Participants: Pr. John Lomacang, Pr. John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL080027
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00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend and sit back
00:03 as we explore God's word together 00:05 on this edition of "House Calls." 00:23 Friends welcome, to "House Calls." 00:24 As you know, this is a fun program 00:26 but it's also a Bible program. 00:28 So get ready, get your Bibles, get your pens. 00:31 Hit the record button. 00:32 As you know, my name is John Lomacang. 00:34 And I'm John Stanley. 00:35 It's great to be with you once again on "House Calls" 00:38 for another exciting program. 00:40 That's right. We're in the house today and so we'd like 00:42 you to just take the time and invite somebody 00:44 to sit down and enjoy the program with you because 00:47 we're going to be continuing on a topic on spiritualism. 00:50 We just scratch the surface at the last program. 00:53 This is what we're going to dive into the ocean. 00:55 And so get your scuba gear, we're going to going into 00:57 the Word of God very, very deeply. 00:59 But before we do anything, we're going to have prayer. 01:01 So, John, why don't you pray for us? 01:03 Let's do that. 01:04 Our Father in heaven, we're so grateful 01:06 to be able to be come before Your throne and seek Your face 01:08 and ask for the presence of Your Holy Spirit 01:11 to be our teacher, our helper. 01:13 Guide us through Your word, Lord and may we be blessed about 01:16 what we find in its wonderful pages. 01:18 We thank You Lord during this hour 01:20 to be able to spend this time with You in Jesus' name, amen. 01:23 Amen. As you know here at "House Calls" 01:26 your questions come in frequently 01:29 and we try our best to get to as many as we can. 01:31 We spend about the first half of the program 01:33 on Bible questions and so if you have any Bible questions, 01:36 you want to send to us it may be a confusing text. 01:39 Try not to send any books though because 01:41 we can't do very much with those. 01:42 But if it's a page or so, we'll try our best 01:44 to filter that down but here 01:45 is the question information that you need. 01:47 Send those to housecalls@3abn.org. 01:50 That's housecalls@3abn.org and if you have snail mail, 01:54 PO Box 220, West Frankfurt, Illinois, 62896. 01:59 Attention, House Calls and one of two of us will get it. 02:01 And we'll have fun with that. 02:02 But, John, what's our question for today. 02:04 We've got a question from Victoria. 02:06 And she is asking. 02:08 Ah, she says, she'd heard 02:10 of the Book of Revelation is a symbolic book. 02:12 Okay. I'd like to know 02:14 if everything in there is symbolic 02:16 or are there parts that are literal. 02:18 Okay. How do you know which is which? 02:21 For example, the Battle of Armageddon 02:23 or the Seven Last Plaques. 02:25 And she wants us to answer her by email as well. 02:28 Victoria, that's a good question. 02:31 And it's a question that we don't take lightly because 02:33 as studiers of Revelation, Daniel and Revelation 02:37 over the past or how many years, we've challenged each other. 02:40 And really have dived into that book like, 02:44 like it was going out of style. 02:46 But it is a book that is highly symbolic. 02:50 She is absolutely correct. 02:52 But at the same time I believe there are literal aspects 02:54 of that book that we cannot dismiss. 02:57 And although the Bible itself doesn't provide 03:00 a specific prescription or doesn't come up 03:02 as it comes up to a symbolic or even literal area 03:05 of Revelation doesn't tell you which is which. 03:08 You have to use some guidelines. 03:10 You have to use some general guidelines 03:11 for studying prophecy. 03:13 And one of those big guidelines is that we tend 03:16 to just stick to it as closely as possible. 03:19 Is that whenever you're looking at an aspect 03:20 or part of a book, that's very symbolic. 03:23 Look to interpret it literally first. 03:27 That is where you go first, to see if that passage 03:30 is even possible in its literal sense. 03:33 And if you find that it is not, then you go to a symbolic way 03:37 of interpreting that passage of scripture. 03:39 This is a general rule of thumb. 03:41 It's not always hard and fast but it is a good rule of thumb 03:44 whenever you're looking at prophecy. 03:45 Now, if you move from the literal to the symbolic, 03:48 know that the symbolic is always interpreted 03:51 by somewhere else in scripture, 03:53 usually the Old Testament in a literal way. 03:56 So even something that is symbolic can be understood 03:59 in its true interpretation by looking elsewhere in scripture 04:03 at its literal form and how it's used. 04:06 For instance, one of the ways we do that is Babylon 04:09 appears over and over again, John, in Revelation. 04:13 And Babylon we know as we read that is full of so many things 04:17 that it can't pertain to literal Babylon. 04:20 In other words, where Babylon exist today because 04:22 there is no Babylon as we knew it back when. 04:26 But if you go in the Bible into the Old Testament, 04:28 you start to look and explore Babylon of old. 04:31 You'll find in many ways the type of city it was. 04:35 What happened in that city? 04:36 The different stories that surround that city 04:38 with regard to Daniel, his three friends and others, 04:41 the Jews overall if that were in Babylon 04:44 during their time of captivity, you'll be able to understand 04:47 what he is talking about in Revelation 04:50 when he speaks of Babylon. 04:51 So that's just one example but, John, you may some things 04:54 to share on this too. 04:56 But that's kind of an overarching general rule 04:58 of how you approach, 05:00 a highly symbolic books of the Bible. 05:02 And one of the things you also want to do is you want 05:04 to look of the whole context, read the entire account, 05:07 read the entire story. 05:08 For example, the Bible will make it very, very clear 05:10 in the few verses whether or not 05:12 it's symbolical or literal. 05:13 If you read about a woman clothed with the son. 05:17 You know, that woman don't wear the son. 05:19 Yes, that's right. I mean it's obvious. 05:20 If you read about lamb standing on Mount Zion 05:24 with seven horns and seven eyes, 05:25 you know, that lambs don't have seven horns, 05:27 you know, it doesn't have seven eyes. 05:28 Right. So literally you have 05:30 to find out what the horns are, what the lamb is. 05:33 But if you find that, you see, 05:35 a beast rising above of the sea, 05:36 having seven heads, and ten horns. 05:38 You're not going to say, Mommy, 05:40 I saw that beast of Revelation yesterday 05:42 having seven heads and ten horns. 05:43 You know, right away, that's symbolic. 05:46 You'll find out that a war broke out in heaven, 05:49 well, that was a literal war. 05:50 There was a war in heaven. 05:52 And Satan did not prevail, he was cast to the earth. 05:54 And Isaiah gives the account of that. 05:56 One of the principles they also want to use 05:58 that whenever a symbol is used 06:00 and this is so vitally important. 06:01 1 Peters 1:21. No prophecy of scripture 06:05 is of any private interpretation. 06:07 That's right. If you look to the Bible, 06:09 you cannot give private interpretations. 06:12 One of the dangers is, to read something 06:14 in the scriptures and all of a sudden because 06:17 of what another person wrote in antiquity or history, 06:19 you'll say, well, I adopt the principle or the teaching 06:22 that Josephus had on this particular passage 06:25 or that the theologians during 06:28 the 17th century or the Dark Ages. 06:30 They said that this meant that. 06:32 So therefore, I side with their view. 06:34 That's a dangerous thing unless the symbols 06:36 are defined by scripture. 06:38 You don't just pick the person you side with. 06:40 Yeah. Because people will say, 06:41 well I like Hal Lindsey's view, well, I like Tim Lee Hasey, 06:44 well I like, you know, Jack Van Impe's view, 06:46 well, I like Ellen White's view, well I like, 06:48 you know let the Bible be the first line of defense. 