Participants:
Series Code: RAD
Program Code: RAD170020A
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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 for today, 00:09 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 The Book of Revelation answers our deepest questions. 00:27 It reveals God's plans for the future. 00:30 The Book of Revelation written by John on the Island of Patmos 00:33 at the end of the first century 00:35 takes us down the stream of time, 00:38 takes us down the epics of time, 00:41 takes us through history to reveal 00:43 the mighty hand of God in every generation. 00:47 Our Bible study in Revelation today takes us 00:50 to the Four Horsemen of Revelation. 00:53 Your eyes will be opened as the spirit touches you 00:57 with the magnificent truths of the Four Horsemen. 01:00 Let's pray. 01:02 Father in heaven, thank You so much for Jesus. 01:06 Thank You for Him revealing these truths to us. 01:10 As we open the pages of Scripture, 01:12 as we see the revelation of God in history, 01:17 guide us, we pray Thee, closer to You. 01:20 May we make those eternal changes 01:22 and decisions in our life 01:24 that will be decisions that will impact our destiny. 01:29 We pray in Christ's name. Amen. 01:32 My topic is, why are there 01:34 so many different denominations? 01:37 If there is one God, one faith, one Bible, 01:41 where did all these 01:42 different denominations come from? 01:44 And how did we get this confusing array of churches? 01:49 One thing is for certain, 01:51 the average person is bewildered 01:54 by this confusing array of churches. 01:57 If you just take the phonebook and you start with "A", 02:00 you go to assembly of God and past the age, 02:02 you go to the B's, the Baptists, and pass the B's, 02:05 you go to the church of Christ, and pass the C's, 02:08 you go to the disciples of Christ. 02:09 And well, maybe these every man's religion 02:11 but you go down the whole alphabet of religions 02:14 and you end up with the Zionists. 02:16 But where did 02:18 all these different churches come from? 02:19 Is it God's intent for there to be 02:22 this bewildering array of churches? 02:26 How can you...? 02:28 Have you ever wondered 02:29 how can I find the truth with all these churches? 02:31 And let's suppose, 02:33 you're moving into a new city and you go to the Yellow Pages. 02:36 You say, "Where do I choose a church? 02:38 How do I find a church?" 02:40 If you would have to look 02:41 through every different denomination 02:44 and all of their beliefs, 02:47 you would become quite confused. 02:49 In fact, it would take you a lifetime. 02:51 So you never go to the church 02:53 to find out what the Bible teaches, 02:55 rather you go to the Bible to find out what truth is. 02:59 And then you find a church teaching 03:01 in harmony with the Bible. 03:03 Now let me clarify that. 03:04 You see, if you had to go to the church to find out 03:08 what the Bible teaches and you'd have to go 03:11 through all of these varying churches 03:13 one after the other, after the other. 03:15 And maybe it takes you a year to study the doctrines of one 03:18 and then a year to study the doctrines of another. 03:20 And then pretty soon, what happens? 03:24 All of your time is consumed. 03:27 But if you go to the Bible and you raise that question, 03:31 what says the Bible? 03:33 The blessed Bible to me, 03:35 this my only question be what says the Bible, 03:39 the blessed Bible to me? 03:41 So you first go to the Bible to try to discover 03:44 what the church ought to teach not in reverse. 03:49 Bible prophecy clearly reveals 03:53 why there is so many different denominations. 03:56 Bible prophecy, specifically the Book of Revelation 04:00 lets us know just what Scripture teaches 04:06 about where these different denominations came from. 04:10 Revelation's Four Horsemen reveals the future 04:14 of Christianity. 04:17 These four horsemen take us down 04:19 the stream of time. 04:21 Now here is a prophetic principle 04:23 in all time sequence prophecy. 04:27 When you look at the time prophecy say of Daniel, 04:30 the prophecy always begins where the prophet is. 04:34 Remember the great image of Daniel 2 04:37 with the head of gold, the breasts and arms of silver, 04:41 the thighs of brass, 04:42 the legs of iron, the feet of iron and clay. 04:44 That prophecy begins in Daniel's day. 04:48 That's true with the prophecies of the four beasts in Daniel 7, 04:53 and it's true also with the 11th chapter 04:55 in the Book of Daniel. 04:57 When you come to the Book of Revelation 04:59 and you look at chapters 2 and 3, 05:01 the seven churches, 05:02 they begin where the prophet is. 05:04 When you come to the trumpets, 05:05 they begin where the prophet is. 05:07 The same with the prophecy of the seven seals 05:12 or the four horsemen. 05:13 They always begin in the first century 05:16 where the prophet is. 05:17 These four horsemen described in Revelation 05:21 reveal four successive ages in the history of the church. 05:26 Four successive time periods, 05:29 one that follows right after the other 05:32 from the first century to our generation. 05:35 In Revelation 6:1, 05:38 the seals are opened and looking here, 05:41 it says, "Now I saw 05:43 when the Lamb opened one of the seals." 05:47 So who is the Lamb? Who is that, everybody? 05:50 The Lamb of God of course is Jesus Christ. 05:53 He's the great Lamb of Revelation mentioned 05:56 more than 27 times in the Book of Revelation. 06:00 So the Lamb is opening the seals, 06:02 Jesus Christ is revealing to you, 06:04 He's revealing to me 06:06 what's going to happen down the stream of time. 06:09 He's revealing what's going to happen 06:11 to the Christian church 06:12 in each successive generation of history. 06:17 So the Lamb of God, Christ, is opening the seals. 06:20 If Jesus is opening the seals for you and for me, 06:23 don't you think it's quite important for us 06:25 to understand them and study them? 06:27 The first seal opens and it says, 06:29 "I heard one of the four living creatures saying 06:31 with a voice like thunder, 'Come and see."' 06:34 The beings in heaven say to you and me, 06:37 "Come and see. 06:38 Come and take a look at these seals. 06:40 Come and understand these seals. 06:42 Come with us as we unlock 06:44 the mystery of these seals." 06:47 What does the first seal, 06:49 when it's opened, what does it say? 06:50 "And I looked, and behold, a white horse. 06:53 And he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, 06:57 and he went forth to conquer and conquering." 07:01 Notice what the Bible says that the first seal opens 07:06 and there's a rider on a white horse. 07:09 When a Roman General conquered the enemy, 07:12 he always came back to Rome riding 07:15 through the streets of Rome triumphantly victoriously 07:20 on a white horse. 