Participants: John Lomacang, John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL110018
|
00:01 Hello, friends. Grab your Bible
00:03 and a friend and sit back as we explore God's word 00:05 together on this edition of House Calls. 00:22 Know you haven't made a mistake, 00:24 this is the correct channel, 00:25 this is 3ABN's House Calls program with John and John 00:29 So welcome to the most exciting place 00:32 to be at this time of the day, wherever you are 00:34 and whatever country you're tuning in from. 00:36 Thank you so much for tuning into House Calls. 00:38 I've got my good friend John with me today. 00:39 John, how are you doing today? 00:40 Yeah, I'm doing great. It's good to be here, John. 00:42 You look healthy and alive, that's a good thing. 00:44 And you, you as well. Lord is blessing you. 00:46 Praise God for that and we have some people 00:48 that have taken the time to tune in today. 00:49 And I hope you have your Bibles, 00:51 get your pens, your papers. 00:53 And don't forget we like questions, 00:55 think about those, because we have some 00:56 great questions for you today. 00:58 Before we go and continue our topic 01:00 on why so many denominations. 01:03 If you have missed any of the past ones, 01:05 you can contact 3ABN and surely they'll try to 01:08 find a way get that to you. 01:09 But before we do questions, 01:11 before we go to the Bible, 01:12 we always go to the Lord in prayer. 01:14 John, pray for us today. Be happy to. 01:17 Father in heaven we are blessed once again 01:19 to be part of this program 01:21 and not just we who are presenting the program, 01:25 but those who are listening or viewing this program 01:28 wherever they are. Lord, I just pray 01:30 that you would bring the power of your spirit, 01:32 Lord, to each one of us. 01:34 Guide and direct us through your word, 01:35 which is a lamp unto our feet and a light into our path. 01:38 Lord, may it ever be so, and especially throughout 01:41 these times where we have an opportunity to answer 01:43 questions and to cover a topic 01:45 we believe is important, 01:46 we believe also you believe it's important. 01:49 Thank you, Father, lead and guide us into truth, 01:51 in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 01:54 And don't forget now, 01:57 questions are very important to our program, 02:00 we often receive them via Internet, 02:04 that is at House Calls. 02:06 And so if you have any questions 02:07 you want to sent to us, send them to housecalls@3abn.org 02:10 that's the address on your screen. 02:11 housecalls@3abn.org and it comes through 02:15 something called the Internet, 02:17 it's a great medium of communication. 02:19 But if you don't have the Internet where you are, 02:21 and you prefer to send it by mail, 02:24 you can send it to us in envelope, 02:26 just address to House Calls, to 3ABN, PO Box 220, 02:32 West Frankfort, IL, 62896. 02:36 But this is the fun part of the program 02:39 as well as a very important part of the program. 02:42 So, John, what is our first question for today? 02:45 Well, it's a question that it has come up before, 02:48 I don't think we've answered it before. 02:50 But this comes from Langton and he's asking us, 02:56 was Jesus really crucified on the cross or stake, 03:00 a pole, some sects say the use of the cross 03:03 is pagan and the biblical cross 03:06 is a mistranslation, is this a fact? 03:09 And this comes to us from Zimbabwe. 03:12 Thank you very much for sending this question. 03:14 You know the Bible is fairly clear uses 03:17 the word cross over and over again, 03:19 and I know that some have suggested 03:21 that it's a mistranslation 03:23 but the other supporting part of this that it's 03:25 sometimes ignored is the tradition. 03:29 And how far it goes back of the church 03:31 and its understanding of how Christ was crucified. Okay. 03:35 The Roman tradition of crucifixion 03:37 was around for a long, long time. 03:40 And going back and looking at that Roman tradition, 03:43 I know there are some disputes as to 03:44 what the cross actually look like, 03:46 was the pole extending up beyond the horizontal 03:51 part of the cross or was it not, 03:55 was it more like a T, you know some debate that, 03:58 but for the most part it's pretty well 04:00 understood throughout history the cross 04:02 and whole crucifixion experience by the Romans 04:06 who have been doing it for a long time. 04:07 Nailed or roped people to two pieces of wood one vertical, 04:15 that's stuck into the ground, one horizontal, 04:17 so the armscould be overlapped over that. 04:19 And that was what the crucifixion 04:21 of the cross was all about. 04:23 Jesus was crucified, 04:25 that is clear and so we do know that cross, 04:29 the word cross is not pagan and origin per se. 04:33 It maybe considered pagan if you wanna go back to 04:36 that it was a Roman type of death penalty. 04:41 But as far as what Christ was crucified 04:44 on it was absolutely a cross. 04:46 So I don't see that as a mistranslation, John. 04:50 The cross is interesting, because people sometimes 04:54 get hung up on what Jesus crucified on. 04:58 Some say it was the T, which is the symbol 05:03 for the Latin letter Tau. 05:06 Others say, it was a torture stake, 05:08 you know the Jehovah's Witness commonly 05:09 use the phrase, torture stake. 05:12 Throughout the course of human history, 05:14 as well as Christian history, many have said, 05:16 well, since Jesus died for us on the cross 05:20 let us make the cross our symbol. 05:23 I think the problem comes in the minds of many 05:26 when the Christian uses the cross as their symbol, 05:29 when in fact the cross was never a Christian symbol. 05:32 But it was a symbol of, 05:35 it was the altar of torture to Gods 05:39 that did not represent the God of heaven, 05:42 that's why the Romans choose that. 05:45 But crucifixion was actually introduced by the Persians. 05:48 And by the time it got to Rome, you have Babylon, 05:51 Medo-Persia, Greece and then Rome. 05:54 Rome studied it to find out how they can get 05:59 the most impact from their victims that were being 06:02 hung on the cross. 06:04 And so it's more likely that 06:07 it was in the shape of the letter T, 06:09 this way because the victims 06:11 had no place to lean their head back in most cases 06:13 so their heads hung and the arms are draped over, 06:18 so that it would just make it almost difficult 06:20 or impossible for the victims to breathe, 06:24 thus having to push down on their legs 06:27 and excruciating pain from the fact that their legs 06:31 were also nailed one up above the other. 06:35 And the hands were nailed in the wrist. 06:37 So they pulled up every aspect 06:40 of it was continual pain. 06:41 So it was a torture, a torturous experience. 06:45 However, just to kind of go 06:48 back in the sense of memorial, 06:51 people say the cross is where my redemption was paid, 06:54 the cross is where the sacrifice 06:56 for my sins were made, 06:58 the cross is to me somewhat of my Statue of Liberty. 07:02 And so I could see how it has become representative 07:07 of the greatest level of sacrifice and self-denial 07:12 that anyone can ever express to save humanity. 07:16 That's why the cross has maintained today 07:18 such a revere among many Christians. 07:21 And it continues on because, 07:22 you know even Jesus said that those 07:25 who want to follow Him will take up their cross. Right. 07:28 And follow Him, so we ourselves have to endure 07:31 our own experience of death to self. 07:33 And a bearing of the cross as we go on in 07:36 following Christ as one of his disciples. 