Participants:
Series Code: AAO
Program Code: AAO000003A
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00:11 Again it's good to see everyone here.
00:14 We've got a good group tonight. 00:17 We're going to pick up where we left off last evening. 00:21 And I want to start by opening God's Word 00:25 before we pray. 00:27 If you have a Bible, 00:28 turn with me to Isaiah Chapter 14. 00:32 Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 are both very familiar texts 00:38 that describe what happened to Satan 00:42 before and during his fall. 00:45 But we're going to go to Isaiah 14:12. 00:53 And 12 through 14. 00:57 It says, "How art thou fallen from heaven, 01:00 O Lucifer, son of the morning! 01:05 how art thou cut down to the ground, 01:08 which did weaken the nations! 01:11 For thou hast said in thine heart, 01:15 I will ascend into heaven, 01:18 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: 01:24 I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, 01:29 in the sides of the north: 01:32 I will ascend 01:33 above the heights of the clouds, 01:36 I will be like the most High." 01:41 Satan declared in his heart 01:48 I will be like the most High, 01:51 I'm going to sit upon His throne. 01:55 There's no way in a million years 01:58 that he really thought he was going to sit up there 02:03 and he was, he was defeated. 02:06 Christ defeated him and threw him down. 02:10 So what was the throne that he was saying 02:13 that he was going to take? 02:16 It's what we spoke about the other night, 02:18 it was the throne of men's hearts. 02:22 It actually says, 02:23 I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation. 02:29 We know that in scripture, Jerusalem here on the earth 02:34 was a physical shadow of the heavenly Jerusalem. 02:40 And the scripture tells us that New Jerusalem 02:44 is the mother of us all. 02:46 It's God's people. 02:48 Yes, it is a literal city. 02:50 I'm not denying that 02:52 but just like Fresno if you say well, Fresno was destroyed, 02:57 well, you can be talking about the buildings 02:58 or you can be talking about the people, 03:01 the people are what make the city a city. 03:05 Without the people it's meaningless. 03:07 Just like a church. 03:09 A church is a building but it's more importantly, 03:12 it's the people that make up that church. 03:14 Does that make sense? 03:17 So Satan said, 03:18 "I will sit upon the mount of the congregation." 03:24 And when you look in Revelation, 03:26 it actually describes New Jerusalem 03:29 and it gives the dimensions. 03:31 It says that lies four square 03:34 and its height is equal to each of its sides. 03:39 So either you have a cube or you have a pyramid. 03:44 My personal opinion is 03:46 I could see it very well being a pyramid 03:49 because the Bible all through the Old Testament 03:52 talks about the mountain of the Lord 03:55 and that equates that with His people. 03:57 And if you ask any child 03:59 over three years old to draw mountain 04:01 they're going to draw a pyramid. 04:04 Very simple. 04:07 Anyway that is where Lucifer 04:11 said he would take possession, 04:14 he would sit up on that throne. 04:17 So I want us to keep that in mind as we, 04:19 as we go through tonight's messages. 04:23 Let's open with a word of prayer. 04:27 Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Son, 04:33 the Lord Jesus Christ. 04:35 And, Father, that word Lord means the sovereign King. 04:41 Father, we claim and we thank You 04:43 for Your promise 04:45 that at the name of Jesus Christ 04:48 every knee shall bow 04:50 and every tongue shall confess 04:54 both in heaven and on earth. 04:57 We ask that You'll send holy angels 04:59 that excel in strengths tonight. 05:02 Fill this house with Thy presence. 05:07 Binding cast out all the powers of darkness 05:11 that would seek to interfere 05:12 with Your work in ministry and our lives. 05:17 And, Father, most of all, 05:18 cause us to see Your glory and to hear Thy voice alone. 05:25 In Jesus' name we ask, 05:27 in Him we believe and thank You. 05:32 Amen. 05:36 I'm going to open and reread 05:38 something we looked at last night. 05:40 This comes from one of the testimonies 05:44 that Sister White gave to us. 05:46 She said, "As we near the close of time, 05:49 there will be greater and still greater external, 05:55 outward parade of heathen power..." 06:00 What's the difference between a group of people 06:02 that are just walking silently down the road in a parade? 06:08 A parade seeks to draw attention to itself. 06:13 This statement tells us that demonic entities 06:18 are going to be seeking 06:21 recognition by mankind. 06:25 "And heathen deities 06:27 will manifest their signal power, 06:30 and exhibit them-selves before the cities of the world, 06:34 and this delineation 06:36 has already begun to be fulfilled." 06:40 And we spoke about that last night. 06:42 When I first read this, 06:44 I thought this is talking about fallen angels 06:47 that we will see with our eyes. 06:50 I thought, I mean, is this taking place 06:52 'cause Ellen White said 06:54 this has already begun to be fulfilled. 06:58 And then I kept reading. 07:01 "All need wisdom carefully 07:03 to search out the mystery of iniquity 07:07 that figures so largely 07:09 in the winding up of this earth's history." 07:12 And I started seeing something 07:14 that is so important for us to know. 07:17 Two mysteries, the mystery of godliness 07:22 which 1 Timothy 3:16 07:24 tells us that is God manifest in the flesh. 07:30 And then the second mystery is the mystery of iniquity. 07:34 If you want to know 07:35 what the mystery of iniquity is, 07:37 all you have to do is know 07:38 what the mystery of godliness is. 07:41 God manifest in the flesh. 07:44 The mystery of iniquity is Satan 07:47 and his fallen angels manifest in the flesh. 07:52 "Let no man deceive you by any means: 07:55 for that day of Christ return shall not come, 07:59 except there come ad apostasy first, 08:03 and that man of sin be unveiled 08:07 as the son of perdition. 