Participants: John Lomacang (Host), James Rafferty
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL120013
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00:01 Hello friends, grab your Bible
00:02 and a friend and sit back as we explore 00:04 God's word together on this edition of House Calls. 00:21 Welcome again to House Calls, 00:23 my name is John and to my right is James. 00:26 Good to have you here James. Good to be here, John. 00:28 And we have not only names but we have Bibles, 00:32 and we hope that you have yours also 00:33 and get your pens and your papers 00:35 and if you are a techie, 00:36 just get your laptop or your iPad. 00:39 We try to keep up with this-- with whatever media 00:42 you try to use and also invite your friends 00:45 and family members to sit down 00:46 and watch this program for the next hour 00:49 as we continue going through the word of God 00:51 with your questions and your comments 00:53 and the topic today is about the Three Angels' Messages. 00:58 The messages of Revelation Chapter 7 01:00 and Revelation Chapter 14 01:02 and you'll discover that it's not just located there, 01:04 but it has a special place 01:07 throughout all time in all history. 01:09 And we thank you for tuning in, 01:10 we thank you for your prayers 01:11 and your support of this network. 01:13 And also before we do anything about your questions 01:15 and comments and the Bible, we always have prayer. 01:18 So James, would you have prayer for us? 01:19 Absolutely, Father in heaven, 01:21 we just want to thank You again 01:23 for this opportunity to open Your word, 01:26 to see the truth there in the context of this message 01:29 called the Everlasting Gospel in Revelation 14. 01:32 We're inviting you to be with us, 01:34 to be with the audience, to be with each heart, 01:36 each mind to guide and direct us 01:38 through Your Holy Spirit. 01:39 We're thanking you for the promise You've given us, 01:41 that the spirit will guide us in all truth. 01:43 We claim that promise now 01:44 in the name of Jesus Christ, amen." 01:46 Amen, thank you James. 01:48 And just in case you didn't catch that, 01:51 James, John, sons of thunder, okay you got it, great. 01:56 They got it yesterday. 01:57 He got it yesterday, they got it yesterday. 02:00 And those of you who have send your Bible questions in, 02:04 thank you for doing so with you-- 02:07 those who do it with the internet 02:08 even those who mail it in, 02:09 we still get ones that are in hard copy, in envelops 02:13 and we thank you for that. 02:15 But if you have any questions you like to send to us, 02:18 the email address is housecalls@3abn.org, 02:21 that's housecalls@3abn.org 02:24 and we will go and download those. 02:25 And today we gonna answer some of those questions, 02:27 hopefully, yours is among those questions 02:31 that will be answered today. 02:32 So James, since I did all this talking already, 02:36 I want you go ahead and tell us what our first question is. 02:38 Okay, our first question is this, 02:40 'Is it right for a Judge of the Law 02:42 to sentence someone to death? 02:45 Thank you.' Is it right for a Judge of the Law 02:47 to sentence someone to death? 02:49 Wow. It pretty intense question. 02:51 The first place I think of in relation to this question 02:54 is Romans Chapter 13. 02:56 Okay. Romans Chapter 13 02:58 and we can just start there with verse 1. 03:01 Romans 13, beginning with verse 1. 03:04 And we'll read a few verses here 03:05 just to get the picture that Paul is giving us. 03:09 I want us to remember that when Paul is writing this, 03:11 Paul is living under the rulership of Roman Empire. 03:17 That's right. And specifically Nero, 03:19 which ends up being the death of Paul. 03:23 Paul is actually killed under Nero, he is beheaded under Nero 03:25 for being a Christian, he's martyred. 03:27 So with that context, with that historical background, 03:30 I want us to listen to what Paul says here, 03:32 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. 03:35 For there is no power but of God, 03:37 the powers that be are ordained of God. 03:40 Whoever therefore resist the power, 03:42 resist the ordinance of God. 03:45 And they that resist 03:46 shall receive to themselves damnation. 03:48 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. 03:53 Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? 03:57 Do that which is good, 03:58 and you will have praise of the same. 04:00 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. 04:04 But if you do that which is evil, be afraid. 04:07 For he bears not the sword in vain. 04:09 For he is the minister of God, 04:10 a revenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil. 04:15 Therefore you must needs be subject, 04:17 not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake." 04:20 And then he goes on to say, 04:21 "Pay tribute to those also for their God's ministers, 04:24 so pay taxes render onto Caesar, 04:27 the things that are Caesar basically verses 6 and 7. 04:30 So basically what we're seeing here 04:32 is that there is a civil power which is in Paul's time, 04:37 the Roman power not the Jewish power 04:39 and then there is this religious experiences, 04:42 religious power that we have, 04:43 this religious authority that we have, 04:45 Jesus talks about this in Mathew Chapter 5 04:48 and he clarifies the difference between 04:51 the religious authority, 04:52 the religious powers and the civil powers. 04:54 Religious authority has its domain 04:56 in our hearts and in our minds. 04:58 We're to turn the other cheek word to go the extra mile, 05:01 would have forgive those who hurt us. 05:03 The civil power takes us one step further than that. 05:06 The civil power is based on an eye for an eye 05:08 and a tooth for a tooth. 05:09 And when Jesus came in Mathew 5 05:11 and said you've heard that they've said an eye for an eye 05:14 and a tooth for a tooth, but I stay unto you. 05:16 He wasn't doing away with the civil power. 05:18 He wasn't abolishing the civil power. 05:20 He was putting it in its proper place. 05:22 The Jews were no longer under the theocracy. 05:25 They no longer had civil jurisdiction 05:27 and so now individual Jews were not to treat their enemies 05:31 according to the civil power, 05:33 according to the civil principles, 05:34 these civil laws, they were to treat them 05:37 according to the gospel, 05:38 according to the principles of God's heart. 05:41 But that did not do away with the civil authority, 05:44 so if you murder someone, 05:46 you're gonna be taken to jail 05:47 and you're gonna be sentenced accordingly 05:49 according to the laws of the land 05:51 and these civil powers are ordained of God. 05:54 That's right. And we're to submit these civil powers, 05:56 so Jesus isn't doing away with civil laws, 05:58 He's enhancing them, He's telling us 06:00 here is the civil power 06:01 and here's how you've to submit to the civil power 06:03 and then here's how I want you 06:04 as individuals to treat someone. 06:06 For example, let just say someone breaks into my home 06:10 and you know, does commit some kind of murder, 06:14 takes-murders my wife 06:16 or does something terrible to my children 06:19 and of course the police come, 06:20 they find him, they arrest them, 06:22 they take them to jail and these judge 06:26 and the court sentences that person 06:29 life imprisonment or even execution. 06:31 Right. What is my responsibility? 06:33 What is my place as an individual? 06:36 First of all my first responsibility 06:39 is to submit to the powers, that be in another words, 06:41 I don't try to fight the decision of the court. 06:45 Right. But at the same time, 06:47 God is calling me to forgive that person as individual. 