07:38 You know, one of the texts 07:40 that really jumps out at me, when I think of the cross 07:42 and I think of scripture is 1 Corinthians 1:18 it says, 07:47 "For the message of the cross is foolishness 07:49 to those who are perishing, 07:51 but to us who are being saved, 07:53 it is the power of God." 07:55 The cross isn't the power of God, 07:58 it's the message of the cross, 08:00 that's the power of God. 08:01 And so the symbol of the cross is, 08:04 strength to those 08:06 who understand the message behind it. 08:08 The symbol, as far as what is it, 08:10 it simply represents torture, 08:12 you know the way that the Romans killed Christ. 08:14 But if it wasn't for that death He died for us, 08:18 the message goes we would not have salvation, 08:21 we would not have redemption. 08:22 And so, praise the Lord, Jesus did accept that, 08:26 that death did sacrifices Himself 08:29 and that was all for us. 08:32 And I think you've answered the question 08:33 very, very well, thank you, John. 08:35 We have another question here from Marty, 08:39 Marty and it doesn't say where Mary is from. 08:43 But let me go ahead and read the question. Oh! 08:47 Sorry, that's not the one I want to get to first, 08:50 I want to get to this one 08:51 from the Donnelly first, in Jamaica. 08:54 Hey, welcome Jamaica, now that's not the way to say 08:58 welcome Jamaica, 'ya mon.' 09:01 My wife is Jamaican, for those of you in Jamaica, 09:04 forgive me, I didn't say that correctly, 09:06 but we're so glad that you're tuning in from Jamaica. 09:09 Here is the question, it is so wonderful to be 09:12 able to send in my Bible questions 09:14 to you on House Calls. 09:16 May the Holy Spirit continue to use you both 09:18 in his service for such a time as this. 09:20 Thank you very much. Praise the Lord. 09:21 I would like you to please expand on Isaiah 48:10, 09:25 specifically the latter part of the text 09:27 which says, I have chosen 09:30 the in the furnace of affliction. 09:33 Please explain for me 09:35 as I have not been able to understand it. 09:38 First, let me start with probably one of the most 09:40 commonly repeated stories in the Bible, 09:42 you know being raised we heard phrase of Daniel 09:45 in the lion's den, the Hebrews in the fiery furnace. 09:49 When you think of Isaiah 48, 09:52 Isaiah was a contemporary, a contemporary prophet. 09:56 Meaning, many of the things that were 09:59 experienced by Jeremiah, Hosea, you know Hosea, 10:04 Daniel were not too distance separated. 10:08 And so when you think of the fiery trials, these, 10:12 these phrases were mostly associated 10:14 with the affliction that was experienced by the Hebrews. 10:18 And you know there in Daniel 3 and verse 6. 10:22 They were warned that if they refused to worship 10:25 the image, they will be cast immediately into 10:28 the burning fiery furnace. 10:30 But when you look at Isaiah 48 it says, 10:33 I've chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. 10:37 What was the furnace of affliction for the Hebrews? 10:39 That burning fiery furnace, 10:41 however the phrase extends beyond the fiery furnace, 10:45 because there are those who are not 10:47 delivered from the fire, but like the Hebrews, 10:51 they're delivered in the fire. 10:54 So sometimes and just last week I was saying to someone 10:57 we often pray for God to remove 10:59 our trials and remove our afflictions, 11:00 remove our stumblings, the things that really 11:04 become irritations to us as Christians. 11:06 But, sometimes the very thing that God 11:10 has allowed to come your way is for his glory. 11:13 I use the example of the Hebrews in the fiery furnace, 11:15 had Nebuchadnezzar not seen 11:17 them be delivered in the fire. 11:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar would not have extolled 11:21 and exalted the God of Shadrach, 11:24 Meshach and Abednego. 11:26 So, do we have a furnace of affliction? 11:29 Everyone of us does. 11:31 Here's some text to encourage you. 11:34 1 Peter 4 and verse 12, "Beloved, 11:37 do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, 11:42 which is to try you as though some 11:45 strange thing happened to you." 11:47 So do we go through fiery trials? 11:50 Have you had any, John? Plenty, yes. 11:52 I tell you, it's a part of this journey. 11:54 And the major reason why it's a part 11:56 of our Christian journey is not because we did anything 11:59 wrong, but because God is seeking to purify us. 12:03 Here's another one, Ephesians 6:16, 12:06 "above all, taking the shield of faith with 12:09 which you will be able to quench 12:11 the fiery darts of the wicked one." 12:13 Now the fiery darts are to keep you from being 12:17 consumed in those trials, but the fiery trials are 12:20 sometimes allowed to prepare you for the kingdom. 12:23 So they are a point of purification, 12:26 a point of separating the draws from the pure goal. 12:30 So that's simply what Isaiah 48 means. 12:34 God chooses us in the furnace of affliction, 12:37 or specifically sometimes how the Hebrew 12:40 may say it there, 12:41 in the furnace of affliction we become the chosen. 12:45 And what that means is, how can we be chosen 12:48 of God if the impurities are not separated. 12:51 So in the furnace of affliction 12:53 we are being developed as the chosen. 12:55 To miss the process of fire, 12:58 to miss the process of purification, 13:01 matter of fact, go with me to Revelation Chapter 3, 13:04 John, you may want to turn there. 13:08 This illustrates the point very well, 13:11 Revelation Chapter 3. 13:13 Let me see if I need my glasses on this one. 13:19 Yes, here it is, Revelation 3:18. 13:24 "I counsel you" Jesus says, 13:26 "to buy from Me gold tried or refined in the fire, 13:32 that you may be rich." 13:33 Now gold, if you've gold you're rich already, 13:37 but if you have refined gold you really are rich. 13:41 What that means is when a prospector gets gold out 13:43 of the ground, it's in one form, 13:45 but it has a lot of impurities in it. 13:47 But when that gold is purified, 13:49 its what's called pure gold, 13:52 or as a person may say, solid gold. 13:56 No pits in it, no rocks in it, no sand in it. 14:00 And that's the reason, 14:02 the great reason for fiery trials. 14:04 The Lord separates from us all those things 14:07 that only trials can separate. 14:10 John, for example, you think about a person 14:12 going through difficulty, when a person goes 14:15 through difficulty, you know what happens? 14:17 All of a sudden their prayer life becomes genuine. 14:21 You know, you don't pray you know Father, 14:22 thank you the food, thank you for the-- 14:24 You pray, Lord. Earnestly, more serious. 14:27 That's right, I mean, 14:29 so what do you think about that? 14:30 Well, we've all gone through those moments 14:32 where we just feel like, you know, Lord, 14:36 where are you? 14:37 I'm desperate, I need you now. 14:38 And the heartfelt earnest pleadings of a child to God, 14:44 you know or something the God clearly 14:45 has asked us to do. 14:47 I mean, to appeal to him as our Father. 14:51 And so we do that sometimes as children 14:53 do with their fathers, daddy help! Right. 14:56 And at those moments especially when we are in 14:58 the midst of fiery trials is when God responds 15:01 and blesses in accordance with the prayer of faith. 15:05 And so these trials drive us to practice our faith 15:09 not just be a everyday, yes, I believe, 15:12 thank you Lord, like you said, for this food, 15:14 and for all the things you've done for me 15:16 and how you bless me. 15:17 But a true practice, an earnestness 15:19 to our faith that moves mountains. 15:22 And in many case those mountains are our fiery 15:25 trials that are right in front of us that only 15:27 can be changed by God. That's right. 