08:10 Who opposeth and exalteth himself 08:13 above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, 08:19 so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, 08:25 shewing himself that he is God." 08:29 Christ said something in the gospels, 08:31 He said, why do you call me, 08:33 "Lord, Lord, but yet don't do the things that I say." 08:37 And He actually said something very similar 08:40 through the Apostle Paul. 08:42 He said, "Don't you realize that to whom you yield yourself 08:47 as a servant to obey 08:49 that whose servants you are." 08:54 I want you to remember that 08:57 because if Christ reigns 08:59 within a man or a woman's heart, 09:03 do you know that scientists now have seen 09:07 what Darwin never even thought was possible. 09:10 They have looked inside of the human cell 09:14 and they have seen it is more complex 09:19 and more active than an entire city, 09:22 one cell, one human cell. 09:28 There are these tiny little microbes 09:31 and all these little things 09:32 that are obeying the instructions 09:35 that are given to them by the DNA. 09:39 That DNA is actually the instructions 09:42 or the book of life 09:44 according to what scientists are saying. 09:46 So that means that every organ of our body, 09:49 every cell of our body 09:51 is supposed to be under the authority 09:55 and the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. 10:00 That's how Jesus healed the sick. 10:03 When men surrendered their heart to Him, 10:07 He took the driver's seat 10:11 and He commanded every organ of their body, 10:14 every gland, every nerve, and every cell 10:18 obey, bring yourself into submission. 10:21 And He causes that to happen today 10:24 just as He did 2,000 years ago. 10:27 But when sin is introduced, 10:30 it's like a virus in a computer. 10:33 It corrupts the perfect code of life 10:36 that God gave to us in His Word. 10:40 That's why Christ says, 10:41 "If you will abide in Me, the Word of God, 10:45 and if My words which are spirit and life 10:48 abide in you, 10:50 you can ask what you will, and it will be done for you." 10:54 Satan said, "I want to take that throne. 10:56 I want to be the one that issues the commands." 11:01 The Apostle Paul tells us, 11:03 "Know ye not that you are the temple of God, 11:08 and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 11:12 If any man defiles the temple of God, 11:16 him shall God destroy." 11:18 For our God is a consuming fire. 11:24 Now I want to... 11:25 I want to show you just a little bit 11:29 of where spiritualism is today 11:33 and how we are seeing evil spirits 11:37 manifest physically, externally. 11:42 This was a picture of me and the first grandmaster 11:46 I trained under. 11:48 And you can tell when you look in my eyes 11:51 that it was, I was a different person. 11:53 I don't even like looking at the pictures anymore 11:56 of what I was like back then. 11:57 Even my family pictures, 11:59 it's like I told my wife, I said, 12:01 "I want to just take them down. 12:02 I walked by and it's not even the same person 12:06 because of what I had allowed into my life through sin 12:10 and through participation in these dark arts." 12:18 I want to tell a story real quickly. 12:24 The last grandmaster I trained under, 12:26 I trained under two over the 25 years 12:28 that I was active in the martial arts 12:31 and eastern mysticism. 12:32 The last grandmaster I trained under, 12:35 he was a 10th dawn or 10th degree 12:39 in two systems of kung fu of Chinese martial arts. 12:43 He was also a master instructor in what's called medical qigong 12:48 or acupuncture, acupressure, 12:50 laying on hands and healing people. 12:53 He could put his hands on you 12:55 and he could tell you had a disease 12:57 and what it was. 12:59 And it wasn't physical, the spirits would speak to him. 13:04 It had nothing to do with you 13:06 really being able to put your hands on there. 13:09 You just put your hands there, 13:10 sometimes somebody would just walk in the room 13:12 and you knew what was wrong with them. 13:14 And you didn't know how you knew. 13:16 But the devil would tell you was because of your training. 13:19 And pride would grow and you would become more sure 13:22 of your ability. 13:25 But I went to train with this man one night 13:28 and it was a one day, one weekend 13:30 and he taught only black belts. 13:34 The second grandmaster I trained under. 13:37 You had to be a black belt, 13:38 didn't matter what style it was in. 13:41 So he was training all of us black belts 13:43 and then he would depend on us 13:45 to take what we learn from him to teach our students. 13:48 But we trained all day long, everybody was exhausted. 13:52 And he asked us, he said, "Why don't we, you know, 13:56 hang around here, we can get some food." 13:59 We were training at his home where his studio, 14:01 his training hall was. 14:03 And so we all were excited about the fact that, 14:06 you know, he invited us to stay 14:08 'cause that means you're going to get little 14:10 special things that he doesn't normally disclose 14:14 to other people. 14:16 And so we sat, and we ate, 14:18 and we talked, and turn the TV on, 14:21 and just hung out for a while. 14:24 And it got later and later 14:28 and I started watching the other black belts there 14:31 and they were getting really tired. 14:34 And then the grandmaster started talking about 14:37 conspiracy theories 14:38 like the Illuminati and Freemasons 14:40 and all anything out there. 14:43 And I know a lot of it's true 14:45 but none of these guys were interested 14:48 and you could see them, they were... 14:51 I mean, they were doing everything they could 14:52 to stay awake 14:54 and you didn't want to fall asleep 14:56 because if the grandmaster is talking 14:57 and you fall asleep on them, you know, 15:00 you're not going to be promoted. 