06:51 And if the Bible doesn't define it, 06:53 then you've got to make an educated, 06:56 educated guess which means you got to educate yourself 06:59 and find out what the other contemporary writers have said. 07:03 And then lastly if there is no information on it, 07:07 you must conclude that it's yet to be understood, 07:10 yet to be fulfilled. 07:12 And let me give you an example of something 07:13 that we know is could happen literally. 07:17 You know, for example, if you read in Revelation. 07:20 "I saw four angels." 07:21 Ah, this is not literal but symbolic. 07:23 "I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth." 07:26 You go early in the Bible when it talks about the angels, 07:30 the Bible talks about angels as being messengers 07:33 but then again, are there literal angels. 07:35 Of course, when it says the four corners of the earth, 07:38 it means north, east, south and west. 07:40 Simply symbolically meaning covering the entire world. 07:44 Another example you'll find, when you talk about, 07:46 "I saw when the seals were open 07:49 and the lamb open one of the seals. 07:51 And I heard one of the four living creatures." 07:53 So you'll being to see well that sounds symbolic. 07:56 When it comes to the messages of the churches. 07:58 The seven churches, was there Ephesus, 08:01 was there Thyatira, was there 08:02 a church of Philadelphia or is there Smyrna. 08:04 Yes, you go back to the history of that area 08:08 and that church and you'll say well, here is what, 08:10 here was the outstanding characteristic of Ephesus. 08:14 It was a progressive church. 08:16 It was a church that was pure. 08:17 Here was the outstanding characteristic of Philadelphia, 08:20 the church of brotherly love. 08:23 And so you begin to see that the Lord 08:24 uses these churches as examples, but then that's a nutshell. 08:28 You know, and the other to though 08:29 as you look at some of these like in Revelation 8. 08:32 You know, talking about 08:34 just to use a verse, verse 7, 08:36 "The first angels sound in hail and fire followed, 08:39 mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. 08:41 And a third of the trees were burned up, 08:42 and all green grass is burned up." 08:44 I mean it could be that some of those 08:46 in that scripture are symbolic and some art. 08:49 Because the earth you can't say well earth- 08:51 -what is that symbolic of. 08:53 Well, is that just wilderness because we interpret earth 08:56 somewhere else to be wilderness 08:57 or is that mean really the earth. 08:59 You know, so in this way, in this respect 09:01 you can say were thrown to the earth. 09:02 It's probably meaning the literal earth. 09:04 It's talking about the earthly suffers this experience. 09:07 But at the same time as you look 09:09 at what's coming out and being thrown there, 09:12 you know, is that symbolic, is that literal? 09:15 The cnext verse you know you've got the sea became blood, 09:19 was that the literal sea or is that lots of people 09:20 who became bloody. 09:22 It doesn't makes sense that lots of people become bloody. 09:24 It looks like it's a literal sea but the blood very well 09:27 could be symbolic because the sea turns red. 09:30 Can you imagine entire sea full of blood. 09:32 So it's common sense as well it's educated 09:37 in how you interpret this either symbolic or literal. 09:41 Now the other thing that was helpful for me, 09:42 John, as I began to study Revelation is that-- 09:46 when John was seeing, was given 09:49 this book to write down. 09:51 He was seeing the symbols he wrote down. 09:54 He wasn't seeing the actual events 09:56 and interpreting them as he wrote. 09:59 You know, what I'm saying. 10:00 Right. So he was seeing a beast. 10:03 He was seeing it has seven horns, 10:04 it had, it had ten horns, it had seven heads 10:07 and all these things. 10:08 He wrote down what he saw. 10:10 So put yourself in the mind and the heart 10:12 of what John was seeing. 10:14 And then from there also interpret because 10:16 that can be helpful. Oh. 10:18 You know, because you can't say well hoo. 10:20 Because sometimes I have heard this. 10:21 Well, John was seeing helicopters in the last days 10:26 and so he called them scorpions. 10:28 I have heard, you have heard this too. 10:30 Oh, yeah. John wasnot seeing helicopters. 10:31 No. John was seeing giant scorpions 10:34 and he described exactly what he saw. 10:36 So also be careful of when someone tries to tell you 10:39 what exactly John saw. 10:40 You know, what we read is what John saw. 10:42 Right and because that's what he wrote down. 10:44 He wrote down what God showed him. 10:46 That's right. The other question 10:47 you have to ask yourself is can this happen 10:49 and I'll go back to that first trumpet. 10:53 "There followed hail and fire mingled with blood." 10:56 Well, now let's look at the Bible accounts, 10:58 could that happen. 10:59 You go to Exodus 9, you clearly see 11:02 that the Lord said to Moses 11:04 that He is going to throw down fire 11:06 and hail on the land of Egypt. That's right. 11:10 And it happened the very next day. 11:11 The Lord threw hail and fire on the land of Egypt 11:14 or what about the blood. 11:16 Well, you go to Act 2:17 it says, 11:19 "As you come to pass in the last days 11:21 there will be signs in the heavens above 11:23 and in the earth, blood in the earth." 11:27 So you have signs in heaven, you have blood in the earth. 11:29 And you begin to pull all these things together. 11:31 Can there be blood in the earth. 11:33 Can the sea turn to blood? 11:35 Can grass be burned up? 11:37 Well, all these things a clearly symbolic. 11:39 But then you go to Revelation 9 11:40 and this is where it shows you right away it's a symbol. 11:42 "And the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fallen 11:46 from heaven and to the earth. 11:49 And to him was given the key to the bottomless pit." 11:52 Right away it calls the star him. 11:54 Well, you clearly know that he is talking about a personality. 11:57 He is talking about someone there. 11:59 And right away anybody who studies the Bible 12:01 can tell right away the star that fell from heaven 12:03 to the earth is Satan, Lucifer, the morning star. 12:07 Luke 10:18, Jesus said, "I saw Satan 12:09 lightening fall from heaven." 12:11 The Bible interpreting itself. 12:13 But the one caution we must give you is-- 12:17 don't try to come up with things that are not supported 12:20 by scripture or when challenged 12:22 cannot be proven by scripture. 12:24 Because then you're giving it a private interpretation. 12:26 Right private interpretation. You don't want 12:27 your own private interpretation working 12:29 this book because you'll really get off. 12:31 Yeah and that's what happening in our world today. 12:34 You'll find these theologians that are just so far off based 12:37 that they're coming up with like four second comings of Christ. 12:40 You know, they're coming up of people snatched away 12:43 here and showing up here, seven year tribulations 12:46 and it's just really anyway so many out there. 12:48 But thank you for the question. 12:49 And as you can tell we love this book. 12:51 I mean, I've been studying Revelation for, 12:52 concentrated from like 1991 but every time 12:55 I open it again I'll find something new. 12:58 You know, it's powerful. 12:59 You mentioned something really quickly and I just note this. 13:01 You know, speaking of prophecy timelines as well. 13:04 You know, also think in terms of the structure 13:07 of sequence of historical perspective. 13:10 You know because when someone takes a look 13:12 at these seven years of tribulation, 13:14 of this rapture theory how God's church 13:17 is raptured and then there will be seven years of tribulation 13:19 where the antichrist will appear all of these things. 13:21 They are the final week of the prophetic 490 year period 13:29 which is the seven years that final week. 13:31 And they're putting that at the end of time 13:33 where the entire passage is messianic. 13:37 It's a messianic prophecy for telling Christ appearance. 