Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL100016
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00:01 Hello friends. Grab your Bible and a friend
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's Word together 00:05 on this edition of House Calls. 00:22 Hello friends and welcome to an exciting program. 00:24 This is the House Calls set here at 3ABN 00:27 and I'm glad that you have chosen to tune in. 00:29 We always look forward to having you come and join us 00:31 for an excursion through the Word of God. 00:33 And today is going to be an exciting one, so sit down 00:36 right now, hit the record button so you can share this program 00:39 with your friends and family members. 00:41 And guess what? I'm sure you see two people... 00:43 I'm not by myself. It's my good friend John. 00:46 Good to have you here, John. Hey, it's great to be here John. 00:47 Starting a new series today. That's right. 00:50 What's it called? Top Ten Counterfeits - 00:53 Wow - Of The Last Days. 00:55 That's really good. I mean, something that you've actually 00:58 been working on and we've kind of put it together. 01:01 I'm excited about it because it's a really good concept. 01:03 Yeah, I did a series on it a couple of years ago. 01:05 Titled it a little bit differently but 01:07 I've been thinking about, you know, how the popularity 01:09 Top Ten lists is really... you know, 01:11 everyone's got a Top Ten list for something. 01:13 That's right. So hey, the Top Ten List 01:15 for the counterfeits of today: 01:16 What is Satan doing in these last days to deceive humankind? 01:20 You ought to put it in a book. 01:21 Well, who knows? OK. 01:23 But before we do anything else we're going to have you 01:26 bow your heads with us because John's going to lead us 01:28 before the throne of grace through prayer. 01:30 Let's do that. Gracious Father, 01:32 we thank you so much for Your guidance through Your Word. 01:36 And we know that it is a lamp unto our feet, 01:39 a light to our path. And we just pray that it will be 01:41 that light here today as we open it and as You speak 01:44 to our hearts about all these things that 01:47 we are facing here in the last days. 01:50 We're almost here. 01:52 We're in the time when Jesus will appear 01:54 and descend in the clouds to take us home. 01:56 And so we just pray that You would reveal some very 01:59 important things about that here today 02:01 especially to help guide us until that time 02:04 when we can go home with You. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. 02:08 Thank you, John, for that prayer. 02:10 Now friends, as you know we have Bible questions 02:13 and you have done your part. 02:15 You have sent us Bible questions here 02:17 to House Calls, and we receive those questions. 02:19 Sometimes we just download them. 02:21 Sometimes we take the envelopes and open them up. 02:23 But whatever the case may be, we always like to begin 02:26 our program with Bible questions. 02:27 So if you have any questions that come to your mind 02:29 during the program, you can send those questions to: 02:36 And we'll get our questions downloaded as I mentioned 02:39 and try out best to answer them. 02:41 If you still don't agree with the answer, 02:43 send another question and we'll try to clarify 02:45 it as best we can. So John, what do you have for us today? 02:48 I've got a question from Shannon. 02:50 OK. And she says here: "In the book of Genesis 02:55 Jacob is described as deceiving Esau 02:59 although it was his mother's plan to do it. 03:02 Yet why did God give him favor? " 03:05 And I think that's a great question because, 03:08 you know, Jacob obviously was one 03:12 who deceived his brother 03:13 and went along with his mother's plan. 03:15 And knew that it was wrong yet still did it 03:18 and God still bestowed favor upon him. 03:21 You know, I think one of the things that, 03:23 we misunderstand about God at times is that none of us 03:26 really deserve God's favor. 03:29 Um-hmm. And also we tend to 03:32 go day to day feeling or thinking 03:37 or even wondering whether or not we have 03:41 the favor of God. Whether we are in His good graces 03:44 at that time. Have we done things recently 03:46 that are pleasing to Him? 03:48 Have we been doing what God has given us to do 03:50 that somehow deserves that favor? 03:53 And the mentality of doing good to receive favor 03:57 is what? Legalism. 03:59 We often think that, yes. 04:01 But we deserve... we don't deserve God's favor. 04:04 We receive God's favor because we are... 04:06 not because we are faithful to Him 04:08 but because He is faithful to us. 04:10 And in this case... You know, I did some thinking about 04:13 this question a bit. 04:15 And really the thing that jumped out at me here, John, 04:18 is that, you know, a lot of times in my own life 04:21 I think of the things I've done right, 04:22 the things I've done wrong 04:24 and how maybe my life spiritually has followed 04:28 those things. And it does to a degree. 04:30 But what I also find is that um, you know, when it comes to... 04:36 to trying to earn God's favor I can't do enough. 04:40 Right. But I can order my life in harmony with His ways 04:43 that would allow Him to bestow certain blessings. 04:46 And I believe very much that it's the trend of one's life 04:50 not the mistakes that one makes occasionally 04:54 along the way but their commitment to God 04:57 and allowing Him to reveal in their lives the things 05:00 that aren't good that He would like to root out. 05:02 The changes, the transformations He wants to make 05:05 going along with that plan that actually brings God's favor. 05:08 And I find that, 05:11 in Hebrews... it talks a little bit about that in Hebrews 05:14 chapter 12 about the "chastening of the Lord. " 05:17 And giving yourself to that chastening, 05:20 going with God's plan to allow Him to chasten you, 05:23 to correct, 05:25 to work through circumstances that may be trying: 05:29 difficulties, trials, struggles that you go through, 05:33 as God's tool to bring you back onto the right course 05:38 and to follow His plan. 05:40 And so what I would say about Jacob is that 05:42 he clearly set his path early on to follow God and His plan 05:47 for his life whereas Esau really was wanting to 05:51 kind of do his thing. 05:52 It was almost a Cain and Abel thing again, although we don't 05:54 see Esau committing murder against Jacob. 05:57 I think he certainly thought about it and wanted to. 06:00 But I think we see the same kind of thing where Esau's 06:03 life was centered around his hunting skills 06:07 and what he could do around, you know, for the land 06:09 and around the tent and helping out the house 06:11 where Jacob tended to just devote more time 06:14 to his relationship with God, his relationship with his mother 06:17 and other things. And God rewarded that. 06:21 And even though Jacob did make the mistake of deceiving Esau 06:25 and stealing the birthright, God still, with the trend of 06:29 his life, did bestow favor upon him. 06:32 But listen... not without trials. 06:35 And, you know, we should not have this rosy picture of 06:39 Jacob's life 'cause think about it. After that deception 06:42 he was forced to flee from his home. 06:45 Never saw his mother again. 06:46 Went through some horrible troubles with Esau 06:50 chasing him thinking that Esau could catch up with him 06:52 at any time. Went to his father-in-law's 06:56 and was deceived by his father-in-law 06:59 in much the same way. 07:01 And so we find that some of the things that we do wrong 07:05 can often come back to us. There are consequences for 07:08 our sins, and Jacob did experience those consequences... 07:11 although ultimately his path was set right. 