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Series Code: RAD
Program Code: RAD170018A
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00:01 What does the future hold?
00:02 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty? 00:05 The Book of Revelation provides hopeful answers 00:08 for today, tomorrow and forever. 00:11 Join Mark Finley, author and world renowned speaker 00:14 on a journey into the future 00:16 with Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 00:23 Welcome back to Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 00:27 We are journeying through the Book of Revelation 00:30 and discovering end-time truths. 00:33 The Book of Revelation reveals the plans of God. 00:37 It unmasks the plans of Satan. 00:39 And one of the major issues in Revelation 00:42 has to do with Spirits, 00:45 The Holy Spirit and unholy spirits. 00:49 The unholy spirits, 00:50 demonic forces will bring deception, 00:54 false religious leaders will arise. 00:57 Cult-like leaders, many will follow them. 00:59 There will be false miracles. 01:01 There will be, throughout time, right at the time at the end 01:06 deceptions that are perpetrated upon the human race. 01:09 How do you identify a cult? 01:11 How do you identify a cult leader? 01:13 How can you know that you are not being let astray? 01:17 We're gonna go to the Bible 01:18 and answer some of those questions. 01:20 But first, let's pray. 01:22 Father in Heaven, 01:23 thank You that the Bible reveals Your truth. 01:26 You've said sanctify them through Thy Word, 01:29 Thy Word, Your Word is truth. 01:32 You've said that You will enable us to know the truth 01:36 and the truth will set us free. 01:37 We want to be free from error, free from deception, 01:41 free from the falsehoods that are so filling our world. 01:45 And so as we study the Book of Revelation, 01:47 give us clear light on the road ahead, 01:50 may Your truth penetrate falsehood. 01:54 May Your light illuminate darkness 01:57 and may we sense Your will for our personal lives, 02:01 in Christ's name, amen. 02:04 The title of our presentation 02:06 is Revelation Unmasks the Cult Deception. 02:11 Have you noticed how many people 02:13 are actually being let astray by cults today? 02:17 The 911 call was made in Rancho Santa Fe, California, 02:22 a number of years ago. 02:24 The person on the other end of the line said, 02:26 "You should check out a certain community." 02:30 The 911 operator was quite baffled by that, 02:33 it was a very wealthy community, 02:36 a very upmarket community, 02:38 a very up-scaled community 02:40 in a very posh area of California. 02:43 Multi-million dollar homes on the hillside. 02:46 But the caller was insistent. 02:48 "You better check out that home, 02:51 something is wrong." 02:54 When the authorities came there 02:56 they found the followers of Marshall Applewhite. 03:00 Marshall Applewhite was the leader of a cult 03:03 called Heaven's Gate cult. 03:06 He believed, as his followers did, 03:09 that the Hale-Bopp comet would be followed 03:13 by a catastrophic end to the world 03:15 but that his followers would be whizzed away to heaven. 03:19 As the authorities came to that home, 03:23 they found an amazing scene. 03:26 They found a scene in which people were dressed 03:30 all in black. 03:32 They had... 03:33 Each one of them committed mass suicide, 03:36 they were lying on their beds. 03:39 Why did they do it? 03:41 Who were these people that followed Marshall Applewhite? 03:45 Were they ignorant people that could easily be taken in 03:51 by a cult leader? 03:52 Were they uneducated? 03:54 A careful look at who they were helps us to understand 03:59 the deceptive power of cults 04:02 and the deceptive power of false leaders. 04:05 They were teacher... 04:07 One was a teacher, very well educated. 04:10 Another was a postal worker 04:13 who had a very good government job. 04:15 Another was a housewife and a mother of five. 04:19 When you look at who is in that home that day, 04:23 those people deceived by Marshall Applewhite, 04:26 you see they were common men and women. 04:29 They were people like you and people like me. 04:32 But we ask how could they be deceived? 04:35 Revelation talks about the final deception, 04:38 the deception of the antichrist power. 04:41 In Revelations 13:1, it says, 04:44 "I stood upon the sand of the sea, 04:45 saw a great beast rising up out of the sea, 04:47 having seven heads and ten horns, 04:49 and upon his horns ten crowns, 04:50 and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 04:52 The beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, 04:55 his feet were like the feet of a bear, 04:56 his mouth like the mouth of a lion. 04:58 The dragon gave him his power," the dragon, who is that? 05:01 Satan, the deceiver, "And great authority." 05:03 Then verse 3 says, 05:04 "All the world wondered after the beast." 05:07 A great deception 05:09 at the last days of earth's history, 05:11 "With all the world that do not know Christ, 05:14 that have turned their backs on His Word 05:16 and have not faithfully followed it." 05:18 So the cult deceptions we see today 05:21 are simply a foreshadowing 05:25 of what is coming in the future. 05:29 Why is it that people turn to cults? 05:31 What is it that leads them to those cults? 05:34 They are actually looking for answers. 05:38 See cult followers don't want to be deceived. 05:41 It's not that somebody says, 05:44 "You know, I think I'm gonna go follow that cult leader." 05:47 And the cult leader has a big sign around them saying, 05:49 "Don't follow me you will be deceived." 05:52 Cult followers don't want to be deceived. 05:54 They are really sincere, very sincere. 05:58 In fact, they are looking for truth. 06:01 You see, when the church 06:02 discards or downplays the Bible, 06:06 when the church substitutes tradition for the Word of God 06:10 that opens the mind of people 06:13 they turn away from the falsehood, the error, 06:17 the tradition of the church, 06:19 and they go seeking in another way. 06:23 When, for example, the church lacks spiritual power 06:26 and people come to church week after week, 06:29 and it's dry, it's formal, 06:32 it's traditional, it's external, 06:34 it does not move the heart or change the life. 06:38 When that happens, people go looking in another direction. 06:44 When the church fails to reveal God's love, 06:48 when people are judgmental, when they are graceless, 06:53 people go looking 06:54 for an environment of love and warmth. 