06:50 God is calling me to exercise grace, 06:52 which will be very difficult for me to do, 06:53 but by the grace of God we can do that. Yes. 06:55 So there is the distinction between the two. 06:58 That's what I see in anyway in Roman 13, 07:00 in Mathew Chapter 5, 07:01 I see that clear distinction between the civil authorities 07:04 and our personal responsibility as ambassadors for God. 07:08 Right and some times people have a difficult time, 07:10 I know in our country there are some states 07:12 that favor capital punishment and others that don't. 07:16 Some speak of the inhumanity of the process, 07:22 I can't remember one last person has been executed 07:24 by electric chair, but may be there's one of the states 07:28 that still use that as a means of executing of the offender. 07:32 Some by the lethal injection 07:35 but whenever this comes up you know, 07:37 there're always those who protest 07:39 and those who say this is inhuman, 07:41 but not that these things are the best method 07:49 to use to deal with an offender. 07:51 Sometimes I think life imprisonment is more torture 07:56 than just ending a person's miserable life, 07:59 because they have time to think about what they had done. 08:01 They have time to think about the offence, 08:04 but an answer to the question, 08:08 James uses these points, 08:13 here in James Chapter 2, using the context, 08:16 it's speaking about the commandments of God, 08:18 but I like the way it brings it out in verse 12. 08:21 It says, "So speak and so do as those 08:24 who will be judged by the law of liberty." Okay. 08:28 So there are laws in place and many of the laws 08:30 that are existing in our land, in our country are laws 08:33 you'll see that are patterned after the principles 08:36 and sometimes directly from some of the laws of God. 08:39 That's why, you know 08:40 this clarion call we are Christian nation. 08:42 You know, we are our system 08:44 is formed after the Judaic form 08:52 of a government or of a religion. 08:55 But in every society there are laws, 08:58 in every system there are laws 09:01 and I think the best thing to do 09:03 is if you are not wanting to be judge by those laws, 09:06 then live in harmony with those laws. 09:09 I think you made a point a moment ago 09:11 that if something happen to your family. 09:16 Lot of the crimes that are committed are committed, 09:18 we call them heinous crimes, really have no reason for. 09:22 Why would somebody take another person's life 09:25 without defending themselves? 09:27 Why would somebody walk into a store 09:29 and just rob the store and kill the clerk? 09:32 So it's important that these laws be in place 09:35 to hold the rains and I think 09:38 that's what God intended when He established 09:40 these principles in the Old Testament. 09:43 If you do this, here's a result. 09:45 If you do this, here's a result. 09:48 So a system without laws and penalties is a system 09:51 that criminals will never fear. 09:53 And in the same way, I mean you are a parent, 09:56 if you continue to say to your child, 09:59 now don that because if you do 10:00 here what's gonna happen and you never follow through, 10:03 what do you gonna have? Anarchy. 10:05 And, you know, it's interesting 10:06 because Paul was living under, 10:08 not only living under Nero and the Romans, 10:10 but he was executed wrongfully. Right. 10:13 His execution was a wrong execution 10:14 and in that context his words stand as inspired of God. 10:20 In other words, a lot of Christians are concerned today, 10:23 I think with the idea of capital punishment 10:26 and the Bible gives its--and because it could be unjust. 10:31 Someone, many people have been proved innocent 10:33 by D.N.A testing, years after they've been arrested, 10:37 they've been in prison for many years 10:39 and the test comes through and here they are innocent. 10:41 And so what if they would have been punished, 10:43 they're seen on death row. 10:44 And so but here's an example of someone 10:46 who actually was punished wrongly with death 10:51 and there are many examples of that in the Bible. 10:53 And what I find that's bring great solace to my heart 10:56 concerning this is that as Christians, 10:59 as believers we can leave our case with God. 11:02 A God is the ultimate judge in the courts of this world. 11:07 And He's going to make all wrongs right. 11:09 Ultimately He's gonna make all wrongs right. 11:12 So when we look at that in the context 11:13 of Romans Chapter 13, I think it's really powerful. 11:16 In fact let me give you an illustration of this 11:18 that I remember reading about many years ago. 11:21 There was a man who was sentenced to death 11:25 for molestation and murder of young boys. 11:29 He was a child molester 11:30 and he had been caught several times 11:33 and he was sentenced to death 11:34 and he was sitting on death row 11:36 and there was a large group of people 11:37 that were fighting against he's being killed. 11:40 Actually the death sentence was hanging. 11:42 And there were a large group 11:44 of people fighting against that. 11:45 Meanwhile there was another group of people, 11:47 small group of people who were going into this prison 11:50 and doing Bible studies. 11:51 And these people happen to be Seventh-day Adventist 11:54 and they began to study with this man 11:57 and he gave his heart and time to Jesus 12:00 and actually accepted the Lord as His Savior 12:03 and ended up having a complete transformation of heart 12:06 and in that process a change took place 12:10 in his relationship with these people 12:11 who are trying to save his life. 12:13 He wrote them a letter and it went public 12:15 and asked then to stop trying to stay his execution. 12:20 He was right with the Lord, 12:22 God had forgiven him 12:23 and he did not want to live in this world any longer. 12:26 He did not want to have to face 12:29 or be tempted with anything 12:30 that he had done in his past. 12:31 He didn't want to live in that way. 12:33 He felt like he was at piece with God, 12:35 and that he was going to be in the first resurrection, 12:37 he was going to see Jesus and he was good 12:40 with the sentence that have brought to him. 12:42 He felt that was a just sentence 12:43 and that it was something that he didn't need to get out 12:45 of somehow because he had committed the crimes. 12:49 And I thought that was remarkable in a sense 12:51 that he had peace with God and at the same time 12:53 he recognize that this was the recompense 12:57 for the crimes he had committed. 12:58 Right, he said-- he said here's the penalties, 13:01 let me just go ahead and pay my dues. 13:03 To me that's a Christian perspective. 13:05 When we look at the Bible 13:07 there's that aspect of justice that we recognize. 13:12 That's why none of us, we're all sinners, 13:13 that's why none of us can say, 13:15 well I am righteous, I don't deserver this, 13:16 I don't deserve that, 13:17 all of us are sinners saved by grace. 13:20 None are any better than anyone else. 13:22 None of us deserve anything but death, 13:24 and so we look at this life and we look at the things 13:26 that that condolence us in this life, 13:27 the struggles, the pains, and hardships, the evil, 13:31 we recognize that hey, 13:32 its okay because God's grace is sufficient for me 13:35 and I know this world is not my home 13:36 and God has something better for me in hereafter. 13:40 I think that's what is pointed out 13:42 when people are-- when the judgment of God 13:45 and this is a very great topic here, 13:47 I mean facing the judgment of power, 13:49 or the judgment of God, 13:50 I believe that's one of the reasons 13:51 why the Bible has the verse in Romans 14 verse 11, 13:55 There are those who will be finally 13:56 facing the judge and determining, 14:01 at that moment that every decision he has made is just, 14:04 because when you give the larger picture, 14:06 lets talk about the death sentence, 14:08 truly there are those who're going to die 14:10 as a result of their sin and not accepting Christ. 14:13 And the Bible talks about that, 14:14 that number which is as the sands of the seas. 14:18 There're many that are gonna to die. 14:19 Many are gonna be-- Many have died 14:21 Many have died, but in the sense of the judgment. Yes. 14:26 Final judgment to second death, 14:27 many will die but before that, 14:29 they will all confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 14:33 They will all confess that He has been just and truth, 14:35 every decision he has made, 14:37 and so I think that when you said the Christian perspective. 