07:21 So the symbol of a white horse is the symbol of triumph, 07:25 it's the symbol of victory. 07:27 New Testament Christianity was triumphant. 07:30 White is also a symbol of apostolic purity. 07:34 When Jesus comes 07:36 and He comes riding on a white horse 07:39 with white horses, 07:40 a symbol of purity and righteousness triumphing 07:44 over wickedness and evil. 07:45 So when you look at the first century church, 07:47 it was pure, its members were faithful 07:50 to the living Word of God. 07:53 It was based on the truth of God's Word 07:56 and that church New Testament believers 07:59 went forth conquering and to conquer everywhere. 08:02 So what does the white horse represent? 08:05 This rider on the white horse 08:07 who gallops across the sky with a bow, 08:11 who gallops across the sky triumphing, 08:14 it represents a powerful and pure faith. 08:18 What a description of New Testament Christianity 08:21 from AD 31 to a 100, 08:24 a pure faith, a powerful faith, 08:26 a faith that goes everywhere triumphing 08:30 over the principalities and powers of hell. 08:32 The white horse seal opens, 08:35 represents this conquering faith 08:38 of New Testament. 08:40 You know, one Roman writer put it this way 08:42 describing the New Testament church, 08:45 he said, "You Christians are everywhere. 08:47 You're in our armies, you're in our navies, 08:50 you're in the marketplace and the shops, 08:53 you're in our senate, our universities. 08:55 You are everywhere." 08:58 In fact, one of the early Roman writers wrote back 09:02 to the governor and he said to the governor, 09:06 "These Christians have..." 09:09 He actually said, 09:10 "This infection of Christianity has influenced 09:14 even the smallest villages in the Empire." 09:18 So when you see New Testament Christianity, 09:21 it had a powerful impact on Roman society. 09:26 The story, in fact, is told of 20 09:30 of the leading guards of Rome. 09:34 These were part of the honor guard of Rome. 09:38 These 20 guards became Christians, 09:41 gave their lives to Christ 09:42 and worshiped the living Christ. 09:45 And as they did, they were arrested. 09:48 Another 20 were found. They were arrested. 09:52 They were taken out to a lake in Northern Italy. 09:55 That Lake was now filled with ice, 09:57 it was cold, it was a winter time, 10:00 the ice on the lake a foot two feet thick, 10:04 snow had fallen around the side of the lake, 10:06 temperatures were sub-freezing temperatures 10:10 down in the teens. 10:11 And these 40 men, 40 of the honor guard of Rome, 10:16 40 of those that guarded the Caesar of Rome 10:19 were taken in the center of the lake 10:21 and they were told, 10:22 "We're going to have a fire on the shore, 10:25 and if you desire to save your life, 10:28 if you desire to live, 10:32 all you need to do is deny Christ, 10:34 and you can come to this fire and be warm. 10:37 But if you move from the center of that lake 10:39 without denying Christ, 10:41 you'll be slain with the sword." 10:44 These men circled together, 10:47 huddled together at the centre of the lake, 10:49 and they began to sing 40 wrestlers for Thee, 10:53 O Christ, 10:54 to Thine be the honor, to Thine be the glory, 10:58 Thy name be exalted as they sang through the night, 11:02 they shivered. 11:04 Some of them were facing, freezing to death, 11:08 one of these broke ranks. 11:11 He began to go toward the fire for the warmth. 11:15 He could not stand the cold any longer. 11:18 And as he did, the song began to echo through the air, 11:22 39 wrestlers for Thee, O Christ, 11:25 39 wrestlers for Thee, O Christ, 11:27 to Thine be the honor, to Thine be the glory. 11:30 Then the captain of the Roman guard 11:35 standing by the fire saw 11:38 the faith of these 39, 11:42 he said, "I too will accept Christ." 11:45 He left the warmth of the fire, 11:46 went out into the center of that lake, cold, 11:50 and that song went up again, 40 wrestlers for Thee, 11:53 O Christ, to Thine be the glory. 11:55 One of the early Christian writers, 11:57 Tertullian, put it this way, 11:58 "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the gospel." 12:02 They are in the New Testament, "Nothing could stop 12:06 the progress of first century Christianity, 12:10 armed with the Word of God, 12:13 their minds filled with the truth of God, 12:16 consumed with a passion for Christ, 12:19 they went everywhere. 12:20 Acts 2, 3,000 are baptized into Christ. 12:24 Acts 4, 5,000 more added. 12:27 And you come down and the gospel leaps across 12:29 geographical boundaries, it penetrates the Middle East, 12:33 penetrates Asia, penetrates Europe. 12:35 God is working a miracle in the white horse period. 12:38 You see, my friend, 12:40 when men and women do not compromise truth 12:44 in their own life the church's power, 12:47 why at times today. 12:49 As the church become powerless, why at times today has society 12:54 and culture impacted the church? 12:57 Because when you drift away from the Word of God, 12:59 when you drift away from Christ's passion 13:02 and to have this passion for Christ, 13:04 when religion becomes external, 13:07 then the church loses its power. 13:10 But here in the four seals, 13:12 the four horsemen, the scene changes. 13:15 The devil knows he must do something. 13:17 So we go to the red horse period. 13:19 The Bible says, "Another horse, fiery red went out. 13:22 And it was granted to the one 13:24 who sat on it to take peace from the earth, 13:28 and that people should kill one another. 13:31 There was given to him a great sword." 13:33 The red horse period. 13:35 Persecution comes upon the church, 13:38 the devil sees the church going forward powerfully, 13:41 the devil wants to stop 13:42 that onward motion of the church. 13:44 So the red horse period, bloodshed, conflict come, 13:49 peace is taken from the earth. 13:51 The state powers of Rome persecute the church. 13:56 Christians are brought to the Coliseum, 13:59 some thrown to lions there. 14:01 They brought to Circus Maximus, the great horse-racing stadium. 14:06 And they are told to deny their faith, 14:09 taken in that stadium chained, 14:11 chained one arm, chained one foot, 14:13 put to a horses here, chained this arm, 14:16 chained this leg, horses here, and the Christian is told, 14:20 "Unless you recant of your faith, 14:23 the horses will run in opposite directions. 14:25 You'll be torn apart." 14:26 But yet in the midst of that persecution, 14:30 in the midst of being cast to lions, 14:32 in the midst of being killed with the sword, 14:35 in the midst to be torn apart, not only by wild beasts 14:38 but in those horse racing stadiums, 14:43 Christians were faithful to God. 14:45 And their persecution only showed 14:48 the truthfulness of their faith. 14:50 The red horse period is a blood-stained phase, 14:53 faith from a 100 to 313 AD, 14:56 particularly the 10-year persecution of Diocletian 14:59 from 303 to 313 AD. 15:03 The devil knows, I must do something. 