06:57 And one things that cults do provide, 07:00 it's a falsehood, of course, 07:01 but they provide the sense of warmth, 07:04 they provide the sense of brotherhood, of sisterhood, 07:07 and they develop an attitude towards us against the world, 07:12 and the cult leaders have a certain amount of certainty. 07:15 So when the church is uncertain, 07:17 doesn't know what it believes, 07:19 lacks spiritual power, is loveless, 07:22 then obviously thousands of people, 07:25 young people particularly, go searching for certainty, 07:28 searching for meaning, 07:29 searching for something that they can hold on to 07:31 and searching for love. 07:34 People go somewhere else when the church fails. 07:38 Now somebody says, 07:40 "Pastor Mark, are you suggesting 07:43 that the church has failed 07:45 and that has driven people to cults?" 07:47 Not every church, 07:49 there are Bible believing churches 07:50 that uplift Jesus Christ, that uplift His Word. 07:53 There are places that you and I can go 07:55 and I praise God for the thousands of them, 07:57 the millions of them over the world. 08:00 But here is a certain truth. 08:02 In the last days, 08:03 there'll be false christs and false prophets. 08:05 In the last days, 08:07 there will be those that are followers of Jesus 08:09 and there will be those 08:10 that are followers of demonic forces. 08:12 In the last days, 08:13 Satan is gonna do everything he can 08:16 to deceive men and women. 08:19 And if the church is not preaching the Word of God, 08:23 if the church is not lifting up Jesus, 08:26 if the church is not calling people to obedience, 08:29 if the church does not have spiritual power, 08:32 if the church is loveless, 08:35 people will go looking someplace else. 08:38 The reason cults are growing is because people are seeking. 08:44 So the growth of cults 08:45 should indicate to the Christian church 08:48 that people are seeking. 08:50 People are looking, 08:51 but they are looking in all the wrong places. 08:54 They are walking down a pathway 08:56 that will eventually lead them to disaster 09:00 and eventually lead them to death. 09:03 Now how can you tell a cult? 09:06 You know, cults leaders don't come 09:08 as I've said with a sign around their neck saying, 09:10 "I'm a cult leader, come follow me." 09:13 Not at all. 09:14 I want to give you five biblical tests from the Bible 09:17 to distinguish between 09:19 the genuine and the counterfeit. 09:20 Now you say, "I would never ever be deceived by a cult. 09:25 Impossible for me." 09:28 You know, in Florida, 09:31 we can learn a lesson from the sorting of oranges. 09:36 Now let's suppose for a minute, you are an orange. 09:39 I don't want to suppose I'm an orange but you just... 09:40 Come on now stay with me. 09:42 Let's suppose you are an orange 09:44 and you are out here in an orange tree. 09:46 So you are in the sunshine, enjoying the Florida sunshine, 09:49 and you get picked. 09:51 Have you ever been in Florida, you see these big huge semis 09:54 with all these oranges in the back of the semis, 09:57 hundreds, thousands of them. 09:58 You may not know how they are sorted. 10:00 When they bring the oranges into the warehouse, 10:04 there's a conveyor belt 10:05 and all these oranges are put on that conveyor belt. 10:08 Now let's suppose you are an orange, 10:10 and you can think, you can't, I know, 10:12 and you're on this conveyor belt 10:13 and think, "Man, this is Disney Land for oranges. 10:15 This is great." 10:16 You see all these oranges on this conveyor belt, 10:17 they are going along and they come to a hole. 10:20 The holes in the conveyor belt are large enough 10:24 to let the small Grade-C oranges through, 10:28 but they are not large enough 10:30 to let the Grade-B ones through. 10:31 So these oranges are on this conveyor belt, 10:33 you imagine in your mind, hundreds, thousands of them. 10:35 And they come to these sorting holes 10:37 and all the Grade-C ones, the small ones fall through. 10:40 The rest of the oranges are going, 10:42 now the B oranges, I'm sure they are thinking, 10:44 "Man, I'm never going through one of those holes. 10:47 You know, I'm better than those people, 10:49 I'm not going through." 10:51 Then the conveyor belt goes on 10:52 and there're holes large enough to let the B oranges through, 10:55 the B-Grade but not the A-Grade. 10:57 So all the B-Grade goes through 10:59 and then pretty soon the A's look over saying, 11:02 "Man, those B's, those little guys went through, 11:04 those C's went through. 11:05 We are going on to the end." 11:06 But what you know is right around the corner, 11:09 there is a hole 11:10 and those A oranges are going through, right there, 11:12 they are going to be orange juice too. 11:13 Look my friend, the people that I'm concerned about the most 11:18 are not the humble people 11:19 on their knees seeking God for his truth. 11:22 I'm concerned about arrogant people, 11:24 people that say "Look, I'll never be deceived by a cult." 11:27 Because you don't understand 11:30 the deceptive power of the devil. 11:32 The only way we can be kept from being deceived 11:37 is such a commitment to the living Christ. 11:41 You shall know the truth 11:42 and the truth shall make you free. 11:44 And a commitment to His Word. 11:46 Now let's look at 11:48 five distinguishing characteristics of a cult. 11:50 Because you see millions 11:52 are gonna fall for the antichrist 11:53 at end-time. 11:55 And antichrist is the largest cult leader 11:59 ever to manifest himself in the history of the world. 12:02 But before that time 12:04 there will be false christs and false prophets. 12:06 And why do people accept these counterfeits? 12:09 Because they don't know how to distinguish 12:12 between a counterfeit and a genuine, 12:14 between the true and the false. 12:16 This telecast... 12:18 may be one of the most important in your life. 12:20 It may save you, it may save your children. 12:24 If your children are anywhere in the house right now, 12:25 get them, sit them down in front of this screen 12:28 because there are so many young people, teenagers 12:33 that are following cults. 12:35 First, how do you identify a cult? 12:36 Number one, all cults have a single powerful leader 12:41 who becomes the cult's messiah. 12:43 When you have any single human leader 12:48 that becomes a substitute for Jesus Christ, beware. 12:54 Look, Marshall Applewhite, who led those people, 12:58 the Heaven Gate's cult leader, the one that led them 13:01 in Rancho Santa Fe, California to death, 13:05 said, "I am on an evolutionary level above human. 13:10 I am part of the kingdom of Heaven, 13:12 I am incarnated in..." 13:15 The Kingdom of Heaven is incarnated in two bodies. 