Participants: Pr. Louis Torres
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000713
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01:00 Welcome back to "Digging Up the Future,
01:02 Bible Prophecy Exposed." 01:04 Good evening, everybody. 01:06 Good evening, everybody. 01:08 It's good to see you this evening. 01:10 And we've already had a kind of a wonderful time together 01:13 just exchanging gifts if you will, 01:16 and we have just already just 01:18 had a little bit of community here. 01:20 And we're glad that you can join us from home. 01:22 Welcome in to the seminar here. 01:24 We're having a great time here. 01:26 But the reason we have a great time 01:28 is not just because we're together although 01:30 we have something to do with it, 01:31 but because the Lord has promised 01:33 that we're two or three are gathered in His name 01:35 He will be in the midst. 01:36 Amen? 01:38 So why don't we invite His presence this evening 01:40 as we open tonight's meeting. 01:43 Father in Heaven, we are thankful that 01:45 you have made that promise 01:47 that we're two or three are gathered in Your name 01:50 You'll be in the midst, and You've also said that 01:52 if two or three agree on anything, 01:55 it will be done. 01:56 And we ask that You'll do something for us tonight 01:59 that you'll come in to this place, 02:01 that You'll give us an answer, 02:03 Revelation's answer for human suffering. 02:05 And we thank You and we come in Your all powerful name 02:09 in the name of Jesus, amen. 02:12 Time for us to sing that theme song we've been learning. 02:14 Let's stand together and sing "Jesus is Coming Again." 02:30 Marvelous message we bring 02:33 Glorious carol we sing 02:37 Wonderful word from the King 02:41 Jesus is coming again 02:45 Coming again, coming again 02:52 Maybe morning, maybe noon 02:56 Maybe evening, but sure be soon 03:00 Coming again, coming again 03:07 Oh what a wonderful day that will be 03:14 Jesus is coming again. 03:22 Boy, sound good. You can be seated. 03:25 Well, this evening again Rafael Scarfullery is with us. 03:31 And, you know, probably one of the most precious things 03:34 is to know that we belong to Jesus. 03:37 And he is going to be reminding us of that by signing 03:40 or actually playing on his guitar. 03:43 "Now I Belong to Jesus." 06:27 Thank you so much, Rafael. 06:30 I guess I should say it in your lango, muchas gracias. 06:35 Good evening to all of you. Good evening. 06:38 We're glad to be able to study again the word of God, 06:39 and as we do would you bow your heads with me? 06:42 Our Father, thank You so much that we can study Your word. 06:45 We pray that Your spirit will guide 06:47 and direct our thoughts in Jesus name, amen. 06:51 The year 2002 September 11, 06:54 a Christian gentleman had just begun 06:58 his first day of work in the Twin Towers. 07:07 It was his first day of work, but he did not know 07:11 that it would be his last day as well. 07:17 The church where he had been attending 07:20 I happened to know it quite a well 07:22 because I had to supervise 07:24 the young intern in that church 07:25 some street in Park Avenue in Manhattan. 07:32 I had another friend who was working 07:35 just across the street from the Twin Towers 07:38 when all of a sudden she tells me that 07:44 something strange took place, 07:47 the windows blew out in her office 07:50 or should I say blew in. 07:52 And she had to walk several miles on her high heels 07:56 to be able to get across to the other side 08:00 of the road into Queens. 08:08 There's a lot of pain that is in this world. 08:13 There's a lot of suffering. 08:16 The Twin Towers left a lot of people 08:20 asking the question, why. 08:26 My wife-- My nieces' husband was in ENT, 08:33 and he said he never had such 08:37 an awful time doing his work 08:41 as having to go and find body parts, 08:46 collect body parts. 08:50 In fact, after that experience he changed his occupation. 08:58 It was a nightmare for him. 09:03 The Book of Revelation opens up 09:07 with Revelation Chapter 7. 09:14 If you have your Bibles, 09:16 let's just read that Revelation Chapter 7. 09:22 And we're reading there in Revelation 7:1, 2. 09:30 Revelation 7:1, 2. 09:41 In Revelation Chapter 7, 09:42 it begins with after these things 09:50 that's after Revelation Chapter 6, of course. 09:57 "I saw four angels standing 09:59 on the four corners of the earth, 10:02 holding the four winds of the earth, 10:06 that the wind should not blow on the earth, 10:08 nor on the sea, nor on, what? 10:12 Any tree." 10:16 And then it says in verse 2, 10:19 "I saw another angel ascending from, where? 10:22 From the east." 10:23 Having what? 10:25 "The seal of the living God, 10:28 and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, 10:32 to whom it was given to hurt the sea and the earth. 10:37 Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, 10:43 nor the trees, till we have, what? 10:47 Till we have sealed the servants of our God, where? 10:52 In their foreheads." 10:54 Now I want you to notice something 10:56 very, very, very important here. 10:59 Scripture speaks about an angel fly 11:04 and then it says that this particular angel says 11:08 to the angels to hold back the winds 11:11 that they are about ready to blow upon the earth. 11:14 And the reason why that's done 11:15 is because something unordinary 11:21 is going to take place, something unusual, 11:24 something out of the ordinary is about to happen, 11:28 but before it happens God wants to make sure 11:32 that those who want to be protected 11:35 can find that protection by being sealed. 