Participants: Jac Colon
Series Code: RNN
Program Code: RNN000003
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00:19 It was just three weeks before our 27th wedding anniversary
00:25 that was eight years ago 00:28 and in six days we will be celebrating Dena's birthday 00:33 five days my birthday and four days we were scheduled 00:38 to leave for a deluxe luxury vacation 00:42 in Cozumel, Mexico to celebrate it all. 00:46 I had two frequent flyer tickets, 00:49 that's about the only way we can afford to travel like that 00:52 and my father-in-law had a time share 00:55 which he didn't use that year. 00:56 He gave it to us and we booked one week in a luxury resort 01:01 on the southern tip of Cozumel just minutes 01:04 from some of the finest scuba diving in the world. 01:07 It's like going to Mecca, it doesn't get any better 01:10 than that beside a heaven. 01:14 It was Wednesday four days before we are going to leave, 01:17 and then to top it all off just shortly after we got back home 01:21 we are off to Bozeman, Montana to do a Revelation Now meeting. 01:24 Montana one of our favorite places to go. 01:27 Bozeman is at the top of the list. 01:29 So, I mean it doesn't get any better than this. 01:31 We were riding on the crust of the waves, celebrating it all. 01:35 We stopped at the dive shop to pick up our equipment, 01:38 we had taken in, they get cleaned and checked out. 01:41 And on the way back home we had a quick stop 01:43 to make at the doctors office 01:45 because Dena had a little simple procedure done on her neck 01:49 and she need to get some stitches out, 01:51 but the doctor said don't worry those stitches 01:53 aren't going to stop her from being able to dive. 01:56 So we are sitting there in the doctor's office waiting, 01:59 he comes in with the clipboard in his hand. 02:02 Looking down at the floor, 02:04 not even looking at us in the eye, 02:06 shaking his head saying I'm sorry, 02:14 I was wrong but Dena has cancer. 02:22 It's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 02:28 and he said the good news is 02:29 that if you are going to get a cancer, 02:31 this is the one that you want to get. 02:35 We caught it early stage one and we can cure it, it's curable. 02:45 I said, well, we are going to Cozumel, Mexico four days. 02:54 He said, well you really need to stay home 02:56 and get started with the testing, you shouldn't go. 03:03 But in a couple of weeks we are going to Bozeman, Montana 03:07 to do a Revelation Now meeting 03:09 and she is going to be gone for four weeks, five weeks. 03:14 She is not going to be able to go. 03:18 She needs to stay and start her treatment. 03:20 We caught it early but we need to start the treatment. 03:27 And instantly our whole world was totally changed. 03:35 Cancelled the vacation, booked a couple of nights 03:39 in a little motel, just outside of 03:41 Mount Rainier in Packwood, Washington. 03:44 Dena loves that mountain and we just needed some time 03:49 to talk about it, process, what are we going to do now? 03:57 And one of the things I have to deal with was why. 04:05 Why did God lead Dena get cancer? 04:14 She spent her whole life serving Him. 04:18 We have spent 27 years on the road living in RVs 04:23 and sometimes dismal motels, jungle huts, 04:26 unbearable heat, humidity, mosquitoes fighting amoebas 04:31 and all other kinds of diseases 04:33 nearly dying in the jungles, why Dena? 04:38 Why does God let bad things happen to good people? 04:41 It's not that we are so good but at least we are trying, 04:44 a lot of people aren't even trying. 04:47 And they seem to get a free ride. 04:51 But I didn't give up my faith. 04:53 I read that text in James over and over again. 04:56 If anyone is sick, let him call the elders 04:58 anoint him with oil and pray and God will heal 05:01 and I believe that, I clung to that promise 05:04 and so we got home. 05:05 I called all my pastor friends, and I said, look, 05:07 you guys need to come over to our house 05:09 and we need to do it now. 05:10 Because they are going to start the testing 05:12 and I wanted to have that prayer first 05:14 because I knew that God would answer that prayer 05:17 and when the doctors did their testing 05:19 the results would come back and it would be clean, 05:21 there would be no problems. 05:23 So we came together, they anointed her with oil, 05:25 we prayed and went to begin the testing 05:29 and the results came back we were wrong. 05:31 I knew it, it's not stage one, 05:37 it's stage four and there is no cure 05:44 and there is no treatment. 05:46 Radiation won't work because it's widespread, 05:49 it's in her bones now. 05:51 There is no chemo that will cover it, 05:52 so there is a new drug it's called Rituxan, 05:57 you may want to try it but we don't have 05:58 a lot of information on it yet. Why? 06:07 Why does God let bad things happen to good people? 06:16 So open your Bibles, Revelation 12:17. 06:21 "The dragon was angry at the woman and he went off 06:25 to make war against the rest of her offspring, 06:29 those who obey God's commandments 06:31 and hold to the testimony of Jesus." 06:34 The dragon is at war against those who want to be obedient 06:41 to the commandments of God 06:43 and cling to the cross of Jesus Christ. 06:46 The reason that bad things happen to good people 06:51 is because the dragon is attacking 06:54 those who want to be good people. 06:59 Don't miss the connection here. 07:03 The dragon is at war 07:04 with the last of God's people on this earth. 07:08 This is the final chapter, 07:10 the final unfolding of this battle between good and evil. 07:15 And notice again, don't miss this. 07:17 He is at war with those who want to obey God's commandments 07:23 and cling to the testimony of Jesus. 07:26 There is something about the commandments of God 07:29 that arouses the wrath of the dragon 07:33 that he turns against them and those who want to obey them. 07:41 That's the reason that bad things happen to good people, 07:46 it's because the dragon is at war 07:48 with those who want to be good people. 07:52 But that doesn't answer the question 07:54 as to why does God allow it. 07:57 He could prevent the dragon from attacking the people of God. 08:02 He could put a hedge around everyone who wants to be good 08:06 and do right and say dragon, you can't get through the hedge. 