15:29 And we find out who we are, 15:32 God doesn't find out who we are, 15:34 we find out out who we are when trials come our way, 15:36 God knows who we are. 15:37 Sometimes he allows those fiery trials to come 15:39 so that we can see who we really are. 15:42 Just, if you ask somebody the question, 15:46 this is very sensitive, and I know this is, 15:48 I'm gonna use this example, 15:49 because my sister work, still today works with 15:52 the fire department of New York City. 15:53 And one of the most atrocious experiences 15:55 were the World Trade Center incident there 15:58 and also in Washington DC. 16:01 But the atrocities that happened in New York City 16:04 were when people-- If you ask somebody, 16:07 would you have a jump out off the World Trade Center? 16:09 Would you have a jump off 16:10 the roof of the World Trade Center? 16:11 Would you have a jump out of a building that high? 16:13 People would say absolutely not. 16:16 The sad sensitive reality was, 16:20 when the fire was lapping against them, 16:23 people made decisions that they would not 16:25 normally make under normal circumstances. 16:28 In the very same way when trials come our way 16:32 we decide at that moment whether or not 16:36 we're gonna continue in the course that we went down 16:39 haphazardly, or whether not we're gonna now begin 16:42 to serve God in great sincerity. 16:44 But you know what friends? 16:45 Those decisions are not develop at that moment, 16:48 they are developed long before that moment. 16:51 The Hebrews decided before they got in the fire, 16:54 God can deliver us, but even if he doesn't, 16:56 we're gonna continue to serve Him anyway. 16:58 So what's the furnace of affliction? 17:00 The furnace of affliction is the place 17:02 where you begin to see who you are. 17:05 You begin to understand what your great need is 17:07 and you also begin to experience the power 17:10 of God to deliver you. Amen, very good. 17:14 John, I have a question here that it's in regard 17:17 to Revelation Chapter 19. Okay. 17:20 Verses 20 and 21 and they're just asking for 17:23 us to dialogue a little bit here to help clarify 17:26 some of the things that are going on. 17:28 I'll go ahead and read those. All right. 17:30 And then I will read another passage 17:32 from Revelation 20 that is very similar 17:34 and then we can share a few things about that. 17:37 It says in Revelation 19 verse 20, 17:41 and by the way just for context, 17:42 this is right on the heels of Christ's Second Coming. 17:46 So Christ returns, 17:47 if you look a few verses before that, 17:50 He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, 17:52 He is called the Word of God. 17:55 Verse 13, and "out of His mouth 17:57 is a sharp sword, " verse 15. 17:59 "That He would strike the nations. 18:00 And He will rule them with a rod of iron." 18:03 Then it shows in verse 20 and 21 that here is what 18:07 happens to the beast and the false prophet 18:10 who were deceiving the people, 18:11 the inhabitants of the earth. 18:13 "Then the beast was captured, 18:15 and with him the false prophet 18:18 who worked signs in his presence, 18:20 by which he deceived those 18:22 who received the mark of the beast 18:24 and those who worshiped his image. 18:26 These two were cast alive into the lake of fire 18:29 burning with brimstone. 18:31 And the rest were killed with the sword 18:33 which proceeded from the mouth of Him 18:36 who sat on the horse. 18:37 And all the birds were filled with their flesh." 18:41 Now if you look in Chapter 20, 18:44 verse 10 it talks about the devil, 18:47 "who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire 18:50 and brimstone where the beast 18:52 and the false prophet are. 18:55 And they will be tormented 18:57 day and night forever and ever." 18:58 So it looks like, it appears like in Chapter 19 19:02 that the beast and the false prophet are thrown 19:04 into the lake of fire first. 19:06 Then the devil who also were part of that coalition, 19:11 the antichrist coalition. Right. 19:13 The false trinity were thrown in with them after that. 19:16 Now just a few thoughts on this. 19:19 First of all, Revelation 20 it says the beast was 19:22 captured and within the false prophet 19:24 who worked signs in his presence. 19:26 This is clearly identify the beast from the sea 19:29 and the beast from the earth, 19:30 it comes up out of the earth in Revelation Chapter 13. 19:33 We know that because the second beast, 19:36 the one that comes out of earth beginning in verse 11, 19:38 it says that he worked signs in the presence of the beast. 19:43 That is the beast that came before, 19:44 the one that rose up from the sea. Right. 19:46 So we know then that the beast and the false 19:48 prophet are the beast from the sea that arises 19:51 from the sea and the beast that arises from the earth. 19:54 Now the other beast we find, 19:57 actually the other person involved is the devil. 20:02 And it says in Chapter 16 verse 15, 20:07 that the devil is in coalition 20:12 with these other two powers. 20:16 In fact verse 14, verse 13, 20:18 I'm sorry I'm gonna backup, 20:19 verse 13 of Chapter 16 it says the, 20:21 "three unclean spirits like frogs coming up out 20:25 of the mouth of the dragon, 20:26 out of the mouth of the beast, 20:28 and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 20:31 Identify the beast and the false prophet, 20:33 the dragon we know from Chapter 12 is who? Satan. 20:37 The devil, Satan so. 20:38 You have all three appearing 20:39 in Chapter 19 verses 20 and 21 20:43 and Chapter 20 verse 10 all 20:46 ending up in the lake of fire. 20:49 But the question is, you know who not just 20:51 who are these entities, the question here talks about 20:54 these entities being the Church of Rome, 20:59 the first beast coming up out of the sea, 21:01 apostate Protestantism, which is the false 21:05 prophet that supports her. 21:08 They unite as a false system under Babylon. 21:13 But the question is you know 21:14 what is the timing of these things? 21:16 Because it sure seems like that the lake of fire 21:19 is there at the Second Coming to destroy 21:22 the beast and the false prophet. 21:25 Or the dragon or the devil is thrown into the same lake 21:30 of fire in the Third Coming of Christ in Chapter 20. 21:33 How do we resolve this? 21:34 Well, if they're asking for chronology of destruction, 21:36 the beauty of that is we have something 21:39 that encapsulates both of these descriptions 21:42 called the Battle of Armageddon. 21:44 The Battle of Armageddon is a progressive battle, 21:46 that the last act that would be the destruction 21:50 of all the powers of deception. 21:54 I often point out that Satan uses only two 21:56 tactics, deception and destruction. 21:58 So from the time he began his campaign 22:02 of destruction in heaven 22:04 he followed up by everything else, 22:06 everything else that followed that was 22:07 always in the cloak of deception. 22:09 So let's go ahead and get this, 22:10 John is giving you pictures here in 22:12 Revelation 19, the reason why John inserts that in 22:15 Revelation 19 is because Revelation 19 is about 22:17 the Second Coming of Christ. 22:19 Revelation 19 is about the Battle of Armageddon, 22:21 that actual war. 22:22 So when you look in Revelation 19 22:24 it's outlining rider on the white horse, 22:26 what is the result of the, 22:27 what is the result of Satan's army attacking 22:31 the angels of heaven and Christ? 22:34 What's the result? 22:35 They're gonna thrown in a lake of fire. 22:36 Then in Revelation 20 it shows, 22:38 when are they gonna thrown in the lake of fire. 22:40 Okay, I like your point, because the when isn't in 19, 22:44 the when is in 20. Exactly. 22:45 That the reason why it appears in 19 as it does. 22:48 End of the battle. 22:49 Is because, well the end of the battle, 22:51 but also you're talking about an event that is on 22:53 the heels of the seven last plagues. Exactly. 22:56 And the reason for the seven last plagues 22:57 is the destruction of the Babylon. 