15:01 That can put you back at least a year, 15:03 maybe two years 15:04 before you're even up for promotion. 15:07 So everyone is fighting to keep their eyes open. 15:10 And when he started talking about conspiracy theories, 15:14 I woke up, I mean, I was just like, 15:16 "Okay, I'm interested in this." 15:19 And sometime after 12 or 1 o'clock that night, 15:23 late, when everyone was really exhausted, 15:27 he changed his line of thought in an instant. 15:31 He's talking about all these different things, 15:35 and then all of a sudden he looked at us and he said, 15:38 "You know, I teach you all how to tap into this power 15:44 that we call chi energy. 15:46 He said, but let me tell you if you want to see this energy 15:50 demonstrated, 15:51 he said, the easiest place to see this power demonstrated 15:56 is look at Jimi Hendrix, look at Eric Clapton. 15:59 Look at a lot of the movie stars 16:01 that are out there. 16:03 He said they are using the same power 16:07 that we use in the martial arts, 16:10 only they use it for a different reason. 16:13 And when he said that, 16:15 it was like a red flag went up in my mind 16:19 because I knew, I mean, 16:20 I was still going to church every week 16:22 and, you know, I was still "a Christian." 16:27 But I knew Jimi Hendrix was not a God fearing man. 16:30 I knew Eric Clapton was not a God fearing man. 16:33 I knew some of the Hollywood stars he talked about 16:37 were not church going, God fearing, 16:39 Bible believing Christians. 16:42 And he said they were using the same power that we were, 16:47 but they were using it to hypnotize, 16:53 to enthrall their audiences. 16:59 One day I was there at the studio alone with him. 17:03 And he was teaching me 17:06 and one of the black belts came running in, 17:08 and he had a huge piece of artwork 17:11 that was wrapped up in brown paper. 17:13 And he said, see Joe, grandmaster, 17:15 he said, it's finished, it's finished. 17:18 And the instructor, he nodded to him, 17:22 you and dismissing him and he unwrapped the paper 17:26 and there was this beautiful Chinese calligraphy 17:28 on the paper, on the parchment. 17:31 And he had hired a Chinese artist 17:34 to paint this calligraphy. 17:36 And he looked at it and I could tell 17:41 he was very proud of it. 17:42 And I looked at it and it was beautiful, 17:44 but I had no idea what it said. 17:47 And he looked at me knowing what I was thinking. 17:51 And I asked him, I said, "See Joe, what does it mean?" 17:57 And he looked at the floor. 17:59 I'll never forget this. 18:01 And then he looked back up in my eyes and he said, 18:05 "The easiest translation in English is, 18:09 it's the devil that's in the details." 18:17 I should have run. 18:19 I mean, I should have run. 18:20 But you know what I did? 18:22 Because I've been training in these arts 18:23 for over 20 years, I made excuses. 18:27 Well, that may mean that to him but I know, you know, 18:31 it doesn't mean that to me. 18:34 And people do the same thing 18:35 when they talk to me about yoga. 18:37 They say, "Well, I know they're praying to Hindu gods, 18:39 but I'm praying to Jesus when I do yoga." 18:43 And I'm like, "You know, you can't, 18:45 why are you in an idols temple? 18:47 You know, why even go there?" 18:50 He told me it's the devil that's in the details. 18:54 And that was such an important truth 18:56 in those arts that we trained in 18:59 that he paid a lot of money 19:01 to have this Chinese artist paint that. 19:07 Now I want to show you 19:08 what Sister White was talking about. 19:11 This is Robin Williams, he passed away a few years ago. 19:15 I hate what the enemy did to him 19:19 because there's numerous interviews 19:21 that they have done with him on different magazines, 19:25 different TV shows and he was, 19:28 he was a tormented man. 19:31 And he knew why he was tormented, 19:33 he knew what it was, 19:36 he wound up committing suicide 19:37 because of what these evil spirits did to him. 19:41 Listen to what he said 19:42 in this interview with US Weekly. 19:46 He said, "Yeah! 19:47 Literally, it's like possession, 19:50 all of the sudden you're in, 19:52 and because it's in front of a live audience, 19:55 you just get this energy that it just starts going. 20:00 But there's also that thing, it is possession. 20:05 In the old days, you'd be burned for it. 20:08 But there's something empowering about it. 20:12 I mean, it's a place where you are totally, 20:16 it's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 20:19 where you really can become this other force. 20:23 Maybe that's why I don't need to play 20:25 evil characters in movies, 20:28 because sometimes onstage you can cross that line 20:33 and still come back." 20:36 He was talking about when he was a live comedian. 20:40 He was talking about comedy before he became an actor. 20:46 He said, "It's possession. 20:49 You get up there and you start talking 20:50 and he said, something else comes in 20:53 and all of a sudden 20:54 you're completely different person." 20:59 You all know who this is. 21:02 Oprah Winfrey. 21:04 Listen to what she said. 21:06 She said, "I asked God for grace." 21:11 And I want to ask you a question. 21:12 What does the word grace mean in Greek? 21:15 What's the original? 21:19 Unmerited favor. 21:20 Did you know that's the second definition 21:22 when you look it up in Strong's? 21:24 I did not know that till a few years ago. 21:26 And I looked it up one day. 21:28 Do you know what the first definition is? 21:30 The divine influence upon the heart 21:34 and its reflection as seen in the life, 21:38 it's the Spirit of God. 21:43 Now with that in mind, listen to what she says. 21:46 "I asked God for grace, 21:50 and the power of the spirits." 21:54 Plural. 21:56 "Calling on you. 21:57 Calling on you... 21:59 I really believe I can call her, the spirit up. 22:04 Her and so many others. 