08:11 So why does God allow it and in order to answer that question 08:16 we are going to have to go a lot deeper into the Bible, 08:18 I hope you did your homework and you read the Revelation 12 08:22 because we are going to go deep into the word of God. 08:24 Fasten your seatbelts, hold down for dear life. 08:26 Start with Chapter 12:1 08:29 "A great and wonderful sign appeared in heaven, 08:34 a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, 08:37 a crown of twelve stars on her head, 08:39 she was pregnant, cried out in pain 08:42 as she was about to give birth. 08:44 And then another sign appeared in heaven, 08:47 an enormous red dragon with seven heads, 08:50 ten horns, seven crowns on his heads. 08:53 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky 08:57 and flung them down to the earth. 09:02 The dragon stood in front of the woman 09:04 who was about to give birth, 09:05 so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 09:10 She gave birth to a son, a male child, 09:14 who would rule all the nations with an iron scepter. 09:18 And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne." 09:22 Three characters in this prophecy, 09:25 a dragon, a woman and a male child her son. 09:31 And we need to identify all three of those characters 09:35 if we're ever going to understand Revelation 09:38 because they are central to the Book of Revelation. 09:42 Now, I could tell you right now who they are, 09:45 but remember our principles of interpretation. 09:48 So let's review our three keys. 09:50 Number one, the Book of Revelation begins 09:53 with the words the Revelation of whom? Jesus Christ. 09:57 So all the prophecies must centre in 10:00 and focus on Jesus Christ, that's number one. 10:04 Number two the Book or Revelation quotes or alludes 10:07 to the Old Testament in the Bible over how many times? 10:12 You got it, 600 times. 10:14 So that means we have to have a foundation in the Old Testament 10:18 before we can ever understand Revelation. 10:21 You are going to see that one just loud and clear. 10:24 And then number three. 10:27 No private interpretation will do. 10:29 But we know, we want to know the interpretation 10:32 that God intended for us to have. 10:34 And the only way we can do that 10:36 is to let scripture interpret itself. 10:41 So how do you let the scripture interpret itself, tell me? 10:47 Compare scripture with scripture, 10:50 find places in the Bible that talk about those same things 10:54 and line them all up 10:55 and they will all point to the solution 10:58 that is Jesus Christ. 11:01 Now, the fourth key and we will find that again in Revelation 1 11:08 the first few verses look at it with me. 11:10 Verse 1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 11:12 which God gave him to show his servants 11:15 what must soon take place. 11:17 He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 11:22 who testified to everything that he saw." 11:24 Now the words he made it known in Greek actually mean 11:29 that he signified it, 11:31 that's the way the King James translates it, 11:33 but actual Greek means he symbolized it. 11:37 So the Book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus 11:41 which is to show us what must soon take place to signify 11:46 or to symbolize what may soon take place. 11:49 So the Book of Revelation predicts the future 11:52 but it does it by using symbols, 11:55 that means number four 11:57 that in order to understand Revelation, 11:59 you have to recognize, it is a symbolic book 12:04 and you have to interpret the symbols 12:08 and not try to understand it literally. 12:12 What do I mean by that? 12:13 Well for example in the chapter we are studying right now 12:16 in Revelation 12, we discover a great red dragon in the heavens. 12:21 Well, literally that would mean that one day you would walk 12:25 outside of your house, look up into the sky 12:27 and see a big red dragon floating around 12:30 with seven heads and ten horns. 12:32 But, you are never going to look up into the sky 12:35 and see a big red dragon because it is a symbol, 12:38 not a literal description of what's going to happen. 12:40 Are you following me on that? 12:42 All right, so it's symbolic. 12:44 Now how do you interpret the symbols 12:46 because in order to get Revelation 12:48 you have to break the code and interpret the symbols, 12:51 how do you do it and know you are doing it right. 12:53 Number three, no private interpretation, 12:56 compare scripture with scripture. 12:59 Now, let's put those four keys to work 13:01 and you are going to see how powerful it is 13:04 a tool to help you understand the Book of Revelation. 13:07 I'm going to start with the easiest of the three, 13:09 the easiest one is the dragon. 13:12 Now, I could tell you the dragon symbolizes the devil 13:17 and you could believe that 13:19 or you could choose not to believe that. 13:23 Because that's just me talking 13:25 and you don't have to believe every man, 13:27 it's dangerous to follow a man. 13:31 So instead of just believing what I say, 13:32 let's compare scripture with scripture. 13:34 Easy to do, you are not to go very far, 13:36 just turn to verse 9. 13:38 "The great dragon was hurled down that ancient serpent 13:41 called the devil, or Satan." 13:44 Now The Bible says the dragon is a symbol for Satan, 13:47 therefore you have to believe that 13:50 if you want to believe the Bible, see how easy it is. 13:55 Let scripture interpret scripture. 13:57 Now that was an easy one, 13:58 you probably knew that already before we did it. 14:01 Let's turn to one that's a little more difficult 14:04 and that's the child, the male child. 14:08 I see four identifying marks, first of all it's a male, a son. 14:14 The second one, the dragon trying to devour this child 14:17 the moment he was born and on the third one 14:20 he was snatched up to God and to his throne 14:23 and the fourth one is that he would rule all the nations 14:28 with an iron rod like the King James says 14:30 or a iron scepter in the NIV. 14:33 Four identifying marks. 14:35 Now I believe that that male child is Jesus Christ. 14:41 Jesus is the center of all the prophecies. 14:45 But you see you don't have to believe that 14:46 because that just me telling you my interpretation. 