22:59 Okay, the punishment of Babylon, 23:02 those forces of the earth that are deceiving 23:05 the earth and causing them to be destroyed. 23:10 So what you have here in 19 is Jesus going after 23:14 those two powers on the earth that have been 23:17 established by the devil to deceive the world. 23:20 And we also know, here is one thing that's 23:21 interesting, John, we known that those 23:24 who receive the mark of the beast receive 23:25 it on their hand and where else? 23:29 In their forehead. That's right. 23:30 So they are those who acquiesce or join 23:34 in the propaganda and the teachings of the beast 23:39 and the false prophet. 23:41 And then there are those who simply go along 23:43 because they don't wanna to receive, 23:44 or they don't wanna be persecuted as God's 23:47 people are persecuted. 23:49 And it's interesting we find in verse 21, 23:50 "that the rest were killed with the sword 23:53 which proceeded from the mouth of Him 23:55 who sat on the horse." 23:56 They didn't believe the teachings of the beast 23:59 and the false prophet, but when Christ came back 24:02 He judged them by the sword which we know is 24:05 the word of God and they didn't believe that word 24:09 so they were judged in accordance with that. 24:10 I would suggest to you that the systems 24:14 and those that unite with it are destroyed in 20 and in 21 24:19 you are finding the rest of those who didn't 24:21 join but just went along 24:23 within their forehead and forearms. 24:25 They received the mark there were also killed. Right. 24:28 By Christ, by the sword that came out of his mouth. 24:29 So you see those two groups destroyed, 24:31 but the timing of that is in 20. 24:33 And I like the way you said that, John. 24:35 Yeah, and so, so the reason why 90 is put the way, 24:38 because that's the war. 24:39 A lot of people talk about let's see this battle. 24:41 In Revelation Chapter 19 let's see battle, 24:43 there is the battle going on in full array, 24:46 who are the two sides? 24:47 Christ on the white horse and all the angels 24:49 following him, His entire military, 24:51 then you have the Kings of the earth 24:53 and the reason why Revelation 16 is important. 24:55 The Kings of the earth, well, 24:56 how do they get gathered together? 24:58 By unclean spirits, so you have all these 25:01 components and you look at the word war in 25:04 Revelation is mentioned eight times. 25:05 From the first time it's introduced it talks about 25:08 the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit wars, 25:11 see then you talk about Revelation that war 25:14 started in heaven, then he's gonna war against, 25:16 again against God's people. 25:17 So each aspect of that war is added onto the picture. 25:22 The other one he goes to war with them, why? 25:24 So the reason for the war is in Revelation 12:17. 25:29 The one who is appears to be mighty in the war is 25:34 introduced in Revelation Chapter 13. 25:35 Who is like the beast, 25:37 who was able to make war with them? 25:38 The question is answered later on. 25:41 In Revelation 19, who is able to make war with him? 25:44 Christ is able to make war with him. 25:46 So you begin look at the progression of it. 25:47 He will make war with the lamb, 25:49 but the lamb will overcome in Revelation 17. 25:52 So you see all the introductions of this war. 25:54 And in Revelation 19 shows the actual war, 25:58 in Revelation 20 shows the end 26:00 result of losing that battle. 26:03 You get thrown in the fire, 26:04 that's the end result of losing the battle. 26:06 The other thing here too is that, 26:07 I think the last one to be punished and that is 26:11 acknowledged at least or seen by all is the devil. 26:13 And so the timing of it all the lake of fire is 26:16 kindled, timing wise in 20. 26:19 We know the systems that he uses to support 26:22 the deception on this earth are destroyed 26:24 at the Second Coming of Christ. 26:26 So another reason for the separation of or at least 26:29 talking of the beast and the false prophet in 19 26:31 and then the devil in 20. 26:34 So I hope that answers a little bit of the 26:36 question at least to give some insight, 26:38 that are inside is to what's going on with 26:40 the lake of fire there and these three entities. 26:42 As a matter of fact I've just hit on that one, 26:46 the Lord talks about bringing forth a fire 26:48 from the midst of Lucifer. 26:51 And it would devour him in the presence of all 26:54 those who saw him. 26:56 And they would look at him and say they would say, 27:00 is this the one who caused the earth to tremble. 27:02 And then they will say, he will be no more forever. 27:07 So yes, thank you very much for that question. 27:10 Now do we wanna segue into our program now? 27:12 Yeah, let's do that. 27:13 Thank you so much for your questions, 27:15 we tried to do justice. 27:17 If you find that 27:19 we have fallen short in any particular way. 27:22 Call us, that is get in contact with us by 27:26 sending questions to our Internet address 27:29 housecalls@3abn.org that's housecalls@3abn.org 27:35 And once again, 27:37 thank you for your support of this program. 27:39 We enjoy what we do, and I think that makes 27:42 a difference and to have you know we have a two 27:45 cylinder car here, 27:46 but God is really the power behind this. That's right. 27:48 John and John both fueled by the presence 27:51 and power of the Holy Spirit. 27:53 So to God be the glory. 27:55 As we continue now in our unfolding 27:58 of why so many denominations? 28:00 John, lead us into this topic today. 28:02 Well, we finished in our last program I believe, 28:04 talking about the mother church or the church 28:09 that is the head of Babylon, as we keep on referring 28:12 to Revelation 12 and Revelation 17. 28:15 And then we're talking about today now as we 28:17 transition to other denominations, 28:19 we're talking about the daughters that are linked 28:21 or associated with the mother the mother church, 28:25 the mother harlot per se in Revelation 17. 28:29 And let me ask something before that. Go ahead. 28:31 I wanna put the context here, 28:32 because I know that people when they listen to this. 28:34 The words we say are, 28:36 the words we say can be very concentrated 28:39 in the interpretation of the hearer. 28:41 And so what we wanna make sure you understand today 28:44 is we're laying out facts, 28:46 we're not attacking people, 28:47 I think you mentioned that in one of our programs. 28:49 But it does well to before we handle any 28:53 of these particular denominations 28:56 or particular movements. 28:57 It's important to understand 28:58 that we're talking about the evolution 29:00 or in some cases, the revolution of Christianity. 29:05 How things have been in areas of conflict 29:10 and revolution during the dark ages. 29:11 But then after the dark ages 29:13 how they have evolved and why they exist today, 29:16 and how they got there? 29:17 So we're gonna talk about teachings that exist 29:19 today, the different faiths that embrace these 29:22 teachings, the ones that are supported by 29:24 scripture, but the ones that survived 29:27 the filtration of the Protestant Reformation. 29:32 And what I mean by that is, 29:33 and I think we're gonna mention this, 29:34 so I want to jump too far ahead of it, 29:36 but matter of fact, let me now jump ahead 29:38 of that, because you're gonna talk about some 29:39 of the things that survived the Protestant Reformation. 29:41 Well, I was simply gonna talk about that, 29:42 it's really important to get all the programs on 29:44 this to see the other ones that we've already done, 29:46 because it really establishes 29:47 already the first three. Right. 29:49 Establishes where we are today, 29:51 what we are saying today can be misunderstood, 29:53 if not understood in the context 29:55 of what we've already been talking about. 