Participants: John Dinzey
Series Code: 17SCM
Program Code: 17SCM000004A
|
00:14 Welcome to 3ABN's Spring Camp Meeting 2017:
00:25 Good morning, and it is so good to see you again. 00:30 You know, there's this automatic 00:31 sort of predilection that you have when you say 00:33 "good morning" to add Happy Sabbath to that. 00:35 But we're a little early for that. It's just Thurs. morning. 00:40 And I've actually lost track of the days. 00:42 Yesterday I thought it was Thursday, and today my mind 00:45 is saying it is Friday. 00:47 So I've got to re-calibrate my brain 00:49 because it is Thursday morning, the second day of 3ABN's 00:54 Spring Camp Meeting: Counteracting the Counterfeit. 00:59 Did everybody rest well? 01:01 And you look marvelous. 01:03 And it's going to be a marvelous day in the Lord 01:06 as we lift up the mighty and matchless name of Jesus. 01:10 So we welcome you... we welcome you one and all 01:14 to the Spring Camp Meeting. 01:18 Our speaker is Johnny Dinzey. 01:24 He is a native of the Dominican Republic 01:28 and grew up in Chicago 01:32 and has been here at 3ABN I guess as long as anyone. 01:37 Many, many years... I think he's up around 20 years here, 01:41 perhaps a little more. 01:42 But John is part of the fabric here. 01:46 He is the general manager of our 3ABN Latino Network. 01:52 He is ably assisted by his wife who is the admin. assistant... 01:55 assistant to Johnny Dinzey. 01:58 That's Idalia Dinzey. They have two sons. Two good looking 02:01 strong Christian young men: Samuel - who just came back 02:05 from a year abroad doing mission service - 02:07 and Caleb who is a high-school student. 02:11 Good, fine young men that make their parents very very proud. 02:17 Johnny Dinzey is a student of the Word. 02:19 From time to time I will go into his office or he will come 02:22 into my office and we sit and talk things of the Lord. 02:24 And I found out very early that he is a "studier" of the Word of 02:27 God... he's a student of the Word of God. 02:30 He delves into the Word of God. And I'm very, very excited 02:34 to hear what he has to say on this subject - 02:36 which really could be a one-word answer. 02:38 I was teasing him backstage because his subject is 02:42 Is There A Devil? 02:44 Yes! 02:47 So I guess we just go home, but... 02:51 but he has so much more to say than that. 02:54 And we look forward to what he has to say 02:56 because we know that God has given him a message 02:59 for our hearts. So again, we welcome you: 03:01 our in-house audience which is growing and those of you 03:04 from around the world and across the country 03:06 who are joining us for this day number two 03:11 of our sitting together. 03:13 There is sunshine outside and indeed there is sunshine 03:16 inside. There is sunshine in our souls this day 03:20 and so we praise the Lord for that. 03:22 Going to sing a song that the Lord had helped me to arrange 03:26 years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. 03:30 And I guess to keep my mind off of that 03:33 the Lord sort of brought this song into my spirit. 03:36 Have no fear. The cancer is gone and I am 03:38 still here. Amen! But this song was one of the things 03:43 I worked on during the time that we were getting treatment 03:45 and so it is a favorite of mine. 03:48 I'll Tell The World That I'm A Christian. 04:09 I'll tell the world 04:13 that I'm a Christian; 04:17 I'm not ashamed 04:20 His name to bear. 04:24 I'll tell the world 04:27 that I'm a Christian. 04:31 I'll take Him with me 04:35 everywhere. 04:38 I'll tell the world 04:42 how Jesus saved me 04:45 and how He gave me 04:49 a life brand new. 04:54 And I know 04:56 that if you trust Him 05:00 that all He gave me 05:03 He'll give to you. 05:10 I'll tell the world 05:14 that He's my Savior. 05:18 No other one 05:21 could love me so. 05:25 My life, my all 05:28 is His forever 05:32 and where He leads me 05:36 I will go. 05:43 I'll tell the world 05:47 Jesus is coming. 05:50 And it may be near 05:53 or far, far away. 05:57 But we've got to live 06:01 as if that coming 06:04 could be tomorrow 06:08 or today. 06:11 For when He comes 06:15 and life is over 06:18 for those who love Him 06:22 there's more to be. 06:27 Eyes have never seen the wonders 06:33 that He's preparing 06:36 for you and me! 06:44 Go tell the world 06:47 that you're a Christian. 06:51 Don't be ashamed 06:54 His name to bear. 06:58 Just tell the world 07:02 that you are a Christian 07:05 and take Him with you 07:09 everywhere. 07:14 I'll tell the world 07:20 how Jesus saved me 07:23 and how He gave me 07:27 a life brand new. 07:31 And I know 07:34 that if you trust Him 07:37 that all He gave to me 07:41 He'll give to you. 07:49 I'll tell the world 07:52 that I'm a Christian. 07:55 And I'm not ashamed 07:59 His name to bear. 08:02 I'll tell the world 08:06 that I'm a Christian. 08:10 I'll take Him with me 08:13 anywhere... 08:17 I'll take Him with me 08:20 anywhere. 08:35 Amen! 08:41 Praise the Lord! Thank you, Pastor C.A. 08:45 Always enjoy listening to Pastor C.A. sing. 08:48 He sings from the heart. 08:53 This is a topic 08:57 that is of great interest to me 08:59 and I hope it is to you. 09:02 God is merciful and kind to each and every one of us, 09:05 Amen? Amen. And you know, as we look at the title of this 09:09 topic it's a question. 09:11 It is: Is The Devil Real? 09:16 And as Pastor C.A. and I were talking in the back 09:19 he said this is one of those type of sermons 09:22 that, since it is a question, Is the devil real? 09:26 you could say: "Yes! 09:28 Well... we are done... let's pray. " 09:32 But let's look into God's Word to see what it tells us 09:35 concerning how the devil became the devil 09:39 and what he is up to in this world. 09:43 Before we begin our study - 09:44 we're going to be looking at a lot of scriptures - 09:46 you may want to write them down. I may need to go fast 09:48 because I have more notes than time. 09:51 But we're going to look at a lot of scriptures. 