11:45 The scripture also tells us that on the other side 11:51 in Revelation Chapter 13 there is a mark. 11:55 I want you to notice what it says there. 11:58 "He causeth, how many? 12:00 All, both small and great, rich and poor, 12:03 free and bond, to receive a, what? 12:05 A mark, where? 12:07 In their right, or, where? In their foreheads." 12:10 Now I want you to notice something 12:12 very, very, very interesting here. 12:14 Number one, the first text that we read said 12:18 that God is putting a seal upon, where? 12:23 The forehead. 12:25 In Revelation Chapter 13, 12:26 it says that God is putting a--Sorry, not God, 12:30 but there is a mark being placed on the forehead 12:35 or also on the hand. 12:37 And so notice it says, 12:40 "And that he-- That no man might buy or sell, 12:44 save he that had the mark, 12:45 or the name of the best, or what? 12:48 Number of his name." 12:50 Somebody asked me last night, 12:53 what is 666? 12:56 I said, "Well, you'll have to come to the presentation 12:59 that I make to give you a short answer 13:02 would not be sufficient, it would not be right for you 13:06 just to get a short answer without actually knowing 13:08 what the Bible actually teaches about that." 13:12 And so I said, "You'll have to come back 13:13 for that presentation." 13:15 And so they said, "Well, what is the mark of the beast?" 13:18 And I said, "Well, again you will need to come 13:20 because there is a lot of background that 13:22 you need to understand 13:23 and to come to the right conclusion 13:26 concerning that topic." 13:27 But I want you to just to see something here. 13:30 Number one, it says that there is either a sealed or the what? 13:34 The mark. 13:35 The seal is in the forehead, 13:37 the mark is in the forehead or in the hand. 13:41 Now the question, 13:43 why is the forehead mentioned on both places? 13:47 And what about the sealing? 13:51 How many of you do canning? 13:53 Ladies, any of you? Right. 13:56 And gentlemen, of course those who help your wives. 14:00 When you do canning, what you normally do is 14:03 that is if you do it the way my wife and I used to do it 14:06 when our children are at home. 14:08 We would buy either a bushel of apples or peaches, 14:14 and we loved apple sauce. 14:15 We specially enjoyed golden delicious apple sauce. 14:20 And so we would then peel the apples. 14:25 My wife would core the apples 14:27 then we would cook the apples correct 14:31 and then you have to... 14:38 mash them up and make them puree 14:41 and then finally you put them in the jar 14:44 then you take those jars 14:46 and you either put them in hot water 14:49 or you put them in the oven 14:52 and you put the lid on not tight, 14:55 but just tight enough so that 14:58 when you take the things out, 15:00 you then finally tighten the lid so that 15:03 when the jar cools off, it is sealed. 15:08 Now question. 15:11 What is it that you seal in the jar, 15:13 the good or the bad? 15:16 Good. Good. 15:19 Good, of course. 15:20 I don't know anyone who will go through all the trouble 15:23 just of to put the rotten stuff 15:25 inside the jar then try to seal it. 15:28 Correct? 15:30 What you do is you cut out the bad spots 15:32 and then you put in 15:34 what you consider to be that which is good 15:37 and finally you seal it, you preserve it 15:38 and then voila, the rest of the year 15:41 you have delicious apple sauce on zweiback. 15:47 And I hear Brother Don going, hmm. 15:54 On the other hand, unlike the sealing marking 16:00 you don't necessarily have to preserve anything, 16:03 all you have to do is just put a mark. 16:08 Is that true? 16:11 To seal something, it means that you preserve 16:14 that which is good, but to mark, 16:16 you can mark anything. 16:17 You can take something that bad and mark. 16:19 And in fact, now often times 16:21 you'll find in supermarkets 16:22 or in clothing stores and all that 16:24 when they try to get rid of something what do they do? 16:26 They mark it down. 16:31 Well, you say they mark it them to begin with. 16:35 But I'm not talking with that kind of marking. 16:37 I'm talking about the crossing out 16:39 and writing a different number on it. 16:42 Have you seen that? In there they'll say 50%. 16:45 Correct? 16:46 And so you marking down and they actually put the mark. 16:49 So you can right away see that there is a different between 16:53 one and the other, correct? 16:57 Therefore, there is a battle for what? 17:03 For the mind. 17:04 There's a battle for what? For the mind. 17:08 On the one hand, God is seeking to seal, 17:10 on the other hand 17:12 the opposite power seeking to mark. 17:16 God is particular, the other one is not. 17:24 I don't know if you caught what I've said. 17:27 God is particular, the other one is not. 17:38 Obviously, the reason why God wants to seal us 17:43 is because He wants to save us forever, 17:46 but in order to save us forever we must have the mind. 17:50 The what? The mind of Christ. 17:54 And so the scripture says, "Let this, what? 17:58 This mind be in you, which was where? 18:02 Also in, whom? In Christ Jesus." 18:06 In other words, the reason 18:09 why prophecy is given us to help us to understand that 18:12 God has to do a work in us to prepare us for heaven. 18:17 And that you and I need to cooperate with God 18:20 in order to be prepared for heaven. 