14:50 A lot of people teach that it cannot be Jesus Christ 14:54 because the Bible says he rules with an iron rod 14:57 and Jesus wouldn't rule with an iron rod, 15:00 He rules with love. 15:02 Well that makes sense? 15:05 But does it square up with the scripture. 15:08 That's the question, does it square up with the scripture. 15:11 So let's identify who is this child. 15:14 This male child, it says he was male, 15:17 Jesus was a male, that one fits. 15:20 Says the dragon try to devour him the moment he was born. 15:24 The dragon is the devil, we have already identified that Satan, 15:28 he try to devour this child. 15:30 Now, remember the dragon is Satan, 15:32 but Satan never works as Satan. 15:36 He never works as the devil. 15:39 He doesn't go running around in those little red jumpsuits, 15:42 two horns on his head long tail arrow on end, 15:44 pitchfork in his hand. 15:47 He appears masqueraded as an angel of light. 15:53 He works through human instruments. 15:56 This time the Pagan Roman King Herod, 16:03 the Roman King Herod. 16:05 Remember when he discovered that the child was born 16:08 issued a decree in the Book of Matthew 2 16:11 that all baby boys under the age of two would be put to death 16:14 trying to devour that child the moment it was born. 16:18 So the male child fits the dragon 16:20 trying to devour him fits. 16:24 He was snatched up to God and to his throne that one fits 16:27 because Jesus was caught up to God and to his throne, amen. 16:32 But what about that iron rod, 16:35 it says he will rule the nations with an iron rod. 16:38 Hold your place, turn to Revelation 19:11. 16:45 "I saw heaven standing open 16:47 and there before me was a white horse, 16:49 whose rider is called Faithful and True. 16:52 With justice he judges and makes war. 16:54 His eyes are like blazing fire, 16:56 and on his head are many crowns. 16:58 He has a name written on him 16:59 that no one but he himself knows. 17:01 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, 17:03 and his name is the Word of God." 17:05 Who is that? Jesus Christ. 17:08 And just in case you are not sure, look at verse 16. 17:11 "On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: 17:15 King of kings and Lord of lords." 17:18 That's Jesus Christ, amen. 17:20 The rider on the white horse is Jesus Christ 17:23 but watch I skipped verse 15, verse 15 says, 17:26 "Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword 17:29 with which to strike down the nations 17:31 and He will rule them with an iron scepter." 17:37 So Jesus does rule with an iron scepter. 17:40 What does that mean? 17:42 The only way to really understand that is to go back 17:44 because it's quoting the Old Testament, 17:46 that's right, quoting Old Testament, 17:48 Psalm 2 in the 2 Psalm which is a song that was written 17:56 anticipating that the Messiah was going to come 18:00 and they would sing this song looking forward 18:03 to the appearance of the Messiah. 18:06 And listen to what it says in Psalm 2:7 He said to me, 18:12 "You are my Son today I have become your Father. 18:15 Ask with me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, 18:18 the ends of the earth your possession. 18:19 "Now watch, you will rule them with an iron scepter 18:23 and you will dash them to pieces like pottery. 18:28 So Jesus does rule with an iron scepter, 18:31 He smashes the nations to pieces like pottery 18:34 and furthermore we saw that remember 18:36 Nebuchadnezzar's image representing 18:38 the nations of the world was smashed to pieces 18:41 by the stone symbolizing Jesus Christ 18:45 when He comes to establish God's kingdom for ever. 18:48 So all of the identifying marks match up 18:51 when you compare scripture with scripture, 18:53 you cannot escape the conclusion that that male child that son, 18:58 that the woman bore is Jesus Christ, amen. 19:02 And he takes his place in the center of the prophecy 19:07 just like we saw in our principles of Revelation. 19:10 Now, we have come to the third one, that's the woman. 19:14 I saved it till last because the woman 19:17 is the most difficult to understand. 19:22 Woman usually difficult to understand at least for us men, 19:27 I mean you may understand each other but-- 19:31 My wife keeps telling me I shouldn't say that 19:33 it's not politically correct any more, 19:36 may not be, it's still true. 19:42 Who is the woman? 19:43 There is a clue right here in this chapter, verse 9. 19:49 "The great dragon was hurled down that ancient serpent 19:54 called the devil, or Satan, 19:58 who leads the whole world astray. 20:00 He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." 20:02 So, the dragon was hurled down, who is the dragon? 20:05 That ancient serpent called the devil of Satan. 20:09 So you tell me now, where in the Bible can you find a story 20:14 about a ancient serpent and the woman. 20:19 Right, Genesis 3, so let's go there, Genesis 3. 20:26 You see the last Bible book point us 20:28 all the way back to the first Bible book. 20:30 You can't understand Revelation without the Old Testament, 20:34 Genesis 3, here is the setting. Genesis 3. 20:40 God have just created the world, 20:43 garden, beautiful Garden of Eden, 20:46 put the man and woman in the garden and he told them 20:49 I have given you all these trees, 20:52 all these trees and you can eat all of them 20:55 except for that one tree right in the middle of the garden. 20:58 If you eat from that one you are going to die. 21:05 Now is there anything complicated about that. 21:10 Is that hard to understand? 21:13 You can eat from any tree except that one. 21:15 If you eat from that one, 21:16 you are going to die, crystal clear. 21:18 God is always crystal clear. 21:20 People ask me, why does God make things so confusing? 21:23 He doesn't. He made it clear. 21:28 Now, the serpent comes along and he says 21:31 to the woman in Chapter 3:1. 21:34 "Did God really say, 21:36 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 21:40 And the woman said, verse 3, "God did say, 21:44 'You must not eat fruit from the tree 21:46 that is in the middle of the garden, 21:49 and if you do you will die.'' 21:54 And the serpent said, you won't die. 22:01 But your eyes will be opened 22:04 and you will be like God knowing good from evil. 22:11 Now, I want to stop here for a second, 22:13 because these verses are loaded 22:16 and packed with profound thoughts 22:21 that we need to understand. 