22:07 Oprah Winfrey calls these her 'go there' moments, 22:11 spiritual episodes of divine guidance 22:15 that far transcend the chatty exchanges 22:18 with her studio audiences. 22:21 Winfrey says she has come to know 22:23 each of them personally 22:26 and she calls them in at will to guide her in her work." 22:32 That's from Time Magazine. 22:36 That, I mean, that's frightening. 22:38 You want to know how she got where she is? 22:41 That's how. 22:44 And I have probably 22:46 more than 100 different testimonies 22:48 from different people. 22:50 And we're only going to show you just a few. 22:52 Do y'all recognize this man? 22:55 Michael Landon, Little House on the Prairie. 22:58 I grew up and we were allowed to watch 23:00 Walt Disney one day a week, you know, 23:03 came on Sunday evenings for an hour. 23:06 And we could watch Little House on the Prairie. 23:08 And sometimes Andy Griffith, 23:10 you know, those were what you call safe, right? 23:13 They're family friendly, people will say, 23:16 well, they're Christian. 23:17 Listen to what Michael Landon said. 23:20 He said, 23:21 "I felt my father's presence with me." 23:24 This is after his father had died. 23:27 "I felt my father's presence with me, 23:29 enlightening my memories, 23:32 helping me to commit to paper the feelings I had. 23:37 I really heard my father speaking to me 23:41 from the other dimension, 23:44 filling my mind with just the right words. 23:48 The story came so fast and was so right. 23:52 In three days the script was complete." 23:55 His daughter actually wrote 23:57 a whole book on the life of her father. 24:00 And she said there was oftentimes 24:02 when they were doing Little House on the Prairie 24:05 or Touched by an Angel. 24:08 There was another one of those films he did. 24:10 I don't remember the name of it. 24:12 It was a television series. 24:14 And she said, "They would be struggling to get the script." 24:19 And he would take 24:20 a piece of paper or a pad of paper, 24:23 go into his bedroom and lock the door 24:26 and he would come out the next morning 24:28 with the entire script wrote, complete. 24:31 That's not possible. 24:33 I've done one script in my life 24:35 and it was unbelievably a long, hard haul 24:40 to put down those thoughts 24:42 in the order they're supposed to be in. 24:44 He did it in one night. 24:47 And he did it numerous times. 24:49 But he would go in there and he would speak with spirits 24:53 and they would give him the story. 24:57 I'm going to skip... 24:58 It was Little Joe Bonanza? Yes. 25:01 I'm going to skip this one. 25:03 I will tell you, I'm hoping that I'll be able to show it 25:06 later this week. 25:07 It's an interview from with Denzel Washington. 25:11 And the interview was done on 60 Minutes. 25:14 He said the exact same thing. 25:16 The interviewer was asking him, 25:18 "How did you play this part so well in this film." 25:23 And Denzel said, "I could never do that, 25:27 there's no way in the world 25:28 I could ever make a conscious decision 25:30 to act that part." 25:32 And he asked him, he said, "Well, how did you do that?" 25:34 This was a powerful scene. 25:37 He said, well, he said, 25:38 "I went into the room and got down on my knees 25:40 and I asked the spirits to come in." 25:44 He said, "When I got up, it wasn't me anymore." 25:50 And you can look that up online. 25:53 Revelation Chapter 18 says, 25:56 "After these things I saw 25:57 another angel come down from heaven, 26:00 having great power, 26:03 and the earth was lightened with his glory, 26:06 and he cried mightily with a strong voice." 26:09 That means a loud cry saying, 26:13 "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, 26:16 for she is become the habitation of devils." 26:23 There's two cities in scripture. 26:26 There's Jerusalem and there's Babylon. 26:30 Yes, they are literal cities. 26:32 But more importantly, 26:34 they are symbolic of God's people 26:37 and Satan's people. 26:40 Babylon has fallen 26:42 and become the habitation of devils, 26:45 "and the hold or stronghold of every foul spirit, 26:50 and a cage of every unclean and hate-filled bird. 26:54 And I heard another voice from heaven, 26:57 saying, 'Come out of her, my people, 27:00 that ye be not partakers of her sins, 27:03 and that ye receive not of her plagues. 27:06 For her sins have reached unto heaven, 27:10 and God hath remembered her iniquities.'" 27:15 Before our Savior returns, 27:18 every man, woman or child 27:21 on this earth will be possessed. 27:24 One hundred percent, 27:26 they will either be filled 27:27 with the Spirit of the Living God 27:30 or they will be the dwelling place of demons. 27:34 Now I grew up as a Christian, 27:36 as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian 27:38 and I kind of thought demon possession was, you know, 27:41 somebody's cutting themselves and they've got, 27:44 you know, tattoos all over their face 27:46 and they're throwing up and they're, 27:48 you know, acting crazy. 27:50 And then I read the story about Judas 27:53 that Ellen White wrote, and she said, 27:55 "Judas was possessed with a demon of selfishness." 28:00 Selfishness. 28:03 That's what caused him to lose his life. 28:08 And she said, "Christ did everything he could 28:11 to keep Judas close to Him to win his heart." 28:17 If Judas had surrendered, 28:19 Christ would have commanded that evil spirit to leave. 28:23 He would have evicted it. 28:25 But Judas wouldn't kneel. 28:28 And because of that, that spirit became stronger 28:31 and he brought other spirits in. 28:35 Something to make a note of it, says here about Babylon, 28:40 her sins have reached unto heaven 28:42 and God has remembered her iniquities. 28:47 If you look up the promise of the new covenant 28:51 in Jeremiah 31, and Hebrews 8, and Hebrews 10, 28:55 it tells us this is the covenant 28:57 I will make with the house of Israel. 29:00 That means those that have faith. 