14:39 Yes. Finally there are those who will say, 14:41 well I've come to grips with my crime 14:43 and the decision that has been made is an equitable decision 14:46 and I'll go ahead and pay for my crime. 14:49 And I don't want to be in heaven, 14:50 I am not ready to be in heaven. 14:52 That's not a place where I would be happy. Right. 14:54 And that's true, I didn't even think about that in context. 14:57 That's Philippians Chapter 2, 14:58 "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess" 15:00 Philippians and also Romans 14 and Isaiah 45:23. 15:04 And Revelation 20, there's no place for them. 15:07 Right, no place is found for them 15:09 and why would you want to put somebody 15:11 who doesn't live for that kind of life. 15:13 Heaven would be torture. Yes. 15:15 It will be worse than a death sentence. 15:17 I don't want to be here, this doesn't fit my life. 15:20 So it sound like, yes, it sounds like 15:21 I ought to say, I'll replace you. 15:22 They are saying hey, I am looking around here, 15:24 there's no place that I want to feel comfortable in the city. 15:28 That's right, that's right. 15:29 Thank you James, that was very good, 15:30 very good approach here. 15:31 We have a question here, 15:33 and where is that question? Okay here it is. 15:39 That one was hiding behind the other one, okay. 15:42 Stop hiding my question, okay here we go. 15:45 Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 15:49 My name is Charles and I won't mention 15:51 the last name for an anonymity purposes. 15:54 I am a Bible study leader, living in Cote d'Ivoire, 16:00 wow that sounds like a French place. 16:04 And a regular viewer of your programs. 16:06 Oh, spells it like the Europeans 'mmes' on 3ABN T.V. 16:11 Would you please answer these questions 16:12 with some scriptural backing? 16:15 What happens to the souls after death? 16:18 That's the first part. 16:19 Have some souls already been judged 16:21 and sent to hell or heaven? 16:23 That's the second one. Okay. 16:25 Okay, so we're gonna have some fun with this one here. 16:27 Okay, first of all, 16:28 what happens to the souls after death? 16:31 We talked about this in one of our former programs. 16:33 We did. But it's good to review these. 16:37 I want to begin with the text 16:38 that does not directly answer the question first of all, 16:42 but let's go to Revelation Chapter 22, 16:45 a text that doesn't directly answers 16:47 what happens to the souls after death, 16:49 but this text answers what happens to everyone. 16:52 And what the Bible points out 16:54 is we don't have a soul, we are a soul. 16:58 That really vitally important, 17:00 because what happens to the soul 17:01 after death is insignificant in the sense 17:06 that there's nothing that survives death. 17:09 There's no--okay my soul, what does he go now, 17:12 the body is dead, where does it go now. 17:14 There's no--I'm waiting for my destination type of thing. 17:18 But let's first look at the reward aspect 17:20 because the question lends itself 17:22 to what is the reward, heaven or hell. 17:25 Revelation 22, here I'm in verse 12 17:31 and Jesus says, "And, behold, I'm coming quickly, 17:35 or I come quickly and my reward is with me, 17:38 to give to everyone according to his work, 17:41 according as his work shall be." 17:43 So if you look at Revelation 22 verse 12, 17:46 you begin to see that when the Lord comes back 17:48 behold I come quickly and my reward is with me. 17:51 So whatever the destiny of that person heaven or hell, 17:54 it is going to be meted out when the Lord returns. 17:56 Behold, I come and my reward is with me. 18:00 Rewards are not given out at the time of death. 18:02 Unfortunately many people believe that okay, 18:04 that person is an evil individual, 18:06 well I am so glad and-- Let me tell you the story, 18:09 this is really-- this is a true account, 18:12 I've read this story about a man 18:14 whose wife was killed by a women 18:17 who had a vengeful spirit against his wife. 18:22 She killed this man's wife, got caught, 18:25 she was in court and evidently this person believed 18:30 that when the person dies they immediately go to heaven. 18:34 So the sentence was, this lady was sentenced to die 18:38 and the husband, when he was given the opportunity 18:40 to say one last thing in the court, 18:42 he said to the court, "I can't wait till 18:46 she dies so she can go to heaven and my wife 18:49 will settle the score, when she meets her" 18:53 Oh dear. And I'm thinking, 18:56 okay, that's the reason 18:57 why this topic-- that's the reason 18:59 why this idea of dying and going to heaven-- 19:00 It's so confusing. It's so confusing. 19:03 If you're in heaven, you not there as-- 19:05 if that was a case, you not gonna be up there to settle-- 19:08 And if you're killing people and wanted to kill people 19:10 you're not going to heaven. 19:11 Yeah, I couldn't wait for you 19:12 to get here so I can kill you, daa! 19:15 Because it says right here in the following verse 15, 19:18 "Without outside are dogs and sorcerers 19:21 and whoremongers, and murderers." 19:23 Murderers are outside, they're not inside. 19:25 Right, so you not gonna wait for people 19:26 to get to heaven or hell and settle scores. 19:28 If at all you make it, you will be completely 19:30 transformed by the grace and the power of Christ 19:33 completely in his righteousness. 19:35 So there is nothing that's gonna happen. 19:37 But let's go and find out, 19:38 since we've laid the foundation that there is not such thing 19:40 as a body separate from the soul. 19:43 But the soul is the combination of breath, 19:46 the breath of God and the formation of body 19:49 of the dust of the ground. 19:50 When they come together as God did in creation, 19:53 they form the living soul. 19:55 And he wants scripture verses, 19:57 so we better give him the verses there. 19:59 You do that one in Genesis and I go to John. 20:01 Yes, Genesis Chapter 2 and verse 7, 20:06 "The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground 20:09 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 20:12 and the man became a living soul." We illustrated this. 20:14 You have the dust plus the breath equaling the soul, 20:18 and you have a light and the electricity, 20:22 and they come together the light bulb, 20:23 the electricity and they make light. 20:26 The soul is like the light. 20:27 The bulb, the fixture is like the dust and the electricity, 20:32 the power is like the breath. 20:33 And when you bring the power, 20:35 the electricity and you bring the fixture 20:37 with the bulb together they form light, 20:39 but when you separate them, 20:40 when you pull that light itself, 20:42 the lamp and the bulb away 20:44 from the power source the light ceases. 20:45 It doesn't go anywhere, its no longer existing. 20:48 And that's the way we see the soul 20:51 in Genesis Chapter 2 verse 7. 20:53 The way the God created us. 20:54 He created us, so these two elements come together 20:56 and that becomes a living soul, 20:58 when they're separated the soul ceases to exist. 21:00 That's right. As a matter of fact, 21:03 a lot of people think that souls don't die. 21:04 I want you to read Psalm 78 verse 50. 21:08 Psalm 78 verse 50, you know a lot of times 21:10 we use text that are just directly related 21:12 to what happens when a person dies, 21:13 and people don't think that the soul can die, 21:15 but if you look at Psalm 78 verse 50, 21:17 here it says, "He made a path for his anger, 21:25 he did not spare their soul from death." 21:30 So the soul, if you were to take the idea 21:33 that the soul is separate from the body, the soul dies. 21:36 Ezekiel 18:4, "The soul that has sinneth, it shall die." 21:39 And so you see here the soul doesn't survive death, 21:42 but the real context of the soul is living individual. 