09:53 Before we begin I'm going to kneel once again 09:57 and ask the Lord to bless us. 09:59 You may remain seated, but let's go to the Lord in prayer. 10:07 Our loving heavenly Father, 10:09 we come to You in Jesus' name 10:12 and we pray, Lord, that You will bless us 10:15 for we need a blessing from heaven. 10:17 We need a message from heaven, Lord, so we ask 10:20 that You will bless us... bless us with the Holy Spirit. 10:24 I, Lord, place myself in Your hands 10:27 that every word will come from Your throne of grace. 10:31 Bless Your children that are here 10:33 and those that are all over the world. 10:36 We ask You for Your name to be glorified in all things. 10:40 In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. Amen. 10:45 So is the devil real? 10:47 If you believe in the Bible, you will notice that it mentions 10:50 the devil and that his activity is one of destruction. 10:54 Jesus says that he comes "to steal, kill, and destroy. " 11:00 Now the Bible doesn't really mention the devil much. 11:03 It seems like he's behind the scenes doing his wicked things. 11:07 You see him in the Garden of Eden working through a serpent 11:11 and he's not really mentioned till later 11:14 in the books of I Kings, I Chronicles. 11:18 But he's behind the scenes doing his wicked work. 11:23 Let's see what the Bible says. 11:26 First let's talk about God. I love talking about God 11:29 and Jesus. As you look around of course you will see that this 11:33 world is in a terrible state. 11:35 We look at destruction. Recently you've heard of 11:39 bombings, recently you've heard of killings 11:42 and terrible things have taken place just this very week. 11:46 So we ask ourselves: "Is there a devil? " 11:49 Or... "What is going on with people? " 11:52 The Bible says there is a devil. 11:54 And I believe everyone here... How many of you believe that 11:58 there is a devil? Would you raise your hand? 12:00 Every hand has gone up. 12:02 And the Bible says that he is "as a roaring lion 12:05 seeking whom he may devour. " 12:10 So that text implies that you don't have to be devoured. Amen? 12:14 Praise the Lord for that. 12:15 Now let's look at God. See, God created a perfect universe. 12:21 Let's look at Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. 12:24 Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. 12:26 And I will sometimes start reading before you get there 12:29 because we need to save time. 12:31 But if you found it, say Amen. Amen. Let's begin reading. 12:35 "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners 12:39 spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets 12:44 has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son 12:49 whom He appointed heir of all things. By whom also He 12:51 made the worlds. Who being the brightness of His glory 12:56 and the express image of His person 12:58 and upholding all things by the word of His power 13:02 when He had by Himself purged our sins 13:05 sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. " 13:08 So what do we learn in Hebrews chapter 1? 13:10 That God through His Son made the worlds. 13:15 Made the universe. Amen. 13:18 Now let's look quickly to John chapter 1. 13:20 John chapter 1. We're going to look at John 1:1-3. 13:25 In John chapter 1 verses 1, 2, and 3 13:28 the Bible says the following: 13:30 "In the beginning was the Word 13:32 and the Word was with God and the Word was God. " 13:37 Verse 2: "The same was in the beginning with God. 13:42 All things were made by Him 13:44 and without Him... " that is, Jesus... 13:48 "was not anything made that was made. " We read in 13:50 Hebrews chapter 1 that through His Son He made the... 13:53 worlds. John chapter 1 is talking about 13:56 the Word. The Word is Jesus. 13:58 Go to verse 14 of this same chapter and you will see 14:01 "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. " 14:05 That is Jesus. 14:07 Now it says something interesting here. 14:11 It says that "In the beginning was the Word 14:14 and the Word was with God. " You see, you can - if you had 14:17 the capacity - go as far... as far as the... 14:23 time could take you to the beginning 14:26 and Jesus already existed. 14:29 Because He has always existed. 14:32 He has not been created; He has not been made. 14:37 Jesus is God, and God is all powerful and eternal. 14:43 Do you understand that? Say amen. Amen! Praise the Lord. 14:46 Let's move on. So God made the universe 14:49 through Jesus Christ. 14:52 And I would like to bring an understanding here. 14:58 It says here: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 15:01 with God. " And I have to say this because there are 15:05 different groups of people that believe that given time 15:11 you can become a god. 15:16 And there have been individuals that from time to time rise up 15:19 and say "I am God. " 15:21 And one after the other... they die. 15:26 Well let's look in Isaiah chapter 43 very quickly. 15:29 Isaiah chapter 43 and we're going to read verse 10. 15:33 Isaiah 43:10. 15:36 You may write it down... here's what the Bible says: 15:38 "Ye are My witnesses saith the Lord 15:40 and My servant whom I have chosen 15:43 that you may know and believe Me and understand 15:47 that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed. 15:54 Neither shall there be after Me. " 15:58 So the Bible is very clear. 16:00 This same thought is mentioned several times in the Bible. 16:04 Before God there was no God formed. 16:07 Neither will there be any God formed after Him. 16:11 Praise the Lord! This is what the Bible says. 16:13 Now... we talked about the creation of the universe. 16:19 And God made a marvelous creation. 16:23 In the book of Genesis we find a principle as to how 16:27 God does things. Genesis chapter 1 verse 31. 16:31 How does God do things? How does He create? 