29:03 He said, "I will forgive your sins 29:07 and iniquities, 29:08 and I will remember them no more." 29:12 Babylon, their sins are remembered 29:16 because they have no faith. 29:18 They have no faith. 29:23 But Israel, it says in the Old Testament, 29:27 you will search for your iniquities 29:30 and they won't be found. 29:34 Amen. 29:36 And you know when that happened? 29:38 Two thousand years ago. 29:45 "The days in which we live are eventful and full of peril. 29:50 The signs of the coming of the end 29:52 are thickening all around us, 29:54 and events to come to pass 29:56 that will be of a more terrible character 29:59 than any of the world has yet witness. 30:02 For when they shall say, peace and safety, 30:06 then sudden destruction will come upon them 30:09 as a woman with child, and they shall not escape. 30:14 We are to realize that 30:15 the judgments of God are about to fall." 30:19 We're living in this time now. 30:21 It's not five years from now. 30:24 It's not, it's now. 30:27 "The judgments of God are about to fall upon the earth. 30:30 Solemn events before us are yet to transpire." 30:37 I want you to pay attention to this. 30:40 "They are yet to transpire." 30:42 Look at the next thing she says. 30:44 "Trumpet after trumpet is to be sounded." 30:50 This is not controversy. 30:52 I encourage you to do the research on your own. 30:55 There's other places where Ellen White says 30:57 the seven trumpets, 30:59 they were not fulfilled 31:01 a 150, 200, 300 years ago. 31:04 They are yet to sound. 31:07 When you look at the Old Testament, 31:11 the plan, the way of God's working 31:15 in the Old Testament, 31:17 He had certain special days on the calendar 31:21 that marked events. 31:22 You had Passover in the spring. 31:25 You had firstfruits which was three days after. 31:29 Then you had Pentecost, and then you had the summer, 31:33 and then you had trumpets, 31:36 Day of Atonement, tabernacles. 31:41 If you look at Day of Atonement, 31:44 we as Seventh-day Adventist, 31:46 we would call that close of probation 31:49 because on that day every case was decided 31:53 if you were a member of Israel, right? 31:57 Before the Day of Atonement happened, 32:01 10 days prior to it 32:04 God commanded them to blow trumpets 32:08 to warn the people and tell them to get ready. 32:14 When you look in Revelation at the trumpets, 32:17 almost every one of the trumpets it says 32:20 and men repented not. 32:23 That means they still had opportunity to repent. 32:27 God sends these trumpet judgments with mercy 32:31 because He's striving to win men's hearts 32:36 before the close of probation, 32:39 before that final day of decision is ended. 32:44 She says, "Trumpet after trumpet is to be sounded. 32:48 Vial after vial poured out one after another 32:51 upon the inhabitants of the earth, 32:54 and we should most earnestly present before the people 32:58 the warning that the Lord has commissioned us to give." 33:03 Paul tells us in 2 Thessalonians, 33:06 "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, 33:09 I told you these things? 33:11 But now you know he that withholdeth 33:16 so that he might be unveiled in his time. 33:21 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work." 33:25 I don't want to spend a lot of time on this 33:27 'cause we've discussed this in some other messages. 33:30 But our current Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis, 33:37 you can do the research on your own, 33:41 his sister as well as many of the cardinals and bishops 33:46 when Pope Francis was elected to take that position, 33:50 he also went into a room and close the door alone. 33:55 And they said when he came out of the room, 34:00 he was a completely different man. 34:02 His sister's own words when she wrote about him. 34:06 She said, "I no longer know the man that is the pope." 34:10 She said, "You know, I love him, he's my brother." 34:13 She said, "But he's not the one that went into that room." 34:17 She said, "He was never charismatic. 34:19 And now he's kissing babies, and hugging people, 34:22 and playing contemporary Christian rock music, 34:26 and smiling, and laughing, and hugging. 34:29 She said, "He never would have done that." 34:32 Even the other bishops there in the Catholic Church said 34:36 a change happened 34:38 and it happened in that short time 34:40 he went into that room alone and closed that door. 34:44 Is it possible that something went in to him 34:50 for this last time? 34:54 "The message of Christ's righteousness 34:56 is to sound from one end of the earth to the other 35:00 to prepare the way of our Lord. 35:04 This is the glory of God, 35:07 which closes the work of the third angel." 35:10 Christ's righteousness, 35:13 the word righteousness we looked it up last night 35:16 and it literally means 35:18 holiness, purity, innocence, victory 35:24 and perfect righteousness, perfection. 35:29 Several have written to me inquiring 35:31 if the message of justification by faith 35:35 is the third angel's message. 35:36 They were struggling 35:38 because in many minds the third angel's message was, 35:41 we've got to warn the world about Babylon. 35:44 We've got to warn the world about the mark of the beast 35:47 and about who the pope is. 35:48 And that's true, 35:50 but it doesn't stop 35:52 on just a physical description. 35:57 What God was wanting to reveal to the world 36:01 was the righteousness 36:04 that we can have today 36:08 by faith in His promises, 36:10 by, we can have victory today. 36:13 He says that in Hebrews Chapter 3 and 4. 36:17 He says it in 2 Corinthians 6:2, 36:20 He says, "Today is the day of your salvation, 36:24 not next week, 36:27 not 10 years from now. 36:30 Today." 36:32 When those two men, the demoniacs of Ghidorah, 36:36 they came running down the beach at Jesus. 36:40 And Ellen White says that 36:41 when they were running toward him 36:43 the men that were in the backseat of that vehicle, 36:48 their body, the men that owned that body 36:52 they had been gagged and tied up 36:54 and they were in the backseat. 