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Series Code: RSP
Program Code: RSP000009A
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00:01 Announcer: Revelation. The time of the end.
00:04 Mysterious signs. 00:05 Strange happenings. 00:07 Confusing numbers. 00:09 Are we facing a new world order and the mark of the beast? 00:14 Are we living on a planet in upheaval? 00:16 Are we on the verge of Armageddon? 00:24 Revelation, what do all the signs in this mysterious book mean? 00:32 Discover real answers. 00:34 Revelation Speaks Peace, with Shawn Boonstra. 00:39 + 00:41 Tonight our subject is "The anatomy of Evil" I'm going to ask that you bow your heads with 00:48 me in prayer. Father in heaven, over the years, I've come to see first-hand that there really is 00:56 an enemy of souls. And tonight, I'm asking that our focus would not be on him, but on Jesus. 01:04 That evil angels, the ones who sow doubt about Your love, would not be permitted in this 01:11 auditorium tonight, nowhere near anybody sitting here. I'm asking that the only Voice we clearly 01:18 hear tonight is Yours. Lord, let my voice fade into the background, and You speak to our 01:23 hearts. Forgive my sin. Please, again, take a coal from heaven's altar and give me the ability to 01:30 represent heaven faithfully. We want to hear the Voice of Jesus speak. Let our problems in the 01:37 world fade away for a little while as we open the pages of the Bible, and may we be born 01:42 again by the Word of God. And I ask it tonight in Jesus' name, amen. On Sunday night, we looked 01:52 at what is easily the most talked-about subject in Bible prophecy: the second coming of 01:57 Christ. Tonight, we're going to look at another topic that is widely talked-about. It gets a 02:02 lot of attention, but not from Christians so much. This is one that gets attention from the 02:06 critics and the sceptics and the atheists. It's something they call "the problem of evil." And 02:13 the problem of evil runs like this: "If God is as good as you say He is, and if God knows 02:18 everything and God is all-powerful and God is really love, then why do we have to put 02:25 up with pain and suffering and evil? Where did that come from?" And the implication, of course, 02:30 the thing that they're trying to say is that maybe God isn't good. If you listen to some of 02:35 the sceptics, they sound decidedly angry at God, or they're trying to make a point. 02:40 "Maybe God doesn't even exist." This has got to be the number one issue that the sceptics 02:48 raise, and they raise it to discredit the Bible and to discredit Christianity. So 02:53 tonight, I want to look at it. But what we're going to do is read the whole story. We want to 02:58 look at the big picture and get all the background, because that's what the sceptics do not 03:02 do. They don't read the whole thing. They just cherry-pick a little bit here and a little bit 03:07 there, and they get the hardest bits of the Bible, and they lift them out of context and they 03:11 paint an inaccurate picture. They're cherry-pickers. So tonight we're going to look at 03:16 this amazing prophecy that is found in Revelation chapter 12. And what we're about to read 03:22 usually comes as a surprise to some people. Revelation 12 verse 7. The Bible says: "And there 03:30 was war" - where? Where was the war? It's in heaven. That comes as a surprise to some people. 03:37 Suffering didn't actually start here on this planet. Pain did not begin on earth. War did not 03:45 start here, according to the Bible. It all begins in the courts of heaven. And that tells 03:49 me something about our God. It tells me He knows a thing or two about suffering. He's not 03:54 isolated somewhere out there in the universe, living in a bubble, sheltered from the stuff 03:59 that hurts. God knows pain, because the Bible says the trouble actually started in His 04:05 home. The Bible says: "There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the [who?] 04:13 the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their 04:19 place found anymore in heaven." The dragon gets kicked out of heaven. Now, let's start to 04:26 piece this story together. I want us to really understand what it's saying. Who exactly is 04:32 the dragon? Who do you think the dragon is? It's the devil, I heard somebody say. How do we 04:38 know it's the devil? Well, you have to read the whole thing. You let the Bible speak for 04:42 itself. And in this case, you just don't have to go very far. The next verse spells it all 04:48 out. It says: "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil 04:56 and Satan, who [does what?] deceives [there's that word again], deceives the whole 05:03 world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." No question about it. 05:09 The dragon represents Satan. Fallen angels. There are fallen angels. And that ought to serve 05:16 as a warning to the whole human race. Not all angels are good. Some of them are sinful. Some of 05:23 them have fallen. And that should make you pause and think anytime somebody says they had 05:27 an angel experience. They might've had an experience. They might've had an experience with 05:33 a heavenly angel. Maybe. But you still have to check it against the Word of God. You have to 05:38 check everything against the Word of God, because there are fallen angels. Some angels have 05:43 been cast out of heaven. And they make it their business to deceive. Just because something 05:49 looks good and sounds amazing and seems miraculous, that doesn't necessarily mean that it 05:56 comes from God. And I know that I keep kicking this horse. I know that we keep bringing that 06:00 up. But I can't underline this enough in the last days. You always, always have to check the 06:06 Bible, because even the appearance of an angel wouldn't be a guarantee that you're on 06:11 the right track. There is only one safe place to stand: it's on the Word of God. Paul actually 06:17 says in Second Corinthians 11 that Satan knows how to transform himself, masquerade as 06:23 an angel of light. Ever since the devil got kicked out of heaven, he's made it his 06:30 business to deceive the world. But the big question is, why did God kick them out? Maybe he just 06:39 didn't like them anymore. "You know, Lucifer, you stand right here next to my throne." 06:44 Covering cherub. Ezekiel 28:14. "You're the covering cherub. You stand right here every day. And 06:50 every day, it's the same old thing. I'm looking at the same old angel, and you tell the same 06:54 old stories, and I'm just tired of it; time for a change. You have to go." Sound like God to 06:59 you? Some of you weren't too sure. Does that sound like God to you? No. That's not what 07:05 happened. Ezekiel 28 tells the story. God speaks to Lucifer. "You were in Eden, the garden of 07:12 God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, the diamond, beryl, onyx, 07:19 and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold." He was gorgeous. "The workmanship of 07:25 your timbrels and pipes [he was musical; pay attention to that. That might come up again], the 07:31 workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. 