29:57 So we've lead people through 29:58 how the systems were developing. 30:00 We just talked about the beast and the false 30:02 prophet and we've said many times in other 30:05 programs that the Bible we believe is very clear 30:08 as to who those entities are. Right. 30:10 And so unless you have those that support that 30:13 background some of these words and some of the 30:15 things we're talking about can be wow! 30:17 You know I didn't know that, 30:18 where they get that from? 30:20 So anyway I appreciate that and we are talking 30:22 about systems here. Right. 30:24 Not people within the systems. 30:26 God says, Jesus says very, very clearly, 30:32 other sheep I have that are not of this fold, 30:34 that are of my people that I'm shepherding, 30:36 I must bring them so that there 30:39 will be one flock with one shepherd. 30:41 And of course we know Revelation says, 30:43 that there is a call out of Babylon. 30:46 That is Babylon being the mother Church 30:47 and the harlots that are following her teachings. 30:51 Come out of her my people, 30:53 there are people that are serving God in these groups. 30:56 But the teachings, the system itself is corrupt. 31:00 And so we don't make any bones about that, 31:03 we are pretty definitive on that statement. 31:06 That we believe that there are corrupt systems 31:08 of Christianity out here, that we identify in these, 31:12 in these programs. 31:14 Matter of fact, 31:15 to even build on that something that's really, 31:18 cleverly housed in this program is this. 31:22 There are still the Protestant Reformation 31:26 and there are still the reigning supreme authority 31:29 of the Roman Catholic Church at least in their own right. 31:32 That church, and that's why the ecumenical 31:36 movement is still happening today. 31:38 Trying to get them back under the reign of Rome, 31:40 but the Protestants, those who continue to be 31:44 Protestants are still maintaining sola 31:48 scriptura, the Bible and the Bible only. 31:51 That's really what we're saying here today, 31:53 is that if it doesn't come from the Bible, 31:55 then it's not sola scriptura and it doesn't 31:58 qualify to be a part of the Protestant Reformation. Yeah. 32:01 It literally links itself back to Catholicism. 32:04 So I, to give it back to John. 32:05 If it's not in the Bible if the belief that anyone 32:09 embraces is not supported by the scripture. 32:11 It has survived the filtration of the 32:14 Protestant Reformation and it still belongs to 32:16 the Mother Church. Right. Okay. 32:17 You're right, you know the other thing too is, 32:20 I was talking to a pastor friend of mine, 32:23 and I was actually talking directly to him, 32:27 we were in a group of pastors. 32:29 And I was, he was talking about, 32:31 he made the comment that really kind of, 32:33 it didn't surprised me, 32:34 but it was kind of shocking. 32:36 And I don't think he even realize 32:37 the important of this, 32:38 but the comment he made was, yeah, 32:40 we have a dear lady in our church that believes 32:44 that the Roman Catholic Church is the beast. 32:48 And I'm thinking he's a Lutheran pastor 32:52 and he clearly is not knowing what Martin Luther 32:55 believed about the Roman Catholic Church. Right. 32:59 Martin Luther to his dying day believed that 33:02 Rome was the beast. 33:04 The little horn power. Exactly. 33:07 The Protestant Reformers, others believed that the 33:10 Roman Catholic Church was the little horn power 33:13 and the beast power. 33:15 And so these things were say, 33:16 are saying right now, people find shocking 33:19 today, even other pastors of other churches find 33:21 shocking today and that's the reason 33:22 why what we say that Protestants 33:25 are no longer protesting. No. 33:27 They are ecumenical, they believe in the 33:31 ecumenical, the ecumenism that's happening, 33:33 the coming together again with the Roman church. 33:36 In fact this is one of the reasons 33:37 why you're seeing stories out there of Lutherans 33:40 and Catholics or Episcopalians 33:43 and Catholics, or Presbyterians 33:45 and Catholics coming together in dialogue 33:47 to join as one faith. 33:49 Right, and but they don't realize one is being 33:53 fished, one is the fisher. Right. 33:55 See the churches are being reeled in, 33:57 on being pulled back to Rome, 34:00 another point you made so wonderfully here is that 34:04 we have to remember that, it is important to 34:07 reiterated and to stress again 34:09 that the Bible is the sole authority. Yeah. 34:14 The Bible is the sole authority, 34:16 once you dismiss the authority of the Bible 34:18 and say well, our church has been doing this for 34:21 and you start mentioning how long, 34:23 it was established in the Council of Trent, 34:25 the Council of Nicea or the Council of whatever. 34:28 Once you start siting any source outside the Bible 34:30 for your scriptural, for your doctrinal support. 34:34 Then you lose the very platform 34:37 of the Protestant Reformation, sola scriptura. 34:39 It's one thing to say sola scriptura, 34:41 it's entirely another thing it's a whole 34:44 different picture to practice sola scriptura. That's right. 34:47 And so when we're saying the Bible and the Bible 34:49 alone we recognize that many others churches say 34:52 well, we believe in the Bible too. 34:54 We just interpret it differently. 34:55 The problem is in the way that they're interpreting it. 34:58 That's right, they are not using the Bible 35:00 to interpret itself. 35:01 And that's the key factor here, 35:03 when we talk about prophecy 35:04 and the Adventist Church is big on prophecy, it says no, 35:06 no prophecy is of any private interpretation, 35:09 that's huge, that's because we don't, 35:10 we can't give our opinion 35:11 as to what the prophecy is saying. 35:13 The Bible tells us, it interprets the symbols 35:16 and prophecy and then through those symbols 35:18 and those interpretations we can make conclusions 35:20 that are in harmony with the word of God. That's right. 35:22 But when you pick a doctrine and you pick 35:25 a passage and you say, oh here's what it teaches 35:27 you can say, it came from the word look I'm reading 35:30 this text, but the problem is you haven't 35:32 matched it up with fifty, 35:33 hundred other text is say the opposite. That's right. 35:36 That's not sola scriptura, 35:37 so this is what we believe and we think 35:40 Protestants still need to do, 35:42 protest errand teachings 35:44 from what people say is the word of God. 35:47 You know the big, the big call today 35:49 is we just need to let the past be the past, 35:53 let bygones be bygones. 35:56 One of the historical statements that I think 35:58 fits right here is, those who fail to learn from 36:01 the past will what? 36:02 Will repeat it. Right. 36:04 You see that is why history is so vitally 36:07 important, because the ecumenical movement 36:11 is siding all these non-biblical reasons 36:16 to join together. 36:18 And are deemphasizing the importance of the 36:20 scriptures, see so let's get together for 36:23 community help and for against famine, 36:25 against the ozone layer being depleted against. 36:28 You know natural disasters, 36:29 let's get together against abuse of women, 36:32 let's get together against molestation 36:34 of children, let's get together against you know 36:36 homosexuality and gay and lesbianism agenda. 36:38 They mentioned all these things to get together 36:40 against and is almost to say, forget the Bible, 36:43 I mean that's, let's unify on these good works 36:46 and that's why Jesus put in Matthew 7. 36:47 And this things are aren't necessarily bad things. 36:49 No, not at all. 36:51 But you can't dismiss the authority of the Bible 36:53 which is in fact the very road map to eternal life 36:56 and say these things take preeminent. 