Participants:
Series Code: NOW
Program Code: NOW200011S
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00:01 [triumphant orchestral music]
00:15 This is 3ABN Now, with John and Rosemary 00:18 Malkiewycz. 00:21 [John]: Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Now. We're glad 00:23 you joined us. Last week, we started this program 00:27 on Pestilence, Pandemic, & Prophecy. That was 00:30 part one. This week, we're looking at part 00:32 two, and we are so glad to have Peter Watts 00:35 and Danny Milenkov, both pastors and evangelists, 00:40 who are gonna share with us on this subject. It's 00:42 very, very important, actually, because we 00:44 are right in the process of going through pestilence, 00:48 there's pandemic, and prophecy is revealing 00:51 itself in a very special way from the Word of 00:54 God. And so, it's good to have you on the 00:58 program. Thank you for joining us. 00:59 [Pr Milenkov]: Thank you. [John]: And Rosemary, you have 01:01 something for us. [Rosemary]: I have. 01:02 We are going to read a Bible verse that Peter 01:04 has chosen for this program. But before I 01:06 do that, I'd just like us to bow our heads while 01:09 we open the Word of God. Dear Father in heaven, 01:12 we do ask that You will bless Your Word and 01:15 our understanding of it as we do this program. 01:19 I pray for the Holy Spirit to inspire us and give us 01:22 the spiritual discernment that we need to know 01:27 what You want us to know out of this program. 01:29 So, bless us and be with us. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:33 [John]: It's very import- [Rosemary]: Now. The verse 01:35 I'm reading... [John]: Yes? 01:36 [Pr Watts chuckles] [Rosemary chuckles]: 2 Timothy 01:39 chapter 1 and verse 7. I really like this verse. 01:46 It says, "For God hath not given us the spirit 01:49 of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a 01:55 sound mind." How important is the sound mind, Peter? 02:00 [Pr Watts]: Very important, indeed. We need to be 02:05 able to think clearly, especially in a time of 02:07 crisis. I think God enables us to have that calmness, 02:12 that confidence, in Him. Our trust is in Him in 02:16 a time of crisis that enables us to make 02:18 calm decisions and think. God doesn't want us 02:22 to panic. I think that's important. You know, 02:25 we saw a lot of panic at the beginning of this 02:27 crisis; and no doubt, we'll see more. But 02:29 God doesn't want us to panic; He wants us to 02:31 know that He's in control. He's not only in control 02:33 of the universe and this planet, but He can be in 02:36 control of our lives, and we can place ourselves 02:38 in His care. And therefore, we do not have to fear. 02:43 We can place our lives in His confident care 02:46 and trust in Him. [Rosemary]: Mm. 02:48 [John]: You know, in our last week program, 02:51 we talked about a lot of subjects. Some of you 02:52 may have missed it, and I'd encourage you 02:54 to go to the 3ABN Australia website and 02:57 go catch up, and you can see part one of the 02:59 program. But you know, I thought it might be 03:01 appropriate, Peter, that you just give us a little 03:03 bit of a recap of what we actually talked about 03:05 last week. [Pr Watts]: Certainly, John. 03:07 So, it's called Pestilence, Pandemic & Prophecy. 03:12 And so, we talked about the impact that the 03:14 coronavirus has had, we talked about the fact 03:16 that it's global, we talked about the fact 03:19 that the implications have been felt worldwide; 03:25 we talked about the fact that it came so suddenly, 03:29 that this caught a lot of people by surprise. 03:32 It didn't catch God by surprise-God knows 03:35 what is ahead of us. We also talked about 03:40 some of the health and the social impacts of the 03:44 coronavirus and how the Bible touches on some of 03:46 that in the scriptures. [John]: And that's a very 03:48 important thing to understand- that these things didn't 03:51 catch God unawares. We as a people need to know, 03:55 because peace comes when we know things-when we 03:58 are a little bit ahead. And so, the Bible reveals 04:02 that to us. But you know, there's a lot more in the 04:04 Bible that we want to cover today, Peter. Is 04:06 that right? [Pr Watts]: Well, yes, there is. We're going 04:08 to talk today about some of the economic implications; 04:14 we're gonna talk about some of the spiritual 04:15 implications, of course- what prophecy says 04:17 about what is just ahead of us, too. So, it's gonna 04:20 be exciting as we open that up. One of the 04:25 things I was going to mention, John, as you 04:28 were talking about the fact that this doesn't 04:32 catch God by surprise. In actual fact, when we 04:34 see some of the signs of our times occurring, 04:38 it actually gives us greater confidence in 04:40 God, because He revealed them in advance. So, 04:43 that's a very strange phenomena, where it's 04:49 kind of as much as, the worse the world gets, 04:52 the greater the confidence that we have in Him, 04:55 because we see that the world is moving in the 04:58 way that God told us it would be. 05:01 [Rosemary]: Mm. [John]: Mhm. [Pr Watts]: It's not that 05:02 God wants these things to happen, but it's that 05:05 God knew the kind of world we would be living 05:08 in just before the return of Jesus, and He sends 05:11 us those signs to give us confidence that when 05:13 we see them come to pass, we'll have even 05:15 greater trust and faith in Him. [Rosemary]: He also sends us 05:17 those, or tells us of these things in advance so we 05:21 can be ready for them. [Pr Watts]: That's right. 05:23 [Rosemary]: They don't take us by surprise. 05:25 We can say, "Ah, God warned us about that. 05:27 God told us about this. God has told us to prepare 05:30 this way," or, whatever, you know? That there is a 05:33 preparation needed. [Pr Watts]: Yup. [Pr Milenkov]: Absolutely. 05:38 I think of the words of Jesus in John 14:29, 05:41 where He says, "And now I have told you before it 05:43 comes to pass, that when it does come to pass, 05:46 you may believe." John 3:16 tells us that for 05:49 God so loved the world that He gave His only 05:51 begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not 05:54 perish but have everlasting life. So, the things 05:56 that we are talking about are not just simply for 06:00 the sake of curiosity, for the sake of information, 06:03 for the sake of having extra knowledge and 06:07 understanding in prophetic things; these things are 06:10 all designed to lead us to Jesus, designed to 06:13 prepare us for those eternal courts where 06:17 there'll be no more pandemics or pestilence, 06:20 where the former things would have passed away. 06:22 I want to, now, just continue on with what 06:26 we looked at in our previous presentation. 06:29 We discovered that a number of years before 06:32 this pandemic, scientists, medical researchers, were 06:36 already aware that this was on the horizon. 06:40 We've had a number of outbreaks of various 06:43 viruses that have struck our world, and some very 06:46 significant, substantial, in the last two decades 06:49 (and we looked at that in our previous program). 06:51 It's very interesting to me that in the United 06:54 States of America, just last year, the United 06:58 States' government, along with some other 07:00 agencies, went through an exercise seeking to 07:04 determine how would the nation, how would 07:07 the world, respond to a pandemic? And notice 07:10 what we find from this website. You can go to 07:13 that website. Event 201, a global pandemic exercise. 