'til 07:37 iniquity was [what?] found in you." That's very important. It says God found iniquity in 07:47 Lucifer. God did not create iniquity. He did not put iniquity in that angel; He found 07:54 it there, and there is a world of difference. In the very beginning, God created 08:00 everything perfect, good, and sinless. There was a smile on everybody's face. There was 08:05 perfect peace and happiness. God is not the author of sin and suffering. But still, one angel 08:11 manages to sin against God. Lucifer turns against Him. And you have to wonder, in God's 08:17 perfect universe, how is that possible? You would think it couldn't happen, but it does. 08:25 And the reason it happens is because God created His living creatures, His living beings, 08:30 with the freedom of choice. We were created with the ability to actually turn against God. And 08:38 you think, "Why would God do that? That doesn't make sense," unless you really slow down and 08:44 think about it. The Bible teaches God is love, First John 4 verse 8, He is love. But you 08:50 can't have real love if it's involuntary. You can't love if you don't have a choice. If you 08:56 have no choice, that's not love. Look, when I get home from a long trip - I've been gone for 09:00 weeks and weeks and weeks somewhere overseas - and I get home and I open the door, 09:04 there's my wife. She's still there. She hasn't left me. She must love me. It's so great when 09:10 she's there. "Honey, you're still here." "Of course, I'm still here; I love you." What if 09:15 I come home, though, open the door, "Honey, you're still here. Oh, you must love me," but she's 09:19 chained to the wall. She can't leave. "Well, of course I'm still here; I'm chained to the 09:25 wall." How satisfying is a relationship like that? That's not love. God created us with 09:32 the ability to choose because He's love. "But that's risky." Yeah, it's risky. Why would God 09:38 take the risk? It's not hard to figure it out. We're made in His image. It's not hard to figure 09:42 it out at all. My kids say to me, "Dad, we want a puppy." I say, "I'll tell you what: I'll 09:47 give you a choice. We can get a puppy app on your iPod. That's what we can do. We will get a 09:53 puppy app. It's four dollars and ninety-nine cents. And I can turn it off at night. And you 09:58 can feed it in the app, and you can pet it in the app, and then we can turn it off at night and 10:03 everybody gets a good night's sleep." That would be marvellous. "Or you could have a 10:06 real puppy." Which one do they want? Why do they want a real one? Because a real dog can love 10:14 you. A real dog can have a relationship with you. But it's risky, isn't it? It's risky. 10:19 That dog is going to chew on the furniture. That dog is going to have an accident right on the 10:24 new doormat. And that dog is going to get your work socks out in the morning long before it's 10:29 light and chew on them so that when you pull them on in the dark, they're full of dog 10:33 slobber. My brother had a dog. You want that dog, though, anyway, don't you? 'Cause it can 10:41 love. We're made in the image of God; we can figure this one out. Why do we have babies, 10:47 right? A robot would be so much easier. A baby app would be so much easier. Turn it off at 10:53 night. Plug the kids in, let them charge. Turn it off; you can hang out with your wife for 10:57 the night. Right? That would be a lot easier, but we don't want that; we want a real baby. Why? 11:02 'Cause it can love you; you can have a relationship with a real one. But that baby's going to 11:08 make mistakes. Baby's going to make a mess in its diaper. Oh, is it going to make a mess in 11:12 its diaper. Baby's going to write on your favourite sofa with a bright green marker. 11:16 Trust me, it's going to happen. One day, that baby's going to grow up after everything you 11:21 poured into that baby, and it's going to walk out the door for the last time and leave you, 11:25 break your heart. You still want the baby, don't you? 'Cause you can have a relationship. God is 11:32 a god of relationships. Don't you understand that's what He's after? He wants you. That's what 11:36 He wants. And God created us with the ability to choose so He can have a real relationship 11:41 with you, a real voluntary, two-way love. It's a risk that God is willing to take. And one 11:50 angel suddenly exercises the freedom of choice and walks away. Here's how the Bible tells 11:54 the story in Isaiah chapter 14: "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! 12:01 How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in 12:06 your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will 12:13 also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will 12:17 ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'" Five times, he says, 12:23 "I." Five times, because he's now quit trusting God and he's turned his attention on himself, 12:30 stopped loving God and he's fallen in love with himself. He's walking through heaven by 12:36 the river of life, and at one moment, he catches his reflection. "Ah, am I ever 12:43 good-looking." Falls in love with himself. "I should have a little more, little more 12:50 responsibility. Maybe I should be on a throne." It's pride. Now he's not beautiful anymore 12:57 because there's nothing beautiful about pride at all. I don't care how physically 13:01 attractive somebody is; a proud person isn't beautiful. It's not beautiful. I had a good friend 13:06 named Henry. We lost him a few years ago. Great preacher. Henry, when he was in college, 13:12 fell in love with this girl, as often happens in college. You know, you fall in love every 13:16 other day with somebody. And she's beautiful. But he didn't have the courage to talk to her, 13:22 at all. And he'd watch her go by in the morning. He'd wait where she was walking so he could see 13:28 her, and never had the courage. He said, "You know, I'm going to have to work up the courage." So 13:32 he hatched a plan. He stood in the path where she was going to come. He knew where she would 13:36 walk every morning. He said, "I'm going to stand right in the path, and she's going to have to 13:40 stop, and then I'm going to talk to her, finally. She'll have to stop and talk to me." So he 13:45 stood in the path. She came along. She stopped. And he found himself tongue-tied. Guys, you 13:51 know exactly what this feels like. You gotta think of something smart to say right at 13:54 that moment. And he thinks, and he sputters, "You are the prettiest girl I've ever seen." 14:05 "I know it," she said. He