26 "about this power, this evil man, the king of Tyre,"
27:28 "but what I'm really interested in is the power behind"
27:31 "the king of Tyre." It'll be a little bit like saying:
27:34 "I want to talk to you about Hitler", but Hitler is not
27:36 an end in himself, there's some power behind Hitler
27:39 that caused Hitler to be a Hitler, or a Mussolini to be
27:42 a Mussolini, or a Mao Zedong to be a Mao Zedong,
27:44 He says: "Take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre,"
27:48 and then He begins to tell us about this power,
27:50 this angelic rebellious power behind the King of Tyre.
27:55 Notice the rest of verse 12: "You were the seal"
27:58 "of perfection," - I would underline in your Bible
28:02 if you're in the custom of underlining in your Bible,
28:04 "full of wisdom and perfect in beauty."
28:07 Notice 2 times right out of the gate He says:
28:12 "You were perfect." Verse 13: "You were in Eden."
28:16 Quick question for you, was the king of Tyre in Eden?
28:21 No, but was Satan in Eden? Absolutely, he was.
28:25 "You were in Eden, the garden of God."
28:28 "Every precious stone was your covering, the sardius, topaz"
28:33 "and diamond, the beryl, onix and jasper, sapphire, turquoise"
28:37 "and emerald with gold, the workmanship of your timbrels"
28:41 "and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created."
28:46 So he was created. Verse 14: "You were the anointed cherub"
28:51 "who covers, I established you, you were on the Holy Mountain"
28:55 "of God, you walked back and forth in the midst"
28:59 "of the fiery stones," notice it again in verse 15,
29:02 "you were perfect in your ways from the day you were created"
29:08 "until iniquity was found in you."
29:13 Here the prophet Ezekiel, under the inspiration of God,
29:16 is basically tearing back the curtain, tearing back
29:20 the seen from the unseen in the same way that we might
29:23 separate this wall; this wall was up the first night
29:25 and there were so many people here we had to open
29:28 the wall and we get to see what's on the other side
29:30 that's basically what God is doing through the prophet
29:33 Ezekiel, He's tearing back the wall so we can see
29:35 what's going on behind the scenes.
29:38 Many of you have been to a movie before, or a play,
29:41 and what's happening on the play and stage is only just the part
29:45 that you get to see, what's really happening is behind
29:48 the scenes. The prophet Ezekiel says:
29:52 "You were created perfect" 3 times, who would have
29:58 created him? God,
30:01 and he says it 3 times: "You were created perfectly".
30:07 He says "you were the anointed cherub", what is a cherub?
30:12 That's an angel. Look at that again.
30:16 Verse 14, "You were the anointed cherub who covers".
30:20 That is unusual language, that is sanctuary language.
30:25 You say: "What is sanctuary language?"
30:27 Very simple. In the Israelite economy,
30:30 the most important building in all of the Israelite economy
30:33 was the sanctuary, later became Solomon's temple.
30:36 The temple consisted of 3 parts.
30:41 You had the courtyard, which was in the outside,
30:44 the outer court, and then if you walked into it
30:47 you had the Holy Place, and then you walked into
30:50 the Most Holy Place. There were several articles
30:53 of furniture. In the courtyard you had
30:55 the altar, in the Holy Place you had the altar of incense,
30:57 and the table of showbread, and the lamp stand,
31:00 but if you went into the Most Holy Place there was
31:04 only 1 article of divine furniture, what was that?
31:07 That was the Ark of the Covenant, you saw Harrison Ford
31:09 in the movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark".
31:13 There was the Ark of the Covenant and it was basically
31:16 a glorified box. In that golden box,
31:19 what was in there? Does anyone know?
31:23 There were several articles, but the most important article
31:25 was the very 10 commandment stones, and on top
31:28 of that box, that was called the mercy seat,
31:32 and there were 2 carved angels that came up,
31:36 representing the very angels that dwelled in the presence
31:40 of God. Between those 2 angels
31:43 there was a supernatural light that radiated from
31:46 the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary, that light
31:50 was called "The Shekinah Glory". Like it says in Psalm 80:1:
31:56 "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that dwellest"
31:59 "between the cherubim, shine forth."