15:05 So what happens? 15:06 The white horse period, 15:08 the pure faith gives ray to the red horse period, 15:10 the blood-stained faith. 15:11 But then another horse marches across the sky, 15:15 the black horse period. 15:17 And here in this black horse period, 15:19 faith compromised. 15:21 Revelation 6:5, "When He opened the third seal, 15:26 I heard the third living creature say, 15:27 'Come and see.'" 15:28 And I say to you, my friend, come and see. 15:31 Come and see the history of Christianity 15:33 during this period. 15:34 "So I looked, and behold, a black horse, 15:37 and he who sat on it 15:39 had a pair of scales in his hand." 15:41 The church is weighed in the balance 15:43 and found wanting. 15:44 This is the period of the fourth, fifth, 15:46 and sixth centuries. 15:48 Compromise comes into the Christian church, 15:50 pagan practices come into the Christian church, 15:53 church and state unites at this period. 15:57 "So I looked," he says, "and behold a black horse 16:00 who sat on had a pair of scales in his hand." 16:03 Satan's strategy was to introduce compromise 16:07 to lead the church to adopt pagan practices. 16:11 The devil knew that he could not destroy 16:15 the church merely through persecution. 16:18 These Christians were solid in their faith for Christ. 16:22 These Christians were stalwart in their faith for Christ. 16:26 These Christians were courageous 16:28 in their faith for Christ. 16:30 So the devil had to decide on another strategy. 16:33 What was that strategy? 16:35 Bringing compromise into the church. 16:39 And so from AD 313 to approximately AD 537 16:43 and 38, we see a compromised faith. 16:47 We see pagan practices and the practices not found 16:52 in the Bible tradition 16:54 coming into the Christian church 16:56 from a pure faith in the white horse period, 16:59 to a red horse of blood-stained faith, 17:02 to the black horse of the compromised faith. 17:05 From the first century to the fourth century, 17:08 things in the Christian church begin to dramatically change. 17:11 Now the Bible predicted this. 17:13 The Apostle Paul actually predicted 17:15 that this would happen. 17:17 Acts 20:29-30 and Paul said this, 17:21 "For I know this, 17:22 that after my departure grievous wolves 17:26 will enter into the flock." 17:28 That is persecution would come from without, 17:32 that is the church would be persecuted, 17:35 torn apart, the sword, fire, 17:40 men and women who stood 17:42 for Christ being cast to the lions. 17:45 That would take place. 17:47 But after that, 17:48 notice what the Apostle Paul says, 17:51 "Also from your own selves will men rise up..." 17:54 From your own selves, who was he talking to? 17:56 He was addressing the leadership 17:58 of the Christian church. 17:59 He was addressing the elders of the church. 18:02 And he said, "From within your own communion, 18:06 your own fellowship, 18:07 there were those men that rise up. 18:09 They'll speak perverse things," what's perverse? 18:12 What's perverse? It's crooked. 18:13 They'll speak crooked things, 18:15 deceitful things to draw away disciples after them. 18:18 So here the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:29-30 18:22 makes two predictions. 18:24 One that persecution would come in to the Christian church. 18:28 Two, in addition to the persecution 18:31 that came in to the Christian church 18:33 that there would be an apostasy within the church, 18:37 that falsehoods would come in, that errors would come in. 18:41 Indeed, history reveals that that took place. 18:44 The teachings of men were substituted 18:47 for the teachings of the Word of God. 18:50 What happened? How did that happen? 18:52 The Roman Empire by this time was falling apart, 18:55 and the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine 18:57 tried to discover a way to unite his empire. 19:00 The barbarian tribes 19:01 were coming down from the north, 19:03 the Huns, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, the Alemanni, 19:07 the Suevi, and so forth. 19:09 They were coming down. 19:11 Many of these were being Christianized. 19:14 So to make Christianity more attractive 19:18 to the pagans, 19:19 the pagan emperor Constantine and the church leaders together 19:23 began to make compromises. 19:25 Images were brought into the church. 19:27 The pagans were used to worshipping images. 19:30 Sunday worship came into the church 19:32 during this period of time. 19:34 The Bible says 19:36 that what would happen here Daniel 8:12, 19:39 "He cast truth down to the ground." 19:41 That's this church state power, 19:43 the little horn or what would be called 19:45 the antichrist power in these days. 19:47 "He cast down truth to the ground. 19:49 He did all this and prospered." 19:51 So church and state would unite in these early centuries 19:55 and as it did, it would grow strong, 19:58 truth would be compromised. 20:00 I like the way James Russell Lowell 20:02 puts it in his poem, 20:04 "Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne. 20:09 Yet that scaffold sways the future 20:11 and beyond the dim 20:13 unknown standeth God keeping watch over His own." 20:18 God always watches over His children 20:20 even in days of compromise. 20:22 Now in the Development of Christian doctrine, 20:24 page 372, this historian writes, 20:29 "We are told by Eusebius," 20:30 Eusebius was one 20:32 of the early historians of Rome, 20:33 "that Constantine, 20:35 in order to recommend the new religion," 20:38 that's Christianity, "to the heathen," 20:40 so Constantine and the church leaders want 20:43 to recommend Christianity to the heathen. 20:45 What do they do? 20:47 "Transferred into it the outward ornaments 20:50 to which they had been accustomed 20:51 in their own." 20:53 Now don't miss this. 20:54 So Constantine unites with the Christian church. 20:58 He wants to, he desires to have the heathen converted. 21:03 And so what do they do, 21:04 they transfer the ornaments that is the images of paganism, 21:09 the rights of paganism, 21:10 the worship of paganism into the Christianity 21:16 to try to make Christianity more attractive to paganism. 21:20 This really is a compromise period. 21:23 Salvation through Christ, the simplicity of the gospel, 21:28 the teachings of the Word of God 21:31 were replaced by the requirements 21:34 of the church. 21:36 You know, in Ephesians 2:8, it says, 21:38 "By grace are you saved through faith, 21:40 it is the gift of God and not of yourselves." 21:44 So that simplicity of the gospel 21:47 was substituted for the teachings of men 21:51 and the complexity of human tradition, 21:54 the church grew large, large cathedrals were built, 21:58 requirements were placed upon Christian believers 22:02 that were never found in Scripture, 22:04 the lighting of candles, 22:06 the bringing of money to gain indulgences 22:09 as penance for sin, 22:13 kneeling before images, and worshipping those images, 22:18 the taking of incense, 22:20 and offering that as some form of righteousness. 