said, "Suddenly, Shawn, she just didn't seem all that beautiful 14:14 anymore." Pride is ugly. The Bible says Lucifer developed a pride problem. He used his 14:21 freedom of choice to turn against God and begin to root for himself. And what he does is 14:26 try to build his own empire. He starts to sow doubts and spread discontent in the courts of 14:30 heaven. Little whispers. "Maybe God doesn't really know what He's talking about. Maybe He's 14:36 not doing a good job. Maybe somebody else should be on the throne. Maybe this whole system 14:40 is a little bit unfair. I mean, just look at all these rules God has." God has rules? Sure, He 14:48 does. Ark of the covenant was a picture of His throne. Has the covering cherubs, it has the 14:52 mercy seat - I love that the lid is the mercy seat - but what's inside? Do you know what's 14:57 inside? Ten Commandments are inside there. God's government has a moral foundation. God has 15:03 rules, and why would He have rules? Well, why would anybody have rules? Why do we paint a 15:08 bright yellow line down the middle of the freeway? Why? Right? Why do we have to drive 15:13 on the right-hand side of the road? I'll tell you why. Go to a country where they don't do that 15:16 very faithfully. I love India. India is one of our favourite countries. I'll never forget - 15:22 well, they drive on the wrong side of the road. Well, the right side of the road. They're 15:27 on the left, which is correct. And here in America, we're on the right, which is left, or 15:31 wrong. That didn't make a lick of sense. But there in India, you can use whichever side of 15:35 the road you want, if you feel like it. In some places, I've been driving along out on the 15:40 freeway, and suddenly, there are bright headlights. There's a semi trailer coming at me on my 15:43 side of the freeway, because his side of the freeway is too congest- Try going to a place 15:48 where they don't observe the rules. You'll see it. There are actually, in places, dead bodies 15:51 on the side of the freeway. They just leave them there, cover them up with leaves. Why do we 15:57 have rules? Does God have rules? Sure, He does. I mean, you have to. If you want to provide 16:01 security and peace for people who have the freedom to choose, you gotta set up some guidelines 16:07 and some guardrails; you just have to. So God always warns. He said, "If you go down this path, 16:12 if you do this, it's going to cause unbelievable pain." The Bible describes the day that 16:17 Lucifer walked out. Revelation 12 and verse 3: "Another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a 16:23 great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns "Seven diadems on his head [crowns]. 16:31 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth." What does that 16:37 mean? Well, stars in the Bible are often used to represent angels. Job chapter 38 and verse 16:44 7 says, "The morning stars sang together when they saw the creation of God; they rejoiced." 16:48 Angels. In Revelation 1 and verse 20, the Bible says the seven stars in Jesus' hand are 16:53 the seven angels of the seven churches. You know what the Bible is telling us? One-third 16:59 of the angels go with Lucifer. One-third. Consider the colossal tragedy. We saw the other night 17:05 there were still ten thousand times ten thousand there, and thousands and thousands, but 17:10 that's only two-thirds. Millions left. God loses one-third of his family. Try to imagine that 17:17 pain. Maybe you can. Maybe you've had a child turn against you, or you've lost a family 17:22 member. God knows how it feels. So the question that I used to ask as a little kid is, "Well, 17:29 why didn't God just put a stop to it right there? They're fallen angels. Just squash them 17:33 out of existence. Get rid of them." Why doesn't He do that? Nip it in the bud. Well, let's 17:40 think about this. What would you do if you want to let everybody have their freedom of choice? 17:45 You want them to keep it so they can actually love. And what if you don't want people to serve 17:49 you just because they're terrified of what might happen if they don't? And now you have 17:54 a rebellion and you want to fix it so that people get to keep the freedom of choice and they 17:59 can genuinely love, but you never want this to happen again. What do you do? What do you do? 18:05 Well, sometimes the only way people will learn not to touch a hot stove is to touch the hot 18:10 stove. Think about this. What would happen if God just stomped Lucifer out of existence? The 18:20 other angels have been listening to his lies. What would they begin to think? "You know, 18:24 Lucifer was saying God's not all that great. And now God wiped him out of existence; he's gone. 18:28 I wonder if he had a point. I wonder if God is scared of something here." What if my 18:33 brother comes into the house, my younger brother, says, "You know what, Shawn?" - I'm going back 18:37 in time; we're kids - comes into the house, "You know what, Shawn? I don't think Dad's all 18:41 that great of a Dad." "Well, why would you say something like that about Dad? He's a great 18:45 dad." "No, I don't think he's all that great." My dad finds out what he said, takes him out 18:49 back and shoots him and buries him in the garden. Am I going to serve my dad? You better 18:55 believe. I'm going to be on my very best behaviour after that, but I'm not going to love him, 18:59 and I'm going to leave home the first chance I get. If you were in God's shoes - and we can't 19:03 really put ourselves in God's shoes; we don't have the mind of God. We have the data in 19:08 scripture, though - what would you do? God gives fallen angels enough leash to prove to His 19:14 whole universe they don't know what they're doing. "Go ahead," he says, "run your program." 19:19 "And in the end, we're going to open the books, and the universe will decide if I am what I say I 19:23 am, if I'm everything I've ever claimed to be. The universe will see whether or not I'm love and 19:27 they'll see what you are." And that is the beginning of a massive conflict that has been 19:32 raging in this universe for a long time, and it didn't start here; it starts in the courts of 19:37 heaven. And the angels are moved, kicked out. They're not allowed to stay in the presence 19:41 of God, because sin cannot dwell in the presence of God. So where do they go? They come here. And 19:48 they look at the apple of God's eye: human creation, made in the image of God. And they think, 19:53 "You know what? These people made in the image of God, if we can get them to walk away, that 19:58 would be very embarrassing to the cause of God. We're going to prove once and for all, nobody 20:03 would ever choose God if they were given a viable alternative." So the Bible talks 20:08 about this incident in the Garden of Eden. God had set up the human race for perfect 20:13 happiness. He