07:15 It was set for God. He desired God's will 07:18 and God bestowed favor upon him. 07:21 And so, you know, we need to be careful I think, John. 07:24 I think this is kind of my last comment. 07:25 We need to be careful thinking that one thing we do 07:28 right or wrong will determine forever God's favor or lack of 07:32 favor on us. I believe it's better to have... 07:35 to make sure we have set the course to follow the Lord. 07:37 Let Him determine who should and who should not have 07:41 His favor and the blessings that He bestows upon us 07:44 and, and not be judging as to whether or not 07:48 someone else should have favor. 'Cause sometimes we do that 07:50 in the church. Church members like: "Well why does he get this 07:53 and I don't? " and this and that. That can be a problem 07:57 within the church at times. 07:59 Well sometimes also we forget the sovereignty of God. 08:02 God is sovereign and He, He sees things before we see it. 08:08 He sees the heart of the human before we see the actions 08:12 of the human. He sees... 08:14 The Bible, as it says in Hebrews 4:12, 08:17 the Bible is a "discerner of the thoughts and intents 08:22 of the heart. " So when the Word of God reveals what 08:26 a person intends to do before they even do it 08:29 surely God knows what a person intends to do 08:32 before they even do it. 08:33 So He saw from birth that the propensities 08:37 of one son were more in favor 08:39 than the propensities of the other. 08:41 And then so what God has is not only, 08:44 insight but He has foresight. He has foreknowledge. 08:49 And Isaiah 46:10 kind of I think puts it in the context 08:52 where we can see that the things that happened 08:54 in the Bible or the things that happen in society... 08:56 Sometimes people say: "Well why did God say to Israel 08:58 'Wipe out that entire nation including the children 09:02 and the women and the old men and the old women? ' 09:05 Why completely obliterate them? " 09:07 And you find that talked about in the Bible. 09:09 We often say: "Well isn't there somebody in that generation 09:12 that would come out to be righteous? " 09:14 The Lord sees the seeds of men and what those seeds 09:17 will produce. And so Isaiah 46:10 says 09:20 the reason why He showed favor over Esau - 09:24 why He showed favor on Jacob instead of Esau... 09:28 Says: "Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient 09:31 times things that are not yet done saying: 09:34 'My counsel shall stand and I will do all My pleasure. ' " 09:37 And so, God chooses. 09:39 So you look at the family line, though, but I want to also 09:42 point this out: if you look at the family line of Jesus 09:48 you don't find all good characters in that family line. 09:52 I looked at it and I thought "Man, there's some 09:55 colorful characters in the family line of Jesus. " 09:57 For example, you know, the Bible says Jesus is of the house 10:02 and the lineage of David. 10:04 Well now, David was an immoral man. 10:07 David was a murderer. But David confessed, 10:09 David was forgiven. 10:11 You also find that Rahab was a harlot 10:13 but Rahab is in the family line of Jesus. 10:16 So when you look at the people that are in the family line 10:19 of Jesus, the Lord looks at the redemptive qualities 10:22 and what He can do in a person's life. 10:24 And so there is even hope for people like Esau. 10:28 But the bottom line is: God had a plan 10:31 for Jacob's life, and that plan was unfolding. 10:34 And so when the angel appeared to, um... 10:41 Rebekah 10:43 and... and showed the plan 10:48 the angel told Rebekah that Jacob will be the youngest one 10:53 and he will rule over the oldest one. 10:55 And so... but you saw Isaac had a determination 10:58 and Isaac and Esau had a lot of similarities. 11:00 They were both hunters; they were outdoorsmen. 11:03 So that's where the similarities were between the father, Isaac, 11:06 and the son, Esau. 11:07 But Jacob and his mother... Jacob was more the indoor type. 11:11 Was the kind that would stay close to home. 11:14 He was the more serious minded, the more spiritual minded. 11:16 And the Lord saw and said: "Well this is the kind of person 11:19 that I would want to lead, that I would want to be 11:22 an example to the children to come. 11:25 So all those factors fit into that. 11:27 And what amazes me, John, is when you look at Matthew 11:30 it talks about there are 42 generations 11:34 from Adam all the way to Christ. 11:38 And, you begin to see... Sorry, from Abraham to Christ... 11:42 you begin to see there are 42 generations. 11:44 Out of all the wicked people that were in that family line 11:48 they came down to Joseph - the husband of Mary - 11:52 and it says: "Joseph was a just man. " 11:56 So, no matter how bad the seedling will be 11:58 God can come up with somebody 42 generations later 12:02 than can be just and fit to be an example to the child Jesus. 12:07 Amazing. God sees all that and we don't see it. 12:09 And we sometimes say: "Well why did He have to cut 12:11 that tree down? " And some people say: 12:12 "Well, if I didn't cut that tree down 12:15 then it'll put at risk all the other... 12:19 all the other, trees in the garden. " 12:22 Well we travel quite a bit... Angie and I do. 12:24 And when we come back we fill out those customs forms. 12:26 They ask questions: have you been to a sheep farm? 12:30 Have you been in touch with livestock in the last 3 days? 12:32 The last week? do you have any plant products with you? 12:38 And I didn't think it was that serious until I was 12:40 on my way to Australia and they asked the question. 12:43 Well what I had was... I didn't have plants 12:45 but I had trail mix which had seeds in it 12:51 like sunflower seeds and almonds and all. 12:55 And when I went through customs the lady looked in my bag 12:57 and she found the sunflower seeds 12:59 which they gave us on the airplane as a part of our 13:02 package to eat. And she said: 13:04 "You know, I could have fined you. I could have 13:06 really charged you a huge fine for not reporting this. " 13:09 And I said: "Well the thing asked for whether or not I had 13:12 seeds or plant life. " And I said: 13:14 "This is what they gave us on the plane to eat. " 13:17 She said: "But these are sunflower SEEDS. " 13:20 And I thought: "Man! " 13:22 And so, here's the point again: 13:24 they knew what the impact could be on the society 13:28 if I brought something in 13:29 that somehow would germinate in their soil 13:32 and create havoc. So, we didn't do all the research 13:35 to see what the end result would be. 13:37 The crazy thing is the sunflower seeds you eat 13:38 aren't able to germinate. They're roasted and they are not 13:42 capable of germinating. And so she really made a big 13:45 deal out of it and said she could fine me. 13:47 And you know what? I probably would have called 13:49 on you in a court of law if I had to challenge that. 13:51 These roasted sunflower seeds are incapable of reproducing 13:55 anything after its own kind. That's right. 13:57 But anyway, the point of the matter is 13:59 so much research has gone into it that 14:01 the environmental administration of that country knew 14:04 that if seeds came in this is what could happen. 14:07 In the same way, Exodus says 14:10 "showing mercy" but it says also "visiting the iniquity 14:15 of the father unto the third and the fourth generation. " 14:18 God sees way down what could happen. 