22:25 How did Adam and Eve know 22:28 that if they would eat from that tree, they would die? 22:34 Did they do a scientific analysis of the fruit 22:38 and discover it was poisonous? 22:41 No, how did they know because God said, 22:46 if you eat it you are going to die. 22:49 You see the way they knew 22:51 good from evil was to trust what God said. 22:57 It's simple but you have to trust God. 23:04 In other words please get this, 23:07 in other words there was an external standard 23:13 of absolute right and wrong. 23:18 It was not within them but it was within God. 23:23 God was the one who defined and decided 23:27 what is right and what is wrong. 23:29 It is an absolute standard of truth 23:33 and that truth is outside of us, it's in God. 23:37 And the only way we can know what's right or wrong 23:40 or good or best is to trust God's work. 23:44 That's all that Adam and Eve had to do, 23:46 but watch what happened. 23:49 She got up to the tree. 23:51 Have you ever wondered? 23:52 Why did God put that tree there? 23:56 You ever wondered that? 23:57 Wouldn't it been better 23:58 if he just said eat any tree you want. 24:01 Why did He put that tree there? 24:02 So she went up to the tree and that was her first mistake. 24:07 If God says that something isn't good, 24:10 we should get as far away from it as we can, 24:12 not try to get as close as we can to it. 24:16 What was she doing under the tree? 24:18 If she would have stayed away, 24:19 we wouldn't be in this mess we are in today. 24:22 But she is under the tree 24:23 so that gave the dragon an opportunity. 24:25 He appears as a serpent, a beautiful serpent. 24:29 He was beautiful then, and he said to the woman. 24:31 Did God say, if you eat the fruit you are going to die? 24:33 You won't die, you won't, you eat it you'd be like God, 24:38 you know good from evil yourself. 24:41 You see you won't need God to tell you what is right or wrong, 24:43 you can decide just like He does. 24:46 You will be like God. 24:50 Now watch this, verse 6. 24:54 "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree 24:56 was good for food and pleasing to the eye, 24:59 and desirable for gaining wisdom, 25:01 she took some and ate it. 25:04 How did she decide that it was okay to eat? 25:12 She listened to the serpent, she looked at it, 25:16 it looked desirable, it seemed good. 25:22 So instead of relying on what God said 25:25 to know right and wrong, 25:26 she relied on her own human perceptions 25:30 to do what seemed like the right thing to her. 25:37 This was a huge, what we call paradigm shift 25:42 from the paradigm of an external absolute truth in God 25:47 to an internal deciding for yourself what seems to be right 25:52 and good and best to you. 25:56 Can you see what we are doing here, 25:58 can you see what she did here. 26:01 And if you understand that shift, 26:03 then you can begin to understand 26:05 what's happening in this whole world today. 26:09 I couldn't help it, jot this down 26:13 I was watching O'Reilly factor one time 26:17 and he was interviewing Dan Rather, 26:19 a noted news man. 26:21 Dan Rather said I think you can be an honest person 26:24 and lie about any number of things. 26:29 See that's exactly what we are talking about. 26:32 The question isn't what is right and wrong. 26:35 The question is what seems right or wrong to you is okay, 26:39 if it seems right do it. 26:40 If it seems wrong don't do it, not what is right 26:43 because what is right is what God says. 26:46 I remember one time when a president of the United States 26:49 found himself in difficulty and he was being challenged 26:52 that he had done something wrong 26:54 and another person said he had done it. 26:56 He said he didn't and he was about to be impeach for it 27:00 and they were had him on Sam and Cokie, 27:02 Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts in news interviews. 27:05 Some of you may remember them 27:07 and they were interviewing him and Cokie Roberts asked 27:11 not the president but his chief council was there 27:14 and asked it now. 27:15 Now she said he did and he said he didn't, 27:18 one of them has to be lying, right? 27:22 And the chief attorney to the president 27:23 of the Untied States said no. 27:26 And Cokie Roberts said ha. 27:30 I mean she said he did, 27:31 he said he didn't and one of them is not lying. 27:36 Even now school children know 27:38 that somebody has to be lying here, 27:41 what are we teaching our children, good question. 27:46 But, finally Susan Page who is the editor of USA Today 27:51 after they had been debating back and forth, 27:53 you know what the president should do. 27:55 Susan Page said, well in the end he is going to have to do 27:59 what seems right to him. 28:05 Wrong what she should have said was in the end, 28:11 he is going to have to do what is right. 28:19 Its not what seems right that's right is what is right, 28:22 that's right and what is right 28:24 is what comes from the word of God. 28:29 And that's what happened in the Garden of Eden 28:31 and that's the battle it unfolds in the last days. 28:36 It's over the difference between what is right 28:38 and what seems right 28:39 and that's why he attacks those who want to be 28:41 obedient to God's commands. 28:43 Are you beginning to put it all together? 28:46 So now what is God going to do. 28:48 He's got a problem, He said if you eat the fruit, 28:50 you are going to die. 28:53 And they ate the fruit but He doesn't want them to die, 28:55 He loves them but how can He be telling the truth 28:59 when He says if you eat the fruit, 29:00 you're gonna die and allow them to live. 29:03 You see that was God's dilemma. 29:06 Well, He had a solution and we find it in verse 15. 29:10 He tells the serpent, 29:14 I will put enmity that means conflict, war. 29:17 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, 29:21 and between your offspring and hers 29:24 and he will crush your head, but you will strike his heel." 29:31 Now what is he talking about here, 29:32 he is talking to a serpent 29:33 and offspring of the serpent 29:35 that they would bite the heel of the offspring of the woman 29:38 but that wouldn't be the end 29:39 because the offspring of the woman 29:40 is going to crush his head. 29:44 And he is not talking about little baby snakes 29:46 running around on the ground 29:47 when he says offspring of the serpent. 