13:17 In other words, what he is saying is, 13:19 "I am divine." 13:20 That should have been a clear signal 13:25 to his followers immediately. 13:27 Because Jesus says in Isaiah 45:22, 13:30 "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! 13:34 For I am God, and there is no other." 13:38 Anytime we look to human being, 13:42 anytime the word of that human being 13:44 takes the place of the Word of God, 13:46 anytime the authority of that human being 13:49 takes the place of the authority 13:51 of the Word of God, 13:52 we know, we know for certain 13:55 that we are on the pathway to deception. 13:58 In September 1995, 14:01 Marshall Applewhite referred to himself as a what? 14:05 Can you believe it? A messenger from God. 14:08 Then he said, "Just like Jesus." 14:12 What did Isaiah 45:22 say? 14:14 "Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth, 14:18 for I am God and there is" what?" 14:20 None like me. 14:23 So anytime a cult leader arises, 14:26 claims to be this messianic figure, 14:29 that simply preparing people to receive the antichrist. 14:33 Anti means not against 14:35 but another or substitute for Christ 14:38 at the time of the end. 14:39 And so we see these false christs, 14:42 false prophets arising today. 14:44 I think of David Koresh. 14:47 David Koresh led a group mostly of young people, 14:50 young adults to a fiery inferno in Waco, Texas. 14:56 He led them to their death. 14:58 I interviewed a young man 15:01 that was in Waco with David Koresh 15:05 and he left two weeks before that fiery inferno. 15:09 He got out of there alive and I said to him, 15:13 "You are intelligent, bright, 15:16 why were you with David Koresh for so long? 15:19 Why did you follow him for so long?" 15:22 He happened to be an Australian. 15:24 David Koresh came to Australia 15:26 and this is the story my friend told me when I interviewed him. 15:29 He said, "David came to Australia 15:32 and we as young people were looking for somebody 15:35 to study the Bible with us deeply 15:37 and David seemed to know the Bible. 15:40 He studied the Bible with us, 15:41 we would study from 8-9 o'clock at night 15:43 to 2 o'clock in the morning, 15:45 and his interpretations of the Bible were fresh, 15:48 they were new. 15:49 We were studying Revelation, 15:51 we wanted to study the Book of Revelation, 15:53 and we kept studying together 15:55 and pretty soon we were so mesmerized by David, 15:59 so mesmerized by the thing we studied. 16:01 We agreed to move with him to Waco." 16:04 He said, "I thought something was wrong 16:06 when my wife and I moved there 16:09 and I had to sleep in separate quarters. 16:12 My wife was in one home for women 16:14 and I was in another home for men." 16:15 But David said, "If you're gonna be ready 16:17 for the coming of Jesus, 16:18 you need to deny your earthly lusts." 16:20 And he said, "Something didn't seem right. 16:23 Then we began having meetings that would last all night 16:27 and pretty soon I was so exhausted, 16:29 I couldn't think straight 16:30 and when David said, I am the lamb of Revelation. 16:34 He said... 16:35 I didn't figure all that out but pretty soon, 16:38 two weeks before the fiery inferno 16:41 I said this is not religion, this is insanity." 16:44 And he said, "I left." 16:46 He said, "But we were so mesmerized, 16:48 my wife left, 16:49 but we didn't sit together on the plane on the way back." 16:51 He said, "It took me weeks 16:53 to get my head back straight again." 16:56 Friend of mine, when you start giving your allegiance 17:02 to any human being rather than Christ, 17:05 that's incredibly dangerous. 17:06 Think of Jim Jones, 17:08 who led over 900 people to the jungles of Guyana 17:13 and there they committed mass suicide. 17:16 He was a popular evangelical preacher 17:20 out in San Francisco. 17:21 He sat on the San Francisco housing commission, 17:24 did a lot for the poor and underprivileged 17:26 through his church. 17:28 But yet, once he was preaching, held up his Bible and said, 17:31 "Don't look at this, look at me." 17:33 He said, "There is God-like qualities in me." 17:37 See here's what these three cult leaders 17:40 that I have mentioned have in common. 17:42 Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, Jim Jones, 17:44 they all become messianic-like figures. 17:47 They all become substitute gods. 17:50 May I take this a step further? 17:53 If your pastor, if your priest, 17:56 if your rabbi becomes the sole source 18:00 of your spiritual authority, 18:03 if they become more prominent in your life than Jesus Christ, 18:07 you are on the verge of opening your mind to cult deception. 18:12 I thank God that he uses pastors, 18:16 I thank God that He uses religious leaders. 18:19 But if they become substitute Christ, 18:22 we have a deceptive falsehoods 18:28 that are gonna shape our minds. 18:30 The Book of Revelation says this, 18:32 Revelation 17:13. 18:34 It says, "These are of one mind." 18:36 You see the cults must function as one mind. 18:39 They must function under the authority figure 18:43 of the cult leader. 18:45 "These are of one mind. 18:46 They will give their power and authority to the beast." 18:49 So the final antichrist 18:52 will exhibit himself as an authority 18:55 taking the place of Jesus. 18:56 So the call of the hour 18:59 is the call of commitment to Jesus, 19:01 the call of decision for Christ, 19:04 making Christ supreme in our lives. 19:07 Not letting anybody else take the place of Jesus 19:10 but listening to His voice, following His Word. 19:14 These have one mind. 19:15 What's gonna bring churches together? 19:17 What's gonna unify churches at a time of famine, 19:20 at a time economic disaster, at a time of natural disasters, 19:24 at a time of terrorism, at a time of rising crime, 19:27 and violence, and immorality, and war? 19:29 A cult leader will arise. 19:32 The Bible calls him in Revelation, the antichrist. 19:34 He will try to bring all the world together 19:36 under his own auspices of worship. 19:40 These have one mind. 19:42 So anytime any human being 19:46 takes the authority of Christ, beware. 19:49 Anytime, any human being 19:52 substitutes his or her authority 19:55 for the authority of the Word of God, beware. 19:59 The Bible says, Jesus said in Matthew 24, 20:03 when Christ is describing the signs of the end. 20:06 Jesus says, "There will be wars and rumors of wars. 20:09 There will be famines and earthquakes, 20:11 and pestilences, and rising crime and violence." 20:14 But then Jesus says, Matthew 24:24, 20:18 "For false christs..." 20:19 What kind of christ? 20:20 False christ. 