said, "Go and enjoy the garden." He just had one rule, one rule. "The Lord 20:19 God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree 20:27 of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you 20:32 shall surely die.'" Now, you look at that, that doesn't make a lot of sense, that rule, at 20:38 first glance, does it? I mean, it just doesn't. "Lord, I can't eat from this tree?" "No, don't 20:41 eat from that tree." "Why can't I eat from that tree? Is it poisonous?" "No, no, it's not 20:46 poisonous. There's nothing particularly wrong with the fruit. Just don't eat from that 20:49 tree." Why would God do that? Why? There's really only one reason. If you're going to 20:54 choose to love God, if you're going to choose to be in His camp, if you're going to choose 20:58 to place your loyalty with your Creator, then there's gotta be an alternative. There has to be 21:03 a choice. There's already a conflict going on in the universe. This is all about a 21:08 relationship. This is all about loyalty to God. This is about choosing God or not choosing 21:14 God. And Adam and Eve have to have a choice or it's not real love. Adam and Eve have to have 21:20 a choice, or the devil can accuse God in front of the whole universe, "You're just keeping 21:24 them hostage. They don't have an alternative; of course they obey You. They don't have a choice." 21:31 So the devil takes on the form of a serpent and he speaks to Eve. "He said to the woman, 21:36 'Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden"?'" I want you to pay 21:41 attention to how the devil works 'cause he hasn't changed his methods in thousands of years. 21:46 He doesn't contradict God; he never does. That's too obvious. He doesn't come out with an 21:52 outright lie; he just questions God's credibility. Raises doubts about what God says. He still 21:57 does that. "Did God really say that? Really?" Still does the same thing today. "And the woman 22:06 said to the serpent [in verse 3], 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of 22:11 the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat it, 22:16 nor shall you touch it, lest you die."'" What happens if she eats it? She dies. Why? The wages of 22:26 sin? Death. "The serpent said [verse 4], to the woman, 'You will not surely die.'" Not 22:36 really. See, again, not an outright contradiction; just a little bit of doubt. Raising 22:42 doubts about the Word of God. Verse 6: "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 22:47 that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its 22:51 fruit and ate..." "Listen, Eve, maybe God's holding out on you. Maybe He's not telling you 22:58 everything there is. You could be wiser. Maybe you don't need to be so literal about what God 23:04 says. You're not a simpleton, are you? Maybe you could afford to be a little bit enlightened." 23:10 I want you to notice what the devil's questions are about. They're not about the tree. 23:14 They're about God. Every question the devil raises is about God. He's trying to 23:20 discredit God's character, he's trying to discredit God's Word, and sadly, Eve goes for it. And 23:25 as she bites into the fruit, the human race moves onto very dangerous ground. We take our 23:31 first steps in disobedience and we sever, we damage our relationship with our Creator, 23:38 the only source of life, and it brings us to the saddest story in the Bible. It says in Genesis 23:43 that God comes in the cool of the evening to look for His family, and they're hiding from 23:48 Him. The human race is hiding from God. They're experiencing fear for the very first time in 23:54 their lives. They've never felt such an emotion. They've never felt it before. I mean, imagine 23:59 that. You and I have lived with fear our whole lives, so we're used to it, but they've never 24:04 felt it. Heart racing. Throat tight. Sick to your stomach. You might even think you're already 24:14 dying. God comes and He weeps. He knows what it means. He knows what this is going to cost. 24:22 "Adam, where are you? What have you done? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded 24:30 that you should not eat? What have you done?" There are tears in God's eyes, probably not for 24:37 the first time; He's already seen this happen with His angels. Pierces His heart, 24:42 because now His family is going to die. His family's going to die. Now, I want you to pay 24:47 attention to what happens next, because it says a lot about you and me. It really does. "Then 24:54 the man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'" 25:01 He's only been a sinner for one day and he's already blaming somebody else. "It's my wife's 25:07 fault. Defective model. She did this." Actually, you know who he's blaming? He's not really 25:16 blaming his wife. Look at it carefully. "This woman You gave me." Blames God. You and I still 25:23 do the same thing today. We'll look for anybody else to blame for what we did, but what God 25:27 wants for you to do is own it. Admit you did it so that He can deal with it. A physician can't 25:32 treat the disease if you won't admit that you're sick. But we won't do it, will we? We love to 25:37 blame other people. Eve does it too, ladies. "The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I 25:42 ate.'" Now, is that true? Sure, it is. Did the devil lead her to do it? Sure, he did. It's not 25:49 the whole truth, though. She did have a choice. She had a choice. She had a warning from God. She 25:54 knew what the parameters were, but she chose to ignore the Word of God. Folks, you might be 25:58 tempted. And the devil has a role in that, but you still didn't have to do it. You still 26:02 have a choice. You're not going to be able to tell God, "Look, the devil made me do it." Yeah, 26:07 he did, and he'll be held accountable. You'll see that on a coming night. But you'll be 26:11 held accountable too because you didn't have to do it. You can still choose. You don't have to. 26:16 "Devil made me do it," that doesn't cut it. Adam and Eve have to be removed from the 26:21 garden, like the angels are removed from heaven. And why? Read Genesis carefully; it's 26:25 fascinating. God says, "I can't let them keep eating from the tree of life. I can't do that. I 26:31 can't do that because then they're going to live forever." And if you live forever as a 26:36 sinner, the suffering never stops. I mean, think about it. Think about the wickedness we 26:41 can come up with in one lifetime, eighty, ninety years. What if you went for three 26:45 thousand years? What would you think of to do next? God shuts it down; it's merciful. They're 26:52 removed from the garden, but I want you to notice that God never does it without hope. He 26:57 knows we were deceived. And He offers hope. God speaks to the serpent in the very first 27:02 prophecy mentioned in the Bible. This is prophecy number one. Genesis 3:15: "And I will put 27:07 enmity between you and the woman." 