Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000090
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00:19 Hello, friends, and welcome
00:20 to a Wednesday night Bible study 00:22 that I know you've been looking forward to. 00:24 This is A Sharper Focus. 00:26 Thank you so much for tuning in. 00:28 And we are beginning a new lesson entitled, 00:32 "The Truth about God's True Church." 00:34 And so thank you for joining us. 00:36 If you're joining us from the United States, 00:37 welcome from Nairobi, Kenya, 00:40 from Africa, from the Virgin Islands, 00:42 from Australia, 00:43 we know that we are so thankful that you tuned in. 00:46 And got an email one day a few weeks ago, 00:49 actually from Australia, 00:50 where somebody said, "What about the next lesson, 00:52 I've missed it, or maybe you didn't do it," 00:54 and there was repeats. 00:55 So thank you for tuning in tonight. 00:58 This is the first in our lesson number 27. 01:02 A very important topic 01:04 that we're gonna get into in just a moment. 01:05 But before I give you any more, 01:07 I always like to begin with prayer. 01:09 Let's bow our heads. 01:11 Heavenly Father, thank You for Your guidance 01:13 which we surely do need every time we open Your Word. 01:16 Thank You for Your Holy Spirit 01:18 who will come and be our teacher 01:21 that will expand our hearts and our minds 01:23 as we grapple with the living Word. 01:26 And, Lord, we pray that our minds 01:28 will not only be expanded, 01:29 but our hearts will be filled 01:31 with a dedication and affection 01:34 that we may desire to know You and to serve You. 01:37 In Jesus name we pray, amen. 01:41 Now, if you'd like to get a copy 01:42 of our lesson for tonight, 01:44 go to this website 01:45 asf.3abn.org 01:49 and download lesson number 27, 01:52 The Truth about God's True Church. 01:55 We just finished the lesson on heaven. 01:57 And that was a great lesson, was 4 pages, 33 questions. 02:01 We covered quite a bit about heaven 02:02 and we are looking forward to go into heaven one day. 02:04 Can you all say amen to that? Amen. 02:06 And so now in order to get there, 02:08 this is the next in the series, 02:10 you have to be on the right vehicle. 02:12 You've got to be on the right vehicle 02:14 to get to the right destination. 02:16 That's why this topic is so vitally important. 02:20 Lesson number 27 on A Sharper Focus, 02:22 and also on that website, 02:24 if you've missed any of the programs, 02:26 you can download the lessons. 02:28 There are approximately 84 videos, 02:31 I checked it today, 84 videos. 02:34 You can go from the very first lesson 02:36 we did more than a year ago to up today 02:40 and all the lessons are there. 02:41 So if you wanna solid Bible study 02:44 beginning on the topics of righteousness by faith, 02:47 go to that website and download 02:49 or look at the videos 02:50 and it will connect you to what lesson to download. 02:52 And if you want a weekly Bible study, 02:54 you'll also find those wonderful topics located there. 02:57 But tonight before we do anything else, 02:59 we're gonna sing our theme song 03:01 which is "Victory," in? 03:02 Jesus. "In Jesus." 03:03 Let's sing our song together. 03:16 I heard an old, old story 03:19 How the Savior came from glory 03:23 How He gave His life on Calvary 03:27 To save a wretch like me 03:31 I heard about His groaning 03:34 Of His precious blood's atoning 03:38 Then I repented of my sin 03:42 And won the victory 03:46 O victory in Jesus 03:50 My Savior forever 03:53 He sought me and bought me 03:57 With His redeeming blood 04:01 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:05 And all my love is due Him 04:08 He plunged me to victory 04:12 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:16 I heard about a mansion 04:20 He has built for me in glory 04:23 And I heard about the streets of gold 04:27 Beyond the crystal sea 04:31 About the angels singing 04:35 And the old redemption story 04:39 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 04:42 The song of victory 04:45 Key change. 04:46 O victory in Jesus 04:50 My Savior forever 04:54 He sought me and bought me 04:57 With His redeeming blood 05:01 He loved me ere I knew Him 05:05 And all my love is due Him 05:09 He plunged me to victory 05:13 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:17 He plunged me to victory 05:20 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:27 Amen? Amen. 05:29 I have been waiting and waiting to do this topic. 