16:35 You see, in Genesis chapter 1 verse 31 16:38 the Bible says the following: "And God saw everything 16:42 that He had made... " talking about this earth 16:44 but you can say the same thing about the universe... 16:47 "And God saw everything that He had made and behold 16:51 it was very good. 16:54 And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. " 16:56 So you see, when God created the universe 16:59 it was very good. You can with all confidence say 17:05 it could not be any better because God is perfect. 17:11 Now let's look into the scriptures. The whole universe 17:13 perfect. There was harmony and peace everywhere. 17:17 No killings; no muggings; no stealing. 17:22 No sickness; no pain; no death. 17:26 No stress... no animals that bite you 17:30 or sting you. Everything was peace. 17:35 Everyone got along. 17:37 No one got stressed out. 17:40 Somebody could step on your foot... no problem. 17:44 Somebody could stumble with you. "Excuse me... sorry... 17:49 no problem. " In today's society 17:52 somebody could look at you and all of a sudden 17:56 there's a fight. I used to live in Chicago. 18:03 And you... People would swear at you just because they thought 18:08 you were looking at them the wrong way. 18:10 But you see, in God's universe everything was perfect. 18:13 Let's look at the Bible to see what it tells us about 18:16 God's universe. Now these are principles we're talking about 18:19 and how God does things. 18:23 In Matthew chapter 22 verses 37 to 38 18:27 Matthew 22:37-38 18:30 the Bible says: "Jesus said unto him: 18:36 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart 18:39 and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. 18:42 This is the first and great commandment. ' " 18:45 Jesus was asked: "Lord, which one is the greatest 18:49 commandment? Which one? " So what does He say? 18:52 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart 18:55 with all your mind. " So that's the first and great commandment. 18:58 And I tell you the Ten Command- ments are based on these two 19:02 great principles that we're looking at over here. 19:05 Love the Lord your God supremely. 19:08 And now the following verse says... 19:11 verse 39: "And the second is like unto it: 19:15 thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. " 19:21 Amen! Wouldn't it be wonderful 19:24 if everyone in this world loved his neighbor as himself. 19:29 Wow! A lot of horrible things would stop. 19:34 But these are the two great principles 19:37 by which God's commandments were understood 19:40 and obeyed throughout the whole universe. 19:45 Praise the Lord! 19:46 You see, the Bible tells us in I John chapter 4 verse 8. 19:53 I John chapter 4 verse 8. 19:55 "He that loveth not knoweth not God 19:57 for God is love. " 19:59 You see, God is love and the creatures He made 20:04 He made with a desire to be loved and to love others. 20:10 That is God's universe. 20:13 So the first two great commandments: love God 20:15 with all of your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. 20:18 And love your neighbor as yourself. 20:21 This is the way God's universe works. 20:23 Now this is something vital to understand 20:27 as we go down in the development of this topic. 20:33 And so for a period of time everything was perfect. 20:36 Everyone got along... no problem at all. 20:40 But the Bible tells us that there was an individual 20:44 that went beyond and did something other than love God 20:50 and love his neighbor as himself. 20:52 Let's go to the book of Ezekiel chapter 28. 20:56 In the book of Ezekiel chapter 28 20:59 when you begin reading in verse 1 you will find that God 21:04 is talking about an individual - a prince of Tyre 21:07 and then eventually says a king of Tyre. 21:10 And you have to understand that the Bible uses symbols. 21:14 It's all over. In different places you'll see these things. 21:18 And this prince and this king is being used as a symbol 21:22 because these same character- istics were developed in this 21:27 earthly person, this king, this prince 21:30 as were in angel that turned from loving God 21:36 to doing evil. 21:38 And as you read the narrative in Ezekiel chapter 28 21:42 you quickly find out it's impossible that this is talking 21:46 about a human being. Impossible! 21:48 Let's look at the words. First, Ezekiel chapter 28 21:51 verses 1 and 2. If you're ready, say amen. 21:53 Amen! "The Word of the Lord came again unto me saying 21:57 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre 21:59 thus sayeth the Lord God: 'Because your heart... 22:03 thine heart is lifted up and thou hast said I am... ' 22:08 What? "a god 22:10 and I sit in the seat of God in the midst of the seas. ' 22:13 Yet, thou art a man and not God 22:17 though thou set thy heart as the heart of God. " 22:24 You see, this individual - like Lucifer that we're going to 22:28 talk about in a moment - he thought he was God 22:31 but he was just a man. 22:33 The king we're talking about in this prophecy is Ishbaal. 22:38 The very name of Ishbaal tells you that he was a worshiper 22:41 of Baal: a false god, an idol made by man. 22:46 And interestingly enough his name Ishbaal. 22:52 He's connected to pagan idolatry. 22:55 He was actually a high priest of Baal. 22:59 And when you look at this you begin to understand 23:03 how he had characteristics like the angel that went bad. 23:09 Let's take a look and see the evidence 23:12 in the scriptures as to how this could... 23:14 It is impossible for this to be a mere man. 23:17 Let's go to Ezekiel 28 verses 11 and 12. 23:25 "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying: 23:28 'Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king 23:31 of Tyre and say unto him 23:34 Thus saith the Lord God: 23:37 thou sealest up the sum. Full of wisdom 23:41 and perfect in beauty. ' " 23:44 When it says "you seal up the sum" that means 23:47 it cannot get any better. You are the totality 23:50 of perfection. Now notice here 23:55 that it says this person is full of wisdom 23:59 and what? Perfect in? Beauty! 