Participants: John Lomacang, John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL100008
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00:01 Hello, friends, grab your Bible and a friend
00:02 and sit back as we explore God's word together 00:04 on this edition of House calls. 00:20 Hello, and welcome to House calls, 00:22 the best program on the planet. 00:24 If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't be here 00:26 and neither would John, right? 00:27 Yeah. It's good to be here. 00:28 And we're glad you've chosen to tune and to join us 00:31 in an excursion through the word of God 00:33 one that's never unexciting, 00:35 which means it's always exciting, 00:37 always filled with tremendous blessings. 00:39 So sit back, get your pencil, hit the record button. 00:42 This is a program you definitely 00:44 do not want to miss. 00:45 We're gonna be covering some exciting topics today, John. 00:47 Are we not? Yes, we are. 00:49 In fact, we keep on getting certain questions 00:52 that have a theme, an underlying theme. 00:54 And we're gonna try and address one of those today. 00:56 Okay, well, before we do anything though, 00:58 we're gonna have prayer, 00:59 and, John, would you lead us 01:01 before the thrown-in. Absolutely, prayer. 01:03 Our Father in Heaven, you are so gracious to us 01:05 and we just thank You for that and pray 01:07 that You would empower us today as we study Your word. 01:11 Through Your Holy Spirit, 01:13 lead and guide us in the things 01:14 that we talk about or may You be glorified 01:17 in everything that is said and done. 01:18 In Jesus name, amen. Amen. 01:21 Well, friends, as you know, 01:22 your Bible questions are big part of this program 01:25 and we thank you for being faithful 01:26 in sending those questions in. 01:29 I know that every program we have it 01:30 always activates in your mind something 01:32 that you want to ask or may be a comment you want to make 01:34 and we thank you for both 01:36 the questions and the comments, 01:38 but if you have either one you would like to send to us 01:40 by email, the address is housecalls@3abn.org. 01:44 That's housecalls@3abn.org. 01:48 Send those to that email and we'll get it, 01:51 but if you have the envelope 01:52 and you want to send it that way, 01:53 that's PO Box 220, West Frankfort, Illinois 62896. 01:59 John, what do we have today 02:00 as far as questions are concerned? 02:02 We've some great questions definitely 02:04 and we always have great questions, 02:06 but, you know, they sometimes 02:09 follow a certain kind of line of thought or reasoning 02:12 and it really helps us kind of keep in touch with, 02:14 you know, those who are watching 02:15 and listening and this is one of those. 02:18 Hello, Pastor John and John, 02:20 thank you so much for what you're doing 02:22 and the clarity you bring to the word of God. 02:23 Thank you very much for that. 02:25 Praise the Lord. 02:26 Can you please explain verse-- 02:28 the verse in Isaiah Chapter 4? 02:31 And that is specifically verse 1. 02:33 Oh, that's a good one. 02:34 So let's take a look at that here, 02:36 Isaiah 4 verse 1. 02:37 We'll go ahead and read that 02:38 and I'll share a couple of things. 02:39 And John, I know that you've even preached on this 02:41 before so you want to share some thoughts. Oh, yeah. 02:44 Isaiah 4 verse 1 says, 02:49 "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, 02:54 saying, we will eat our own food, 02:57 and wear our own apparel, 02:59 only let us be called by your name, 03:01 to take away our reproach." 03:05 And there's a lot of symbolism there. 03:07 You know, we find that probably 03:10 in a literal sense here, 03:12 there isn't a lot of this kind of thing 03:14 that we can imagine really happening. 03:17 Although I guess you could say 03:19 that there could be one man that is so attractive 03:21 that seven women would want to go after him. 03:23 The Bible's not really talking about that. That's right. 03:25 You should hear really is the second part 03:27 of this verse is let us do our own thing, 03:31 but let us be called by your name. 03:34 So there is something-- there is one thing that this 03:37 man has that's enticing to these women. 03:42 But they don't want the rest of it. 03:44 And I think that as we take a look at this verse, 03:48 we can't help, but see 03:49 that there is a connection here to Christ being the man 03:53 as you read the book of Revelation and other places 03:56 that God wants to give us His name 03:58 and when you become a Christian of course, 04:00 C-h-r-i-s-t is part of the word Christian. 04:03 We take on the name of Christ. 04:05 Even third commandment 04:06 that shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain 04:08 has more to do with how we act as Christians 04:14 after we receive the name of Christ 04:15 than it does with cursing. That's right. 04:18 People are not gonna realize that. 04:19 They think, well, you said God's name 04:20 that's against the third commandment. 04:22 Well, yes, but what really is the problem 04:26 especially in the last days 04:28 and it's been this way for a long time. 04:29 But really now especially is that we're seeing in public, 04:33 a professing of Christ name of Christianity, 04:37 but the acts the way of the life, the lifestyle, 04:43 the way that they're modeling 04:44 Christ is not Christ like at all. Right. 04:48 And so we're finding that these women here 04:50 they want the name of Christ and what it brings. 04:53 Jesus, our savior, who will-- who through Him 04:57 we enter into heaven for eternal bliss. 05:00 They like that part, but the changing of the life. 05:04 The things required to order your life 05:07 in harmony with what His will is. 05:09 They don't like and so that's why the words they are said, 05:12 hey, you know, we want to do I left at there-- 05:16 Eat our own bread. Eat our own bread. 05:18 They want to do own thing. Wear our own apparel. 05:20 They want to look the way that they want to look. 05:23 That is something that they're not willing to give up. 05:26 But they like the name of Christ. 05:28 So this is really what it means. 05:29 And I know, we'll expand. 05:30 It's just kind of an opening comment there, 05:31 but essentially that's what it's talking about. Okay. 05:35 And true, you know, the Bible, 05:36 when the Bible brings this subject into full view, 05:40 garments has everything to do with 05:43 before and after sin. That's right. 05:44 Garments has everything to do with that. 05:46 As a matter of fact, I have in front of me 05:48 what I want to share with you Genesis 2 and verse 25, 05:50 the Bible says, referring to Adam and Eve, his wife. 05:54 It says, and they both were naked, 05:56 the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. 05:59 Now it talked about they didn't have on 06:01 physical clothing, as we have today 06:03 but they were covered in the garment of Christ. 06:06 His righteousness, this garment 06:08 that they lost after they sinned 06:11 and as you know in Genesis 3, 06:13 the Bible says in Genesis 3 and verse 7, 06:16 then the eyes of both of them were opened, 06:17 and they knew that they were naked, 06:19 and they sewed fig leaves together 06:21 and made themselves covering. 06:24 And in this case, that's exactly 06:25 what's happening on Isaiah. 06:26 They're making coverings for themselves. 06:29 They were still the creation of God. 06:32 Adam was still made by God. 06:34 Eve was still made from Adam. 06:36 And was still a creation of God, 06:37 but it says they made themselves covering 06:40 and the difference is when the Lord came looking for them 06:45 and He said in Genesis 3 and verse 10, 06:49 when He called them, 06:50 this is the response that Adam gave, 06:52 so He said that is Adam said, 06:55 I heard your voice in the garden 06:57 and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. 