32:03 That was the very presence of God in the Most Holy Place,
32:06 and those carved angels represented the very angels
32:11 that stood in God's immediate in presence, in heaven,
32:16 around His throne. When Ezekiel says:
32:19 "You were the anointed cherub that covers,"
32:21 what he's saying is: "You were one of the angels"
32:24 "that dwelt in God's immediate presence."
32:29 Fascinating.
32:32 Look at your study guide, fill those in.
32:35 "You were in the garden of Eden", verse 14 says
32:39 "You were the anointed cherub" which is an angel.
32:43 Notice the next paragraph: This angel was created perfect.
32:49 1 aspect of that perfection was that God invested him
32:54 with genuine free will, that is the ability to make
32:59 his own choices. Underline this next part,
33:03 I've put it in italics, but it is absolutely essential.
33:07 True love in order to be love must have the right
33:12 to say no.
33:17 What makes love so special is that it is voluntary.
33:22 If love wasn't voluntary, if love was forced,
33:26 it wouldn't be love at all. In fact, in the English language
33:28 we have a very ugly word for forced love,
33:31 we call that "rape". Love in order to be love
33:34 has to have the right, has to have the potential,
33:38 has to have the prerogative to say "no thank you."
33:43 In order for love to be what God intended it to be,
33:47 we have to have the opportunity to say no.
33:50 April 4th, 1999, I was married to the most beautiful woman
33:53 I've ever seen in my entire life, and she's sitting
33:56 right there in the front row, it was a lovely wedding,
33:58 the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to.
34:01 [Audience laughs]
34:03 Everything looked great, except the groom, and he looked okay.
34:07 [Audience laughs]
34:10 And I remember my wife coming down the aisle of that church
34:14 in her beautiful, resplendent, radiant glory, and as she walked
34:18 down my knees began to move like this, literally,
34:21 my knees began to shake. I'll tell you a true story
34:24 very quickly, just about 3 months before, my wife's
34:26 brother, my brother in law, had been married,
34:29 I had been asked to stand in the wedding.
34:32 It was one of those churches that have 4-6 steps
34:35 that lead up to the altar and Falisha and Christian,
34:37 they were standing at the altar like this,
34:40 and the groomsman went back like that, and the bridesmaids
34:43 went back like that, and I was the third groomsman
34:45 standing in the middle of the stairs.
34:47 There was a gentlemen just ahead of me,
34:50 and in the middle of the wedding I noticed that he began
34:53 to sway, he began to rock like this.
34:57 Literally, right in the middle of the wedding
34:59 he fainted directly into my arms.
35:03 I just saw him falling and I caught him - right in the middle
35:06 of the wedding, and of course, Falisha and Christian could hear
35:08 that something was going on, but it was their wedding,
35:11 they didn't turn around to see, so I had this guy
35:14 in my arms, several hundred people there at the wedding
35:17 and I just picked him up and carried him out.
35:19 Well, we got him into the back and we slapped him around
35:21 a little bit, gave him a little bit of orange juice
35:23 and he straightened up. We actually got him back out,
35:26 he stood out there again and Falisha and Christian
35:28 turned around, walked out, didn't even know
35:31 what had happened. [Audience laughs]
35:32 In fact, you can see it right on the video, it was just
35:34 made to order. I can just imagine,
35:35 the angels were at the wedding, just enjoying it,
35:37 and they see this guy begin to sway and they say:
35:39 "Get that guy!" and they pushed him towards me
35:41 because he fell perfectly into my arms.
35:44 If he'd fallen just a little that way it would have been
35:47 a disaster. Well anyway, I was married 3 months later
35:49 and a doctor friend of mine was there and said
35:52 the reason that he fainted is Nr.1- he probably didn't get
35:55 a good breakfast, and Nr.2- he locked his knees.
35:57 So I had this phobia on my wedding day of locking my knees.
