Participants: Pr. John Lomacang (Host), Pr. John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL080023
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00:01 Hello friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's word 00:04 together on this edition of House Calls. 00:22 Hello friends, welcome to another beautiful 00:24 day in God's word. Anytime you open the 00:26 book the weather is fine, and we're going to enjoy 00:30 ourselves as we continue our journey through the 00:33 book of Revelation, through the Great 00:35 Controversy, through the pages of scripture that 00:38 always have a message for us today. 00:40 So thank you for tuning in. You may want to hit the 00:42 record button right now because you don't want to 00:44 ever miss a House Calls program and say I wish 00:47 I got it. I am not by myself though you know 00:50 I know that, I have my good friend John Stanton 00:52 with me. Good to have you here John. 00:53 It's good to be here John with you again. 00:56 I like that shirt. Yeah, I like your shirt too 00:58 you know we're blue, I guess you got the memo. 01:01 Good to have you here. You know we're going to 01:03 continue on this great topic of the Great 01:06 Controversy, and we know that you've chosen 01:09 to tune in because you just couldn't wait till this 01:11 program came along since we laid so much 01:13 foundation on the last one, but you know what 01:16 before we do anything we always have prayer. 01:17 So John, would you pray for us. Let's do that. 01:19 Our Father in Heaven, once again its time for 01:21 a program where we open up your word and seek to 01:24 understand more deeply your plan for us and how 01:28 you're trying to redeem and save this world. 01:31 Lord, we just pray that as we talk about this Great 01:33 Controversy that many out there don't understand 01:36 the battle that truly is taking place behind the 01:38 scenes, and we just pray for you to send your spirit 01:42 to give us the words to share and give those who 01:45 are viewing, who are watching, who are 01:47 listening the ability to understand and to 01:50 read along with us, so that we can more identify 01:53 what the enemy is doing and how you are seeking 01:56 to work in us to oppose him and to get this last 01:59 message out to the world. Thank you Lord for what 02:01 you're going to do here in Jesus name 02:03 we pray, amen, amen. As you know we have 02:08 Bible questions, we always enjoy Bible questions, 02:11 and so if you have any of those questions 02:12 you'd like to send to us, send those Bible 02:14 questions to housecalls@3abn.org. 02:17 That's housecalls@3abn.org. 02:20 and we will try our best to go to that website, 02:24 type in send and receive and we'll download your 02:28 questions, but if there are those of you who still like 02:31 the method called snail mail, you can send those 02:34 too, we would read it. But try your best to not 02:37 write in hieroglyphics. John, I have some people 02:41 that have beautiful handwriting, 02:43 but I have to send it to Egypt to get it decoded. 02:46 Try to write it so that we could read it, 02:48 we appreciate it very much. 02:49 What do you have for us John? 02:50 What's our first question for today? 02:52 Well I've got a question from Brian, and he's from 02:56 New Hampshire, sounds so terrific, well he writes 03:00 in a good question here. He says God's promises 03:03 are often conditional, the nation of Israel is a 03:06 good example, and with that being said, here's my 03:09 question, isn't Christ promised to return to get 03:12 us conditional and that he told us all about the signs 03:16 of the nearness of this coming, but said in 03:18 Matthew 24:14 that this gospel of the kingdom 03:21 shall be preached in the whole world for a witness 03:23 unto all the nations, and then the end would come. 03:26 Isn't Christ waiting for this generation to get the 03:29 gospel to the whole world because he wants to 03:31 come, but cannot until we do the 03:34 work entrusted to us. Won't God bury this 03:37 generation and raise up another and so on until 03:42 his people do what he commanded. 03:44 Now that our SDA church counts by people 03:47 groups instead of countries where we're 03:50 about half way to completing the great 03:53 commission, that's not too encouraging, even if this 03:57 does not make into your show please reply it 04:00 by e-mail, okay. Thank you very much Brian for 04:02 your question. You know the first thing I want to 04:06 say about the encouraging part, I was encouraged 04:09 recently because the reviews send out in their 04:15 news a little blurb on how that last year the 04:21 Adventist Church grew by one million, amen. 04:25 And how compared to fairly recently but years 04:29 ago how we have gained per capita Adventists to 04:35 world population. So we are making headway 04:40 if you're looking at the numbers, okay that's 04:42 just pure numbers, okay statistician. 04:45 So you know from that perspective I am 04:47 encouraged, but let me say this I think Adventist 04:50 to a degree, we often get so caught up in last day 04:56 events, and how they're going to unfold that 04:59 we forget maybe or we miss maybe how God is going 05:03 to work truly. I'm not talking about the people 05:07 who play a part in the end of time. 05:09 I think we have the parties in those identified, 05:12 and we have been blessed to have those identified to 05:14 us very clearly through prophecy. 05:17 But I do believe that to a degree sometimes we 05:19 lock down in our minds exactly the scenario and 05:23 we try to fit it into that scenario on our minds, 05:27 those are things that we know. 05:29 That being said here's what I am pointing at. 05:33 We most of the times as I've asked congregations, 05:38 what the next significant in prophetic history is. 05:40 The answer has come through National Sunday Law, 05:44 we seem to be locked in to this when is the 05:47 Sunday Law coming, when is the Sunday Law 05:48 coming thing, and you know we talked about this 05:50 before, right. And so we're looking for, okay, 05:54 what political party needs to be in place, you know 05:57 if this person gets elected how this might happen. 05:59 We lived the Christian life for a long time which 06:01 has really lost a lot of its power, lets admit it, okay. 06:05 The Christian right has lost a lot of its power 06:07 to a great degree. So we used to identify them as 06:09 bringing the Sunday Law in. we talk about these 06:12 secret meetings in secret rooms about Sabbath, 06:15 and the blue laws coming about again, you know 06:17 we've talked about that over and over again. 06:19 But I think we've missed to a great degree some 06:22 key things in scripture, okay. And one of those 06:25 things and the part I am talking about that we've 06:28 missed, okay, is really summarized in Romans 06:32 9:28, alright. Romans 9:28 says this, 06:42 for he will finish the work, speaking of God, 06:46 speaking of Jesus Christ. He will finish the work 06:49 and cut it short in righteousness because 06:52 the Lord will make a short work upon the 06:55 earth, okay. Now that was a little contrary to our 06:58 question here, the scenario that one he 07:00 continue it to allow to pass away, and continue 07:02 on and on until some generation steps up to 07:04 finish the work, right. God will finish the work. 07:08 Now what example do we have of that, I mean you 07:10 know in my mind the problem with you and 07:14 I John together as while I am talking you're rolling, 07:17 when you're talking I am rolling right. 07:18 We're like two marbles in the gumball machine. 07:22 In my mind I am thinking of the children of Israel. 