22:23 These works came into the church 22:26 and salvation by grace 22:28 through faith was substituted for the works of man. 22:32 During the age of compromise, 22:34 the pagan's day of the sun replaced the Bible Sabbath. 22:38 Now that might surprise you, and you might say, 22:41 "Why do so many people worship on Sunday 22:44 rather than the Bible Sabbath? 22:45 Where does that come from?" 22:47 You know, in Genesis it's clear. 22:48 God says, "Remember there the Sabbath." 22:51 He sanctified the Sabbath. 22:53 He blessed the Sabbath, He rested upon the Sabbath. 22:57 Remember in Genesis 2:1-3, 22:59 it says, "And on the seventh day 23:01 God finished all the work that He had made, 23:03 and God blessed the seventh day, 23:05 and God sanctified the seventh day, 23:07 and God rested upon the seventh day." 23:09 He gave it right at creation 23:11 before the Jewish race ever existed, 23:12 and He gave it to Adam and Eve. 23:14 And you remember in the Ten Commandments 23:15 written with God's own finger on tables of stone, 23:19 Exodus 20:8-11, 23:21 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 23:23 So all through the Old Testament, 23:25 the Sabbath was the day of God as opposed to sun worship 23:29 by the heathens. 23:31 And then in the New Testament, Luke 4:16, the Bible says, 23:34 "As his custom was Genesis went into the synagogue." 23:37 He went there to worship on the Bible Sabbath. 23:40 The disciples kept the Sabbath 23:41 but look how was the Sabbath changed. 23:45 Here's the history of the Eastern Church, 23:47 page 184. 23:49 It's describing how this Sabbath was changed. 23:52 "The retention 23:54 of the old pagan name of Dies Solis," 23:57 Dies means day, so a Sunday, 23:59 "for Sunday, is in a great measure 24:02 owing to the union," owing to the union of what? 24:06 "Pagan and Christian sentiment 24:09 with which the first day of the week was recommended 24:11 by Constantine to his subjects Pagan 24:14 and Christian alike, 24:16 as the 'venerable' day of the sun." 24:19 So notice what history says, there is no question 24:23 about how Sabbath was changed, not by God. 24:26 He says, "I am the Lord. I changed not." 24:30 Malachi 3. 24:31 Not by Jesus, 24:33 He says in the Book of Hebrews 13:8, 24:36 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday and forever." 24:39 Not by the disciples, Acts 5:20-29, 24:43 "We ought to obey God rather than men." 24:46 How did the Sabbath get changed? 24:47 By a union, a synthesis, 24:50 a bringing together of pagan 24:54 and Christian sentiments. 24:56 So the pagans were worshiping the sun god, 24:59 some Christians had started worshiping on Sunday, 25:01 the first day, in honor of the resurrection. 25:03 Now the Bible never tells us to do that, 25:05 of course, the symbol of the resurrection is baptism. 25:08 Romans 6 says, "We go into the watery grave 25:10 and we come out resurrected into this new life of Christ." 25:13 So compromises came into the church 25:15 during the black horse period. 25:18 Satan's master strategy 25:21 was to influence powerful church leaders 25:24 to unite with powerful state leaders 25:27 in the black horse period and that happened. 25:29 And once that happened, 25:31 the church began to lose its spiritual power. 25:36 In A Doctrinal Catechism, page 174, 25:39 with the imprimatur of the Pope of Rome 25:42 by Stephen Keenan, the question is asked, 25:46 "Have you any other way of proving 25:50 that the church has power 25:51 to institute festivals of precept?" 25:53 In other words, the question is raised, 25:57 how can the church have authority 26:00 to establish all these holy days 26:02 where if you don't go that sin, you know, to church? 26:04 How can the church do that? 26:06 So the author is arguing here's why, 26:08 "Had she not such power, she could not have done 26:12 that in which all modern religionists 26:15 agree with her." 26:16 Well, what is it 26:18 that all modern religionists agree with? 26:19 "She could not have substituted 26:22 the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, 26:25 for the observance of Saturday the seventh day of the week." 26:29 Are you getting 26:30 the significance of this, my friend? 26:32 Here in the Catechism to uphold 26:35 the authority of Rome, 26:38 Steven Keenan, the author says, 26:40 that one of the evidences that the Church of Rome 26:43 has authority over Christianity 26:47 is that she has changed the Sabbath 26:50 from Saturday the seventh day to Sunday the first day. 26:54 "A change," the Catechism says, 26:57 "for which there is no Scriptural authority." 27:00 On that point I agree with the Catechism, 27:02 there is no scriptural authority. 27:05 There is no clear command at all in the New Testament 27:10 that says the Sabbath was changed 27:13 from the seventh day to the first day of the week. 27:15 When did this happen? 27:16 During the compromise period, during the black horse period. 27:20 The Bible predicted indeed that these pagan practices 27:24 such as sun worship would enter 27:27 into the Christian church during this period of time. 27:30 That leads us to the fourth horse, 27:33 the pale horse. 27:35 Now the pale is a symbol of death, 27:38 and by this time, 27:39 we've gone down the sequence of the ages. 27:42 And now Christianity 27:44 during what's now known as the Dark 27:46 or Middle Ages is experiencing death. 27:50 Look, Revelation 6:8, 27:53 "So I looked, and behold, a pale horse." 27:55 What kind of a horse, everybody? 27:57 A pale horse, death. 27:59 "And the name of him 28:00 who sat on it was Death, and Hades," 28:02 that's the grave, "followed with him. 28:05 And powers given to them over a fourth of the earth, 28:07 to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, 28:10 and by the beasts of the earth." 28:11 In other words, church and state had united. 28:15 Anytime the church unites with the state, 28:19 it turns from its true lover Jesus Christ. 28:22 And when the church and state unite 28:25 and the church goes to the state for its power, 28:27 it's because it's lost its godliness, 28:31 it's lost its genuine authority that comes from God, 28:35 and it's lost truly its Holy Spirit power. 28:38 Church and state unite. When they do what happens? 28:41 Typically what happens when church and state unite 28:43 is that there is persecution for those 28:47 who have not gone along, 28:48 who've not accepted this church state union. 28:53 And so power is given. 28:55 So there's persecution that occurs. 28:57 During the black horse period, there was compromise. 29:01 During the pale horse period, there was spiritual death. 29:04 The church grew large. 29:06 The church became 29:07 the major institution of the state. 