07:00 Now this is funny, John. 07:02 They'd already made themselves covering, 07:05 but when the Lord called Adam 07:07 and he came before the Lord, 07:08 he said I was naked this is why I was hiding. 07:11 He noted-- he acknowledged 07:12 that his covering really keeps him as naked 07:16 because it was not the covering 07:17 that God gave to him. 07:18 So what I'm first connecting here is in Isaiah 4, 07:22 those who eat their own bread 07:24 and we could talk about bread all day long. 07:26 I'll let you talk about that next. 07:28 But we know what that means synonymously in scripture. 07:31 But those who wear their own apparel, 07:33 those who have their own garments 07:34 of righteousness are naked before the Lord. 07:38 Because they're self righteous. 07:40 Okay. That's right. 07:41 And then Genesis 3 and verse 11, 07:43 is what exactly the Lord dealt with them. 07:46 This is what he said and he said--the Lord said, 07:49 who told you that you were naked. 07:53 Have you eaten from the tree of which 07:55 I commanded you that you should not eat? 07:58 And usually when we do what God tells us not to do, 08:01 it leads to losing His righteousness. 08:03 It leads to a garment that we've to substitute. 08:06 In this sense, Isaiah says, 08:09 they're those who just want His name, 08:11 but they don't want His garment. 08:13 Yeah. Okay. 08:14 The other thing too it says and you've mentioned 08:15 this before about eating their own food. 08:19 You know, the bread of life is synonymous with scripture. 08:24 Studying the word of God 08:25 and letting it come into your heart 08:26 and allowing to transform your life and your mind. 08:29 They want to read other things. 08:32 They want to order their life 08:34 and harmony with other principles besides God's word. 08:37 There is no transformation of the life. 08:39 There is just a desire to be called by the name of Christ 08:42 because they do recognize the Christ is the Savior 08:46 and that's the key for this verse, I think. 08:48 This is more of talking about people 08:51 who are professed Christians 08:53 then it is talking about those 08:55 who do not profess Christianity 08:56 who want nothing to do with God. Okay. 08:58 So really what we're looking at is the church... 09:02 full of names-- people 09:04 who profess Christ and His name, 09:06 but have left that sanctifying element 09:09 out of the Christian experience. 09:11 They just want the name of Christ. 09:13 They don't want anything to do with the changed life. 09:16 As a matter of fact, to build on that, 09:20 they're also substituting. 09:24 Let's go down the road little bit on this topic. 09:28 Their substitution falls into every different categories, 09:31 but they really fall under one classification, 09:34 your own righteousness or your own, 09:37 well, yeah, that's the best one, your own righteousness. 09:39 This is not the righteousness of Jesus. 09:43 And Jesus addressed this one 09:45 in Revelation Chapter 16, verse 15. 09:47 He says, behold, I'm coming as a thief. 09:50 Blessed as He who watches, and keeps his garments, 09:55 lest he walks naked, and they see his shame. 09:59 So you see there, the garment 10:01 that the Lord is saying that we all need 10:04 is the garment He gave to us. 10:06 Because there is no other garment 10:07 that could keep us from being naked than his garment 10:11 and that's a very amazing comparison 10:14 the Bible uses all the time 10:16 and I thought it was not unusual, 10:18 John, that one of the conditions 10:20 of the last church is they're wretched, 10:23 miserable, poor, blind, and naked. 10:27 So we're living in a very, 10:29 we're living in a naked age in more ways than one. 10:33 Well, you already know about the fashions 10:34 and Lord have mercy when the summer comes. 10:38 But we're all--we're all living in a naked age 10:41 in the very same way we're living in an age 10:43 where Christianity is more naked than ever before. 10:48 The Lord is saying the problem with that is they're naked. 10:51 They're wretched. They're miserable. 10:53 They're poor. They're blind, 10:55 but they don't even know it. Right. 10:56 So the substitutes make them think 10:59 that somehow these substitutes are good enough 11:02 to take the place of what the Lord really requires. Yeah. 11:05 The other verse that comes to mind 11:07 is from Second Timothy Chapter 3:1 through 4. 11:11 It says--oh, 1 through 5. 11:14 But know this that in the last days 11:15 perilous times will come. 11:17 For men will be lovers of themselves. 11:19 And it goes through a list of things here, 11:21 lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, 11:23 disobedient to parents, various things. 11:26 But then he gets down to verse 5--verse 4, 11:30 lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. 11:33 See they don't love God, 11:36 although they're taking on the name of God 11:38 and we know that because verse 5 says 11:39 having a form of Godliness, 11:42 which I would suggest is simply the name. 11:45 That's another good one. That's a very good one. 11:46 But denying its power. 11:48 So they don't want-- they want the name, 11:50 but they don't want to be transformed 11:52 into the likeness of Christ 11:54 and I think that's one of the reasons 11:55 why we've got a program we're gonna do here soon. 11:59 Not today, but coming up here 12:01 on what salvation really means. That's right. 12:03 It's not only the--taking the name of Christ, 12:06 the imputed righteousness of Christ, 12:08 but Christ imparting to us his likeness, 12:11 his righteousness, transforming our lives. 12:14 That's a part of the salvation experience. 12:16 And so it's so essential to recognize that, 12:18 that part is needed in our lives 12:21 as we prepare for his return to entering to glory. 12:25 You find that the reason 12:26 why a lot of these things exists, 12:27 because we're living in an age of substitutes. 12:29 And we think about it, John, I remember not many years ago, 12:33 I did a sermon and I did some comparisons between, 12:38 you know, a rhinestone and a diamond, 12:41 a leather and pleather. 12:43 And we're living in an age where things look genuine, 12:47 but they're not really made. 12:48 And if you get close enough, 12:50 you see this on the label, manmade material. 12:55 And there is a lot of manmade religion today. 12:58 A lot of manmade substitutes 13:00 under the guise of Christianity. 13:01 You go to various churches around the world 13:03 and lot of things are manmade. 13:05 Well, the problem with that is they may feel-- 13:07 they may make you feel like the real thing 13:10 would make you feel, but in fact it's a substitute 13:12 when you go down to the base of it. 13:15 So the point is this, you cannot base 13:18 your experience on what it feels like. Right. 13:21 Because there are sometimes synthetic leather 13:24 may feel at the beginning like real leather, 13:27 but we all know that synthetic leather will not stretch. 13:30 It won't stand the test of time. 13:32 Okay, say that again. 13:34 It won't stand the test of time. 13:35 It won't-- It will fail. 13:36 That's a very good comparison. 13:38 Manmade things do not stand the test of time. 13:41 They cannot take the scuffing and the buffing 13:44 because what happens is you know right away 13:46 when you go through a difficulty. 13:47 You hit that shoe and scrape that manmade material 13:51 you can fix that like you can buff out and fix leather. 13:54 Yeah. Very true. 13:55 So-- Good question. 13:57 You find that, that way. 13:59 From Larissa. She is from Germany. 14:00 Thank you. Good question from Germany. 14:02 That's a good one, manmade material. 14:05 I'm gonna read a comment here 14:06 and I'm gonna let you go to the question next 14:07 because we've some wonderful things 14:08 to cover in the program. 14:10 The question I'm gonna read right after you 14:11 do your next one is gonna segue us into the program. 