24:03 After sin came into this world you could not say that 24:06 people were perfect in beauty. 24:09 Right away after sin and children began to be born 24:14 imperfections began to arise in the complexion and in the 24:18 physical bodies of the people. 24:20 Now I know some husbands here will probably say 24:23 "Oh, my wife is perfect in beauty. " 24:28 Amen... amen! 24:32 I would say that about my wife. 24:34 But you see, perfect in beauty does not describe a human being. 24:40 Let's continue reading. 24:42 Now it begins to get clearer and clearer that we're talking 24:45 about an angel that went bad. Look at verse 13. 24:51 "Thou has been in Eden - the garden of God. 24:55 Every precious stone was thy covering. 24:57 The sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, 25:00 the onyx and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald 25:03 and the carbuncle and gold. The workmanship of thy tabrets 25:07 and of thy pipes was prepared in thee 25:10 in the day that thou wast created. " 25:13 Wow! Question: 25:17 which human beings do we understand have been in the 25:20 Garden of Eden? Only two: Adam and Eve. 25:26 And the Bible says that after Adam and Eve sinned 25:29 they were? They were asked to leave. 25:33 And after they left angels were placed in front of the garden 25:37 so that no other human being could go in. 25:43 And it says "flaming swords. " 25:46 So this lamentation - although it has references 25:51 to a symbol of a king - 25:54 there's a mixture here of talking about a king 25:56 and Lucifer that went bad. 26:01 And so we can say this cannot be a mere human being. 26:07 Now let's continue reading and we will see that. 26:10 Now when you get to verse 14 the Bible clearly tells you 26:14 something that says: "OK, this is not a human being. " 26:17 It says: "You were the anointed cherub 26:21 who covers. I establish you. " 26:26 And the King James version says: "I set thee. " So I'm reading 26:29 now from the New King James version. 26:31 I'll start reading again: "You were the anointed cherub 26:33 who covers. I establish you. You were on the holy mountain 26:37 of God. You walked back and forth in the midst of the 26:40 fiery stones. " This is not a mere human being. 26:44 It's a covering... was a covering cherub. 26:48 That's an angel of an exalted order in heaven. 26:52 That's what a cherub is. 26:54 In fact, this angel had the privilege of being 26:57 next to God's throne. 27:02 This is expressed and symbolized 27:04 in the tabernacle service. 27:06 Let's quickly go to this example 27:10 in Exodus chapter 25. We're going to read verses 19 and 20. 27:14 Exodus 25:19-20. 27:16 And the Bible says the following: 27:19 "And make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub 27:22 on the other end. Even of the Mercy Seat 27:25 shall be make the cherubim's 27:27 on the two ends thereof. 27:29 And the cherubim's shall stretch forth their wings 27:32 on high, covering the Mercy Seat with their wings 27:35 and their faces shall look one to another. 27:38 Toward the Mercy Seat shall the faces of the cherubim's be. " 27:44 Praise the Lord! So we see here an example 27:47 in the sanctuary service as to what the position 27:50 of this cherub was. 27:52 The Mercy Seat is a symbol of God's throne, God's kingdom, 27:55 where He sits. And here this cherub was close 28:00 to God's throne. So what happened to this cherub? 28:05 This angel? Let's go over some of the things we have noticed 28:09 about Lucifer. He seals the sum. Full of wisdom. 28:13 Perfect in beauty. Was an anointed cherub. 28:15 Created perfect. And he had something that we all have... 28:21 freedom of choice. 28:25 How do we know he had freedom of choice? 28:27 Because he chose to sin. 28:30 So he had a gift that we all have: freedom of choice. 28:36 Let's see what happened with this angel. 28:44 In Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 15 28:49 we find the following words: 28:52 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways 28:57 from the day that thou wast created 29:00 till iniquity was found in thee. " 29:04 So let me back up a little bit and talk a little bit about 29:07 this. "You were perfect from the day you were created 29:12 till iniquity was found in thee. " 29:14 We do not know how long of a time 29:17 Lucifer existed... and I'm calling him Lucifer because 29:20 in another book it mentions the name Lucifer. 29:23 We do not know how long he lived serving God, 29:26 loving God, and loving the other angels 29:30 and all the other creatures of God. 29:32 We do not know. The Bible does not tell us. 29:34 But it says he was perfect. In other words, 29:38 he was perfect from the day he was created 29:40 till iniquity was found in him. 29:43 In other words, you can examine him. 29:46 And if you had the most powerful instruments 29:48 to detect sin or any variance from perfection, 29:53 you could look at Lucifer every minute, 29:56 every moment from the moment he was created 29:58 till the moment iniquity was found in him... 30:00 however long that was... 30:02 and you could say: "Perfect, perfect, perfect. 30:05 No sin. Perfect, perfect. No sin. Perfect, perfect, no sin. " 30:08 And then, it says: "iniquity was found in him. " 30:12 The Hebrew word matza means that it's like something 30:16 appeared that was not there. You see, God didn't put it there. 30:20 God did not pre-program Lucifer to sin. 30:23 It was a choice he made. 30:30 And these things that we're talking about help us 30:35 in some way understand. See, because, there really is no 30:38 explanation for why sin appeared in his heart 30:45 except some idea that he had jealousy and pride. 