36:56 Demons, legions of fallen angels 36:59 had taken possession of these men 37:01 and they saw Jesus and they were like, 37:04 He can set us free. 37:05 And they ran towards Him in hope for freedom. 37:10 And it says that when they open their mouth to ask for help, 37:14 the demons spoke through them 37:16 rather than allowing them to speak, the demons did. 37:20 And Jesus saw what was happening. 37:24 And I want to tell you something. 37:26 Do you know those men asked Jesus, 37:27 they said, we want to go with you. 37:31 Jesus did not tell them. 37:33 You need to go home 37:34 and spend the next 12 months on Bible studies, 37:37 then come back and talk to me, 37:39 and we can ordain you 37:40 and then you can go out and start sharing the gospel. 37:44 Do you know what Jesus said? 37:46 Go now 37:48 and tell what great things God has done for you. 37:52 When He set them free, 37:54 it was not an evolutionary process. 37:58 The only reason it takes us time 38:03 for perfection of character 38:05 is because of the lack of our faith. 38:08 I know some men 38:10 that have struggled with cigarettes for 40 years 38:13 and they would surrender to Christ. 38:14 They would fight for one night on their knees 38:17 and they'd get up the next morning 38:19 and they never touched another cigarette. 38:22 One night and I know other people 38:24 that have spent 10 years battling 38:27 and still haven't got the victory. 38:29 Is the difference 38:30 because Christ power is less in person's life 38:34 or is it a matter of faith, 38:36 believing that God will do what He says. 38:41 Amen. It's faith. 38:44 When He told that man at the pool of Bethesda, 38:47 take up your bed and walk. 38:49 He didn't put him on a rehabilitation program. 38:53 I'm a firm believer in the health message. 38:55 I drink carrot juice every day. 38:57 I love to eat healthy. 39:00 But that's not the miracle of healing. 39:05 It's part of it. 39:08 But God says, "I speak righteousness." 39:12 Just like that man at the pool of Bethesda 39:14 had been laying there. 39:16 He spoke the word and the man believed it. 39:21 Remember that. 39:24 "Several have written to me, inquiring 39:26 if the message of justification by faith 39:29 is the third angel's message, 39:32 and I have answered, 39:34 'It is the third angel's message in verity!' 39:39 For the prophet declares, 39:41 'After these things 39:42 I saw another angel come down from heaven, 39:45 having great power, 39:48 and the earth was lightened with his glory!'" 39:53 I want to show you something. 39:55 They were asking is justification by faith, 39:59 is that the third angel's message? 40:02 When you look up the word justification, 40:04 and I'm going to show this over and over again 40:06 because it's that important. 40:09 It means to declare and render 40:12 innocent, just, clean, holy, 40:17 righteous, pure and perfect. 40:22 That's what justification is. 40:25 That thief on the cross, I can't tell you 40:28 how many Christians have written to me and said, 40:30 "Well, you've given me this list of things 40:32 that I have to do. 40:34 What about that thief on the cross?" 40:36 I'm not throwing out God's law. 40:40 But I'm encouraging us, 40:42 let's not put the cart in front of the horse. 40:47 Jesus came to set us free 40:50 so that we could live holy and righteous lives. 40:55 Because as long as you're in bondage to the old man, 41:00 you're going to work really hard 41:02 and still never make it. 41:05 You'll never achieve what you want. 41:09 That's what Nicodemus was battling with. 41:12 And Jesus said, "You have to be born again." 41:15 It's not you just having something else 41:17 to add to your list of do's and don'ts, 41:20 you have got to be begotten over again 41:25 by the Spirit of the living God. 41:27 And once your insides are changed, 41:30 the outside will delight to obey me. 41:35 In Romans Chapter 8, 41:37 Paul tells us the carnal mind is enmity against God. 41:43 It's not subject to the law of God 41:45 and neither indeed can it be. 41:49 When we have people that will call our house 41:52 and they're like, "I can't get my husband 41:54 to stop watching rated R movies. 41:56 I can't get my son or my grandson 41:58 to quit listening to rock and roll music. 42:00 And, you know, what can I do?" 42:02 And I'm like, the first thing you've got to ask is, 42:05 have they been born again? 42:07 Have they surrendered their lives to Christ? 42:11 Because if they have not done that 42:13 and all you're trying to do is fix the externals, 42:18 that's what the Pharisees did, 42:20 they washed the outside of the tombs 42:23 and inside it was full of dead men's bones. 42:29 That child, or that husband, or that wife, 42:32 or your brother, or sister, or mother, or father, if they, 42:36 if you go to them and say, you've got to stop eating pork 42:39 or you've got to start going to church on Saturday, 42:41 and they haven't been born again, 42:43 you know what they're thinking, 42:45 "Look, I'm already trying to do these nine 42:48 and you've just given me one more that I can't do, 42:50 I don't need more things to do. 42:53 I'm not doing well on the ones I've got. 42:57 The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, 43:02 it can't be. 43:04 That's why the Bible says, 43:06 "Let this mind be in us which was in Christ Jesus." 43:11 There has to be a change inside 43:15 so that the outside will blossom 43:18 and produce the fruits of righteousness. 43:24 Listen to what the servant of the Lord says. 43:27 "As yet, we certainly have not seen the Light 43:32 that answers to this description. 43:35 God has Light for His people, 43:38 and all who will accept it 43:40 will see the sinfulness of remaining 43:43 in a lukewarm condition. 43:46 They will heed the counsel of the True Witness 43:49 when He says, 43:51 'Be zealous therefore, and repent. 