14:20 Anything else to that? No, that's good. 14:23 Well, we have a number of questions here. 14:25 This one... let me just go ahead and read it 14:26 and see if there's anything that needs to be answered in it. 14:30 The ever-burning hell still prevails. Pastor Ryan 14:35 It's such a wonder it does 14:37 when there is no scriptural evidence that supports it. 14:40 As a matter of fact, the Bible supports that the righteous 14:43 are the ones that... " Wait. 14:50 He says: "As a matter of fact, the Bible supports 14:55 that the righteous are the ones that burn forever. " 15:02 Interesting thought. 15:04 OK, I'm just reading the question. 15:06 Isaiah 14:13: Lucifer wanted to be on... "in the mount 15:10 of the congregation. " 15:13 This is the first church. Angels were the worshipers. 15:17 I'm not making this up, believe me. 15:20 Here we have the first church split: Lucifer left with 1/3. 15:26 Isaiah 28:14 says: "Lucifer in the holy mountain 15:30 had his church, walked in the midst of the stones of fire. " 15:33 The Bible tells us God is a consuming fire. 15:38 Deuteronomy 4:25. 15:39 Then he puts "Wow! " 15:41 In order to live with God who is burning with a love for us 15:44 we have to - as one pastor puts it - 15:48 "we have to be fireproof to live with Him. " 15:51 Moses saw the burning bush and wanted to know why 15:55 it was not consumed. The wicked will be outside the city 15:58 looking and wondering why they are not consumed by the fire 16:01 of love. Malachi tells us the wicked are burned up 16:04 and turned into ashes. The righteous will be able 16:07 to live in the presence of God. 16:09 The righteous who will be able to live in the presence of God 16:14 burns forever with God. 16:17 He's saying 'cause they're on the fiery mountain 16:20 in God's presence. Yeah. 16:22 Yeah. Righteous people burn forever... not wicked people. 16:27 That is really a theological hoot! 16:31 Now what he's saying... I understand what he's saying. 16:32 He's not saying "burned up. " 16:34 They just burn because they're on the fiery mountain with God 16:37 experiencing God's presence. 16:39 Or more specifically, they are able to exist in the 16:41 presence of a burning fire without being consumed. 16:44 Nowhere in the Bible does the Bible talk about 16:47 the righteous burning. 16:48 It just says "reflecting the glory of God. " 16:50 You'll notice in the very same way the moon has no light 16:53 of its own. The sun does. 16:56 The sun is... the moon is not burning 16:58 but it's reflecting the glory of the sun. 17:00 In the same way, we are not burning. 17:02 We are immortal when we are in heaven. 17:05 When we are in the New Earth we are immortal. 17:07 We are not consumed by the burning flames. 17:11 The angels weren't burning. 17:13 Lucifer wasn't burning. 17:15 He was able to walk back and forth in the midst of the fiery 17:18 stones but he wasn't burning. 17:21 He was able to do that because at that time 17:23 he was not able to be consumed. 17:26 But when he sinned... Anyway, that's a really... 17:29 And burning is on fire. 17:31 He meant on... the body catching on fire. 17:34 There's no evidence of that. Yeah, but he said 17:36 "the righteous burn forever. " Right. I thought, OK. 17:40 All right. Let's go on to another question. 17:42 I believe it's from Kevin it looks like. 17:45 in Malachi 4:1 17:49 is it talking about the second coming? 17:52 Because in II Thessalonians 2:8 it talks about the people being 17:56 destroyed by the brightness of His coming. 17:58 Or is it talking about Revelation 20 verse 9 18:02 where fire fell down from heaven and devoured them? 18:04 Just kind of to give some background, some foundation 18:08 to this, there are actually three times... 18:11 three appearances that Christ makes to this earth 18:14 in a powerful, majestic, all-consuming form. 18:21 the first time isn't necessarily in that form. 18:25 The other two are in that form, actually. 18:27 The first time was in His first advent when He came as a baby - 18:29 OK - and then lived on this earth. 18:32 Died a death in our place 18:35 and then ascended to heaven to live with God. 18:37 Right. And then the second coming... 18:39 It's called the second coming because Christ returns in glory 18:42 um-hmm - and is an all-consuming fire and that He... 18:47 people are destroyed by the brightness of His coming. 18:50 Those who retained their sin, who have not 18:53 by faith transitioned or transferred their sins 18:56 to Christ and that sin has been dealt with. 18:58 There is a third coming 19:01 where after the thousand years Jesus returns 19:04 with the New Jerusalem and all of the righteous in it 19:07 and sits down here on this earth 19:11 where then the wicked are raised unto judgment 19:13 and then a fire comes down out of heaven and consumes 19:16 the wicked and sin to never exist ever again. 19:19 Right. And Malachi is speaking of that third event. 19:24 That's right. Because clearly it says here 19:26 "For behold the day is coming... burning like an oven... 19:29 and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will 19:31 be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up 19:35 says the Lord of Hosts that will leave them neither 19:38 root nor branch. " 19:40 It says in verse 3: "Ye shall trample the wicked; 19:42 they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet. " 19:44 There is clearly an intention here of consuming... 19:46 an all-consuming fire... a fire of judgment. OK. 19:49 And not only... It says: "they will be ashes under the 19:51 soles of your feet. " Not that literally you will walk 19:53 on their ashes but that they will be so consumed. 19:57 And then when God re-creates this earth 19:59 they will become elements of the earth. 20:02 Right. And they will be under the soles of your feet 20:04 as you then begin to walk the New Earth 20:06 in holiness, righteousness... where that exists forever only. 20:09 So that's what Malachi 4 is talking about. 20:12 If you want the two... I think the references that 20:15 Kevin makes here: II Thessalonians 2, 20:18 I think II Peter 3 is another good one. 20:25 Revelation 20:9 gives you some differences 20:28 between each of these events. 20:29 Yeah. As a matter of fact, that's a good way you put that. 20:32 'Cause I was looking at John chapter 15 20:35 where when the Bible talks about in Malachi 4 20:38 "root nor branch" 20:40 it's talking about "root" - Satan, the source of evil, 20:43 "branch" - those who are connected with him. 20:46 Like Jesus looked at some of those who had rejected Him 20:48 and said: "You are of your father the devil 20:51 and you do the will or the deeds of your father the devil. " 20:54 But then you find the contrast to that. 20:56 Jesus says: "I am the vine; you are the branches. " 20:59 He's the vine... we are the branches. 21:01 Satan in the wicked sense is the root. 21:04 The evil ones who follow him are the branches. 21:06 So you find both had branches, 21:09 which means they branch off of one: either the source 21:11 of evil or the source of good. 21:13 And those of us who are off of the source of good 21:15 the Bible says here in John 15 verse 5: 21:19 "I am the vine; you are the branches. 21:22 He who abides in Me and I in him 21:23 bears much fruit. For without Me you can do nothing. " 21:27 And then verse 6 talks about the other side of that. 21:30 "If anyone does not abide in Me 21:32 he is cast out as a branch and is withered. 21:36 And they gather them and throw them into the fire 21:40 and they are burned. " 21:42 That's also another text that will link us to Malachi: 21:44 the branch talked about there. 21:46 They are cast... they are gathered together. 21:49 They are branches that wither, 21:51 and that means they have no growth in them at all. 21:54 And that's the end result. 21:55 There are a couple key words that help distinguish 21:57 between the second and the third coming, too. 21:59 In the second coming, typically the words used 22:01 are more along the lines of destruction. 