29:10 But although it had these large edifices, 29:13 there was a lack of spirituality, 29:16 a lack of genuine authentic godliness. 29:19 In fact, in the History of Christianity, 29:21 century 2, chapter 2, section 7, 29:24 there is this statement about Christianity in the Dark Ages. 29:29 It's a remarkable statement. 29:30 "Christianity became an established religion 29:34 in the Roman Empire..." 29:36 Now I want to remind you, this is the historian speaking. 29:39 "And took the place of Paganism... 29:42 Christianity as it existed in the Dark Ages 29:46 might be termed Baptized Paganism." 29:51 What a term, baptized paganism. 29:54 When you bring in these pagan practices 29:57 to the church, 29:58 when you bring in these traditions 30:00 to the church, 30:01 when you bring in the teachings of men 30:03 that substitute for the Word of God, 30:05 what do you have? 30:07 You don't have Christianity. 30:08 You have a weakened faith 30:10 if you can call it a faith at all. 30:12 You have a weakened faith and you have baptized paganism. 30:16 Here we have the pale horse period 30:18 from about 538 AD to 1798. 30:23 But wait, would truth be cast down forever? 30:27 It took about 500 years to go into this period 30:30 from the white horse period of pure faith 30:33 when the church goes forth conquering and to conquer, 30:35 preaching the Word of God, uplifting Jesus Christ, 30:38 faithfully obedient to Him from AD 331 to AD 100. 30:42 The red horse period, blood-stained faith, 30:45 AD 100 to 313, 30:49 black horse period compromised faith, 30:51 AD 313 to AD 538. 30:54 Pagan practices, 30:56 traditions come into the church, compromise, 30:58 but then there is spiritual death, 31:00 the pale horse period about AD 538 to AD 1798, 31:05 what we would call a dead faith. 31:08 There's the union of church and state 31:11 during this period of time. 31:14 True Christianity is being squelched, 31:17 men and women 31:19 during this period of time are chained, 31:21 they're burned again, persecution is revived. 31:25 What are some of those steps that led to this compromise? 31:29 First, you'll find in leading this compromise, 31:32 there were traditions, 31:34 the traditions of men came into the church. 31:36 There were penances. What are penances? 31:39 When you go on long pilgrimages to earn your salvation. 31:43 Many of these Christian pilgrims 31:45 would go on their knees, 31:47 some of them coming to Rome with blood-stained knees, 31:50 some of them fasting long periods of time, why? 31:54 Desiring to earn their salvation. 31:57 Indulgences, what are indulgences? 32:01 Indulgences are grants by the popular Roman church 32:07 for forgiveness of sin 32:09 based on a certain amount of money 32:11 that one might give. 32:13 You see, the church believed this, 32:15 that if you weren't good enough to go to heaven 32:18 and you weren't bad enough to go to hell, 32:20 you'd end up in a place called purgatory. 32:23 And according to the teaching 32:24 of the Roman Church at that time, 32:26 purgatory was a place between heaven and hell 32:28 where you would burn 32:30 and be consumed of all your sin. 32:33 You would be purged of sin in purgatory. 32:36 Now depending on how much you had sinned, 32:38 that would be depending about how long you'd suffer. 32:41 Now you can imagine. 32:42 The average person didn't believe 32:43 they were good enough to go to heaven. 32:45 They weren't righteous like the saints. 32:46 They thought they're probably not bad enough to go to hell 32:48 but they thought that 32:49 they would be burned in purgatory 32:52 and they would be consumed there... 32:54 Their sin would be consumed there. 32:56 Think about it if that was your understanding, 32:58 and one could get out of there by paying money. 33:01 Wouldn't you sell a lot to pay money 33:03 not to live in purgatory? 33:04 That's what indulgences were. Images came into the church. 33:08 You take the image of Apollo, 33:11 the image of Zeus, change their names to Peter. 33:14 Take the image of Venus and change her name to Mary. 33:18 Bring those things into the church. 33:19 All this is taking place during the Dark Ages. 33:23 You got the church hierarchy 33:24 whose authority takes the place of the Bible. 33:27 You have human dogmas and human traditions. 33:29 And so you have this Dark Ages, 33:31 truth of God has been stamped down. 33:33 But would the truth be stamped down forever? 33:36 Would God's truth be trodden down always? 33:40 Would there be voices 33:41 that came to uphold and uplift that truth? 33:45 Jude, "Beloved, while I was very diligent 33:48 to write to you concerning our common salvation," 33:51 the Bible writer says, 33:53 "I found it necessary to write to you exhorting," 33:55 that means encouraging, 33:56 "urging you to contend earnestly 33:59 for the faith that was once delivered 34:01 to the saints." 34:03 Earnestly contend for the faith delivered 34:05 to the saints, uphold the Word of God, 34:09 light would shine in the darkness. 34:12 God would raise up man and women 34:15 whose minds would be captive to the Word of God. 34:19 The Bible would be translated 34:20 into the language of the people. 34:22 The Word of God would be copied, 34:24 and copied, and spread. 34:26 And although there would be fierce opposition, 34:29 although many copies of the Word 34:31 would be seized and burned, there would be those 34:35 that faithfully read God's Word, 34:37 those whose lives would be guided by the Word, 34:40 those that would be obedient to the Word, 34:43 those who would find Christ in the Word 34:46 and come to a new joy and a new peace in their life, 34:50 those who would find new spiritual vitality 34:53 as they obeyed God's Word 34:55 and walked in the light of truth. 34:58 One of these groups in the 1300s 35:03 were the Bible-believing Waldensians. 35:06 Peter Waldo was their leader 35:10 and he began to read the Word of God. 35:12 He had some manuscripts of it 35:13 that he was able to get and read from monasteries. 35:17 And as he began to read, his life was transformed. 35:21 The grace of Christ touched Peter Waldo's heart, 35:25 and he began to share from the Word with others. 35:29 He began to recognize 35:31 that the Word of God had authority, 35:33 that the Word of God was supreme, 35:36 that the Word of God stood high 35:38 and above the teachings of the church. 35:41 This led to persecution, 35:44 this led the Waldenses to flee from Rome, 35:49 and to flee from Italy, and flee from Switzerland, 35:52 and flee from France, 35:54 and they came to the mountains of northern Italy 35:58 and southern France, high there in the Alps. 36:01 They built their stone homes there. 36:04 They were a peace-loving people, 36:07 studied the Word of God there. 36:09 But the armies of Rome often pursued them there. 36:14 The Waldensians would flee high up 36:16 into the mountains. 