13:40 And it's Christ life in that final week. 13:42 And His covenant with His people carried 13:44 of finally at the end by his people as well. 13:46 And so he is talking about that, not talking about something 13:49 that occurs at the end of time. 13:50 So you know this to when you're looking at prophecy, 13:52 you cannot take a piece of a timeline, 13:57 cut it off and put it somewhere else. 14:00 Because then you've ruined its entire intent 14:03 which is what often people do with that 490 year period. 14:06 That last week they just cut it off and make it 483 years. 14:10 And it's not a 483 years prophecy, its 490 years. 14:15 Exactly. So anyway it's something else 14:17 that is important to remember on studying prophecy. 14:20 And not only is there a 490 year prophecy 14:22 it's not 2490 years. 14:25 Because they cut that piece off 14:26 and put it 2000 years, 3000 years later. 14:29 And because that was pertaining to Daniel 14:31 and the people of God in his day, 14:33 they take it way down the end time. 14:34 And then they say well we don't know 14:36 what's going to happen but whenever your mother disappears 14:38 after she comes from church it started, 14:40 you know, that's not scriptural. 14:42 Anyway thank you for that. 14:43 We could talk about Revelation for the next year and a half. 14:46 Would you like us to? 14:47 Anyway, second question. 14:50 Oh, the question here is right, okay. 14:52 Yeah, here is the question. 14:53 Where is the question? 14:55 It was about-- I have the question here 14:58 just moved somebody asked the question. 15:02 Its right in my hand, is that a novel idea or what. 15:07 They're all running around holding its keys wondering 15:08 where things are. It's in my hand. 15:10 It's right here. Pastor John and John, 15:13 I'm a strong supporter of the SDA Movement 15:16 and a member for some years. 15:19 I'm grossly disappointed in the last program 15:22 I saw where you to proclaimed unmistakably 15:26 that obedience to God's commands is a prerequisite 15:30 to receiving the Holy Spirit. 15:32 You have no understanding of what Acts 5:32 means. 15:36 The previous verse will tell you 15:39 what we "obey in order to receive the spirit." 15:44 What you teach Jesus refers to as the Leaven of the Pharisees. 15:49 I'm sorry to be so harsh with you. 15:52 But you're supposed to be guides, 15:55 but you're blind guides leading the blind into the ditch. 15:58 I really have a hard time thinking you 16:01 as a-you're a supporter. 16:02 You know, when you come across that way 16:04 but I read that just to let you see 16:05 that they're divergent views here on the program. 16:07 And we respectfully will answer the question and lets-- 16:09 Yes, right I'm not going to fight with you because 16:11 you could be a person that was just upset that day because 16:13 this is very harsh but that's okay. 16:15 We're not blind leading the blind. 16:17 But let me ask you a question. 16:19 You can't answer me right now, rhetorical question. 16:21 So, it's rhetorical because I'm going to answer the question. 16:24 The Lord-- do we believe that the Lord 16:28 will entrust to us the power of the Holy Spirit 16:32 if we do not obey His commandments. 16:34 I think that's the first question 16:35 I would ask is can we receive 16:37 the Holy Spirit in disobedience. 16:39 And the answer is no. 16:41 And let me Acts 35:32 and read verse 31 16:46 also John because it says, read the verse before 16:48 that you'll understand what we've to receive. 16:49 Acts 5:31 "Him God has exalted to the right hand 16:54 to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel 16:58 and forgiveness of sins." 17:00 Okay, and verse 32. 17:01 "And we are His witnesses to these things, 17:04 and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God 17:08 has given to those who obey Him." 17:10 Now the verse prior to that is not saying 17:13 what we should we receive, it is saying who we receive 17:17 when we receive Jesus Christ. 17:19 And let me put this really, 17:20 I'm going to put this to bed here. 17:22 The Holy Spirit works in three ways. 17:24 Three ways, keep this very carefully, note this. 17:28 One, he works to convict us of sin, so in that sense, 17:33 you don't have to be obedient because 17:36 the conviction come to the sinner. 17:38 The conviction comes to the sinner. 17:40 The Holy Spirit works on the sinner. 17:42 That disobedient person is being worked on by the Holy Spirit. 17:45 That's the first thing. 17:47 So there is no prerequisite 17:48 there to be worked on by the Holy Spirit. 17:50 That spirit works on the disobedient. 17:53 But the spirit works in the obedient. 17:57 There's a difference. 17:58 The second one is, first of all the work 18:01 of the spirit to convict us. 18:02 When we are convicted, conviction goes 18:05 to conversion now, which now something shows up, 18:08 the fruit of the spirit. 18:10 The fruit of the spirit are not in the lives of the disobedient. 18:14 That's right. So you'll never tell me 18:15 that the fruit of the spirit is in the life of the disobedient. 18:18 You won't find it there. 18:19 You'll find good deeds but not the fruit of the spirit. 18:22 You'll find people acting good but every now and then 18:24 that's just an act, an external action 18:27 not an internal conversion. 18:28 The fruit of the spirit, it shows up in the second part. 18:31 But the third part, which we're talking about, is. 18:35 When the Lord works in the person's life, 18:37 when the Lord now use that person 18:39 as in the instrument in the hand of God. 18:41 Special gifts. The gifts now or in operation. 18:45 The gifts of the spirit are never given to anyone 18:48 who disobeys the commandments of God. 18:51 You cannot give me evidence in scripture 18:54 that the Spirit of God now uses this person 18:57 as a spokesperson for the Jesus Christ 19:00 and this person is disobedient. 19:01 Let me sight a few verses here very carefully. 19:03 I'll start with the Old Testament, 19:05 Deuteronomy 13:4, "You shall walk after 19:09 the Lord your God and fear Him, 19:11 and keep His commandments and obey His voice, 19:14 and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him." 19:17 Notice what's happened right there. 19:19 The Lord says, when you, when you walk after him, 19:22 you follow the Lord. 19:23 You fear Him, that is you honor Him. 19:25 You keep His commandments and obey His voice. 19:28 That's what the writers of Acts meant. 19:30 That's what Dr. Luke meant in Acts. 19:32 When we obey His voice, 19:33 we obey--keep His commandments and obey His voice. 19:35 You cannot obey His voice and not keep 19:37 His commandments because Jesus says in 1 John 2:3-4. 19:42 "Hereby we do know that we know him 19:44 if we keep His commandments." That's 1 John 2:3. 19:48 And this is point for clarification. John. 19:50 Yeah. Because I know, some people 19:51 are thinking about this. Yeah. 19:52 Well, are you saying that if you don't keep 19:54 every commandment like the Sabbath, 19:56 then you don't have the Spirit of God working in you. 19:58 And that's not what he is saying because 20:00 there are some have not been impressed 20:02 or convicted about the Sabbath yet. 20:04 They are keeping every commandment 20:05 that they know God has and God has revealed to them. 20:08 And in their obedience that they're convicted about 20:11 then the Holy Spirit works in them. 20:13 So we're not saying oh, well only 20:15 Adventist Christians have the Holy Spirit working in them. 20:18 No, no, no... but if you convicted of something 20:21 and you reject something the Holy Spirit 20:23 is working on you and convicting you up with regard 20:26 to the Ten Commandments and you continue 20:28 to deliberately disobey, then the Holy Spirit is quenched. 20:33 What do you think quenching the Holy Spirit is about? 20:34 It's about that you're quenched 20:36 by your actions with your disobedience. 20:39 So through that then the Holy Spirit can't work. 20:41 So I just want to clarify that because 20:43 I know some people are thinking well, 20:44 are you saying we should keep all the commandments, but no. 20:47 What you're convicted of, what you know about 20:48 to follow and to keep. 20:51 Right and that was very timely John, 20:53 I thank you for that because what people will be listening 20:55 and we tend to answer what they're saying 20:58 and what they're not saying but also because 21:00 we're familiar with what's happening out there. 