07:25 I am thinking of the nation that he entrusted 07:27 the message to for thousands of years, 07:30 and they had a lot to do, and he didn't wait for 07:32 them, they decided to forfeit it, and so he raised 07:36 up the disciples, yeah. And you'll find that the 07:39 God has always had a people, but what the 07:41 confidence is now he said to us the capping 07:44 off of this thing is not going to be left to any 07:47 other man, any more than as Daniel 2:44 says 07:50 that the kingdom that's going to be established 07:52 is not going to be established 07:53 by other men, right. God is going to finish 07:55 the work in Romans 9:28, that's right. 07:57 God is going to finish work, he will finish the 08:00 work and cut it short in righteousness, so we see 08:03 clearly the example of fact that God is not 08:05 waiting for man is when he said in Matthew, 08:09 if the rocks and the mountains have to cry 08:12 out, it's going to get done, that's right. 08:14 So, so there is no, God is not waiting for us. 08:18 Can you imagine the Lord saying, how much longer 08:21 is going to take you guys, I really like to come back, 08:25 it's been like three hundred years overdue. 08:28 God is not doing that, because the Bible says, 08:30 we don't know the day nor the hour. 08:32 The angels of heaven don't know it, but the 08:33 Father knows it. So he's got that date 08:37 where he is going to return and the events Isaiah 49. 08:42 I believe its Isaiah 49:12 if I'm not correct 08:45 I will go and look it up. He says I'm the Lord 08:48 God, declaring the end from the beginning and 08:52 from ancient times things that are not yet done 08:55 saying I will do all of my will or I'll accomplish 08:59 all of my will, so God is in control of this thing. 09:02 Yes, yes. And what he, he is indicating here 09:05 and we read it in the words of Christ, in his, 09:08 in Matthew 24, Luke 21, where what happens is 09:14 the judgments that come upon the earth at the end 09:16 of time are not intended to punish us as much as 09:20 they are intended to wake up the saints. 09:24 And so what I find in my reading of prophecy is 09:29 that the Sunday Law comes after the 09:32 judgments of God begin to be poured out upon 09:33 this earth and the saints had been awaken or 09:37 at least by those judgments are called to work. 09:41 And what we also find even, even in inspiration 09:47 that system why it even alludes to, how Satan 09:49 himself is here calling for the Sunday Law to make 09:52 it happen, right. So knowing those things 09:55 what the real next significant event we 09:58 should be looking for is calamity. That's right. 10:01 And that can happen tomorrow, so the time of 10:04 trouble, the early time of trouble could be ushered 10:06 in today, tomorrow. That is the next big 10:10 event and you can't time that. You can't say well 10:13 the Sunday Law is not here, so I have a little 10:15 more time to kind of get right with the Lord. 10:17 You know what, now is the day, today is the time 10:20 to get ready for the Lord, because this calamity 10:22 when it comes and I know you already 10:24 mentioned this before and what we're 10:25 talking about how, what we fail to do now in times 10:30 of peace, relative peace we'll be forced to do 10:35 in times of incredible stress and severe system, 10:36 severe calamity. So what I see is that no matter 10:44 what the condition of God's people are, 10:46 when that calamity hits, his remnant will 10:48 be called forth to action. They will engage, they 10:52 will become involved in the work more seriously 10:54 than they have been today, that we see today 10:57 and that work will be finished in quick 10:59 succession because who's in charge? 11:01 God's in charge. God's in charge. 11:02 He will use his armories; he will use his 11:06 warehouses of things to come upon the earth to 11:08 wake his people up. They will wake up and this 11:11 work will finish and you'll find in that period 11:13 of time, the Sunday Law comes about. 11:15 But it's in response to what do we do about 11:18 these things coming upon the earth. 11:20 It won't be some secret thing that happens 11:22 in a backroom that all of a sudden we wake up 11:24 and we say whoa, wow the Sunday Law was 11:25 passed yesterday, get ready, right. 11:29 We need to get out of that mind set and get into the 11:32 mind set that, you know what the end of time 11:34 could come tomorrow. As far as the day of the 11:37 Lord, the beginning of the end, and we could be 11:40 facing severe calamity of which would bring us 11:43 closer and closer to finally Christ's ultimate return. 11:46 And, and as you look at the, as you look at 11:48 the train of unfolding events. 11:49 You see that the Sunday Law has been talked 11:50 about quite often, quite a bit, referendums and 11:55 people saying well its important for the family. 11:58 The groundwork is being laid. 11:59 The groundwork is being laid, the Sunday 12:00 movement as Ellen White says is making 12:02 its way in darkness. That's right. 12:04 The leaders are concealing the true issues 12:07 from the people, and they themselves do not know 12:09 where the undercurrent is tending. That's right. 12:12 So, so you could jump in the river with this 12:14 movement, but as the undercurrent's gonna 12:16 carry it in the completely different direction. 12:17 It's gonna turn you up side down and then they 12:20 would say those who have been standing 12:22 behind this, you have a lot of stores that wanna 12:25 stay closed on Sunday. You have some states 12:27 that wanna pass laws to prevent shopping on Sunday. 12:30 I did a sermon not too long ago on this called 12:32 Sunday Mask. That shows that we're 12:37 in the midst of a strong push, the people of the 12:40 world, some of them have even gone so far 12:43 calling Sabbath Sunday or calling Sunday Sabbath. 12:48 They're just determined that the world is in the 12:50 condition its in because they're violating Sunday. 12:53 So you could see that there will be little spurts 12:55 here and there, but the one that's gonna come 12:57 and tie it all together as you just so wonderfully 12:58 put John is when Satan shows upon the scene 13:01 in the midst of calamity. He's going to say well 13:03 the answer is, if we honor this new day of worship 13:06 all these calamities will seize and those calamities 13:09 according to First Thessalonians 5, 13:11 listen to this. If you have Bibles turn to 13:13 First Thessalonians chapter 5, Jesus says, 13:16 but concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, 13:19 you have no need that I should write to you. 13:22 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day 13:24 of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 13:28 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" 13:31 then sudden destruction comes upon them, 13:33 as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, 13:36 and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, 13:39 are not in darkness, so that this day should 13:42 overtake you as a thief. So we're not in darkness. 13:47 We see what's happening, we see what's coming. 13:49 The Lord is saying let the others know 13:51 that this is coming. That's the responsibility 13:54 we have, but I like the whole question is whose 13:56 gonna finish the work John? 13:57 Whose's gonna finish the work? 13:58 The Lord's gonna finish the work. 13:59 Yes, you know and there is no doubt. 14:00 I understand Brian who sent this question in. 14:04 There is a lack of workers, or labors in the 14:08 harvest field. That's right. You know and we aren't 14:10 doing what we need to be doing, but God is going 14:13 to not wait for us to get our act together. 14:15 He's going to bring about events that put us into 14:20 action, that causes us to have to respond and to 14:23 move, rather than just sit back and 14:25 wait for us to get our act together. 