36:18 Not long ago, I was up in these mountains 36:20 in this very stone hut. 36:23 This is where, in fact, they copied the Word of God. 36:27 I remember sitting at this table. 36:29 And I sat at this table with my own Bible in my hand. 36:33 And as I sat there thinking how free it is in our country, 36:38 the United States, 36:39 in many Western countries today to read 36:42 and have a copy of the Bible. 36:43 I thought of these Waldensians sitting 36:45 at this stone table copying the Bible 36:49 so that they could share it. 36:50 And often these Waldensian women 36:53 whose sons were copying the Bible 36:55 and whose husbands were Waldensian preachers. 36:57 Waldensian women would sew secret pockets 37:00 into the long flowing robes of their children. 37:05 They would hide pages of Scripture 37:07 in those long flowing robes. 37:09 These young men, brilliant and young women 37:11 would go down to the cities of Europe. 37:15 They would go as merchants and artisans. 37:17 They'd sell pots and pans and as they found somebody 37:20 that was honest, 37:21 somebody whose heart was opened, 37:23 somebody whose mind was opened, 37:26 they would share the scriptures with them. 37:28 And soon a little light of truth here 37:29 and soon a little light of truth there. 37:30 Many of the Waldenses enrolled 37:32 in the great universities of Europe. 37:35 And they gathered students around secretly, 37:37 of course, and soon the authorities didn't know 37:39 what was happening, the light of truth was shining. 37:42 And I remember the last time 37:44 I was here in the Waldensian valleys, 37:45 there is one thing I wanted to do. 37:47 I hadn't done it all the other times 37:49 I was at the Waldensian valleys. 37:50 I wanted to climb. 37:52 I wanted to go on the route 37:53 that they went over the mountains, 37:55 where they were pursued by the Roman armies. 37:58 We went down into the cave where they hid. 38:00 Then we began to climb hour after hour 38:03 across the mountains. 38:04 What a journey. What a trip. 38:06 The Waldensians believed in the Bible 38:08 and the Bible only but they did not understand 38:11 or know all the truth. 38:13 You see, it took 500 years for the truth 38:16 to be compromised. 38:18 And so God began to restore 38:19 the truth a little bit in each person's mind. 38:23 God raised up John Huss, Czechoslovakian reformer. 38:27 And he made obedience to God his motto. 38:30 I think that's a great motto, don't you? 38:32 Not obedience to the church, 38:34 not obedience to religious prelates, 38:37 not obedience to religious priests 38:40 or pompous pastors but obedience to God. 38:46 Our first allegiance is to God. 38:49 And John Huss came in conflict with the popular church, 38:54 eventually was burned at the stake 38:57 and martyred for his faith. 39:00 God raised up one reformer after the other. 39:05 Huss stood there at the stake. 39:07 And as he did, they took the dry wood, 39:11 put it around his feet. 39:12 The executioner came 39:16 with the torch and Huss was singing, 39:18 "Lord, have mercy on me." 39:20 Offering up his life, why? 39:23 Because he had obedience to God. 39:25 Then the executioner came around behind him, 39:28 was going to light the flame 39:29 and it is reported that Huss said, 39:31 "My friend, you don't need to come behind me, 39:34 bring the flame to my face 39:36 because if I were afraid, I would not be here." 39:39 But as Huss died for his faith, others stepped forward. 39:44 The reformation was going, 39:45 the Spirit of God was moving and it could not be stopped. 39:49 Light was shining in the darkness. 39:53 God raised up Martin Luther 39:56 who was a priest but who felt tormented. 39:59 He felt agonized, wanted to find peace. 40:02 He would beat himself, flagellate himself, 40:05 whip himself but yet could find no peace. 40:08 Traveled to Rome, he thought I can find peace there. 40:11 Climbed up what was believed to be Pilate staircase 40:15 where the Roman church taught, of course, tradition, 40:18 no foundation in history of Scripture 40:20 that the angels brought the Pilate staircase 40:23 that Christ went up on His knees 40:26 from Jerusalem back to Rome. 40:29 Luther was going up that staircase on his knees, 40:33 and then he heard in his ears the words, 40:35 "The just shall live by faith." 40:38 He left that staircase and came back to his home 40:42 in Wittenberg 40:44 because he knew 40:45 that Christ only was our Savior. 40:48 These words echoed in his ears. 40:51 Romans 1:17, "The just shall live by faith." 40:54 He felt such joy. 40:56 It's not climbing up the staircase on your knees, 40:58 it's not flagellating yourself, it's not fasting for days. 41:01 You know, Luther tells what dream he had one night, 41:04 one night he's sleeping and he has a dream. 41:08 And in that dream, 41:09 Satan appears before him in all of his hideous form. 41:13 And Satan unrolls a scroll. 41:15 And on that scroll were Luther's sins 41:18 and Satan says, "Are these your sins?" 41:21 And Luther trembles. 41:22 He says, "They are. They are. They are." 41:25 "Can you deny they are your sins?" 41:27 "No, I cannot." "Is the wages of sin death?" 41:30 "Yes, it is." "Do you deserve to die?" 41:32 "Yes, I do." 41:34 "Will you receive eternal death?" 41:35 And Luther says, "I'm trembling in that dream." 41:38 Then he notices that the devil's hand 41:41 is over something on the top of that scroll. 41:44 And Luther says, "Move your hand. 41:46 Move your hand." The devil says, "No." 41:48 "Move your hand." "No." 41:49 Finally, "In the name of Jesus, move your hand." 41:51 He moves his hand and it says, 41:52 "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses Martin Luther 41:55 from all his sins." 41:57 Friend of mine, I don't know what guilt fills your life. 42:01 I don't know how condemned you feel. 42:04 I don't know how unclean you feel 42:06 but I know this, 42:07 the blood of Christ will cleanse you 42:09 from all your sins because Acts 4:12, 42:13 "There is no other name under heaven given among men 42:15 by which we must be saved." 42:17 Except the name, the lovely name, 42:19 the beautiful name of Jesus. 42:22 Jesus has never lost a case, and He can save you. 42:25 Light shining through the darkness. 42:28 The Waldensians, the Bible, 42:30 and the Bible alone is the rule of faith. 42:32 John Huss, obedience to God as the motto. 42:36 Martin Luther, grace and faith. 42:39 But not one of these men had all the truth of God. 42:43 The light of truth would penetrate the darkness. 42:46 Just as the sun rises gradually, 42:49 the light of truth was rising. 42:52 Does God turn on all the light at once 42:57 in the morning? 42:58 Does the sun just, boom, come out? 43:00 Look, it took 500 years for the church to go 43:05 from the white horse period to the black horse period 43:08 down to the pale horse period. 