14:14 But, thank you, Michael. 14:17 Michael, I won't give the last name 14:18 because there are lot of Michael's out there, 14:21 but you know who you are. 14:22 Thank you for this wonderful comment. 14:23 It says, I would to congratulate you John 14:28 and John for presenting such an interesting program. 14:31 You could tell he's not from America. 14:32 He spells with M-M-E. 14:35 I'm not an STA yet, but I'm a Bible lover 14:40 and I like to see different points of you 14:42 on several subjects, although 14:45 I might not agree with all of your conclusions. 14:48 I do not have a question for this letter, 14:52 but I will be getting in touch again soon. 14:55 Keep up the good work. 14:56 Christian love to you both. Bro, Mike. 14:59 Thank you, Bro Mike. 15:01 The nice thing about that is that this Mike, 15:05 this man really is open to the word. 15:07 He talks about loving the Bible. 15:09 Open to hearing God's voice 15:10 and I think the recognition that we do the same. 15:14 We love to read the word of God 15:17 and we're open to His reading 15:19 and that's really all that the Lord asked for. 15:22 Truly. It's for us to listen. Yeah. 15:24 Truly thank you for that comment. 15:25 This question is similar to what your transitional 15:28 question is going to be. Okay. 15:29 That's why I thought I would read this well. 15:31 How do you know my transitional question is gonna be? 15:33 Because I may have talked about it 15:34 with you in advance. Okay. 15:38 We don't do a lot of planning, 15:40 but we do talk a little bit before. 15:42 Okay. Okay, here we go. 15:43 House calls, if I see an error in the church, 15:47 what should I do in light of Revelation 18:14. 15:51 I listen to Doug Banister's sermon on the 144,000. 15:55 And he talks about that being a literal number. 15:58 I studied it with the BRI, 16:01 Biblical Research Institute says on the same subject. 16:04 They say it's symbolic. 16:06 I always believe the number is literal. 16:07 Why are we not believing and preaching 16:09 the same thing at this late hour? 16:11 When are we gonna be in one accord? 16:14 Essentially, John, this subject, 16:16 Sister White actually spoke directly on. 16:18 The 144,000 issue, so I wrote down here 16:24 if I could find it. I wrote down here. 16:29 Real quickly if I could see. Here we are. 16:32 Just a quote, this is from Selected Messages page 174. 16:35 She says, we're not to enter into controversy over this 16:38 who can price this number. Okay. 16:40 The 144,000 will be discussed, 16:43 but we're not to enter into controversy over it. 16:45 So, we're to agree to disagree on this kind of subject 16:48 and I think she says that about various subjects 16:51 that are not salvific issues. 16:54 Not issues that are going 16:55 to save or lose somebody in the kingdom. 17:00 And so when you're talking about some of these things, 17:02 there just are certain topics 17:05 that we're not going to entirely agree upon. Right. 17:09 But those things we're not to argue about, 17:11 but we're to link together 17:12 and still work for the kingdom of God 17:14 because the essentials, salvation through Christ, 17:18 the salvation experience that we all have, 17:20 justification, sanctification, issues involving 17:24 the Ten Commandments, the pillar issues. Right. 17:27 Those are the issues we cannot divide on. 17:29 We need to unite on. 17:30 And in those cases I would say if they come up 17:32 and you're finding error in the church, 17:35 the place of the thing to follow would be Matthew 18. 17:39 You know go and talk to the person 17:40 who may have shared that, 17:41 then go beyond that and bring a couple with the individual. 17:44 Then you go beyond that and maybe it comes 17:45 before the church and the conference might get involved. 17:48 So there's a multitude of counselors 17:51 involved in the situation. 17:53 But the worst thing I think we can do, 17:54 John, and you know this as well as 17:56 a pastor is to--to talk about it quietly behind the scenes. 18:01 To criticize and to begin to rally the troops 18:04 against before that person even realizes what's happening, 18:07 then you create division in the church, 18:10 something that does not please the Lord. 18:12 I call that Christian, a termite Christian. 18:15 You don't see them, 18:16 but they silently are chewing you away 18:19 and before you know they're trying to work 18:21 on your demise, to bring you down. 18:23 They're working around you to bring you down. 18:25 And so the Lord does not want us to do that, 18:26 but He does want us to whatever you do, 18:28 whenever you confront an issue 18:30 or whenever you talk about an issue, 18:31 talk about it in love and in the word of God. 18:35 Some individuals are not very comfortable 18:38 discussing matters in the Bible 18:39 that they may not understand, but if you allow the Bible 18:42 to be the rule of faith and practice, 18:44 then you don't have to worry about being in controversy. 18:46 Because there's no way, John, 18:47 we could look at the same map. 18:49 And decide if the map is going to be our guide 18:53 then we allow the map 18:54 to be the determining factor in our direction. 18:58 But, you know, there are lots of different schools of-- 19:01 I'll not use word schools of thought, 19:03 that's a misleading term. 19:05 There are lots of individuals 19:06 that would have a preference for to be a literal number 19:11 and some would say I need this to be a symbolic number, 19:14 because maybe their lifestyles are not in harmony 19:17 that they feel they're worthy of being 19:19 in the 144,000. Yeah. 19:22 But when you look at the Bible, 19:23 you know, you find in Revelation 7, 19:26 the number is heard in Revelation 14, 19:29 the number is seen. 19:31 And one of the controversies is that some individuals say, 19:35 well, why's it that every number 19:37 in Revelation is a literal number except that one. 19:39 And why would it be mentioned in comparison to a number, 19:42 which no one could number 19:44 if it didn't have some significance. 19:45 Yeah. So-- 19:47 You know, I think the most damaging thing with regard 19:49 to any teaching or discussion on this issue 19:51 is not so much the literal versus symbolic. Right. 19:54 You and I have a strong opinion. 19:55 We also believe that it's a literal number, 19:58 but it's the role of 144,000. 20:02 That's the most important thing-- 20:03 I think that's the important thing to understand 20:05 when you're reading the book of Revelation 20:07 is what is the role of 144,000 in the last days? 20:10 What are they doing? What message are they preaching? 20:12 And what is their character like? 20:15 That is so much more important than concluding 20:18 whether or not it's literal or symbolic, 20:20 I mean, wouldn't you agree? 20:21 Yes. If you live the life as one person may say, 20:24 and I use a comparison that some of us may be able to grab, 20:28 if somebody said, well, I want to be on 20:31 the Lakers Basketball Team 20:33 or rather than trying to figure out 20:35 everything about them without even knowing 20:38 how to play the game would be of no value. Right. 20:41 You could buy the uniform. 20:42 You could move to where they all live. 20:45 You can hangout on the stadium 20:46 where they play the game, 20:47 but you've never played the game before. 20:49 In the same way, there are people 20:50 that like to hangout, where Christians hangout. 20:53 But they, and I'm gonna use this comparison loosely, 20:56 they're not in the Christian game 20:58 and I'm using that very loosely 20:59 because Christianity is not a game. 21:01 They're not in the Christian walk. 21:03 They're not living the life. 21:04 They're not exemplifying the things 21:06 that Christians exemplify. 21:08 So they're more concerned about that number. 