29:50 The serpent is the devil offspring of the serpent 29:53 is those who choose to follow the devil. 29:56 Who is the offspring of the woman? 29:58 Who is the woman? 30:00 The woman's offspring is the one who delivers 30:03 the deathblow to the head of the serpent 30:06 and therefore this prophecy is telling us 30:12 that there will be a conflict between 30:14 those who follow Satan and those to who choose 30:16 to follow God or Jesus Christ 30:19 and Jesus is going to get a bite on the heel, 30:21 He died on the cross but praise the Lord. 30:23 Three days later he was raised up again 30:25 and caught up to the throne of God. 30:27 One of these days, He is going to comeback 30:29 and deliver the deathblow to crush the head of the serpent. 30:35 Now, listen to me all the rest of the Bible 30:38 from Genesis to Revelation is unpacking this one prophecy, 30:45 this is the first prophecy in the Bible 30:48 and all the rest of the Bible is unpacking this one prophecy, 30:51 how is the seed of the woman going to deliver 30:55 the death blow to the head of the serpent. 30:58 And we find it bringing it to its exciting climax 31:03 in Revelation 12:17. 31:06 "The dragon was angry at the woman and he went off 31:10 to make war against the remnant 31:12 are the last of her offspring on this earth, 31:15 those who obey God's commandment 31:17 and hold to the testimony of Jesus. 31:21 All the rest of the Bible is unpacking that prophecy 31:25 that began in Genesis 3:15. 31:30 In order to fully understand this prophecy, 31:33 we have to know a little more. 31:36 We have to know the issues that were involved. 31:38 The Bible tells us verse 7. 31:40 "There was war in heaven, 31:41 Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, 31:43 the dragon fought back he was not strong enough, 31:45 they lost their place in haven. 31:47 The great dragon was hurled down that ancient serpent 31:49 called the devil, or Satan, he leads the whole world astray. 31:52 He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him." 31:54 Don't be afraid of the bad spirits 31:56 because for every demon spirit, 31:58 God has two good ones. 31:59 His tail only swept the third of the stars down from the sky, 32:03 there are two thirds left. 32:06 But, why, what was this war about in heaven? 32:10 What were they fighting over? 32:11 What was the issue? 32:13 The Revelation doesn't clearly tell us here 32:16 but the Old Testament does. 32:19 Isaiah 14, open your Bibles now to Isaiah 14 32:26 and we will discover, verse 12. 32:29 "How you have fallen from heaven, 32:31 O morning star, Lucifer son of the dawn. 32:36 You have been cast down to the earth, 32:39 you who once laid low the nations." 32:40 Doesn't that sound like Revelation, see. 32:43 He was hurled down to the earth, 32:44 he was in heaven hurled down to the earth. 32:47 Why? Here it is verse 13. 32:50 "Because You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. 32:54 I will raise my throne above the stars of God. 32:58 I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, 33:00 on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. 33:02 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds, 33:04 I will make myself like the Most High." 33:08 Somebody said the only thing wrong 33:09 with that Lucifer was he had eye problems. 33:13 See God created this perfect angel, 33:17 he spent a little too much time one day looking in the mirror 33:20 and then going to take credit for all the beauty 33:22 and all the wisdom that he had to himself 33:24 and rebelled against God. 33:27 Now, what was the issue? What was going on here? 33:29 I'll raise my throne above the stars of God. 33:34 I will sit in throne. 33:36 Now, the throne is the seat of government 33:41 and the heart of every government is its law. 33:48 So, Lucifer was challenging God's government, 33:52 he was challenging God's law. 33:55 That's why he is angry at those who want to be obedient 33:58 to the commandments of God. 34:02 He would say and look, God's the one who makes 34:04 all the rules around here, He doesn't include us, 34:07 He has never had a meeting with me or you 34:08 or any of the others to try to tell us 34:11 why or what He just tells us what to do, 34:13 we have to do it. 34:14 Put me on the throne, I'll show you, 34:17 we can have some fun around this place. 34:21 He was challenging God's rule. 34:23 He was challenging God's law, God's government. 34:26 He didn't realize that God's laws are laws of love. 34:31 And when we understand what the laws are, 34:34 then we can understand love and the beauty of love 34:37 is never revealed until we understand 34:40 the beauty of God's law. 34:42 God has lots of different kinds of laws, 34:44 Lucifer just forgot about this. 34:47 God has physical laws, 34:49 the whole universe is governed by laws. 34:52 The law of gravity, the law of centrifugal force. 34:54 the law of centripetal force, the law of thermal dynamics. 34:58 All kinds of laws and if any one of those laws 35:02 that holds the whole universe together, 35:03 if any one of those laws is broken, 35:05 the whole thing is going to crash. 35:10 God's laws are laws of love, 35:15 and He created the man and the woman, 35:17 He created us and put within us certain laws 35:23 by which we would operate and function. 35:27 And when we lived our lives within the circle of the laws 35:31 that God gave for us, we would be happy, 35:35 we would have peace, we would have joy. 35:38 Everything would be perfect, 35:39 but if we step outside of those laws 35:42 that God made for us to live by, 35:45 then bad things are going to happen to us. 35:47 We are going to break and other people are going 35:49 to get hurt in the process. 35:52 It's not like God said, here are my laws, 35:55 do them or I'm going to zap you. 35:58 No, He said here is the way I made you 36:03 and if you live like this, you are going to experience life 36:07 far beyond anything you can ever imagine. 36:11 But if you don't trust me and you try to step 36:14 outside of the circle, you are going to suffer 36:19 and other people are going to get hurt. 36:22 That's what it's all about. 