27:11 I used to think, "Oh, that's why girls are afraid of snakes." My mom was afraid of snakes. That's 27:16 not what that means. What does a woman represent? This is a prophecy. Represents the church, 27:20 represents God's people. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and 27:25 her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." "There's going to be a 27:31 conflict between you and My people. There are going to be people who stay loyal to Me. 27:35 She's going to have a child one day that destroys you." The book of Revelation tells the story, 27:39 Revelation 12 verse 1: "Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and 27:46 the moon under her feet; and on her head, a garland of twelve stars." "Then, being with child, 27:52 she cried out in labour and in pain to give birth." And we saw there are birth pains just 27:57 before the second coming of Christ. These are God's people waiting for Jesus to come the 28:01 first time. It's like God's people are pregnant. They're waiting for Messiah to come from 28:06 their own line. And by the time Jesus comes, they've been waiting a long time. The Old 28:12 Testament is the story of God's people, the woman waiting for Jesus to come. And as God's 28:17 people wait, two sides emerge in the human race right away. There are those waiting for Messiah to 28:25 come - they're staking everything on the promise of God that Jesus will come. They're 28:30 looking forward by faith. But unbelievably, there are those who cast their lot with the 28:33 dragon, the serpent. You see the two sides right away in the story of Cain and Abel. One 28:39 brother, Abel, does exactly what God asks. He offers a sacrifice. He brings a lamb in sacrifice. 28:45 What does the lamb represent? "I believe that the seed of the woman is coming. I believe 28:50 Messiah will come." It's an act of faith. As a kid, it bothered me. "Why does God accept his 28:55 sacrifice?" But Hebrews tells us why: because by faith, he offered that sacrifice. The lamb 29:02 didn't save him; it was pointing forward to Jesus. He does what God asks, but Cain, he kind of 29:07 comes up with his own method. He has a designer religion; that's what he has. "I'm going to 29:12 follow God, sort of. I know God asks for a lamb, but I'm a vegetable farmer, and lambs, 29:18 they're expensive, and all that blood is messy." "And besides that, God's not all that 29:23 particular." No? When it comes to faith and salvation, He is. He doesn't fool around. He is 29:33 very particular about His symbols. God's symbols are not just for you; they're meant to 29:37 teach the world around you something so that people would come to the sacrifice, "What's 29:40 that about?" "There's a Messiah Who's coming." He's very particular about His symbols. 29:45 Cain didn't think so. Two sides emerge. One side's with the Lamb of God - they're waiting for Him 29:51 - the other side casts their loyalty with the dragon. And the dragon looks over here at the 29:55 faithful people and he doesn't like it one bit. He gets angry. "If people follow Abel's 30:00 example, if they pay attention to this, Messiah will come, and then if Messiah comes, I'll be 30:07 crushed." So he makes Cain jealous, and Cain kills Abel. It's his favourite tactic. If 30:12 deception doesn't work, he turns to violence, every time. He's only got the two tools: 30:17 deception and violence. Time moves along, we get down to the days of Noah. And in Noah's day, 30:23 the world has become very wicked. Rebellion is spreading across the face of the planet, 30:29 and it looks like there's nobody left on God's side. I've seen Bible scholars estimate there 30:34 might have been, just by the probability and the math, as many as two or three billion 30:37 people on the face of the earth by that point. Two or three billion people. A lot of the 30:42 world is on the devil's side. He's been working very hard. He's trying to wipe out the 30:46 woman, God's people, so Messiah won't come. And it looks like he's winning. He almost does it. 30:54 But then God looks down into the earth and He sees somebody: Noah. Because He always finds 31:03 somebody. There's always a remnant of God's people there. There's always a remnant. And 31:09 Noah preaches for one hundred twenty years. He builds an ark, and the woman survives, and they 31:15 go on. Messiah will come. You cannot derail God's plan. There's always somebody. And in 31:24 the last days, there will always be somebody who will take a stand on truth, always. Always. 31:27 We move through time, we get to the Tower of Babel. Plains of Shinar. Built by Nimrod, the 31:34 mighty hunter. Sounds great, but it's not meant as a compliment. The original language implies 31:39 "arrogant." And he builds an arrogant city. "We'll build something really tall." They 31:44 start working on a tower. "Try flooding us again." These are proud, boastful, self-sufficient 31:51 people, and the devil looks, he laughs. "I've got them all this time. These people are as proud 31:56 as me. I'm going to stop Messiah." No, he's not. You cannot derail it. If God says 32:03 Messiah will come, Messiah will come. So God confuses the language, stops the tower. The 32:08 devil doesn't stop. He gets an 'A' for effort, frankly. In that place, where the tower is built, 32:14 a city grows: the city of Babylon. Babel, Babylon. It means "confusion." Babylon is 32:20 built in that very spot. Her citizens are drunk on the devil's deception. And the city 32:25 grows and it prospers and it gives birth to all sorts of false religion. It infects the 32:30 whole world and it's been infecting the whole world ever since. They gave it all to us: 32:35 astrology, the worship of planets, solar worship, idol worship. Babylon is all about 32:42 self-sufficiency. It's about designer religion. It's about building your own way back into 32:47 paradise. It's the spirit of Cain, the spirit of doing things your own way, finding your own 32:52 path. It's the shortcut of worshipping false gods. You could even have all the 32:58 trappings of religion. You might even have a religion that looks an awful lot like the truth; it 33:06 is so close. But there's no personal relationship with God, and certainly no accountability. 