18:22 So God does His part in our lives, 18:26 but we cooperate so that God can accomplish His will 18:29 in our minds and hearts. 18:31 And what God wants ultimately is to you and I 18:33 to begin to think to, what? 18:36 To think like Christ. 18:37 But where is the thinking done? 18:42 It is done, where? In the mind. 18:45 And so we have the mind. 18:49 I want you to notice here the frontal lobe. 18:52 The reason for the Bible speaking about the frontal lobe 18:57 is because in reality the frontal lobe 18:59 is the seat of vision. 19:01 It is that which separates us from the animal kingdom. 19:04 In fact, in the frontal lobe 19:08 you'll find judgment also reason, 19:13 you'll find the conscience, and intellect, 19:18 you also will find the will, 19:21 and of course the ability to discern 19:25 moral discernment and spirituality. 19:28 In other words, in the frontal lobe, 19:32 in the mind is where a person develops 19:36 or has the ability to develop a Christ-like character. 19:41 Now let me share something with you 19:43 which is highlights what I'm saying. 19:46 A cat, 3.5% of his brain is the frontal lobe. 19:56 Since the sensitivity to moralities 19:58 in the frontal lobe you can well understand 20:00 why a cat doesn't seem to feel very bad 20:02 about catching a mouse and playing with it 20:05 until finally he kills it, right? 20:08 It doesn't seem to be much heart in that, does it? 20:13 The dog has a little bit more sensitivity. 20:19 That dog has how much? 20:20 7% of his brain as frontal lobe. 20:24 The monkey 17%. 20:27 And what about the human being? 20:29 Well, the human beings has 33% of his brain as frontal lobe. 20:38 Now notice the difference then from the cat to man. 20:43 Man then should have the sensitivity, 20:48 man should have that quality that enables him to be God like, 20:54 but if you remember when man sinned 20:57 he lost that ability and he can only regain 21:01 those qualities of virtue and loyalty and honesty 21:06 as he gives his heart to Christ. 21:12 But until then there is a controversy 21:18 that takes place and even after then 21:21 but at least we know 21:22 that when a person yields his mind to God 21:25 he has an edge on that which he is fighting against. 21:31 If you notice in Revelation 14:9 and 10 21:35 again speaking of the issue 21:38 of the beast and the mark of the beast etcetera 21:42 in the seal of God. 21:43 Notice that it says the third angel, 21:44 there is three angels here but they said 21:46 "Third angel says with a loud voice, 21:50 if any man worship the beast and his image, 21:52 and receive his" what? 21:54 "His mark" where? 21:55 "In his forehead, or" where? 21:58 "In his hand." 22:00 And it says "The same shall drink of the wrath of God, 22:03 which is poured out without mixture 22:04 into the cup of his indignation, 22:06 and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone 22:08 in the presence of the holy angels, 22:10 and in the presence of the lamb." 22:12 Now that sounds like terrible language doesn't it? 22:15 Yes or no? 22:16 It sounds like an angry God saying 22:18 you better straighten up or else. 22:22 But in reality, in here you'll find them 22:27 not an angry God but an anxious God. 22:30 What's a difference? 22:35 If God is concerned about your salvation, 22:38 He should be very anxious today. 22:40 Is that true yes or no? 22:42 He should be very anxious because unfortunately 22:46 there are many things that are going to and fro 22:49 we are in -- saturated by all sorts of messages 22:54 of the coming from all angles, 22:56 all beckoning us go here or do this or do that etcetera. 23:01 Believe this believe that. 23:02 There are all sorts of messages coming 23:04 and the problem with all that is 23:07 that there is only one message. 23:09 How many? Only one message that saves. 23:15 I want you to notice what the Book of Galatians says. 23:17 In the Book of Galatians Chapter 1 23:19 if you have your Bibles this time I'm going to 23:22 encourage you to get out and read it. 23:23 Galatians Chapter 1. 23:25 Notice what Paul says there in Galatians 1:6-9, Galatians. 23:32 By the way, if you want to remember 23:34 how those books come one after the other. 23:37 Some of you may have a hard time to remember 23:39 Philippians or Ephesians etcetera. 23:42 Just remember General Electric Power Company okay. 23:45 What did I say? 23:46 General Electric Power Company. 23:48 So General Galatians, electric Ephesians, 23:51 power Philippians, company Colossians, okay? 23:54 You got it? You got it, yes or no? 23:57 All right, so if you can't remember 24:00 just remember General Electric Power Company 24:02 and you've, oh, okay. 24:04 Now I want you to notice what Paul writes verse 6. 24:08 "I marvel" Galatians 1:6 24:12 "I marvel that you are so soon remove from him 24:14 that called you into the grace of Christ 24:17 unto another gospel which is not another, 24:21 but there'll be some that trouble 24:23 you and would pervert the gospel of Christ 24:25 and but though we or an angel from heaven 24:30 preach any other gospel onto you than that 24:32 which we have preach onto you 24:34 let them be a cursed." 24:36 Again it says "As we said before so I say now again 24:42 if any man preach another gospel unto you 24:46 than that you have received let them be" what? 24:49 "A curse." 24:50 Now let me ask you a question. 24:52 Are there other gospels? 