21:10 Well, if it's a literal number, 21:11 then I know I can't make it. 21:12 But if it's a symbolic number, I feel I can make it. 21:15 The issue is look at the life. 21:17 The Bible makes it clear 21:18 that they follow the lamb wherever he went. 21:20 There was no guile on their mouth. 21:22 They were not defiled by other women meaning, 21:25 they were not defiled or misled by other doctrines. 21:28 So look at the life that they lived 21:30 and the bottom line is we can't determine 21:32 who's in it or who's out. That's God's determination. 21:34 And the other thing too is that 21:37 we can know a lot about the Bible, 21:39 but we can be down right unchristian 21:41 in the way we share it. Yeah. 21:43 And that is what we find so much 21:44 that I think is reall a key to true 21:47 Christianity in the last days. 21:48 Yes, it's important to know the Bible 21:51 and to understand God's word, 21:53 but it's just as important to share in Christian love 21:58 and to always have an aura of mercy 22:03 extended to someone else. 22:05 Rachel and I've used this over and over again 22:07 extend mercy to others judge yourself. 22:09 We like to do the opposite. 22:11 I mean, we're naturally bent to do the opposite. 22:12 We want to judge others 22:14 and extend mercy to ourselves. Right. 22:16 But if we would just reverse 22:17 that and extend mercy to the other 22:20 and judge our own selves, order our own life, 22:22 and our own lifestyle in harmony 22:25 with what we read from God's word 22:26 and extend the mercy for others to do the same 22:28 that Holy Spirit's working on them--Right. 22:31 We would be a whole much better off with criticism 22:34 and attacking each other and so forth. 22:37 That just--it's very sad to see that spirit come out 22:40 amongst those who know much 22:43 who are blessed by the knowledge of God's word. 22:45 You just made a point that I just caught here 22:49 when you say the spirit 22:51 and I want to just talk about this for a brief moment 22:52 because there are some people 22:53 that don't have the Christian spirit. 22:56 But much of their experience is about feeling. 23:01 Let me use a present atmosphere in the church 23:03 that's kind of-- it's a divisive atmosphere. 23:06 It's a divisive issue. 23:08 Lot of people right now are more concerned about 23:10 how they feel rather than 23:12 what is exactly happening in their congregation. 23:15 And there's a big issue 23:17 and I'm gonna make it clear 23:18 whether the congregation is West Indian 23:21 or African-American, or Caucasian, 23:23 or Hispanic, or European, in many congregations, 23:29 I'm speaking of here in the United States. 23:31 I don't know if this is around the world, 23:32 but maybe it is. 23:34 There's a big issue over music 23:39 and the people that are on differing sides are sometimes 23:43 very adversarial against each other. 23:45 Almost to the point of arguing 23:50 and causing division in our-- 23:52 It does. It breaks churches apart. 23:53 They separate over the issue. 23:55 And they're more concerned about, 23:57 and I'm gonna use this loose phrase, 23:58 getting their praise on, then living to the praise 24:01 and honor and glory of God. Yeah. 24:03 And many other churches are being molded 24:04 and shaped by music from churches 24:07 that don't have an understanding of the truth 24:09 that we have. Yeah. 24:10 So they go to those churches to get their praise on, 24:12 and I use that phrase loosely. 24:14 On Sunday, they go there to join with people 24:17 that don't have an understanding 24:18 of the truth that they have. 24:20 But they go there because the music is drawing them. 24:23 And I would say in that sense, 24:25 I could see Satan's hand behind that. 24:28 But let's go to the opposite side because, 24:30 John, I think we mentioned this before we went on the air. 24:32 And I want you to speak to this issue. 24:33 They're those who are extreme in another area. 24:37 Talk about that for a moment. Yeah, you have both sides. 24:39 You have they're getting their praise on. 24:41 You know, they want to go find the music, the entertainment-- 24:43 Get loose so to speak. The entertainment really 24:45 that their church isn't offering. 24:47 And then, there are others 24:49 who leave for the opposite reason. 24:53 The ultra conservative, all they want to do 24:56 is talk about prophecy, the Lord coming, 24:59 which is a good topic, 25:00 but in conjunction with prophecy, 25:02 what we need to be doing to be holy 25:05 or to get ready to live 25:06 before God without a mediator. 25:08 And I also say that loosely too 25:09 because these are good things. 25:12 But they will leave the church 25:14 because they don't believe the others 25:16 in the church are where they are. 25:18 The critical nature. And that will divide as well. 25:20 So instead of, you know, 25:22 this music has got too much beat, 25:23 I got-- or no, 25:25 this music doesn't have enough liveliness. 25:27 I got to find go somewhere to find it. 25:29 This church, although there's a little bit of beat in it, 25:31 they're doing stuff that I don't appreciate, 25:33 I'm gonna find this ultraconservative gathering 25:36 and I use that term because that's the only way 25:38 we've to define it at this point. 25:40 You know, fanatical really 25:41 as what Sister White uses fanaticism. 25:43 In both camps. In both camps. 25:46 And, you know, she talks about 25:47 staying in the middle of the road. 25:49 If you've got a cold formality fanaticism, legalism, 25:54 that's just as damaging as going off the deep end 25:58 and having this celebration kind of thing, 26:01 that we find is going on and a note on that. 26:05 There were so many red flags that went up 26:06 about this celebration movement. 26:09 Realize that, that with an Adventism 26:10 never really took strong root. 26:12 Do you notice that? Do you remember 26:13 this about 10-15 years ago? 26:14 Ahh. Yeah. 26:16 And what is happening? 26:17 Oh my goodness, this is going to become a celebration church 26:19 and I probably along with you 26:21 and other pastors were saying just wait, 26:24 don't panic, and relax. 26:26 Stay with your principles. 26:28 We're staying balanced. 26:29 You know what, that never really took off. 26:32 It was just not the Adventist way 26:33 and it just never took off. 26:35 But Satan is so classically, instrumental in getting people 26:38 that have the right message to argue, 26:40 and fuss, and fight amongst themselves. 26:43 So they become suspicious of each other. 26:44 I remember very carefully, you know, 26:46 being videotaped by people. 26:48 They'll come to the churches and videotape. 26:50 Or they go to camp meetings and videotape 26:51 and before you know it, 26:52 these videotapes have been duplicated 26:55 in multiple amounts and spread all over 26:57 and you've been eternally labeled as apostatizing 27:03 and there's some people that are so terrified. 27:05 And I'll just kind of wind this topic up here. 27:07 There's some people that are terrified 27:08 of any rhythm at all, 27:10 and there's some people that are examiners of rhythm, 27:13 you know, is it the first and third beat 27:14 or the second and the fourth beat. 27:16 And then those who just say well it 27:18 can have any beat whatsoever and so these-- 27:20 And there are other people that say it does not matter 27:22 what you listen to which we would disagree 27:23 with as well. Right. Exactly. 27:25 So all these camps are focusing around something 27:28 that is really that could hinder 27:31 and steal away your salvation 27:33 when you become an extremist. 27:34 The Lord is not saying become so wishy-washy 27:38 that it doesn't really matter to you. 27:39 Let your righteousness 27:41 and your walk with Christ matter. 27:42 And in the area of preference, 27:45 prefer the other above yourself 27:47 and let the Lord lead you. 27:49 But here is what we should never do. 27:51 Matthew 13 verse 29 and verse 30. 