43:10 So you have black horse, you have white horse, 43:12 then you have red horse, 43:14 then you have black horse, you have pale horse. 43:15 That whole process took 500 years. 43:21 If God would have led the church out 43:23 of that pale horse period 43:25 and out of that dense deep darkness all at once, 43:29 have you ever walked out 43:30 of a dark room into the sunlight? 43:33 What happens? 43:34 You got to blink and your eyes are blinded. 43:36 So God gradually revealed His truth 43:40 to each generation 43:43 as it was coming out of the period of darkness. 43:45 Why are there so many different denominations? 43:47 Because people camped, they didn't keep moving. 43:50 The Lutheran said, 43:51 "Oh, if Luther believed it, it's good enough for us." 43:53 Hussites, oh, if the Hussites believe it, 43:55 it's good enough for us. 43:56 But God had more truth. He had more light to reveal. 44:00 He was leading His people out of darkness. 44:03 God raised up John Calvin. 44:05 Calvin's special contribution 44:06 was to bring theological truth together, 44:09 to bring biblical truth together. 44:11 He didn't understand everything. 44:12 He actually didn't understand fully religious liberty, 44:14 and he persecuted people 44:16 who were not in harmony with his understanding. 44:19 He'd understand, for example, 44:20 the great truths about the second coming of Christ, 44:24 and the signs of the times, and the way Christ would come. 44:28 He didn't fully understand everything 44:29 about baptism by immersion. 44:31 So what does God do? He uses Calvin. 44:34 He only understood part of the truth 44:36 but God raises up others. 44:38 When John Robinson, 44:42 that great pilgrim preacher, 44:44 stood with his followers on the shores 44:47 there in Holland at the dock and the boat was to sail, 44:51 this is what Robinson said to his followers, 44:54 and it's good counsel for you and me, 44:56 "If God should reveal anything to you 44:59 by any other instrument of His, 45:01 be as ready to receive it as ever you were 45:05 to receive any truth of my ministry. 45:08 For I am confident 45:09 the Lord has more truth and light 45:11 yet to break forth out of His holy word." 45:14 Friend of mine, I would say to you, 45:17 if God reveals more light and truth to you, follow it. 45:21 If God reveals light and truth to you from His Word, 45:25 do not turn your back on it. 45:27 God was leading out of the Dark Ages, 45:30 men and women to the fullness of His truth. 45:33 He raised up the Anabaptists, why? 45:35 Because a truth was long lost sight of, 45:37 what was that truth? 45:39 The truth of baptism. 45:40 You see, Luther still sprinkled, 45:42 he still baptized babies as did others of the reformers. 45:46 But the truth of baptism by immersion 45:50 had been lost sight of. 45:51 So God raised up 45:53 the Anabaptists to restore that truth. 45:55 Often people say to me, 45:56 "Pastor Mark, what do you believe?" 45:58 I believe in the Bible and the Bible only. 46:00 And so in that sense, I'm a Waldensian. 46:03 I believe in obedience to God supremely. 46:06 In that sense, I'm a Hussite. 46:08 I believe in salvation by grace. 46:11 In that sense, I'm a Lutheran. 46:12 I believe that we're supposed to grow in grace. 46:15 In that sense, I'm a Calvinist. 46:16 I believe in baptism by full immersion. 46:18 In that sense, I am a Baptist. 46:21 The Bible says, Matthew 28:19-20, 46:25 "Go therefore 46:26 and make disciples of all nations, 46:28 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 46:31 the Son, and the Holy Spirit," 46:32 Jesus said, "Go and baptize. 46:34 I believe that." 46:35 And men and women who hear the Word of God 46:37 are to follow Christ and be baptized. 46:39 "Teaching them to observe everything 46:41 I've commanded you, 46:42 and lo, I'm with you always, even to the ends of the earth." 46:45 See, Jesus said, "Go to the ends of the earth, 46:48 don't teach part of what I've commanded." 46:50 What does the Scripture say? 46:51 It says, "Teaching them to observe, 46:54 to keep, to do all things that I have commanded you." 46:58 John Wesley was raised up by God. 47:01 The church lacked in holy standards 47:05 and Wesley came along preaching, 47:08 moving powerful sermons for men and women 47:11 to come to their knees to repent of their worldliness, 47:13 to repent of their earthliness, 47:15 to have high and holy standards in their dress, 47:19 in their music, in their entertainment. 47:21 He brought small groups together 47:23 that studied the Word of God to grow 47:25 in the area of sanctification, 47:27 to grow in the area of holiness. 47:29 I believe that God calls His church 47:32 to be separate from the world. 47:34 I believe that God calls His church to high 47:36 and holy standards. 47:39 I believe that God calls His church 47:41 to be distinct. 47:42 A light can only penetrate the darkness 47:46 if light is distinct from the darkness. 47:48 If the church is like the world, 47:50 the world will not be influenced 47:53 by the church and the church 47:54 can't make an impact on the world. 47:56 Do you see what God's strategy was? 47:58 He is leading a people out of the Dark Ages, 48:01 leading a people back to Himself. 48:05 William Miller was raised up by God. 48:07 You see, at this time the church believed 48:12 and religious leaders taught 48:14 that there'd be a thousand year millennial period on earth. 48:18 The church was not preaching the soon coming, 48:21 imminent second coming of Christ. 48:24 See, the Waldensians were brought up 48:27 in the 12 and 1300s to emphasize 48:30 the Bible and the Bible only. 48:31 Huss came along following them to emphasize obedience to God. 48:36 God raised up Martin Luther, 1517, 48:39 nailed the 95 theses on the wall at Wittenberg. 48:45 So Martin Luther is raised up then. 48:49 Then God raises up John Calvin. 48:52 They bring together the systematic theology. 48:57 God raises up the John Wesleys. 49:00 You see, every generation, by now we come to the 1800s 49:03 but the church isn't beating with an urgency. 49:06 The church is complacent 49:08 the idea Christ is going to come to earth. 49:10 He's going to set up His kingdom. 49:12 William Miller begins to study the Word of God. 49:16 And as he does, light dawns on his mind, 49:18 Christ is coming and He's coming soon. 49:20 And all over the world, 49:22 there is this messianic movement 49:24 this sense of the coming of Christ. 49:26 Manuel Lacunza, 49:28 a Catholic priest in South America 49:30 begins to sense Christ is coming, 49:32 writes under the pen name of Rabbi Ben Ezra. 49:35 Edward Irving, 300 church men in the England begins to write, 49:40 three new preachers there, 49:42 Anglicans begin to write about second coming of Christ. 49:47 Johan Bangel in Germany and Joseph Wolfe 49:50 all over the world God was moving, 49:53 there is an Advent movement and God is restoring the truth 49:57 about the second coming of Jesus Christ. 