07:19 And notice these words. John Hopkins- "Health 07:23 Security in partnership with the World Economic 07:26 Forum and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation 07:30 hosted Event 201, a high-level pandemic exercise 07:34 on October 18, 2019, in New York City, New York. 07:39 The exercise illustrated areas where public, or 07:43 private, partnerships will be necessary during the 07:46 response to a severe pandemic in order to 07:49 diminish large-scale economic and societal 07:52 consequences." So, just a few months ago, really, 07:57 the U.S. government was involved in this 07:59 exercise, so you can determine, how would 08:02 the world respond? And I find it interesting how 08:04 the world has responded. Notice this front cover 08:07 of Time Magazine. It arrived in my mail back 08:11 on- well, it's the March 30 edition. Notice the 08:17 front cover title: "When the World Stops." 08:22 "When the World Stops." And literally, in a matter 08:25 of days, in a matter of a few weeks, the 08:28 world did come to a halt. And notice those 08:31 words from that particular magazine that really highlight 08:37 where people are at, and the psyche of people 08:41 today. "Every day," wrote Nicole Chung, "brings what 08:44 feels like a month's worth of bad news." There's 08:49 just so much bad news out there, and I thank 08:51 God that I can share with our listeners that 08:54 we have good news, and the good news is 08:57 in the scriptures. We know that things are 08:59 rapidly coming to a conclusion. And the 09:02 good news is that the bright light at the end 09:04 of the tunnel, when we "get to the other side," 09:06 according to Scripture, that is the Second Coming 09:08 of Jesus. So, that's what we want to talk 09:09 about. We want to discover the events that will 09:12 lead us, step by step, and as we'll discover 09:15 very quickly in the end to the coming of Jesus. 09:19 [Pr Watts]: We talked about a month's worth 09:21 of bad news. [Rosemary]: [chuckles] Yes, that was quite 09:23 a statement. [Pr Watts]: Of course, we have a book full 09:24 of good news! You know. It's interesting, obviously, 09:27 that there are many things in the Bible that 09:29 are not good, but they're set in the context of 09:32 the cure. Somebody once said to me that the Bible's 09:35 a little bit like reading a medical book, and 09:38 you might read about cancer, and that's not 09:39 good. But it's in the setting of the cure! 09:43 So, you read a medical book and all the diseases 09:44 and the things that go wrong. They're mentioned 09:47 in there, but they're in the context of the 09:49 cure. [Rosemary]: You get a book's manual. [Pr Watts]: Yeah. 09:51 [John]: In other words, you can do something 09:54 about it. [Pr Watts]: Correct. [John]: Once you have the 09:55 information, you can know what to do; 09:58 and that's what the Bible provides. It gives you 10:00 that surety, that this is not the end; it is 10:05 something that you can understand and prepare 10:09 and make ready for the end. [Rosemary]: The Bible is 10:12 a medical book that looks at the symptoms, 10:17 it gives a diagnosis, it looks at the prognosis, 10:23 but the prognosis always ends on a good note. 10:26 [Pr Watts chuckles] At the very end. 10:27 [Pr Watts]: That's right. [Rosemary laughs] Well, 10:29 somebody once said, "It'll be alright in the end. And 10:32 if it's not alright, it's not the end. [laughter] 10:36 Because, you know, the Bible gives- God is the 10:39 God of happy endings. Even- tragically, many 10:43 people have lost their lives through this 10:44 coronavirus crisis. But the Bible tells us 10:47 that even if you have lost your life and you 10:50 have faith in Christ, you'll be raised. You'll 10:52 have that life restored to you. And so, God is 10:56 going to be able to bring about a good, 10:58 happy ending. [Rosemary]: You'll have a better life 11:00 restored to you-an eternal life-an immortal life. 11:03 [Pr Watts]: That's right. Yeah. [Pr Milenkov]: And if I could 11:04 just tap into that, before we continue on and Peter 11:08 leads us on some of the economic ramifications 11:11 and what the Bible has to say about that, moving 11:13 forward... But last week, we noticed that Jesus 11:17 shared that analogy of birth pains, labor pains. 11:20 And He said that all these things are the 11:22 beginning of sorrows. I've been there a couple 11:25 of times. Peter, I think you've been there at 11:27 least once; and John and Rosemary, you've 11:30 been there at the birth of your children, possibly. 11:32 [Rosemary]: Well, I've certainly been there! 11:34 [laughter] [Pr Milenkov]: Right, you were certainly there, 11:35 Rosemary! [further laughter] Let's hope you were there, 11:37 Rosemary. [John]: She can express the pains, we can't 11:40 imagine. [Pr Milenkov]: Rosemary, you can speak 11:42 firsthand of the pain and the anguish. [Rosemary]: The labor 11:45 pains, getting closer and closer and more intense- 11:47 the more intense! [laughs] [Pr Milenkov]: But I remember 11:49 what it was like as we were preparing to receive 11:52 our firstborn some 23 odd years ago. There was a 11:56 lot of pain, there was a lot of anguish... 11:59 However, that all led to that climax of the 12:02 birth of our precious little baby girl! And so, Jesus 12:07 says all these things that are taking place 12:09 will lead to the grand climax of His second coming. 12:13 And so, that's the birth, if you like, in the analogy 12:16 that Jesus used. So, that's all we have to 12:18 keep in mind as we continue to unpack this all-important 12:21 subject. Thank you, Peter. [Peter]: Yeah, thanks 12:23 Danny. Now, that's very important to keep in 12:24 mind, because all of these things are shared 12:27 with the perspective that there is a plan, and that 12:31 God wants us to be a part of that plan to be 12:33 saved. So, as Danny alluded to there this 12:37 program, we're going to dive into some of the 12:39 other implications of coronavirus. Of course, 12:41 one of those is the economic impact of 12:44 coronavirus, because the governments of the world 12:48 have taken action to lock down many people, to 12:52 keep us separate from one another, and many 12:55 people have been unable to go to work. Many have 12:58 been working from home. I've done a lot of work 13:00 from home; I'm sure that you have, too. People 13:03 have been doing that. But then, of course, 13:04 there are others who aren't able to work from 13:06 home, and the economic impacts of this, the? 13:10 the aircraft and all of that, has led to 13:16 the fall in the stock market, it's led to 13:17 many people losing their jobs as we've mentioned... 13:21 And it's interesting- there's a headline from 13:25 ABC where it talked about the ASX, which 13:29 is the Australian stock exchange. "200 posts 13:31 biggest fall on record," and this was back in 13:34 March 2020. But the biggest fall on record, "Reserve bank 13:37 flags further measures amid coronavirus fears." 13:41 And it says, "The ASX 200 has posted its biggest daily 13:43 percentage fall on record after coronavirus fears 13:46 fueled a steep sell-off that accelerated into the 13:50 close." And of course, the market has been fairly 13:53 volatile in this whole process. We might 13:56 think of the Day Jones? in America, as well, 13:58 having massive falls in terms of the stock price. 