21:02 We also answer what we know people are feeling, 21:04 people are sensing. 21:06 They're saying well, I don't honor the Sabbath. 21:09 I'm not yet convicted on that. 21:11 Are you saying the Holy Spirit doesn't work in my life? 21:13 No, I'm not saying it all because 21:15 he is still working on you to convict you. 21:17 That's right. He is still working 21:19 on you to convict you. 21:21 And to convince you of something that is already the truth. 21:25 So we're saying the areas that he can work. 21:27 For example, you may have a dynamic prayer ministry. 21:30 You may have dynamic ministry where you're helping people 21:33 or whatever you may, you may be working very effectively 21:36 in your church as a music minister. 21:38 But on the conditions of what the spirit says, 21:43 we have to also add to that he is still working 21:46 in you to convict you of things that are already the truth. 21:50 Let me give you an example here. 21:51 This is the other one. John 14:15. 21:55 Now we often read this one and never go on 21:57 but I want you to notice the conjunctive word, 21:59 the connecting word between the statement 22:00 before and the statement after. 22:03 "If you love me keep my commandments." 22:05 That's John 14:15, John 14:16 starts this way. 22:10 And I'll read them collectively, 22:12 "If you love me keep my commandments 22:14 and I will pray the father and he will give you 22:17 another comforter that he may abide with you forever. 22:21 The spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because 22:25 it sees him not, nor knows him. 22:27 But you know him for dwells in you and will be with you." 22:31 Notice what he says the world can't receive 22:33 him because they're disobedient. 22:35 That's right. How could the world receive him 22:37 when they're disobedient? 22:39 He will never entrust to the world 22:41 that gives of the spirit nor the work that the spirit 22:46 does in the person's life when they're walking in disobedience 22:49 because this is, if you love me keep 22:51 my commandments, conditional and I'll do something. 22:54 And lastly before I turn it back to you, 22:56 John, because I know you. 22:58 John 16:13 are you at 16:13. 23:01 You're in John 16 aren't you? 23:02 Read John 16:13 this is so powerful 23:05 and by the way let me, let me lay the groundwork. 23:08 This is what John was talking about a moment ago. 23:11 When he said there's somebody watching this program 23:13 that does not honor the Seventh-day Sabbath, 23:14 Saturday, sunset Friday to sunset Sabbath. 23:17 But the Spirit of God is working 23:18 in your life in a very powerful way. 23:20 But listen to what he declares he is going to continue to do. 23:22 John 16:13. "However when he the spirit 23:25 of truth has come he will guide you into all truth" 23:28 Into how much truth. "All truth." 23:30 Okay. "For he will not speak 23:32 on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak. 23:35 And he will tell you the things to come." 23:38 Okay, notice what he is going to do. 23:39 He is going to lead you and guide you into all truth, 23:42 into all truth, not some truth. 23:46 So here is what John said also. 23:48 It's now-- I'm doing added commentary 23:51 just to reiterate it and make it very clear. 23:54 When the Lord is leading in your life and you say, 23:58 okay, you know, I could accept that because 24:00 it really doesn't flush to me or change my life too much. 24:05 But that I'm not going to accept that because 24:07 it requires too much of a change. 24:08 That's when you run 24:09 into the grieving process of the Holy Spirit. 24:12 And that's where the Bible says in Ephesians 4:30. 24:16 Now imagine, imagine the Holy Spirit 24:19 leading me to understand a truth. 24:21 And I'll say "Lord I love you 24:24 but I'm not going to keep your commandments." 24:28 And so we're saying, well, what do you mean by that. 24:30 Well, I'm not going to kill and commit adultery 24:32 and steal and lie and cheat and be a false witness 24:35 and dishonor my parents. 24:36 I'm not going to take at the God in place of yours. 24:38 I'm not going to take your name in vain. 24:39 But what I really mean 24:41 by that is I'm going to honor the Sabbath. 24:43 So on that note forget that. 24:45 I'll do everything else. 24:46 That's when you're begun 24:47 to reject the work of the Holy Spirit. 24:50 And the Bible says on that note Ephesians 4:30 24:53 "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit, 24:55 by whom we are sealed for the day of redemption. 24:59 Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. 25:00 You cannot receive the Holy Spirit's 25:03 power in your life if you're disobedient to his leading. 25:07 Okay, John, what do you think. 25:08 No, I think that's- I think that's goods, 25:09 I like another verse that we had talked about before, 25:11 verse 21 of John 14 about that he will manifest himself 25:19 to those who keep his commandments 25:21 and that manifestation of himself 25:23 as to the power of the Holy Spirit. 25:24 So the Holy Spirit when it comes into your life, 25:26 it brings Christ into your life. 25:29 So in that respect what we find is that Christ reveals Himself 25:34 through the power of the Holy Spirit in your life 25:36 when you keep His commandments. 25:37 So clearly obedience here is connected to keeping 25:40 the commandments and following God in the way 25:42 that He wants you to follow Him in His truth. 25:45 And so and clearly we know, Matthew 7, 25:49 John we've read this text before. 25:50 But Matthew 7 says there're many who will do many things 25:52 in his name but when it comes down to it. 25:56 When they meet Jesus face to face, 25:58 Jesus says, I never knew you. 25:59 I didn't know you. 26:01 And here what you just read here in John 14 26:03 was about knowing God. 26:05 It says the world cannot receive him because 26:06 it neither sees him or knows him. 26:08 Apparently knowing God has something 26:11 to do with obeying God. Right. 26:15 Yeah you can't, you can't know God and not obey Him. 26:19 You can't say, I love you Jesus. 26:22 But I'm not changing, I'm not doing, 26:26 I'm not going to now that you've revealed that to me. 26:30 I'm going to say to you right now. 26:31 I'm just not going to go that direction. 26:33 You can't do that. 26:34 A heart that is filled with love is the heart 26:36 that is filled with obedience. 26:38 We may not manifest the strength. 26:40 But we can do all things through Christ to strengthen us. 26:43 So yes John we're saying the same thing 26:46 and that in this sense that we cannot be witnesses of Jesus. 26:50 And this is a point that is very clearly taken here. 26:53 When Dr. Luke wrote that in Acts 5:32, 26:56 he wrote that from the context of being obedient. 26:59 He didn't' write that from the context 27:01 of being disobedient. 27:02 He says we're witnesses. 27:04 I would never ask somebody to be a witness for me 27:10 who I know does not agree with me. 27:14 Can you imagine somebody that goes to-- 27:15 It would be a false teacher immediately. 27:17 How would you empower a false teacher? 27:18 Can you imagine somebody going to speak up 27:20 in your defense and they don't agree with you. 27:21 Yeah, it doesn't work. 27:22 Doesn't make sense, anyway friends--we've one more. 27:25 Let me do one more it's very quick. 27:26 This is a fairly quick answer. 27:28 Hello, John and John, I have lots of questions 27:30 but there is one I just can't wrap 27:31 my mind around, excuse me. 27:33 If God created the earth, and all of the other 27:35 solar systems and galaxies, then why did He single out 27:38 the earth for Satan? 27:40 I assume that in all of the vast universe, 27:42 we're the only ones battling against sin. 27:45 Does that make us just like lab rats? 27:49 You know, just quickly speaking. 27:51 When you look at the story of Satan 27:54 being cast out in Revelation 12. 27:58 it almost gives you the impression 27:59 that he immediately left heaven and came straight 28:03 to the earth as if he had not been anywhere else before. 