36:57 And the funny thing is that, it's not funny, 36:59 but I mean the crazy thing is that the Bible 37:02 and sola scriptura is what divided all the 37:04 churches from each other anyway. Right. 37:06 And now, if you're going to get rid of the 37:09 divisions what do you have get rid? 37:10 Get rid of the Bible. 37:11 You have to get rid of the Bible. That's right. 37:13 So there is clearly it's factual the Bible is 37:16 being minimalized as far as importance for rule 37:19 and faith and practice. That's right. 37:21 In order to come together, 37:22 that's what has to happen. 37:25 And so I don't know, this is what we're seeing, 37:28 this is why we believe strongly in House Calls 37:31 and what happens here on this program. 37:33 Because we believe there 37:34 is an accountability measures here. 37:35 In fact the text comes to me, 37:38 my people perish for what reason? 37:40 Lack of knowledge. For lack of knowledge, 37:42 where does that knowledge come from? 37:43 From the word of God. Word of God. 37:45 So when you're saying, let's you know let's let 37:48 bygones be bygones, let's just agree to come 37:50 together on what we agree on. 37:52 And not learn from the past, 37:55 what we're saying here is really I don't, 37:57 we don't intend to say it. 37:58 But we're saying that you know 38:00 knowledge isn't important. 38:02 And we believe that Bible knowledge is important, 38:04 we are living in the age of Bible illiteracy. 38:08 Especially, yeah, I'll just leave it at that. 38:12 Yeah Hosea 4:6, I think your book name is Hosea 4:6, 38:15 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 38:17 Because you have rejected knowledge." That's right. 38:22 Nowadays there are many Christians 38:24 who are fearful to get into 38:25 dialogue with other Christians. 38:27 I don't want to talk about doctrine, 38:28 you know that's divisive. 38:29 Yeah, now we're gonna talk about one of those 38:30 nondenominational movements too. 38:32 Because they emphasize, we don't teach doctrines, 38:35 we just teach the Bible. Duh! 38:38 One is not separated from the other, 38:40 didn't mean to say duh, 38:41 but it's kind a like light came on. 38:43 The doctrines that you believe are anything 38:45 you teach from the Bible is the formation of teachings, 38:48 which is in fact another word for doctrines. 38:50 So go ahead, John, talk about power for today. 38:52 Now we're transitioning and again we don't have 38:55 a lot of time left in the program. 38:56 We're transitioning to different denominations 38:59 and we're seeing these denominations as you said, 39:05 the filtering process of the Reformation. Right. 39:08 These came out of the Protestant Reformation, 39:10 but here is one of the key factors 39:11 and here is what we wanna say up front here. 39:13 As these Protestant denominations came about, 39:19 that usually emphasizes specific aspect 39:21 of protesting against Rome. Right. 39:24 But they didn't continue to protest 39:26 in all aspects of Rome. Right. 39:28 And so to this very day what God intends us to do 39:32 is to continue to protest on the authority 39:34 of scripture against Rome. 39:35 Many now are reversing the process 39:37 and that is coming to us 39:39 it's a result of what's called 39:41 the counter reformation. 39:43 There is a counter reformation at work 39:44 to undo what the Protestant Reformers did. 39:47 And the teaching we're finding in the church 39:50 don't continue to protest against errand teachings 39:53 that are brought forth by Rome, 39:55 are clearly being established 39:57 and are held to within these churches. Right. 40:00 And today in the program today, 40:02 we're gonna start with the Baptist Church. Okay. Okay. 40:06 And so in each one of these and we're not gonna 40:08 cover all them by no means, 40:09 but we're gonna cover the major ones, 40:10 we're gonna see certain aspects of these churches 40:13 that are good and certain aspects of these 40:15 churches, the teachings within these churches 40:17 that haven't completely reformed in the protest, 40:21 protesting Protestant movement 40:23 to protest against Rome. 40:25 And what are some of the common teachings 40:27 that are embraced? 40:28 Well, many of the distinct beliefs 40:31 of the Baptist Church that are in harmony with scripture 40:34 we find are personal accountability to God. 40:37 You know, we are not saved through the beliefs 40:40 of parents, or the beliefs of family 40:42 associations, or the beliefs of maybe 40:45 a connection to a pastor in the church or something. 40:47 We all have a personal accountability to God. 40:50 And one of those accountabilities is that 40:52 we have a freedom of conscience as well to act 40:56 on the accountability that we have. Right. 40:59 So that's very important, because what they were 41:02 protesting there in Rome about was the Rome was 41:04 certain that you must believe as we the church 41:06 tells you to believe. 41:08 Baptist said no, 41:10 we are personally accountable to God. 41:12 We believe by our own conscious and the reading 41:14 of scripture what we believe given to us by God. Right. 41:18 And we appreciate that about the Baptist Church. 41:21 And closely tied to that is the Scripture alone 41:24 is the rule of faith and practice. 41:26 So sola scriptura one of the champion teachings 41:31 of the Baptist Church as it first came out, 41:33 it first began to protest against Rome. 41:36 And I'll mention here too, 41:38 there are so many different Baptist congregations. 41:42 One of the reasons for that is they have a 41:44 congregational structure which is a very 41:45 independent localized church by church structure. 41:49 So there are individual churches that believe 41:52 a little differently than another Baptist church. 41:54 So you'll find that through the churches, 41:56 a difference of doctrine. 42:00 There is also an another entire line of Baptist 42:04 churches that come out of the anti-Baptist. 42:05 So just the Seventh-day Baptist that aren't out 42:08 of the line of the, or are in line with the 42:10 Southern Baptist convention or even 42:12 the Free Will Baptist, which are really kind of down, 42:16 they recognize their line coming from John Smith, 42:18 out of the 1600s the early 1600s. 42:21 So there are other pieces of the Baptist Church 42:23 but in general. 42:24 The first Baptist and second Baptist-- 42:26 Yes, just goes on. 42:27 But in general these are the teachings of many of them. 42:31 And another one is scripture alone 42:34 as a rule of faith and practice. 42:36 Sola scriptura, I think we mentioned today. 42:39 Just salvation by grace through faith. 42:41 One of the embraced teachings that is so true 42:45 and this is something that we share in common 42:47 with the Baptist Church is salvation 42:49 by grace through faith alone. Sola fide. 42:52 Sola fide You're right, sola fide. 42:55 Justification by grace through faith alone, 42:57 we cannot be justified by any action on our part. 43:00 However after being justified our actions are 43:05 a testament to our connection to Christ. 43:08 So, we're not saved by the works, 43:10 but the works testify whether or not in other words, 43:12 I'm not hired because I did a great job 43:15 but after I get hired I need to do a great job. Right. 43:19 You see, so that's the whole key, 43:21 the qualifications of the Christian is solely based 43:23 on the merits of Christ and that's wonderful. 43:26 Scripture alone as a rule of faith and practice, 43:29 sola scriptura, first and foremost doctrine. 43:33 Nice that is an extremely important 43:36 and that is emphasized orally. 