21:48 Breath plus body but what happens when that person dies? 21:51 Well, John, let me just one another thought here. Sure. 21:54 Well then where did the idea come 21:55 from that the soul doesn't die? 21:58 Where is that teaching come from? 21:59 Well, it comes right from the devil. 22:02 Genesis 3 and verse 4, 22:05 the devil introduces his doctrine of the non dying soul 22:08 or the immortality of the soul. That's right. 22:11 He says here to the woman, 22:13 the serpent said unto the woman, 22:14 "You shall not surely die." 22:17 And that's where we have the conflict between 22:19 the teachings of the devil and the false doctrines 22:22 and the teachings of the Bible and the truth of the gospel. 22:24 That's right. Satan introduced that and it seems like 22:27 he's gotten over larger following. He does. 22:30 Even still today people are fearful 22:33 that somehow souls are roaming the earth. 22:39 Matter of fact many cultures, 22:41 many cultures of antiquity have fashioned 22:46 the things they do based on whether or not 22:49 they hold to this idea that the soul exist. 22:51 Matter of fact I did a study and this fits right here 22:54 and I'll just read the text here in John 5 and Roman, 22:56 but I did a study on the topic of adornment 23:00 in the sense of the Egyptian culture, the Asian cultures 23:06 and I wondered why the earring, 23:08 the nose ring, the tongue ring, 23:12 all these things are very common in our society today. 23:15 And I discovered something very amazing 23:17 that helped me see why the second commandment 23:19 was so significant, which was "Thou shall have no other gods 23:22 before me not making unto any graven images." 23:24 Why that was so vitally important? 23:26 And I thought, wow, I never thought that. 23:28 In these cultures the immortality of the soul 23:31 was embraced by those societies. 23:33 Remember the story in the Bible 23:35 when the Lord speaks about the demons 23:37 being cast out of individuals says 23:40 when the demon is cast out, 23:42 he roams the earth, the spirit it says, 23:44 he roams the earth looking for a place to rest 23:47 and when he finds and he goes back to the place 23:49 where he was and he sees that its empty and swept 23:52 and he brings with him seven more demons. 23:54 So the concept of that, there are those who believe 23:57 that when a person die, if that person was evil, 23:59 their soul now look for another body to posses. 24:03 Okay. And these individuals that worship planets, 24:08 stars, wood, stone, if they worship the sun, 24:12 they fashion their Gods out of gold. 24:14 If they worship the moon they fashion it out of silver. 24:17 If they worship the planets and the stars, 24:19 out of other things like diamonds and emeralds 24:21 and sapphire and all these other different precious stones. 24:24 And if they worship trees after out of wood or stone, 24:29 they literally grind their gods 24:30 and made them out of all these different type of materials 24:33 and what they would do is they would block 24:35 all the openings on their bodies with their gods. 24:38 So to keep the soul or the spirit 24:41 from possessing them, they would put there, 24:43 one of their gods by their ear, 24:45 thus you got the earring. Okay. 24:47 One in the nose, thus you got the nose ring, 24:49 one on the lip or the tongue, 24:51 thus you have the lip or the tongue ring 24:53 and where ever there was an opening on the body, 24:55 they put some form of their God there. 24:57 I see, to guard that entrance. 24:58 To guard that entrance, 24:59 so that's where the creation of adornment came from. 25:03 Okay. And so when Lord said, 25:05 "Thou shall have no other gods before me," 25:07 then I discover what Paul really meant when he says, 25:10 "What fellowship does 25:12 the temple of God have with idols." 25:15 So, wow, I never thought about that, 25:17 so this concept of the surviving soul 25:23 is prevalent in pagan societies. Okay. 25:26 So but it's not prevalent in Christian societies, 25:31 that is not those who believe in what the Bible says. 25:33 So the question is what happens when a person dies? 25:37 Look at John 5 verse 28 and 29. 25:39 I think we will probably cap it off here. 25:43 There are lots of other scriptures we can give, 25:45 but more particularly after they die. 25:48 This text really brings you to the grave and beyond, 25:51 if I could use that phrase. 25:53 John 5 verse 28 and 29 and the Bible says, 25:59 you know James you have King James version. 26:01 I can quote the Kings James version in my mind 26:04 and I have to do King James version. 26:05 As I look at this, it says 'Do not marvel' 26:07 but I know this its 'marvel not at this'. 26:09 Right. In the King James Version. 26:11 But it says." Do not marvel at this, 26:14 for the hour is coming in which, 26:19 the next word is all who are in the graves 26:23 will hear His voice." 26:25 First thing what happens to everybody, 26:27 where did they go? 26:28 All who are in the graves will hear his voice 26:33 and will come forth. 26:34 Verse 29, "Those who have done good 26:38 unto the resurrection of life, and those that have done evil 26:42 unto the resurrection of damnation or condemnation." 26:45 So you find what happens to the person after they die? 26:48 What happens to the soul after death? 26:51 They go to the grave 26:52 and they wait for their final assignment. 26:56 The second coming of Christ brings the assignment 26:59 of the first resurrection, the resurrection of life. 27:02 The thousand years after the thousand years are done. 27:04 And I think you covered that into detail 27:06 in Revelation Chapter 20, 27:07 you see the first and second death. 27:10 And you see clearly the second death 27:12 is the resurrection of damnation or condemnation. 27:17 They come up after the thousand years are done 27:20 and then they are assigned to the lake of fire. 27:23 So people are not going to heaven, 27:27 you know one after the other, after the other. 27:29 You don't have this constant stream of death everyday 27:31 and people souls flying off to heaven. Right. 27:34 The soul ceases, it know nothing, 27:37 it hears nothing, Ecclesiastes 9 27:39 tell us very clearly 27:40 Do you have that by the way? 27:41 No, I've Acts, I've Acts Chapter 4 27:44 right here verses, let me see here 27:48 what verses I have 29 and 34, it's not Acts 4, 27:51 its Acts Chapter 2 verses 29 and 34, 27:56 "David is not ascended to heaven." 27:58 He is dead and buried and his sepulcher 27:59 is with us unto this day. 28:00 It's just as an example. 28:02 The dead not know anything, Ecclesiastes 9, 28:05 there's no remembrance of view of them going to the grave, 28:07 there's no-- they don't praise. 28:09 So the Bible is really clear, there are a lot of verses, 28:11 Revelation 20 kind of summarizes 28:13 the whole idea of the first and second resurrection 28:16 and the dead who died at the first resurrection, 28:20 the wicked who die do not live again 28:21 until the second resurrection or after the thousand years 28:24 and there are number of verses in there, 28:26 and there's another program we cover this in lot more detail. 28:28 That's right, that's right. 28:30 Last one, Psalms 115 verse 17, 28:32 "The dead do not praise the Lord, 28:35 nor any who go down into silence not up into praise." 28:41 You know a lot of times people, any way, 28:44 you know, what you hear in television, 28:46 they are in heaven now dancing on streets of gold, 28:48 Liberochi is in heaven now playing the piano, 28:50 I wonder how the piano got there. 28:52 The Rat Pack, Sammy Davis Jr. Dean Martin, 28:55 Frank Sinatra, they're all in heaven, 28:57 I mean you know just all these terminologies, 29:00 every time a person dies the media 29:02 puts him heaven right away, 29:03 no matter what kind of life he lived. 29:04 Anyhow, but we've covered our questions for today 29:09 and we're gonna go and now segue into our topics. 29:12 But if you have any questions 29:13 you like to sent to us, here at House Calls 29:15 you can send those to housecalls@3anb.org, 29:18 that's housecalls@3anb.org. 29:21 And thank you so much for taking 29:23 the time to challenge our minds. 29:26 And thank you also for keeping the questions short. 