14:28 My mother used to say if I put some fire under you, 14:31 you'd move. And I think that the Lord is going to 14:33 do that in a number of ways. He's going to 14:35 allow the events of the earth to light up the hearts 14:39 and wake up the sleeping saints. 14:42 Yeah, I believe that's coming. 14:43 Thanks for that John. It's a very good question. 14:46 This one is from Shelbyville, 14:52 Kentucky and from the Beach family, 14:58 kind of amazing from Kentucky and the only 15:03 beach they have there is a river that's running 15:05 through it, don't have any ocean. See an ocean 15:08 is a real beach, but the question is very 15:10 pertinent and I wanna answer it delicately 15:12 because it says I'm sure you wouldn't remember 15:17 me and so it seems we met in 2003, that person 15:21 was a volunteer. Okay yeah and we had studies 15:25 at Dee's house I remember that day 15:27 a lot of people were there. 15:29 The question is, children that died 15:33 before the age of accountability will 15:35 they be in heaven? I'm thinking about my 15:39 grand babies who are not yet two years old 15:44 and whose parents my sons and daughters have 15:46 not given their hearts to God. You know what's 15:49 so tough about a question like this John 15:51 and the person who wrote the question if 15:53 you listen to the program let me, 15:55 let me profess it by saying this. 15:58 My answer wouldn't determine whether 16:00 they're saved or whether they're lost, 16:02 because of one major factor I'm not the judge. 16:06 God is the judge. Whether or not 16:10 you talked about children that maybe, 16:12 that may die before the age of accountability. 16:15 My understanding of it is that the salvation 16:18 of the parents will be the determining factor; 16:23 you know the righteousness of the 16:24 mother, the righteousness of the father. 16:28 The word of hope that I, I've read in this letter 16:32 is you says, you say that your son and daughter 16:35 have not yet given their lives or their hearts to 16:39 God. One of the things that you may, you may 16:41 have done this before, but I don't know if you 16:44 say your son and your daughter, 16:47 you know if you give your heart to the Lord 16:48 you'll see your children again. 16:50 You love your children and you should give 16:52 your heart to the Lord. On the other side of 16:55 that, I don't have any scriptural evidence 16:57 anywhere to suggest otherwise, but I do 17:00 know that the other suggested possibility 17:05 would be, it would be as though these children 17:09 had not been which means they're not going 17:11 to suffer the fires of destruction because 17:14 they didn't give their hearts to the Lord, 17:16 but it's such a gray area in the topics. 17:19 Let me, let me strengthen you up by 17:20 saying this, the Lord has made provision for 17:24 salvation, the Lord has made 17:26 provision for salvation. We're praying that we 17:29 follow the conditions for salvation and 17:31 so I honestly this is one of those John, 17:33 there's no scriptural answers to this, 17:36 to give you a particular affirmative, 17:38 yes they're going to be saved no matter what 17:41 because salvation is not something that is a no 17:42 matter what situation, and so we must be born again. 17:46 How does someone who is not born be saved and then 17:49 Jesus said well his righteousness will be 17:52 imputed and imparted to them. 17:55 When you don't know whether or not there 17:57 is a Lord and whether or not you're going to 17:59 saved. It's a very hard question to answer, 18:02 but I would say this, when we get to the 18:05 kingdom, we're not going to be in heaven 18:07 say, you know it would have been so much 18:10 better here. If so and so was here or if 18:13 so and so was here. I think that the Lord 18:15 in his mercy is going to make sure that 18:16 everyone who can be saved, everyone who 18:18 can be saved will be saved. He's trying to get 18:21 people in not keep them out. 18:22 Not willing that any should perish. 18:23 That's right, good, good answer. 18:27 You know this question is kind of an 18:29 encouraging one, at the same time it's a 18:31 question that we've received fairly often 18:34 quite a few questions like this come in. 18:37 And it says it's from Albert, and he is from 18:40 Papua New Guinea, oh. And it says that he 18:45 praises the Lord that 3ABN is now in his 18:48 country, okay. And he loves all the programs. 18:52 He's a member of the Pentecostal Church, 18:55 but he says he's not ashamed to say that 19:00 to the viewers worldwide that SDA 19:01 preachers teach and preach truth nothing 19:04 but truth. Praise the Lord. Without fear or 19:06 favor and they're not motivated by prior 19:09 circumstances or whatever, amen. 19:10 They are humble and willing to pay the price 19:12 for proclaiming the truth, so he is, he is 19:15 impressed. He's convicted that what 19:17 he's hearing is truth and praise the Lord, 19:18 so we thank you Albert for sharing that, 19:20 that's encouraging. But he has a question here 19:23 too and he says, he, that is the devil became 19:29 what he is because he decided to wage war in 19:31 heaven against God and his angels as a result of 19:33 his pride. Lucifer was with God in heaven 19:36 commanding the angels and there was no sin or 19:39 evil in heaven. Who tricked Lucifer into 19:42 believing that we would be like God? 19:46 If the answer is his own pride then where did 19:50 this pride come from, if there was no evil in 19:55 heaven in the first place? And so there is a verse, 19:58 a scripture that I like to kind of start off with 20:00 here and John maybe you're going to the 20:01 same one. We often think alike, okay. 20:04 Ezekiel 28:15, Ezekiel 28:15 gets us a little bit 20:09 into the mind and the heart of Lucifer when 20:14 he had cherished pride and inequity in it. 20:18 And so I'm turning here to Ezekiel 28. 20:22 That's right, right before Daniel. In verse 15, 20:25 lets see. Let's start off a little earlier here. 20:28 I'll start with verse 11, "Take up a lamentation 20:32 upon the King of Tyre, and say to him, 20:35 Thus saith the Lord God; You were the seal 20:37 of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in 20:40 beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of 20:43 God; every precious stone was your 20:45 covering, the sardius, topaz, and diamond, 20:48 beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, 20:51 and emerald with gold: the workmanship of 20:52 your tabrets and pipes was prepared for you on 20:56 the day that you created. He was born to leave 20:58 the choir. Oh I like that one. 21:00 And he was an credible singer. Verse 14, 21:04 "You were the anointed cherub who covers; 21:07 in other words he was first in line of the angels. 21:11 I established you, God put him there. 21:14 you were on the holy mountain of God, 21:15 you walked back and forth in the midst 21:17 of the fiery stones. You were perfect in your 21:19 ways from the day you were created until 21:23 iniquity was found in you. That's right. 21:27 There was no iniquity outside of Satan himself. 21:31 No iniquity outside of him, iniquity was found 21:34 in Satan himself who looked in the mirror and 21:38 said and began to really think of himself as 21:41 being beautiful in and of himself and pride 21:43 took route. And that pride that took route, 21:47 he began to think about it. In fact if you wanna 21:50 know what sin does, I have said this several 21:52 times and maybe it's a little confusing to some 21:54 who I've said this to but I will say it again. 21:58 I don't think that Satan even understood what 22:00 sin did when it hit him. He hardly knew what 22:04 hit him when it hit him, but when sin has a way 22:09 of just destroying everything it comes in 22:13 contact with, right. Sin is an animal in itself. 