36:00 [Audience laughs] I'm telling you a true story,
36:02 my wife comes walking down the aisle and she comes up,
36:07 and I'm standing there like this: [shows position]
36:11 [Audience laughs] Have you ever tried to stand
36:15 like this for a long time? It's not easy!
36:18 So I started to kind of shake like that, and my wife
36:21 says to me right there in the ceremony, she says:
36:23 "What are you doing?" [Audience laughs]
36:25 I said: "Sweetie, I'm trying not to faint." [Audience laughs]
36:30 Anyway, praise the Lord, I made it through,
36:32 I didn't faint, but here's the point: there came a time
36:36 in that ceremony where the minister turned to me
36:40 and said: "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully"
36:42 "wedded..." "I do!!!"
36:44 And then he turned to her and he said: "Do you take"
36:47 "this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
36:49 And she said: "I do." Praise the Lord!
36:54 And praise God there was no pause there either,
36:57 she said: "I do", now here's what made it so special:
37:03 nobody was standing there with a gun when the minister said
37:07 "Do you?" This guy stuck it in her ribs
37:11 and said: "You better!" [Audience laughs]
37:15 What made her "I do" so special is that she had the right
37:18 to say "I don't".
37:24 Beloved, think about it from God's perspective.
37:27 God is a real God who desires a real relationship
37:30 with real beings.
37:34 As 1 person has put it, God would rather wrestle
37:37 with the stubborn will of man than reign supreme
37:41 over rocks and trees. God has given us this thing
37:45 called free will, it is a dangerous thing,
37:49 but it is absolutely essential if there's going to be
37:52 anything like true love. Sometimes in the past
37:56 I've taken my computer out, in fact, maybe I couldn't do it
37:59 exactly right now, but I could sort of show you
38:01 what I do, I take out my computer and I program it
38:04 to tell me that it loves me. I take my computer out,
38:06 and I set it on a little stage, I didn't do it this time
38:09 because I just wasn't ready for it, and I set it there
38:11 and I saw: "Good evening computer", and the computer says
38:13 "Good evening David". I say: "How are you doing"
38:16 "this evening computer?" And the computer says:
38:18 "I'm doing well." And I say: "Computer..."
38:20 "Yes David", "...I love you."
38:22 And then it says: "I love you too David."
38:25 Then it says: "I love you, I love you, I love you,"
38:28 "love you, love, love, love..." And when it's all done
38:31 I close the computer and I ask this question:
38:33 "Do I fell any better now that my computer loves me?"
38:37 Do I fell any better? No. You want to know why?
38:41 The computer doesn't have a choice not to love me.
38:45 I made the computer love me. If we don't have a choice
38:48 in this thing, then our love is non love.
38:52 Does that makes sense? So God creates this
38:56 beautiful angelic creature named "Lucifer", he dwells
39:01 in the very presence of God, he was perfect,
39:04 but he had been entrusted with a very dangerous thing
39:09 and that thing is the power to choose, and he did choose.
39:14 Go to Isaiah 14.
39:22 In Isaiah 14, that's just back through Jeremiah,
39:26 you get into Isaiah 14, we being to see with a little more
39:29 detail what was happening in the mind of that angel.
39:34 Isaiah 14, we're at the top of page 3 [in study guides].
39:40 The prophet Isaiah gives us a deeper look into what
39:43 is taking place in the mind, in the heart of this angel.
39:48 Isaiah 14:12, what's the first word of Isaiah 14:12?
39:53 "How". Somebody's going to say:
39:58 "Listen, how does a perfect being in a perfect environment,"
40:01 "made perfectly by a perfect God, commit a sin?"
40:05 Yes, that is difficult to explain, but you shouldn't be
40:08 so worried that you don't understand it, even the prophet
40:11 Isaiah wondered how it happened, notice what he says in verse 12:
40:15 "How are you fallen?" There's that word again.
40:19 Jesus had said: "I beheld Satan fall like lightning"
40:23 "from heaven." Here it is: "How are you fallen from heaven?"