27:55 Let me just wind this up on this topic 27:56 and Jesus addressing His disciples 28:00 because the Lord made it clear that the tears were there 28:02 because the enemy came and sow them. 28:04 But Jesus says no, 28:06 lest while you gather up the tares, 28:08 you also root up the wheat with them. 28:10 Let both grow together until the harvest, 28:13 and at that time I will say to the reapers, 28:16 first gather together the tares, 28:17 and bind them in bundles to burn them, 28:19 but gather the wheat into my barn. 28:22 The Lord is gonna allow the wheat and tare to go together. 28:24 He's gonna do the sifting. 28:26 He's gonna do the shaking. 28:28 And those who are walking in the righteousness 28:30 of Jesus will be gathered into his barn. 28:33 We're not to try and determine 28:34 which are wheat and which are tares. 28:36 You know, we're not to keep on saying, oh, I'm a weed. 28:38 They are tare, but I got to hangout with them. 28:41 That's not what He's saying. Not at all. 28:42 He's saying don't worry about the wheat 28:44 and tare issue. That's right. 28:45 He said that's not the issue 28:46 that you're concerned with because 28:48 you can't say them anyway. That's right. 28:50 And I'm gonna go ahead and windup 28:51 the question section here. 28:52 And--because the next thing 28:53 I read is gonna be a segue into our topic today. 28:57 And so if you've any questions or comments 28:58 you would like to send to us about something 29:00 we may have said today, 29:02 you may be in one of those camps, 29:04 doesn't really matter. 29:05 It does matter to you so send 29:07 the questions to housecalls@3abn.org. 29:11 That's housecalls@3abn.org. 29:14 And we appreciate anything you send. 29:16 Thank you so much for being so faithful. 29:19 Now this question, John, 29:20 that I mentioned was gonna be a segue question 29:23 is one that, you know, 29:25 word segue is a huge word in the minds of some, 29:27 but it's just a little tiny word. 29:29 What it means is this is an issue 29:32 that is less of an issue of non-salvation, 29:38 but this is an issue of end time events. 29:41 This is an issue that has come up time and time again 29:44 and we have chosen at various intervals 29:47 not to read this on the air 29:48 because people have said, 29:49 well, you know, when you start talking about that, 29:52 you're gonna cause people to wonder 29:54 and people are gonna be divided. 29:56 Well, you know, hey, 29:58 if the word of God divides in order for us 30:00 to get to the point of truth and understanding, 30:01 then allow the word of God to do the dividing. 30:04 But allow the word of God also to do the mending 30:07 and that's where we're headed with this topic. 30:09 Gentleman wrote a question here 30:12 and very unique name Sineli, 30:15 S-I-N-E-L-I definitely not an American name, 30:20 but he says, I, believe me, 30:23 and many others who watch this program 30:25 really appreciate the great work you 30:27 and the other guys behind are doing. 30:31 May the almighty continue to bless you. 30:34 I do have this issue, which is confusing me 30:37 because of the different interpretations going around. 30:41 Please may you help me with the true 30:45 meaning of the seven trumpets and the seven seals? 30:48 Are they symbolic or are they literal? 30:51 If they're prophetic, may you give us 30:53 the true biblical meaning of these symbols? 30:57 Two huge topics. 30:59 The seals and the trumpets. Yeah. 31:02 And we're presently as a matter of fact 31:07 at our church studying the topic of-- 31:09 all the topics of Revelation. 31:11 We went past the seals already. 31:13 But now we're into the seven trumpets. 31:16 And there're some principles of interpretation 31:18 I want to share with you because, 31:20 you know, when you establish principles of interpretation, 31:24 you've less latitude to go on the wrong direction 31:28 and more latitude to go on the right direction 31:30 than you would the other way around. 31:32 We don't want to send anybody in the wrong direction, 31:34 but, John, one of the things 31:35 we do know is that whenever the Bible gives a symbol, 31:39 the Bible identifies and gives us an understanding 31:43 of what that symbol means. Let me use an example. 31:46 Let's start by going to the book of Daniel Chapter 7. 31:50 But maybe you wanna register 31:51 what I'm saying before you go-- No, no. 31:53 You're talking about a principle that really 31:55 is rooted in the history of the Adventist Church. 31:59 The Bible explains itself 32:01 and we must look elsewhere in the scripture 32:03 whenever a symbol or whenever something comes up, 32:07 a specific word, or symbol 32:09 whether it be symbolic or literal. 32:11 And we've got to connect it elsewhere in the Bible 32:13 to determine what that passage is really saying. 32:16 Matter of fact,Isaiah, the prophet says 32:17 line upon line-- That's right. 32:19 Line upon line, he reiterates precept on precept, 32:22 precept on precept, here a little and there a little. 32:25 He says to us if you want to find what something means, 32:27 let the Bible be the first place you go. 32:29 So that it would not be a private interpretation. 32:32 And so that's very, very vitally important for us 32:35 to understand that, but I did a study 32:38 and let me just share this principle also 32:40 because there was a symposium on Biblical Hermeneutics, 32:46 a whole lot of stuff to say Biblical Hermeneutics. 32:50 Simply meaning how the Bible is to be understood. 32:52 The processes we will use to get to the bottom line 32:57 of what this means or what it doesn't mean. 33:00 And in 1979, the Review & Herald, 33:04 under Gordon M. Hyde published this statement. 33:09 He says, every declaration of the scripture 33:11 is to be taken in the most obvious 33:14 and literal sense except where context 33:17 and the well-known laws of language 33:18 show that the terms are figurative and not literal. 33:22 And whatever is figurative must be explained 33:26 by other portions of the Bible, which are literal. 33:32 So--that seems pretty straightforward to me. 33:37 It's almost like literal first. Right. 33:39 You read it in this literal form first 33:41 and if it cannot be explained in a literal sense, 33:45 then you shift to the symbolic 33:47 and find through a repeat of where that occurs 33:50 elsewhere with the symbolic reference. 33:53 And in Daniel 7, I mentioned Daniel 7 33:55 before because Daniel 7 is a classic example. 33:57 Let's go there very quickly 33:59 and bringing my glasses out here. 34:02 Daniel 7, here I'm, right after Ezekiel, 34:11 Daniel Chapter 7, and I've a new Bible. 34:13 You know, I've the Remnant Special Forces Study Bible. 34:17 It's a new Bible. Special Forces. Yeah. 34:19 It's called the Special Forces 34:20 put up by Remnant Publications. 34:22 Great Bible. It's a nice one. 34:23 Okay, Daniel 7. 34:25 Daniel has a dream--Daniel has a dream of four beasts. 34:30 And we know, he dreams of the lion, 34:34 the bear, the leopard, and then, 34:36 he dreams of this great and dreadful terrible dragon 34:39 with seven heads and ten horns. 34:42 Well, Daniel not only has the dream, 34:45 but he starts giving the interpretation 34:48 and he says in Daniel, Chapter 7 and verse 23, 34:54 notice what he say, he gives the four beast, 34:57 but he says in verse 23. 34:59 The interpretation starts in 17. 35:01 Oh, okay. Let's go to 17. 35:03 So he told me and made known to me 35:04 the interpretation of these things. 35:06 Read verse 17. 35:07 So, verse 17 said, these great beasts, 35:10 which are four, are four kings, 35:13 which arise out of the earth. 35:15 So right of the way. 35:16 We know the explanation of the symbolic 35:17 reference of the beast means kings. Okay. 35:21 And so notice what we did. 35:22 We went to the Bible for the Bible 35:25 to explain the Bible. That's right. 35:26 So--and here's a good application 35:28 of what we just did that. 35:29 So when someone comes to you and says, 35:33 oh, I noticed on your car, it says 666, 35:35 oh, that's the mark of the beast. 