Participants: Pr. Louis Torres
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000723
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01:00 Welcome to Digging Up the Future,
01:01 Bible Prophecy Exposed. 01:03 Welcome back. 01:04 We're glad that you're here this evening. 01:05 How many of you're thankful that you're alive. 01:08 How about the person next to you, 01:09 thankful they're alive. 01:10 Well tell them and say "I'm thankful you're alive." 01:14 Only if you mean that but I know that you do. 01:17 You know, this evening we're gonna be looking 01:19 at an interesting topic "Message From Outer Space." 01:24 Boy, I'm excited to understand what this is all about 01:27 Message from Outer Space. 01:31 And before we get in tonight's topic 01:33 our tonight's program 01:35 I think that we should just bow our heads 01:36 and ask the Lord's presence with us. 01:38 Father in heaven, we're thankful 01:40 that You've sent messages to us. 01:42 We find them in Your word. 01:43 You sent the Holy Spirit, message from beyond 01:46 and came and inspired people and holy men of God spake 01:50 as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 01:52 And You've also promised to send that spirit 01:54 this evening to help us understand 01:56 to help our speaker and to help each of us know 01:59 what You'd want us to hear. 02:01 So we ask that You're presence would be with us. 02:03 And we thank You and we come in Christ name, amen. 02:08 All right, let's stand together 02:09 and sing our theme song "Jesus is Coming Again." 02:19 Marvelous message we bring 02:23 Glorious carol we sing 02:26 Wonderful word of the King 02:30 Jesus is coming again 02:34 Coming again, coming again 02:41 Maybe morning, maybe noon 02:44 Maybe evening, but surely soon 02:48 Coming again, coming again 02:55 Oh, what a wonderful day that will be 03:01 Jesus is coming again 03:09 It sounds wonderful. You can be seated. 03:12 You know, this evening, 03:16 the instrumentalists are going to bring us 03:19 yet another piece. 03:20 Chris is going to play for us 03:22 something about John the Baptist. 03:24 And you remember John the Baptist. 03:26 He was that voice crying out in the wilderness. 03:30 And imagine that as you're listening to the piece 03:34 with Chris and Anthea as they play. 07:36 Amen. 07:43 Well, good evening to all of you. 07:47 A young lady who happened to have her father passed away 07:51 was kind of discouraged because all that there's, 07:55 there was in the will was the Bible 07:57 and all that in it contained. 08:03 Well, she was not very happy with that 08:06 and after the funeral she took the Bible 08:10 and which was wrapped in plastic 08:12 and she decided to put it away in the attic 08:15 and that's what she did. 08:18 She lived several years until finally she became sick 08:22 and could not work, lost her job. 08:26 And with pretty mad off financially 08:30 and one day since she was home 08:33 and couldn't do much of anything 08:35 she decided to kind of clean up 08:38 in the balcony a podium in the attic. 08:40 And so she went up into the attic 08:41 and began to look through things 08:44 and forgotten that there is a lot of stuff there 08:46 and she hadn't seen for a while. 08:49 Is it ever happened to you? 08:51 I think we have more stuff 08:52 than we know what to do with, isn't that true? 08:55 And so she began to go through it 08:58 and she found the Bible. 09:02 Well, she thought, you know, 09:04 I might as well take it downstairs. 09:06 So she brought it downstairs and one day she decided 09:09 just to open it up and to read it 09:11 and to her amazement she discovered 09:13 between every page there was money 09:16 that the father had left. 09:17 The father had actually left all his money 09:20 in bills in between all the pages of the Bible. 09:29 She suffered loss for a while simply because she had no idea 09:35 that her dad had left a treasure in the Bible. 09:38 But friends, there's a lot more treasure in the Bible 09:40 than just dollar bills, what do you say? 09:42 Amen. 09:43 There's so much in the scriptures 09:45 that God had given to us. 09:46 Well, we pray together as we open the holy word. 09:49 Our Father, thank You for thy word 09:51 as we study the subject this evening. 09:54 Bless us with understanding we pray in Jesus name, amen. 10:00 By the year ago I'd mentioned sometime before 10:03 that I was flying in an airplane 10:05 and came across a lady who was sitting next to me 10:07 who happened to be a scientist 10:09 in charge over there in California. 10:12 Fullerton, California concerning the apparatus 10:16 of the pointing up to space trying to discover 10:19 if there is any life out there? 10:22 And they're trying to see if there is any sound, 10:24 any voices coming from space. 10:27 As we were talking together I began to help her understand 10:32 from the scriptures that science was already 10:35 kind of behind times because the Bible already reveals 10:38 that there are voices coming form outer space. 10:42 In fact, there are beings in other space. 10:44 In fact, as the Bible declares 10:46 that we're made a spectacle the actual word is theatre 10:50 on to the worlds into the universe. 10:53 And this planet happens to be a planet in rebellion. 10:58 And because of that of course 11:00 God has to do something to help mankind. 11:05 The Bible has been given to us with the purpose of helping us 11:09 to understand the will of God 11:11 but before the Bible was written 11:13 God had to communicate with man verbally. 11:18 Now, the Scripture reveals that when mankind 11:23 was first created there was a face to face communion, 11:26 do you remember that. 11:28 God spoke with man. 11:29 If you look at the Book of Genesis 11:30 you'll see that right there right in the beginning 11:34 in the first chapter and the second chapter of Genesis, 11:37 it speaks about God telling man what to do. 11:42 In verse 28 of Genesis 1, God blessed them 11:45 and God set unto them. 11:48 "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." 11:50 So right then the first chapter of the Bible, 11:53 God is speaking to mankind. 11:55 In the second chapter again God speaks to man 11:58 is recorded there. 