20:22 "False prophets..." What kind of prophets? 20:23 "False prophets will rise 20:25 and show great signs and wonders." 20:28 Well, if they show great signs and wonders, 20:30 they must be of God, right? 20:31 If they work miracles they must be of God, right? 20:34 Well, the Bible says, Revelation 16:13, 14. 20:38 It says, "These are the spirits of demons working miracles." 20:44 Can the demons work miracles? 20:46 According to the Bible, 20:48 the devil can work apparent miracles 20:52 and according to Scripture, 20:54 miracles will be one of the ways, 20:56 you look at Revelation 19:20 and onward, 20:59 they are deceived by the miracle. 21:01 So miracles, false miracles 21:04 will be one of the agencies the devil uses for deception 21:07 when men and women turn away from the living Christ, 21:10 when they turn away from the Word of God, 21:12 when they turn to fables and traditions, 21:15 the devil will use miracles to deceive them. 21:18 Can God work miracles? Yes. 21:20 Will God work miracles in the last days? 21:22 Certainly. 21:24 Can we expect miracles? Yes. 21:26 But miracles are never a substitute for truth. 21:29 Miracles are never a substitute for the Word of God 21:33 and because a false leader work some kind of miracle 21:36 that takes your mind 21:38 from the Jesus that died for you, 21:42 we know that leads to deception. 21:44 To deceive, if possible... To do what? 21:47 Deceive, if possible, even the elect. 21:51 Who are the elect? 21:52 The saved, the redeemed, the faithful. 21:55 So the miracles are gonna be so powerful, 21:58 the deception is gonna be so strong. 22:01 What is our safety? 22:02 Jesus and Jesus alone. 22:04 You know that old song, turn your eyes upon Jesus. 22:07 "Look full in His wonderful face 22:09 and the things of earth will grow strangely dim 22:13 in the light of His glory and grace." 22:15 Somebody says, "But I am sincere." 22:17 Is sincerity enough? 22:18 Proverbs 16:25, 22:20 "There is a way that seems right to a man, 22:24 but the end is the way of death." 22:26 There is a way that, what? 22:28 What is it to? 22:29 Seems right 22:31 but the end is the way of death. 22:35 So merely because one is sincere, 22:38 sincerity is not enough. 22:40 You can sincerely follow error and be lost. 22:44 And there are some people that smoke cigarettes 22:46 and they say, "Oh, it's not gonna harm me. 22:49 It's not gonna touch me." 22:51 And they smoke away, 22:52 they may be sincerely believing that it's not gonna harm them 22:55 but that doesn't make any difference at all 22:57 because they are still putting that tar in their lungs 22:59 and they are still destroying their bodies. 23:02 Sincerity is not enough. 23:04 If you are following a trailer truck on a foggy night 23:09 and you are following their headlights 23:11 and that truck goes around the corner 23:13 and misses the turn and drives off a cliff, 23:16 you may be ever so sincere in following their headlights, 23:20 but you're going over that cliff too. 23:22 You can be so sincere. 23:24 Have you ever been driving your car 23:27 and you got your directions mixed up, 23:29 and so you are driving along saying, 23:31 and your wife is saying, 23:32 "I think you are going in the wrong direction." 23:33 "No, honey, I am not going in the wrong direction." 23:35 "I think, darling, 23:37 you are going in the wrong direction." 23:38 "I am not going in the wrong direction." 23:40 "Sweet pea, I think you are going in the wrong direction." 23:42 But you are so proud, "I am not going in the wrong direction, 23:45 I know I am going right." 23:46 And then you drive 15 miles down the road, 23:49 you see the sign 23:50 and you see you should be going south and you are going north 23:53 and you say, "Honey, I think 23:56 there's a restaurant over there, 23:57 let's go eat." 23:58 And then you turn around 24:00 and get going in the right direction. 24:01 See you may be sincere, 24:03 but if you are going in the wrong direction, 24:04 you are going in the wrong direction. 24:06 Sincerity is not enough. 24:09 And you may be ever so sincere, 24:11 but if you are not going in harmony with the Bible, 24:13 if you have not committed your life fully to Christ, 24:15 you may be sincerely following a cult leader. 24:19 Anytime we transfer our loyalty to a religious leader 24:22 and exalt that leader in the place of God, 24:25 we're on the very, very dangerous ground. 24:28 You know, I've had people come to my Bible lectures, 24:31 they hear messages on Christ, messages on his soon coming, 24:35 messages on the Bible Sabbath 24:37 and they say, "Oh, Pastor, Pastor, 24:39 but that's not what my religious leader teaches." 24:43 And I don't know if I can ever make a change 24:45 because look what my religious leader teaches. 24:47 That is very dangerous ground 24:50 because if you substitute 24:52 the word of your religious leader 24:54 for the Word of God, 24:55 you are preparing to receive 24:57 the teachings of the antichrist. 24:59 Our only safety is we have one leader 25:02 and that's Jesus Christ. 25:03 There are no substitutes for Jesus, 25:05 there are only counterfeits. 25:07 Christ and Christ alone is our savior. 25:11 Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other, 25:15 for there is no other name under heaven 25:18 given among men by which we must be saved." 25:21 There is no other name under heaven. 25:24 There's only one Jesus. 25:25 He was born as a babe in Bethlehem's manger. 25:29 He lived that perfect life that we should have lived. 25:32 There's only one Jesus. 25:34 He walked through the crowds, healed the sick. 25:37 He walked through the crowds 25:39 and touched the eyes of the blind 25:40 and they were open, 25:42 touched the ears of the deaf and they were in stop, 25:44 walked through the crowds and healed the lame, 25:47 ministered to the poor, raised the dead. 25:51 There is only one Jesus. 25:54 There is only one that hung upon the cross. 25:56 There is only one who came out of the tomb alive. 26:00 There is only one Jesus. 26:03 There are no substitute christs. 26:06 There may be many counterfeits, many false christs 26:09 but there's only one. 26:10 I know that you along with me today 26:13 want to open your heart to the true Christ. 26:15 You want Him to be your leader. 26:17 You want no substitute to be in your life. 26:20 Now secondly, cults not only have a powerful world, 26:24 a powerful leader, 26:25 that whose authority they substitute for Christ 26:28 but cults often substitute human teachings for God's Word. 26:33 So when you look at these cult leaders, 26:35 they'll often have teachings, 26:37 in fact always have teachings 26:39 that are not in harmony with the Word of God. 26:42 In fact, in Revelation 18:23, it says, "By your..." 26:48 That is by the antichrist, by the great cult leaders, 26:50 "sorcery or falsehoods all nations were deceived." 