30:53 And so this confuses people. "How could sin start 30:56 in heaven where all is bliss and beautiful and perfect? " 31:01 You see, God gave His creatures freedom of choice so they could 31:04 choose to serve Him out of love. 31:08 "If you love Me... " "If you love Me... 31:11 keep My commandments. " 31:13 The opposite of that is true. 31:15 "If you don't love Me, don't keep My commandments. " 31:19 But "If you love Me, keep My commandments. " 31:21 God could have made robots 31:24 to say: "Yes, Lord, yes... You're wonderful; You're great. 31:27 You're marvelous. I adore You; I worship You. " 31:31 But that would not be natural; that would not be true 31:36 and God wants true worshipers 31:41 that worship Him in spirit and in truth. 31:44 Let's continue. So we ask: "What happened 31:48 to Lucifer? " Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 16 31:52 the Bible says: "By the multitude of thy merchandise 31:57 they have filled the midst of thee with violence 31:59 and thou hast sinned. " A choice... "Therefore, 32:03 I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God 32:06 and I will destroy you, O covering cherub, 32:08 from the midst of the stones of fire. " 32:12 We'll come back to this later. 32:14 Now verse 17 says: "Your heart was lifted up 32:18 because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom 32:22 by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground. 32:26 I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. " 32:29 You see indications of choices 32:33 that Lucifer made. 32:36 Question: did God love Lucifer? 32:40 Your answer is? Yes! He loved Lucifer. 32:44 And when you love someone you do your best to help them. 32:50 Now you see, God tried to help Lucifer. 32:53 And there is something marvelous about God - and I 32:55 praise the Lord for that - is that He can read the thoughts 33:00 and intents of the heart. 33:04 And I'm going to explain something to you. You see, 33:06 when the first little spark, little speck 33:12 of a desire for something that was not his 33:15 arose in Lucifer God knew it 33:19 and His heart went out to Lucifer. 33:22 Because you see the Bible says when God loves He loves with 33:25 an everlasting love. 33:27 So He tried to help him. 33:29 Let's see some evidence in the scripture for this 33:32 as we move along. 33:34 Now let's understand something about Lucifer. 33:37 You see, I mentioned that he was next to God's throne. 33:40 And when people are next to God something happens to them. 33:47 I'm going to explain it to save time. 33:51 When Moses was in the mountain with God 33:54 even though he could not see His face 33:56 he was there for 40 days. 33:59 Wouldn't that be wonderful? Forty days with God? 34:01 What happened to Moses when he came down from the mountain 34:05 and he started to go before the people? 34:08 The people saw Moses and they said: "Who is this here? " 34:12 His face was shining. 34:14 His face was glowing with the glory of God! 34:19 And as he approached the people 34:22 they could hardly see him and they said: "Moses, 34:25 cover your face with a? " "veil 34:29 because we cannot behold your face. " 34:33 And the same thing happened to Lucifer. 34:35 He was before God's throne. Although he had some natural 34:39 beauty that God gave him some of God's glory 34:44 came upon Lucifer. 34:46 But as you spend time away from the Lord it seems like it 34:49 starts to go away. Because Moses didn't wear that veil 34:52 all his life. You see, eventually Lucifer begins to say 34:56 "I am really something! " 35:00 "I glow like no others. " 35:04 "I am perfect in beauty. " 35:06 Now, understand that Lucifer loved everybody 35:11 and everybody loved Lucifer. 35:13 And I say this to you because something happens later. 35:17 All of his friends, when he begins to speak to them 35:21 about his dissatisfaction... 35:24 If you read the book of Patriarchs and Prophets 35:26 it's like he... what he knew, what he had in his mind 35:30 to develop a plan to do evil, 35:33 he began to say things. You know, you can suggest things 35:36 to people and they embrace that thought 35:39 and make it their own. 35:42 "I'm hungry... " and people that were not thinking of being 35:46 hungry suddenly they're hungry. 35:48 "Oh yeah, I'm hungry too. " 35:51 So Lucifer did the same thing. 35:54 Now you know he's very wise because when you look at Genesis 35:57 chapter 1 he's talking to Eve and convinces Eve 36:01 by the way he was expressing himself 36:02 that she could be better than she was. 36:07 She was perfect... created perfect by God. 36:11 And he put in her mind ideas 36:15 that she could be as God 36:19 in the wrong sense. 36:21 So Lucifer developed these thoughts. 36:25 And so God reads the thoughts and He tried to appeal 36:30 to Lucifer to turn away from these things. 36:34 Let's look in Isaiah chapter 14 to see a little more 36:37 about Lucifer and how this developed. 36:39 Isaiah chapter 14. We're going to begin in verse 12 36:42 and I need to start quickly because time does not slow down. 36:45 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O son of the morning? 36:49 How art thou cut down to the ground 36:51 which did weaken the nations? " 36:53 The word Lucifer occurs only one time in the Bible, 36:56 and it is here. It means brightness or morning star. 37:02 But you see the sorrow. "How art thou fallen 37:07 from heaven, O Lucifer? " 37:09 Verse 13: 37:12 "For thou has said in thine heart... " You have said in your 37:14 heart... "I will ascend into heaven. 37:17 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. 37:21 I will sit upon the mount of the congregation 37:24 in the sides of the north. " Where did he say that? 37:27 In his heart. That's in his mind. 37:30 At first he did not express it. 37:32 It was just in his mind... and God knew it. 37:35 And God tried to talk to him and help him. 37:38 And there are examples in the scriptures of God talking 37:42 to people, appealing to people, and they turn their back on Him 37:45 and rebel against Him. 37:48 But let's look at one scripture that helps us understand 37:50 that God knows what's in the minds of people. 