11:59 Verse 16, it says God-- 12:01 "The Lord God commanded the man, saying, 12:04 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest you may freely eat 12:06 but of the tree of the knowledge 12:08 of good and evil 12:09 thou shall not eat of it, for in the day 12:11 that thou eateth thereof, thou shalt surely die.'" 12:14 And so you can see then that 12:15 right in the first two chapters of the Bible 12:18 God is communicating face to face with man. 12:20 If you go to the last chapter of the Bible again 12:24 Revelation Chapter 21 and 22, 12:26 those two chapters reveal the restoration of all 12:29 that God will restore to man since man lost everything 12:33 as a result of rebellion. 12:34 But I want you to notice in particular 12:37 chapter 22 verse 3 and 4. 12:40 It says "And there shall be no more curse 12:42 but the throne of God and of the Lamb 12:44 shall be in it and his servants shall serve him." 12:47 And verse 4 "And they shall see his face 12:51 and his name shall be in their foreheads." 12:53 They shall see his what? His face. 12:55 So we're told then that we will actually be restored 12:59 back to where we can talk to our God face to face. 13:02 Wouldn't that be wonderful? Wouldn't it be? 13:05 Those of you out there in the television world 13:08 it would be a wonderful thing to actually be able 13:11 to hear the voice of God. 13:13 I wonder what it would sound like to hear Jesus sing. 13:17 In a world delighted to hear beautiful voices 13:20 that people singing that what must it be 13:23 to actually hear with perfect hearing. 13:27 With what? 13:28 Perfect hearing the voice of the Lord. 13:30 Right now our hearing is imperfect, isn't that true. 13:33 Some of us can't carry a tune in a what? 13:35 In a bucket. You heard that saying. 13:37 Some of us are kind of it's almost some of us 13:40 toned death but the wonderful reality is 13:42 that when the Lord comes to restore all 13:45 it will be able to actually to see Him face to face 13:48 as the scripture says. 13:50 When sin came into the world there was a problem. 13:53 God could no longer have the opportunity 13:56 to talk to man face to face unless God did something. 14:00 And so what God did was He put in place a go between. 14:06 A what? 14:08 A go between heaven and earth. 14:11 If man needed God's counsel in creation 14:14 if man needed God's counsel before the fall of man 14:17 then how much more this man need 14:19 God's guidance after the fall? 14:21 What do you say? 14:23 Yes or no? Yes, yes. 14:24 If you and I need counsel when we're perfect 14:27 then certainly when we're imperfect 14:29 we certainly need more guidance and more counsel. 14:32 And so God anxious to make sure 14:35 that His children could have the right course 14:38 and take the right direction. 14:40 God then still try to communicate with man 14:44 but as we find in the scriptures 14:47 God communicated with man verbally and He spoke to man. 14:53 The God of heaven sent messages 14:56 down to the people on planet earth. 15:01 Voices from heaven. 15:06 Angels would come to bring messages. 15:09 Man always found himself in a fix. 15:12 Mankind has a tendency to go wayward. 15:16 You and I know that even if you take a child 15:20 and you leave that child be before long 15:24 they find out very quickly how to copy 15:26 what's bad about us not necessarily 15:28 what's good about us. 15:29 Isn't that true? 15:31 Isn't that true, yes or no? Yes. 15:33 I mean, you think how much time it takes you 15:35 to get a child to go to right direction. 15:37 But how easy is it for them to go to wrong direction. 15:40 Very easy isn't that true? 15:42 And so God knowing the tendency of man 15:44 once man felt-- he-- man desperately needed 15:49 the counsel of God and so God begins to reveal to man 15:53 how to take the right path. 15:55 That's why in the Bible it speaks about the Bible 15:58 of being a light unto our path. 16:03 A lamp unto our feet. Feet. 16:05 All right in other words 16:07 God helps us to understand the need to scriptures. 16:10 Now, listen, according, to the scriptures 16:13 in the Book of Ephesians 16:15 God gave many gifts to His people. 16:18 It was imperative that God would guide His people 16:21 and therefore in order to guide His people 16:23 God decided to do so with His spiritual gifts. 16:28 If you notice then this takes place 16:30 right after Jesus dies. 16:34 And talking about in the New Testament 16:36 now the question is 16:37 where there spiritual gifts in the Old Testament. 16:39 The answer is yes. 16:40 But I first want to go here 16:42 and then back track a little bit 16:44 because we're digging up the future. 16:45 But in order to dig up the future 16:47 we must first have a background of the past. 16:49 What do you say? 16:50 Amen. All right. 16:51 So in the Book of Ephesians 4, 16:53 when Jesus died and resurrected 16:55 and finally ascended to the kingdom 16:58 the Scriptures says then 16:59 that he let captivity capture in other words he took 17:05 a multitude of captives with Him and gave gifts unto man. 17:08 Gave what? Gifts unto man. 17:11 And then it says that the gift that He gave out to man 17:16 He gave in verse 11, now 17:21 "apostles, prophets, 17:23 evangelists, pastors and teachers." 17:26 What did He do? 17:28 He gave all these gifts full on purpose. 17:30 Notice it says He gave this purpose of the, 17:32 He gave these gifts for the purpose of 17:34 perfecting the saints for the work of ministry, 17:38 for the edifying of the body of Christ. 17:40 So when Jesus left and went to heaven 17:45 it was essential that the disciples 17:47 still would receive guidance and counsel 17:50 and so God then instituted these new gifts to disciples 17:54 so that mankind could be guided. 17:57 Now the question is, 17:58 what did God do in the Old Testament? 18:00 Well, we know that in the Old Testament 18:01 God spoke face to face with man 18:03 but finally because of sin 18:06 the God spoke via another means. 18:10 And the question is what means is it 18:12 that the Lord used in the Old Testament. 18:15 Well, just like in the New Testament 18:18 the Lord used gifts, spiritual gifts, 18:21 so he used them in the Old Testament. 18:23 For example, in the Book of Corinthians 18:25 we're told that the Spirit is manifested 18:29 and is given to all for the purpose 18:33 of helping the church. 18:36 And it says here "But the manifestation 18:38 of the Spirit is given to each one 18:40 for the profit of all, 18:42 for to one is given the word of" what? 18:44 "Wisdom, through the same Spirit 18:47 to another the word of knowledge 18:49 through the same Spirit to another faith 18:51 by the same Spirit to another gifts of healing 18:54 by the same Spirit." 