14:02 There's a verse I want to direct you to, John, 14:06 if you'd like to read that. We're going to look at 14:09 Revelation 18:17, if you'd like to read. [John]: Yes, 14:12 and the Bible says, "For in one hour, so great 14:15 riches is come to naught." Now how does that fit? 14:19 [Pr Watts]: Yeah. Other versions say, "Come to nothing," 14:22 such great riches. Now, of course, we're not 14:25 exactly there yet-there's some fluctuation in-market. 14:29 But what we are seeing is, we mentioned this 14:33 in the previous program, too, about the rapidity- 14:38 how rapidly this event is come upon the world, 14:41 how rapidly stocks can fall, how rapidly the 14:45 financial situation of the world has changed. 14:49 They're talking about us going into depression, 14:51 the first time that we're gonna go into a depression 14:53 since the 1930s. You can imagine. You know, when 15:00 I have been driving from one place to another, 15:03 which has been rare in the last little while, 15:06 there's not a lot on the road, there were 15:08 not a lot of people at the shops. And if you 15:10 are a business, if you're in retail, you're feeling 15:14 the consequences. In fact, nobody's coming 15:16 into the shop anymore, all those bars and 15:18 restaurants, all those cinemas closed, the 15:20 football stadiums, and so forth. [Rosemary]: And there's 15:23 something else, too, that was not thought of 15:25 until the consequence of the coronavirus was 15:28 brought about, and that is that, actually, people 15:32 are saving money on fuel because they're not traveling, 15:36 so they're not having to pay it and fill up 15:38 their car so often. But when they are having 15:41 to fill it up, they're getting it cheaper, 15:43 and it's affecting those rich nations and rich 15:46 individuals who produce the oil and sell it on. 15:52 They're, now, actually in economic meltdown 15:55 because nobody's buying the fuel. The planes aren't 15:59 flying to be using the fuel. And so, it's a 16:03 whole 'nother dynamic that nobody foresaw. 16:06 [Pr Watts]: Yeah. I spoke about this just the other 16:08 day. At one point, West Texas had gone down to $37 16:13 a barrel minus. I'm not sure how that works with... 16:17 [John]: No, I don't know, either. [Pr Watts]: If I get 16:18 a barrel of oil off you, do you give me $37? 16:21 I think I'll take another barrel! You know. I don't 16:23 know how that works, but that's the value of the 16:25 stock there. And so... [Rosemary]: Australia was 16:28 going to be buying up oil because we don't have 16:30 enough in reserve, and they thought, "Well, this'll 16:34 be a good opportunity to get it real cheap," so. 16:36 [Pr Watts]: And so, this verse that you read out 16:38 there, John, in Revelation, it's forecasting a time 16:43 when the great riches of the world will come to 16:46 nothing, and we can see how that can happen. 16:50 We're seeing evidences before our eyes of how 16:53 that can happen. There's another passage that talks 16:56 about economics here, and it's in James. And I 16:59 think Rosemary, you've got that one. It's James 5:3-4, 17:03 if you'd like to read that to us. [Rosemary]: Yep. 17:05 "Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust 17:08 of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat 17:12 your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped 17:15 treasure together for the last days. Behold, 17:20 the hire of the laborers who have reaped down 17:22 your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud 17:25 crieth, and the cries of them which have 17:28 reaped into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." 17:33 [Pr Watts]: Thank you for reading that, Rosemary. 17:35 This is really talking about... I mean, the first line there, 17:38 "Your gold and silver are corroded." Well, 17:42 I don't know about you, but I always thought that 17:45 gold and silver couldn't be corroded. But it's telling us... 17:49 [Rosemary]: Be eroded? [Pr Watts]: It's basically, 17:51 I suppose, saying the things that we might put 17:54 our faith and trust in. You know, people put their 17:57 money into gold, and... [John]: And they're doing that more 18:00 often now, Peter, because the reserves of gold are very- 18:03 the smaller values are not there anymore, because 18:07 everyone's bought up gold and silver. But I 18:10 don't believe that's the answer. [Pr Watts]: No! 18:13 Well, here, it's telling us that, you know, "Your 18:14 gold and silver corroded," and it's describing here 18:17 people who've heaped up treasure for themselves 18:19 in the last days. You notice the reference 18:21 there to the last days. [Rosemary]: "...have heaped 18:22 treasure together for the last days." [Pr Watts]: Yeah! 18:24 That's right. And then it actually tells you another 18:27 element that talks about keeping back the wages 18:32 of those who are doing work for you. So in other 18:35 words, it's really talking about exploitation; it's 18:37 talking about the fact that people have been getting 18:39 rich by exploiting the poor, and we've been 18:42 seeing that for a long, long time. We're finding 18:47 a situation, as we mentioned in that other 18:49 verse in Revelation, that such great riches 18:51 can come to nothing in a very short period of time. 18:58 We want to be fiscally responsible, but the 19:01 reality is we can't put our trust in riches, we 19:04 can't put our trust in the military; God wants us 19:06 to put our trust in Him. [Rosemary]: That's right. 19:09 [Pr Milenkov]: And it's interesting - we don't have 19:11 the scripture up there on the screen, but in 19:14 verses 7 and 8-I won't take the time to read it- 19:17 but it simply says, "When you see these things taking 19:21 place, then you know that I'm about to come." 19:24 And in fact, I will read verse 8. Verse 8 says, 19:27 "You also be patient, establish your hearts 19:30 for the coming of the Lord is at hand." So, 19:33 when we see what we are seeing right now-with 19:36 the exploitation of the poor in order to fill 19:39 the pockets of the rich, the 1%, as they have been 19:43 known who own as much as the 99% of the world's 19:46 population combined- we know that things are 19:48 getting very close, and we can clearly see that 19:50 taking place right now. [Pr Watts]: There's another 19:53 economic implication that I noticed in the 19:58 news headlines the other day. It's Sydney Morning Herald. 20:01 Had talked about, their headline was, "The coronavirus 20:05 will accelerate the trend towards a cashless society." 20:10 "The world after the coronavirus will probably 20:11 be far more digitized, and payment systems appear 20:19 as likely to be impacted by this as any other aspect 20:23 of daily life." Now, we have been moving in 20:26 the direction of a cashless society for quite a while, 20:30 and there's nothing particularly wrong with 20:32 that; it's very convenient for us all. We likely 20:35 all have our plastic in the back pockets. 20:37 In fact, if they banned cash tomorrow, I probably 20:42 only have less than 50 bucks in my wallet of 20:45 cash. I don't carry a lot of cash. And I've 20:48 noticed that, through the coronavirus crisis, 20:51 of course, you're less likely to punch in the 20:53 buttons and take from your savings account; 20:55 you're gonna use your card for that contactless 21:00 payment. I've noticed that I've been doing 21:02 that a lot more because of the coronavirus crisis. 