28:07 Right. Okay, but keep in mind 28:08 that Revelation is the story about earth's history. 28:11 Right. And so there wouldn't 28:13 be including there a lot of other stuff 28:15 about what may have happened. 28:16 But what we do, what most theologians 28:19 do is they look at this whole great controversy theme 28:22 about Satan being cast out of heaven is that if the world 28:26 and Adam and Eve at that time of the controversy's 28:31 beginning the war in heaven. 28:32 If they were around at that time, 28:33 they would have known about that controversy. 28:35 So the likelihood is, that this earth 28:38 had not being created at the time of the rebellion. 28:41 Beginning of it, right. 28:42 The very beginning of it. 28:44 So the earth was created at a time after that and after 28:48 Satan had been cast out, he had to have a place to go. 28:52 I mean, you know, he was wondering 28:54 for long period of time 28:55 and whether that was to other worlds 28:57 where some suggest that may be he had 28:58 tempted other worlds and did not fall. 29:00 I tend to agree with that, that assessment. 29:03 That probably he had tempt other places 29:05 and they did not succumb to his temptations or yield to those. 29:10 But here when he say he was cast to the earth. 29:13 Keep in mind that the Bible often speaks of something 29:16 that God allows as something that he actually does. 29:21 But it says in the context of him doing 29:23 but it's more of him allowing. 29:25 So when it says that he was cast to the earth, 29:28 it means more that God allowed him to come to the earth 29:30 to do tempting of Adam and Eve and then of course 29:34 the result of that is Adam and Eve fell. 29:36 So the context really what God is saying here in his word 29:40 by casting him to the earth wasn't that go tempt 29:43 my earth and get them to fall. 29:44 That was not what he is saying. 29:46 It is saying that he allowed Satan to go to the earth 29:49 to tempt Adam and Eve, to give them that test. 29:53 And then Adam and Eve fell by their own decision. 29:56 By their own decision. 29:57 So there's no, you know, him singling out the earth 30:00 and saying, hey let's go get-- you know, go ahead and go, 30:02 get them and get them to fall. 30:03 That's not really what was happening. 30:05 And also we go back to a particular claim. 30:08 Let me give you an example. 30:09 If I said, if I said to somebody, 30:11 you know, I could beat Mohamed Ali. 30:14 Well, they are not going to send me to fight Mike Tyson, okay. 30:17 Because the claim I made has to be proven false or true. 30:21 The same way Satan would, Satan, 30:24 the claim could have been, you know, mankind 30:27 is going to serve you because they fear you. 30:30 And that's almost a way of guaranteeing 30:32 that you're snuffed out in the very beginning. 30:35 But the love of God, overruled in the fears of men. 30:39 And so the claim had to be tested. 30:42 Okay, will men serve you because 30:44 they have no other choice and so that was the claim? 30:47 And the earth was in the process as I understand 30:49 the earth is in the process of being created at the time 30:51 and the Lord warned Adam and Eve. 30:54 In the day you eat you're going to die. 30:56 He is saying to them, there's a possibility of death. 30:59 Therefore, there is a being lurking that could lead you down 31:02 the path of death. Be careful. 31:05 Rebellion had already begun. 31:06 The rebellion started. 31:07 So he says be careful, so he didn't lab rat us. 31:11 You know lab rat goes to a lab and we feed him, 31:14 fattening him up for the experiment. 31:16 The Lord is not that way. 31:17 He gave Adam and Eve everything they could ever want 31:20 and he said if you obey me, there's so much, 31:24 much more that you just will be blessed with endlessly. 31:27 But he had to give them a test and that's exactly 31:29 the loving heavenly Father He is. 31:30 But no, we're not lab rats. 31:32 You know and someone would say, well, why does anybody 31:34 have to go through a test. 31:35 That's just the way that God works. 31:37 I mean He works to give everyone 31:39 a probationary time, a testing time. 31:40 And as so we are, really. 31:42 Yeah, and we need to-- we prove our loyalty 31:45 by our following, our obedience to Him. 31:47 It's just the way that God works. 31:50 And I mean it's that way with any family, really. 31:54 And we're part of the family because 31:55 we want to be there, we love them. 31:57 But we're part of the family also because 31:58 we live in harmony with the rest of the family members. 32:01 It's right. What would you do 32:02 if you had a son or let say you had two sons and two daughters? 32:05 And one of them had got into the age 32:07 where they did was beat the others up. 32:09 I mean wouldn't you get to the point when you'd say, 32:11 I'm sorry but this is no longer your home. 32:14 Right. I have got to protect 32:15 the others so you're going to have to go somewhere else. 32:18 And so anyway we're talking about dynamics here now. 32:22 But that's what as we read Revelation 12, 32:25 that's what we see as far as Satan's opportunity 32:28 to test the earth, not so much 32:30 that he would sent here to make it fall. 32:33 No, no, no he wasn't sent. 32:35 No more than anybody was-- no more than somebody could say, 32:38 well the reason I smoke cigarette is because 32:39 I passed by the gas station 32:41 and they sell cigarettes, you know. 32:43 We all make decisions and our decisions 32:44 are primarily our responsibility but in the nutshell, 32:48 Jesus has provided a way to escape as well as to overcome 32:52 every attempt that Satan makes to lead us into transgression. 32:54 Thank you so much for your questions and your comments. 32:57 And once again if you have any questions 32:59 you like to send to us. 33:01 You can send them to this email address housecalls@3abn.org. 33:05 that's housecalls@3abn.org. 33:08 And once again if you have snail mail, PO Box 220, 33:11 West Frankfurt, Illinois 62896. and sublet that to 3ABN 33:16 and attention House Calls. 33:18 Thank you so much for that. 33:21 We did a program I think it was our last program 33:24 I believe on the topic of spiritualism 33:26 and we're talking about how Satan deceives. 33:30 How he is a liar. 33:32 How he deceives intentionally. 33:35 And on the issue of the immortality of one soul 33:39 and we were talking about the earthly body 33:42 and the heavenly body and how we don't receive 33:44 a heavenly body when we die. 33:47 We go back to the dust from dust 33:50 thou art to dust thou shall return. 33:54 Ecclesiastes, let's start their, John. 33:57 Okay, and then we're going into the other part 33:58 about absent from the body, present with the Lord. 34:00 Well, we did cover that. Part of that. 34:03 Quite a bit but yeah the issue here is dealing 34:05 with the text that are difficult to understand on this subject. 34:08 But you're right, Ecclesiastes is a good place to go so. 34:10 Because this is one of those text. 34:11 By the way this is a text that is so often misused 34:15 because of what it says. 34:17 Matter of fact read that for us Ecclesiastes 12:7. 34:21 I had an opportunity just this pass weekend to share 34:23 this with my Bible class. 34:26 And I said Ecclesiastes 12:7 is the ultimate end of the person 34:30 who starts out young and grows old, 34:33 then all the sudden they die and something happens. 34:35 And I want you to notice the context 34:37 of that and make emphasis on the word return. 34:40 Yes. It says Ecclesiastes 12:7, 34:43 "Then the dust will return to the earth as it was. 34:48 And the spirit will return to God who gave it." 34:51 Okay, notice two things, return, return. 34:53 You've heard that return to sender. 34:55 Okay, that's exactly what happens here. 34:58 The spirit returns to the giver. 35:01 But what are we made of? 35:03 We're made of dust. 35:05 We return to the earth. 35:07 Now, I'm hearing you say 35:09 that there you go with the soul goes to heaven. 35:12 The word here is not soul, the word here is spirit. 35:15 It's right. 35:17 And Job 27:3 I'll just go ahead and quote it. 35:19 Job 27:3, King James Version. 35:22 "All the while my breath is in me 35:26 and the spirit of God is in my nostrils." 