33:09 Babylon's influence grows and grows and grows and the devil is winning the whole world over 33:15 again. And God looks into the world and He finds somebody, and He says to that person, 33:19 "Abraham, I want you to come out of Chaldea." Abraham lives where Babylon is. "Come out of her. I 33:26 want you to come out of that spot. I'm going to use you and establish a whole country. I'm 33:32 going to put you right at the crossroads of the whole world where your descendants will 33:35 show, Messiah is coming. They'll demonstrate it with the temple and with the sacrifices, and 33:40 Messiah will come from you, and you will have many descendants, too many to count." So Abraham 33:47 comes out. He doesn't even know where he's going. That's what the book of Hebrews says. He 33:53 doesn't have job security. He doesn't have the title deed to a house somewhere. He just goes. 33:58 Has no idea where, the book of Hebrews says. All he has is the Word of God and the courage to 34:04 do what it says. Oh, that the world had more Abrahams today. People with the courage to just 34:11 do what God asks. Abraham's the father of a nation, a remnant people that build a temple. And 34:18 that's a picture of God's throne and the real plan of salvation, the real path back to God 34:22 through the cross of Christ. It is a display of the real, loving character of God. Abraham's 34:28 descendants reveal the truth. And of course, the devil looks at that and he hates it. "Can't 34:34 let that happen." So he does his best to bring Israel down. An Israelite king named Ahab 34:41 marries a pagan queen named Jezebel. He loses his way because it is always a disaster 34:46 when God's people compromise, always. Always. Paganism begins to combine with the religion of 34:53 God's chosen people. And before you know it, people are worshipping idols, they're 34:56 worshipping Baal, they're doing unthinkable things. So God raises up a prophet named Elijah 35:03 to call them back because there is no way the devil's going to derail His plan to bring Jesus. 35:08 Elijah calls the people back. There's a challenge on Mount Carmel. "If Baal is God, go 35:14 ahead, worship him, but if the Lord is God, worship Him." You see, the freedom of choice is 35:18 still there. God doesn't force. He tells the truth and He calls you to a decision. It's the same 35:25 as the last-day message that goes to the planet. Revelation 14: "Fear God and give glory to 35:30 Him." Come home. The Bible actually says there'll be another last-day Elijah, another 35:36 prophetic message. "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great 35:40 and dreadful day of the Lord." Malachi chapter 4. Before Jesus comes again, the same kind of 35:46 message goes to the world. For Elijah, God sends fire from heaven, and Baal worship comes 35:52 to a grinding halt. But the devil doesn't quit, because again - he gets an 'A' for 35:56 effort - he starts pushing Israel toward Babylonian gods. Babylonian gods. They actually 36:01 come to the point where they put their babies in the white-hot arms of a steel idol named 36:07 Molek. They're doing human sacrifice. That's what led to the Babylonian captivity. That's 36:13 what was going on in the days of Daniel and Ezekiel. That was - and follow my language carefully 36:18 - that was the abomination that caused the desolation of the temple. Pay attention to the 36:22 language. I'm using it on purpose. The abomination of Israel is what caused the 36:27 desolation of the temple. You're going to see that in coming nights. Listen to what was going 36:31 on in those days. "So he brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house; and to my 36:36 dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz." It's Babylonian worship. They're 36:41 actually worshipping a Babylonian fertility god tied to the worship of the sun. That's 36:45 what they're doing. "Then he said to me, 'Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you 36:50 will see greater abominations than these.'" "So he brought me into the inner court of the 36:54 Lord's house, and there at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, 36:59 were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward 37:03 the east, and they were worshipping the sun." I'm sure if you went back and talked to 37:09 those people, they wouldn't think they were doing anything wrong. "Look, we're just trying 37:13 to be culturally relevant; all the other nations do this." That's the way deception works. 37:19 And you'll always fall for it if you're not standing on the Word of God. They're supposed to come 37:23 out of Babylon, but now they worship like Babylon. God says, "If you want Babylon, I'm not 37:28 going to force you. You can go home." Nebuchadnezzar comes, destroys the temple, and takes 37:33 them back home. It's the abomination that desolates the temple. Read Second Chronicles 37:38 36 tonight; it's your homework. Wicked king after wicked king. The abomination of this king, 37:43 the domination of that king, and then Nebuchadnezzar comes and desolates the temple. Devil 37:49 must've been laughing. He actually beat Abraham. But then of all things, as they're all in 37:52 captivity, the pagan king himself has a dream that the stone is coming, and by chapter 37:58 4 of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar's a believer in the God of Israel. You cannot stop the seed of the 38:04 woman from coming. Cyrus conquers Babylon. Israel goes back home, and they rebuild the 38:09 temple and they have four hundred ninety more years. This time, the devil knows, they're 38:14 not going to worship Babylonian idols; we'll have to do something else. So he steers 38:17 them into the opposite ditch. He has them bury the religion of God under so much tradition, so 38:23 many man-made regulations, that they actually grow to hate it. And the devil laughs, but he 38:29 laughs for the last time, because he's undone. The seed of the woman arrives. "She bore a 38:35 male Child," Revelation 12, "Who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was 38:40 caught up to God and His throne." Jesus finally comes, exactly as promised. He is born 38:46 as one of us. He lives as one of us. He dies for us. He rises from the dead, and He goes back 38:54 to heaven to represent us in the courts of heaven. And the cross utterly exposes the devil as a 39:00 murderer and a liar. Undoes him. Every angel in heaven can see it now: Satan just killed Jesus. 