37:53 In I Kings chapter 8 verse 39 37:56 I Kings chapter 8 verse 39 37:58 this is what the Bible says: "Then hear Thou in heaven, 38:01 Thy dwelling place, and forgive and do 38:05 and give to every man according to his ways 38:08 whose heart Thou knowest for Thou, even Thou only, 38:13 knowest the hearts of all the children of men. " 38:18 Praise the Lord! Question: did God know what was in 38:21 Lucifer's mind? Yes. 38:25 Also you see that example in Jesus. 38:27 Several times it says: "And He, knowing their thoughts... " 38:32 So I say to you that God knew and tried to help Lucifer. 38:36 God did not just stand back and wait for all this to develop. 38:40 He took action. He tried to prevent this from happening. 38:43 But you see, God is Almighty. 38:48 He foresaw this as something that would happen. 38:53 But He chose to create Lucifer anyway 38:57 because God does not escape challenges that He must meet. 39:02 He faces them, deals with them, 39:07 and the truth shines. 39:11 In the end it will be known that God has been good 39:17 to everyone - Amen! 39:20 and has treated everyone fairly. 39:23 Notice again in Isaiah 14:13. "I will exalt my throne 39:27 above the stars of God. 39:31 I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation 39:34 in the sides of the north. " 39:35 He talking about God's kingdom. 39:37 He's talking that he wanted to take God out of the way 39:40 and exalt himself above God to be worshiped by all. 39:47 That's what he wanted to do. 39:50 Notice what else he continues to say 39:54 in Isaiah 14:14: 39:56 "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; 40:00 I will be like the Most High. " 40:04 Question: Did Lucifer really want to be like the Most High? 40:12 In the sense of being worshiped and having authority 40:17 and having everyone bow before him? Yes! 40:20 But in the sense of how God truly is - 40:23 His character - the answer is "no" because 40:27 we read that "God is love. " 40:30 And love does not do harm to their neighbor the Bible says. 40:35 So he didn't really want to be like God... 40:37 he wanted to have what God had: 40:39 worship, authority, and the ruler of the universe. 40:45 That's what he wanted. 40:47 And he proposed to the angels that he had a better way... 40:51 a better way of doing things. 40:54 And that's why they joined his cause. 40:57 That's why they decided to go on his side 41:01 one-third of the angels. And if we move quickly 41:04 we will see that clearly. 41:06 Let's go into this understanding. 41:10 You see, when he said that he would do this, 41:12 when he would exalt his throne, that's when Lucifer went from 41:16 Lucifer to Satan... Satanas, which means 41:21 adversary, devil. The adversary... the devil. 41:25 That's when he made that change in his life, 41:29 in his way of being. 41:31 And so brothers and sisters the Bible says in I Peter 5:8 41:36 "Be sober, be vigilant 41:39 because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion 41:42 walketh about seeking whom he may devour. " 41:46 That's what he does. 41:47 And anyone that follows him that's what will happen. 41:54 Oh, he'll give you trinkets and toys 41:57 and give you things you may like to see, 42:00 like to hear, like to touch. 42:03 Toys to play with to buy things that you don't really need 42:07 and don't do you any good. 42:10 Because just as we put little bait on 42:15 mousetraps the devil does the same thing. 42:23 I was not going to share this but I had a cat once. 42:29 And I didn't really know what cats did with mice. 42:35 And the first time I saw that cat catch a mouse 42:39 it was horrible. 42:41 I may have shared this before. It was horrible! 42:44 He caught the mouse and then laid him there 42:48 looking at it. 42:50 And the mouse seemed to regain some... regain some 42:55 consciousness and say: "I've gotta get out of here; 42:58 this is not good for me. " 43:00 And he begins to start walking away and the cat went "shwoo! " 43:04 And down he went again. 43:08 And he laid there, and he seemed to be unconscious. 43:13 And the cat was "Is he really dead? " 43:17 And again the little creature - the little mouse - 43:20 started to say: "I've gotta get out of here. " 43:22 But he couldn't. He was wounded. 43:24 That's what the devil does: 43:26 plays with you, but his object is that you will be destroyed. 43:32 So let's go to Jesus. 43:34 He is our Savior. He has come to seek and to save 43:37 that which was lost. He loves us, 43:40 wants the best for us, and He has a world for us 43:43 where there's no sickness or pain nor death. 43:45 Let's follow Jesus. 43:48 We need to finish. Brothers and sisters, 43:52 I need to save time so I need to go to Zechariah chapter 7. 43:56 Zechariah chapter 7. In Zechariah chapter 7 44:00 I'm going to read verses 8 through 12. 44:04 This is what the Bible says: "And the word of the Lord 44:06 came unto Zechariah saying: 'Thus speaketh the Lord of 44:10 Hosts saying execute true judgment and show mercy 44:14 and compassion every man to his brother. 44:17 And oppress not the widow nor the fatherless, 44:20 the stranger, nor the poor and let none of you 44:23 imagine evil against his brother in your heart. ' " 44:26 But notice how they responded. 44:28 He's talking about the people of Israel. 44:30 "But... " verse 11... 44:34 "but they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder 44:38 and stopped their ears that they should not hear. " 44:42 God is appealing to them and they want to stop their ears 44:45 and turn away from Him. 44:47 "Yet they made their hearts as an adamant stone 44:50 lest they should hear the law and the words 44:54 which the Lord of Hosts had said in His Spirit 44:57 by the former prophet. Therefore came a great wrath 45:00 from the Lord of Hosts. " Brothers and sisters, 45:05 this is the same thing the devil did. 45:07 God appealed to him and he refused. 