35:29 Genesis 2:7 is that where you are. 35:31 Yes, says the Lord God formed man 35:32 of the dust of the ground and breathe 35:34 into his nostrils the breath of life. 35:36 He gave him something. 35:38 God gave man life. Right. 35:41 And it says man became a living being. 35:44 So he wasn't a being before. No. 35:46 He wasn't a soul existing before all though 35:48 even some denominations teach that, 35:49 that the soul has a body prepared 35:52 for it and the soul is put in there. 35:53 That's not what the Bible says. 35:55 It says the breath of God, the breath of life 35:57 came into that body that was made of dust 35:59 and he became a living being. 36:01 Now what you have here 36:02 in Ecclesiastes is exactly the reverse. 36:04 Okay, there you go. 36:05 You have the reverse of creation. 36:07 The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground. 36:10 And by the way if you look at that 36:13 from a surgeons perspective or what do they call the guys 36:17 that do-what they are called pathologist 36:21 from the perspective of a pathologist, 36:23 it's so much deeper than just forming the skin. 36:27 They go through the bones and marrows, 36:28 they go through all the cellular structure, 36:31 the veins, the arteries, all the organs. 36:34 They can look at this in the deep sense. 36:36 I had a pathologist talked to me once about this 36:38 and he says when we say that God formed 36:40 man of the dust of the ground. 36:41 He says oh, what he did was amazing. 36:44 When you look at the inside of the human body and how it works. 36:47 All that was formed and then God put that life giving spark 36:51 into the body and man became a living being. 36:53 Where as the King James says, a living soul. 36:55 Man became a living soul. 36:57 Man doesn't have a living soul. 36:59 That's right. You know, one of the things 37:01 here as you read this text from Ecclesiastes 12. 37:03 You know, we're talking about 37:05 with the spirit returning to God. 37:06 It doesn't say that any of the elements of man, 37:09 the dust elements of man return to God, 37:11 that they all went to dust. Right. 37:13 Okay, returned to where they came from 37:15 originally created by that dust. 37:18 My question is what is our brain made out of? 37:21 No, no, I want you to finish that topic 37:22 because you headed in the right direction here. 37:24 You're not-- don't change your thought here. 37:26 What's returning to the God? 37:28 You said the spirit is returning to God. 37:29 Yeah, the breath of life. 37:31 The life is returning back to God. 37:32 There you go. Yeah, I'm just quoting 37:34 the scripture here that the spirit 37:35 is the breath of life here that goes back to God. Go ahead. 37:39 And I want to before you segue out of that thought. 37:42 What I want to add to that is what's returning 37:45 to God is what was with Him. 37:49 And you got to get this whole thought 37:51 because if you say what's returning to God is the soul 37:53 that means we're in heaven now. 37:55 We're in essence saying we were there already. 37:57 And we got a soul. 37:58 That's where they get this teaching from the soul 38:00 being put into a body. 38:01 Right, they, so they, you're saying 38:03 they have all this souls in heaven that came down 38:05 and was stuck into a body and then when they are done, 38:08 they go back to heaven for the heavenly body 38:11 and when they're done with the heavenly body 38:13 at the resurrection they get an earthly body 38:14 confusion, not scriptural. 38:17 So what I'm saying here if the dust goes to the ground 38:21 and we talk about the brain, the makeup of the brain, 38:24 the elements of the brain, the chemical parts of the brain 38:26 being made up of dust not life itself. 38:30 That's not what the brain is. 38:32 Then my question is that if that brain doesn't go to heaven, 38:37 then how do you think or know anything is going on in heaven. 38:40 Okay. Ask any scientist 38:46 what the brain is for. 38:49 And they will tell you it's to think. 38:52 It gives us the capacity to think, to do things. 38:55 Neuron is fired to reason, to evaluate 38:58 and assess things to have an element of capacity 39:03 of being able to process some amazing things. 39:07 Those things happen in our brain 39:09 and so how is it that someone can say, 39:11 well the soul goes back to God and they commune with God 39:13 and they talk with God and they enjoy heavens with God, 39:17 when the brain is in the ground as dust. 39:22 It doesn't make any sense. 39:23 Because what you're saying then is that the brain 39:26 really isn't the brain, the brain doesn't 39:27 do what we say it does. 39:29 It's the soul that does it. 39:31 And that's not true. 39:32 Because you know when you study the brain, 39:34 I mean I've read some of the stuff 39:36 as I was preparing for the sermon here one time 39:38 and you know when you have a thought process, 39:40 when the thought goes through your mind, 39:42 you have these neurons that fire and then there's just like 39:45 hard wiring that occurs in your brain, 39:47 something called an axiom. 39:48 And actually creates an extension within your brain 39:52 that if repeated it becomes stronger and stronger. 39:55 It's an axiom it becomes, first of all it may be a dirt road, 39:59 then it may be gravel road and if you continue 40:01 repeat it may be a superhighway and that's how we create habits. 40:06 Because our brains are wired to do certain things 40:08 and we wire them by the things that we do. 40:11 That is something that is part of who we are, 40:15 our makeup our dust, John, that isn't our soul doing it. 40:20 And when we say, when anyone says, well, 40:22 it's the immoral soul that goes back to God that lives. 40:25 But our brain with the rest of our body 40:27 returns as dust to the ground. 40:29 It doesn't calculate. 40:32 I mean you can't even present that to a scientist logically. 40:36 No, you can't Because he will not 40:37 or she will not get it. 40:39 What do you mean, no the brain is how you think, 40:41 how can you be in heaven. Without the brain. 40:43 And think without brain, it doesn't make sense. 40:46 So that's one of the things that as always baffled me 40:48 and help to clarify in my own mind 40:49 that when we return, when the spirit returns, 40:53 it is only the breath, a life giving power of God 40:56 that he gives initially that goes back to him 40:59 to later bestow upon everyone 41:02 that who are his children at the resurrection. 41:04 Okay and, John, this is so elementary to us, 41:08 yet it's so confusing to so many. 41:10 And I'm not saying that all of you who are listening 41:11 are not catching on here. 41:13 The point of the matter is, Jesus is the resurrection, 41:19 He has the power, He has the keys of death 41:22 and of the grave, He is the only one to conquer death. 41:26 He is the resurrection and the life 41:29 and on the very thought, no pun intended, 41:34 of the function of the brain. 41:35 This is what happens when we die. 41:37 Psalms 146:4. It says, "His breath goes forth 41:43 he returns to his earth in that very day his thoughts perish." 41:49 Now this is the only way that text makes sense. 41:52 Okay. the breath goes forth, 41:55 it returns to God, that's the spirit. 41:57 What happens to the body? 41:59 His breath returns to the earth. 42:00 Returns to earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. 42:03 They cease. Why are they ceased? 42:04 Because the brain that causes you the ability, 42:06 it gave you the ability to think is now gone. 42:09 Back to the earth in dust form. 42:11 Psalms 115:7, "The dead 42:14 do not praise the Lord, neither any 42:19 that go down into silence." 42:22 I'm gonna say that one more time 42:23 because you may say wait a minute,wait a minute, 42:24 I had not heard that before, that's the point. 42:26 Many of these religious teachers sequester you from reading 42:30 those texts because they know if you read those Bible verses, 42:33 it will open your eyes. 42:34 In order to sustain the foolish non scriptural thought 42:38 that you die and go to heaven. 