24:54 Yes or no? Yes. 24:56 The fact that Paul says if any man preach unto you 25:00 another gospel means that people will come preaching what? 25:03 Another gospel. 25:05 But Paul is saying that there is only how many gospels? 25:09 Only one gospel that saves. 25:11 Now if that's true then you can understand 25:14 why the Scripture says in Revelation 14:6 and 7 and 8, 25:19 the first angel who says that there is an angel 25:22 flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel. 25:26 The what? Everlasting gospel. 25:30 If it's the everlasting gospel then 25:33 these other gospels are not everlasting. 25:36 These other gospels are? 25:40 False gospels that somebody makes up along the way. 25:44 And so when you read Revelation Chapter 14 25:48 you are reading about an anxious God 25:51 warning the world that there are other gospels. 25:55 Now let me ask you a question. 26:00 How important is it for you to get the right treatment 26:03 when you go to a doctor? 26:06 How Important is it for you to get the right medicine 26:08 when you go to a doctor? 26:11 My brother-in-law did not call us 26:15 because he did not want to trouble us. 26:18 He went to a hospital, I won't mention it here, 26:24 it wasn't a hospital in Wichita by the way. 26:29 But he went to the hospital 26:31 to have a valve replacement in his heart. 26:36 Now my father-in-law had also had a valve replacement, 26:39 my father-in-law lived about 30 years after 26:42 he had the valve replacement. 26:45 So normally they last 10 years but because of his good diet 26:49 he lived 30 years with the new valve. 26:53 My brother-in-law thought that well, 26:55 dad did it and it was a breeze 26:58 and so rather than calling us and saying 27:00 I'm going to the hospital, I'm going to get my valve 27:02 replace so pray for me, he thought well, 27:04 I just go get it done and after I'm finished with it, 27:06 I'll call everyone and say, by the way 27:07 I just have my valve changed, you see. 27:11 Unfortunately, it didn't happen the way he planned. 27:15 The physician actually synched the opening 27:19 because it was little too wide 27:22 in order to make sure that the valve would fit. 27:26 By doing that the heart actually went into conniptions 27:32 and to make a long story short we lost our brother. 27:38 When you get the wrong treatment, 27:39 when you get the wrong medicine it can be fatal. 27:42 Is that true? Yes or no? 27:49 In the Scriptures God reveals 27:55 that there is one gospel that says but He also tells us 27:59 that they'll be many gospels will be then preached 28:03 and passed on as the gospel. 28:08 The problem with that is that it could be like a plausible. 28:13 You know what a plausible is? 28:15 Now when I was a medic in the military, 28:19 there were soldiers who always faint 28:21 like they were sick. 28:22 And they always faint like they were sick 28:24 because they didn't want to work. 28:26 And so they would come into us 28:28 and I could never bring myself to do 28:31 what the other solders were doing 28:32 that is the other medics 28:33 but they would very, very irritated 28:35 that these fellows were always playing like they were sick 28:38 so that they wouldn't have to work. 28:40 And they always wanted to have 28:41 a little slip saying "he is sick." 28:45 Well, they would come in 28:46 and the medics didn't want them to continue to come in, 28:49 so they began to increase the gauge of the needles. 28:53 Do you understand what I'm saying? 28:55 And so at first it was like a 16 gauge 28:59 and then it went up to 17 and 18 and then finally 19. 29:03 And you know by the time 29:04 your injecting a person with a 19 gauge. 29:06 You know, well, it is a reason enough 29:09 not to want to come back. 29:13 But you know what they would do, 29:14 they will actually inject them with saline, 29:17 normal saline, Okay? 29:19 And the normal saline the intention was to make sting, 29:24 so not only where they put an injection in 29:26 so that it hurts, 29:28 you know, the more, the greater the gauge, 29:30 but also with the intent that it would sting so that 29:34 they would rather be sick than come back. 29:37 Do you understand? 29:39 The interesting thing is that these soldiers thought that 29:43 they were actually getting what? 29:45 Medicine. 29:46 And after they got the injection they say, 29:48 oh, man, I feel much better. 29:53 Fortunately it was just normal saline. 29:56 But I have known situations 29:58 where people have been given the wrong medicine 30:00 and that had been fatal. 30:05 And if it's a sad thing 30:09 that somebody could die physically 30:12 what about spiritually? 30:16 When you consider that heaven 30:18 has given its best in Jesus Christ. 30:23 Heaven poured out all that it could to help us understand 30:27 how badly God wants to save us. 30:29 You can well understand 30:31 why He is anxious, what do you say? 30:34 Would you say amen to that? 30:37 You can see then that God wants us to recognize 30:44 the importance of accepting in our minds the true gospel. 30:51 But listen, there is a battle then 30:54 for that mind and in that battle 30:59 there is a desire for worship 31:05 and that's why in Revelation Chapter 14 31:08 it says "Worship Him." 31:10 Worship who? 31:11 "Him that made" what? "Heaven and earth." 31:15 And last night we studied as to who was 31:18 the one who made heaven and earth, who was that? 31:21 Jesus Christ. 31:22 And so the whole contention then is 31:25 who you will what? 31:27 Serve. 