21:06 But what are the implications? Why is this of an issue at all? 21:10 There's a verse in Revelation chapter 13 and verse 17 21:14 that I just want to read out, and we're going to 21:16 spend a little bit of time in Revelation in the second 21:19 half of this program, because we're gonna 21:21 talk about some of the prophetic implications 21:23 for some of the things we're talking about. But 21:26 in Revelation 13:17, it says, "And that no 21:29 one may buy or sell except one who has the 21:32 mark or the name of the beast or the number of 21:34 his name." It talks here about a power-it's a 21:38 religious political power- that at the end of time 21:41 enforces this mark upon the world, and one of 21:47 the implications of this mark is that unless you 21:49 have it, you can't buy or sell. And, of course, 21:52 that's a loss easier to implement if we 21:56 have a cashless society, then it is if you've 21:58 got cash flowing around and that there's a black 22:00 market. So, you might say, "Well, I'm not gonna 22:03 sell anything to you, Peter." But if I've got 22:05 cash in my pocket and there's somebody down 22:07 the road who'll take cash, there is a black market 22:10 for it. You know what I'm saying? Whereas, 22:13 this move towards a cashless society makes 22:17 that buying and selling aspect, if you want to 22:21 cut off buying and selling, it makes it very easy 22:24 for the government to do. As I've mentioned before, 22:25 most of us don't carry that much cash anyway. 22:28 So even if you canceled my account today, that 22:33 cash isn't gonna get me very far. But that's 22:36 another aspect of this; that sort of ties in with 22:39 an element of Scripture. [John]: Yes. [Pr Milenkov]: Now, 22:41 I don't think- well, we don't have time today 22:43 to unpack what this "mark" is that Peter has spoken 22:48 about-but we have in a previous program! 22:50 We have spoken at length regarding this issue of 22:53 the mark of the beast, the seal of God, who 22:56 the beast is, the image of the beast, and so on 22:57 and so forth. So, if you're out there and 23:00 you're wondering what's the answer to some of 23:03 these questions that we find in Revelation 13, 23:05 I'd encourage you to ring up 3ABN, getting 23:09 contact with 3ABN, and seek to get a hold of 23:12 these programs that they have on file and are able 23:15 to make available to you. [Rosemary]: And we also 23:17 have some tracks now that people can find out, 23:20 too, so they can go to our website in the Store 23:22 and find our little tracks, insight guides. [Pr Watts]: And 23:25 in addition to that, at the end of our previous 23:27 program, and at the end of this program, we will 23:30 be advertising the book The Great Hope, which also 23:32 contains some details about that that will 23:34 be helpful for you. [Pr Milenkov]: That's right. 23:35 And in line with this cashless society that we are moving 23:40 steadily toward, we have in Australia something 23:44 that's been rolled out called Tracking App, 23:49 or the Covid App as it has been named. So, 23:53 that's in line with seeking to provide greater 23:57 health and safety and well-being. And as we've 23:59 been told over and over again, the more people 24:01 that sign up to this tracking app and thus 24:04 far, we've had a number of million people. Million, I 24:07 think. [Pr Watts agrees] Within the first five 24:09 or six hours, there was about a million Australians 24:11 that signed up. COVIDSafe is the app. "Australian 24:16 Government's coronavirus tracing app COVIDSafe 24:19 downloaded 1 million times." And yeah, that was in 24:21 the space of a few hours. So today, we have the 24:24 technology to see Revelation 13 fulfilled, unlike at any 24:29 other time in earth's history. And with the 24:31 way the world is connected, we live in a global village. 24:35 This lockdown, this shutdown, has not only 24:37 affected the western world, but it's affected 24:39 more than 180 countries around the world. That's 24:43 90% of the countries of the world, according 24:47 to the United Nations. 80-90% have been affected. 24:50 So, we can clearly see that these words can 24:53 be fulfilled in our time like at no other. 24:56 [Pr Watts]: So, I mean, with this tracing app, 24:58 we would also want to say that, you know, the 25:03 government's intention, the motivation behind it, 25:06 could be entirely legitimate. [John]: Yes. [Pr Watts]: That 25:09 they want people to- they want to be able to 25:11 know where people are so that if there's an 25:14 infected person or somebody who's been in contact 25:16 with an infected person, others can know and 25:19 take the right precautions and so forth. So, there's 25:22 a legitimate motivation behind this. But of course, 25:27 there are others who are concerned about what 25:30 happens to that information afterwards? We've seen 25:33 before where people have given their information 25:35 to people like Facebook and so forth, and that 25:38 information has been sold on to others. And 25:41 so, there's a concern: What happens to this 25:43 information, and how will it be used, and what 25:46 are the implications for the future of being signed 25:49 up to this app? [Rosemary]: I think one of the points 25:51 is, at this time, the tracking app or tracing 25:56 app doesn't trace position of where you are like a GPS; 26:02 it just tracks what other device you have been in 26:06 the proximity of, so that if someone gets 26:09 COVID-19, they register that they have got it, 26:13 and they've got this tracing app so that every other 26:16 app that has been close to that person within a 26:19 period of time and a certain distance, they 26:22 get alerted through the app. But then, names aren't 26:27 really on it. But you never know-things start innocently. 26:30 But what is going- no. People end up manipulating 26:34 things that are good for their own devices. So 26:37 though it may be a good thing right now, and it's 26:40 being used for the right purpose, you never know 26:43 what someone else may plan down the track to 26:45 get information. [Pr Watts]: Yeah. And this isn't 26:48 something I think that we should be too worried 26:51 about, in the sense that if the government wants 26:53 to find you, they're gonna find you; and 26:55 hopefully, you've not committed any crimes. 26:56 And so, you know, you don't mind people knowing 26:59 where you are. You go into the grocery store, 27:02 the supermarket, and they've got cameras, 27:05 because they want to make sure you're not 27:07 pinching stuff. So, there are a lot of surveillance 27:09 cameras in our society now that probably would've 27:12 been unthinkable just a few decades ago. So, 27:16 there is surveillance that takes place, and 27:19 I don't think it's something that we need to worry about 27:22 as Christians particularly, because what is our 27:26 business, really? Are we about finding places 27:28 to hide, or are we about finding places to be...seen? 27:32 The Bible- Jesus says, "Let your light so shine," 27:35 A city that is sat on a hill, "cannot be hidden," 27:38 you know. Neither do they take a lamp and put a 27:41 basket over the top of it. Our light is to be 27:45 seen; we're to be a witness. I think that 27:48 there's a great little story in 2 Kings chapter 6. 