22:16 I'm not saying it's a thinking thing it's just, 22:19 diabolical in nature, horrible, diabolical. 22:22 So when it took him over, when it got a hold 22:25 of him, he hardly knew what hit him and it just 22:29 he got worse and worse and worse until he, 22:33 the initiator of sin, the birth of sin, until he 22:39 became something he could probably hardly 22:41 conceive of when it started, before it started. 22:43 But let me read me a verse here, that I think 22:46 gives us a little bit of what sin does and what 22:49 sin did to Satan to say that when iniquity was 22:52 found in him what had happened as he looked 22:55 upon his own beauty, okay. James 1, verse 13, 23:00 alright, good passage. Let no one say when 23:03 he's tempted, I am tempted by God. 23:06 This applies to Satan too, right. God didn't 23:08 tempt Satan, God didn't moved Satan to sin, 23:11 God didn't create any I didn't hang any 23:13 evil within Satan himself. carrot in front of him. 23:15 He was perfect. For God cannot be tempted 23:18 by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone, 23:20 and you're right he didn't hold any carrot 23:21 in front of Satan to say hey take this 'cause we 23:23 got to get this over with, okay. 23:26 Verse 14, but each one is tempted when he is 23:30 drawn away by his own desires, and enticed. 23:36 Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth 23:39 to sin and sin when it's full grown bring forth 23:42 death, perfect. Satan himself began to 23:47 conceive sin by his own desires and his 23:49 imagination and he enticed himself right into it. 23:52 Right, his own desires. His own desires, and 23:55 then when his desires conceived it says it 23:57 gave birth to sin. There it was and he couldn't 24:01 turn the course. That is the easiest explanation 24:05 we can give you for what happened to Satan 24:08 from the very beginning. And I believe he had an 24:12 opportunity to turn back, God wouldn't say 24:14 oh you stepped out of line, you're out of here. 24:16 He had an opportunity to turn back but when 24:18 he went point, when he went beyond the point 24:20 yes, of reconciliation is when the war, 24:23 we're gonna talk about that war again in the 24:25 Great Controversy. If you saw the last 24:27 program, you know what I'm talking about, 24:29 when you go past the point of reconciliation, 24:32 when you go past the point of redemption, 24:35 even in the book of Hebrews it says for 24:37 those who continue to sin, there no longer 24:39 remains a sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful 24:41 looking for of the judgment to come. 24:43 So for those who are just past the point 24:46 of even the appeal of God. It becomes a practice. 24:50 Yes, and that's why it says iniquity was found in him. 24:54 There we go. It was cherished. 24:56 This is what I want, I'm gonna hold on to this 24:57 and God there is nothing you can do, 25:00 and that's exactly what the case was. 25:02 When we get to the point where we are 25:03 beyond God's appeal. Well God is not going 25:06 to say okay I have one more choice. 25:08 He doesn't through a rope out and drag our 25:10 sin against our will and truly there are some 25:13 people that won't be in heaven merely because 25:15 of the fact that it will be hell for them if God 25:17 saved them against their desire. 25:20 So this iniquity was found in him. 25:21 It was his own desire that led to his own 25:24 downfall. I do not believe that God just 25:26 stood by and let it happen either. 25:27 No, he didn't. I think that as he began to 25:29 cherish these thoughts as it says and became, 25:32 they became a desire of his before he got to the 25:34 point of fully having iniquity, giving birth to 25:37 iniquity in himself. But God met with him and 25:41 said Satan this is what's, I mean 25:43 Lucifer at the time. This is what's 25:45 happening in you. The feelings you are 25:47 starting to experience they're not healthy. 25:49 They are gonna take you down the wrong 25:50 road, if you go far with this, if you keep going 25:52 with this, you're gonna go past the point of 25:55 return to where there is no way I can redeem you. 25:58 And so Satan began as he cherished these thoughts. 26:02 He saw both options, he saw both sides and 26:05 when he finally made that decision, 26:07 his final decision, he made it on the side of 26:10 sin, and there was no turning back. 26:13 But I believe the Lord, John, was very 26:15 pro-active in trying to get him to go 26:19 from those desires to acting on those desires 26:23 and making them his decision. 26:25 Yeah, as you were talking John, 26:26 I looked up a text here Ecclesiastes 7 in verse 26:29 17 and it says do not, this is I like the 26:34 way it reads it. Do not be overly 26:37 wicked, nor be foolish: Why should you die 26:41 before your time? So the Lord is saying 26:43 there is a point of beyond which the 26:46 mercy of God ceases to chase you. 26:49 Why die before your time? And years ago, 26:55 I won't mention his name, but there is a guy 26:56 that wrote a song called only the good 26:58 die young, I don't agree, when you're good, 27:01 the Bible says goodness and mercy shall follow 27:03 you all the days of your life. 27:05 You'll dwell in the house of the Lord 27:06 forever and the Bible promises that we will 27:08 have long life as a blessing, so that idea 27:11 that only the good die young is kind of 27:12 ridiculous idea, it was a concept brought up by 27:15 very famous musician, but Satan passed the 27:18 point of no return thus God said I can no 27:22 longer do anything for you. I will not save you 27:24 against your will. As you were saying 27:27 you know when you're talking, another text 27:29 pops up, so we got to keep going with this, 27:31 but First John chapter 5, okay. Beginning with 27:35 verse 16 it says, if anyone sees his brother 27:37 sinning a sin which does not lead to death. 27:40 He will ask, and he will give him life for those 27:42 who commit sin not leading to death. 27:44 There is sin leading to death, and I do not say 27:47 that he should pray about that. 27:49 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin 27:52 leading or not leading to death. That's right. 27:55 In other words, there is sin that can occur in 27:58 your heart that takes you beyond a point 28:00 which there is no return. Leading to death. 28:03 That leads to death and you can't even raise 28:06 someone out of that. They're gone, they've 28:08 gone beyond that. Because it's their choice. 28:10 They did unpardonable sin, their choice they 28:12 know it, they know all the evidence, 28:14 they've got all the facts and they have clearly 28:16 made a decision that they do not want God, 28:19 they want this, wow. And that you cannot 28:22 turn someone back, that's the unpardonable 28:23 sin when the Holy Spirit can't even 28:25 impress upon somebody to turn. 28:28 They're even so aware of their sin that they 28:30 know the Holy Spirit is working on them 28:31 and they tell the Holy Spirit go away, right. 28:34 I'm not interested, oh boy. And that's the part 28:38 that I believe the Pharisees got to, 28:41 because see the Pharisees they said 28:44 we're lovers of evil. When God, when Jesus 28:48 spoke of them, he said you are, you're like 28:51 your father the devil. You love evil and 28:56 you've even invented and think about it, 28:58 and that's what was in their heart. 29:00 Of course it looked like they were all clean on 29:01 the outside, but you see there are several things 29:03 in the Bible that tell us that you can't go back 29:06 past the point of no return. 