31:28 Who you will worship? Okay. 31:30 On the one side it says those who do not-- 31:34 those who worship the beast shall receive a mark 31:37 in their foreheads or in their hand. 31:39 On the other side it says those who worship God will be sealed. 31:43 If you had your choice tonight which one would you prefer? 31:48 The seal or the mark? The seal. 31:52 And that's my choice also. 31:53 But listen, obviously the enemy 31:58 desires to have our worship, 32:02 the enemy is doing his part to bring about 32:10 such as a scene on planet earth that everyone worships him. 32:18 He attempted that with Christ. 32:21 If you remember when he tempted Christ it says that 32:24 "The devil took Jesus into a high mountain 32:26 and he showed him all the worlds 32:29 and all the kingdoms, and the glory of them." 32:32 Do you remember that? 32:34 And then the Scripture says 32:36 that after he showed him all the worlds 32:39 and all the glory he says 32:42 "All these things will I" what? 32:45 "Well, I give thee, if you will" what? 32:48 "If you will fall down and" what? 32:50 "Worship me." 32:51 Obviously then what we're dealing with here in Revelation, 32:55 in the Book of Revelation 32:57 is a choice that you and I must make 33:01 in favor of one or in favor of the other. 33:04 And the choice is always made where? 33:07 In the mind. 33:11 Now the question is this. 33:15 Since the devil once asked to worship him 33:18 he does not appear to us like he did to Christ. 33:22 To Christ he appeared as an angel 33:25 and passed on himself as if though 33:28 he came to help the Lord 33:29 with the hope that the Lord will fall into the trap, 33:31 but when the Lord did not he finally said, look, 33:34 all right, you can have the world, 33:36 you came to win the world, you can have it. 33:38 You don't have to go through all the struggle and all 33:40 that you're going to have to suffer. 33:42 All you have to do is just bow down you can have everything. 33:45 I'll make it easy on you. 33:53 And Christ said, "Get you behind me, Satan. 34:00 Now consider something about this battle 34:07 that is waging in the mind. 34:10 The question is this. 34:12 How is it that this devil works on us 34:16 and what does he do? 34:19 Well, one of the things that he does is he seeks to deceive. 34:23 He seeks to what? To deceive. 34:25 I want you to notice what Jesus said, 34:27 in the Matthew 15:3 and 9. 34:31 Notice it says "But he answered and said unto them, 34:33 why do ye also transgress the commandments of God by" what? 34:38 "By your traditions?" 34:39 And finally He said, "In vain do you" what? 34:42 "Do you worship me, teaching for" what? 34:45 "For doctrines the commandments of" what? 34:47 "Of men." 34:48 So let me ask you a question. 34:50 Is it possible that people today 34:53 are thinking that they worshiping the Lord, 34:56 but in reality they're not? 34:59 Is that possible, yes or no? 35:01 Is it possible that sincere Christians 35:04 maybe thinking by their doctrines 35:07 that they're yielding allegiance to the Lord 35:08 when in reality they maybe 35:11 yielding allegiance to a different power. 35:15 Is that possible, yes or no? Yes. 35:18 There is no question about it 35:19 and that's why Jesus said to the Jews 35:21 "In vain do you what? 35:23 Do you worship me, teaching for" what? 35:25 "Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." 35:27 So obviously then the people in this day 35:31 were put in together doctrines that appeared as if though 35:35 they were rendering worship to Christ, 35:37 when in reality they were not. 35:41 And so He said, in vain, in vain do you worship. 35:46 So the real issue then is what? 35:49 "Who will you give your allegiance to?" 35:53 That's the real issue. 35:55 "Who will you give your allegiance to?" 35:58 Well, how is it then that he seeks to gain 36:02 the control of that mind? 36:04 I'm going to share some things tonight with you that may 36:07 be a little unsettling to you, 36:09 but I hope that you'll understand 36:12 that the main purpose is to get a hold of this whole controversy 36:18 over the mind and our place in giving God 36:23 the privilege to be the winner in the battle, what do you say? 36:29 When I was a gang member in New York City 36:33 we-- our gang was called The Latin Lovers. 36:38 Now doesn't sound like a very feisty name does it? 36:41 The Latin Lovers. 36:42 But that was the name of the gang. 36:46 And one particular Sunday afternoon 36:50 we were in our clubhouse 36:52 which is down in a basement of our house 36:54 and we decided it was time 36:57 to try to buy something to drink. 37:00 And so we pitched in draw moneys together and sent Boldy off. 37:06 All of us had nick names and his name was Boldy. 37:11 So Boldy goes off and we didn't know 37:13 exactly how much time it will take him to go 37:16 and do the escape and evasion you understand 37:18 because he had to go into the Italian neighborhood. 37:21 We were the Puerto Rican gang and just a few blocks away 37:24 was the Italian neighborhood. 37:26 So Boldy knew that the escape route 37:29 and he knew how to get the liquor store 37:31 and buy what he needed to get and come back down. 37:33 So we timed him and the time came and went. 37:38 Now we begin to suspect one or two things, all right. 37:41 Boldy bought the stuff and drank it all himself 37:45 and they'll come and tell us some fib about 37:47 how the Italians beat him up or something 37:49 and took the wine away from him. 37:51 Do you understand what I'm saying? 