18:55 And so we see "Then the working of miracles 18:58 by the same Spirit to another prophecy 19:00 to another discerning of spirits, 19:02 to another different kinds of" what? 19:04 "Of tongues." 19:06 Of course the word different kinds of tongues 19:08 simply means different languages. 19:11 What does it mean? Different languages. 19:14 Now it's important for us to understand 19:15 because there is some confusion here today among Christians 19:18 concerning some spiritual gifts. 19:20 One of the greatest confusion is in the area of tongues. 19:23 In the area of what? Tongues. 19:25 A lot of people think that tongues is something 19:27 that you can either teach somebody 19:29 and I know some churches people go 19:31 and they'll say okay roll your tongue several times 19:33 and you'll get the gift, okay. 19:36 Other people think that something 19:37 that just spontaneous it comes upon you 19:39 and you'll say something you don't understand. 19:41 And that's the spiritual gift of tongues. 19:44 Well, the Scriptures when it's referring 19:46 to the gift of tongues 19:48 it's speaking actually of languages. 19:49 And in the Book of Acts Chapter 2, 19:51 the Bible says that, that they actually understood. 19:54 They what? 19:56 They understood what they heard. 19:59 And so now I want you to notice then 20:03 that the different spiritual gifts 20:05 are given to different people 20:08 and the gift of language which was given specifically 20:12 for a specific purpose in this particular time 20:16 and that was communicate the Gospel. 20:18 But listen, there are some people who will say that 20:21 if you don't speak in tongues 20:22 you don't have the Spirit of God. 20:24 I've had some people tell me that. 20:25 You'll speak in tongues you don't have the spirit of God. 20:27 Have anyone ever heard that before? 20:30 All right many of you so I'm not alone. 20:33 Now the question is this. 20:35 What is the Book of Corinthians say? 20:38 If you look at that particular chapter 20:41 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 I want you to notice then 20:45 that the gifts are compared to different parts of the body. 20:50 To what? Different parts of the body. 20:54 If you notice then in chapter 12 and verse 28 21:00 Paul begins to ask some questions. 21:03 And the questions that he asked are these. 21:06 "God hath set some in the church, first apostles, 21:09 secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, 21:11 after that miracles, then gifts of healings, 21:13 helps, governments, diversities of tongues." 21:16 Then the question, are all apostles? 21:19 What's the answer? 21:20 Yes or no? 21:21 No. No. 21:22 Next question, are all prophets? 21:24 What's the answer? No. 21:26 Next question. 21:27 Are all teachers? No. 21:29 Next question, are all workers of miracles? 21:31 No. 21:33 Then he says have all the gifts of healing? 21:36 No. 21:37 Do all speak in tongues? No. 21:40 Do all interpret? No. 21:42 Obviously then the idea that people all have 21:46 to speak in tongues in order to have the Holy Spirit 21:48 is not correct biblically speaking, what do you say? 21:51 Yes or no? Yes. 21:52 All right, so this idea of having to speak in tongues 21:57 is just something that come about 21:59 but the Scripture very clearly reveals 22:02 that in the Day of Pentecost 22:04 when they receive the gift of tongues 22:05 they actually heard in their own languages 22:07 the wonderful gifts of God. 22:09 And it even mentions the languages there. 22:11 People from different parts of the world are present. 22:15 Jews, who came there to Jerusalem 22:18 for a special day of Pentecost, 22:21 when they were there the Spirit of God 22:23 came upon the disciples and they spoke with other, what? 22:27 Tongues, all right. 22:29 So you can understand then why Paul asked the question 22:33 does everyone get the same gift, 22:34 and the answer is no. 22:36 But the gifts are always given for the benefit of others. 22:39 What are they for? For the benefit of others. 22:42 To witness and to testify about the wonderful words of God. 22:47 Is that clear? 22:48 Now you may say what does that have to do 22:51 with these voices from heaven? 22:53 Well, as you recall I was speaking about 22:55 that when man fell 22:56 he definitely needed the guidance of God. 22:57 Is that true? 22:59 But here is the problem. 23:02 God cannot necessarily come face to face 23:05 with somebody who is practicing sin. 23:09 Because the Bible says that sin cannot be 23:12 in the presence of God. 23:14 So in order for God to still guide planet earth 23:17 God had to select specific people 23:20 that He could trust with the messages 23:22 that He would give to them 23:24 so that those people would give the messages 23:26 as God gave them, okay. 23:29 Now, you must understand and in order for God to do that 23:33 God had to find somebody who is honest. 23:35 Yes or no? Yes. 23:36 All right and so if God is going to find somebody honest 23:40 the God has to look at the heart. 23:42 Look at what? At the heart. 23:45 Man cannot read the heart but God can. 23:47 What do you say? 23:48 And so the Scripture says 23:49 that God then began to choose people. 23:51 Now, according to the Paul's writings 23:53 Paul compares the different spiritual gifts 23:55 to different parts of the body, correct. 23:58 Now if the different parts of the body 24:01 are symbolic of the spiritual gifts 24:04 then I want you to note 24:07 that God gave something called the gift of prophecy. 24:10 The what? The gift of prophecy. 24:13 Now what is the gift of prophecy? 24:15 I want you to, to know that in the scriptures 24:19 the Bible says that 24:24 "Beforetime in Israel when a man when to enquire" who. 24:27 "Of God thus he spake, come, and let us go to the, 24:32 seer for he that is now called a" what? 24:36 "A prophet was beforetime called a" what? 24:38 "A seer." Well, that's interesting. 24:40 Now let me ask you a question. 24:42 If a church then receives the gifts 24:45 but they do not believe in the gift of prophecy 24:48 what part of the body do they have missing. 24:50 Prophets. Prophets. 24:54 But according to this what would prophets called. 24:58 Seers. 24:59 So what part of the body is get to a prophecy compared to? 25:02 The eyes. 25:03 So if church is not accept 25:04 the gift of prophecy what is it? 25:06 Lie. 25:07 And that's why people usually say "I don't see." 25:12 Well, when somebody doesn't see 25:13 what are they admitting. 25:14 They're blind. They're blind. 