22:04 "Sudden destruction comes upon them. " 22:06 that they will, you know, be surprised 22:10 by His return and - um-hmm - they will look up. 22:13 I think Revelation chapter 6 describes they will call out 22:16 for the rocks to fall on them, hide them from the wrath of God, 22:19 of Jesus who has appeared. 22:21 And then when you get to the third coming it speaks more of 22:23 fire, consuming, burning. 22:25 You know, a complete transition to the New Earth. 22:29 It's part of the... the getting rid of the old earth. 22:32 That's right. "The day that shall come... " Peter says 22:34 "shall burn them up. " 22:36 the present heavens are kept in store. 22:39 And he says: "Seeing that all these things will be dissolved 22:42 what manner of person should you be? " 22:44 And so yes, that's a very good point. Thank you, John. 22:46 I think we have one more that we're going to deal with 22:49 just briefly here. 22:50 the question is: I'm going to read it and just 22:52 go ahead and give a quick answer to it. 22:54 OK, where is it? Here it is... OK. 22:58 OK, here we are. 23:00 Since this one doesn't want to cooperate 23:01 it gets relegated to the bottom of the screen. 23:03 To all pastors, evangelists, ministers of the gospel 23:09 and fellow Christians. 23:10 This starts with a declaration. 23:12 I recently joined the Seventh-day Adventist church 23:16 because it teaches truth and now I am at a loss 23:19 to understand why the church is found to be promoting 23:22 an anti-scriptural teaching. 23:24 Well praise the Lord he joined! 23:26 Right. We can start with that. 23:27 maybe at the point of his joining... 23:31 Let me encourage you first before I answer the question. 23:34 Sometimes we join and our knowledge is not deep enough 23:37 yet to sort all of these things out. 23:38 And so we come into it like a vacuum 23:43 and we pull everything in right away 23:47 but we're not able to line everything up. 23:48 And prophecy is not a tool for the novice. 23:52 Prophecy is not something that the person without deep 23:56 deep understand dives into and says: "Oh, I understand 23:59 that because I'm a member of the church that teaches that. " 24:02 It has a far greater reach. 24:04 Let me go ahead and give you some examples here 24:06 of what the question further goes on to say. 24:09 "Briefly... " He said briefly and he wrote 24:13 a huge volume. I'm not going to read the whole thing. 24:15 "Briefly I need an answer to the following question: 24:18 why is the teaching of the SDA church 24:22 about the seven heads in Revelation 17 24:24 contrary to God's Word in Daniel chapter 2 24:28 and Daniel chapter 7? 24:30 In Daniel chapter 2 there are four world-wide empires 24:35 or four world-wide kingdoms outlined for earth's history 24:38 commencing with Babylon 24:39 through to Rome where the rock strikes the image, 24:42 sets up the kingdom. This is repeated in Daniel chapter 7 24:45 where four animals represent four kings. " 24:47 OK, great. Showing his understanding. 24:49 "Any interpretation... " This is his statement. 24:52 "Any interpretation of Revelation 17 where the 24:54 seven heads are taken to be world-wide powers 24:57 is in contradiction to Daniel because they nearly all 25:00 want to make Rome into two of these heads. 25:03 But the scripture clearly states that the terrible beast - 25:07 Rome - is only one kingdom. 25:09 My concern is that many of us are being taught 25:11 a contradiction to what God has outlined 25:14 through His angel to Daniel 25:16 that there are not four kingdoms but more than four. 25:20 Many in our church blindly accept this erroneous teaching 25:25 as truth. " That's his statement, OK? 25:28 Let me give you a couple of reasons why 25:30 there are differences between Daniel 7 and Daniel 2. 25:33 I'm going to go ahead and plug this up here real quickly. 25:36 You want to say something, John, while I look this up? 25:38 Well, OK, I think it's important to note that there are... 25:43 I believe in Daniel 2 we're talking about a dream. 25:46 And, you know, represented the various 25:50 kingdoms. Daniel 7 is repeating that but in different symbols. 25:53 So clearly there can be different symbols that 25:57 apply to the same thing. 25:59 so that's something I don't know if he's getting confused 26:04 with or not. But if you take Daniel 7 26:08 and then you apply, you know, 26:11 some conclusions based upon those symbols, 26:14 you know, some people would say then Daniel 2 26:16 cannot be the same thing... but in fact it is. 26:20 And it's just a different approach... a different way 26:21 of arriving at those things. Daniel 8 also 26:24 talks about two beasts in a different way as well. 26:27 They are described differently. 26:28 So, you know, you really have to get into this 26:30 pretty deep to understand and to look at the relationship 26:34 of each of these kingdoms 26:37 and each of these even individuals or kings 26:41 described in different places throughout the Bible 26:43 because they can be described in different ways. 26:45 Right. The point very well made. 26:48 Let me go ahead and give you some scriptures on that. 26:51 Daniel 7 verse 24. 26:54 "The ten horns are ten kingdoms 26:58 who shall arise from this kingdom. " 27:02 That was the key right away. So Daniel 7 verse 24 27:06 It's talking about that fourth beast, 27:09 and it's ten kingdoms that will arise from that kingdom. 27:13 That fourth beast of Daniel was the great and dreadful 27:17 and terrible beast. That was the Roman Empire. 27:19 You've got to get that. That's a big part. 27:22 "And another shall arise after them. He shall be different 27:25 from the first one and he shall subdue three kings. " 27:30 Right away you see clearly there 27:32 these ten horns - those ten kingdoms there - 27:34 that beast with seven heads and ten horns 27:37 describes specifically the Roman Empire right there. Right. 27:42 That is unequivocally what the definition of it is right there. 27:45 But then you find in Revelation... 27:47 and what you have to get here, and this is something 27:49 a lot of people miss, John. We fail to connect the fact that 27:52 Satan is working through powers all throughout history. 27:55 We often say: "Well, you know, that means Rome 27:57 and then this means a different power here. 27:59 That means a different power there. That means 28:00 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece. 28:01 But we have to keep in mind: there's somebody behind. 28:03 There's a puppeteer that's working through all of these 28:06 earthly powers. And we often times leave the dragon out 28:09 of this all together. We often leave Satan out of it 28:12 like he's this non-entity that shows up at the very end. 28:14 And somehow at the very end then oh, yeah, now he's involved. 28:17 But he's involved all along the way. 28:19 So let's go ahead and look at this very quickly. 28:21 Now we go to Revelation chapter 12 and verse 3 28:23 and we're going to see something here. 28:24 Because I just pointed out that in Daniel 7 28:28 there were 7 heads and 10 horns. 28:30 But now in Daniel 7:24 it describes: These are 10 horns. 28:33 These 10 kings will arise from this kingdom... " 28:36 from the kingdom of Rome. Right. 28:38 In other words, during the Romans' reign 28:40 these kingdoms are going to come. 28:41 And but then another one will come up 28:43 and subdue three of those kings. 28:44 We know the history of that. 28:46 But Revelation 12:3 now brings this beast again 28:49 to the picture. And read Revelation 12 verse 3 28:52 and then Revelation 12 verse 9 for us. 28:54 "Another sign appeared in heaven. 28:56 Behold a great fiery red dragon having 7 heads and 10 horns 29:00 and seven diadems on his heads. " 29:02 OK. And notice that a red dragon is a beast. 