40:27 That agrees perfectly with what Jesus said, "O Lucifer",
40:31 that means "light bearer". "Son of the morning,"
40:34 "how are you cut down to the ground, you who weaken"
40:37 "the nations." Verse 13, he begins to give us
40:40 an insight: "For you have said in your heart, I will"
40:43 "ascend into heaven, I will exult my throne above"
40:46 "the stars of God, I will sit also on the mount"
40:49 "of the congregation on the farther sides"
40:51 "of the north, I will ascend above the heights"
40:54 "of the clouds, I will be like the Most High."
40:57 Notice the emphasis is on "I". Satan had an "I" problem.
41:07 At the center of sin is "s. I. n."
41:14 The originator of sin is Satan, Lucifer, who began to think
41:18 about "I", at the center of pride is "p. r. I. d. e."
41:26 "I will be greater, I will be grand, I will be something."
41:31 He desired that which was not rightfully his.
41:35 Lucifer the light bearer, an exalted angel,
41:39 became Satan, the fallen foe, that is what the Bible teaches.
41:45 He had an "I" problem, he was created perfectly,
41:49 but he made a choice, and God being the gentlemen
41:54 that He is, honored that choice even at significant cost
41:58 and risk to Himself, and that is the God of the Bible,
42:01 the God of the Bible is a gentlemen.
42:05 He will not force His way into your heart,
42:08 He will not force His way into your life.
42:11 In fact, He says in Revelation 3:20:
42:13 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock", but then He says
42:16 "you aught to let me in", He doesn't say:
42:18 "Behold, I stand at the door with a SWAT team"
42:21 "and I'm going to bust the door down, and I'm going to come"
42:24 "in there and I'm going to make you love me, whether you"
42:27 "like it or not."
42:29 Love is the foundation of God's government, but love
42:34 must be allowed to say no. God did not create Satan,
42:39 that's going to be a huge surprise to many of you.
42:43 God did not create Satan, God create Lucifer,
42:50 and Lucifer by his own free will became Satan.
42:56 If you and I were walking down the street and we saw
42:58 a man who was in the gutter who was drunk,
43:01 we wouldn't say: "What kind of a woman would give birth"
43:03 "to that?"
43:06 Come on, that's not what his mother gave birth to,
43:09 his mother gave birth to a beautiful, bouncing, innocent
43:12 little boy, and sure, environment plays a role
43:15 in these things, we're not suggesting that it doesn't,
43:18 but ultimately at the end of the day, and the final
43:20 analyses, if someone becomes that it's because of their own
43:23 choices. We live in a day and age
43:27 in which there is basically no personal responsibility.
43:29 If I do something wrong it's my dad's fault,
43:31 if I do something wrong, it's my mum's fault.
43:33 Away with this nonsense, ultimately, you are the arbiter
43:37 of your own destiny, take responsibility for your actions,
43:41 take responsibility for your choices and stop blaming
43:43 the world. [Audience] Amen.
43:46 Satan made a choice, God did not create a satan, an enemy,
43:51 God created a Lucifer, 3 times He says: "You were perfect",
43:55 but part of that perfection was the opportunity, the ability,
43:59 the potential to say: "No", and he exercised that right,
44:02 and God honored him, as the gentlemen that He is,
44:04 and he made Satan, Lucifer himself did it.
44:13 What did Lucifer want? What did he want
44:17 when he began to take those precipitous steps?
44:22 He wanted a higher position. It says 3 things in
44:26 your study guide, it's really 4. He wanted 4 things:
44:30 Nr.1- a higher position, he says "I want to go up",
44:33 we'll talk more about that in a future lesson.
44:36 He wanted an exalted throne, that is he wanted
44:39 the government of God himself. He wanted rulership
44:42 and dominance, and Nr.4 has been purposefully put in bold
44:47 faced font, he wanted worship. What we're going to discover
44:52 this evening is that in the book of Revelation worship
44:55 is the issue.
45:01 Without further ado open your Bibles with me
45:05 to the New Testament book of 2 Thessalonians.
45:10 You'll find Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
45:13 Colossians, then you'll find Thessalonians,
45:16 look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
45:23 We move into the portion of this presentation that deals
45:27 with the Antichrist, and you're going to learn a great deal
45:31 right now about the Antichrist.