25:16 Exactly, now notice the wonderful way 25:21 that God deals with mankind. 25:23 God anxious to guide His children 25:25 to this battle torn and war-- 25:28 world that we live in and the devil the enemy 25:31 stoutly trying to mislead and deceive and misguide to 25:34 so that people can go to their destruction. 25:37 God earnestly has to provide a path 25:40 so that man could know how to follow unto safety. 25:43 What do you say? 25:44 And so when God could no longer because He has a problem. 25:48 When God first created man he was perfect 25:50 then man had perfect acuity. 25:53 In other words he had keenness of mind. 25:56 But I think you and I recognize 25:58 and our brains are getting more and more and more deteriorated 26:01 do you agree with that. 26:02 In fact some of us who are getting into 26:05 what we call senior citizenship 26:07 begin to understand that we forget things 26:11 a little quicker than we used to. 26:12 Is that true? 26:15 Our brain is a just not a sharp as it used to be. 26:17 Is that true? 26:18 And so God then in mercy rather than just continuing 26:24 to verbalize His messages through certain prophets 26:28 told the prophets "okay, for now on 26:30 I want you to write them down." 26:32 I want you to what? Write to them down. 26:34 Prior to this it was from mouth to mouth. 26:37 And if you can if you look at the times 26:39 between the Adam and Noah 26:42 those men lived almost to the time of Noah. 26:45 In other words we find that Adam 26:47 lived a long time yes or no. 26:49 Yes. 26:50 We find that Methuselah lived a long time. 26:52 Yes or no? Yes. 26:53 So it was easy for Methuselah to hear from Grandpa Adam 26:57 what the message was and can pass it on to Noah. 27:01 You see, very easy. 27:04 But then mans lifespan began to what? 27:08 Diminish. 27:09 And we don't live 969 years any longer, do we. 27:13 And so not only with this mankind begin to diminish 27:16 but his brain capacity begin to also diminish. 27:19 And so God then began to tell His prophet, His what? 27:23 Prophets. 27:24 His prophets to write them down. 27:25 And so you'll find then that the first writing 27:27 of the counsels of God are written by the prophet Moses, 27:32 by who? 27:33 The prophet Moses. 27:34 Now, that's why in the scriptures 27:38 then you'll find that God gives His Spirit, God gives what? 27:44 His spirit. 27:45 I want you to notice that through the Holy Spirit 27:48 its how God inspires prophets. 27:52 And what it simply means is that through the Holy Spirit 27:55 man receives the messages from heaven 27:58 and in turn he is supposed to communicate those messages 28:02 in verbally or in written form. 28:05 And so notice then in Romans 11:25 28:08 Moses would be led by God 28:10 and Moses had the burden of all the children of Israel 28:12 to communicate the counseling that God had given to them. 28:15 And Moses would sit with them and say 28:17 "this is what God said. 28:18 This is what God said." 28:19 But he got to the place where it was pretty challenging 28:22 to communicate the three million people. 28:25 And so God said "Okay, Moses and get yourself some people 28:28 that the Spirit of God can come into 28:31 so that they can help to communicate all of this." 28:33 And to guide the people and so the Bible says then 28:37 "That the Lord came down in a cloud, 28:38 and spake unto him, and took of the spirit 28:40 that was upon him, and gave it" to whom? 28:43 "Seventy elders and it came to pass, 28:45 that, when the spirit rested upon them, they" what? 28:47 "They prophesied, and did not cease." 28:49 Okay, so now Moses has some help. 28:52 The messages from heaven are coming 28:54 and Moses is not the only receptacle. 28:57 Now there are 70 others that are receptacles 29:01 and that can give the counsel 29:02 that God has given to His children. 29:04 What do you say? 29:05 Now, having said that then you have to understand 29:10 that God is not just give his messages to anybody. 29:14 Because God must make sure that they could be trusted. 29:17 They can be what? Trusted. 29:19 And so that's why in the scriptures 29:22 it speaks about that God reveals 29:27 "The dragon" or the devil" is angry with the women 29:30 and went to make war with the remnant her seed." 29:32 And I want you to notice what it says about that 29:34 "which" what, "keeps the" what. 29:37 "The commandments of God" and what else, 29:39 "the testimony of Jesus Christ." 29:41 And well you know what the commandments are right. 29:44 There are the Ten Commandments 29:45 but what's the testimony of Jesus. 29:47 Well, Revelation says in 19:10 29:51 John when the angel was speaking to him 29:53 he was so overwhelmed by what he saw 29:55 that he went to bow down at the angels feet. 29:57 And the angel said don't you do it. 29:59 "But he said to me see that you do that not" 30:02 do it not, "I am your fellow servant 30:04 and that of your brethren who have the" what? 30:07 There is the same word in the what, 30:09 "testimony of Jesus" and what is that testimony of Jesus? 30:12 "Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is" what? 30:15 "The spirit of" what "of prophecy." 30:18 What does that mean? 30:19 It means then that this here all the 66 books 30:26 that you see before you God inspired prophets to write. 30:31 And thus it is the gift of prophecy. 30:35 What does that mean? 30:36 That God sent messages from heaven 30:39 and placed them in the minds of certain chosen vessels 30:42 and they wrote them so that you and I 30:45 can have the benefit of getting the direct messages 30:48 all away from the heaven. 30:49 What do you say? 30:50 And listen we do not have to be millionaires 30:53 in order to have apparatuses pointing to the space 30:56 to try to get some message. 30:59 All you have to do is come to a seminar and win the Bible. 31:05 What do you say? 31:06 Amen. Amen. 31:07 In other words, aren't you glad that God has not made this 31:12 matter of communicating between heaven and earth 31:15 something that only depended upon a lot of money 31:18 and an apparatus so big 31:20 that you could not even keep on your house? 31:23 Aren't you glad that God made it so simple 31:27 that even a child can get a little Bible 31:30 and carry it with him or her what do you say? 31:32 Amen. 31:33 Isn't that good news? Amen. 31:34 And aren't you glad also that, that God made it 31:38 in such a simple way that anybody 31:41 who wants to read the scriptures 31:43 can understand it because God gives the Holy Spirit 31:48 not only to inspire the counsels 31:50 but to enable us to understand the counsels. 