29:08 But I will say to someone who thinks 29:10 that they've committed the unpardonable sin, 29:12 if they're worried about having done that. 29:14 I always say well don't worry about that, 29:16 because if you're worried about it, 29:17 you haven't gone there, because you want 29:20 righteousness. You want God to restore 29:23 you and to put righteousness back 29:24 within your heart, right. It's only those who say, 29:27 you know that righteousness stuff, 29:28 don't want it. I rather be you know, 29:32 I rather choose sin and they knowingly do that 29:34 and Satan had gotten to that point, so anyway. 29:36 That's a good question. Several different 29:38 aspects of what sin will do to you, but clearly 29:41 had done to Satan from the beginning. 29:42 Bottom-line God didn't do it, Satan chose it. 29:45 That's right. I think we need to end there 29:46 because, yeah, we have some topics to cover 29:48 here, but friends once again thank you 29:50 for you questions. As you see we try our 29:52 best to come from all different angles, 29:54 but if you have an angle that we haven't covered 29:56 or a question that we, you like an answer to, 29:59 send that question to housecall@3abn.org. 30:02 That's housecall@3abn.org 30:04 and John and John will hopefully do their 30:07 best to answer your questions. 30:09 John, we really had, we do our best to 30:10 hopefully be able to answer those questions. 30:12 We get a lot of them. Yeah that's what 30:14 I meant. Is that what you said, whatever he 30:17 said I agree. We got, we have a lot of questions 30:19 and we try our best. We don't always get to 30:21 all of them, but thank you for sending them in. 30:24 They, our viewers, our listeners are a big 30:26 part of the program. We couldn't do this with them. 30:28 And you know we love to preach, but this is not 30:30 a preach program, sometimes we get 30:32 excited and get all fired up and our fireworks 30:33 start going off, but this is not a preach program, 30:36 because we want you to stay on top and see 30:37 what the word of God says which is our segue 30:40 into our topic that we started on our last 30:42 program, the Great Controversy. 30:45 I wanna go back to Revelation 12 and if 30:46 you have your Bibles go there with us, 30:48 Revelation chapter 12, it's funny how the 30:52 woman in Revelation, the dragon in 30:55 Revelation has 12, what's the number 31:00 there, yeah the woman had 12 stars on her 31:02 crown, and its in Revelation chapter 12, 31:06 I'm just trying to find out. Well we looked at 31:07 the various aspects of this, the Red Dragon 31:10 being introduced, how the Jesus was born to 31:13 the woman and how he attacked and persecuted 31:17 to try and kill this child, to kill Jesus and how 31:21 war broke out in heaven, in fact we even 31:22 talked about Genesis. How war broke out in heaven. 31:25 He was cast to the earth that serpent, yes. 31:28 And how the serpent we find in Genesis trying 31:30 to, it deceiving Eve and of course Adam and 31:33 Eve falling into sin and I think the last thing we 31:36 talked about was Satan claimed from that point 31:40 on, Satan claimed the earth was his. 31:42 Oh okay right. He claimed the earth 31:44 was his, but God said not so fast, not so quick. 31:49 And I know that you, you think that you've 31:51 got everything in your side here now that say 31:53 Adam and Eve have fallen, but I'm not done. 31:56 And so the springboard text, I think we got to 31:58 give today. There's a couple of, we're gonna 32:00 go to Job chapter 1. Right but let's finish the 32:02 Genesis story. Because there's this promise 32:04 there, alright. Let's look at the promise. 32:06 Look at the screen board text. 32:09 After the fall here of Adam and Eve. 32:11 Genesis chapter 3. It's in Genesis chapter 3, 32:14 we're gonna see that Jesus, God, in Genesis 32:20 is coming to find Adam and Eve and I believe 32:24 of course he knew exactly where Adam 32:25 and Eve were, but he was asking them more 32:28 or less to examine themselves as to where 32:30 they were and they had spiritually died. 32:32 We know that and that death has already 32:35 spiritually began to take place, but God wanted 32:38 to instill hope and not just hope for Adam and 32:40 Eve, because all of us today have Adam and 32:43 Eve as our father, as our parents and we have 32:48 fallen into sin because of that. 32:50 We are all sinful human beings. 32:53 But God says this here with regard to 32:57 Adam and Eve and the human race. 33:00 In verse 15, I will put enmity between you 33:05 and the what? Woman, woman, now we already 33:08 talked about the woman in Revelation didn't we. 33:10 The woman being God's people and between 33:15 your seed and her seed. My Bible capitalizes that 33:20 because Jesus is identified here as well. 33:23 But his Satan seed was not capitalized, but the 33:25 woman seed is, the woman seed is capitalized 33:27 that's where Jesus comes through. 33:29 And he shall bruise your head and you shall 33:33 bruise his heel. So we find here that a promise 33:38 is given to Adam and Eve that a seed would 33:41 come through the woman, the descendants of the 33:44 people of God who would bring about salvation. 33:47 Satan would attack the seed, bruise the seed's 33:50 heel, but what in the end happens is, Satan's 33:54 head is bruised which are wounded, which is a 33:57 mortal wound that Satan suffers to finally end 34:01 the controversy. Go ahead, I'm almost 34:05 without a word. Hold your peace, okay. 34:09 This is an amazing thing because you know when 34:11 you talk about this fall here in Genesis, 34:13 the controversy is, I want to show two 34:16 comparisons in Genesis 2 verse 25, the Lord 34:22 joined Adam and Eve together, that's we call 34:24 the first wedding there in the Garden of Eden, 34:26 the garden wedding, but it says in verse 25 and 34:30 they were both naked, the man and his wife 34:32 and they were not ashamed, meaning they 34:35 did not need physical clothing, but they still 34:37 had the glory of God, right. After they sinned 34:42 their nakedness now was obvious, yeah. 34:46 It was now visible, rather than shrouded in 34:49 the glorious light of God. The nakedness 34:52 that they had was now visible, because it says 34:55 when the Lord came to look for them in 34:59 Genesis 3 verse 8 and they heard the sound of 35:01 the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool 35:03 of the day. And Adam and his wife hid 35:06 themselves from the presence of the Lord 35:08 God among the trees of the garden. 35:09 And when the Lord called Adam, he says where 35:12 are you? Not looking for location, but confession? 35:15 He said I heard your voice in the garden and 35:17 I was afraid because I was naked and I hid 35:19 myself, and the Lord says in verse 11. 35:22 Who told you that you were naked? Who told 35:23 you, you were naked? See, see so this is like, 35:26 it's like the Lord like saying who told you 35:29 that you were naked, and then he goes to the 35:31 next question. Have you eaten of the tree which 35:32 I commanded you that you should not eat? 35:34 And then the man said the woman whom you 35:37 gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and 35:39 I ate. First domestic dispute recorded in 35:43 scripture. I would hate to say, I don't think it 35:46 was recorded, but Eve probably felt like hitting 35:49 Adam upside the head with a bamboo bush, 35:51 or hit him with the same fruit she made him eat, 35:54 but she probably felt like throwing the seed 35:55 at him. And then here's where the comments 35:58 come in, and the Lord God said to the woman, 36:02 what is this that you have done? And the woman 36:04 said the serpent deceived me and I ate. 36:06 She points to somebody else. See, so right there 36:08 when we read Second Timothy chapter 2 verse 14, 36:11 the serpent admitted, I deceived her, 36:16 I deceived her, he didn't say a word, but that's 36:20 why Paul recorded yes. The woman was deceived. 