29:05 Exactly. This is describing a beast. 29:08 That's right. But not the same beast. 29:11 Keep going. That's right. 29:12 And if you read that a little bit further it talks about him. 29:15 His tail drawing a third of the stars from heaven. 29:18 Threw them to the earth. "And the dragon stood before 29:21 the woman who was ready to give birth to devour her child 29:24 as soon as it was born. " OK, now make this point 29:27 because you just made a point that's very important 29:29 and I want that person to catch this: 29:31 The point that John just made that was very important 29:34 is this beast talked about here with 7 heads and 10 horns: 29:37 he drew 1/3 of the stars from heaven and cast them... 29:42 When he fell they came with him. 29:44 That's not Rome. It's pre-existence to Rome. 29:46 Exactly. That's the pre- existence to Rome. 29:48 That power existed long before Rome. 29:50 That's Satan right there in verity. 29:52 Well verse 9: "So the great red dragon was cast out: 29:55 that serpent of old called the devil and Satan. " 29:58 OK, there it is. So the Bible right away identifies 30:00 who that beast with 7 heads and 10 horns is right there. 30:04 And then now you go down to Revelation chapter 17 30:07 and this is where he was having a problem. 30:09 He was saying: "Why is it our view of Revelation chapter 17 30:12 doesn't jive exactly with Daniel chapter 7? " 30:16 Because these 10 horns and these are different than the ones 30:19 in Daniel chapter 7. 30:20 But what you're seeing that's the same is Satan is working 30:23 through both powers. That's where there is no difference. 30:27 All right. Go ahead and read Revelation chapter 17 30:30 and verse 12. 30:33 "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have 30:36 received no kingdom as yet 30:38 but they receive authority for one hour 30:41 as kings with the beast. " 30:42 OK. This is the ten horns on this other beast 30:45 that is ascending out of the bottomless pit. 30:47 Exactly. With 7 heads and 10 horns. 30:49 There you go. So we find this one - 30:51 this beast here - is ascending out of the bottomless pit. 30:55 And if you want to find out where that comes up 30:57 in the context, Revelation 9 is the very first place 31:00 that the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit 31:01 is talked about. It describes him as 31:04 a star that had fallen. 31:05 He's an angel. He's an angel. 31:08 He is a king also. His name is Avadon 31:11 and Appoleon in the Greek and Hebrew. 31:12 That's Satan being described right there. 31:15 And only seven times does Revelation talk about the beast 31:19 from the bottomless pit. 31:21 Only seven times. Every time it talks about 31:23 Satanic activity. The very last time 31:26 he talked about the bottomless pit is in Revelation chapter 20 31:28 when Satan is bound for 1,000 years. 31:30 It's the last time it's talked about. 31:32 But Revelation 17 here makes it clear 31:34 that this beast that's being referred to here is not 31:38 Rome - right - but the beast that ascends out of 31:41 the bottomless pit. And the reason there's a 31:43 transition here, too, is because I think you said 31:45 very appropriately that Satan is kind of behind 31:47 all of this stuff. He is! And in Revelation 17 31:50 it shifts from Rome being described 31:53 as a beast with seven heads and ten horns 31:56 to being described as a woman - exactly - 31:59 in her papal form. And a woman that rides this beast 32:03 which is now referenced to Satan from Revelation 12. 32:08 So Satan is carrying the woman - um-hmm - 32:11 just as, if you look at Revelation 13, 32:14 it says that those that follow that beast and worship 32:18 that beast worship the dragon. 32:20 Exactly. So there's a pairing together. 32:23 You have to see that. You have to read everything, 32:26 and a lot of detail... but also with a lot of study 32:30 and application to other scripture... to find 32:33 what these things are talking about. 32:34 That's right. And so don't lose track of that. 32:36 I think you are very enthusiastic but keep in mind 32:40 it's hard to just come into the Adventist church 32:42 and know it all right away. 32:43 You could be the best vacuum. You can vacuum anything up 32:47 in one year that people have been vacuuming up... 32:50 vacuuming up for 25 years. 32:52 I would also say that those that are outside the Adventist church 32:56 that are critical of its teachings on prophecy 32:58 have never even studied it with any depth either. 33:01 So they have no authority. They have no basis for which 33:04 to even criticize - Right - 33:05 'cause they have not gotten into it to the degree 33:08 that gives them that ability, 33:12 that knowledge, to be able to criticize. 33:14 And... Another point that came out of my mind 33:17 in Revelation 17 this beast is talked about as the beast 33:19 that was, and is not, and yet is. 33:24 OK. Was and is not and yet is. That's Satan. 33:28 Jesus is talked about as who was and is and is to come. 33:32 Look at the comparison right there. So understand that those 33:35 are some symbols in Revelation that need to be understood 33:38 in the context of the eternal properties of the Godhead 33:41 but the temporary properties of Satan and his false trinity 33:45 that's talked about there in Revelation chapter 16. 33:49 "Three unclean spirits... " That's the false trinity. 33:52 That's the false head. That's the false system of worship. 33:55 Anyway... A lot of questions we've covered here today. 33:57 But we have to transition into our Top Ten Counterfeits. 34:01 And... But if you have any questions about what we've 34:03 talked about here today you can send those questions 34:05 and comments to: 34:11 And we thank you for your questions and also for 34:15 your comments. 34:17 John, I'm going to give you a chance to dive into this 34:19 since you have been doing homework on this. 34:22 I'm familiar with the topics but the way you put it together 34:24 is really well. Yeah, Top Ten Counterfeits that we find today. 34:28 And I think not only is the world facing today but 34:31 but the church is at large - the church at large, 34:35 Christendom - is facing today. 34:37 If you read, it doesn't take you too long to read through 34:40 the writings of Paul especially 34:42 and John and Peter 34:46 to find the attack that Satan levies upon the human race - 34:51 - is not so much an attack against the heathen. 34:55 He already has them where he wants them. 34:58 You know, as long as he keeps them away from Christ 35:00 they're deceived in their own life. That's right. 35:03 His attack comes upon the church. 35:06 It's upon those who have professed Christ's name... 35:09 who have taken on the name of Jesus. 35:11 And so he brings these deceptions, he brings these 35:14 errors into the church to get the church to get off track 35:18 and also to take the people within that church 35:21 off track in their relationship with Christ 35:23 to be deceived when Satan finally has his grand appearing 35:28 at the end of time. So these counterfeits are 35:30 all leading up to something. They're all put in line, 35:34 put in place, with special detail, with special attention 35:38 that Satan can then use at the end of time 35:41 to deceive especially the church. 35:44 And that's why I think it's so important to unmask these 35:48 Top Ten Deceptions or Counterfeits 35:51 that Satan has or is using in the last days. 35:56 You know, we mentioned this in a program before 35:58 and I'll mention this here again because it's so applicable, 36:00 John. The truth... The truth CAN save you. 36:07 It's important to know the truth. 