43:39 You know, that's we believe in the Bible 43:41 and the Bible only, but I made a point a moment ago 43:43 and we're gonna see when we get to the point 43:45 where some of these teachings of divergent, 43:47 how some of these things that are embraced by some 43:51 of the Baptist not necessarily all of them 43:53 have survived the filtration 43:55 of the Protestant Reformation. Yeah. 43:57 Another one held in common is the God head. 43:59 The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 44:02 Don't have to say very much about that, 44:03 but they believe in you know the supremacy 44:06 of the God head, they are the Son, the Father, 44:09 and the Holy Spirit. 44:11 No challenge there at all. 44:14 And many Baptists believe 44:17 in the separation of church and state. 44:18 It's a strong, they are strong promoters 44:21 of religious freedom. 44:22 But you have others that say that, 44:26 this is once again, where the channels 44:28 sometimes gets colored gray. 44:30 Where some say, well, you know we should have 44:33 control of politics because politics was born 44:36 in the heart of our founding fathers 44:38 who are all Christians. 44:40 See, so you have that side of it. 44:42 However when you go down your list of beliefs when 44:45 you go through the Chronicles. 44:46 And there are some other things you wanna 44:47 emphasize before, before I go the next phase. 44:50 But when you go to the Chronicles, 44:51 you begin to see, 44:52 if it's in the Bible I could supported, 44:54 if it's not in the Bible, 44:55 I should begin to search and find where the Bible 44:58 clarifies something that may be 45:00 skewed in my understanding. 45:01 Right, right, very good. 45:03 You know, a couple of other things just briefly 45:05 they also rejected Calvin's view of predestination. 45:08 Praise the Lord. 45:09 So that was, that's very good, 45:11 that's in line with scripture we agree with that. 45:14 They also recognize that the offices 45:16 of the church, but most significantly pastors 45:19 and deacons, the work of pastors 45:21 and deacons in churches. 45:23 But again there is a divergence in some 45:26 respects depending upon the Baptist congregation 45:28 you see today. 45:29 And that's mainly because of their independence, 45:34 very much their autonomy 45:36 within each church on a local basis. 45:39 But then now, what we've seen as John several 45:43 hundred years of the Baptist church being 45:47 Congregationalist in structure. 45:48 We are finding that there are movements that have 45:52 come about in Christianity at large 45:54 that have come into the Church. 45:56 That have actually caused 45:57 them to move away from Sola scriptura. 45:59 And we find it are highly problematic 46:01 and the reason we bring up Baptist is because it's 46:03 one of the largest Protestant denominations today. 46:08 But these few teachings that they have, 46:11 that we find on a widely type basis are very 46:15 problematic because they directly 46:17 connect to end time events. 46:21 And when I say end time events, 46:23 I believe they're deliberate in intending 46:26 at least the devil I believe is deliberate 46:28 in intending these to mislead people and to not 46:32 seeing some very important truths, 46:34 such as the resurrection, 46:36 such as the Second Coming of Jesus, 46:39 such as even salvation and accountability to God. 46:44 Of course the issue of Sunday that connects all 46:47 of these churches that we're talking about to Rome still. 46:51 They haven't reformed or at lest protested 46:54 on that issue most of them. 46:56 If not well, most all them, 46:59 and so here are a few things, 47:02 so let's go though a few of these, John, 47:03 we don't have a lot of time left. 47:04 But number one, one of the things that keeps 47:07 coming up over and over again is the secret rapture. 47:09 Oh yeah. That's true. 47:13 Figure rapture, that theory was not prevalent 47:16 when Baptist first began 47:19 to form in the early 17th century. 47:22 You what amazing about that, John, 47:24 is Tim LaHaye who was one of the foremost recent 47:28 writers of the books left behind, 47:30 which was a fictional account of the secret rapture. 47:34 Which doesn't have any basis in the Bible at all. 47:37 He is a strong critic of Catholicism, 47:40 out of which the very belief he embraces came-- 47:44 From Catholicism. 47:46 Right, through Francisco Ribera, a Roman Jesuit, 47:50 so this is kind of a sword 47:52 that swings around and cuts him. 47:53 You know he criticizes, I think there was a book in 47:57 1973 called illustrated and made plain, 48:01 he stated that the Catholics is, 48:02 "more dangerous than no religion, 48:05 because she substitutes religion for truth." 48:08 That's a direct quote. Right. 48:09 From his book and, but at the same time the very 48:13 thing that he has told with fervency came out of the, 48:17 out of the Roman Catholics attempt to hide 48:20 the truth about the who the forth beast 48:23 of Revelation, forth beast of Daniel was-- 48:26 To undo the Protestant Reformation and the kind 48:28 of Reformation he is going along with that. 48:31 So he says they have, they have substituted 48:34 religion for truth and he has accepted something 48:37 that's a part of that substitute. 48:39 Yeah. Isn't that ironic? It is. 48:41 And so he teaches in the 16 book series, 48:43 a 13 book series 48:45 which sold upwards of a 100 million copies, 48:48 of the secret rapture that was 48:50 formulated by Rome specifically to push the, 48:53 to push this secret rapture that doesn't 48:56 exist, way down to a single man in the distant future. 48:59 Yeah, and it completely undoes the resurrection 49:03 in connection with the Second Coming of Jesus, 49:05 that is literal, audible, visible. 49:09 You know one of the things, John, I don't, I, 49:11 we can't forget to mention is the reason 49:14 why the Baptist church formed at least initially, 49:17 was it's protest against Rome 49:19 for the way it was baptizing. 49:21 It was Baptizing by sprinkling 49:22 and the Baptist saw that immersion was the only 49:25 teaching in Scripture for baptism. 49:27 And so that's where the word Baptist comes from. Baptisio. 49:31 Yes, and so very much they saw problems with Rome, 49:37 but now and this is, I bring this up, 49:39 this is the perfect example. 49:41 Now we're seeing those in the church adopting 49:44 a teaching that is from Rome 49:45 that they didn't have before. True. 49:47 So, we have a ecumenical thing happening here with 49:51 the teachings as well as maybe dialogue or hope, 49:56 at least from the Mother Church Rome, 49:58 to bring all Protestants back into her fold. 50:01 But there is a teachings issue here going on 50:03 and it's not just a secret rapture and we're gonna 50:06 try to get into each one of these individually. 50:08 But here's another one immortality of the soul, 50:10 right, regularly taught, prevalently taught-- 50:14 And for those who may have heard that phrase one 50:16 time that means the soul survives death. 50:20 Doesn't it I, it goes on and goes straight 50:21 to heaven and exists. 50:23 And not supported by the Bible today. 50:24 Yes, number three, I have written down here eternal 50:28 torment for the wicked, fire and brimstone preachers. 50:31 You know he used to bring you know, you know, 50:33 burn in hell if you don't accept Christ almost as a 50:36 motive, you know thinking someone will be motivated 50:38 by fear to accept God in the right way. 50:40 But, I mean, they're known for having some 50:43 good fire and brimstone preachers, 50:45 but it comes out of those that teaching that there 50:48 will be eternal torment as a result for the 50:50 wicked not accepting Christ. 50:51 That's right, let me make a statement on that very 50:53 thing, because you know some people say that 50:55 Adventist don't believe in hell. 50:56 Yes, we do we believe in hell that's hotter than 50:59 what most Christians believe in. That's right. 