36:24 Adam opened his eyes wide and walked into 36:27 this plot and that's where you get Romans chapter 5 36:30 and verse 12. What I want to show you there 36:32 before we go to Job, because now because 36:34 of this entrance of sin in the world, 36:35 Satan's gonna have another claim and 36:37 you're gonna go to that claim in just a moment 36:39 in the book of Job. But in Romans 5:12 36:41 it doesn't say that by Eve sin came into the world. 36:45 It says by one man sin entered the world and 36:50 death through sin and thus death spread to all 36:54 that one man is Adam. 36:57 First Corinthians 15 verse 22 says as in 36:59 Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made 37:03 alive. So the Bible makes it very, very clear 37:05 that Adam was the one that caused sin to come 37:07 into the world, but when that sin came into the 37:10 world, Satan thought hey, I won. I got my own 37:17 earth, thus we go to Job. That's right. 37:20 There are so many parallels here too, 37:23 it's just amazing. The Genesis 3 and the fall to 37:26 Revelation chapter 12. It's in there. You know 37:28 the woman is there, the seed which is the child 37:32 that comes through in Revelation 12 and we 37:36 talk about you know the serpent being in the 37:38 garden, so there is so much here, but now 37:41 we're going to the rest of the story, which is 37:45 the claim is made by Satan that this world is 37:47 now his. But God has something to say about 37:50 that. John why don't you read start reading 37:52 Job chapter 1 and I'll pick up where. 37:54 Okay while I'm turning there, I am just gonna 37:56 quote Galatians 3:14, because in Galatians 3:14 38:00 the Bible says that the law, for God the law 38:04 was added till the seed should come. 38:06 See, so this ceremony law that existed to talk, 38:09 to teach people about God, to teach people about 38:12 the plan of salvation. It was there put in place 38:14 until the seed should come to whom the promise 38:18 was made. So when the promise was made in 38:20 Genesis 3 verse 14 everybody was looking 38:24 for that child to be born, woman thought that 38:27 their son would be the Messiah and Paul says 38:30 clearly in Galatians 3:14, they were all 38:32 waiting for the seed to come and that seed was 38:34 Christ, so that's why that language, the seed, 38:37 here what am I going, Job, okay. Job 1. 38:39 I'm doing a job trying to find Job, okay here it is. 38:43 Job chapter 1 and put the context together, 38:48 Job was the greatest man of the people of the East. 38:54 Job chapter 1 and verse 3 and when the Lord 38:56 said that you're greatest, you're the greatest 38:59 and I know that Mohammed Ali said that but sorry, 39:02 Job was the greatest. Now verse 6 of Job chapter 1. 39:06 Now there was a day when the sons of God 39:09 came to present themselves before the Lord 39:12 and Satan also came among them. First thing 39:14 friends a Bible doesn't stay where this meeting 39:16 took place. And the Lord said to Satan from 39:19 where do you come, so Satan answered the Lord 39:21 and said from going to and fro on the earth and 39:23 from walking back and forth on it. 39:26 That was his, he thought the earth was his. 39:29 He says where you come from, I'm here as 39:31 a representative of the earth. 39:33 He thought the earth was his. 39:34 He just snatched the authority that God gave 39:38 to Adam and he became subject now. 39:41 Adam became a subject now to the nature that 39:44 was passed onto him from Satan himself, 39:48 but in fact and we showed you that just as 39:50 I simply show you that Satan came to make claims. 39:54 He says Lord if you take what Job has, 39:56 I'm sure that Job is going to curse you, 39:59 praise the Lord John, Job did not curse God 40:01 to his face and die. What else you want to 40:02 point out in there? Well you know there is 40:04 something that just jumps out at you when 40:06 you read this passage, okay, because Satan 40:07 is stepping up to a place where he does not belong. 40:11 When, when the Lord said to Satan from 40:12 where do you come from? It's almost the language 40:15 is almost like you don't belong here, right. 40:18 And what are you doing here? Okay. 40:20 And so you know that being the case, 40:22 you know that something becomes 40:23 very obvious to us. The sons of God were 40:27 created beings who clearly in this context 40:30 are heads of worlds, right. Okay, there is no other 40:34 explanation for it. They've got to be heads 40:37 of worlds and here it is Satan is coming in the 40:39 midst of him, of them at this council meeting 40:43 and he's an angel. Angels were not created 40:47 to be heads of worlds, no. That's a fact and we 40:51 know that angels are ministering spirits, 40:53 they are there to do the bidding of God from 40:56 heaven to a minister and to serve these other 41:00 worlds as they're needed, okay, right. 41:02 The part of God's working. 41:05 They are the work of, creation. Yeah. 41:07 They're the work of beast. Yeah you can say 41:08 that, that's a good word for it. 41:10 So that being the case, you know it would be 41:13 very appropriate for God to see when Satan 41:15 comes into this council meeting, what are you 41:17 doing here? Right, what you are doing here. 41:18 I'm meeting with my creation, people that 41:20 are created and set up and established as 41:22 creators or not as creator says as 41:25 procreators as you might say, but as 41:27 leaders of and stewards of these worlds, right. 41:31 And one of the things that we find too is that 41:35 often people distort the passage of Genesis 41:38 chapter 6 where it talks about you know the 41:41 sons of God came to the daughters of men, 41:45 saw that they were beautiful and then the 41:48 giant, there were giants on the earth in that time 41:50 and so forth. They're trying to say well this 41:52 is Satan and the angels coming down to procreate 41:55 with human beings, but you know what 41:59 nowhere in scripture do we find any evidence 42:01 what so ever that angels can procreate, no. 42:04 There's no need for them to procreate. 42:07 They are not assigned genders, no. 42:10 You know really we don't know exactly 42:12 what they look like, we have pictures of them 42:13 and often they look like men, because we 42:15 associate strength with manliness you know 42:19 men, but they're not men, they're not 42:21 women, they're angels. Right they don't have a 42:24 procreate gender. Yeah, so anyway just some 42:27 insights here into what's going on, Satan 42:30 is appearing he says I own the earth. 42:33 I belong to the earth and God says not so fast, 42:36 so he moves from what you are doing here 42:38 to his charge. He gives Satan okay, you're here, 42:42 you shouldn't be here, but your charge is that 42:44 you own the earth, but I'm wanna tell you, 42:47 have you looked at Job lately, okay. 42:51 And Job isn't evil like you are. Job doesn't 42:54 do what you do. Job is like me. He's righteous, 42:59 he's blameless before me. Here in Job, Job 43:02 denied all the evil of his day. Job just remained 43:05 away from it and that's why Satan said let me 43:08 try him and the reason why Satan went after 43:10 Job is because he went after the best of the 43:13 best, because he knew anything below Job was 43:15 just not really a challenge, right. 