45:34 2 Thessalonians 2:3, Paul writing to the church
45:40 in Thessalonica says these words: "Let no one deceive you"
45:44 "by any means, for that day", in the context it's
45:48 the second coming, "for that day will not come"
45:51 "unless a falling away comes first, and the man of sin"
45:55 "is revealed, the son of perdition" - that is
45:57 the Antichrist, he's talking about the Antichrist
46:00 being revealed. He refers to him as the man of sin
46:03 and the son of perdition. Verse 4: "Who opposes"
46:06 "and exalts himself above all that is called God"
46:09 "or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple"
46:18 "of God, showing himself that he is God."
46:22 Notice on the 3rd page of your worksheet: According to the book
46:26 of Revelation, the dividing issue at the end of time
46:29 will be the issue of worship. Note the way the apostle
46:32 Paul describes the Antichrist power in 2 Thessalonians 2,
46:34 which we've just read, do you see any similarities
46:37 between the Antichrist's attitude and Satan's?
46:40 - [Audience replies] Yes. - Sure, both wanted to exalt
46:43 themselves against, or over, God.
46:46 Both long for that which is not rightfully theirs.
46:49 The Antichrist goes into the temple of God, not to show
46:52 that he is against God, but what does the Bible say?
46:56 To show that he IS God.
46:59 That's a subtle point that many people miss.
47:01 People say: "Oh, this Antichrist thing is going to be"
47:03 "a piece of cake, he's going to show up on the scene,"
47:06 " 'anti' means against, he's against Christ,"
47:08 "you'll be able to pick him, it'll be easy."
47:10 "It's like shooting a fish in barrel", hardly!
47:13 The Antichrist doesn't go into the temple of God
47:15 to show that he's against God, he goes into the temple of God
47:17 to show that he IS God. We'll spend more time on that
47:22 in just a moment. But notice: for the purpose
47:24 of what? He exalts himself above all
47:26 that is called God, that's the next line, or that is
47:32 worshipped. Worship is not a scientific word,
47:36 worship is a religious word, and worship at the end of time
47:41 will be the issue. With that in mind
47:43 go to Revelation 13, this is the Antichrist chapter
47:48 of Revelation, Revelation 13, we're going to read
47:52 the first 4 verses of Revelation 13.
47:58 You're going to see this strange, unusual, conglomerate
48:01 beast, don't get hung up on the details, we'll come back
48:05 to this, we'll spend plenty of time, but just very quickly
48:08 I want you to see something fascinating, and fundamental,
48:11 and illuminating about the Antichrist.
48:14 Revelation 13:1, John says: "And I stood on the sand"
48:19 "of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea"
48:23 "having 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his horns 10 crowns,"
48:28 "and on his heads a blasphemous name."
48:31 We're going to go through all of those identifiers,
48:33 don't worry about that, we're going to spend lots of time
48:36 in this chapter, hang in there. Verse 2: "The beast which I saw"
48:40 "was like a leopard, his feet were like the feat of a bear,"
48:44 "his mouth like the mouth of a lion", notice this,
48:47 "the dragon gave him his power, and his throne,"
48:51 "and his great authority." This is an artist's
48:54 representation of what this beast may have looked like
48:57 to John, notice the feet of a bear, the mouth of lion,
49:00 the body of a leopard, these 10 horns, and it says
49:02 the dragon gave him his power, his throne and his great
49:06 authority; you say: "Well who's the dragon?"
49:08 Look in Revelation 12:9, we could pass a hat around,
49:15 we could take a vote and decide who we think the dragon is,
49:18 no no, the Bible interprets itself.
49:23 Look in Revelation 12:9, there's no doubt about it:
49:26 "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old"
49:30 "called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world"
49:33 "he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out"
49:36 "with him." So according to the Bible's
49:38 own interpretation, who is the dragon?
49:41 Satan and the Devil.
49:47 Notice in Revelation 13:2 that the dragon, that is Satan,
49:51 gives this creature, this power, this person,
49:55 his power, his throne and his great authority.