39:11 Universe could see what he is. Jesus said he's a liar and a murderer from the beginning, but 39:17 now the angels in heaven can see it. The cross exposes the devil. Listen to what Jesus 39:22 says: "Now is the judgement of the world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, 39:27 if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself." The cross undoes the 39:33 devil. Jesus shows the world what God is really like. The devil may have bruised the heel 39:40 of Jesus, but at that moment, his head is crushed. He is finished in heaven. His 39:44 credibility is shot. He has no excuse for what he did now. And even the unfallen angels have no 39:50 use for him. So why do we? Why do we? Revelation says he's finished. "Then I heard a loud 40:01 voice in heaven saying, 'Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power 40:07 of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day 40:11 and night, has been cast down.'" In heaven's opinion, the devil is finished. He's got no 40:18 audience up there. Mm-mm. They know he's a liar. Case solved, closed. Satan utterly fails to 40:26 stop Jesus. Jesus is now out of his reach, raised from the dead, back in heaven. He can't touch 40:32 Jesus. So what does he do? He turns his attention back on the world, verse 13: "Now when the 40:38 dragon saw he'd been cast to the earth, he persecuted [who?] the woman [the church, God's people] 40:45 who gave birth to the male Child." Satan can't have Jesus, so he turns his attention on the 40:49 church, and you know what happened. We've studied it. Pagan Roman empire turns its 40:53 wrath on the Christian church. Just like he did with Cain and Abel, the devil uses death and 40:59 persecution, but it flops. The church actually grows faster under persecution, so he tries 41:05 something else. He's watching it. If he can't beat 'em, join 'em. Suddenly, the Roman emperor 41:17 kind of converts. Doesn't get baptized 'til on his deathbed - still murders people - kind of 41:22 converts. And the persecution stops. That's the good news. The bad news is, suddenly, all these 41:28 pagans start joining the church, they're insincere, they have no intent of coming to Jesus; they 41:33 just want the benefits that come from the emperor. And you get this mix in the church, and it 41:37 begins to lose steam. And the devil has us do some horrible things. We lock up the Word of 41:43 God and keep it in a foreign language; we did that. We made fortunes on religion; we did 41:48 that. We tortured people, burned people at the stake; we did that. It was another way to 41:54 embarrass the government of God. The devil could point to this, "Look, these are God's people. 41:59 Look how they're behaving." And to this day, the world is laughing. The atheists are 42:04 laughing at our history. It's the devil's attempt to discredit God. But I can tell you 42:10 something: he's still losing because Christianity is still spreading, and nothing is going 42:14 to stop Jesus from coming back. Nothing is going to stop Jesus from coming back. It is His 42:19 world now. Oh, but the devil hasn't quit. He still lies about God. He even gets us to shake 42:30 our fist at heaven when we're mad. "Why did you do this to me, God?" I can tell you, God's not 42:36 doing it. Why didn't God just stomp out evil? Why doesn't He just stomp it all out right now? 42:43 He could. But where would you like Him to stop? Before He gets to your house? The Bible says He 42:54 is long-suffering because He is not willing that any would perish. He's hanging in there 43:00 because you are at stake. Interesting story in the Bible that exposes completely what's 43:06 going on. It's the oldest book of the Bible, the book of Job. The Bible says there's a special 43:11 meeting in heaven. This is long before the cross. And the devil actually shows up. "The Lord 43:17 said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to 43:22 and fro on the earth and walking back and forth on it.'" He's not telling God he went for a 43:27 stroll, mm-mm. The foot in the ancient world is a symbol of possession. Do you know what 43:32 he's saying? "I own that world." In the temptations in the wilderness, he said to Jesus, 43:37 "Come on, worship me. I can give you this planet; it was delivered to me. Adam and Eve 43:42 gave it to me." Luke 4 verse 6. "I was out for a stroll on my new property. Maybe you 43:47 noticed." "Human race gave me the world. They turned against You and they're with me." "And 43:52 the Lord said to Satan, '[Not so fast; you don't have it all.] Have you considered my servant 43:57 Job? There is none like him on the earth: a blameless and upright man, one who fears God 44:02 and shuns evil. [You don't have it all. There's somebody down there who loves Me.]' So Satan 44:09 answered the Lord, said, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? But now, stretch out Your hand and 44:15 touch all that he has, he will surely curse You to Your face!'" "Of course he worships You, God, 44:22 because he's got everything going for him. You made him rich. He's well-off. He's not 44:26 doing this out of love. He's with You for the fringe benefits. I guarantee, take away 44:31 his stuff, and he'll turn his back on You." Pay attention. "The Lord said to Satan, 44:37 'Behold, all he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.'" Who's the author 44:46 of pain? Who's the one itching to cause Job harm? It's the devil. Runs away to do his 44:51 worst. The story tells us, the bad news starts to arrive for Job. He doesn't see what's going 44:55 on behind the scenes, just like we don't always see what's going on behind the scenes. A group 45:00 called the Sabeans comes and kills all his servants; his staff is gone. Lightning falls 45:05 from heaven and consumes all of his animals. You say, "Lightning must be from God." Hmm, the 45:11 beast knows how to bring fire down too - read Revelation chapter 13. His house falls in 45:16 and all of his children are dead. He loses it all, and Lucifer rubs his hands together. 45:20 "Now watch this. He's going to turn his back on God in two seconds flat." Backfires. What 45:26 does Job do? He prays. "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the 45:31 Lord." Devil says, "I'm going to have to up the game a little bit." Goes back to God. "Satan 45:38 answered the Lord and said, 'Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his 45:42 life. [He still has his health; that's why he's with You.] But stretch out Your hand now, touch 45:47 his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!'" Take away his health; 45:52 he'll walk. "The Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, he's in your hand, but spare his life.'" What 46:00 are you up against tonight? God's not doing that. All of heaven is watching us to see if 46:10 our loyalty to God depends on gifts and favours, or if it's because we love Him. Drives me 46:19 nuts when preachers say, "God wants everybody rich and famous and good-looking." That's not 46:25 the truth. Actually giving the wrong impression. There's no question the devil's going to 46:32 try with you; I promise you. I can tell you from personal experience - he's tried to kill 46:37 me. Goes after you sometimes. That's what the prophecy says. "For the devil has come down to 46:45 you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." You know what is 46:52 happening? He's panicky. He's throwing a temper tantrum because he's already defeated. 46:58 He was finished at the cross. A member of the human race, God in human flesh, took the keys to 47:03 the planet back, and the devil is just running around pretending like it didn't happen 47:07 and he didn't lose. But the cross is real and Jesus is alive and His tomb is empty and the 47:14 devil is done and there's nothing he can do about it. Nothing. The only place left for 47:23 him to fight right now is over your heart. That's it. And he'll do what it takes to make you 47:27 think that God is ruining your life. God's not doing it. Jesus is coming. God says, "I'm going 47:33 to put an end to it. Hang in there; I'm coming. I'm waiting for a few more, but I'm coming." 