43:17 He said if I can get the best one, if I can get the 43:19 one that's most devoted to you then I've finished 43:22 my job because all the others there is no 43:24 challenge at all. That's why when you go for 43:26 World Champion you don't play the worst 43:28 team, you play the two best. When the boxers 43:30 are fighting for the World Championship, 43:32 you don't get a guy that just began to spar the 43:34 week before, you get the two best that have 43:36 fought their way to the top, so this is a 43:38 contention here between the best of the best. 43:41 So Satan says in other words. Lord give me 43:43 the best you have and I'll prove to you that 43:45 he's not good enough and the Lord says wait 43:46 a minute and this is what's nice about, 43:49 I'm gonna call you Sam, this is what's nice about 43:51 this John. I don't know where the Sam came 43:53 from, Ignore that statement, his name is John. 43:58 But this is where this comes from, the best 44:02 that man has to offer is the worst that man has 44:07 to offer when God is not on his side. 44:09 That's right. Let me change that when he is 44:12 not on God's side. Job, although great in the 44:16 earth, great possessions, great wealth, you are 44:19 the worst when you're not on God's side. 44:22 Because I always say intellect and possession 44:25 and power without God is a dangerous thing. 44:27 That's right. So Job had all those things, 44:29 what made him great was not his possessions, 44:31 but he was one that, one that avoided evil, 44:34 one that feared God and avoided, he distained 44:38 evil, so Satan says wait a minute you know I'm 44:41 looking for somebody and he said I bet you if 44:43 I could touch him, I bet you if I could take all 44:45 things that he has from you. He'll curse you, 44:48 he'll curse you to your face. Well you know 44:50 another thing point here John and I think this is 44:52 so important. This is a part of Great 44:53 Controversy, right. There are people that 44:55 say, God took my mother or God took my 45:00 niece or God needed another, another angel 45:03 so he killed my or allowed my sister to die. 45:06 You read the story of Job, God didn't do any 45:09 of the afflicting. He said to Satan go ahead 45:12 take his house, take his possessions, take all 45:14 that he has, but just don't take his life. 45:17 You see, so God was not the one that sent the 45:21 tornado. God was not the one that send the 45:24 fire to burn up this stuff. God was not one 45:26 that send the thieves to raid and 45:28 take all of his cattle. God does not do that. 45:31 James says every good and every perfect gift 45:33 comes from God. That's right, who is the enemy. 45:36 Even Jesus referred to the fact the enemy has 45:38 done this thing. You know how they're 45:40 pointing to the enemy, Matthew 13, whose is 45:42 the source of all the evil and the bad things that 45:44 happened in this world, right. You know one of 45:48 the things that I have learned from here, 45:49 applying this to a practical level is that in 45:51 my own life, when I face challenges. 45:55 Could it be that God is asking me to step up for 45:59 him. Oh undoubtedly. Could it be that I'm as 46:03 part of the Great Controversy that when 46:05 these horrible things happened in my life. 46:08 Whatever challenges that I face, the God is 46:11 asking me to show my Godly character. 46:16 And how often when he does that, he relies on 46:18 me to do that, I say I just complain, oh God 46:22 has done this to me, oh God has done all this 46:25 and that and all, why is he doing this to me. 46:27 I mean I became a complainer rather than a 46:30 person that stepped up that says you know 46:32 what God is my defender, in spite of 46:35 what's going on around me. You know I believe 46:37 God is fair. I just got a cliche, if we comply, 46:40 we won't complain. You comply with 46:43 God's parameters, you won't complain about 46:44 God's parameters. That's good. 46:46 So, so we complain because we don't 46:48 comply. Yeah, but we complain because we 46:50 don't see the big picture either and that's one of 46:52 the reasons for this Great Controversy 46:54 segment that we're doing here is that 46:57 you know we are part of that Great Controversy 46:59 going on right now. And every trial, every 47:02 struggle that you face, every time the enemy 47:05 comes at you, he's coming at you because 47:08 you're a child of God number one and God is 47:10 allowing it to happen because he wants you 47:12 to show that you're more like him. 47:16 We reveal through our struggles who we are 47:18 really like and we reveal that we are like 47:22 God and are becoming more and more like 47:24 God because of our, of the strength that he 47:26 gives us to show that we are depending upon 47:29 him even in spite of all the struggles and trials 47:31 we go through. And so that's a big part of 47:34 the Great Controversy here. Now I'm looking 47:36 at the time, so we need to go back to 47:38 Revelation chapter 12. That's right. 47:40 Let's go to verse, let's go to verse 10. 47:45 Now this is, this is so beautiful this takes us 47:49 to the Cross and you know you can go to 47:52 John 5, you can go to Matthew chapter 20, 47:57 when Jesus rose from the death, you see Satan 47:59 thought he had defeated 48:00 Christ until the resurrection. 48:03 When the resurrection came salvation was 48:06 completed, that's right. The price that Jesus 48:09 paid for us was he Jesus was exonerated, 48:13 Jesus was vindicated and in the resurrection 48:16 because he has said before he died I'm the 48:17 resurrection in the life and then here 48:19 I tried to keep him in the tomb and Satan 48:22 tried to keep him in the tomb, but when he rose 48:24 this statement was proclaimed and 48:26 I believe that it's at that particle juncture 48:29 when it says then I heard a loud voice 48:31 saying in heaven, now salvation's strengthen 48:34 and the kingdom of our God and the power of 48:36 his Christ have come. For the accuser of our 48:40 brethren, notice what he does, who accused them 48:43 before our God day and night has been cast 48:46 what? Down, down fallen condition that's 48:49 the casting down. When Satan was cast down, 48:52 he was continually labeled as the fallen. 48:56 How art thou fallen? He's fallen, because 48:59 Jesus overcame him from his own victory, 49:03 but then what about our victory. 49:04 This cast down is not cast out of heaven. 49:06 This cast is down is any authority that he 49:09 claimed to this earth, he now has lost 49:11 completely, unequivocally it is gone. 49:15 And so by the Cross and by his the 49:17 Resurrection of Jesus Christ who now sits at 49:20 the right hand of the Father, Satan has been 49:22 cast down. So when Satan tries to remind 49:28 you now and you've heard this statement 49:30 before of your past. Remind him of his 49:33 future, because he's fallen, he's cast down 49:37 and he has no authority what so ever. 49:39 If Christ has given you authority and we find 49:42 from Luke that Christ has given his people in 49:46 the last days authority over Satan and his angels. 49:51 That we have nothing to fear and so now I like 49:55 that now, now why? Because the Cross has 49:58 happened now, salvation has come. 50:01 I wanna just target one in here, because, 50:04 you see Satan claimed to have power that he 50:07 didn't really have. In Hebrews 12, Hebrews 2 50:10 verse 14 listen to Jesus' assignment, he says in 50:15 his much then as the children have partaken 50:18 of flesh and blood that's that fallen nature. 50:20 He himself Jesus likewise shared in the 50:22 same that through death he might destroy him 50:27 who had the power of death, had the power of 50:31 death that is the devil and release those who 50:35 through fear of death for all their lifetime 50:38 subject to bondage. Satan had the power of 50:41 death, but when Jesus rose he says in 50:43 Revelation I have the keys of death and of hell. 50:48 I've got a key, I've got the keys now, yeah. 50:50 I've got the keys of death and of hell. 50:51 And so now go to Revelation chapter 12, 50:53 you see clearly the rejoicing and it says in 50:55 verse 11 those of us who overcome, how do 50:58 we overcome. They overcame him by the 51:00 blood of the lamb, by the word of their 51:02 testimony and they did not love, love their lives 51:05 to the death. Why did they not love their lives 51:08 to the death, because death no longer was 51:10 their greatest fear. That's right. 