49:59 Now you might be saying: "Who, I've never seen a beast"
50:02 "like that, surely we'll recognize the Antichrist"
50:05 "when he shows up, I mean he's going to look like that,"
50:07 "we'll know him." Beloved, the book of Revelation
50:09 is written is symbols.
50:12 You say: "Well what does that mean?"
50:14 We'll spend lots of time on what that means, in fact,
50:16 if you're really paying very carefully attention
50:19 I'll give you a little heads up here, the beasts on this
50:22 flier right here, the beasts on this backdrop,
50:24 are from Daniel 7: a winged lion, a bear raised up
50:27 on 1 side, a 4 headed leopard, and a beast with 10 horns,
50:30 that's Daniel 7. Now take a look over there,
50:32 feat of a bear, body of a leopard, mouth of a lion,
50:35 10 horns, do you see the parallels everyone?
50:37 We'll spend lots of time on that, now look at verse 4.
50:40 Notice the switcheroo.
50:42 That's a technical term, some of you may have never heard that
50:45 term before, it's a technical, it's a theological term,
50:48 I apologize for using such a fancy term. Verse 4, it says:
50:52 "So they worshipped" - there's our word, "they worshipped"
50:56 "the dragon." Who's the dragon?
50:59 - [Audience replies] Satan. - Notice what that verse
51:02 is saying: "they worshipped the devil."
51:04 Is that what that verse is saying, yes or no?
51:06 - [Audience replies] Yes. - It's exactly what that verse
51:09 is saying, but what? I mean, come on, give me
51:12 a break; if the Devil walked in here tonight as the Devil
51:14 with a great big sign around his neck, a placard that said
51:17 "I'm the Devil", and he stood up in front and he said:
51:20 "Fellas, ladies, worship me." Would you worship him?
51:22 - [Audience replies] No. - No way, do you think
51:25 the Devil knows that? Of course he does,
51:27 the Bible says he's subtle, he's clever, he's like a thief,
51:30 he's foxy, he knows that. If the Devil came in
51:33 and announced himself as the Devil and said: "worship me",
51:35 no one's going to go for it, the Devil knows that,
51:38 but he still longs and desires for worship, and praise,
51:41 and honor.
51:47 So he has to get a front man, but watch what happens:
51:52 he gets his front man, say here, he gets his front man
51:57 and he gives his front man, willingly, his power,
52:00 his throne, his great authority so that when you
52:03 worship the front man, who are you really worshipping?
52:07 The one who set him up. Look at verse 4 again,
52:10 look at the switcheroo in verse 4.
52:13 "So they worshipped the dragon, who gave authority to the beast"
52:17 "and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast?"
52:21 "Who is able to make war with him?"
52:24 Look at your study guide.
52:27 Page 3, down there at the end: Revelation 13 is the Antichrist
52:32 chapter, according to verse 2 who gives the Antichrist
52:38 his power, his throne and his great authority?
52:40 Who is it everyone? The dragon.
52:42 Who is the dragon according to Revelation 12:9?
52:45 Satan. Note carefully the switcheroo
52:48 in verse 4, when the beast is worshipped, who else
52:50 is worshipped? [Audience] Satan.
52:52 You've got it, and here Satan gets the longing desire
52:54 of his heart, worship. How does he get worship?
52:58 By setting up this Antichrist front man who goes into
53:03 the temple of God to show himself that he IS God.
53:06 Beloved, think that through for a moment: the longing
53:09 desire of Satan's heart is to receive worship,
53:12 but he's smart enough to know that nobody
53:14 would worship him if they knew who he was, so he gets
53:17 a front man, a religious figure, he sets him up with his power,
53:20 his seat, his great authority, but when you worship
53:23 the front man you're really worshipping the one
53:25 that propped him up.
53:29 You can take a look on the back page of your study guide,
53:32 it says: surveying worship in Revelation 13 and 14,
53:35 what do the following verses have in common?
53:37 You look at Revelation 13 and 14, everyone of those verses
53:41 contain the word "worship".