35:36 Or someone comes to you and says, 35:38 you know what, I think the beast is this big machine. 35:41 That's going--they're gonna microchip everybody 35:43 and they're gonna have your records in this big machine. 35:45 And there's gonna be a huge computer. 35:46 And-- I mean all these things that have come up 35:48 over the years you've heard them all. Oh, yeah. 35:50 You can know by what we just did 35:53 hermeneutically with good basic hermeneutic principles 35:58 that it cannot be because the beast means king. Right. 36:02 Or as you read further down in verse 23, 36:05 the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom 36:07 on the earth. That's right. 36:08 So the reference there is it's a king first, 36:11 but the king with a kingdom 36:12 is the essential part. Right. 36:14 So it's a king that has a kingdom. Right. 36:17 But also could mean either thing. 36:20 So when a beast, you know, 36:21 when it's talking about a beast, it could be talking 36:22 about the king or it could be talking about the kingdom. 36:25 So, you've to read into the context of what your, 36:28 you know, the passage you're reading 36:29 there to determine what it's talking about as well. 36:33 So 'cause context is very important. 36:36 Not just the symbol itself by itself. 36:38 You got to read in its context 36:40 that's what we're saying. Yeah. 36:41 And when Daniel-- even when Daniel 36:42 came to Nebuchadnezzar about Nebuchadnezzar's 36:44 dream the gold, the silver, the bronze, 36:47 the iron, the iron and clay. 36:48 He looked at Nebuchadnezzar and says 36:50 you're the head of gold. Head of gold, yeah. 36:52 So we knew right away 36:53 that if Nebuchadnezzar was that head of gold, 36:55 then the kingdom he was leading 36:56 was the kingdom of Babylon. 36:58 So we follow history and that's where 37:00 when you begin with the Bible 37:02 then you could segue into history. 37:04 You could make the comparisons 37:05 because now we could go on to history and say, okay, 37:07 what kind of kingdom was Babylon? 37:10 But the Bible gave us the catapult to start 37:13 on the scriptures then go outside of the Bible 37:15 to find the understanding of it. 37:17 And that's not doing any violence to the Bible at all. 37:19 Because to find out all about the antiquity kingdom-- 37:22 the antiquated kingdom of Babylon, 37:26 first we had to find that the Bible is identifying 37:28 that first kingdom as Babylon which surely it was. 37:31 And the Bible is full of history. Oh, yeah. 37:32 So when you're trying about going outside, I mean, 37:34 it's not even necessarily going outside of this, 37:36 but you're supplementing scriptural, 37:39 historical references with material 37:43 that is extra biblical material 37:45 that lines write in with what the Bible is telling you. 37:49 And even when we talk about Alexander the great, 37:53 the kingdom of--the king of Greece, 37:56 and I talk about how his kingdom fell. 37:59 The leopard with four heads and four wings, 38:01 but when we look at the kingdom 38:02 in history of how the kingdom of Greece fell 38:05 when Alexander the great died 38:08 it was broken up into four sections 38:10 and right away we see how history confirms 38:12 what the Bible already said was going to happen. 38:14 In fact, in Daniel, the first three beasts 38:17 that are all identified specifically 38:19 as you know the lion, the bear, 38:23 and the leopard are all identified by name 38:27 in Daniel as well. That's right. 38:29 Because it says specifically that Babylon is the first 38:33 and in Daniel Chapter 8 verses 20 and 21. 38:37 It says that it's Media Persia is the second 38:39 and the third one is Greece, 38:40 specifically naming them. Specifically. 38:43 So if you want to find out where that fourth beast is, 38:44 you've got to follow the line of kingdoms going down 38:47 through and who conquered Greece? 38:49 Rome. Exactly. 38:51 So the Bible, but you don't start outside 38:53 and try to find a way in. Right. 38:55 And the problem with many times 38:57 understanding or misunderstanding 38:59 prophecy is sometimes people start outside 39:01 and try to weave their way in. 39:04 It's like, it's easy to take a dollar bill 39:06 out of the stack of money 39:08 when it is tightly linked together 39:10 than it is to try to stick it in there. 39:12 You see and so many people try to force things to fit 39:15 certain ways and so this person's question was, 39:18 how do you see the trumpets fitting 39:21 into the picture of history or prophecy at all? 39:24 Well, I would say, 39:25 I've studied this for a number of years. 39:26 What you need to do is you need 39:28 to first start on the Bible. 39:29 The first and safest place to begin is in the Bible. 39:33 What are the various ways, what are the various pictures 39:37 the Bible gives about the use of a trumpet in the Bible. 39:41 Let's go ahead and start with the first one. 39:43 I want to start with John. 39:44 Let's go down to Revelation 1:10. 39:46 And we're gonna walk through very quickly 39:50 the Bible references and they're actually nine. 39:54 They're in fact nine references in the Bible 39:57 that would use and give us nine pictures 39:59 of how the trumpets are talked about in scripture. 40:03 Revelation 1 and verse 10 and John starts out 40:09 and makes it very clear to us what this first one is. 40:13 You know, John, when you talk little longer, 40:15 it's because you look up for the text. 40:18 Here it is. Listen. 40:20 I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, 40:23 and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet. 40:28 Well, that loud voice he heard, 40:31 who does the Bible describe that trumpet to be? 40:33 Look at the very next verse. 40:35 Now we could say that must have been a symbolic trumpet, 40:39 but what does that symbolic trumpet associate itself to. 40:43 Do you've verse 11? 40:44 Absolutely. Read it. Saying 40:45 I am the Alpha and the Omega, 40:47 the first and the last. 40:49 Okay, who is that? 40:50 That's Jesus. That's Jesus. 40:52 So, right away, the first application-- 40:54 the first application of a Bible trumpet 40:56 would be the voice of Jesus. 40:59 The voice of Jesus. 41:01 That's Revelation 1 and verse 10. 41:04 Then another one I'd like to use, 41:06 we'll go to is Isaiah 58 and verse 1. 41:11 Isaiah 58 and verse 1. 41:15 Okay, let's look at that one there. 41:20 I like the way these new Bibles turn. 41:22 The only problem with the new Bible John, 41:24 it doesn't have all our familial markings in it-- 41:27 That's why I'm so reluctant to change--change over. 41:30 This one just opens up to where I want it open up. 41:32 Mine--mine, I have it's so worked into, 41:35 but I've this new Bible. I want to try to find a way. 41:39 Good thing they are inanimate objects 41:41 because they'll feel abandoned. 41:43 But now go ahead and communicate to me 41:47 now the second application Isaiah 58 and verse 1. 41:50 Let's see what the Bible talks about here. 41:52 It says, cry aloud, spare not, 41:54 lift up your voice like a trumpet, 41:57 tell my people their transgression, 41:59 and the house of Jacob their sins. Okay. 42:01 In that sense, who is the one 42:04 that is told to lift up his voice as a trumpet? 42:07 The prophet. Okay. 42:08 And so those who are preaching 42:10 will use the broad statement here 42:12 that is the job of the minister. 42:13 That is the job of the one that God 42:15 calls to proclaim a message. 42:17 So in this second application, 42:19 we find that the voice talked about here is preaching it, 42:23 preaching it straight. Right. 42:25 The straight preaching, 42:27 the preaching of the gospel, the minister's job. 42:30 I've got to add the reference right on this too is that 42:32 if you look in the context of the seven trumpets anyway 42:35 you'll find in there a couple of words used several times. 