45:11 God appealed to him. Turned his back, closed his ears, 45:15 and went his own way. 45:18 And this is why there is a devil. 45:20 Is the devil real? Yes. 45:24 And I encourage you to keep away from him 45:27 and come close to Jesus. 45:30 Let's go to Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 17. 45:36 Ezekiel chapter 28 verse 17 once again. 45:39 It says: "Your heart was lifted up 45:43 because of your beauty. Thine heart was lifted up 45:45 because of thy beauty. Thou has corrupted thy wisdom 45:48 by reason of thy brightness. I will cast thee to the ground; 45:51 I will lay thee before kings that they may behold thee. " 45:55 Brothers and sisters, the Bible says 45:58 that he was cast out of the mountain of God. 46:03 Notice Ezekiel 28 verses 15 and 16. 46:07 "Thou was perfect in thy ways 46:10 from the day that thou wast created 46:11 till iniquity was found in thee. 46:13 By the multitude of thy merchandise 46:16 they have filled the midst of thee with violence 46:18 and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast thee 46:21 as profane out of the mountain of God. 46:23 I will destroy you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the 46:27 stones of fire. " I read this to ask you 46:31 this question. Are you ready? 46:34 Four people are ready. Are you ready? 46:36 Amen! The Bible says that He's going to cast him out 46:41 of the mountain of God. Question: 46:44 where does it say that he was cast out to? 46:48 It doesn't say that there. 46:51 It says he was cast out of the mountain of God. 46:55 Now you have responded 46:56 the way most people will respond. 47:00 They will say he was cast to the earth. 47:01 But brothers and sisters I submit to you 47:03 and I hope I can bring this to your understanding 47:06 before the time is over. 47:08 God did not immediately cast Lucifer to this earth. 47:13 I'm going to summarize, then we'll look at the scriptures. 47:15 God did not immediately cast Lucifer to this earth. 47:19 He cast him out of the mountain of God. 47:23 That means out of heaven. 47:27 Question: where did Lucifer have a right to go 47:31 that he could set up his camp? "I think I'll go live over 47:33 there. " Where did he have a right to go? 47:36 Everything belonged to God. 47:38 He had no right to go anywhere. 47:41 When Jesus is driving out demons 47:45 they ask: "If You are going to cast us out 47:49 command us to go into the swine. " 47:54 You see? He cannot go anywhere without permission. 48:00 So he could not really come to live in this earth 48:05 until something occurs 48:08 and that is after Adam and Eve sinned. 48:12 After Adam and Eve sinned is when he could be 48:15 cast down to this earth. 48:17 But he could visit, you see. Before they sinned 48:20 he could visit but not stay. 48:23 He could go and visit other places but not stay. 48:27 Because everything belonged to God he has no right 48:30 to camp anywhere. It is because 48:33 Adam and Eve sinned that they identified with the rebellion. 48:37 Then God says: "OK... unfortunately 48:40 Adam and Eve sinned; this will be your home. " 48:45 Let's look at the Bible. 48:48 If you understand that, say amen. Amen! 48:51 OK... we need to move quickly. 48:52 Oh, we're going to have to skip something. 48:56 This is really like a three-part sermon. 48:58 Let me move over here. We're going to have to go into... 49:03 It's hard to leave this out... it's hard to leave this out. 49:07 Let's go to Revelation chapter 12. 49:09 Revelation chapter 12. In Revelation chapter 12 49:12 you're going to have to keep up with me. 49:14 In Revelation 12:7 the Bible says: "And there was war 49:18 in heaven. Michael and His angels fought 49:20 against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels. " 49:24 There's a summary of what happens here in Revelation 12. 49:27 And this is why people go to Revelation 12 49:30 and they see like "Oh, he was immediately cast down to the 49:32 earth. " But because of what I shared with you - 49:35 and there are principles in the Bible that establish this - 49:37 it was not that way. 49:39 You see, there were no chapter divisions when John wrote 49:42 the letter. There were no verses, no chapters. 49:45 They were added later. And the way it's written 49:49 makes you understand or believe that he was immediately 49:52 cast to this earth but that is not so. 49:55 Let's look... So, the war in heaven. Who is this Michael? 49:59 The Bible says Michael is a Prince. 50:03 And we're going to look at that. His name Michael means 50:05 who is like God. 50:09 In Daniel chapter 10 verse 13, Daniel 10:13, 50:13 The Bible says: "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia 50:17 withstood me 1 and 20 days but, lo, Michael - 50:20 one of the chief Princes - 50:23 came to help me. And I remained there with the king 50:26 of Persia. " So here he is called what? One of the 50:30 chief Princes. In Daniel chapter 10 verse 21 50:33 the Bible says: "But I will show thee 50:35 that which is noted in the scriptures of truth. 50:38 And there is none that holdeth with me in these things 50:41 but Michael, your Prince. " 50:45 So who is He? Who is Michael, your Prince? 50:48 Jesus. It is Jesus... none other than Jesus. 50:52 Now in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 another description is 50:55 given to Michael. Notice: "And at that time 50:57 shall Michael stand up, the great Prince 51:01 which standeth for the children of thy people. 51:03 And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was 51:07 since there was a nation... even to the same time. 51:11 And at that time Thy people shall be delivered, 51:13 every one that shall be found written in the book. " 51:16 Daniel 12 verse 1. 