27:52 We won't read it now, but 15-18 where Elisha 27:56 and his servants are there, and they are 27:58 being surrounded by an army. It's actually the 28:01 Syrian army at the time. They're surrounded by 28:05 their enemies, and Elisha prays, 'cause his servant 28:11 is worried and says, "Lord, open his eyes 28:13 that he can see," because the chariots of the Lord 28:15 are all around them. But more than that, 28:18 Elisha prays, and he prays, "Lord, blind 28:23 the enemies," and that happens. And so, what 28:26 I'm saying, the reason I'm saying that is at 28:28 the end, we're concerned about, "The government's 28:31 gonna find us all," or "The powers that they might 28:36 want to find us for the purposes of persecution." 28:38 God is well able to blind the eyes of the- 28:42 [Rosemary]: Exactly. [Pr Watts]: The technical devices, 28:44 or whatever. We can place ourselves in His care. 28:48 [Rosemary]: God can put His hand over you so you 28:50 so you can't be seen. [Pr Milenkov]: Like Elisha 28:51 said: There are more that are with us than 28:54 those that are against us. [John]: That's right. 28:56 [Pr Milenkov]: There've been a lot of negative 28:57 implications regarding COVID-19, but there 29:01 has been one big positive! And that's been, as far 29:04 as the environment is concerned, it's been an 29:07 ecological- [Pr Watts]: A breath of fresh air! [Pr Milenkov]: A 29:09 breath of fresh air! [laughter] Yeah. It's 29:12 really, really powerful. We have a few headlines 29:16 here, just to share with you. This is from The Guardian. 29:19 "Climate crisis: in coronavirus lockdown, 29:22 nature bounces back - but for how long?" 29:25 Here's another one. This time from National 29:28 Geographic. "Pollution made COVID-19 worse. 29:31 Now, lockdowns are clearing the air." "Even before 29:34 coronavirus, air pollution killed 7 million people 29:37 a year. Will today's cleaner air inspire 29:41 us to do better?" And here is another one. 29:45 This time, we have- I believe we have a couple 29:51 of scriptures to share on what God says about 29:55 our planet. We have one in Romans 8:22, 29:59 which, John, you're able to read that for us. [John]: Yes. 30:03 And in Romans 8:22, it says, "For we know that 30:06 the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain 30:10 together until now." So we know that! We can see that. 30:14 [Pr Milenkov]: Absolutely. And there's another 30:16 scripture in the Old Testament, this time 30:18 in Isaiah 51:6 that describes our planet. [Rosemary]: Yeah. 30:22 Let me read that. Isaiah 51:6, "Lift up your eyes to the 30:27 heavens and look upon the earth beneath." So 30:30 look up, and look down. "For the heavens shall 30:33 vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax 30:36 old like a garment. And they that dwell 30:39 therein shall die in like manner. But My 30:42 salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall 30:46 not be abolished." So although people will die, 30:51 God will also...save. [Pr Milenkov]: That's right. 30:56 So, the Bible talks about a time-and, in particular, 30:58 there in Revelation 11:8- and it says, "There will 31:01 come a time when man will be destroying the 31:04 world," destroying the earth like at no other 31:06 other time in earth's history. And so, there 31:08 has been a growing call by individuals such as 31:11 Greta Thunberg, who was TIME's Person of the 31:16 Year last year (2019), the youngest person 31:19 to be TIME Person of the Year. There is a growing 31:23 call to put the environmental needs, front and center, 31:29 because this is our world. We have one world, we 31:32 all live in this world, we don't have a second 31:34 one, according to what scientists and political 31:37 leaders are saying. So, we need to take care of 31:39 it. But now, there are some interesting spiritual 31:43 implications to some of the suggestions that 31:46 have been made right now, and also in the 31:49 last number of years regarding setting aside 31:52 time for the earth to rejuvenate. I think 31:57 these are really important, especially as far as 32:00 the prophetic sequence of events is concerned 32:05 moving forward. And, Peter, you may want to share 32:07 a little more on that. [Pr Watts]: Well, I was 32:08 just going to say that when we talk about the 32:11 climate, it's very hard to not back that same 32:19 position, you know, to say, "Look, everybody 32:22 wants a cleaner air; everybody wants to see the earth 32:27 prospering, in terms of the growth we've 32:29 been ripping down trees and forests for decades, 32:33 and it's going to have an effect. I was talking 32:35 a little while ago about the fact that I think... 32:39 Let me think about this. I think it's about 70% 32:44 of the animals have disappeared in the last 32:46 40 years. That's in massive amounts- that's a massive 32:50 impact that humanity is having, that industry 32:54 is having, that the drive for greater and greater 32:59 profits is having on the world in which we 33:01 live. And so, that has implications. And so, 33:04 everybody's gonna say, "Yeah! That's a great 33:06 idea. We want the climate to improve." And, of course, 33:09 we've started to see that with the lockdown 33:13 of coronavirus, we've started to see the air 33:16 pollution cleanup around... [Rosemary]: Not as many cars. 33:19 [Pr Watts]: Yeah! A lot less cars, a lot less 33:22 planes in the sky. About 90% of the planes have 33:24 grounded. And so, they leave a lot of pollution 33:29 behind them, and of course, it's become a lot cleaner 33:33 because of that. [Rosemary]: A lot less 33:34 industry. [Pr Watts]: Yeah. So, those are some of the 33:37 lockdown benefits. Now, the question is, what has 33:42 that got to do with the implications for prophecy? 33:45 Now, in the book of Revelation chapter 13, 33:48 we've mentioned on a previous show, Danny and I, 33:51 that we've come on here on 3ABN, we've talked 33:53 about there's two great powers mentioned there. 33:57 One is the Roman papal power in Revelation 13. 34:00 That's the first power depicted. And the other 34:03 is a second power that arises, which represents 34:06 the United States. We've talked about that, and 34:09 there's some details about that, and people should 34:12 find out those details, and certainly they're in the 34:14 book The Great Hope, as well. But the implications 34:21 of this is, people are saying, "Wouldn't it 34:23 be great to have a day a week where we give the 34:28 world an opportunity to rest?" And, of course, 34:32 this is a fabulous idea, because that's actually 34:34 a biblical idea! Right? God intended for us to 34:38 have a weekly Sabbath. The seventh day of the 34:41 week, God intended for us to have a Sabbath day. 34:44 Not only that: The Bible also records that back 34:48 in the time of Israel when they left Egypt, 34:50 they were to work the land for six years, and 34:53 they were to allow the land rest for the seventh year. 34:57 And so, these are biblical concepts, and people are 34:59 are recognizing the benefits of them. However, it's 35:03 going to come from a different authority than 35:06 from the Bible, and that's what we need to 35:08 be aware of. I want to turn to, the pope gave 35:12 an encyclical back in 2015, I think it was, where, 35:19 I'm not going to try and pronounce that in 35:23 Latin, or maybe I should, but it was basically a piece 35:28 where he was talking about the environment 35:31 and the need to look after the environment. 35:34 In his encyclical, Laudato si, if that's how it's pronounced, 35:38 is the second encyclical of Pope Francis. The encyclical 35:42 has the subtitle, "on care for our common home," 35:46 and this is where it impacts the environmental 35:48 issue. In it, the pope critiques consumerism 35:51 and irresponsible development, and he laments environmental 35:56 degradation, and he talks about this, and global warming, 36:00 and cause all people of the world to take swift 36:04 and unified global action. So, this is very interesting. 