53:47 That is the central issue. Some people think:
53:50 "It's going to be a political issues", surely there will be
53:52 political elements involved, but the primary issue on
53:55 the great landscape of the Antichrist and his conflict
53:58 with God's church is not politics, it's worship.
54:03 In fact, you find very little about politics in the book
54:07 of Revelation, but you find a whole lot about worship.
54:09 I'm going to prove this to you, and this is absolutely
54:12 incredible. The pivotal issue at the end
54:15 of time in the end of time in the book of Revelation
54:19 is the issue of worship. Go with me to the last part
54:24 of your study guide: Unquestionably, the most
54:28 audacious thing Satan ever did is found in Matthew 4,
54:31 you know Matthew 4, it's the story of the temptation
54:35 in the wilderness. Jesus had been fasting in the wilderness,
54:39 Satan came to tempt Him, he urged Jesus to make stones
54:42 into bread, Jesus refused with the plain:
54:45 "It is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by"
54:48 "every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
54:51 Satan then urged Jesus to cast Himself from the pinnacle
54:53 of the temple, again Jesus refused: "It is written"
54:56 " 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord Thy God.' "
54:59 And then the final one the Bible says that he showed Him
55:01 all the kingdoms of the world, and all their glory,
55:04 that's verse 8, and he said: "All these things"
55:07 "I will give you if you just fall down and worship me."
55:12 Jesus responded with utter indignation: "Away with you"
55:16 "Satan, for it is written 'You shall worship the Lord' "
55:19 " 'your God and Him only shalt thou serve' ", this is
55:23 where Satan's rabid and ridiculous idea reached
55:26 its pathetic height. He had that audacity to ask
55:30 Jesus, the Creator and the Redeemer, to worship him.
55:34 Think of it, at that very moment Jesus the creator
55:37 held Satan's existence in His very hand, it would be
55:40 like you walking into your house today, and your little
55:42 goldfish in your goldfish bowl says: "Worship me!"
55:46 And you say: "Worship you? I'm going to eat you."
55:49 [Audience laughs]
55:51 The height of insanity, the height of intoxication
55:56 and inebriation. Satan had the audacity
56:01 to ask his own creator, to ask the Redeemer of the world
56:05 to worship him, this is case in point that the central
56:08 issue pulsating in the perverted heart of Satan
56:12 is to receive worship.
56:17 So what is the Bible prophecy's answer for human suffering?
56:20 It's very simple, God did not create Satan,
56:24 God created a being named Lucifer, Lucifer made
56:27 his own choice and created Satan.
56:29 Jesus said 5 words "An enemy has done this",
56:32 and then He said 4 words: "whom Satan has bound",
56:35 the Devil is responsible, but what does he want?
56:38 He wants worship, how's he going to get it?
56:40 Through the Antichrist.
56:43 I want to ask you a question as we close, has this all
56:46 - made sense, yes or no? - [Audience] Yes.
56:49 Okay, this is just the first message, remember I told you,
56:52 3 of these next 3 messages all fit together like a whole.
56:55 We won't be here tomorrow night, but we'll be back
56:58 on Thursday and that presentation is entitled:
57:01 "The War Behind the Wars", and we're going to go
57:03 right into Revelation 12, and you're going to understand
57:06 Revelation 12 like perhaps you never have before.
57:09 Before we close I want to ask you a question:
57:12 who will you worship, who will you serve?
57:15 Raise your hand if you say "I want to serve Jesus,"
57:17 "forget about this Antichrist stuff, I want to serve the Lord"
57:20 Let us pray together, Father in heaven, tonight
57:23 we have seen in Your word, not just from the words of a man,
57:26 the ideas of a man, no, from Your word we have seen
57:28 that You are not responsible for the pain, suffering,
57:31 sickness, death and disease in the world today,
57:33 we've also seen that the core issue in the book of Revelation
57:36 is the issue of worship, and that the longing desire
57:39 of Satan's perverted and intoxicated heart
57:41 is to receive worship. But Father, today we say
57:45 with Joshua: "As for me and my house, I will serve"
57:48 "the Lord", in Jesus' name let all of the saints of God
57:51 say amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17