42:41 My servants, the prophet. That's right. 42:45 So in the context of this voice being blown-- 42:48 this trumpet being blown, 42:50 there is the voice of God's servants 42:52 who are doing the work of a prophet. That's right. 42:55 So its right in line with how the prophet was to declare 42:59 or proclaim this trumpet message back in Isaiah's time. 43:03 Very good. That says good connection. 43:05 Very good connection. 43:06 So far we see, one, the voice of Jesus. 43:09 Secondly, the voice of the one Jesus calls, 43:11 the voice of the prophet or the preacher, 43:13 proclaiming the message, making it very, very clear 43:15 that he's pointing out transgressions and sin. 43:19 The difference between one and the other, 43:20 while they both can condemn you to lose your salvation, 43:24 one is something people refuse to let go off 43:26 and other one is people, something 43:27 that caused people to stumble periodically. 43:30 But that's the second application 43:31 of the use of trumpets. 43:33 But now let's go to the book of Ezekiel 33. 43:37 Ezekiel 33, and, you know, Ezekiel 33, John, 43:40 is almost a mirror of Ezekiel 18. 43:43 You always wonder why in such a large book, 43:48 why the prophet Ezekiel 43:51 decides to write it down twice. 43:55 Ezekiel 33, and let's go from verse 1:6. 44:04 I'll let you read that. Ezekiel 33, verse 1:6. 44:08 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 44:11 "Son of man, speak to the children 44:13 of your people, and say to them, 44:15 'When I bring the sword upon a land, 44:17 and the people of the land 44:18 take a man from their territory 44:20 and make him their watchman, 44:22 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, 44:25 if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 44:28 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet 44:30 and does not take warning, 44:32 if the sword comes and takes him away, 44:33 his blood shall be on his own head. 44:36 He heard the sound of the trumpet, 44:38 but did not take warning, 44:40 his blood shall be upon himself. 44:42 But he who takes warning will save his life. 44:45 But if the watchman sees the sword coming 44:47 and does not blow the trumpet, 44:49 and the people are not warned, and the sword comes 44:51 and takes any person from among them, 44:53 he is taken away in his iniquity, 44:56 but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' 44:59 Okay. Notice. 45:00 And verse 7 to finish it up. 45:01 So you, son of man, 45:02 I've made you a watchman for the house of Israel, 45:05 therefore, you shall hear the word 45:07 from My mouth and warn them for Me. 45:10 So the blowing clearly of this trumpet 45:13 by the watchman is the word spoken through Ezekiel. 45:19 That's right warning, a word of warning. That's right. 45:21 Warning of coming destruction, 45:23 a word of warning, he sees the sword coming 45:27 and he blows the trumpet 45:29 and the three things that we find there is one, 45:33 why blow the trumpet to warn. 45:34 Secondly, what happens if they do not respond? 45:37 Their blood is on their head. 45:39 What happens if the watchman doesn't blow the trumpet? 45:41 Their blood is on his head. Okay. 45:44 So the third application-- by the way 45:46 we had the first one was the voice of Jesus. 45:49 The second one was the preaching of the gospel. 45:52 The third one was also the preaching of the gospel, 45:54 but specifically now warning of coming destruction. 45:57 He sees something coming and he has to warn them 46:00 and that's three out of nine. 46:02 When we go through these as quickly as we possibly can 46:04 and the reason why we're doing this exercise is because 46:06 when the Bible uses the phrase for the word trumpet 46:09 and specifically the person here is trying to find out 46:12 what the seven trumpets in Revelation mean. 46:15 You've got to use the Bible to interpret the symbols. 46:19 The Bible has to be the sole interpreter of the symbols 46:22 that are found in the scripture. 46:24 If not, I could come up with something and say, 46:25 well, you know the trumpet actually means 46:27 trailer truck is coming. 46:28 Because when that trailer truck blows 46:30 that horn it sounds like a trumpet. 46:31 Yeah. Scares me half to death. 46:32 Oh, it could really wake you up honestly. 46:37 My wife has-- Angie has this new phone, 46:39 the Droid, you know, one morning, Sunday morning, 46:42 you know, she forgot it was set 46:45 and she gets up at 6 o'clock 46:47 and she had a rooster that pepp pa pa, 46:50 I mean, and she couldn't find the button to turn it off. 46:53 I mean at 6 o'clock it blew me out of the bed. 46:56 It just really that crowing of the rooster 47:00 it just and after a while in the dark 47:03 you're fiddling with it trying to figure out, 47:05 truly, I said to her, they should make 47:07 smoke alarms with this kind of sound. 47:10 Because there is no way you're gonna hear this rooster 47:12 crowing at 120 decibels and not get up. 47:15 But that's three. 47:16 We may not get all of them, 47:17 but we'll cover this still in this upcoming program. 47:20 Yes, and now so those are three. 47:22 The other one what I want to point out 47:24 is Matthew Chapter 24, Matthew Chapter 24, 47:31 putting them in no particular order, 47:33 but I'm dealing with the easy ones first. 47:35 Matthew 24 and we're gonna look at verse 31. 47:39 Matthew Chapter 24 and verse 31. 47:44 And if you get there before I do, 47:49 I'm taking on my glasses 47:52 because I think I need them. 47:53 This is a nice Bible, 47:55 but the print is small and I'm past that. 47:59 I need, like, 24-point print now without glasses. 48:02 Go for it John, verse 31. 48:04 He will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, 48:08 and they will gather together 48:09 his elect from the four winds, 48:11 from one end of heaven to the other. Okay. 48:15 Now that sound of a trumpet is obviously 48:18 in association with the second coming of Christ, 48:20 but what actually is that trumpet. 48:22 Go to First Thessalonians Chapter 4. 48:25 Same reference, First Thessalonians Chapter 4. 48:32 One of the signs that you're getting 48:34 wiser is that you need glasses. 48:37 My eyes have been changing a lot lately too. 48:39 Okay. Verse 16, John. 48:44 For the Lord Himself 48:45 will descend from heaven with a shout, 48:47 with the voice of an archangel, 48:49 and with the trumpet of God, 48:51 and the dead in Christ will rise first. Okay. 48:54 So now the trumpet of God, is what? 48:58 It's His voice. It's His voice. 49:00 It's a voice of an archangel. That's right. 49:02 So that trumpet blast that we hear, 49:04 that trumpet blast talked about in Matthew 24:31 49:07 is once again the voice of Jesus Revelation 1:10 49:11 makes it clear to us. 49:12 So we follow what we did right away 49:14 is in each particular reference we follow 49:17 what that trumpet meant in that particular reference. 49:19 Descending with the voice of the archangel 49:22 with a trumpet of God. 49:23 And the trumpet of God is the voice. 49:27 That's what Revelation 1:10 and verse 11 made 49:29 very, very clear to us. 49:31 When it comes to the trumpet of God, 49:32 when it comes to relating to Jesus himself. 49:34 It's pointing us to that. 49:36 I find it interesting too 49:37 that First Corinthians 15 talks about it 49:41 as being the last trumpet that creates the resurrection. Yes. 49:46 Anyway that's future application. Okay. 49:49 Right the final trump--the final trump and it shall sound. 49:53 And those are--how many did we cover there? 49:56 Is that four now? 49:58 That's about three or four. That's four. 50:00 Okay, now let's go to the book of Judges. 50:05 Judges chapter 7. 50:07 Want to go to Judges chapter 7. 50:09 Okay. All right. 50:11 Judges chapter 7. 50:15 Okay, there're the glasses again. 50:17 Can't get away from'em. 50:19 You really make sure. 50:21 Here we are, okay. 50:23 Judges chapter 7 and we're going to read-- 50:25 this is a very nice story. 