29:29 It's getting few to some of you, 29:31 but for some of you, 29:33 you really want to be an author and write a book. 29:35 So those are hard to answer questions. 29:38 We gonna talk about the Three Angels' Messages, 29:41 lay some foundation for us on this, James. 29:43 Well the Three Angels' Messages are found 29:44 in Revelation Chapter 14 and these messages 29:48 are the last messages that are communicated 29:51 to the world before Jesus returns. 29:53 So it's a very important message. 29:55 We could call these God's last message for the world. 29:59 Revelation Chapter 14 verses 6 though 12 30:02 incorporate the message of the Three Angels'. 30:05 Now these Three Angels' begin with a title or phrase 30:08 and that is found in Revelation 14 verse 6 30:11 and we will start by reading that verse. 30:13 Let's start there. Revelation 14 verse 6, 30:17 "And I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, 30:19 having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them 30:22 that dwell on the earth to every nation 30:24 and kindred and tongue and people" 30:26 And then it goes on in verse 7, 30:28 saying with a loud voice but we want to stop, 30:30 we want to pause here with this first verse, 30:32 verse 6 of Revelation Chapter 14. 30:34 This verse contains the first phrase, 30:36 'the everlasting gospel' which happens 30:38 to be a unique phrase in all of scripture. 30:42 There's no place else in the Bible 30:44 that this phrase is found and this phrase 30:46 informs the rest of the messages. 30:50 This phrase molds and shapes 30:53 and fashions what is to follow. 30:55 Everything that follows this phrase 30:58 has to come under its dominion. 31:01 In another words, to fear God, to give glory to God, 31:03 the obvious judgment in the worship, 31:05 God is all found in the context of the everlasting gospel. 31:10 So it is vital for us as we go into this message 31:13 that we understand what this everlasting gospel is. 31:17 One of the things that we could know 31:18 about it just on the very basic 31:20 elementary level is its everlasting. It's everlasting. 31:24 And that means it is as everlasting 31:27 as the ones it represents. 31:30 From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 31:33 It is not secondly, it is not a gospel 31:36 that's disconnected from God, 31:38 because the gospel is the good news about salvation, 31:41 the good news about Christ, 31:43 the good news about the Father, 31:44 the good news about the power of the Holy Spirit in our life, 31:47 so everything about it continues from age to age. 31:51 So you must conclude as you down to Revelation, 31:54 the period at the end of the long sentence, 31:57 it is culminating in Revelation. 32:00 And this gospel, because its everlasting 32:02 it is effected every generation prior to the last proclamation. 32:07 So it's like reiterating at the very end of a, 32:10 you know a basket ball game now a days, 32:13 football game particularly would be the better example. 32:19 People sit down and watch football for hours 32:23 but for whatever reasons when it gets onto the very end, 32:25 you have a two minute warning. 32:27 Well, the game hasn't change, it's just the last stage of it. 32:31 In the very same way, we're leaving down 32:34 at the time of the closing out of the everlasting gospel. 32:37 This message that had been hidden 32:39 but revealed now through the prophets, 32:42 or you have two things in, 32:44 the mystery of an equity its one of those in the Bible. 32:47 And then you have the mystery, 32:48 the gospel that had been hidden 32:49 through out the ages but then made manifest 32:52 to reveal through the apostles in the prophets, 32:56 through those who have been given 32:59 the power of the Holy Spirit to communicate us 33:02 to the New Testament church into the last day believers. 33:05 And so you have these messages 33:07 and they're are primarily three warnings 33:09 that are most applicable to the time 33:13 that these things occur. 33:15 I'm gonna turn it back over to you in a minute here. 33:16 But lay me some foundation. 33:18 We read in the Book of Daniel 33:19 about the three Hebrew worthies, 33:21 Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego. 33:23 And the reason why they chose not 33:24 to bow on the plane of Dura, 33:26 its not because all of a sudden they realized, 33:28 wait a minute, we shouldn't bow to images or wait a minute, 33:32 we shouldn't worship any other gods 33:33 other than the God of heaven. 33:35 These are truths that they knew before they were in captivity. 33:40 Okay. But now in the hour of trial had come, 33:45 it did not manifest a new truth, 33:47 it simply brought accountability to that truth. 33:51 Okay. So these Hebrews choosing 33:53 at that very critical hour to embrace these truths, 33:58 although it could have meant certain death 33:59 and we know the story of the fiery furnace, 34:02 yet these messages were true before they were in Babylon. 34:06 Now when you read these three messages, 34:09 Babylon is once again included in one of the messages 34:12 and it's amazing that there are three warnings 34:15 that are talked about here, three messages, 34:18 three Hebrews, three messages. 34:20 Babylon, physically or literally, 34:22 and Babylon, spiritually. 34:24 So you come out of this, 34:25 but this not just confined to the Babylon in the Middle East 34:31 of that day, this is now a message to the whole world. 34:35 As you lay the foundation, every nation, 34:37 kindred, tongue, and people. 34:38 Amen, I really like that illustration, 34:40 the two minute warning. 34:41 I think about that in football and any basketball. 34:44 A lot of games, specially very close and tight games, 34:47 very competitive games, very competitive conflicts 34:50 are won or lost in the last two minutes. 34:53 That's right. The two minute warning, 34:54 every thing intensifies. 34:55 The team intensifies, the struggle intensifies, 34:58 the last two minutes of basketball 34:59 every thing intensifies, the team intensifies, 35:02 the struggle intensifies, 35:03 and we're living in the three minute warning 35:05 if you will, the Three Angels' warning. I like that. 35:07 Of Revelation 14, that's the day in which 35:09 we're living and every thing has intensified. 35:12 The battle has intensified, the conflict has intensified, 35:15 the contest is intense right now between good and evil, 35:18 between the everlasting gospel and Babylon. 35:20 And that's what we're seeing here in Revelation 14, 35:22 we're seeing a contrast between two forces, 35:25 two elements, two armies if you will, 35:28 we're seeing the everlasting gospel on one side 35:31 and we're seeing Babylon on the other side. 35:32 And what's interesting is, 35:34 just like you're watching a game 35:36 and you can look at that game 35:37 and you can make a prediction about what you think 35:39 is gonna come out of that game, 35:41 even though you are in the last couple of minutes, 35:42 the same with the Bible. 35:44 The Bible makes it very clear and even more so, 35:46 because in a game all these are a few things 35:48 that could happen, there's some startling revelations 35:51 that can take place in the last minute 35:52 but in the contexts of the everlasting gospel 35:55 it is very clear who's going to win. 35:57 Babylon is going to fall. 35:59 Revelation Chapter 14 verse 8, Babylon is going to fall. 36:03 And this is beautiful when you understand, 36:05 because what God is saying to us is, 36:06 I've got some good news for you. 36:08 There's a conflict taking place and there is confusion 36:11 because that's what Babylon denotes confusion. 36:13 There's confusion, religious confusion, 36:14 confusion about God, confusion about salvation, 36:17 confusion about the truth of the Bible, 36:19 but I am telling you right now, Babylon is going to fall. 36:22 I am not saying that, John's not saying that, 36:24 the gospel is proclaiming that. 36:27 Revelation Chapter 14 verse 6 is therefore very good news, 36:32 Babylon is going to fall 36:33 and that's what the word gospel means. 