43:56 Behold, I'm standing 43:58 at the door of your heart knocking, 44:01 and if any man will hear My voice, 44:05 My word and open the door, 44:09 I will come into you 44:11 and I will sup with you, and you with Me." 44:16 Do you know what that sup means? 44:18 It means He'll have dinner with you. 44:21 What does He feed us? 44:22 The bread of life. 44:24 He said, that's what John 6 was all about. 44:28 Eat my words, make them part of your life. 44:31 Satan is doing the exact same thing. 44:34 He told Eve at the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 44:39 If you will just eat of what I'm offering you, 44:44 then you'll be like God knowing good and evil. 44:48 He wanted them to partake of his words 44:52 and his spirit rather than the Spirit of the living God. 44:58 Serpent's whisper in the shadow of doubt. 45:02 The serpent's whisper. 45:04 This takes us back all the way to the very beginning, 45:08 and tomorrow evening and tonight, 45:10 but tomorrow evening especially, 45:12 we're going to bring together again 45:14 these pieces of the puzzle, 45:16 and we're going to show 45:18 how this relates to spiritual formation 45:20 in the emerging church. 45:22 We did some of that last night but tomorrow night especially. 45:26 But I want you to listen to what we're told. 45:31 What exactly is spiritual formation? 45:35 I have many people that will talk to me, 45:37 they'll meet at a conference or something and there'll say, 45:42 "I don't even know what it is. 45:44 What is spiritual formation?" 45:46 They know people say it's bad, but they don't know what it is. 45:50 And I have to admit, I knew it was bad. 45:54 I knew that you had this liberal theology 45:56 that was attached to it but I wondered, I was like, 46:00 "What does that mean? 46:01 Why does it have that name, spiritual formation?" 46:05 Here's a couple of colleges and universities 46:08 that are heavy promoters of this. 46:11 I don't want to name names, 46:12 but you can read those there for yourself. 46:16 It's in every denomination, 46:18 not just ours, it's everywhere. 46:23 When you see what the Apostle Paul says, 46:26 it makes this clear. 46:28 He says, "My little children 46:30 of whom I travail in birth again 46:35 until Christ be formed in you. 46:40 For we, brethren, just as Isaac was, 46:44 are the children of promise. 46:47 But as then he which was born after 46:51 or begotten by the flesh persecuted him 46:55 that was born by the Spirit, even so it is now." 47:01 Spiritual formation is forming a man or woman 47:06 into the image of God. 47:08 Do you remember what Satan said to Eve? 47:11 If you will obey, 47:13 if you'll listen to my words and eat of my words, 47:17 you will be like God's. 47:22 How much more like God could you be? 47:25 They were already made in His image. 47:28 Adam, Luke says, was the son of God by creation. 47:33 You can't be any more like God than to be His son or daughter. 47:39 But Satan said, "You're not really, 47:42 you're not really like God, taste and see, 47:47 try what I'm offering you and then you'll be like God." 47:51 The first sin that caused 47:54 the fall of the entire human race was doubting 47:58 who they were as sons and daughters 48:01 of the living God. 48:03 Do you know what the first temptation 48:05 that Christ faced in the wilderness was? 48:09 The exact same thing. 48:11 Satan came to him and Ellen White says, 48:14 "It's when Satan said if that 48:17 then Christ recognized who he was." 48:20 Satan appeared as an angel of light. 48:23 Christ did not recognize him until Satan started speaking. 48:28 And Satan told Christ, "If Thou be the Son of God, 48:33 command this stone to be made bread." 48:36 When he said if, Christ recognized this is him. 48:42 And he... 48:43 Amen. That's right. 48:45 When he came up out of the River Jordan 48:48 after being baptized, 48:50 his father had declared from heaven, 48:53 "Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee am I well pleased." 48:59 Christ had to walk by faith. 49:03 Now I want to encourage you with something 49:04 and I also want to challenge you. 49:06 Do you know what it says in 1 John? 49:09 It says, "Now are you the sons of God. 49:14 And it does not yet appear what we shall be like, 49:19 but we know that when he appears, 49:22 we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 49:28 We're not waiting for some day to become children of God. 49:32 And the word sons in Greek means children begotten, 49:36 so it means sons and daughters. 49:38 I'm not trying to pervert scripture but, I mean, 49:41 we can take that and know that we're on safe ground. 49:45 Man and woman. Mankind. 49:47 Mankind. 49:50 But it says now, 49:53 now, we are the children of God. 49:57 And then look what it says in John 1. 50:00 "Born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, 50:06 nor of the will or power of man but of God." 50:12 I cannot tell you 50:14 how many Christians are striving with all their might 50:17 to achieve something 50:19 that's impossible for man to do. 50:22 You have to believe it. 50:24 And then it becomes yours. 50:27 That's called fighting the fight of faith. 50:31 You have to believe God's promise 50:34 and appropriate it as your own. 50:36 And when you take hold of that promise and you say, 50:39 "It's yay and amen in Christ Jesus. 50:43 I am His, He is mine, that promise is mine." 50:48 When you do that and you speak faith, 50:50 Ellen White says, "You will have faith." 50:54 And Hebrews 11 says, 50:55 "Faith is the very substance of the things 50:58 you have been given confidence and assurance of." 51:01 Amen. Amen. 51:06 To whom God would make known what is the riches, 51:11 the abundance of the glory of this mystery. 51:15 Remember, we talked about those two mysteries, 51:18 the mystery of godliness and the mystery of iniquity. 51:21 Paul is talking about the mystery of godliness here. 51:25 He says to us, 51:26 "To whom God would make known 51:29 what is the abundance of the glory of this mystery 51:34 among the gentiles. 