36:09 First of all, the truth about Christ saves you because it 36:13 establishes your relationship with Jesus, your faith in Jesus 36:16 and His salvation that He offers to everyone. 36:19 It makes that salvation that He offers effectual in your life. 36:22 That's right. But then the truth - learning the truth, 36:25 growing in the truth, advancing by the Word of God 36:29 and His knowledge - helps you to prepare for these things 36:33 that are coming upon the world. 36:34 And if the Bible simply endorsed "just believe, only believe 36:39 and then it doesn't matter what you do" 36:41 it wouldn't be full of 66 books 36:44 with stories of individuals and with doctrine 36:46 and with other things that help keep us on the right path. 36:49 And so what we're going to do here is we're going to spend 36:52 four programs going through these Top Ten Counterfeits 36:56 seeing kind of how they blend together 'cause some of them 36:59 are connected. But take a look at them 37:01 and really determine and be able to see by God's Word, 37:04 not only the error but the truth about these subjects 37:08 so we can be prepared for the last days 37:11 deceptions that are coming, and to be able to stand 37:15 when Jesus finally appears to take us home. 37:19 And we ought to begin with the topic of... 37:21 we're going to begin with the topic of the Word of God. 37:23 The Word of God. The Word of God and then, 37:25 of course, I put here the counterfeit would be 37:28 "sacred writings" 37:30 or diminishing of the importance of the Word of God. 37:35 OK. So that would be the counterfeit. 37:37 And there are several things that are involved with this. 37:39 If the Word of God is there to save us, 37:42 if it's there to help us... to guide us through this life, 37:45 to keep us on track... And as a side note, John, 37:49 the Bible says Jesus is The Word. OK. 37:52 So if you reject the Word, who are you rejecting? 37:56 Jesus. You're rejecting Christ. So Jesus is The Word. 38:00 So this Word is living. It really has... is essential, 38:04 it's critical in the Christian life 38:06 for making sure that we stay on track. 38:07 So the devil knows that, so he's going to attack the Word. 38:10 And so that's why this is the first counterfeit. 38:12 He uses several things to go about attacking His Word. 38:16 You know, John, if you went to look into the world today, 38:18 if you went to look at a light source, 38:20 and that's what I'll use to catapult into this question. 38:23 If you were to look at a light source in a very, very dark room 38:26 you would say: "I need a flashlight" 38:28 or "I need something... a penlight or a candle - 38:32 the brighter the better because the surroundings are dark. " 38:35 So the darker the surroundings the better the source of light. 38:38 Sometimes I go to my front yard and you know I have a little 38:41 surefire little flashlight with a little button on the top 38:44 and it's really, really bright. It's the kind... 38:46 it's a tactical light and you could shine it around. 38:49 It's very, very bright. 38:51 And I kind of... I enjoy doing that. 38:53 I mean, I'm a flashlight guy. 38:55 And I realize that because it's dark 38:58 you need that source of light. It really wouldn't have any 39:01 effect in the daytime because the sun is a lot brighter. 39:03 Now here's my point. 39:04 When Jesus comes back we won't need a Bible 39:06 because He is the Word of God. 39:08 We'll be in His very presence. 39:09 Until then, He abides with us through His Word. 39:14 This is our source of light: the Word of God. 39:17 And so when you ask the question whether or not 39:20 people have faith, I was in a hospital the other day 39:24 visiting, and there was a person across 39:29 the bed from the person I was visiting. 39:31 And when I was leaving the hospital I said: "Well, 39:34 do you study your Bible? " And they said: "No. " 39:37 I said um... well I gave them a series of lessons... 39:41 Bible lessons - 14 of them... and I said: 39:43 "Well maybe this is a good time to start. " 39:46 And the person said: "OK. " 39:51 And they just accepted the Bible lessons. 39:52 And I don't ask if you have a Bible 39:54 because a lot of people say "yes. " But I ask specifically 39:57 "Do you study your Bible? " 39:58 And they said "No. " She said: "But my mother-in-law... 40:01 my mother-in law does. " 40:02 And I gave her the set of lessons and I said: 40:04 "Well maybe this is a good time to start. " 40:06 And so right there you find that this source of light 40:10 will do something for her: it will increase her faith. 40:13 And so the first scripture I would like to bring out is 40:18 Romans 10 and verse 17. 40:20 Why is it that there is so little faith in the world today? 40:23 The Bible says: "So then faith comes by hearing 40:28 and hearing by the Word of God. " 40:32 So the reason why there's a lack of faith in the world today 40:34 the reason why people have such disparity and... 40:39 what's the word there when they just really can't 40:41 get themselves going? Depression 40:44 and anxiety and intrepidation and fear. 40:48 It's because they have no faith. 40:50 And they can't have faith if they do not have a source light. 40:55 Right. Or a light source: the Word of God. 40:57 Which is why the devil is trying to keep them from going 40:59 to the Word. That's right. And there are so many Christians 41:02 today that don't - like you said - study the Word of God. 41:05 But if you think about it, Jesus said this was essential. 41:09 You know, imagine if I woke up one morning and I said 41:14 "I'm tired of eating. " I don't think you'd do that. 41:16 "I'm tired of eating. I have to always plan my meals. 41:21 I'm constantly having to pay for food. 41:22 I'm just... you know what? I'm just... I'm tired of eating. 41:25 I'm not going to eat anymore. " 41:27 How long would I last? 41:28 You won't last very long. Not very long. 41:30 And so this is why when the tempter... when the enemy 41:33 came to Jesus when he was tempted in the wilderness 41:35 to expose Him or try to deceive Him 41:39 by his temptations, to get Him off track in His relationship 41:42 with His Father, His dependence on His Father, 41:44 Jesus said these words in Matthew 4:4: 41:47 "He answered him saying: 'It is written' 41:51 - 'man shall not live by bread alone 41:55 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. ' " 42:00 As a Christian, if you are not feeding upon the Word 42:04 your faith will die. Just like if you are not eating physically 42:09 you will die. And so for a Christian to say 42:12 "Well you know, I just... I just believe. " 42:15 Or "I just think that... " without going to the Word 42:18 and studying it, they're not nourished within spiritually 42:23 to give them the ability to keep their faith 42:26 and to keep away from or at least to resist the deceptions 42:31 of the enemy. You know, our world, John, is 42:34 predatorial by nature. 42:35 Got this stuffy throat here. 42:37 We live in a predator's environment. 42:40 And what that means is... If you want to understand that, 42:43 look at Animal Plant or Animal Channel or look at those 42:45 discovery places where you find the lion looking for 42:48 his daily food and the jackal looking for its daily food 42:51 and the hyena looking for its daily food, 42:53 and the gazelle... who doesn't want to become his daily food. 42:57 And the mouse who doesn't want to become daily food. 43:00 And the rabbit who just wants to go home. 43:01 You know, we live in a predatorial environment. 43:04 And some of us are like rabbits with lions on our tails. 43:07 And the Bible says it very clearly: "The devil is as a 43:10 roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. " 43:12 And so for those of us who are not surrounded with the 43:15 armor of God, part of that armor is the Word of God... 43:19 the sword of the Spirit. 