26:55 People are deceived by the falsehoods of error. 26:58 Jesus says in John 17:17, "Sanctify them by Your truth. 27:04 Your word is truth." 27:06 So God's word stands out in sharp contrast to error. 27:13 Marshall Applewhite taught that the Hale-Bopp comet 27:16 would usher in the end of the world. 27:18 Now that's not found any place in the Bible at all, 27:21 his followers should have known. 27:23 Here you have a false religious leader 27:25 who substitutes as the Messiah 27:27 and his word substitutes for the Word of God. 27:30 Any time tradition takes the place of God's Word 27:34 and people are accepting tradition 27:36 rather than God's Word, 27:38 they're in a very dangerous position. 27:41 If Marshall Applewhite's followers 27:44 would have known this text, it would have helped them. 27:45 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 27:47 "The Lord Himself is gonna descend from heaven," 27:49 not from Hale-Bopp comet that they are gonna latch on to 27:53 and be whizzed off into eternity. 27:55 "The Lord Himself is gonna descend from heaven 27:56 with a shout, 27:58 with the voice of an archangel, 27:59 with the trumpet of God. 28:01 And the dead in Christ shall rise first." 28:05 Jesus says, "You shall know the truth 28:07 and the truth shall make you" what? 28:08 "Free." 28:10 When you know the truth about the Second Coming of Christ, 28:12 "that every eye will see Him," Revelation 1:7. 28:15 "Every ear will hear it," Psalm 50:3. 28:18 When you understand 28:19 that "Christ is coming in glory and majesty," 28:22 Matthew 16:27. 28:24 When you understand that He's coming in power, 28:27 when you understand that when He comes, 28:28 He's going to raise the dead. 28:30 When you know the truth about the Second Coming of Christ, 28:32 you can detect the false sort of cult leaders 28:36 who have this messianic end-time complex 28:40 that is all jumbled and garbled with part truth and part error. 28:45 Also one of the devil's great deceptive devices 28:51 is a misunderstanding of death. 28:53 And so he uses spiritualism. 28:54 But what does Jesus say? 28:56 "You know the truth 28:57 and the truth shall set you free." 28:59 I've had people say me, 29:00 "But Pastor, I had that experience, 29:01 you know, I went to sleep. 29:04 I saw pastor, I saw my mother, I saw my father." 29:10 Yes, but that was an apparition. 29:13 "The devil," 2 Corinthians 11:14, 29:15 "masquerades as an angel of light." 29:18 And so by not knowing God's Word, 29:22 by not understanding the clear truth of God's Word, 29:25 we make ourselves vulnerable for deceptions 29:30 if any religious leader distorts the gospel. 29:33 The good news is that we're saved through Christ. 29:36 The good news that grace gives us a passport to heaven. 29:42 The good news that we can be pardoned by Christ, 29:45 that Christ can change our life. 29:47 If any religious leader discards biblical principles 29:51 and substitutes human teachings for them, 29:54 beware, my friend. 29:56 If any religious leader downplays God's law, 30:01 you say, "Pastor, what do you mean?" 30:04 Jesus through the Prophet Isaiah said, in Isaiah 8:20, 30:07 "To the law and to the testimony, 30:11 if they speak not according to this word," 30:13 that is the testimony of Scripture, 30:15 the teachings of Christ and the law of God, 30:17 "there is no light in them." 30:19 You see, it doesn't say there is no truth in them 30:22 because Satan mingles truth and error. 30:25 It does not say there is no power in them 30:29 because Satan at times can use satanic power, 30:34 so it doesn't say there is no truth or power. 30:35 It says there is no what? No light. 30:37 Why does it say there is no light in them? 30:39 Light is what you follow. 30:41 Light is what you follow. 30:42 And Jesus invites us to follow the light. 30:45 And if they're not teaching in harmony 30:47 with the Ten Commandment law, 30:48 if they are not leading men and women 30:50 because they are saved by grace to be obedience, 30:52 there is no light there, therefore, turn away from it. 30:56 Now thirdly, cults manipulate minds, 31:00 they coerce members into submission. 31:04 This is a common characteristic of cults. 31:07 The cults will often dress the same way, 31:10 eat the same way, live the same locality, 31:14 they'll have their cult compound. 31:17 You remember in Revelation 13, 31:19 it talks about that beast coming up out of the sea 31:22 with the seven heads and ten horns, 31:24 and upon his horns ten crowns, 31:26 upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 31:28 It says in Revelation 13:16, 17, 31:32 "He shall cause both small and great, 31:36 rich and poor, free and slave, 31:38 to receive a mark in their right hand 31:41 or in their foreheads." 31:42 Now here is the master cult, the master cult. 31:46 And what does the master cult leader do? 31:49 He causes all to receive a mark. 31:51 And if they do not have that mark, 31:53 the Bible says they can't buy or sell. 31:56 Revelation is talking about a conflict 31:58 between good and evil, 32:00 a conflict between Christ and Satan, 32:03 and it's talking about a last day conflict. 32:05 Jesus appeals to men and women with love and truth, 32:09 Satan appeals to men and women with falsehood and force. 32:13 So on the one hand, 32:15 you have Jesus appealing to people through love, 32:18 appealing to people through truth. 32:19 On the other hand, you have the devil 32:22 appealing to people through force 32:24 and appealing to people through falsehood. 32:29 The beast power passes a decree that no man can buy or sell, 32:35 uses force or uses manipulation. 32:39 God never appeals to us through force. 32:42 His truth is revealed in His Word, 32:46 His love shines from His Word. 32:50 Jesus appeals to us not in some conformity. 32:54 You know, one night I was preaching in Moscow, 32:57 I was in the Olympic Stadium, and there as I preached, 33:01 I had had many, many meetings in Moscow before. 33:05 And I had preached in Plekhanov University 33:08 where 500 came to Christ and were baptized, 33:12 preached in Moscow's Kremlin Auditorium, 33:16 about 1500-2000 came to Christ. 33:19 So now I was in the Olympic stadium, 33:21 opening night of the meetings. 33:22 There about 18,000 people there 33:25 and as I went to preach, ladies got up 33:29 and they began bringing me bouquets of flowers. 