31:55 Now that's good news what do you say? 31:57 You don't have to be a rocket scientist then 31:59 to understand the scriptures do you. 32:01 Well do you? Absolutely not. 32:04 All you have to be is desirous 32:08 have a longing to know the counsels of God. 32:12 And God will reveal them. 32:14 Now I want you to notice what it says in Amos 3:7. 32:17 Notice it says "Surely the Lord the God does" how much 32:20 "nothing but he reveals the secrets 32:22 on to servants the" what "the prophets." 32:25 So God has revealed His secrets where? 32:30 Through the prophets. And where are the secrets? 32:33 In the Bible. 32:34 You want to know the secret of God's. 32:36 God's secret where do you find them. 32:39 In the scriptures. 32:42 Think of how many people like the first women 32:45 I talked to you about go through life 32:48 and pass through life committing 32:54 and making so many mistakes 32:57 when all the time the Bible was at their disposal 33:03 to find the counsels of God. 33:06 My friends, listen, I made the lot of mistakes 33:09 in my life had I known the scriptures 33:13 I would have avoided many other scars 33:16 that I carry with me because of my ignorance. 33:21 In fact the scriptures says this 33:22 "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." 33:28 What does it say? My people are what? 33:30 Destroyed. For what? 33:32 For lack of knowledge. 33:33 Now, I want you to notice how God works 33:36 through the scriptures. 33:38 God reveals the future. God what? 33:41 Reveals the future so that we can believe. 33:44 So that we can what? Believe. 33:46 But God reveals the future through what? 33:48 Through prophets. 33:50 I want you to notice something interesting. 33:52 Back in the time of Abraham 33:54 God gave a revelation of the future. 33:56 He did the same thing with Noah. 33:57 Is that true? 33:59 He told Noah that the end would come. 34:02 And did the end come? Absolutely so. 34:05 But I want you to notice then that God then told Abraham 34:09 that something would be going to take place. 34:12 According to the scriptures God said to Abraham 34:15 "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land 34:18 that is not theirs, and shall serve them 34:21 and they shall afflict them" how long, 34:23 "four hundred years." 34:24 Is this a prophetic period, yes or no? 34:26 Yes. All right. 34:27 God said "they will be afflicted four hundred years." 34:30 Then the time clock begins to tick. 34:32 Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, 34:34 its going, going, going. 34:36 Okay the first 100 years, the second hundred years, 34:38 the question is this. 34:39 Did Abraham's children end up 34:42 being bondmen and bondwomen for 400 years? 34:47 The answer of course is yes. 34:49 But please understand that the time prophecy is how long? 34:54 Four hundred years. 34:55 Now, the time prophecy is about to come to an end. 34:59 And when it is about to come to an end 35:01 what do you suppose to that the Lord does? 35:04 Well, it was the prophet that gave the prophecy 35:07 so now He has to raise up the prophet to bring attention 35:09 to the fulfillment of the prophecy. 35:11 All right how does He do that? 35:13 He finds a man. 35:15 And what's his name? Moses. 35:17 Notice it says. "By a" what? 35:20 "Prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, 35:23 and by a prophet was he preserved." 35:26 So God gave the prophecy to a prophet 35:29 and then God raises up a prophet to bring attention 35:31 to the fulfillment of that prophecy 35:36 and to give the right application of that prophecy. 35:42 All right, to give the what? 35:44 The right application to that prophecy. 35:47 Now what's amazing about this 35:49 is that God does this several times? 35:51 In fact, later on you'll find that the children of Israel 35:56 again going to bondage and again God has warned them 36:00 through prophets and through prophets, 36:01 through prophets, you are gonna go into bondage, 36:03 you're gonna into bondage and finally God tells Jeremiah 36:07 that the children of Israel be in bondage for 70 years. 36:11 Did it happen? Yeah. 36:12 Exactly as God said the children of Israel 36:14 were taken prisoners, captives over to Babylon. 36:17 While in Babylon the 70-years are about to expire. 36:21 So what do you suppose happens? 36:23 God rises up a prophet who was that prophet. 36:26 Daniel and Daniel is studying the Book of Jeremiah 36:30 and trying to figure out when this prophecies 36:32 are about to come to an end. 36:35 So God gives a prophecy to a prophet 36:38 and God brings the understanding 36:40 of the fulfillment through a prophet. 36:42 Can you see that? 36:44 Yes or no? Yes. 36:45 Now, notice then that heaven has always been interested 36:50 in the salvation of man and God has not abandoned us. 36:54 What do you say? 36:55 God has continually given us counsel 36:57 but notice then God raises up Moses 37:00 then finally Daniel is raised up. 37:04 And Daniel then God says to Daniel listen 37:08 as Daniel is praying about 37:10 when they're gonna return back to Jerusalem et cetera. 37:13 God says to Daniel, Daniel listen 37:15 "unto two thousand three hundred days, 37:18 then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." 37:20 Daniel is praying 37:22 Lord, when You're gonna restore the sanctuary? 37:24 Why was he praying that? 37:26 Because the sanctuary was a center 37:28 of the religious activity of the Jews. 37:30 It had been destroyed by the Babylonians you see. 37:33 And it was in the sanctuary that they found 37:36 the transfer of forgiveness of sin. 37:38 You remember that. 37:39 And through the sanctuary they found hope 37:42 that they can be forgiven 37:44 and their sins could be wiped away. 37:46 Now the sanctuary is removed so they are saying-- 37:48 the Daniel is saying 37:49 all right God, how are we gonna have our sin's cleansed? 37:52 How are we going to have our sins forgiven? 37:54 The sanctuary is God. 37:55 And so God makes a statement but there is no sanctuary 37:59 in Daniels day is there. 38:01 The sanctuary is destroyed. 38:02 So what's God talking about? 38:04 Two thousand and three hundred days 38:05 well, here's another prophecy. 38:07 Here's another what? 38:08 Prophecy. Prophecy. 38:10 And then Daniel does not understand 38:12 so God then says to Daniel in Chapter 9. 