42:39 You're up in heaven praising the Lord 42:41 or if it's Dean Martin dancing on the streets of gold. 42:43 Sammy Davis Jr. the Rat Pack, 42:46 if somebody said Liberace who played piano 42:47 is up in heaven playing piano. 42:49 Fully, fully nonsense lies to be very frank with you. 42:53 Deception to speak of the spiritualistic aspect of it. 42:57 Psalms 115:17 once again the dead, 43:03 the dead that's the absence of life, 43:05 the dead do not praise the Lord. 43:08 They are not in heaven saying praise you Lord, 43:09 I'm so glad to be here. 43:10 The dead do not praise the Lord 43:12 neither do any that go down into silence. 43:16 You're taught by your pastor, they go up into praise. 43:19 My mother is with the Lord now. 43:23 I hear preachers say that, well, you know 43:24 my father is the great musician but he is with the Lord now. 43:27 It's wonderful as that sounds, it is not true. 43:32 Can you say that any other way? No. 43:34 It's a deception. Now, John, 43:36 let's use what we have just established here. 43:39 Okay. To deal with the next issue. 43:41 Okay. Because I hear the next question 43:43 and we've dealt this before, we go to the next question. 43:45 What about all the souls under the altar in heaven? 43:49 Okay, let's, just let-- 43:51 We got to talk about that because I know 43:52 that's what people are thinking. 43:53 Well, if they're not in heaven, it says there right there. 43:56 Bible says the souls are in heaven. 43:58 Okay, let's go, let's go there. 43:59 So let's go. Revelations 6:9, 44:07 "When He opened the fifth seal, 44:08 I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain 44:13 for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 44:17 And they cried with a loud voice, 44:19 saying, 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, 44:22 until You judge and avenge our blood 44:25 on those who dwell on the earth?'" 44:28 Okay. "Then a white robe 44:29 was given to each of them, and it was said 44:31 to them that they should rest a little while longer, 44:33 until both the number of their fellow servants 44:35 and their brethren, who would be killed 44:36 as they were, was completed." 44:40 Now remember, first of all, 44:41 we endowed with this as early on in our question time. 44:44 Revelation is a highly symbolic book. 44:48 So what we already know about what happens when we die. 44:52 How the dust goes back to the earth, 44:54 how our breath goes back to God, 44:56 the breath of life goes back to God who gave it. 44:58 What we know about that is our foundation already. 45:01 We read this and we say right there this cannot be literal. 45:06 Don't we? This cannot be literal 45:09 because that's not what happens when you die. 45:13 So then we have to look this in a symbolic sense. 45:16 What is this saying about the souls under the altars, 45:21 who were crying out to God? 45:23 Believe or not there are other places in scripture 45:26 where God refers to the analogy of blood crying out. 45:32 Okay. Martyr's crying out 45:34 to him by their blood, by their death. 45:36 In other words, God hears the echoes of their voice 45:40 for vengeance, to redeem them 45:43 and to avenge the blood that was taken as a result 45:46 of their faithfulness to Him. 45:48 This goes way back to Cain and Abel. 45:50 I mean may be you have that text. 45:51 Are you looking at that one? 45:53 But in Genesis God talks about when he talks to Cain, 45:58 he says the blood of your brother Abel cries out 45:59 to me from the ground. 46:01 Now is the blood really crying? 46:04 Is the blood actually, Lord, 46:06 you know I'm dead avenge me, no it's not. 46:08 It's saying that bloods served as remainder to God Himself 46:12 that He needs to avenge Abel in his martyrdom 46:16 or for his martyrdom for his brother killing him. 46:19 And so that's the confrontation that he is having with Cain. 46:21 And so through our scripture 46:22 we find that God remembers His faithful. 46:26 God remembers those who are faithful to Him, 46:28 who are martyred for Him. 46:30 And as some point of time vengeance as we know, 46:33 it belongs to the Lord. 46:34 It says here in chapter in what the text 46:37 we just read it says they're to rest a little while longer. 46:39 Where are they resting by the way? 46:41 Where does anybody rest to die? 46:42 In the grave. In the grave, 46:43 not under the altar. 46:45 They're not restricted as some altar 46:46 I mean can you imagine all the millions overtime 46:49 being under altar just not being able to move. 46:51 And another reason it tells you 46:53 this is symbolic, it can't be literal. 46:55 The resting in the grave and they are to rest 46:57 in that grave a little longer until God avenges them 47:01 for what someone has done to them 47:04 in taking their lives of the faithful. 47:06 I'm going to respond to that and, 47:08 you know, this is so powerful, 47:09 John, and the text that you were alluding 47:11 to or suggesting here is in Genesis 4:8. 47:17 "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, 47:19 when they were in the field, that Cain rose up 47:21 against Abel his brother, and killed him. 47:24 And Lord said unto to him, Genesis 4:9, 47:27 where is Abel your brother and he said I don't know. 47:30 Am I my brothers keeper. 47:32 That's you hear that from. 47:33 And he says what has thou done. 47:36 The voice of thy brothers blood." 47:40 Now the question you got to ask here is does blood have a voice. 47:44 Now, John, this powerful. 47:47 We're living in 2000 in the 2000s 47:50 it could be 8, 9 or whatever, whenever you see this program. 47:54 Forensics scientist will that tell you that blood has a voice. 48:00 All right. Forensic files, 48:01 there are cases that are being solved 30 years later 48:05 because of the evidences that were left by the blood. 48:10 There are fingerprints there is DNA that now speaks louder 48:15 than all the evidences in some court cases 25 to 30 years ago. 48:20 So the Lord has worked it out in such a way 48:23 that your existence is something that has a continual voice. 48:30 That's why when a person speaks, 48:32 we speak in a number of ways. 48:33 We speak audibly but sometimes people will speak even louder 48:38 in their death than in their life. 48:40 The example was it talked about Samson the Bible says 48:43 he killed more in his death than he did in his life. 48:47 He accomplished the mission of God in his death 48:49 more effectively than he did in his life. 48:52 Jesus, let's look at this go down to path now. 48:55 Where did Jesus accomplished His mission? 48:57 In His death and resurrection. 49:01 His life laid the foundation but His death sealed Satan's faith. 49:06 His resurrection assured that we'll come forth from the grave. 49:09 So does the blood cry out? 49:11 Yes, it does. These martyrs talked about 49:13 in Revelation who died during the Dark Ages, 49:17 who died in the time of serving Christ. 49:19 Who were killed by Roman emperor Diocletian 49:22 who were martyred throughout 49:23 the early stages of the Christian Church. 49:26 Where people whose existence Lord is saying, 49:29 I see what you-you have you have given your life for me. 49:32 And that's what's in essence being said, 49:34 so we talk about vengeance. 49:36 And so let me go back to my initial thought. 49:39 Our forensic files will say, you know, what? 49:41 This is what's called un-they used to call unsolved mysteries. 49:45 But now it's called forensics whatsoever. 49:47 Powerful, I like the look of the scientific stuff. 49:50 They say we now have the evidence 49:52 to show that your DNA was at that crime scene 25 years ago. 49:57 And your blood and your victim's blood was commingled. 50:02 There's no way that could not have-- 50:04 that could have happened, unless you were 50:06 in the same place that you claim 50:08 not to have been on the night 50:09 that you claim to have been somewhere else. 50:11 And I have seen people convicted 30 years later 50:13 and then they finally say, okay, I did it. 50:17 I'm now 75 years old, what you're going to do, 50:19 put me in jail for the rest of my life, 50:20 I'm going to die in 5 years anyway and they put him in jail. 50:23 And so in an essence is being said here is all of those 50:25 who gave their lives to Christ, they want to know 50:29 that they did not die in vain. 50:32 They want to know as John mentioned 50:34 I think in one of the program Hebrews 11. 