51:36 Even that mystery 51:38 which hath been hidden from ages and from generations, 51:44 but now is made manifest to his saints. 51:48 Today, if you will but hear my voice 51:53 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 51:58 Every promise in Christ Jesus is yay and in Him, amen. 52:04 He says, if you only believe 52:07 and I can remember when I was battling to get free, 52:11 I told the Lord one day, it was like, I saw it, it says, 52:14 whosoever believes shall be saved. 52:17 And the word saved does not mean 52:19 you have a free ticket to get into heaven. 52:21 The word saved in Greek and Hebrew means 52:24 rescued, delivered, set free, 52:28 healed and made whole. 52:31 And I looked at that day 52:33 'cause I was crying out to God for freedom. 52:35 I mean, the martial arts and eastern mysticism was just, 52:39 that was just a tiny little part of the sins 52:43 I had been in bondage to. 52:45 Going through that divorce with my wife 52:47 and I committed adultery and I had, 52:49 I had baggage from all the way back 52:51 when I was a child. 52:53 And I was begging God, 52:55 "I need freedom, I need salvation." 53:00 And God told me, He said, 53:02 "You don't even know what the word saved means." 53:04 He said, "Look it up." And I looked it up. 53:06 And it said that 53:08 freedom, rescue, deliverance, healing 53:12 and to make you whole. 53:14 And I said, "GOD, there's five definitions. 53:16 Which one is right?" 53:18 And you know what He told me? 53:20 Which one do you need today? 53:24 Where are you? Do you need physical healing? 53:27 And you know what? 53:29 When He spoke that to me, I started that day, 53:32 I opened up the gospels, 53:34 I said, I'm not leaving the gospels. 53:36 I got a notepad out 53:38 and I just started reading the gospels 53:40 and I made a note every single time 53:44 I saw a captive set free, 53:46 I saw someone healed, I saw someone forgiven, 53:49 I saw a prostitute forgiven. 53:52 And I was like, God, you know, I committed adultery 53:55 but I've never charged somebody for it. 53:58 And God was like, I know, I can handle. 54:00 You don't have a sin that's bigger than Me. 54:05 And I made a note of every single time 54:09 Christ healed and set someone free. 54:13 And every time it was based on one thing. 54:16 Did they believe 54:18 what God had already promised to do? 54:22 And I told, I told the Lord, I said, 54:25 I'm there in the house by myself. 54:26 My wife is a school teacher, 54:28 my children are going to school. 54:29 And I looked up because I was so desperate. 54:33 I said, "How do I believe, 54:37 I can't even make myself believe." 54:41 Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word. 54:45 And the Lord Jesus Christ told me in Romans 10:17, 54:50 He said, "Eric, quit reading My Word silently in your head. 54:55 Start reading it out loud." 54:58 And I'll never forget the man 55:00 that first encouraged me to do that. 55:02 He was an older man of God. 55:03 I don't even know what church he went to 55:05 but I had called him on the phone 55:07 because I desperately needed help. 55:09 And he asked me that question. 55:11 He said, "Eric, when you read God's Word, 55:13 do you read it in your head or do you read it out loud?" 55:16 I said, "In my head." 55:18 He said, "When you pray, 55:19 do you pray only in your head or do you pray out loud?" 55:23 I said, "In my head." 55:25 And then he asked me a question I'll never forget. 55:26 He said, "Why?" 55:29 And I said, "I don't want the devil to hear me." 55:33 And you know what he said? 55:35 He said, "Do you think the devil is stronger 55:37 than the one you're praying to?" 55:40 And I went, "Oh, wow." 55:44 That was the last time 55:46 I worried about the devil hearing my prayers. 55:49 If I don't want the devil to hear what I'm saying, 55:51 you know what I do? 55:52 I say, Lord Jesus Christ, 55:54 I want this prayer to be between 55:57 me and you and my Father in heaven and that's it. 56:00 I ask You in Your name. 56:02 And Jesus said, "If you ask anything in My name, 56:04 I will do it." 56:06 Amen. 56:07 We don't fear the devil. 56:10 It doesn't mean we have to be arrogant and foolish. 56:13 But greater is He that is in us than he that is in this world. 56:18 And as I started reading His promises out loud, 56:23 faith grew like I have never... 56:27 I never could have imagined how much the faith grew. 56:30 And I still battle, I still have days 56:33 where I come under attack and my wife, I'll call her. 56:36 And when I'm having a bad day, 56:38 the Lord will have her on top of the mountain 56:40 and she'll say, "Let me pray with you, Eric." 56:42 And she'll speak those promises out loud 56:45 and she'll say, 56:47 "Don't speak the doubt, speak faith in His word." 56:50 And Ellen White said the same thing. 56:52 She said, "Don't talk about what the devil's done to you, 56:55 talk about the promises of your Savior 56:58 and your mighty God." 57:00 Amen. Amen. 57:03 Let's close with a word of prayer. 57:08 Father in heaven, 57:11 we thank You that You are not a man 57:13 that You should lie nor the son of man 57:15 that you should change Your mind. 57:18 Your word has gone forth 57:19 and it shall not return unto You void. 57:24 Father, You have spoken and You will make it good. 57:29 Father, You have told us through faith and patience, 57:32 we inherit the promises. 57:34 And, Father, we are going to do like Jacob did. 57:37 We are going to grab hold on your son and say, 57:42 "I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me," 57:45 not because we are worthy but because He is worthy 57:50 and because You are faithful and cannot lie. 57:54 Father, we pray for every family and individual 57:56 that is represented here tonight. 57:59 Father, let us not only discern the evil 58:02 but most importantly, 58:04 let us see and know your power in our lives. |
Revised 2019-02-11