50:00 What was God doing? 50:01 Why are there so many different denominations? 50:03 Because the Waldensians stopped at Waldo, 50:06 and the Hussites stopped at Huss, 50:08 and the Lutheran stopped at Luther, 50:09 and the Calvinists stopped at Calvin, 50:10 and the Baptists say, 50:12 "If we're baptizing by immersion, 50:13 this is good enough for us", and the Methodists say, 50:17 "Oh, we don't go any further than Wesley," 50:20 and then you got the Millerites. 50:21 But what was God doing? 50:23 Restoring the truth about the Bible, about obedience, 50:25 about grace, about growth in Christ, 50:28 about baptism, about holiness, about the second coming? 50:30 But was all that truth restored? 50:33 Not at all. 50:34 God would restore the truth of the Bible Sabbath, 50:38 and in an age of evolution, God would lead men and women 50:43 back to the keeping of His commandments. 50:46 And Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me," do what? 50:50 "If you love Me," do what? "Keep My commandments." 50:53 God would raise up a Sabbath-keeping body 50:58 that would be the capstone of the reformation. 51:01 God would raise up a last day church. 51:04 The Bible says, "Worship Him who made heaven and earth, 51:08 the sea and the springs of water." 51:10 Worship the Creator, 51:11 an end time message in Revelation 51:14 to go to the ends of the earth at a time of evolution. 51:19 Jesus says in Revelation 14:12, 51:21 "Here is the patience of the saints, 51:23 here are they that believe," like the Hussites, 51:25 the Bible and the Bible only, "here at they that believe," 51:30 like the Waldensians and the Hussites, 51:32 the Bible and the Bible only 51:34 and obedience to God as our motto. 51:37 Here are they that believe like Luther, 51:39 salvation by grace alone. 51:42 Here are they that believe like Calvin 51:46 that we need to have a theology, 51:48 a belief system that's not scattered 51:50 but unified together and we must grow in grace 51:54 like Wesley said and be separate from the world. 51:56 Here is a group of people 51:58 that believe that Jesus Christ is coming again. 52:01 Here is a Sabbath keeping body 52:03 that bases their faith on the living Word of God. 52:08 Here is a called out people, 52:10 a people that believe in the Bible 52:12 and the Bible only. 52:14 A people that believe in obedience to God 52:16 as their motto, 52:17 a people that believe in salvation 52:19 by grace through Christ, 52:20 a people that believe that the church is organized 52:24 and it must be a mighty movement 52:26 that goes to the ends of the earth, 52:27 a people that believe in baptism 52:30 by immersion, a people that believe too 52:32 that God has called us to holiness, 52:34 and a people that believe in the second coming of Christ, 52:38 and a Sabbath keeping people. 52:39 There's only one group of people 52:40 like that on the face of the earth 52:42 that I know, friend. 52:43 And that are Seventh-day Adventists. 52:46 Some time ago, there were three men, 52:51 Ridley, Kramer, and Latimer. 52:54 And there they were tried 52:56 for their faith in the Middle Ages, 52:57 God is calling men and women again, 52:59 to have that courage, they were burned at the stake, 53:03 burned at the stake in Oxford. 53:06 And while they were, you, 53:10 Latimer looked over at Ridley and he said, 53:12 "Be of good comfort, 53:14 we shall this day light a candle, 53:17 by God's grace 53:18 that shall never ever be put out." 53:20 Step out for Jesus. The Word of God is true today. 53:23 "The grass withers, the flower fades, 53:26 but the word of our God stands forever." 53:30 You can light a candle, a candle in your home. 53:33 You can light a candle. 53:35 You can light a candle, my friend, a candle of truth. 53:39 You can stand with those... 53:41 You can stand with those 53:43 who are faithful to Christ down through the ages. 53:47 You can stand with the people of God. 53:51 Listen, my friend, 53:53 Jesus Christ will never let you go. 53:57 Jesus Christ will never, never keep you 54:02 from walking in the convictions that you have. 54:07 He will empower you. He will strengthen you. 54:11 He will enable you. 54:13 Some people say, "Well, I'm not sure 54:15 if Jesus is leading me that way." 54:17 My friend, Jesus is leading you that way. 54:20 He is leading you to stand with the Waldenses. 54:26 He is leading you to have God 54:30 and God alone as your leader. 54:33 He is leading you to stand with Huss 54:36 and make obedience to God your motto. 54:39 He is leading you to stand with Luther and say, 54:42 "Jesus, all I want is Your grace. 54:47 All I want is Your grace. 54:50 Lord, I know that salvation can only be 54:53 through Your grace." 54:54 That's where Jesus is leading you. 54:56 He's leading you to stand with these great reformers down 54:59 through the ages. 55:01 He's leading you to stand with Wesley who says, 55:07 "Separation from the world 55:10 is a Christian teaching." 55:14 He's leading you to stand with Miller, 55:17 who said, "Christ is coming. 55:20 We must be ready." 55:22 He's leading you to stand 55:23 with those Sabbath keeping believers 55:26 who've been faithful to God down 55:28 through the centuries. 55:31 Jesus is appealing to you. 55:34 Ridley, and Latimer, and Kramer 55:38 stood in that square, 55:41 stood there in Oxford 55:44 as the wood was placed around them, 55:48 and they said, "We will be faithful to God." 55:53 God is calling you to that faithfulness. 55:56 God is calling you to make that decision. 56:00 Jesus is leading you. 56:03 Would you like to say to Jesus right now, 56:04 "Lord, I'm opening my heart to You. 56:08 I'm not going to camp... 56:10 I'm not going to camp 56:12 where my religious forefathers camped. 56:14 I'm not going to stay where they stayed." 56:18 These reformers were men of truth. 56:22 They were godly men. 56:24 They lived up 56:25 to all of the Word of God they had. 56:29 But God had more truth for them, 56:32 and God has more truth for you. 56:35 Your father, your mother may have lived up 56:37 all the truth they had. 56:39 They were faithful, 56:40 and they'll be saved in God's kingdom. 56:42 But God has something more for you. 56:43 Would you step out and say, 56:45 "Jesus, I'm going to walk with Your end time people?" 56:48 As we pray, Father in heaven, 56:50 thank You for Your wonderful love. 56:53 Thank You for Your grace. Thank You for Your goodness. 56:56 Thank You that You lead us step-by-step, 57:00 that You reveal more light to us, 57:01 that You reveal more truth to us. 57:03 Thank You, Jesus, 57:05 that we can follow You now and forever. 57:08 In Your name, we pray. Amen. 57:10 Thank you for joining us 57:12 for Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 57:16 God has another step for you to take 57:20 in your Christian experience. 57:22 Why not right now say, 57:23 "Jesus, I will take that step." |
Revised 2018-07-06