36:34 It means good news, it means glad tidings 36:37 and this phrase is unique, because it reminds us 36:41 as John alluded to that this gospel is everlasting. 36:46 There is a message of good news for all of the world, 36:50 and that message is a message of God's love to every nation, 36:53 kindred, tongue and people. 36:54 It is a good news of what Jesus Christ 36:57 has accomplished for the entire world 37:00 and it is something that was accomplished 37:01 at Calvary for everyone, post Calvary and pre Calvary, 37:07 that why its called the everlasting gospel, John. 37:09 This phrase is not found anywhere else 37:10 because this phrase informs us 37:13 about the nature of this gospel. 37:15 This is not a New Testament message. No, no. 37:18 This is a New Testament and an Old Testament message, 37:20 it's the everlasting gospel. 37:22 It's the only way anyone has ever been saved 37:25 and that is through the gospel of the Jesus Christ. 37:27 Before the cross all of the faithful 37:30 look forward to the lamb of God 37:32 who is going to take away the sins of the world. 37:33 That's right. After the cross we look back to the lamb, 37:36 it takes away the sins of the world. 37:38 So before the cross, they're looking forward 37:40 and after the cross they're looking back. 37:42 Everyone is centering on the lamb of God 37:45 and that is the good news. 37:46 That is why it's called the everlasting good news 37:48 and that is what destroys or brings down this confusion 37:51 about salvation and this confusion about the gospel. 37:54 Now going back to the two minute warning, 37:58 you get down to the point where people are also focused, 38:02 not only are the players focused and more intense, 38:05 but people are focused, especially in a close game. 38:11 In our world today there is a focus that is existing 38:14 now that has not existed for a long time. 38:19 The post 911 world, the post modernistic society, 38:24 the immoral society, there are so many things 38:27 that are been thrown out, the people are wondering 38:29 what is the future of our world? 38:30 Even in the church and I want to just 38:33 include us in the controversy here 38:35 that's is in even every Christian church 38:36 has a controversy, but then you have now 38:39 amongst some of the moments of Christianity, 38:43 you have the spiritual formation controversy, 38:47 then you have the women's ordination controversy, 38:50 then you have the all there are some churches 38:54 and some movements that are pushing 38:55 for a gay and lesbian priest and bishops 38:59 and it seems there's so much 39:01 that's involved in the controversy. 39:03 This message is kind of a message by the Lord, 39:06 he says okay hold it, hold it, 39:09 let's get back to the issue at hand. Okay. 39:14 Everything that was happening in Babylon, 39:16 when Nebuchadnezzar had the musician's play 39:19 and to the sound of the trumpet 39:21 where everybody bow down in worship, 39:23 whatever conversations they were having all ceased 39:27 when that moment of trial came 39:28 and that moment of decision came. 39:31 It didn't-- all those things 39:32 lost their significance in the very same way 39:34 as we go through each of these messages, 39:36 there are three messages. 39:37 I want to spend some time on what they all mean 39:39 and why it's vitally important for us today to pay attention 39:44 even though the worship of the beast in its image 39:49 has not became a world wide issue. 39:52 Now when it says Babylon is falling here, 39:53 we're gonna pick at that and we're gonna talk 39:54 about the judgment hour. 39:56 So let me now jump ahead of myself, 39:57 let's go and start with the Judgment Hour Message. 40:01 Take us into that one right now, 40:03 why is the Judgment Hour Message 40:04 is so vitally important for today? 40:06 Well there's three reasons I feel that are, 40:09 you know, paramount for us in understanding the judgment. 40:12 The Bible teaches us first and foremost 40:15 in Romans Chapter 14 that none of us 40:18 should judge somebody else that we're all going to stand 40:21 before the judgment seat of Christ. 40:22 So part of the good news of judgment hour is the fact 40:26 that God has a judgment, 40:28 He has a final say in all of the decisions 40:30 and all of the injustices, in all of the evil 40:34 and the good that is taking place in this earth right now. 40:37 And sometimes we take it upon ourselves 40:39 to bring vengeance and to judge and to criticize others. 40:42 And God says, no, you off the hook, 40:44 don't judge one another anymore, 40:46 because they are all going to stand 40:47 before the judgment seat of Christ. 40:48 I think this is vital for us to understand. 40:51 I meet people all the time, 40:52 we don't want anything to do with judgment idea, 40:54 they don't want any connection with an idea of God 40:58 would bring anyone into account Christian, 41:00 non Christian, whatever. 41:01 And I think that is the saddest situation to be in, 41:05 because we can trust the heart of God. 41:07 We can trust His judgment and we need His judgment. 41:10 We need his justice, so what this message 41:12 does is it calls us to recognize 41:15 that God is going to bring us to an account. That's right. 41:18 Everything that has ever happened 41:19 in this earth whether it's good or evil, 41:21 it's gonna brought to an account. 41:23 And we told about this in Romans 14, 41:25 we told about this in First Peter 4 verse 17. 41:28 We told about this in Ecclesiastes Chapter 12, 41:32 13 and 14, it talks about God's gonna bring everything 41:35 into account whether it's good or evil. 41:37 And so but remember the context 41:40 of this judgment is the everlasting gospel. 41:43 This is good news. This is good news. 41:45 There's not anything to fear, this is good news, 41:48 because it's calling us to put our trust in one 41:51 whose heart is merciful, is gracious but is also just. 41:57 I want to go ahead and touch on the few of the verses 42:00 that you made mention up here just a moment ago. Okay. 42:05 We talked about the Judgment Hour Message, 42:08 first one, fear god and give glory to Him 42:11 for the hour of His judgment has come 42:13 and worship Him at the hour of judgment, 42:16 the issue is worship. 42:18 In the Hebrews, in the lives of Shadrack, 42:20 Meshach, and Abednego, 42:22 which in fact those are their Babylonian names, 42:24 Hanania, Mishael and Azaria, were their Hebrew names. 42:27 At that very hour the issue was worship. 42:29 Now one thing you have to come to conclusion. 42:33 The issue in the last days 42:34 is going to be over at the topic of worship. 42:37 Everyone worship something. 42:39 That's why when the judgment begins 42:40 and now let's put this in the context of it, 42:42 Jesus says, the father judge is nothing 42:45 but He's committed all judgment to his son. 42:47 So who's going to be judged and for what reason? 42:52 First Peter 4 verse 17. Read that for us there. 42:55 "For the time is come that judgment 42:56 must begin at the house of God 42:58 and if it first begin at us, what would be the end of those 43:01 who obey not the gospel of God?" 43:04 And if the righteous one scarcely say, 43:06 where shall the sinner and ungodly appear. 43:08 Now the reason I like this verse John, 43:09 one of this I like this verse 43:10 is because it clearly indicates as we read in Revelation 14 43:14 that the judgment is based on the gospel of God. 43:17 It says there if the judgment begins at the house of God 43:21 and if it first begins at us, 43:22 what shall be the end of those who do not obey the gospel. 43:25 So the judgment and the gospel 43:26 are directly connected together 43:29 and this is why it's so important for us 43:30 to recognize accountability to God. 43:33 Who do you want to be accountable to? 43:35 Yourself, the president, people around you or to God? 43:40 I mean I am so thankful 43:41 that Satan doesn't have control of the judgment, 43:43 because who knows 43:44 what would take place if he was in charge. 43:46 God is in charge and God is someone who can be trusted. 