33:32 They had been come to Christ, 33:34 they were so joyous in this new life of Christ 33:37 and I was reaching down, getting the flowers, 33:39 taking them here 33:40 and a couple of deacons were standing by me 33:41 and I was handing them. 33:43 A lady came down the aisle, she looked a little strange 33:45 but I didn't pick it up right away. 33:46 She handed me a bouquet of flowers 33:48 and the flowers were dead, 33:50 and I didn't know what to do 33:52 and when I went to reach out to take them, 33:54 she pulled the microphone out of my hand 33:56 and she yelled, "This man is the antichrist, 34:00 attack him." 34:01 Now I learned later who she was. 34:04 Her name was... 34:05 Her assumed name was Mary David Christ. 34:08 You can look her up on the Internet, 34:10 she is one of the leading, 34:11 was one of the leading cult leaders in all of Russia. 34:15 She took the name Mary 34:16 because she believed she was pregnant 34:17 with the Christ child, David 34:19 because the Christ's child would be king and Christ, 34:21 because that was going to be her new baby, 34:23 they were going to usher in a kingdom 34:25 that was going to rule the world. 34:27 She believed that the good angels, 34:29 not the evil angels, 34:31 now remember the Bible says that Satan and the evil angels 34:34 are cast out of heaven. 34:35 She believed the good angels were cast out of heaven, 34:37 they were called the white knights, 34:39 they were on earth to fight evil, 34:41 and I was the embodiment of evil, 34:42 not very pleasant rather. 34:44 And so when she yelled her white knights, 34:48 she had about 20,000 followers 34:50 and many of them were in our audience that night. 34:52 They were young men between 18 and 22 34:55 and she yelled, "Attack" 34:57 and these young men jumped up out of the audience 34:59 and began running to the stage. 35:01 It's rather interesting, to say the least. 35:04 I was little younger and I kept trying to dodge, 35:07 but here these young guys are coming, 35:08 they want to tackle the old preacher. 35:10 Fortunately, I had baptized and led to Jesus Christ 35:14 many Russian army soldiers 35:16 and fortunately I had baptized, 35:18 lead to Christ many KGB officers. 35:21 They had not forgotten their skills 35:25 and when these guys attacked the preacher, 35:27 these army officers from Russia and these KGB, 35:29 they knew exactly what to do 35:31 and they took care of them well. 35:33 But you know 12 nights in a row they attacked. 35:36 We had to take the stairs away from the stage, 35:39 we had to do everything we could to make precautions. 35:42 We would have our music in our meetings, 35:44 things would be fine. 35:45 We have a health, talk, no problems. 35:46 But once I got up to speak, 35:48 they attacked that night after night after night. 35:53 That Mary David Christ had so manipulated these young men 35:59 and they were actually forced and coerced 36:02 into submission to her. 36:04 Cults use force and submission and the devil is a deceiver. 36:09 2 Corinthians 11:14, "No wonder! 36:13 For Satan himself..." 36:15 Now it doesn't come with a big sign on it, 36:17 "Satan himself transforms himself 36:19 into an angel of light." 36:22 So Mary David Christ just like David Koresh, 36:27 just like Marshall Applewhite, just like Jim Jones, 36:31 they all have this veneer, they come as messianic figures, 36:36 they come pretending to be Christ-like beings or figures. 36:41 They come substituting their word 36:45 for the Word of Christ 36:46 and every single one of them will have a method of force. 36:50 When you study, for example, 36:52 what happened in the Waco conflict, 36:54 Waco compound? 36:56 When I interviewed the young man who left. 36:59 He said, he often was beaten if he fell asleep in meetings, 37:03 and often he was coerced 37:05 or forced to listen to David Koresh. 37:07 When you look at Jim Jones' compound, 37:10 he had actual guards, tough men, strong men 37:13 that force people to listen and not go to sleep. 37:16 So here you have that coercion, 37:18 you're going to find that in the last day cult as well. 37:22 Now, how do you identify a cult? 37:23 Here's number four, cults claim to work miracles. 37:27 You see, cults use miracles 37:29 as some kind of test of divinity. 37:32 They use miracles as a basis for what they're doing. 37:37 In Jim Jones' cult, 37:39 I've listened to recordings of some of his sermons 37:41 when he was in San Francisco, 37:44 and he would say, "That sister over there sitting, 37:47 this brother over here. 37:48 Yes, you with the blue shirt there, 37:50 you've got cancer, 37:52 come forward and I'll touch you. 37:53 And you in the wheelchair, wheel her forward, 37:56 and so there's these apparent miracles you say 37:58 but that's evidence, isn't it? 38:00 Look what the Bible says, Revelation 13:13, 14, 38:04 "He performs great signs..." 38:06 That's the antichrist, that's the great cult leader. 38:08 "So that he even makes fire come down from heaven on earth 38:12 in the sight of men." 38:15 Jim Jones claimed that he could work miracles, 38:18 people leaping out of wheelchairs. 38:19 Of course, it was a sham, it was pretence, 38:22 but cults claim that they can work miracles. 38:26 Miracles are never a substitute for the Word of God. 38:30 You say, "How can I be free 38:33 if the deceptions are so subtle? 38:36 How can I be free?" 38:37 Jesus Christ is your only leader. 38:40 As you give your life to Him, you are secure in Christ. 38:44 "There is a man" Isaiah 32:1, 38:47 "there will be a hiding place from the wind." 38:50 A source of refuge from the tempest 38:53 from all the winds of error, 38:55 from all the winds of falsehood, 38:57 from all the winds of apostasy, 38:59 from all the winds of deception, 39:01 there is one that will protect you, 39:04 Jesus is His name. 39:06 The Word of God, "sanctify them through thy truth, 39:09 thy Word is truth." 39:12 John 17:17. 39:14 Psalm 119:105, 39:16 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a" what? 39:19 "Light unto my path." 39:21 Jesus' Word will illuminate your future and Jesus says, 39:25 "Whosoever will, let him take the word of life freely." 39:28 Jesus invites us to come not because we're coerced, 39:32 we are never motivated by fear, only motivated by love. 39:37 How can I be free from deception? 39:40 Beware, beware of the spectacular, 39:43 beware when the spectacular overshadows 39:47 and takes the place of simple biblical truth. 39:52 There are some people that want to go to churches, 39:54 that there is a lot of emotionalism, 39:57 a lot of hallelujahs. 39:59 I'm not against hallelujahs, 40:00 we're to be saying hallelujah when Christ touches our heart. 