38:15 He says seventy weeks are cut off 38:18 from these twenty two hundred days. 38:19 In other words seventy weeks are determined upon thy people. 38:23 If you look at Daniel 9:24-27 38:27 you'll see then and what I'm talking about. 38:29 If you want to turn there you can Daniel Chapter 9. 38:32 God tells Daniel okay from the going forth 38:37 of the command to restore Jerusalem 38:39 unto the Messiah shall be so much time. 38:44 And so from the time that the clock starts ticking 38:50 which is the rebellion of Jerusalem 38:52 onto the Messiah will be 70 weeks. 38:56 But one of the weeks the last week 38:59 we're told that in that last week 39:02 the Messiah would come and He would be anointed 39:06 and in the midst of the week He will be cut off. 39:08 He would be what? 39:09 Cut off but it says not for Himself. 39:13 But when He would be cut off He would cause a sacrifice 39:16 and oblations to seize. 39:19 In other words, since all the sacrifices 39:22 pointed to Christ when Christ would come 39:25 He would be cut off not for Himself 39:27 and when He is cut off then 39:29 He would cause those sacrifices to come to an end. 39:32 Now what's amazing about that prophecy 39:35 is that when God said that there will be 2,200 days, 39:40 how much time. 39:41 Twenty two hundred days, it reveals then 39:45 that part of that prophecy-- 39:47 I'm gonna hold it for a second there. 39:49 You see there 457, its starting 457 39:54 and then it would go for 490 years 39:57 which comes to the year 34 A.D. 40:01 Now what's important about that is this. 40:04 According to the prophecy the Messiah is to come. 40:08 Who is the Messiah? Where is He coming from? 40:11 He comes from where? From heaven. 40:13 So now not only the message is being sent from heaven 40:17 but the Messenger himself is coming. 40:19 What do you say? 40:20 The Lord himself-- now how better can you get it. 40:25 What do you say? 40:26 Can you get it any better on that? 40:28 Hey, if I said you're friend sent you a message 40:30 and finally showed up by himself 40:31 to give you message which is better 40:34 the piece of paper or myself? 40:35 Yourself. 40:36 Hopefully myself would be better. 40:38 And so Jesus had been sending messages 40:40 and sending messages and sending messages 40:42 but here is the problem 40:43 every time He's send the message 40:44 some people understood it and accepted it 40:46 but the majority did not understand or accepted. 40:49 In fact, they didn't liked what the prophet said. 40:52 And they said "you're making the stuff up." 40:55 And so they get upset with the prophets 40:57 and they would kill the prophets. 40:58 So prophet after prophet are loosing their lives. 41:01 God said you need to talk to the people 41:04 but Lord, they gonna get upset. 41:06 And the Lord says to the prophets 41:09 don't worry about it. 41:10 You do what I'm telling you to do. 41:12 "My word would not return void onto to me. 41:16 Just obey Me and do what I'm telling you to do." 41:18 But Lord, well the Lord knew 41:20 what would happen to the prophets. 41:22 They were voice, voices from heaven 41:26 given it to the earth, correct. 41:28 God have sending voices from space 41:30 these prophets were the receptacles, 41:32 human receptacles they were communicating it 41:35 to the people of the earth but the people did not accept it. 41:39 Well, again, God had to choose prophets. 41:43 And when the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 41:48 was about to be fulfilled, what did God do again? 41:53 God rose up the prophet. 41:55 A time prophecy as important of that 41:58 the Messiah is about to come. 42:00 God must then raise up a prophet. 42:03 Who was that prophet? Why as who? 42:05 John the Baptist. 42:06 And John begins to say the time is that hand. 42:09 The kingdom of God is at hand. 42:11 What kingdom of God is at hand? 42:14 What time is that hand? 42:15 Well, the time prophecy that Daniel had predicted. 42:18 The Messiah is about to appear. 42:21 Isn't that wonderful that God gave a specific time 42:25 when the Messiah should come. 42:27 In fact if you trace it from 457 B.C. 42:30 and you trace to 69 weeks which are 483 years 42:34 you come to the year 27 A.D. 42:37 And right on 27 A.D Jesus is anointed or baptized. 42:41 He is what? He is baptized. 42:44 And He begins His ministry for how long? 42:46 For three and a half years according to the prophecy. 42:49 And then in three and a half years what happens to Him? 42:52 He's crucified. 42:54 That leads us three and a half years more. 42:56 And according to the Bible then it would be 70 weeks 42:59 of provision for the people of God these Israelites. 43:03 But what did the Israelites do 43:05 with that opportunity of probation? 43:07 Did they accept? 43:08 Jesus is Messiah, yes or no? 43:11 They did not accept Jesus as Messiah 43:13 and so 34 A.D. came to an end 43:16 and the Lord raised up other prophets 43:18 to bring to the attention that the gospel now 43:21 should go to the world. 43:22 Now you may not consider Paul and these people as prophets 43:26 but that's what they were. 43:27 The fact that God spoke through them 43:29 they wrote on God's counsels makes them what? 43:32 Prophets. 43:33 So they wrote down the counsels of God 43:37 and the sad thing is this that when God then 43:40 sent John the Baptist-- by the way John the Baptist 43:44 did not write anything. 43:45 There's nothing written by John the Baptist. 43:47 He simply just prepared the way up the Lord. 43:50 That's all he did. 43:52 They had the Bible in those days. 43:53 Didn't they? 43:54 They had the church in those days, didn't they? 43:56 They had the temple, they had priests et cetera 43:58 why did God need to raise up a prophet. 44:01 Simply because it was an important matter 44:04 that people understand the correct implication 44:07 of that prophecy. 44:09 So God would not entrust just anybody 44:12 He had to select somebody who He could trust 44:16 who would give the exact message that heaven had sent. 44:20 "Prepare ye the way of the Lord. 44:22 Repent ye and be baptized." 44:25 That was the message. 44:27 And the scripture says then that among those 44:31 who were born the was not a greater prophet than who? 44:34 Then John the what? The Baptist. 44:36 Okay, now the sad thing is that people did not accept John. 44:43 And the Bible says "in all the public people 44:45 that heard him and the public is justified God being" what? 44:49 "Baptized with" what? 44:50 "The baptism of John." 44:52 But notice what happens with the rest of the people. 