43:48 In fact all through the Old Testament, 43:50 the Psalms, David continually asked God, 43:53 examine me, examine me. 43:54 By the way that Hebrew word means to investigate me, 43:56 investigate me, investigate me, examine me. 43:59 Adam and Eve were examined, right at the very beginning, 44:01 God came and he examined the situation, 44:04 He passed the judgment, He examined Adam, 44:06 He asked him three questions, He examined Eve, 44:07 He asked her a question, He examined the serpent, 44:09 didn't asked him any question, because he's, 44:11 there is no reason for him to even have an account 44:14 or be given an opportunity 44:15 and so then He passed the judgment. 44:17 On Adam He passed the judgment on Eve 44:19 and we see from the very beginning of time, 44:21 from the very fall of mankind, 44:23 all the way through the Bible unto the very end, 44:25 there's an account that we give to God of love. 44:28 When you think about that everlasting I like that, 44:30 you locked right into the gospel, 44:31 that's why David, when he prayed the prayers, 44:33 "Search me oh God into my heart, 44:35 try me, test me, judge me 44:38 and investigate me and know my anxieties 44:41 and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me 44:44 in to the way everlasting, the everlasting gospel." 44:50 That's where I want to be. 44:51 I want to be in the way that is not going 44:53 to be detrimental to my salvation 44:56 to my eternal existence, lead me 44:59 in the way of everlasting, but the reason 45:00 why First Peter 4:17 is vitally important is the Lord is not, 45:04 the first phase of the judgment, 45:07 well let me give you a story 45:08 and I am gonna use you as an example, you have children. 45:10 Okay, we don't have any children after 29 years 45:13 Lord didn't see fit for us to have children 45:15 and now we don't want them now. 45:17 Okay. Too late. 45:20 Too late, but if something were missing in your house, 45:23 lets just say your wallet is missing 45:25 or something from your laptop is missing 45:28 or some item in your house is missing, 45:30 would you go to the neighbor's children first 45:33 or would you start with your own? 45:34 I guess it depends where I live now, just kidding. 45:37 Now right you live way out in the-- 45:38 Wendock, so definitely be Gael my son, 45:43 Gael did you borrow my computer cord? 45:47 Daughter Kara. Kara did you take 45:50 that $5 bill sitting on the counter there? 45:52 Because I know you need, 45:53 she needs money for school everyday for lunch, 45:56 did you take that $5 bill sitting 45:58 on the counter right there? Yeah, I go to my kids first. 45:59 Right, the judgment begins at your house. 46:03 Investigation begins. The investigation begins there. 46:06 Why because there is a level of expectation 46:12 you have for your family members 46:15 that you don't have for other peoples. Yes. 46:17 When we commit our lives to Christ, 46:19 we commit our lives to a-- and I don't want to use 46:22 the word regiment, but for lack of a better word 46:24 there are principals and truths now 46:27 expected of us in our lives. 46:29 You know if we're in Christ, 46:32 we should walk as He has walked. 46:34 So the investigation is not just, 46:36 and this is so widely important, 46:38 its not that I say I am a Christian, 46:40 but how does your life measure with your profession, 46:46 does your profession and your confession match. 46:50 I professed to be a Christian, that's why the Bible says, 46:53 "They profess to know God" I think Titus says, 46:55 but in their works they deny him. 46:58 Being disqualified or reprobate 46:59 as the Kings James Version says, 47:01 so the Lord is saying, "Okay, you say you are a Christian, 47:04 but do your works verify that you are?' 47:07 And that why Jesus says in Matthew 7 in verses 21 to 23, 47:13 "Many will saith unto me, Lord, Lord, 47:15 I've done many wonders in your name, 47:17 I cast out devils in your name" 47:18 and Jesus will say, "I never knew you, 47:21 depart from me, you work as of iniquity." 47:23 I think that's a vital truth 47:25 and a vital reason for the judgment. 47:27 I think there's another one, that's a third reason 47:29 and this one is found 47:30 in Revelation Chapter 12 in verse 10. 47:33 Okay, let's look at that. 47:35 And I think this is the most important reason 47:37 for the judgment and I may be biased in that, 47:39 but we've looked that the judgment is good news, 47:42 because it takes us off the hook, 47:43 we don't need to judge people anymore. 47:45 God has a judgment. 47:46 The second one that's a lot of people 47:48 profess to be followers, who want followers 47:50 where we can leave them with the Lord, 47:51 but God is going to investigate, 47:52 He's going to bring us to an account. 47:54 But this third one is even more important. 47:56 This third one applies to every one of us 47:59 in one way or another, whether we're believers 48:00 or non believers, its in Revelation 12 in verse 10. 48:05 It says, "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 48:08 Now is come salvation, and strength, 48:10 and the kingdom of our God, 48:11 and the power of his Christ for the accuser 48:14 of our brethren is cast down," 48:16 don't miss this last part, 48:18 "Which accused them before our God day and night." 48:22 The reason why God has a judgment 48:24 is because we have an accuser. 48:26 And he never takes a vacation, 48:28 he doesn't observe holidays, no fourth of July, 48:31 no Christmas, none of that stuff, 48:32 he's working day and night, 48:33 he doesn't sleep, 24x7x365 a year, 48:36 he is accusing, accusing and accusing. 48:39 And the Bible teaches us 48:40 that we are overwhelmed by the accusations of the devil. 48:45 He's got a good case against us. 48:46 There's non righteous no not one, 48:48 where all of our righteousness is like filthy rags. 48:51 And so as we put our trust in Jesus, 48:53 we need someone who can silence 48:56 the acquisitions of Satan against us 48:58 and that someone is our advocate. 49:00 That's right. He is our defense lawyer if you will, 49:03 First John Chapter 2 verse 1, "If any man sin, 49:06 he has advocate with the father." 49:08 Why is Jesus the advocate with the father? 49:10 Because we have an accuser, we have someone 49:12 who is accusing us day and night. 49:13 It's not though as God is against us, 49:15 Jesus for us and Jesus trying to persuade God, 49:18 you know, I'll be sympatric for, no. 49:19 I know some people will think that. 49:20 Yes, God so loved the world and Jesus said, 49:23 that if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. 49:25 If you've seen My heart, you've seen the Father's heart, 49:27 but we still have this accuser. 49:28 Satan is back there saying it's not fair, 49:30 it's not fair, it's not fair. 49:31 And so Jesus Christ stands as our defense lawyer. 49:35 That's why again, the judgment is good news. 49:37 I've got some good news for you, 49:39 you feel overwhelmed, you feel guilty. 49:40 I meet people all the time. 49:42 They say, this what they say, 49:43 I am not good enough to go to church 49:45 and you know my response to that is in the context 49:47 of the everlasting gospel, 49:49 you are not good enough not to go to church. 49:52 There's none of us that are ever going 49:54 to be good enough to go to church, 49:56 to come in God's presence, 49:57 but each one of us needs the grace of God. 49:59 And we need to connect with God, 50:01 and we have this good news, this beautiful message 50:04 that when you feel overwhelm with guilt, with shame, 50:06 when you feel condemned and accused which is the job 50:08 of the accuser, you have an advocate. 50:10 You have someone who pleads in your behalf, 50:12 Jesus Christ the righteous, that's good news. 50:14 And notice this again verse 6, 50:16 "For every nation, kinder, tongue and people." Everybody. 50:18 Its not saying that this good news message 50:20 is going to the Christians or to the righteous, 50:23 or to the, you know, to the groups that are-- 50:25 that have all together, this is going to the world, 50:27 so what is the good news for the world, 50:30 you have an advocate. 