40:04 But look, when emotional fancy, 40:07 when miracles and the spectacular 40:10 take the place of clear, thoughtful, 40:14 reasonable open hearted study of the Word of God, 40:18 God's Word is the basis of truth. 40:22 Miracles grow out of truth, 40:25 miracles do not substitute for truth. 40:28 Revelation 16:14, 40:31 one of the great deceptions of Satan, 40:34 "For they are the spirits of demons..." 40:37 The spirits of what, everybody? 40:39 "They are the spirits of" what? 40:40 "Demons, performing," what? 40:42 "Signs, wonders, or miracles 40:45 that go out to the kings of the earth 40:47 and of the whole world, 40:49 to gather them to the battle 40:51 of the great day of God Almighty." 40:53 This is the summary of the sixth plague. 40:57 There is famine, there is earthquake, 41:00 there is fire, there is flood, 41:02 there is natural disasters. 41:05 And all over the world this calamity, 41:07 the antichrist power rises. 41:10 He claims that he has authority, 41:12 claims that he can bring world peace, 41:14 substitutes his traditions for the very Word of God, 41:19 and then to top it all off, 41:22 the antichrist begins working miracles. 41:25 The antichrist begins moving in lives 41:28 and begins healing the sick. 41:32 The antichrist begins working in amazing ways 41:35 and what happens? 41:36 Men and women who've turned their backs on God, 41:40 men and women who've turned from the truth of Scripture 41:43 and who've accepted the falsehoods 41:46 in the human teachings. 41:47 Men and women who do not know Jesus Christ, what happens? 41:50 They yield to that deceptive power. 41:53 Now there's a fifth thing about cults 41:55 that we must understand. 41:57 Cults always deny individuality. 42:01 People have to dress the same, eat the same, 42:04 march to the same drummer. 42:05 I thank God that Jesus loves individuality. 42:10 When somebody tries to mould you and shape you, 42:13 force your thinking, 42:15 that is simply to prepare people 42:17 for the last days of earth's history, 42:20 prepare them for the final deception. 42:23 The devil wants people to march in lockstep, 42:26 but Jesus loves variety. 42:29 When the genes and chromosomes came together 42:31 to form the unique biological structure 42:33 of your personality, 42:35 God threw away the pattern. 42:36 There's nobody like you in the universe. 42:39 You cannot photocopy a person 42:43 and produce another human being. 42:45 God does not have some kind of celestial photocopy machine 42:48 who is cranking out people. 42:50 You are you, 42:51 there's nobody like you in the whole universe. 42:54 And God wants your praise, not to be manipulated, 42:58 not to be forced, 43:00 not to be structured by some antichrist power, 43:03 some false cult religious leader 43:05 but Jesus rather. 43:07 He wants you to praise Him from the depths of your heart. 43:12 He loves to have you come to Him just as you are. 43:15 He loves to have you come to Him 43:17 with your own uniqueness of personality. 43:21 You know, Revelation 22:17, 43:23 the Bible comes to an end this way. 43:25 "The Spirit and the bride say, what, "Come! 43:28 And let him who hears say, 'Come!' 43:31 And let him who thirsts come. 43:34 And whoever desires..." 43:35 Not forced, not coerced. 43:38 The devil works with falsehood and force. 43:42 Jesus works with love and choice. 43:47 And choice never can be forced or coerced. 43:50 "Let him who thirsts come. 43:52 And whoever desires, 43:54 let him take the water of life freely." 43:58 Jesus has given you freedom of choice. 44:01 Who will you follow? 44:02 See the Book of Revelation is all about choice. 44:05 It's all about who we follow. 44:07 A rebel angel rebelled against God in heaven. 44:11 A rebel angel deceived Adam and Eve on earth. 44:14 A rebel angel has deceived men and women 44:17 down through the centuries 44:18 and in the last days of earth's history, 44:20 there is no middle ground, who will you choose to follow? 44:25 Who is your savior? 44:27 Who is your Lord? 44:29 Will you allow any human being to substitute for Jesus Christ? 44:33 Will you allow the teachings of men 44:35 to substitute for the Word of God? 44:37 Will you fall for spectacular miracles 44:41 when they're contrary to God's Word? 44:45 Will you mark, march in lockstep with the majority? 44:50 You see the majority in Christ's day 44:54 try to crucify Christ. 44:56 Think about Noah's day. 44:58 The majority didn't go into the ark. 45:01 In the last days of earth's history, 45:03 the devil will marshal the majority. 45:07 God invites you to stand out for Him. 45:12 He invites you to be willing to be 45:14 one of the tens of thousands around the world 45:19 that do not compromise your integrity 45:22 but stand for Christ. 45:24 The scientists, a number of years ago, 45:29 wanted to do an experiment with caterpillars. 45:32 And this particular caterpillar 45:34 was a caterpillar that was a herd caterpillar. 45:38 The caterpillar would always follow its leader. 45:43 And the caterpillar would follow its leader to death, 45:48 but this particular caterpillar 45:49 survived on a special kind of plant, 45:53 and so the researchers wanted to find out, 45:57 is the caterpillar's drive to eat 46:00 greater than the caterpillar's drive to follow its leader? 46:03 So this is what they did. 46:05 They took this plant that the caterpillar would eat 46:08 in his favorite plant 46:10 and they planted it in a pot 46:12 and then they took caterpillars 46:14 and they put them around a circle in the pot. 46:17 So on the edge of this pot, 46:19 you can imagine lined up with all these caterpillars, 46:23 and they kept going round and round and round 46:26 on the edge of the pot. 46:27 Now their plant that would enable them to survive 46:31 was right there in the center of the pot. 46:35 But they kept going round following the leader, 46:37 round following the leader, round following the leader, 46:39 they kept circling. 46:41 One after the other of these caterpillars 46:45 began to fall over dead as the days went on. 46:49 They would not break ranks. 46:54 They were so fixated on following that leader 46:58 that when life was right before them to eat, 47:01 they wouldn't take it. 47:02 You are not a caterpillar, friend. 47:05 Life is there in the hands of Christ, 47:09 and to follow a human leader 47:12 contrary to the word of the living God 47:15 only leads to death. 