37:52 So your mind begins to wonder what's going on. 37:55 So finally, we sent a rescue mission after him. 38:01 And I waited 'cause I was the what it's called the warlord, 38:05 I was the one who had to go 38:06 and settle the fights and all that. 38:09 So the president was with me and we're waiting and waiting 38:13 and finally we hear the sound of shuffling as if though 38:17 people are carrying a heavy sack of potatoes. 38:20 Do you understand? 38:21 And then coming down the staircase 38:24 we see that somebody is carrying 38:28 a lifeless form, it's Boldy. 38:31 So they bring him in and his shirt was all torn up, 38:35 his hair is all wild, his face was dirty. 38:39 He looked like somebody took him 38:40 and just swept the streets with him. 38:45 So what happened? 38:47 Well, they said the tots got to them. 38:49 Well, that was Livoti Tots, the Italian gang. 38:52 So they sat him on the chair 38:53 and then we got some water and threw it on the face, 38:55 you know, Boldy wake up, wake up. 38:58 And finally Boldy, start shaking his face 39:01 and he start trembling, 39:03 his eyes become wide as a saucer, 39:05 he begins to convulse and he falls on the ground, 39:08 pardon me on the floor, and he is convulsing 39:11 and his body looks like somebody is taking him up 39:13 and throwing against the ground. 39:14 And this terrified us. 39:20 We don't know what in the world it was. 39:22 You know what we did? 39:25 Up the stairs we went, we made a mad dash outside, 39:29 we could fight Italians but we didn't what in the world 39:32 it was that was that we were dealing with. 39:34 And so we went outside for a few minutes 39:38 and nothing happened, 39:40 no explosion took place or anything. 39:42 So we decided to sit back down and as we tiptoed down 39:46 there's Boldy lying on the floor again looked like he was dead. 39:51 So we picked him again, put him up on the chair 39:53 and again got some water, Boldy, Boldy, wake up. 39:57 And again he begins to go through that 39:59 and begins to convulse, 40:00 and as he is convulsing we say okay, 40:03 here we go again and up the stairs 40:05 we went and that we're flying up the steps 40:07 all of a sudden we hear a voice. 40:09 Stop. 40:12 But that's not the voice of Boldy. 40:15 The voice of a woman. 40:17 So we're all of a sudden we're frozen on the steps. 40:21 And so we look over to see who is calling us to stop 40:24 and Boldy is sitting on the chair 40:26 his eyes wide open, his mouth moving 40:29 and a different voice speaking to us. 40:32 He was eerie, he was very eerie. 40:38 And what's amazing is this. 40:40 The voice as it spoke to us 40:47 Boldy's finger begin to point at us 40:51 one by one as we are on the ascending steps 40:57 begin with the first one 40:58 and here was the question, do you believe in God? 41:02 Then the next one, 41:04 and of course the first one, yes. 41:06 The next one, do you believe in God? 41:07 Yes. 41:08 The next one, do you believe in God? 41:09 Yes. 41:10 All of the sudden we all believe in God, 41:12 do you understand? 41:13 And finally it came to me, do you believe in God? 41:16 Yes. 41:17 And then Jimmy he was next to me, 41:18 the gang president and it's interesting 41:21 we were the head of the gang, 41:22 that's what we're supposed to be right? 41:24 Leaders? 41:26 Leaders in flight as well as in fight. 41:30 And so points to Jimmy and says do you believe in God? 41:35 Jimmy says, yes. 41:36 And the voice-- by the way before this 41:40 as the voice is speaking to us 41:42 one of the girls that's with us is a gypsy girl, 41:45 who happens to be Boldy's girlfriend. 41:49 And she says, it's his mother. 41:54 She knew Boldy's mother's voice. It's his mother. 42:03 So when the voice asked Jimmy, do you believe in God? 42:07 And Jimmy said, yes. 42:09 The voice said, "You don't even believe in your own mother." 42:18 And that's all that we can handle. 42:21 We flew out of that place 42:25 and determined not to return for a long while. 42:29 Finally after about an hour or so we decide 42:32 well, it's time enough 42:34 we better go and see what's going on with Boldy. 42:39 So this time we got our bats and everything 42:42 and we start heading down the steps. 42:45 And there is Boldy with his shirt off, looking around 42:50 and saw us and said, what happened? 42:53 What happened, guys? How do I get here? 42:58 It turned out that Boldy was what? 43:03 Possessed. 43:05 How many of you heard of demonic possession, 43:07 any of you? 43:10 Boldy was possessed. 43:15 Now I didn't understand possession 43:19 until I became a Christian 43:20 and began to read the stories of the Bible. 43:23 Where Jesus met people who were possessed. 43:28 And so the question then is, is the enemy 43:32 the devil seeking to take possessions of our minds, 43:36 what's the answer? 43:37 Yes. 43:39 Now that's a scary thought, what do you say? 43:42 Because not one of us 43:43 wants to have the devil take possession of our thoughts, 43:46 do you agree with that? 43:49 Now however, you may not be a person 43:54 who is completely possessed. 43:57 There are different levels in possessions. 44:01 And the one possession that the devil enjoys most 44:04 is the one where people do not believe that there is a devil. 44:10 He inserts thoughts into the mind 44:15 and the scriptures says 44:16 "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." 