36:25 It's like God's owner's manual, 36:27 He is telling us, here is how I made you. 36:30 Now, you can buy a new car and look in the owner's manual 36:33 and say you got to put oil in the crankcase and you say, 36:35 wow that's what it says, but I think I'll do it my way. 36:39 Seems better to me and it seems a lot cheaper 36:41 to put water in there instead of oil, 36:43 it will save the planet. 36:45 So you put water in the crankcase, 36:47 now you can do that, but your car is going to break. 36:52 God says here, this is how I made you, 36:55 here is the way you are going to work. 36:58 Here is the grease that keeps things smooth for you. 37:04 Physical laws, this is the way I made your body to function. 37:08 There are certain things hat you put into it 37:09 that are not going to help you. 37:11 You need a lot of water, you need some good food, 37:13 the right kinds of food. 37:15 And if you put the wrong things in it, 37:17 it's like putting water in the crankcase. 37:18 You are going to break and you are going to hurt 37:21 and you are going to suffer. 37:23 You see that's the way God made us. 37:26 There are social laws. 37:30 God teaches us how to relate to each other, 37:32 how to love each other. 37:34 The Bible says we should honor our parent. 37:36 Wouldn't you love to live in a place 37:37 where everybody did that? 37:40 Not to lie, not to steal, not to kill. 37:43 Wouldn't you like to live in a world like that? 37:47 Not to commit adultery. 37:49 He said, I made you. 37:50 So the man would leave his father and mother, 37:51 cleave in to his life and the two would become one. 37:55 And if you stay like that, you are going to be happy, 37:57 but if you try to get outside of that circle, 37:59 you are going to hurt and other people 38:01 are going to get hurt in the process. 38:04 See that's what God's laws is about, it's about love. 38:07 How to love each other. 38:08 Do I love my neighbor? 38:10 Let's say, hallelujah neighbor, 38:11 praise the Lord my brother I love you, 38:12 I'm slipping his wallet out of his pocket. 38:16 Is that love? 38:17 Does a man love his neighbor if he is having an affair 38:19 with his neighbor's wife? 38:21 You see that isn't love. 38:26 I was on plane one day 38:30 going to Chicago for a meeting, 38:36 when I get on a plan I always like to pray, 38:37 Lord please put me next to somebody that I can witness too. 38:41 So don't ever sit next to me on a plane unless 38:43 you want to talk about the Lord. 38:46 So I prayed and got on the plane sitting there 38:49 and sure enough this lady comes, 38:51 attractive looking like, 38:53 I mean she look like she had a presence about her, 38:55 she was somebody, not an ordinary person. 38:59 When I was talking to her, I could tell, 39:01 this is an educated lady, you know. 39:02 And I asked her what do you do? 39:04 She said, well, I'm a social worker in New York City 39:06 and I'm the director of this large children's program, 39:09 she had a PhD in sociology and she read it all together there. 39:14 And then I asked her what does your husband do? 39:17 Phil my husband is in archeology, 39:18 he has his two PhDs in archeology. 39:21 Well this is quite a couple and I kept asking her 39:25 what you do and what he does 39:26 and then finally she got the hint 39:29 and she said what do you do? 39:33 I said, oh, I'm an evangelist. 39:36 She says evangelist, what's that? 39:39 Phd? What's evangelist? 39:42 I said I travel around to different churches 39:44 and I do seminars on Revelation, kind of like heaven revivals. 39:48 Oh, nice. And I said you know, you're believer? 39:55 She said, no actually we're both are atheist. 39:59 And I said, "Oh, okay, can I ask you something?" 40:03 She said, "Sure." 40:05 Then I can tell that you are social worker 40:06 you are in charge of this 40:07 big children's program in New York City 40:09 and you love children, am I right? 40:11 Oh, yeah, I love those children. 40:14 I said, "Suppose you have two little boys 40:15 there in the group and they come 40:17 and one of them has two five dollars bill 40:19 he shows everybody and sticks in his pocket 40:21 and the other little boy sees, he says, "You know, 40:23 I haven't eaten anything in three days. 40:26 We are so poor and we don't have any food, I'm hungry. 40:29 If I had one of those five dollar bills 40:30 I would like to buy some bread and some food for my family 40:33 could I have one?" 40:34 And the little boy says, "No, that's my money." 40:37 And puts it in his pocket. 40:39 But while they are resting taking a nap, 40:41 the little fellow sleep over there 40:42 and slips one of those five dollar bills out of his pocket. 40:45 I said you see that, would that be okay with you? 40:49 She said, "No." I said, "Why not?" 40:53 She said, "Because that's wrong." 40:56 And I said, "I know but why would it be wrong? 41:00 She said, "Because that's stealing." 41:03 I said, "Well I know that, but why is stealing wrong?" 41:14 And she said, "You know, its going to help his family 41:18 and his friends, why is stealing wrong?" 41:21 She said, "I don't think I can answer that." 41:30 I said, "Can I ask you another question?" 41:35 She goes, "I guess." 41:40 I can tell you really love your husband, right?" 41:42 Oh, yeah, I love my-- 41:43 Well suppose he has a sectary and her husband is an abuser, 41:46 alcoholic, beats her up, beats the kids 41:49 she is at the end of her road. 41:51 She tells you, because you know, 41:52 I don't know what I'm going to do, 41:54 I'm just ready to just take some pills and die. 41:56 I can't face life anymore. 41:59 Man, you are so lucky 42:00 if I had a husband like yours, I could make it. 42:03 In fact if I could just have him one night a week, 42:06 I think I could get by the rest of the six others. 42:09 Could I have your husband just one night a week, 42:13 I said,"Well, what would you tell her?" 42:15 She said, "No." 42:17 I said, "Why not, if it would help her out." 42:19 Because it is my husband. 42:20 I said, "Well, I know he is your husband 42:22 but you are getting six nights, she only wants one. 42:28 Why wouldn't you?" 42:29 She says, "That's wrong." 42:31 I said, "I know, I know it's wrong. 42:35 But tell me, why is it wrong?" 42:41 She said, "You keep asking me question that I can't answer." 