51:19 Brothers and sisters, Michael is Jesus Christ. 51:24 Amen! 51:25 It is in the New Testament that the word archangel 51:28 is connected to Michael, and that confuses people. 51:30 Let's go to Jude 1:9. There's only one chapter. 51:34 Jude 1:9. The Bible says: "Yet Michael the archangel 51:37 who, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of 51:41 Moses does not bring against him a railing accusation 51:44 but says: 'The Lord rebuke thee. ' " 51:46 Here the words Michael and archangel are together. 51:50 Confuses people, but the word arch is from arche 51:54 in Greek which means the chief or leader of. 51:58 So here what it's saying: Michael, the leader or chief of 52:02 the angels. Question: 52:05 Is the president of the United States a soldier? 52:10 He's not really a soldier, 52:13 but he's the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the US. 52:17 There are many countries that the president of the country - 52:20 of that nation - is a commander in chief even though they are 52:23 not soldiers. So even though it says Michael the archangel 52:26 that doesn't mean that He was an angel. 52:29 Let's look at some scriptures that will help us understand 52:31 that this Michael is Jesus. 52:33 In John chapter 5 verse 25 the Bible says: 52:39 "Verily verily I say unto you: 52:42 the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the 52:45 voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live. " 52:50 So here in John 5:25 it says that they will hear 52:55 the voice of the Son of God and they shall live. 52:58 In I Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16- 53:02 I Thessalonians 4:16- 53:04 the Bible says: "For the Lord Himself shall descend 53:08 from heaven with a shout 53:10 with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God 53:14 and the dead in Christ shall rise first. " 53:17 This Lord Himself with the voice of the archangel 53:22 is the same thing. Jesus said: "They will hear My voice. " 53:25 This is the same thing. 53:28 When He says in John chapter 5 "They will hear My voice" 53:32 and it says here "the voice of the archangel" 53:34 it is helping you to understand this is talking about Michael 53:37 who is Jesus 53:40 who is coming to resurrect His children. 53:43 Would you say amen to that? 53:45 If you understand that Michael is Jesus say amen. 53:47 Amen! Interestingly enough... 53:50 we don't have time to look at it again... 53:53 in Ezekiel chapter 28 53:56 God is talking and He says: 53:58 "I will cast you out of the mountain of God. " 54:03 Who is casting him out of the mountain of God? 54:06 God. In Ezekiel 28 it says God. 54:10 When you get to Revelation chapter 12 54:12 there is a war. Michael and His angels fought 54:14 and the devil and his angels were fighting against them. 54:17 And the Bible says that Michael was victorious. 54:24 It is logical to conclude that this Michael 54:27 who was victorious kicked out the devil and his angels. 54:33 It is the same thing in Ezekiel 28. 54:35 God says: "I'm going to throw you out of the 54:37 mountain of God. " Here in Revelation 12 54:40 it shows Michael fighting with the devil and his angels 54:44 and they're victorious... so the devil is cast out. 54:47 Michael/God/Jesus cast the devil out. 54:52 Does that make sense to you? Amen! 54:55 So this Michael is Jesus Christ Himself. 54:59 Time is moving quickly. 55:01 Whoo! 55:02 We're going to have to go to Revelation 12:8. 55:05 It says: "And prevailed not... " That is, the devil and his 55:09 angels... "prevailed not neither was their place 55:11 found any more in heaven. " This means they lost 55:15 that war and that their place did not belong to them 55:20 any more. They could not go back to that position 55:22 because of the privilege they had to be in God's presence 55:27 and see the mighty God and His glory. 55:30 They could not have any further revelation 55:33 than they did of God, so therefore 55:36 they could not return. 55:40 It is hard to see what to keep out. 55:43 Brothers and sisters, we need to conclude. 55:47 Let's go to Revelation 12:9. 55:49 "And the dragon was cast out, 55:51 that old serpent called the devil and Satan. " 55:54 Period. 55:57 A period should go there. 56:00 When you get to this next part 56:02 it says "which deceiveth... who deceiveth... " 56:04 there's another thought being expressed, and that's because 56:07 this is talking about Adam and Eve being deceived. 56:10 Notice: "Which deceiveth the whole world. " 56:13 Now it's talking about the earth. 56:15 A different thing. 56:16 "which deceiveth the whole world. " He was cast out 56:19 into the earth after Adam and Eve sinned. 56:21 And his angels were cast out with him to this place. 56:24 And as you examine Revelation you will notice 56:28 that the devil continues his work... 56:31 his war and work against God's children. 56:34 And it is up to us to choose a side. 56:37 So I ask you: which side will you choose? 56:40 Will it be God's side? "God is love. " 56:43 He loves you, gave His Son to die for you 56:46 and is returning soon to deliver you 56:50 from every suffering that you could possibly have 56:52 in this world to put you in a world where there is no 56:55 suffering, no sickness nor death. 56:57 How many of you prefer God's side? Would you raise your hand? 57:01 Amen! Praise the Lord! 57:03 And I want to encourage everyone that is joining us 57:05 wherever you are: choose God's side 57:08 because God wants to give you eternal life 57:11 without pain, suffering or sickness or death. 57:14 The choice is yours. You do not have to follow the devil. 57:18 You can follow Jesus. And when you follow Jesus 57:21 something marvelous happens. 57:22 When you give your heart to Jesus you begin to live a life 57:25 of happiness and peace that begins in this world 57:28 and continues throughout eternity. So I say to you: 57:32 choose Jesus. Amen! |
Revised 2023-04-15