44:54 "But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God 44:58 against himself not being" what? 45:01 "Baptized of him." So let me ask you a question. 45:03 When you hear the counsel of God's from a human being 45:06 and if you sense that it is from God 45:09 and you do not accept it 45:11 who are you rejecting the human being or God? 45:13 The God. You're rejecting God. 45:15 That's correct. 45:18 And I think we need to remember that 45:20 because heaven is sending messages 45:23 down to earth to save mankind 45:26 but its up to us to recognize those messages 45:29 and to accept them and to put them into our practical life. 45:32 What do you say? 45:33 That's why in the Book of Revelation it says 45:35 "blessed is he that hears. 45:37 That reads and hears and keeps the things 45:40 that are written here in." 45:41 Blessed is he that reads that hears and then keeps. 45:46 So what does God wants just to send messages 45:49 and you can say "well, I'm not interested." 45:51 Or does God send those messages for you 45:53 the salvation of your own soul. 45:55 What do you say? 45:56 Now listen God then reveals that there would be 46:02 other prophets for example it says 46:06 "The next day we that were of Paul's company departed, 46:09 and came unto Caesarea 46:10 and we entered into the house of" what? 46:12 "Phillip the evangelist, which was one of the seven, 46:16 and abode with him." 46:17 But notice it says "the same man had" how many? 46:20 "Four daughters, virgins, which did" what? 46:22 "Prophesy." 46:24 And by the way women were prophets also. 46:26 Weren't they? 46:28 Let me say this to you with all the kind 46:30 and I hope you understand this what I'm saying, all right. 46:32 Ladies, hope you understand it. 46:34 There are men who are really chauvinist. 46:36 What did I say? Real chauvinist. 46:39 They don't accept any women talking about spiritual things 46:42 because they think that Paul says 46:44 the women should not talk. 46:46 But according to the Bible it says they were prophetess. 46:48 Isn't they were prophetess what did they do? 46:51 They talked and gave God's counsel correct. 46:54 And in the Bible you'll find that God seeks 46:56 to communicate through mankind sometimes man would not listen 47:00 so then God chooses other agency. 47:01 For example one time God chosen donkey 47:04 to speak to the prophet because he would not listen, all right. 47:10 And so men listened to this. 47:12 If God can speak through a donkey 47:13 why can't He speak through a lady? 47:20 I hope you got what I'm saying. 47:25 And I hope you man got what I'm saying. 47:27 All right, virgins, prophetess, 47:30 well, the 2,300 days continued. 47:34 Beginning of 457 and they would end of course when? 47:38 In 18 what? Forty four. 47:40 So you have 490 subtracted from 2,300. 47:43 Then you'll add 1810 and it comes to 1844. 47:47 So here is the question. 47:48 According to this it says unto 2,300 days 47:51 then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 47:52 So when was the sanctuary cleansed 47:55 and which sanctuary? 47:56 Obviously it could not be an earthly sanctuary 47:58 because in 1844 what sanctuary was here? 48:00 None. None. 48:03 So what sanctuary is it talking about? 48:04 Well, its talking about the heavenly sanctuary 48:06 because the Bible tells us that Jesus ascended up 48:09 to heaven itself. 48:10 To where? To heaven itself. 48:13 So here is the problem 48:15 a prophecy is about to be fulfilled. 48:17 The judgment now is supposed to start. 48:19 The Bible says that 2,300 days of sanctuary 48:22 should be cleansed which means it is the judgment time. 48:25 It is the what? Judgment time. 48:26 Is that important yes or no? Yes. 48:28 Listen if you're going to be judged 48:30 don't you think you like to know? 48:31 Yeah. 48:32 Yes or no? Yes. 48:33 Of course you like to know. 48:35 Why? You want to be ready. 48:39 If you are going to be judged do you want to get your lawyer. 48:42 Yes or no? Yes. 48:43 You want to make sure you got everything in line. 48:46 And so you want to prepare and God will not judge 48:50 without first giving people the opportunity to get ready. 48:52 What do you say? 48:54 And so 1844 God is about ready 48:59 to bring the final conclusion of earth's history. 49:03 The judgment hour according to Revelation Chapter 14 49:07 it says "And I saw another angel 49:08 fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel." 49:11 And then it says "fear God and glory to Him 49:13 for the hour of His judgment is come." 49:17 So we're living today in the judgment time 49:21 of earth's history. 49:22 Now that's sounds a little scary doesn't it? 49:24 But that's the reality. 49:26 Just like a Noah's time people thought it was a day 49:29 but it actually took a period of time. 49:32 It took 120 years. 49:34 God said it would happen 49:35 but it didn't happen till 120 years. 49:38 We're told then that the time of the end has come 49:40 and the question is how long will the time of the end go. 49:43 We don't know, that's why God says be ready. 49:47 What does God say? Be ready. 49:50 So God then in order to bring attention 49:53 to that fulfillment of the prophesy 49:55 and the correct application 49:57 God raised up a prophet in those days. 49:59 In 1844 the Lord raised up a little lady. 50:02 Her name was E.G. White. 50:03 Any of you heard of that name, E.G. White. 50:07 Now, the Lord began to speak and give messages to her 50:10 because in those days there was a great revival. 50:13 There are all people believe in that Jesus would come 50:15 and cleanse the earth. 50:16 Cleanse the what? Earth. 50:17 They thought that the sanctuary was the earth. 50:20 And that Jesus would cleanse the sanctuary, 50:21 the sanctuary meaning the earth. 50:23 Well, God then brought up this young lady 50:27 and gave her messages and she began to explain 50:30 what really was taking place. 50:33 Now some people believed it and some people did not. 50:37 Because they believed that in 1844 50:39 the end of the world would come. 50:40 But it didn't come. 50:42 And so God then revealed to her 50:44 what was actually supposed to place-- 50:45 take place and then they understood 50:48 that the sanctuary was the heavenly sanctuary 50:51 that they have atonement that would take place in heaven 50:53 to cleanse the earth the heavenly sanctuary 50:55 to give earth the last opportunity 50:58 to send up their sins before hand 51:00 so that when Jesus comes 51:01 He could come without sin unto salvation. 