50:36 They didn't die in vain. 50:38 So that's the purpose of that. 50:40 Listen to this from 1 Peter 1:3, 50:45 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 50:48 Who according to his abandoned mercy 50:49 has begotten us again 50:51 to a living hope through, guess what. 50:54 The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 50:57 To inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, 51:01 and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you." 51:07 Why is it reserved? 51:09 What do you think God does with the spirit 51:11 that goes back to Him? 51:13 He holds that DNA, He holds that reservation. 51:17 That blood that was yours, He holds 51:19 all the primary suspects everything 51:21 on that to give life back to you. 51:24 So that when you're raised again you're not as. 51:27 You're not some totally new unrecognizable being. 51:30 Right. You resemble what you were 51:32 but this time perfect undefiled, uncorrupted. 51:35 And, you know, who could do that better 51:36 than God and, you know, when John says, 51:37 He reserves, he is not saying that God has the forensic files. 51:40 No. But that's what makes God, God. 51:43 In a symbolic sense In a symbolic sense. 51:44 That's what makes God, God. 51:46 He-- I love the text. 51:48 We died and this is the spiritual sense. 51:51 We died and our life is hidden with Christ in God. 51:54 Okay, so when the Bible talks about that. 51:56 In the same way he called Lazarus from the tomb. 52:00 He is able to call us back from the dead. 52:02 In Ezekiel another example was the Valley of the Dry Bones. 52:07 And the question was? 52:09 The question that was asked to Elijah was, 52:12 can these dead bones live. 52:14 And I like the way Elijah answer that. 52:17 He said to the Lord, Lord you know. 52:21 He says in this, if I'm looking 52:25 at this valley of dead bones, dried bone, dried bones. 52:28 What they meant by dried bones is all the marrow that's gone. 52:33 It's just clank, clank, its not thum, thum, it's clank, clank. 52:36 So, he says to Lord, Lord, you know. 52:40 That's the smart answer. 52:42 And, John, we have a short time here, let's wrap this up. 52:44 Go for it. Because this program 52:45 is on spiritualism, not what happens when you die? 52:48 Okay, so let's come back and let's finish this. 52:50 So here is why we say that this is an avenue of spiritualism. 52:57 Okay. It's because when we have 52:58 our minds open and receptive to the idea that our loved ones 53:02 are living in heaven right now and can communicate somehow 53:04 with us then we're open to communicating with spirits 53:07 who are going to deceive us and tell us things 53:09 that are not sure in the last days. 53:10 That's right. And when we read 53:12 this text from Revelation 16 talking about 53:16 there are spirits of demons verse 14, 53:19 which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole earth 53:22 to gather them to the battle of the great day 53:24 of God almighty which is Armageddon. 53:26 Spiritual battle by the way between truth and evil, 53:29 truth and error, good and evil. 53:31 Then what we are saying is that they begin to communicate 53:35 more with leaders of the world. 53:37 And more that that even with beings in this world 53:40 who are open to that communication 53:42 and they don't come as Satan and his angels. 53:45 They come as beings of brightness, 53:47 dazzling brightness, saying, I'm your loved one 53:50 who is passed on, who is heaven now. 53:52 Let me tell you? What you're seeing here it's the way, 53:56 take the way I'm waiting for you. 53:58 A place is here for you follow what your voice is saying. 54:01 And you have this deceptive voice, this angel of Satan. 54:04 I mean Satan or his angels talking communicating 54:07 with people who don't realize who they are communicating with. 54:11 And so God said never communicate with the dead 54:14 that's the first thing. 54:15 But I think we live that door open by even thinking 54:18 that we can if we want to. 54:20 In the last days many, John, will be deceived 54:23 just because they believe this, this doctrine, false doctrine. 54:29 And so clearly we're saying going back to that whole thing. 54:31 Satan is behind the scenes in the spiritualism. 54:33 We can go to the surface things about 54:35 the movies about, you know, ghosts. 54:39 Movies are communicating with the dead these days too. 54:42 All of that stuff. They paint in a nice good light. 54:44 You know good, "good light." 54:46 But still, it's taken us down the road we don't want to go. 54:50 I remember when they started here. 54:51 And this is the process by the way 54:53 that has been going on for long time. 54:54 When I was growing up, John, you may remember this Casper 54:57 What kind of the ghost? 54:58 The friendly ghost. 55:00 He went from Casper being 55:01 the friendly ghost to Poltergeist. 55:03 And you know remember that. 55:05 I laugh but it's sad. 55:06 They said that many of the cast in that program 55:09 either something happened to them, 55:10 the little girl that was in the movie died. 55:12 I think two or three people in the cast. 55:14 The Exorcist people died that way in the cast. 55:17 They had problems even filming that movie, the exorcist. 55:20 Because of the incredible darkness that was there. 55:24 And Satan manifested himself in a powerful way 55:26 in that sense of darkness, so here is the other point. 55:29 Don't think that you could dabble in spiritualism. 55:31 And, John, I think this program is--this can go on 55:34 and on because spiritualism also manifest itself in other ways 55:37 in the church that people think is really righteous ways. 55:40 But don't' think that we could dabble in anything 55:42 that's dark and expect light to come out 55:44 of it and not have some kind of lasting impact 55:46 on our spiritual walk with God. 55:48 Samuel, Saul that's another story we didn't read. 55:51 But suffice it to say we've got to know 55:55 that what is being said in the word of God 55:58 is over the fact that when you die, 56:00 you really are dead and there's nothing going 56:02 on that happens after that. 56:04 I will give it back to you, John, here. 56:05 Job 14:21, the Bible says, his sons come to honor 56:09 and he doesn't know it. 56:10 They are brought low and he does not perceive it. 56:12 That's what happens when you go to a funeral, 56:15 when you go to the cemetery on memorial day, 56:17 you may go and take food and plants. 56:20 They don't' even know you're there. 56:22 Taking comfort in my last words here. 56:24 Take comfort also for those who have loved ones 56:28 that have passed on that aren't believers. 56:30 Right. Because they're not burning 56:32 in hell right now either. 56:33 God doesn't deal with them to burn throughout eternity 56:36 in the fires of hell that are kindled even now. 56:38 Because you know of the soul is immortal 56:39 it's got to be somewhere. 56:41 If it's not in heaven, it's in hell. 56:42 Or funeral have you ever been to where they said. 56:45 we meet us to pay our last respects 56:47 to this young man burning in hell as we speak. 56:49 I mean you never hear that. 56:51 Cynical but true. Revelation clearly says 56:53 in the end of Chapter 20 that the lake of fire is kindled 56:58 from fire from heaven 56:59 and in instant at the end that burns the wicked. 57:03 They're not burning now it happens in an event. 57:05 At the end of time some will burn longer than others 57:07 according to the judgment that is rendered upon them. 57:10 But still that's a one time event, 57:11 there is no hell today. 57:13 And it's called the second death. 57:14 The second death. That's right. 57:15 So friends, let the word. I mean 57:16 let the word of God be your sole spoke. 57:18 There're some people that are so wonderful and so convincing. 57:21 But I want you to know and 2 Corinthians 11:13, 57:26 Satan is behind the scenes but Jesus 57:29 wants to lead you to the truth today. 57:30 May He be the one in your life, so have a great day in Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17