51:01 Because if you believe in continually being 51:04 tormented throughout eternity, 51:05 the fires of hell are not able to destroy this, 51:07 the person who was being tormented. 51:09 We believe in the fact that the Bible says, 51:11 "the day shall come 51:13 that shall burn asan oven, " Malachi 4. 51:15 "The day that is coming shall burn as an oven, 51:18 ye all the proud and all who do wickedly shall be 51:22 stubble for they shall be ashes 51:25 under the soles of your feet." Right. 51:27 Psalms 37, I believe it's verse 10, 51:29 the wicked shall be consumed into smoke shall 51:32 they consume away. 51:33 So, we are not "annihilation" is that 51:37 the term that's often use you an annihilationist. 51:38 No, we believe the Bible says that the person who 51:41 is, who does not have eternal life 51:44 cannot burn eternally. 51:45 So, how can you be tormented eternally 51:48 without receiving eternal life? 51:50 Yeah, it makes it kind of a torture, 51:51 keeping you alive, giving you eternal life in hell, 51:53 keeping you alive to punish you forever. 51:56 Where God is just, his character is completely 51:59 opposite of that in scripture, 52:00 throughout consistently. 52:01 And what is often not thought about is, 52:03 is Satan gonna be around forever and the answer is 52:06 no, he is going to be destroyed. Yes. 52:08 So why would the culprit be destroyed 52:11 but the victims be tormented endlessly. 52:13 The other thing too is we know that this is coming 52:15 about by the immortality of the soul. Exactly. 52:18 If you're saying well, the body will be ashes 52:19 of your feet but the soul will live on forever, 52:22 but then you're missing other text such as 52:23 twenty-five layman 52:24 "they will be as though they had never been." 52:26 That means they will no longer exist. Right. 52:30 Anyway the consistency of the Scriptures in that it 52:33 does not teach eternal torment for the wicked. 52:35 Here's another one, "once saved always saved." 52:38 That's conveyable Christianity, 52:40 that's not daily sanctification. Yeah. 52:42 That's the problem with that, it's like okay, 52:46 you're on the fast track, you can't get off. 52:48 What if at one point in your choice, 52:51 in your daily process of making choices. 52:52 Now, we're not saying save loss, save loss, 52:54 save loss, save loss, but there are some people 52:56 that in the course of time Jesus used the 52:59 example in scripture, he says, 53:00 speaking of his disciples he says, 53:04 some have walked away from us never 53:08 to walk with us again. 53:10 And Peter said, looking at that question, 53:14 Jesus looked at Peter and says, 53:16 are you also gonna forsake me? 53:17 And then he said to whom shall we go? You see. 53:21 It's also, Paul said, it's possible to renew 53:25 one who has tasted of the good fruit and have 53:27 walked away from it. That's right. 53:29 To renew them again to repentance, 53:30 which means they're in an unrepentant, unsafe state. 53:33 That's where iniquity comes in, 53:34 that's where the unpardonable sin comes in. 53:37 Rejecting Christ, that's the statement of Jesus, 53:40 He that shall endure unto the end will be saved. 53:44 The big, the big hole in Christianity is they have 53:47 justification accepting Jesus but often 53:49 sanctification is left out. Totally. 53:52 And then right to glorification, 53:53 so justification or glorification, 53:55 forget the daily walk with Christ, 53:56 you can't just do what you wanna do 53:58 and be saved anyway. 53:59 That's why there is so much immorality brimming over, 54:02 that's why there is so much departing from 54:04 living right and people still believing they're 54:06 living wrong still bring salvation. Yeah, yeah. 54:10 And it's, it's tough because we're constantly 54:13 seeking and having these questions, 54:15 seeking to undo these, these teachings that are, 54:19 are so opposed to many of the plain 54:21 scriptures of God's word. 54:22 So, that's why we're bringing these up. 54:24 Sunday sacredness, of course we mentioned that. 54:27 Here's one, Law of God no longer obligatory, 54:30 of course that's tied to the Sabbath issue and 54:32 it's the reason why they eliminate or take out any 54:35 obligation to keep the law of God. Right. 54:38 The law of God is something that he never, 54:40 I mean it's a command, it's not a suggestion 54:44 as we say, these are 10 suggestions. No. 54:46 And they wouldn't say this about any of the nine. 54:48 You know, can I murder, can I lie, can I kill, 54:51 can I steal, can I worship false Gods, 54:53 can I take God's name in vain? 54:55 They said no, no, no, of course not. 54:57 But can I change the Sabbath to Sunday 55:00 and honor that day, instead of the day God set up? 55:03 Oh yes, that's okay, because that's not, 55:05 it's not obligatory, the law of God is not obligatory. 55:07 It's just, it's like speaking out of two sides 55:10 of your mouth, it doesn't work. 55:13 Reverend Hitchcock and I'm using the phrase 55:15 Reverend, because that's the phrase, 55:16 that's the way he's referred to, 55:18 the one who wrote the Baptist manual. 55:20 In his own word says, there has never been 55:23 and you cannot find anywhere in the scripture a single 55:26 solitary line sanctioning the observance of Sunday. 55:30 It has no scriptural authority. 55:33 So if you read, if you read the Baptist manual 55:35 and look at the statement that is made about 55:38 Sabbath versus Sunday, you will see the writer 55:41 of that manual says that no, 55:43 there is no scriptural authority 55:45 for the observance of first day of the week not at all. 55:48 Yeah, and then if we go 55:49 of course to the Mother Church, 55:50 the church of Rome it says, 55:52 well of course not, we established the day. 55:53 And by virtue of our authority at the church 55:57 on earth we have the God given authority to change 56:02 the day from Saturday to Sunday. 56:04 And you know that God given authority is even 56:05 questionable, because, even questionable, 56:08 because Jesus said in Daniel seven they will 56:10 think to change times and laws. 56:12 That means you thought you changed it. 56:14 They intend to do it, but. 56:15 They intended, but you can't do it because the 56:16 times have been established by God, 56:19 I can no more get rid of the 24 hour day, 56:21 then I can get rid of the seven day week, 56:24 then I can get rid of any of the laws of God. 56:26 You really can't do that. 56:28 So it's very important, it's a very good topic, 56:29 John, I appreciate you putting 56:31 the work together for this one. 56:32 Yeah, and we're gonna take about some others 56:34 and that have very much in common with Baptist, 56:38 other Protestant denominations that clearly, 56:42 we're actually sharing this because we 56:44 want to, to at least challenge them, 56:47 to go back to the scriptures, 56:48 to become sola scriptura. 56:51 To use the Bible 56:52 and the Bible only for our rule of faith 56:55 and practice as Christians today. 56:57 And that's something that's lacking in our world today. 56:59 A lot of people want to get involved in the 57:01 atmosphere of religion rather than getting back 57:03 into the foundation of religion. 57:05 If you think about what started this movement 57:07 it is the very thing that's going to end it. 57:09 Jesus said, in Matthew 4:4, 57:11 "Man shall not live by bread alone, but--" 57:14 "By every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." 57:17 Whatever happened to the good old good book, 57:20 it's in digital form, 57:21 it can be found on the Internet, 57:22 it's in so many places. 57:23 But the place that it can be best 57:25 used is when it's in our heart. 57:28 May God bless you, put the word of God 57:29 in your heart, until we see you again, 57:31 have a great day walking with Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17