50:31 That's right, you've an advocate, 50:32 somebody that stands with you. 50:34 Wonderfully put together and I want to reiterate it 50:36 again that whole world aspect. 50:38 A lot of times people think, well, okay we are Christians, 50:40 the world is gonna be lost. 50:41 For God so loved the world, He wants everyone, 50:45 He's not willing that any should perish, 50:46 but that all should come to repentance. 50:48 This message of salvation is open to every man, 50:51 there's no need and I think we mentioned 50:53 in one of the former programs, 50:55 hell is not prepared for people, 50:56 it's prepared for the devil and his angels. 50:58 So he's saying to the sinner, 50:59 to the drunkard, to the profaner, 51:02 to the criminal, to the whoever, 51:04 whatever category a person may be and he is saying, 51:06 I've got some good news for you 51:08 if you simply accept me, I'll be your advocate. 51:13 I will expunge your record, 51:15 you know there's nothing more that a criminal 51:16 wants than a record expunged, just clean it out. 51:19 Amen. I'll clear that record up, 51:21 I'll give you a new name and matter of fact 51:23 I'm going to Revelation 2 in verse 17, 51:25 don't lose your point but I studied the seven messages 51:29 of Revelation, you know, each of the churches 51:31 had a particular promise to those who overcame. 51:33 Yes. This one got me the most excited, 51:35 here it says Revelation 2 in verse 17. 51:38 "He who has an ear, let him hear 51:40 what the Spirit says to the churches. 51:42 To him who overcomes, 51:43 I will give some of the hidden manna to eat." 51:46 This is the part that got me excited. 51:48 "And I will give him a white stone 51:49 and on the stone a new name written 51:52 which no one knows except him who receives it." 51:55 Now I thought, what is this white stone thing 51:57 and I studied, there was a commentary that I got, 52:00 I have a four book commentary 52:02 about the messages of Revelation, 52:04 in particularly they take a special bend 52:07 on this seven messages of Revelation in seven churches. 52:11 And I discovered that in the court system, 52:13 the Roman court at that particular time, 52:15 there was the prosecutor, 52:16 and there was the defense attorney, 52:17 and there was jury, much like our day today. 52:20 Whenever the jury couldn't come to a conclusion, 52:25 it was up to the accused to determine his own fate. 52:29 Now that will be nervy. 52:31 If you've ever seen, anyway rather than using 52:34 a television shows as an example, 52:36 so they would bring out in front of this 52:39 accused person a bag, a leather pouch. 52:42 Okay. And in that leather pouch, 52:44 where they couldn't see, 52:46 they put their hand through some cloth 52:48 and there was a white stone and the black stone. 52:52 The court didn't make the decision, 52:53 the prosecutor and the defense attorney 52:56 couldn't step up to the bar 52:58 and the jury couldn't make the decision. 53:01 Now since they couldn't make the decision, 53:02 it's up to the accuser to decide his own fate. 53:05 So he reaches with intrepidation 53:07 and trembling in to that bag 53:08 and it didn't fell like a white stone 53:10 or feel like a black stone. 53:11 He has to pick one and the one he pulls out 53:15 determines his fate. 53:16 And he passes it to the court 53:18 and they open his hand and there is. 53:20 And I tell you many throughout the centuries, 53:24 many through this Roman system lost their life 53:27 when in fact they could have been innocent, 53:29 but they decided their fate 53:30 by choosing the color of the stone. 53:32 Now if you read the text again, Jesus says, 53:34 "As your advocate, I will give you a white stone." 53:38 Wow, praise God. 53:39 Instead of you having to reach in that bag as your advocate, 53:43 I am gonna give you a white stone 53:45 and I am gonna give you an anonymity. 53:47 When you are set free, people would even connect 53:49 your past back to you. Isn't that beautiful? 53:52 That is absolutely. So when I read it, 53:54 I presented it number of years ago, 53:55 I said we have an advocate that he says to the court, 54:00 this court is rigged in your favor, 54:01 first of all I know the judge, I know the father, 54:04 I am your judge and your advocate 54:07 and the accuser is just waiting to condemn you, 54:09 but here's a stone, here is your new name. 54:13 And his fate has decided already because the advocate, 54:17 Jesus Christ gives him a new stone. 54:19 And you know the prosecutor has, in a court situation, 54:23 in this court situation the prosecutor 54:25 has file cabinets that he brings in, 54:28 file cabinets full, full, full. 54:30 So you're, we're--lets just say we are sitting there, 54:33 the judge hasn't come in yet, 54:34 everyone's getting ready in the courtroom, 54:36 the judge hasn't come in, the defense lawyers, 54:38 you know may be he's not quite in yet either, 54:40 but the prosecutor is there early 54:42 and he has got all these moving vans outside, 54:44 and he's bringing all these file cabinets 54:46 and he is filing up all of these material, 54:47 all these evidence against you. 54:49 And then the God, the Father sits, 54:50 the Jesus comes in, the court sits and we have. 54:54 As he starts talking, they say, 54:56 wait a minute, wait a minute. 54:57 I got this something rather 54:59 I need to give to the defense lawyer. 55:01 The defense lawyer comes, 55:02 this is and there comes the white stone. 55:05 That's right. This is powerfully good news. 55:07 In fact here is something that's really-- 55:08 I don't preach, I mean I tell you, 55:10 the white stone, you do sermon on the white stone. 55:13 Acts 24, Paul is been brought before Felix, 55:17 he is being asked to give a summary 55:21 basically of the message of what it is that he's teaching 55:24 and preaching that have got the Jews so upset. 55:26 And he begins to preach, Felix verse 24, 55:30 "And his wife Drusilla, Jewish comes, 55:33 they send for Paul to hear him concerning the faith 55:36 in Christ, the fate of Jesus Christ." 55:38 In verse 25, and he reason, 55:40 the Paul is reasoning of righteousness 55:42 of temperance and of judgment to come. 55:46 He knows what happens. 55:47 Felix trembled, that word means 55:51 he was afraid and he answered 55:53 "And said go your way for a time, 55:55 for when I have a convenient season 55:57 I will call for the friends." 55:59 The only thing that is scary about the judgment 56:02 is if we are unwilling to receive 56:06 the white stone from Jesus Christ. 56:07 That's right. If we are unwilling to respond 56:10 to the call of the everlasting gospel, 56:12 Felix was afraid but we don't have to be afraid. 56:14 Believers do not have to be afraid 56:16 and those who are willing to put their trust in Jesus 56:17 do not have to be afraid. 56:19 It is when we turn away from this message 56:21 that we are to be afraid. 56:23 And you know, when you think about it, 56:25 perfect love cast out all fear. Amen. 56:30 If you walk into a courtroom 56:31 and there's a whole left side of the court room 56:33 with files and files and files. 56:36 And then your lawyer stands up and says 56:42 all those crimes have been expunged. 56:46 He went in and dug up these records of all the things 56:48 I've forgiven him, I've already. 56:51 So your honor I'd like to move 56:55 that all those sins be stricken from the record, 56:59 covered by the blood of lamb, isn't that good news. 57:02 Amen. And so that, 57:04 before we get into the individual messages 57:06 in the next program about the judgment hour, 57:08 about the fall of Babylon, 57:09 about worshipping the beast and its images 57:12 those are the fearful things, what we want to do 57:14 is began this message by simply saying, 57:16 we have an advocate Jesus Christ. 57:19 Amen. The Righteous. 57:20 So is there any fear in that, absolutely not. 57:24 So here at House Calls, we believe that one day 57:27 there's gonna be a call to your house. 57:29 And when that call comes we pray 57:30 that because of Christ you will be ready. 57:32 God bless you until we see you again. |
Revised 2014-12-17