42:46 You see, there is no answer 42:49 unless you believe in the word of God. 42:53 I said, "I can tell you why its wrong. 42:55 Do you want to know?" She says, "Why?" 42:57 Because God made the man and the woman 42:59 and He said man will leave his father and mother 43:02 and cleave in to his wife and the two become one flesh 43:05 and that's the way that you are going to be happy. 43:08 And that's the only way that you can say that it's wrong. 43:13 If you don't believe that, 43:14 you have no standard of right and wrong 43:18 and that's why we have such a problem in this world today. 43:22 God's laws are laws of love and when we break them, 43:26 we break and things happen and people get hurt. 43:33 God has other kinds of laws, 43:34 spiritual laws that teaches how to love Him. 43:37 He says, "Thou shall have no others gods before Me." 43:40 He says that, "We shouldn't take His name in vain." 43:42 He says, "We shouldn't bow down and worship idols." 43:44 You see the last six of the Ten Commandments 43:46 teaches how to love each other. 43:47 First four teaches how to love God. 43:50 You love God if you have idols and pray to idol. 43:53 Well, nobody does that today. 43:56 Or may be we don't carve Him out of wood, 43:58 and gold, and stone and bow down and pray to Him 44:00 but a lot of people who have 44:01 one eyed idols in their living rooms 44:04 watching 22 men move a little piece of leather picks 44:06 came up and down a hundred yard piece of grass. 44:11 No, I am not saying that, that its wrong, 44:16 my VCR gets all that 44:17 and I can watch it after the meeting. 44:21 So, don't tell me the scores. 44:25 But the point is anything that comes in between us and God 44:28 can become an idol, a big new house, a big car, 44:31 fancy clothes, anything can be, 44:34 our money can be an idol but it can also be put to good use, 44:36 so can a TV set, Revelation Now is going to be on TV. 44:43 So whatever stands between us and God become an idol. 44:46 There is another kind of idol, 44:47 the sophisticated form of idolatry, 44:50 a God of our own creation, 44:52 a God of our own imagination, 44:53 a God who approves of the things that we like 44:56 and condemns the things we don't like. 45:02 They call it relativism, existentialism, 45:07 doing your own thing, finding yourself, 45:12 post-modernism, all kinds of names 45:17 but the Bible calls it sin. 45:21 You are like sheep that have gone astray each to his own way. 45:26 Each doing what seems right to you. 45:30 The problem is what seems right 45:31 is not always the same as what is right 45:34 and the only way to know what is right is to trust God. 45:42 Bible tells us, Proverbs 14:12. 45:47 "There is a way that seems right to a man, 45:50 but in the end it leads to death." 45:52 Some people in the end, they are going to be lost 45:54 doing what seems right to them. 46:01 Wherever fool seems right in his own eyes, 46:06 we can't always trust reason. 46:08 In Isaiah 55, Isaiah 55:8, 46:13 "My thoughts are not your thoughts, 46:14 neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. 46:17 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, 46:19 so are my ways higher than your and my thoughts than yours." 46:22 We can't always figure out what's right and wrong 46:24 because God sees and knows things 46:26 that we haven't even began to understand yet. 46:30 And we need to trust him. 46:31 I'm not saying that there is no room for us to think. 46:34 God said, "Come let us reason together." 46:36 We think, we decide, we plan, we do things, 46:40 but in the end we have to come 46:41 to the bottom-line conclusion that God made us, 46:44 He knows what's best for us and we trust Him, 46:47 even if it doesn't seem right to us. 46:52 When Lucifer first sinned in heaven, God had some options. 46:56 One of the options was that He could have just zapped him. 47:00 He could have rubbed him out right then, 47:02 but think about it, if He did, 47:04 here was Lucifer trying to win all these angels 47:07 to following him saying that God isn't fair, 47:10 that God never allows you to voice your opinions 47:12 as to how things should be run 47:14 and then while he is talking to the angels, 47:17 telling them God isn't fair, 47:18 God walks in and zapped, there goes Lucifer. 47:22 Now how would you feel about God? 47:26 You begun, wow, 47:29 we better walk the line around here, who is next? 47:32 And everybody would be worshiping God 47:35 out of fear instead of love. 47:40 But God is a God of love, He couldn't allow that. 47:44 So He had another option and that was to let Lucifer go, 47:53 leave him alone, give him some time 47:56 to demonstrate what it would really be like 48:00 if he was in charge, if he got his way. 48:05 And after he had enough time 48:07 to demonstrate what sin is really like, 48:11 then God would be able to destroy Lucifer and sin 48:17 and those who choose to sin 48:19 and everyone would know that he was doing the right thing. 48:23 So that was the choice that God made. 48:26 He had to give Lucifer time 48:29 to demonstrate what would life be like 48:33 on this planet, if he had his way. 48:40 In the mean time we suffer 48:47 because God has to allow Lucifer 48:50 to remember we are in this circle 48:53 and he has to allow Lucifer to step outside that circle. 48:56 As long as we are inside the circle 48:58 and live according to the way God made us, 49:00 we are not going to hurt, we are going to be happy, 49:02 we are going to be joyful. 49:03 But if we step outside the circle, we are going to hurt 49:06 and other people are going to be hurt too. 49:10 So God had to give him time to demonstrate what its like 49:13 and that means that some of us are going to suffer. 49:17 Remember the story of Job, read it in the first chapter 49:20 and second chapter of Job, read that. 49:22 The devil appeared before God 49:24 and God said, "What about my servant Job? 49:26 See how faithful he is." And the devil says, 49:28 "Well, sure he is because every time 49:29 I try to do something to him you stop me." 49:32 You built a hedge around him, you protect him. 49:34 Let me have at him and you watch he will curse you. 49:38 And so God said, "Okay, have at him." 49:41 And he did, he suffered boils he lost his home, 49:44 he lost his family, his wife turned against him 49:47 challenging to turn away from God. 49:49 He lost everything that he had, 49:51 yet he stayed faithful to God. 49:54 God allowed Lucifer, the devil to attack Job 50:00 and Job demonstrated that God is just and God is fair. 50:05 And then in the end God gave him, 50:08 God gave Job back even more than he had before. 