44:22 Have you ever wondered 44:23 why there that sometimes thoughts come to your mind 44:26 that you were not seeking to think? 44:29 Have you ever experience that? 44:33 Some evil thoughts, some lustful thoughts? 44:36 All of the sudden there it is 44:41 and you wonder where did that come from. 44:44 My friends, there is a battle for our minds. 44:48 The enemy seeks to control our minds, 44:51 either by deception or by temptation. 44:54 Either by what? Deception or by Temptation. 44:59 We are either deceived to except things that are not true 45:04 as far as salvation is concerned or we're tempted, 45:09 so that by yielding to temptation 45:12 our minds become a habitat for the enemy. 45:17 Now it is easy then for somebody who does not recognize 45:23 that there is a battle for the mind, for them to yield, 45:26 because if you don't think that there is a battle 45:28 you think that everything that's up here is your own. 45:31 Do you understand? 45:32 And therefore it's very easy for the individual to actually 45:36 be guided without realizing that he is being guided. 45:40 And the interesting thing is this, 45:42 that the enemy can make his thoughts 45:45 so like your own thought patterns that 45:47 when he implants them you think they are yours. 45:50 Now I have discovered that too often times 45:58 people yield to temptation 46:04 and they think that God is the one tempting them. 46:06 But look what it says 46:07 "Let no man say when he is tempted, 46:09 I am tempted of" whom? 46:11 "Of God, for God cannot be tempted with" what? 46:15 "With evil, neither tempteth he any man, 46:17 but every man is tempted, 46:18 when he is drawn away of his own lust, and" what? 46:23 "And enticed. 46:24 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, 46:28 when it is finished, bringeth forth" what? 46:31 "Death." 46:32 So the apostle James says then that temptation 46:36 is something that we are subjected to 46:39 but we're subjected to that temptation 46:40 because we have what is called the flesh, the what? 46:44 The flesh. The all carnal nature. 46:47 And the Bible says to that 46:48 carnal nature's enmity against God. 46:52 Therefore there are feelings, 46:54 there are thoughts, there are emotions 46:57 that are not necessarily in harmony with God's ways 47:02 and when we actually are tempted it is very easy for us to yield. 47:07 And no wonder some people feel like 47:09 they're constantly entraped like there is no way of escape. 47:14 The Bible then encourages us and says "Be not deceived, 47:18 God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, 47:21 that shall he also" what? 47:22 "Reap. 47:23 For he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap" what? 47:28 "Corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit 47:31 of the Spirit shall reap" what? 47:33 "Life everlasting." 47:35 Obviously then there is a war of the flesh. 47:38 Now I have to tell you this that before I was a Christian 47:41 I had no concept of this particular battle. 47:45 I thought I was in control of my own life, 47:47 I did whatever I wanted to 47:49 and I handled my life as I wanted to. 47:52 But I discovered when I began to study the Scriptures 47:55 that it was not true, 47:56 I was not in charge of my life, 47:59 there was somebody else in charge of my life 48:01 and I didn't like it. 48:05 But I did not know what to do. 48:09 When you awaken to the reality 48:12 that your life is being guided by your own lust, desires 48:18 and your own deception 48:20 because you create all sorts of deceptions in your mind 48:23 and therefore you're having challenges and problems, 48:26 you feel yourself enslave and bondage etcetera 48:29 and you wonder how in the world 48:30 can you escape from these things. 48:32 When you finally come to that place 48:33 you're in the good place 48:35 because then you're open for God 48:36 to do something in your life. 48:39 And what God is open to do then is to change your mind. 48:43 To what? Change your mind. 48:50 There is no question that we're tempted, 48:52 but God does say that "There hath no temptation 48:55 that taken you but such as is" what? 48:57 "Common to man." 48:59 But notice it says "But God is" what? 49:02 "Faithful, who will not" what? 49:04 "Suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, 49:07 but with the temptation will also make a" what? 49:11 "A way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 49:13 Obviously then when you come to understand that, 49:17 you realize that in order for you to overcome temptation 49:20 you need the help of somebody outside of yourself. 49:32 And we don't know that it's a very frustrating experience. 49:38 I remember how many times, 49:44 when I was in show business, 49:46 how many times I wish that I was different. 49:53 When in my motel room I would look at myself, 49:57 it was not a pretty picture. 50:02 And deep inside I wish that there was some escape, 50:06 some way out, but I had no idea 50:10 that there was any way out. 50:11 So what you do is you decide well, this is life 50:14 you make the best you can of it. 50:17 The only problem with that, friends, 50:18 is that in our own human strength 50:20 we cannot make the best of it. 50:24 In our own human strength we still make the worst of it. 50:29 You need divine power to change the motives, 50:31 to change the tendencies, 50:34 you need outside power to bring about 50:37 what the Bible calls conversion. 50:40 The Bible calls what? Conversion. 50:43 What is conversion? 