47:17 The Bible says, Romans 14:12, 47:20 "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God." 47:24 Before the judgment power of God, 47:25 God's not gonna say, what does your father do? 47:27 What does your mother do? 47:28 What did your priest tell you to do? 47:30 What did your rabbi tell you do? 47:31 What did your pastor tell you to do? 47:32 So every one of us must give account of himself to God. 47:36 You become vulnerable to cult deceptions 47:38 when you look to any human authority 47:41 rather than Christ. 47:42 You become vulnerable to cult deceptions 47:45 when you accept the teachings of tradition 47:48 rather than the Word of God. 47:50 Jesus is appealing to you right now to follow His Word. 47:55 When you're awed by spectacular miracles, 47:58 you become vulnerable to cult deceptions. 48:02 When you fail to live by your personal convictions, 48:05 when God moves on your heart 48:07 and you do not step forward or step out to follow Him 48:11 because you're influenced by others, 48:13 you become vulnerable to cult deceptions. 48:16 Jesus says to you, He speaks to you, 48:19 "Come to Me, all you that are heavy laden in labor 48:22 and I will give you rest." 48:24 Jesus appeals to you right now to stand in Christ 48:29 and Christ alone. 48:30 In Christ alone I take my stand, 48:33 in Christ alone I make my decision. 48:37 Listen as Yvonne comes to sing, "In Christ and Christ alone". 48:43 Let the Spirit of God touch your heart. 48:46 Why not make your decision that you will follow Jesus 48:49 and Christ and Christ alone will be your leader, 48:53 your guide, your savior. 49:12 In Christ alone my hope is found 49:18 He is my light, my strength, my song 49:23 This Cornerstone, this solid ground 49:28 Firm through the fiercest drought and storm 49:33 What heights of love, what depths of peace 49:39 When fears are stilled, when strivings cease 49:44 My Comforter, my All in All 49:49 Here in the love of Christ I stand 50:02 In Christ alone, who took on flesh 50:08 Fullness of God in helpless babe 50:13 This gift of love and righteousness 50:18 Scorned by the ones He came to save 50:23 'Til on that cross as Jesus died 50:28 The wrath of God was satisfied 50:34 For every sin on Him was laid 50:39 Here in the death of Christ I live 51:03 Oh, there in the ground His body lay 51:10 Light of the world by darkness slain 51:15 Then bursting forth in glorious Day 51:21 Up from the grave He rose again 51:25 And as He stands in victory 51:30 Sin's curse has lost its grip on me 51:36 For I am His and He is mine 51:41 Bought with the precious blood of Christ 51:54 No guilt in life, no fear in death 52:00 This is the power of Christ in me 52:05 From life's first cry to final breath 52:10 Jesus commands my destiny 52:15 No power of hell, no scheme of man 52:20 Can ever pluck me from His hand 52:28 Till He returns to take me home 52:34 Here in the power of Christ I'll stand 52:38 No power of hell, no scheme of man 52:44 Can never pluck me 52:47 From His hand 52:54 Here in the power 52:57 Of Christ 53:03 I'll stand 53:13 Here in the power of Christ I stand. 53:18 I was only 17 years old. 53:22 I knew little about the kingdom of God, 53:26 little about the Bible, little about Jesus. 53:30 I was brought up in a religious home. 53:33 My parents helped me to understand 53:36 the basic principles of righteousness and morality. 53:40 My father had become a Sabbath keeping Adventist, 53:44 but I was attending the Catholic Church 53:48 and although I learned 53:49 the basic principles of morality, 53:52 although I learned the basic principles of righteousness, 53:55 honesty, integrity, and I thank God for that. 53:59 I never really understood the Bible, 54:02 never made a complete decision to follow Christ. 54:06 I really listened to the priests 54:07 as my source of religious authority. 54:11 But then when I was about 17, 54:15 my father who had recently become 54:18 a committed Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 54:21 began sharing Jesus with me. 54:23 And I began to see that in Christ alone 54:27 I had a leader, a ruler, one of authority. 54:31 I began to see in my own life that in Christ alone, 54:34 I could have one that would forgive me, 54:37 one that could accept me, one that would change me. 54:41 I began to study His Word, 54:43 and I found in His Word the source of strength, 54:46 the source of authority. 54:49 It was not easy to step out for Jesus Christ, 54:54 to step out from friends, 54:56 to step out from some family members. 54:59 You know, when we make a decision for Christ, 55:02 it's not always the easiest thing in our life. 55:06 Sometimes there are struggles, 55:08 and as you have watched this telecast, 55:10 you may sense the Holy Spirit working in your life. 55:13 You may sense God leading you 55:16 to make the most important decision of your life, 55:20 to cast aside tradition, 55:22 to cast aside those teachings 55:27 that are not in harmony with the Word of God. 55:29 God may be calling you to make a step in your life, 55:34 not to have a priest, a prelate, a pastor, 55:40 or any other religious leader 55:42 as the sole religious authority in your life. 55:46 He may be calling you right now and is calling you 55:50 to make Jesus and Jesus alone your savior, 55:54 to make Christ Word 55:56 as the source of your authority. 55:59 He is calling you to make that positive choice 56:03 to follow Jesus now and forever 56:06 and to live in harmony with His Word. 56:08 Would you like to make that choice right now? 56:10 Would you like to say, Jesus, I don't want to be deceived 56:14 by a mastermind cult at the end. 56:16 Christ is preparing a people now 56:20 who step out of the majority and stand for Him. 56:24 Would you say, Jesus, I choose You today. 56:28 I choose Your teachings today. 56:30 I choose Your Word today. 56:33 By Your grace and through Your power, I'll stand for you. 56:35 Do you like to make that decision as we pray? 56:37 Father in heaven, thank You for the call 56:42 to step out of falsehood, 56:45 thank You for the call of Jesus 56:47 to make Christ number one in our lives, 56:50 the sole source of our authority. 56:51 Thank You for Your Word 56:53 which is light on the road ahead 56:55 that dispels darkness and falsehoods. 56:58 Father, we open our hearts to You right now. 57:01 I pray for that man, that woman 57:03 on the verge of decision. 57:04 I pray for that man, that woman 57:06 right now in that valley, 57:08 trying to choose which way to go 57:10 at the crossroads of their life. 57:12 Touch them right now, 57:13 may they make that full decision to follow Jesus 57:19 and His Word now and forever more until eternity comes 57:23 and Christ returns, 57:24 in His name we pray, amen. 57:27 Thank you for joining us 57:28 on Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. |
Revised 2018-06-28