50:13 One of my favorite verses 50:15 that explains this is in 1 Corinthians 10. 50:21 In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes that, "God is faithful." 50:27 Verse 13, "God is faithful, He will not let you be tempted 50:31 beyond what you can bear But when you are tempted, 50:34 he will also provide a way out 50:36 so that you can stand up under it." 50:37 You see, God does allow the devil to attack us. 50:41 He allows him to do things that hurt us 50:43 but he will never allow him to do anything 50:46 beyond what we can't handle. 50:49 When we first started I told you that my wife got cancer 50:53 and I really struggled with that trying to-- 50:55 Why did God allow that to happen? 50:57 The reason He allowed it to happen 50:59 was because He knew we could handle it. 51:02 He would never let it happen. 51:04 He would never let us be tempted 51:06 beyond what we can bear 51:07 and we need to trust God with that. 51:09 No matter how much the devil comes after us, 51:12 we need to trust Him and know 51:13 that He is not going to let him do 51:15 anything that we can't handle. 51:17 God knew we could handle it and so He allowed it to happen. 51:22 You see, He is walking a fine line. 51:24 He is walking a tightrope. 51:26 Every--if every time a Christian prayed, 51:29 God delivered me, God helped me God saved me from this, 51:32 if God answered every prayer 51:34 the way we wanted to be answered then think about it. 51:37 Every time He answered a prayer for a Christian, 51:40 it puts off and delays the time that Jesus can come. 51:47 And so He lets the devil have just enough rope 51:50 to demonstrate how wicked he is 51:52 and at the same time He will never let you be tempted 51:55 beyond what you can bear. 51:57 And just like Job, 51:58 God promised him something better 52:00 and He gave him something better the same way for us. 52:03 One year later after we found out that my wife had cancer, 52:07 one year later we went back in for some more testing 52:10 and after her treatments for one year, 52:12 we found that it was in remission 52:14 and there was no trace of the cancer anymore. 52:16 He gave us a little ray of hope, 52:18 He gave us some sunshine and not only that, 52:21 He threw a bonus on top. 52:22 He helped us to find that little retirement home 52:24 that we were looking for 52:25 with a beautiful view of Mount Rainier 52:28 just a little taste of something better. 52:30 Sin isn't fair, it wasn't fair that she got cancer. 52:33 It isn't fair that the devil attacked you. 52:35 Sin is not fair but God more than makes up for it. 52:39 You can trust Him, 52:40 that's why bad things happen to good people. 52:47 The Bible says, "God made man in his own image." 52:51 I'm not going to get into a discussion 52:53 of what all that means theologically 52:55 but I think its enough for us to recognize 52:58 that there's something about having someone in your own image 53:00 it makes you love him all the more 53:04 and He made us in His image. 53:06 That why God created people, 53:09 so you could have someone to love. 53:11 And to love him back, love involves other people 53:14 but love also involves choice. 53:17 Our youngest son, he was only 3 years old at the time 53:23 and I'll never forget, we lived in a RV 53:25 and I had a big mayflower moving van 53:28 fixed up and painted and had an office in there, 53:30 a place to store our stuff 53:32 and place for me to get away and study. 53:33 You don't study with two little boys in RV. 53:37 So I'm sitting in my office studying one day 53:38 I had the big van door kind of cracked open just a little bit 53:43 and I heard it creak 53:44 and then I heard a, hmm, a little grunt. 53:47 And I turned around to look and there was my boy 53:51 big round face, big brown eyes just sparkling 53:57 and he said, "Daddy, I love you." 53:59 Turn around and ran away. 54:03 Not to get emotional just telling you that 54:09 because you see the thing that made his love so precious 54:13 is that he didn't have to say that. 54:18 He didn't have to say it. He didn't have to love me. 54:23 Lot of children don't love their parents. 54:27 In fact the time came when he didn't love us, 54:32 changed his name, left, 54:33 didn't want anything to do with us. 54:38 There is nothing more painful in the rejection of the love 54:44 for your own children. 54:48 And it helped me to understand may be just a little bit 54:54 about how God feels when we don't love Him. 55:03 Things started getting a little better. 55:07 And one day he flew back, 55:09 he lives in England, he flew back home 55:15 and it was Father's Day and he gave me a card 55:23 and he says in the card, "Dear dad, 55:26 I don't think that this card was manufactured 55:28 with the intention for sons 55:30 to give it to their fathers on Father's Day 55:34 but the cover picture even though it's irrelevant, 55:38 I like the words because that's where we are, I hope." 55:44 And the words on the cover, "To my friend." 55:57 Best wishes for your whole year, not just this one single day. 56:04 I don't say enough 56:07 how much I appreciate you in my childhood. 56:12 Thank you for giving me a happy and healthy home. 56:16 (Transient, your son). 56:28 Inside, "Wishing you one of the best Father's Days 56:31 you have ever had." and it was because of this card. 56:39 He didn't have to give me that card. 56:42 The fact that he didn't have to 56:44 makes it all the more precious to me. 56:48 And that's why God put the tree in the garden. 56:54 He had to give us a choice 56:57 even though He knew that we would reject Him, 57:01 He had to put the tree there because of love. 57:07 God could have done other things. 57:09 He could have said, "Planet earth, 57:10 you made your bed now sleep in it." 57:15 He couldn't do that, 57:17 so God did the unthinkable to that old devil. 57:21 God came in man and died on the cross to save us 57:32 and all we need to do is reach out 57:37 and take the hand of Jesus. 57:40 Trust Him, follow Him. |
Revised 2014-12-17