51:06 The people some didn't understand 51:08 and in fact we're told in history 51:10 that some people kept on setting dates 51:12 and setting dates and setting dates, all right. 51:14 But the people who took the prophets counsel 51:18 began to understand the spiritual significance 51:21 of the heavenly sanctuary. 51:22 And they began realize that in heaven right now 51:25 Jesus has entered into the priest ministry 51:32 in the typical day of atonement 51:34 and in the last phase of judgment. 51:37 In other words my friends, when Jesus returns 51:39 the second time He says, he that is filthy 51:42 let them be filthy still 51:44 but he that is righteous let him be righteous still. 51:46 In other words, a judgment has already taken place 51:49 before that declaration can be made. 51:51 Is that true yes or no? So the question is this? 51:54 When will your name and my name come before 51:57 the judgment we don't know. 51:59 The important things to understand 52:00 that God has given us the gift of what? 52:03 Prophecy to prepare for that eventual event 52:08 that's going to take place. 52:09 Mrs. White then was given several counsels 52:12 that became the wonderful counsels to us. 52:15 One of those counsels was in the day 52:17 when doctors were telling people who had asthma 52:21 or who had tuberculosis that in order to take care 52:23 where they just smoke cigarettes. 52:26 Doctors recommending that to take care of the problem. 52:30 The Lord revealed to her that "tobacco is a" what? 52:33 "A slow and insidious and most" what? 52:35 "Malignant poison." 52:37 What's the word? "Malignant poison." 52:40 In those days they didn't understand 52:42 what cancer was but God did. 52:43 Didn't He? 52:44 And so God said that cigarette smoke would cost what? 52:48 Malignancy. Let me ask you something. 52:50 How long did it take for scientist 52:52 to finally come to conclusion that this little lady came to. 52:58 It took years and years of research what do you say. 53:01 Until finally they concluded that 53:03 yes, cigarette smoking does bring cancer. 53:06 Is that true? 53:07 Now for those of us who have been Adventist 53:09 who have accepted the message that God has given 53:12 through the prophet we don't smoke. 53:19 And the result is we save our health 53:22 and we save our wealth. 53:24 What do you say? 53:26 God that gave a lot of instruction to this little lady 53:29 and God has richly blessed those who accept the counsel. 53:33 My talking about some books that she wrote 53:37 a book that she wrote Desire of Ages 53:39 "My preference or choice would be guided 53:41 by what I wished to get from the book 53:43 or books to be read, but let me put it this way." 53:46 He read took books written on the life of Christ. 53:49 And this is what he said. "I would put the" what book? 53:53 "The Desire of Ages by Ellen White 53:55 first for spiritual discernment and practical" what? 53:58 "Application." You know how old she was. 54:01 She was 17 years old when she began as a prophet. 54:04 God gave her vision so she began to give counsels. 54:07 You know how much education she had? 54:09 Four grades of education. 54:11 Now for a book in the library of congress 54:13 to be put on the number one category 54:16 somebody had to guide here. 54:17 What do you say? 54:19 Somebody had to instruct her. Well, we continue. 54:23 Notice the professor of Nutrition 54:25 of Cornnel University. 54:26 He says reading a book entitled Counsels and Diets of Foods. 54:31 "In spite of the fact that the works of Mrs. White 54:33 were written long before the advent of 54:35 modern scientific nutrition, no better" which one? 54:38 "No better overall guide is available today." 54:43 "Ellen white," Paul Harvey now 54:47 "wrote with such profound understanding 54:49 on the subject of nutrition that all 54:51 but two of the many principles 54:53 she espoused have been scientifically" what? 54:55 "Established." 54:56 My friends, very quickly 54:58 we have a cousin who used to be doing dental research 55:00 in Loma Linda University, Doctor Ralph Simon. 55:03 And he took her writings and I was took in the lab 55:05 and as I came out with very success. 55:07 While the foundation that was supporting 55:09 his experiments began to be suspicious 55:13 that he was rigging up the experiments. 55:16 Come out with the kind of results he was having. 55:19 And so they came without warning 55:21 and investigated them. 55:22 They checked the cages. 55:23 They checked the racks they checked everything 55:25 and finally they talked to him and they said 55:27 we can't figure out how it is that you have so much success. 55:29 Well, "he said I got some guide. 55:30 I read some counsels and boom to address." 55:33 Oh, you are not a scientist they said you're a religionist. 55:36 Well, he said well, look I is true I'm a religionist 55:40 but you see those monkeys there 55:41 they're not Seventh-day Adventist. 55:43 You see the rats there they're not Seventh-day Adventist." 55:47 Well, they said "okay you got it." 55:49 My friends, listen let me explain this to you. 55:53 Paul Harvey and many people have read her writings 55:56 and conclude that God has indeed guided that prophetess. 56:03 Tonight you'll get an outline as to how you can 56:06 test a true prophet. 56:09 When you leave and you need to pick that up line up. 56:12 Okay, but let me explain this to you. 56:15 I do not believe in Mrs. White. 56:19 I do not believe in Peter. 56:21 I do not believe in Paul. 56:23 I believe in a message that God has sent through Peter, 56:26 through Paul, through Ellen White 56:28 do you hear what I'm saying? 56:29 Yes. 56:30 Heaven is sending messages down to earth 56:33 the question is will you accept those messages? 56:37 Will you allow God to guide you through His inspiration? 56:42 Will you use the Word of God and His counsels 56:45 as your guide in your life? 56:48 How many of you would like to raise your hand to that 56:50 and say "thank You Jesus, for giving the gift of prophecy 56:53 that we can receive the messages from heaven 56:56 and be guided in this war-torn world. 57:00 And thank You that there is a way of escape 57:03 according to prophetic guidance." 57:05 Shall we pray together? 57:06 Loving God, how much we thank You 57:10 for all that You've given to us 57:13 for the guidance and the protection 57:15 keep us we pray in Jesus name, amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17