50:45 If a person is going to live with God forever 50:48 they must be a change of heart, 50:49 must be a change of what? 50:51 Of heart. 50:52 Must be a change of mind. 50:56 But how does a person change? 51:00 Can he change of himself? 51:03 In the Bible it says that the Ethiopian 51:09 cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spot, 51:16 then it says how can you 51:17 who are accustomed to do evil, do good. 51:23 Because by nature we're sinful, 51:27 our tendencies are evil. 51:32 And the enemy has a heyday with us. 51:38 When we get to the place 51:39 where we see our corruptible natures, 51:42 when we see our evil tendencies, 51:45 when we recognize that we need a change in direction, 51:50 then it is then that one can plea and ask God 51:55 to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. 51:59 And God then will cure you and will make the change. 52:04 Now in a few days I'm going to share my testimony 52:07 as to what took place 52:08 and why I'd left Bill Haden the comments. 52:10 But just in brief let me share with you 52:13 that when I came to the place 52:16 where I recognize that I did everything 52:20 in my own wisdom in my own strength 52:22 I accomplish what I thought, 52:23 I could accomplish and it was all in vain. 52:27 Then it was when I decided that 52:29 I needed help from outside then I remember 52:31 kneeling down and praying and saying oh, God, 52:34 remove from me these things. 52:39 I knew I could not do that. 52:43 And what's amazing is that God heard my prayer. 52:47 Whereas before I was helping the enemy 52:51 by destroying my health by my drinking, 52:54 my smoking and my drugs. 52:56 You understand what I'm saying? 52:57 Because if the devil contempt us to weaken our minds 53:02 he has an easier time to control our minds. 53:05 What did I say? 53:07 If the devil contempt us to weaken our minds 53:09 he has an easier time of what? 53:12 Controlling our minds. 53:14 And so when I realized that I was a slave 53:18 to the drinking and the smoking 53:20 and the marijuana etcetera and I knew 53:23 that I could not get away from it by own strength. 53:27 I knelt down and I said, God, take it away from me. 53:30 You know what's amazing, 53:31 when I stood up from my knees, 53:32 thank God from that moment on 53:35 I have never had a desire for those things ever again. 53:41 And let me tell you I was speaking in Australia 53:48 and in the midst in the audience 53:49 there was a young man. 53:51 This young man I discovered later on 53:54 had grown up as a Christian, his father was a minister, 53:57 but he had turned away from God and gone into drugs etcetera. 54:02 And that particular night he was in the audience 54:05 and I was presenting the reality that if you're going to change 54:09 you need Christ in your life. 54:12 The Bible says if any man be in Christ he is a new creation, 54:18 all things have passed away, behold all things become new. 54:22 In other words if you have a bad temper 54:24 can you overcome, what's the answer? 54:26 Yes, but who can give you the victory? 54:28 Christ. 54:29 If you have lustful tendencies 54:31 can you overcome, what's the answer? 54:33 Yes, but who can give you the victory? 54:35 Christ can give you the victory. 54:37 If you are a person as envy or if you are a person 54:41 that has jealousy or has hate whatever it is 54:44 God's grace is sufficient to help you to be an over comer 54:48 so you can change, what do you say? 54:50 Well, as I finished I made an appeal. 54:54 That young man came forward 54:57 and afterward he said I need to talk with you, 54:59 so we went into a side room and he said, 55:02 he began to shake I mean he was trembling, 55:04 he says I'm going through a withdraw right now. 55:07 He says I'm in terrible pain and he said, 55:10 but I don't want to continue to use the heroin. 55:13 Can God help me? 55:14 I said, my brother, 55:17 the Lord can help you if you want the help. 55:20 He said, well, what do I do? 55:23 I said, kneel down 55:25 and from the depth of your heart 55:27 say to God oh, God, forgive me for what I've done to myself. 55:32 Have mercy deliver me. 55:34 And, my friends, if you say that 55:36 God will never turn away from you, would do you say? 55:40 We knelt down together that young man and I 55:43 and when we stood up 55:47 we went out into the church again 55:50 and his sister was waiting 55:52 and as I began to talk with his sister 55:58 all of a sudden that young man said, 56:02 it's gone, it's gone, it's gone. 56:08 Just like that. 56:10 God performed a what? A miracle and delivered to him. 56:18 If we're going to be sealed by God 56:22 we must have Christ in our lives, 56:25 what do you say? 56:26 And through Christ we must gain the victory. 56:29 Now this evening I would like to take the opportunity 56:35 not in this section but the next section, 56:38 I'd like to take the opportunity to give those of you 56:42 that opportunity to ask the Lord into your lives. 56:47 Perhaps there is some here 56:49 who have never made the decision 56:51 and who like to gain victory in your life and you realize 56:55 that only in Christ you can. 56:58 How many of you would like to make that 57:01 surrender to Christ tonight, any of you? 57:04 Would you raise your hand? Amen. 57:06 How many of you would like to commit 57:08 your life to Christ tonight can I see your hands? 57:10 Amen. Let's pray. 57:11 Father, thank you for the victory 57:14 that we find in Christ Jesus. |
Revised 2014-12-17