36:09 So, this is all- you know, this is 2015, so this is 36:12 five years ago; this is before the coronavirus crisis. 36:17 And, of course, as we've mentioned before, the 36:19 climate crisis, or the climate change crisis, 36:23 it was a very hot-button topic prior to us getting 36:26 into this year's crisis. And so, he's calling 36:29 there for some reasonable measures. There's an 36:32 interesting article that was in The Sunday Telegraph 36:35 in response to this encyclical by the pope. 36:41 It was a headline that says, "A warmest trick 36:45 sees Lefties worship Pope." That's an Australian 36:49 headline for you. [John]: Yes. 36:53 ? very cold [talking over each other] 36:56 [Pr Watts]:? from the Sunday Telegraph is the journalist. 36:57 Basically, she is recognizing that as the pope has 37:02 embraced this concern about the environment, 37:06 that he's drawing attention, he's drawing support, 37:10 from "Lefties" who wouldn't ordinarily be religious 37:14 people, wouldn't ordinarily be people who have an 37:17 interest in the Catholic faith, but they're supporting. 37:19 "Hey, the pope's got an idea here where we 37:21 need to have concern for the environment." 37:24 [John]: "We need to get behind it." [Pr Watts]: Correct. 37:25 And then there's a quote there that, if we could 37:28 just go back to that previous one, this is 37:30 from that encyclical. One of the things the 37:32 pope had said was, "Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, 37:36 is meant to be a day which heals our relationships 37:40 with God, with ourselves, with others, and with the 37:45 world," and he's promoting the idea of Sunday being 37:49 a special day. [Rosemary]: "Like a Jewish Sabbath." 37:52 [Pr Watts]: Like the Jewish Sabbath - it's interesting 37:53 that he compares it to that. 'Course, the Bible 37:55 never describes the Sabbath as the Jewish Sabbath. 37:58 It's just, "The Sabbath." In fact, it's the Sabbath 38:00 of the Lord. It's not your Sabbath or mine, 38:04 it's the Lord's Sabbath, and we choose to keep it. 38:06 In response to... [Pr Milenkov]: And the Sabbath was made 38:08 for man, according to Jesus? [Pr Watts]: The Sabbath 38:10 is made to... [Pr Milenkov]: For mankind. [Pr Watts]: 38:11 Correct. But here, we have a substitution of 38:14 the Sabbath, which is Sunday, which Roman 38:17 Catholics have identified long ago that this is a 38:22 rule or a command of the Church; it's not a 38:26 command of the Bible. [Rosemary]: It's the 38:27 sign of their authority. [Pr Watts]: Correct. It's 38:29 a sign or a mark of their authority, and so, here 38:33 he is, I guess, sharing the benefits of a common-day 38:39 off that will be better for the environment, it'd 38:42 be better for family life, you know? But it's not 38:46 the biblical Sabbath that they're championing; it's 38:49 a day that is representative of the authority of the 38:53 Roman Church. [Pr Milenkov]: There's some other headlines, 38:56 as well, that we just want to briefly look at. 38:59 Even before the pope's encyclical, this was an 39:02 interesting headline that was in The Guardian, September 39:05 17, 2009. "Slow Sunday: The Simple Solution to Global 39:10 Warming," and that's what it was called. 39:11 Once upon on a time, before climate change 39:13 became the new language, "Using Sunday as a day 39:17 of rest and renewal would be good for our personal 39:20 health, as well as the health of the planet." 39:24 So, that's another headline, heading in the direction 39:27 that we are right now. Here is another one, this 39:30 time from a website named Catholic Family, from March 39:36 "Pope Francis blames coronavirus on 39:40 nature having a fit over environmental damage." 39:44 That was really fascinating. Pope Francis is saying, "This 39:48 is nature getting back at us for destroying the 39:54 environment." I guess just a serious slap on 39:57 the wrist, so to speak. Here is another headline. 40:01 "Pope says coronavirus pandemic could be nature's 40:06 response to climate crisis." This time, that's from 40:10 CNN. And as we move along, another interesting headline, 40:15 this time from Reuters, from April 2020: "On 40:18 Earth Day, pope says nature will not forgive our 40:22 trespasses." And so, as Peter pointed out, 40:25 this message of taking time out in order to 40:31 preserve our environment, in order to preserve our 40:34 families, our economy, our health and well-being, 40:37 just right across the board, that's being echoed more 40:39 and more-and especially in connection with the 40:42 coronavirus that we have currently. I found there's 40:49 several others I just want to point out. This 40:51 is really interesting. We don't have a lot 40:53 of time to unpack this, but this is from a Christian 40:56 theologian who teaches and preaches and authors 41:03 books on this very subject. She refers to herself- 41:07 or her website is Eco Preacher. I think that says it all. 41:13 Notice the headline of this article, this blog, 41:17 I guess, on her website, "When Earth Demands a 41:20 Sabbath: Learning from the Coronavirus Pandemic." 41:25 Yeah, she writes some very, very interesting 41:27 things. This lady- and if I could just grab her 41:30 name here from the article... Leah Schade, who's the 41:34 assistant professor of preaching and worship 41:36 at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky. 41:40 I find it fascinating the way she opens up 41:43 her blog. Notice these words, and I'm just 41:46 reading from her blog. Underneath the title, 41:49 "This might be the first time since the beginning 41:52 of the Industrial Age that Earth is finally 41:54 getting a break from the relentless activity 41:58 and growth of human industrial production. 42:00 And so, yeah, the whole article is focused on 42:04 encouraging the world to take that Sabbath back 42:09 that God originally created for this world to enjoy, 42:13 as a way for the world to recuperate, our land, 42:16 our relationships, and so on and so forth. 42:17 Very fascinating, using the biblical language, 42:21 but for the sake of promoting the first day of the week, 42:24 as we have already noticed. So, this call is growing more 42:29 and more. And it's not just religious individuals; 42:33 here's an interesting headline from non-religious 42:40 entity, Climate CoLab. They refer to this "Green 42:44 Sabbath." "Once a week, give our beautiful planet a 42:48 day of rest, a Green Sabbath Day." Underneath 42:53 the title, we have these words: "Green Sabbath 42:55 is a non-religious, non-political, and non-profit 42:58 campaign which aims to raise awareness and to 43:02 encourage people to help slow climate change, 43:04 preserve precious natural resources, and improve 43:07 planet health by observing at least one carbon footprint-free 43:12 day each week on any day of the week. We call 43:15 it symbolically A Green Sabbath day. So, whether 43:19 it's Pope Francis, whether it's other religious leaders, 43:23 whether it's political entities, whether it's people 43:26 who have no religious persuasion, like the lefties 43:29 that Peter referred to earlier. [Pr Watts]: Or the 43:32 Guardian newspaper. [Pr Milenkov chuckles]: More 43:34 and more people are getting on the train of, 43:38 we need to do something, and this whole