43:20 So now if you go out to the wilds, if you go out to a 43:22 safari or a jungle or gaming region of the world 43:26 and you have no weapon, you are just an open... 43:30 you are open game for the enemy, for the predators. 43:35 The Word of God, therefore, becomes our sword 43:39 and our shield. The shield of faith. 43:42 Faith by the Word of God. 43:44 The sword of the Spirit = the Word of God. 43:47 So much the helmet of salvation which is from the teaching 43:51 in the Word of God. And so when you don't have that armor 43:54 which is the Word of God, your mind is not a safe place 43:59 to just come up with ideas and theories and teachings. 44:05 You've got to really lock in to the Word of God 44:07 to really have a strong foundation. 44:09 When Jesus returns Revelation 19 says 44:13 that He returns as a conqueror, as a victor, in all His glory. 44:19 Um-hmm. And His name, it says in verse 13 of Revelation 19, 44:23 "His name is called The Word of God. " 44:27 That's His name. 44:29 And it says: "The armies of heaven clothed in fine linen 44:32 white and clean followed Him on white horses. " 44:34 Now, "out of His mouth goes a sharp sword 44:37 that with it He should strike the nations" - um-hmm - 44:41 "and He will rule over them. " He brings judgment 44:43 as the Word of God through the sharp sword - 44:46 the cutting of the Word of God - 44:48 and that's why frequently you will hear us say on this program 44:52 that the Word of God is what ultimately will judge us. 44:56 Right. Right. 44:58 In fact, oh, if I had the verse here, I'll look for it, but... 45:02 Which one are you thinking of? 45:04 he that does not believe 45:07 has that which judges him. 45:10 The Word will judge him in the last days. 45:13 See I can paraphrase it... I can quote it. 45:15 I don't know if it's... Um... 45:19 OK. Here is John 12:48. "He who rejects Me 45:22 and does not receive My words has that which judges him. " 45:26 Yeah. "The word which I have spoken will judge him 45:29 in the last days. " Can you imagine 45:32 coming up for judgment and you don't even read 45:34 the very thing, the very code book, the very words 45:38 that are going to be judging you? 45:40 Yeah. It's just ridiculous. 45:43 I have said sometimes that... You know, someone will say: 45:47 "Well, I disagree with how you've read that. 45:49 I just think that if I... " and you could dot, dot, dot. 45:52 You know, whatever their answer would be. 45:53 My response sometimes has just simply been 45:58 "When I stand before God at the end of time 46:02 and I'm found to maybe not have... 46:05 to have missed something or not have applied the Word 46:08 maybe in an area as well as I should have, 46:10 that I was wrong in certain areas... which we'll all be 46:13 wrong in certain areas. 46:14 It's like we can't figure out God entirely. It's not possible. 46:18 But I'd rather be able to say to Him 46:21 "I studied Your Word and I did everything that You told me 46:25 to do. " Um-hmm. Rather than have Him say to me: 46:29 "You didn't even look at My Word 46:31 to see if this was true or not. " 46:33 I'd rather be able to say: "I did, and I studied 46:36 and I followed it to the best of my abilities. " 46:39 And I think Satan wants us... 46:43 The biggest part of his deception is first he wants us 46:46 to not have an interest in the Word of God. 46:49 To think that it's not important. 46:51 To just kind of keep his hands over it, 46:54 keep it away, keep it obscure from the minds of the people 46:56 so they can't get into it to study what they believe. 46:59 As a matter of fact, another... 47:02 we're talking about counterfeits here. 47:03 There are lots of substitutes. Another word I like to use 47:07 for counterfeits is substitutes. 47:09 One of the other substitutes for the Word of God 47:12 is tradition. Yeah. Mark 7 verse 13. 47:15 It says: "Making the Word of God of no effect 47:21 through your tradition which you have handed down 47:24 and many such things you do. " 47:28 And so there are many who do not follow the Word of God 47:33 because their traditions are a lot more important to them. 47:37 Yeah. 47:39 I just... I had a funeral service I did 47:43 before I made my trip down here. 47:44 And the whole family really isn't Christian at all 47:49 although a couple of them are - 47:51 not Adventist but Christian in their understanding of 47:53 what happens you know when you die was unclear. 47:57 They were a little bit confused about that, so I... 47:59 I took that opportunity with my captive audience - 48:02 OK - to share some truths from the Word of God 48:05 as to what happens when you die. 48:06 How man's nature is. How it was formed and everything else. 48:10 There was a man that came up to me afterward 48:13 and he said: "I don't really... I'm not impressed easily. " 48:19 I said: "OK. " 48:22 He said: "But I appreciated what you said. " 48:26 And then he kind of framed the whole rest of our conversation 48:29 with these words. He said: 48:31 "Now I'm a devout... " and then he named his religion... 48:35 "I'm a devout such and such denomination 48:38 so I mean that's what I'm always going to be. 48:40 But, hey, if you want to stop by sometime 48:42 and talk a little bit, you know, we can chat a little bit 48:45 about some of these things 'cause I found it 48:47 very interesting. " Right. That's OK. You know, tradition 48:51 to him was everything. He's always been this. 48:54 He's not going to change and that's just the way it is. 48:57 You know, what's amazing about that, John, is 48:58 people have so many different views. For example, 49:01 my mother... my step-mother that is married to my dad 49:05 You know, her name is Leslie Gourse. 49:07 She was a prolific writer for jazz magazines 49:10 and he was... my dad Johnny Parker 49:13 was a jazz musician for many years. 49:15 And her tradition was everything to her. 49:17 I mean everything. 49:19 And when we would go out to dinner I would pray. 49:21 You know, I'd say: "Well... " and I'd try to share with her 49:23 the Bible. She says: "Look, I was born a Jew. 49:26 I'm going to die a Jew. " And you know, she did. 49:29 She did not deviate at all from her belief in 49:32 the fact that Jesus is not the Christ. 49:34 She just didn't have any... she didn't want to have any of that 49:37 at all. And so one of the ways that Satan seeks to make 49:41 the Word of God of no effect is truly 49:43 truth through traditions. 49:46 So much tradition exists in our world today 49:49 and the Word of God is almost squeezed out. 49:52 But there's a reason for that. 49:55 Yeah, absolutely. And then when you move beyond tradition 49:59 and you begin to study the Word of God 50:00 we find that he shifts his tactics... He... 50:03 Satan is highly adaptable. 50:05 And so the counterfeit is, well, tradition... 50:08 You know, depend upon tradition. 50:12 Assert your tradition over the Word. 50:13 But when you finally get to the Word, then he shifts gears 50:15 here and he starts to attack the Word itself 50:18 as being not trustworthy. 50:20 Or... you know, it's been changed so many times 50:23 that it's no longer infallible. 50:26 or maybe he spiritualizes everything 50:30 so there's no literal, real literal application of the Word. 50:33 It's more of a spiritual thing. 50:35 You know, well Jesus comes in your heart spiritually. 50:38 Yeah, you've seen that too. 50:40 And so he attacks the Word in this way 50:42 so finally when you get to the Word 50:44 then he tries to make it so it's not so easy 50:47 and you don't have any credibility for the Word. 50:50 That's right. But that's not what the Word says about itself. 