51:13 They had fear of death Hebrews 2 and verse 15. 51:15 And they were talking about the persecuted, right. 51:17 They longer had the fear of death. 51:19 Now the persecuted as alluding back to verse 51:21 6, were introduced how the woman fled into the 51:24 wilderness and fled persecution for that 51:26 1260 years that they overcame him by the 51:30 blood of the lamb and by the word of their 51:32 testimony, they did not love their 51:34 lives to the death. Now verse 12, read it. 51:36 Let's go on. Therefore rejoice O heavens, 51:39 and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the 51:42 inhabitants of the earth and the sea. 51:44 For the devil has come down unto you, having 51:46 great wrath, because he knows that he 51:48 has a short time. Now summarizing, 51:53 now when the dragon saw that he had 51:56 persecuted the woman who gave birth to the 51:59 male child went after the church. 52:02 Now when the dragon saw that he had been 52:03 cast to the earth. He persecuted the woman 52:06 who gave birth to the male child and we 52:08 talked about that. Persecuting the church, 52:11 he not only tried to marry, but he continued 52:13 persecuting the church through the dark ages, 52:15 through the New Testament I talk about 52:17 Roman Emperor Diocletian, but the woman was 52:20 given two wings of a great eagle that she 52:22 might fly into the wilderness to her place, 52:25 where she is nourished for a time and times and 52:27 half a time from the presence of the serpent. 52:30 For 1260 years John you know that, yes. 52:33 In 538 Rome was given complete power over 52:38 religious and political affairs and for 1260 52:40 years from 538 to 1798 persecution was 52:45 rampant in Europe. Trying to stamp out all 52:48 those who were a legion to God, but what 52:50 happened to the church. God hid her in the dens 52:53 and the rocks of the mountain. 52:55 You read the story of the Waldensians. 52:57 Read the story of the Swiss who hid in the 53:02 dens and the rocks of the mountains and so 53:04 and even those who were killed, if one died 53:08 two or three took his or her place. 53:10 God hid the church so that Satan couldn't 53:12 wipe her out. And it says read the next verse. 53:15 Verse 15. So the serpent spewed out water from 53:20 his mouth like a flood after the woman, 53:23 that he might cause her to be carried 53:25 away by the flood. Now we know that water 53:27 is referred to people, people. So a great army 53:31 of people came after this woman, came after 53:34 the church. You know how that happened. 53:36 During the Dark Ages, as a counter to the 53:39 Reformation. There was something called 53:43 the counter Reformation or the Renaissance 53:46 period, when all this truth was coming to the 53:48 forefront one of the ways that they attacked 53:50 the reformers was they brought out all the 53:52 culture and the art and the music as accounted 53:55 to the Reformation, even stain glass. 53:57 Look, do a research of stain glass even stain 54:00 glass Christians refused to go into the Roman 54:03 Cathedrals, but when they change the glass to 54:05 colorful beautiful glass, the only way to see the 54:08 beauty of the glass was to go inside the dark 54:10 building, because the sun shown through it 54:13 and so all these things that happened during 54:14 the Dark Ages were a method where by those 54:17 who rejected the darkness were now 54:19 ward against through culture, through music, 54:21 through art and that was the renaissance or the 54:23 counter reformation, a time of great culture, 54:26 great music, great science and that was the 54:29 water that Satan sent after the woman 54:31 through all these people bringing these things to 54:33 the forefront, but look at the next verse. 54:34 And we also have in other words since two 54:35 you have the armies of Rome who are all 54:38 subject to the Roman powers, literally going 54:41 off to and to kill and persecute the saints that 54:44 are staying faithful. Which was called this 54:47 inquisition, inquisition. The massacres, over 50 54:50 million Christians were killed during the Dark Ages. 54:52 Read the next verse. But the earth helped the 54:55 woman and the earth opened its mouth and 54:57 swallowed up the flood which the dragon had 54:59 spewed out of his mouth. It's very difficult 55:02 in an unpopulated areas in wilderness 55:04 to find anybody. I mean just think just think 55:06 I mean these hikers that will get lost. 55:08 I mean God used the wilderness so that all 55:10 the people coming after them couldn't find 55:12 his people. Now many were found, because 55:14 obviously 50 million martyrs is a huge 55:18 number. But still the wilderness helped 55:21 preserve the truth and the Reformation, okay. 55:26 And to the point where before we read 55:27 this last verse 17. The point where to this 55:30 very day the Reformation continues to grow. 55:33 Praise the Lord. The Reformation continues 55:35 to grow, God's truth continues to champion 55:38 on, and we believe that there is still a truth 55:42 being proclaimed even in your hearing right now. 55:44 Oh. The truth is being proclaimed in 55:47 opposition to many who are still in Babylon 55:51 per say. That's why I want you read verse 17 55:53 this is powerful, amen. And that brings us to 55:56 verse 17. That's why I wanted to say that 55:57 verse 17 says and the dragon was enraged 56:00 with the woman and he went to make war with 56:03 the rest or the remnant, that's the last piece. 56:07 Now to, of her offspring who keep the commandments 56:10 of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 56:13 I wanna cite the King James version here 56:15 because it says the remnant of her seed. 56:17 Seed, yes. And that links you right back to 56:20 Genesis 3 where the Lord says I put 56:22 enmity between your seed and her seed. 56:25 The remnant of her seed and what did they do 56:27 John, who have the testimony. 56:29 They keep the commandments of God 56:31 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 56:33 Now friends, you may see well what does this 56:34 all mean. If you wanna be a part of the 56:36 remnant, the message is here. 56:38 God's last day people, God's last day people 56:40 that Satan is angry with, I rather have Satan 56:43 against me than Christ against me, see. 56:45 If you want to keep the commandments of God 56:47 you will be against Satan. If you avoid the 56:50 Commandments of God you are on Satan's side. 56:52 Now who would you rather do that which 56:55 upsets the devil, not that which denies the Lord. 56:58 Any comments John before we close. 57:00 Well in the testimony of Jesus Christ, we know it 57:02 refers to prophecy, that's right. 57:04 So clearly there's a prophetic message tied 57:06 to a commandment keeping people to finish 57:08 the work before Jesus comes, Revelation. 57:11 We're in that era, we're in that time and Jesus is 57:14 coming very soon. That's right they'll have 57:16 they'll have an understanding of 57:17 prophecy through the gift of prophecy, 57:21 active in the church. Satan doesn't like it 57:23 when the people of God understand the 57:24 prophecies of God and are faithful to the Lord. 57:27 Friends, you could be one of those, 57:29 choose the Lord and make him 57:30 your Christ today. God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17