pandemic 43:41 has been a wake-up call, how much we have destroyed 43:45 our world. I mean, you can go to cities around 43:47 the world now where they rarely would see the sun, 43:50 rarely would they see the stars, and now the skies 43:53 are clear and they're able to see the sunshine, 43:56 they're able to breathe in fresh air, they're 43:58 able to see the stars at night... And it's a 44:01 new experience for so many as they're walking 44:03 out of their homes after being in lockdown for weeks 44:06 and weeks on end. They're experiencing a brand-new 44:10 world. So, the call is, let's maintain this! We 44:14 can't have seven days a week off, obviously. That's 44:17 just not gonna happen. That's not gonna fly. 44:19 But surely, we can set aside one day a week. 44:21 Possibly, that was God's plan, and it certainly was, 44:24 but we can clearly see that things are heading 44:26 in the wrong direction. And if it wasn't for 44:28 Revelation chapter 13, we would know that, 44:32 possibly, we could be ending up with a wonderful 44:36 world. It'd be religious freedoms that would 44:38 continue; but unfortunately, things are not heading in 44:40 that direction. [Rosemary]: Isn't it amazing how 44:42 quickly things have cleared up? [Pr Watts]: Mm. In nature. 44:48 [Rosemary]: Exactly, in the climate and things, 44:50 in the atmosphere, that people could come out of 44:54 their isolation and see a change. That is fast. 44:57 [Pr Watts]: It is. And I think, you know, the thing that 45:00 you've been connecting this day a week, if we 45:03 could have one carbon-free day a week, well of course 45:07 it's going to- it's very convenient if that's going 45:11 to be the same day for everybody, right? 45:13 [Rosemary]: Yes. And very convenient if it's... 45:15 [Pr Watts]: It's going to- yeah, it's gonna have a 45:16 bigger impact if that's the single day. And of 45:18 course, that's been alluded to two in some of those 45:20 articles we've seen. I think it's gonna be 45:23 irresistible for most, this idea of, "You know 45:26 what? That's a great idea! Why shouldn't we 45:28 have a day off a week?" It'd certainly give everybody... 45:32 [Rosemary]: Have a free day! [Pr Watts]:...give us a 45:33 break, and give the world a break. And of course, 45:37 that is not a problem in and of itself. But the 45:41 Bible tells us in Revelation 13 that persecution will 45:44 come to those who don't worship a certain way. 45:48 And when you read Revelation 13, you read Revelation 14, 45:52 the issue there is worship. I think the word 'worship' 45:55 appears about 8 times in those two chapters. 45:58 The world is gonna be called to worship, and it's going 46:02 to be about, who is your God, and when do you 46:05 worship Him? And I think that if we didn't have 46:09 Revelation 13, as you said, Danny, we could 46:11 easily be championing the same ideals. [John]: That's right. 46:16 [Pr Watts]: In fact, we would. We would say it 46:17 IS great to have a day off, it IS great to give 46:19 the day of rest. But we would say, it's the 46:23 biblical Sabbath, it's the day that God created. 46:25 The Creator gave us that day. But these other 46:29 powers that be, or these other influences, are 46:32 calling for a day that ? the authority of a 46:36 different power. [Pr Milenkov]: And I think it's fascinating 46:38 that more than a century ago, in that book that we 46:41 have been advertising, that book called The Great 46:44 Hope, the writer there, Ellen White, more than a 46:48 century ago, she wrote concerning our day that 46:51 there would be a day when there would be 46:53 an increased awareness and an increased push for 46:57 setting aside one day in the week, and in particular, 47:02 the first day of the week, Sunday. We've got a couple 47:04 of quotes up here for you. Peter, would you 47:06 like to read these two quotes? Very powerful. 47:09 [Pr Watts]: Yeah, so we've been talking, and we'll 47:11 mention at the end of this program, the book 47:14 The Great Hope, it also goes by the name The 47:16 Great Controversy, and this is a quote from it. 47:20 It says, "It will be declared that men are offending God 47:24 by the violation of the Sunday Sabbath, that this 47:28 sin has brought calamities which will not cease until 47:32 Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced." 47:36 And you can imagine that people are going to be 47:42 on board with this and called to observe Sunday 47:46 as a holy day of rest. And what's interesting 47:50 about that statement I just read out is it was 47:52 written over a hundred years ago, by this Christian 47:56 writer Ellen G. White. I recommend the book, 47:59 as we will later. But this was foreseen, and it's 48:03 based on the book of Revelation; it's based 48:06 on the things that we find there. There's 48:08 another quotation that I'd like for us to read, 48:11 and this is page 604-606. It says, "Heretofore those 48:17 who presented the truths of the third angel's message," 48:20 now, I want to unpack that a little bit. The 48:22 third angel's message, it warns against receiving 48:26 this false day of worship. The three angels' messages 48:30 are designed in a very concise way, as you like 48:33 to put it, Dan, to emphasize God's truth, to warn against 48:38 the devil's lies, and then to give us the choice 48:40 about who we're going to worship. And so, in this 48:44 passage that we'll go back to, "Heretofore 48:47 those who presented the truths of the third 48:48 angel," the warning against a false day of worship, "a 48:52 message have been often regarded as mere alarmists." 48:55 You're talking about enforced Sunday observance. 48:58 When's that ever going to happen? Well, but as 49:02 the question of enforcing Sunday observance is 49:05 widely agitated, the event so long doubted and 49:10 disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the 49:13 third message will produce an effect, which it could not 49:18 have had before." And so, we have been talking 49:24 about the fact that Sunday observance would 49:27 be enforced upon the world. That is indicated 49:32 in the symbolic nature of Scripture, but it's indicated 49:36 in that book, as I've mentioned written a 49:38 hundred years ago in plain text, that this 49:42 would come upon the world. I've talked to 49:43 people, and I know you have too, Danny, where 49:46 we've talked about, Sunday observance will be enforced. 49:49 You see, we believe in religious liberty. God is 49:53 a God of freedom, all right? God is a God of freedom. 