50:28 We're gonna read Judges chapter 7 and verse 18. 50:31 We all know the story, and you know, John, 50:37 this is a story of Gideon and his mighty army, 50:39 starting with 32,000 ending up with 300. 50:42 The Lord can do more with 300 more 50:45 truly dedicated than he can with 32,000 50:48 that are not even into it. 50:50 Okay, but what happens in this story in verse 18 50:53 that helps us to see another side of the trumpet. 50:56 All right. Go for it. 50:59 When I blow the trumpet, and all who are with me, 51:02 then you also blow the trumpets 51:04 on every side of the whole camp, 51:06 and say, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. 51:10 So Gideon, and the hundred men 51:12 who were with him, came to the outpost 51:13 of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, 51:16 just as they had posted the watch, 51:19 and they blew the trumpets, 51:20 and broke the pitchers that were in their hands. 51:23 Then the three companies blew the trumpets, 51:25 and broke the pitchers. 51:27 They held the torches in their left hands, 51:29 and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, 51:31 and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. 51:35 And every man stood in his place all around the camp 51:38 and the whole army ran, and cried out, and fled. 51:41 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, 51:43 the Lord set every man's sword against his companion, 51:47 throughout the whole camp, 51:48 and the army fled to Beth-Shittah who, 51:52 toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-Meholah. 51:58 We haven't done practice these ahead of time, John. 52:01 By Tabbath. Okay. 52:03 So here we have-- we have these trumpets now. 52:06 Are these literal trumpets or symbolic trumpets? 52:08 These are literal here. Right. 52:10 Because they're holding these trumpets in their hand 52:12 and they're blowing the trumpet. 52:14 Then he says hold in one hand 52:16 and the other hold a pitcher. 52:18 So they're blowing the trumpet, 52:19 then they're breaking the pitcher, 52:21 and then they shout, The sword of the Lord, 52:23 The sword of the Lord. 52:24 So this in this sense this is a preparation for war. 52:29 This is an instrument of war letting the people 52:32 that they are attacking know, they are coming, 52:34 and when you think about this story 52:37 you see that what made this so instrumental was that. 52:40 These 300 men were in groups of 100, 52:42 they surrounded the enemy. 52:44 So can you imagine at night, 52:46 you hear these 300 trumpets blow and all of a sudden 52:50 they break these pitchers magnificent roaring of flames. 52:55 And they're blowing these trumpets. 52:57 It would sound like they're being 52:59 attacked by 33,000 and they run. 53:01 They'll seek flight running for their lives 53:03 and that's exactly what happened in this story here. 53:06 They did capture their enemy and make a speed, 53:09 speedily riddance of them 53:10 but-- Yeah. 53:11 One of the references I have down here 53:13 is that the story also tells us that 53:15 the trumpet is an instrument of judgment. That's right. 53:18 You know, it's war but also war to God 53:21 is His judgment executively, 53:24 His executive judgment being poured out upon those 53:26 who are opposing his people. 53:29 That's a very good application. 53:31 Clearly, we see there 53:33 that trumpet is used for that purpose. 53:35 Now, let's go to-- let's go to Joshua. 53:40 I wanna see this one, you know, 53:42 we only have a few minutes left. 53:44 Matter of fact, John, I'm gonna hold off on that one. 53:46 I'm gonna hold off on that one. 53:48 Let's go to Joel. 53:49 Let's go to Joel, J-O-E-L, 53:53 Joel and look at what Joel has to say. 53:58 I have these tabs in my Bible 54:00 and I'm so glad I know 54:01 my Bible without looking at those tabs. 54:04 I can find it quickly without looking at those tabs. 54:08 Joel chapter 2 verse 1 and 2. Go for that one. 54:14 Blow the trumpet in Zion, 54:15 and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. 54:18 Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, 54:20 for the day of the Lord is coming. 54:22 For it is at hand. 54:24 A day of darkness and gloominess, 54:26 a day of clouds and thick darkness 54:28 like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. 54:31 People come great and strong 54:33 like that of who had never been, 54:35 no will there ever be any such after them. 54:38 And verse 10 and verse 11. 54:41 The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. 54:43 The sun and the moon grow dark, 54:44 and the stars diminish their brightness. 54:47 The Lord gives voice before his army. 54:49 For his camp is very great for strong 54:52 is the one who executes his word. 54:55 For the day of the Lord is great 54:56 and very terrible who can endure it? 54:58 Another word for-- another phrase 54:59 for who can endure it is who shall be able to stand. 55:02 And we find in Revelation in 6 and verse 17 55:04 that very declaration, who shall be able to stand. 55:07 So Joel here is describing the day of the Lord. 55:09 The coming of God's judgments here. 55:12 And he's describing in a-- and we just jumped through it 55:15 but he talks about the effect on both the man, 55:19 and beast, and the cities, and the large fortified walls. 55:23 He talks about how this impact is gonna be far reaching, 55:26 far and wide, and Amos also adds a component 55:31 to that but you wanna make a comment, I see that. 55:32 Well, I mean we're talking about here 55:34 another aspect of judgment, 55:35 here in the last days. That's right. 55:37 But if you go little further to verse 15, 55:40 it says blow the trumpet in Zion, 55:41 consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly, 55:44 gather the people, sanctify the congregation, 55:46 assemble the elders, 55:48 gather the children, and nursing babies, 55:49 let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, 55:52 and the bride from her dressing room. 55:53 Let the priests who minister to the Lord, 55:55 weep before the porch and the altar saying, 55:57 Spare your people, O Lord. 55:59 So it's also at the same time simultaneous-- 56:02 a simultaneous call to the people. 56:04 That's right, to sanctify themselves. 56:05 To sanctify themselves and be prepared 56:08 because the Lord is now judging 56:10 and the only way to shield-- to be shielded 56:13 from those judgments is to be pure and holy before him. 56:16 Very good application. 56:17 As a matter of fact, I'm gonna add that to this 56:19 because that's in fact a call to warning, 56:22 a call-- a call to sanctification. 56:24 Notice my New York got in there, a cool. 56:27 A call to sanctification, 56:28 a call to purifying one's life, 56:31 a call to getting one's person ready for the things 56:36 that are about to break. 56:37 And so when you hear the sound of the trumpets, 56:41 when these trumpets are blowing in Zion 56:44 amongst the people of God, the assembly, 56:47 the priest, the ministers, those who weep 56:50 and those who are called to be gathered together 56:54 are called to a moment of consecration. 56:57 And this is an awesome time 56:59 that we do believe is coming very, very soon. 57:02 And you know, our time has come and gone so quickly. 57:04 We just tapped on this topic 57:07 and friends as you know we like to talk a whole a lot 57:11 but the talking portion for this program 57:13 is now winding down very quickly. 57:16 We wanna just encourage you to stay tuned 57:17 to House calls in the future 57:19 because one day we're gonna hear the trumpet sound 57:22 and the Lord is gonna make a call on our house. 57:25 So to prepare for that, sanctify yourselves 57:27 and give your life to the Lord today 57:30 and walk with him and have a great day in Jesus Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17