47:38 Revelation 21 verse 4: "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There'll be no more death, 47:45 no sorrow, nor crying. There will be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 47:51 God's letting us live through this painful world just once because there was no other way 47:57 to give us our freedom of choice. There's no way I'm going to choose this place again. I'm 48:09 going to love God of my own free will. We still will have freedom of choice in the kingdom, but 48:16 you're not going to choose this again. There's no way. God is allowing this because this is 48:23 the medicine we needed. And medicine, not always great. When my wife was in the hospital with 48:37 our second baby [tongue clicks], it came that quick - you were there - I was home alone with a 48:46 two-year-old who had an eye infection. I would call her. "Natalie." "Yes, Daddy," she'd 49:00 come running in, one eye all red and weepy. "It's time for your medicine." "I don't wants 49:07 medicine." We have to put it in there because that eye is out of control. Daddy's got it right 49:13 here. I've got the ointment." "I don't wants ointment." "Come here, it's not going to hurt." 49:18 "Let me hold your eye open." "No!" I had to get it in there. And I had to hold her down on 49:30 the bed. "No, Daddy. I don't like it." Push her head back with one hand, and force her eye 49:41 open. "You have to." "You have to." And here we are in this world, and God's going to fix 50:01 it. He doesn't want to lose you. Doesn't want to lose you. And I know it hurts - I know - and we 50:11 cry out, "No, Father, no, I can't take it." But He's going to wipe away every tear, and 50:19 He's coming. I gotta ask you tonight, what are you dealing with? God's not doing it. Be 50:31 faithful, hang in there; He's coming. I know you're dealing with stuff. I want to pray for 50:39 you tonight 'cause I know you are. Charles is going to sing, and this is the moment the 50:45 ushers are going to pass out the containers; you put the card in it. And after he's sung for a 50:49 moment or two, I'm going to meet you down here, because some of you are struggling with stuff. 50:55 Some of you have incredible pain in your life, and you've wondered if you can trust God, 50:59 and you can. I'm going to meet you down front for prayer. You bring whatever it is that you're 51:05 struggling with, and you stand up and say, "You know what? I'm going to trust God." He ripped 51:12 back the veil of the universe to show us what's actually going on. You take the pain and you 51:17 come down here and pray. My pastoral team will meet with you. You can start coming as 51:21 soon as that container comes through; I'll be waiting for you. 51:26 Nothing between my soul and my Savior, 51:36 Naught of this world's delusive dreams; 51:45 I have renounced all sinful pleasure; 51:55 Jesus is mine, there's nothing between. 52:05 Nothing between my soul and my Savior, 52:15 So that His blessed face may be seen; 52:25 Nothing preventing the least of His favor; 52:35 Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. 52:48 There is somebody in this auditorium who has struggled with trusting God. They don't 52:56 want that struggle; they want to hold His hand. You come on out of your seat and come down for 53:01 prayer. Just get up and come. Someone else who knows they need a relationship with Christ, you 53:09 come here too and pray. Tonight, there's something that you're holding onto that hurts. It's 53:18 time to let go of it, time to trust God with it. I want you to come down for prayer too. 53:24 Charles is going to sing. Don't let anything hold you back from Jesus tonight. You just come on 53:28 down for prayer. My pastoral team will be waiting for you. 53:35 Nothing between, like worldly pleasure; 53:45 Habits of life, though harmless they seem, 53:54 Must not my heart from Him ever sever; 54:05 He is my all, there's nothing between. 54:15 Nothing between my soul and my Savior, 54:25 So that His blessed face may be seen; 54:34 Nothing preventing the least of His favor; 54:45 Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. 54:56 Tonight we're going to pray together. My pastoral team is here. Pastors, just raise your 55:02 hand wherever you are so people can identify who you are. We're going to linger here after the 55:07 meeting, and we'll pray with anyone who needs prayer. We'd ask that when we close tonight, 55:14 then, that, if you haven't come forward, if you'd excuse us to just pray with folks, and we'll 55:20 see you tomorrow night. Father in heaven, when the curtain is pulled back and see what has 55:28 happened in Your creation, we understand that You feel the pain. We're Your children; You 55:35 haven't missed one minute of what's going on in our lives. You saw what happened. You have 55:43 seen the way that fallen angels have destroyed our lives, the pain they've inflicted. And 55:49 tonight, we believe that when You say You will wipe away every tear, it is something we can 55:58 count on. The Bible says when You made that promise right, for these words are true and 56:04 faithful, so by faith tonight, we believe it. Jesus died for our sins. We are going home and 56:11 the devil is defeated. He has no claim in our lives tonight. Nothing. No foothold, because 56:18 our hearts belong to Jesus Christ. So Lord, we're going to lay what hurts in front of Your 56:24 feet. You have lived here. You came as one of us, lived here. You know what it's like to be 56:31 lonely, to be hurt, to be rejected. And tonight, we know we can trust You with that pain 56:39 and that You'll take it. Father, You hear what's going on in every heart here at the front of 56:45 this auditorium. Speak to each heart. Let everybody feel just how close You are and how close 56:53 Your coming is. And we thank You, in Jesus' name, amen. 57:02 Today you have watched just one in a series of "Revelation Speaks Peace" presentations. 57:07 The entire series is available on DVD. Find out how you can order a copy at www.vop.com/rsp 57:16 Or Call.. 877-955-2525 Or if you wish you may request the series by writing to Voice of Prophecy 57:25 PO Box 999 Loveland, CO 80539 You can also find answers to life's TOUGHEST questions, by 57:35 ordering Voice of Prophecy's free Discover Bible Guides. We'll take you step by step to 57:40 what you care about most. Study online, or have us send them straight to your mailbox. To 57:47 order your DVD set or Discover Bible Guides go to www.vop.com/rsp, again that's 57:54 www.vop.com/rsp or call 877-955-2525. You may also send us a request by mail to: Voice 58:05 of Prophecy PO Box 999 Loveland, CO 80539 58:14 + |
Revised 2016-07-28