49:57 [John]: He gives us choice. [Pr Watts]: He gives 49:58 us choice! And if somebody wants to worship on 50:01 Sunday, somebody wants to worship on Tuesday, 50:03 somebody doesn't want to worship at all, or I want 50:05 to worship on Sabbath, we're free to do that. 50:08 We live in a free country, and I'm glad about that. 50:12 What we're talking about here is when Sunday 50:14 observance is enforced upon a population, and 50:17 you don't have a choice, and you end up worshiping 50:20 in a particular way. THAT is the part that 50:24 is going to be treading on the toes, if you're 50:28 like of God's principles of freedom...and that's 50:31 the part that we need to be aware of. [Pr Milenkov]: And 50:33 I think we need to recognize that what we are talking 50:37 about will not happen in a vacuum. Having one 50:41 day set aside around the world that governments 50:44 legislate, that will only happen when there are 50:46 extraordinary times. They're called for extraordinary 50:49 measures. And so, we can see by what has been 50:53 taking place right now that extraordinary times 50:56 have come, and they will increase further. We don't 50:59 have time to read a couple of passages, 51:00 hopefully they'll be up on the screen there, 51:02 one from Matthew 24 where Jesus spoke of 51:05 a great tribulation that would be coming upon the 51:08 world, and I'd encourage you to just make note 51:11 of those scriptures, and another one in 51:12 Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 where it speaks of a 51:15 time of trouble, such as the world has never seen. 51:18 And so, we are getting to that point in time 51:21 very, very quickly. But Peter, as we sort of come 51:24 to land, and we need to be finishing up, could 51:27 you take us to Matthew chapter 7? That's a really 51:30 important passage, and I think we've got John 51:33 that will be reading Matthew 7:24-27, 51:37 because in the midst of the storm, Jesus invites us 51:41 who to build our house on. Matthew 7:24-27. 51:47 [John]: You know, I also wanted to say, Danny, 51:50 you can see how nonbelievers don't have any religious 51:53 affiliation to anything. We'll see that this 51:57 one day off is gonna be a good thing. [Pr Watts]: A blessing. 52:00 [John]: A blessing, yeah. So you're having all 52:02 people seeing that as a good thing, but the 52:03 scriptures point to something more than that. 52:06 We said in Daniel chapter... [Pr Watts]: No, Matthew 7. 52:09 [John]: Matthew chapter 7, yes. [Pr Watts]: 24 through 27. 52:12 [John]: Here we go. It says in here in the Bible, 52:14 "Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine." 52:17 [Rosemary]: 7:24. [John]: Yep, that's right. Yep. "And 52:20 doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man 52:23 who built his house upon a rock. And the rain 52:25 descended and the floods came, and the winds blew 52:28 and beat upon the house, and it fell not for it was 52:30 founded upon a rock. And everyone that heareth 52:34 these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall 52:37 be likened unto a foolish man who built his house 52:39 upon the sand. And the rain descended and the 52:43 floods came and the winds blew and beat upon the 52:45 house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." 52:49 So, it's very clear what Jesus was telling us. 52:52 We gotta take a break for a moment, because 52:54 we want to encourage you to contact us and 52:57 share with us anything that you would like to 53:01 share regarding this program, and in particular 53:03 the books that we are talking about, we can 53:06 direct you to them. And if you want to contact 53:09 Danny or Peter, you can do so at this address. 53:14 [cheerful piano music] If you would like to 53:18 contact 3ABN Australia, you may do so in the 53:20 following ways. You may write to 3ABN Australia 53:24 PO Box 752 Morisset, New South Wales 2264 53:29 Australia. That's, Post Office Box 752 53:33 Morisset, NSW 2264 Australia. Or, you 53:37 may call +610249733456. That's, 0249733456, 53:46 from 8:30 AM to 5 PM, Monday to Thursday, 53:49 or 8:30 AM to 12 PM, Fridays, New South Wales time. 53:54 You may also email us at mail@3abnaustralia.org.au. 54:00 That's, mail@3abnaustralia.org.au 54:08 Thank you for all you do to help us light the 54:10 world with the glory of God's truth. 54:15 [Rosemary]: I hope you wrote those details down, 54:17 because we do want to hear from you. Meanwhile, 54:19 Peter, we've just had John read Matthew 7:24-27, 54:24 some of my favorite story from a child of the wise 54:27 and foolish men. [Pr Watts]: There's a little song 54:30 about that, isn't there? [chuckles] The wise man 54:32 built his house... [Rosemary]: Those who 54:33 hear and do, what are you going to tell us about 54:35 it? [Pr Watts]: Well, I wanted to point out, I 54:37 guess, in that story, in that little parable 54:41 that Jesus told, the wise man built his house on 54:43 the rock, the foolish man built his house on the 54:45 sand, but the storm came to both of them. [John]: Yes. 54:49 [Pr Watts]: And the storm is going to come to all of us. 54:52 I mean, I would like to say we've talked 54:54 about the fact that the Bible talks about pestilence 54:56 in the last days, Jesus listed that as one of 54:59 the signs, and we've seen that today. But I wish 55:03 I could say, "That's the worst of it. It's over 55:05 now, and everything will be rosy from here on in." 55:09 The reality is, the Bible tells us there will be a 55:11 time of trouble such as never was. It's going 55:14 to get worse before it gets better. But the 55:16 good news is, it does get better. Jesus is 55:19 going to come. But the point of that is that there is a 55:22 storm coming. There is a storm coming, and 55:25 the only way to survive that storm is to be 55:28 building on the rock. And Jesus said to build 55:30 on the rock is to hear the words, and to put 55:33 them into practice to do them, to follow His 55:35 counsel, to follow the Lamb. Both groups, 55:40 the wise and the foolish, they both heard the 55:42 words. One did the will of God, the other heard 55:46 the words and ignored that. And then I think that's 55:48 what I would want to say: The storm is coming; 55:50 the only way we're gonna survive the storm is by 55:52 building on the Rock, which is Jesus. [Rosemary]: And we can 55:56 do that through the Word. [John]: So, obedience plays 55:59 an important part, doesn't it, Danny? [Pr Milenkov]: Absolutely 56:02 [John]: And we are living in a time where we're seeing 56:04 all sorts of manner of all sorts of things happening 56:07 around us, and people... Yeah, I mean, evil is 56:10 on the rise, wherever you go. But the encouraging 56:13 thing is, we're told that if we trust in the Lord, 56:18 He will take us through this time, and that's 56:19 what we really need to do. You know, Danny, just in 56:22 closing, you want to say something to our 56:24 viewers in relation to what we've spoken about today. 56:28 [Pr Milenkov]: Sure. And wherever you are 56:31 watching from, I want to encourage you to continue 56:33 to dig deep in God's Word, this precious book 56:36 that we have been looking at has the most beautiful 56:40 news. It has a message of hope, it has a message 56:43 of peace, and it has a message of certainty. 56:46 I want to encourage you to dig deep into 56:48 God's Word. That's that rock, Jesus Christ and 56:52 His Word. I also want to encourage you to take 56:56 the time to get hold of these two books, 56:58 and we have them once again up on the screen, 57:00 Steps to Christ, a book that will lead you, as the 57:03 title suggests, closer and closer to Jesus, day by 57:06 day, step by step. And another book, The Great 57:09 Hope, or also the Great Controversy, that really 57:11 unpacks the times that we are living in and where 57:14 things are moving forward, and how Jesus will return. 57:18 So, may God bless you, thank you for joining us 57:20 during this time, and it's been a real blessing 57:23 to spend this time with you. Thank you. [Rosemary]: I thought 57:26 Danny was gonna close the show for you! [laughter] 57:28 [John]: Thank you Peter Watts and Danny Milenkov for 57:31 being on the program, and I'm sure that you will be 57:34 interested to know that what we've talked about 57:37 here today is a reality. If we put our trust in 57:40 God, He will take us through. Till we meet 57:43 again next time, God bless you. 57:45 [calming outro music] |
Revised 2021-02-18