50:53 Um-hmm. The Word says that it is very reliable. 50:56 It was handed down through the power of the Holy Spirit 51:00 by holy men who wrote things down. 51:02 And if God can do that, 51:04 can't He safeguard His Word? Can't He protect it? 51:07 Absolutely. And one of the reasons why we are listing this 51:09 as a counterfeit is because Satan did what is happening 51:13 today, he laid the foundation in the very beginning. 51:16 But we're going to talk about another lie that he told 51:18 but this... one of the first lies he told, 51:20 one of the first suggestions he made was in fact 51:24 "You know, could you really believe what God has said? " 51:28 And nowadays when you hear all these preachers, 51:30 they say: "God has said... God has said... 51:33 God has said... God has said. " 51:34 And you know, in many of those instances God has not said. 51:37 God did not say you die and go to heaven. 51:40 We're going to talk about that one. 51:41 God did not say it doesn't matter what day you worship on. 51:44 We're going to talk about that one. You see, 51:47 God did not say He's going to come back secretly. 51:49 We're going to talk about that one... another counterfeit. 51:50 All these counterfeits. And you find in 51:52 Genesis chapter 3 verse 1 here is where that original 51:55 thought came from. "Now the serpent... " 51:58 Revelation 12:9 makes that clear that's the devil. 52:00 "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast 52:04 of the field. " There it is: the serpent called a beast. 52:07 "More cunning than any beast of the field 52:09 which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: 52:13 'Has God indeed said 52:15 you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? ' " 52:19 So right away... So the whole issue here - 52:22 the whole fall of man - was based on what God said. 52:28 Yeah. "I know what you think God said but this is what 52:31 God said... Well, this is what God said. " 52:32 And Eve even said: "Well God didn't say. 52:34 God never said to her: 'If you touch it you're going to die. ' 52:37 He says: 'If you eat of it you're going to die. ' " 52:39 Now there are some people that say: "Well, 52:41 you know, God said you can't even touch a pig. 52:44 He didn't say that. But you can't eat the pig. 52:46 You see... the difference all together. 52:48 And the same thing with Jesus you know: "Didn't the Lord... 52:50 Didn't God say He would protect? " 52:52 That's right. "Go ahead and jump off" you know? 52:55 And he even left some of the verse out when he quoted Psalms. 52:57 He always... he always skews. He manipulates the word 53:00 to his own favor. 53:01 One... Let's go to one more here. 53:04 Number two in the Top Ten Counterfeits: 53:07 he tries to also obscure or not allow people to see 53:12 his own true nature. 53:14 Umm... that's a good one. The Great Controversy. 53:16 You know, good versus evil. 53:18 Christ versus Satan. 53:20 And he tries to mask himself. 53:23 not only... There's two ways of doing this. 53:27 Not only does he try to show that he's not so evil - 53:29 that evil doesn't exist - but when people find out 53:32 that evil exists he tries to make it so heinous looking 53:34 that when something looks good 53:37 it couldn't possibly be of Satan. See, there's two... 53:40 There's a balance here. He uses the extreme on either side. 53:43 In fact, when you look at programs today 53:45 you see evil or Satan - if it's about, you know, 53:49 if there's a movie about Satanic things - 53:51 depicted as this ugly looking beast with a pitchfork 53:56 or he's red and he's slimy or whatever it is. 53:59 And he loves that because that's not really who Satan is 54:05 at all. 54:06 so this is his other part, you know. He masks not only evil 54:12 but when people determine or have found that evil 54:15 does exist he tries to make it in a way that's it's 54:19 not really what it is. 54:21 Right. Almost alluring 54:24 yet the results or the ramifications often 54:27 are covered up. Yeah. 54:30 Like Robin... Little Red Riding Hood... 54:32 Robin Hood? Riding Hood? 54:34 Little Red Riding Hood? Riding Hood, yeah. OK. 54:36 You know, the issue here also I think 54:40 there's a connection. If you look at the New Age today 54:43 especially we know that Wicca and the occult 54:47 is really growing, you know, by leaps and bounds. 54:50 You find that if you get into their teachings 54:53 they don't believe necessarily in Satan being evil. 54:58 Right. You know, it's more of a thing of opposites. 55:02 Where there's good there has to be evil. 55:04 The ying and the yang. And even they see, 55:07 you know, Satan as not being exactly, you know, 55:10 who Christians say he is but, you know, witchcraft 55:15 and other things... well it's good. You know, there's some 55:17 good application of that in things. 55:18 So he makes it very tasteful so people can get into that 55:21 kind of stuff. So that's something that also is very 55:23 prevalent today. And... And you know the reason why 55:26 it's that way is because Satan has transformed himself. 55:29 You know, you've seen these little transformers 55:32 where a kid has a car and all of a sudden it 55:34 turns into a robot. 55:35 Well things are as we say nowadays "not the way 55:38 they appear to be. " And the reason is: 55:40 Satan is the master of making things look safe 55:44 when in fact they are deadly. 55:46 Uh, II Corinthians 11 verses 13 to 15 55:51 brings this out. "For such are false apostles 55:54 deceitful workers transforming themselves 55:57 into the apostles of Christ. " 55:59 Verse 14... and no wonder: "For Satan himself 56:02 transforms himself into an angel of light. " 56:06 So I'm not going to read the rest of it 56:08 because this part that comes out clearly points out that 56:11 Satan transforms himself into an angel of light. 56:15 There's a literal application in that, too. Right! 56:17 But I think the spiritual application is very, very clear 56:20 that even within the church he can make things look 56:22 like they're coming from the light - 56:24 But they're really coming from the dark side. 56:27 "And he has ministers who transform themselves 56:30 into ministers of righteousness. 56:32 whose end will be according to their works. " 56:34 So there are a lot of people nowadays who say: "Well, 56:35 how could the pastor be lying? " 56:37 Well I mean, come on, friends. 56:39 You know, there's a... You know, there's a line that 56:41 people can sell to you in Brooklyn. 56:43 Like we say in Brooklyn: "I'll sell you the Brooklyn Bridge" 56:45 you know. There's so many people that could fool you 56:48 just based on what they look like. 56:50 The devil has mastered that art today. 56:52 So don't be... don't be caught off guard 56:54 thinking that because it sounds good it necessarily has to be 56:57 good. Yeah. So we've covered a couple of them 56:59 just to get us started here. 57:01 The Word of God. The importance of truth. 57:03 And he kind of diminishes that... it's value. 57:06 And then of course he also hides himself a little bit 57:08 behind things that look like they're good, 57:11 look like they are of the light but they are really of the dark. 57:14 That's right. And friends, so you see 57:15 it's important not to be pulled in by the counterfeit. 57:17 There are so many counterfeits today. 57:19 But here at House Calls one of the reasons why we are not 57:22 going to be deceived is because we believe the Word of God 57:24 is not a counterfeit. It is the true source 57:26 of the light that we all are in need of. 57:28 So study the Word of God. 57:30 Apply yourself to it, and when the time comes 57:33 for the Lord to call you you will be ready. 57:34 God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17