05:32 Seems like forever, but now we're back on track. 05:35 I'm so excited for that. 05:36 And so right now tonight, I'm like... 05:38 I'm like a bottle of water filled at the top, 05:41 just open it now begin to pour out, 05:43 and tonight I'm excited about that. 05:45 But this topic is an amazing topic, 05:50 the truth about God's true church. 05:52 Now the reason why I use the phrase 05:55 the truth about God's true church 05:57 is because every Christian church 06:00 or every church that connects itself 06:02 to Christ or to God says, 06:03 "It is the true church." 06:06 And I thought to myself as I studied the Bible, 06:08 when you go back and read the Bible, 06:10 when you go to the Old Testament, 06:12 God had one people. 06:13 How many people that He have? 06:14 One. He had one. 06:16 He had, He chose Jerusalem, Jews 06:18 to carry the gospel to the world. 06:20 In the New Testament, the Lord said, 06:22 "Upon this rock I built My church," one church. 06:26 And then, but now you fast forward 06:28 to 2000 years later. 06:30 And let me give you some statistics 06:32 just to show you how important this is. 06:34 Now, a moment ago, I mentioned 06:36 in order to get to the right destination, 06:38 you got to get on the right plane, am I right? 06:40 Yeah. 06:41 You cannot just go to the airport 06:43 and get on any plane and end up 06:44 where you wanna end up. 06:46 We went to the Virgin Islands recently, 06:47 got a little bit of sun, 06:48 so I'm looking more of Middle Eastern 06:50 that's because this is sun, amen for the sun. 06:53 Amen. Got my vitamin D. 06:55 But when we go to the airport, you have to check your ticket, 06:58 you have to make sure that 06:59 you're not only on the right airline, 07:01 but the right flight number, 07:02 not only the right flight number, 07:03 but you get on and ask for the right seat. 07:06 Everything about that has to be correct. 07:08 You could be on the right airline 07:09 but the wrong plane. 07:11 That's why they say, I've heard that they say before, 07:13 "If your final destination is not New York, 07:16 this is the best time to get off the plane 07:18 before the door is closed." 07:20 I did some research today 07:22 and according to the Hartford Institute 07:23 for Religious Research, 07:26 just in America, 07:27 there are 350,000 congregations, 07:31 follow me carefully. 07:32 Of those 350,000, 314,000 are Protestant. 07:38 What does that mean? 07:39 Protestant is a group that protests anything 07:43 that Rome stands for. 07:45 Protestant Reformation began in the 1500s. 07:48 One of the chief contributors 07:49 is one man by the name of Martin? 07:51 Luther. Martin Luther. 07:53 But there's Calvin, Hus, Zwingli, Jerome, Wycliffe, 07:56 all of those contributors. 07:58 Out of the 350,000 congregations, 08:00 24,000 of those is Catholic. 08:04 Now, I mentioned that there are 314,000 Protestants, 08:08 even though there're only 24,000 Catholics, 08:12 they have the highest number of adherence 08:14 in the United States, 08:15 67 million 08:17 higher than any other singular denomination in America. 08:21 So Catholicism is heavily represented in America, 08:23 even though they are only 24,000 08:26 out of 350,000 denominations. 08:29 But then out of that large number, 08:31 they are 12,000 non-Christian denominations. 08:34 They don't connect to Jesus at all. 08:36 Among those are Thelema, 08:38 the religion began by Aleister Crowley, 08:40 that today is now officially recognized 08:42 as a religion in England. 08:44 Then there's Atheism. 08:46 And then there's the Church of Satan 08:48 that is among that category. 08:50 Now, if you break it down to denominations, 08:53 there are 25 to 27 major denominations. 08:56 We say major, 08:58 because you have these little churches, 08:59 you know, that have these long names. 09:01 I don't wanna mention any, 09:03 just so I don't get anybody upset. 09:04 But you have these storefront churches 09:05 that have started by Bishop whomever 09:07 or Reverend whomever, 09:09 and that's his own movement. 09:11 He started with a particular vision 09:12 in mind, 09:13 that's not listed here. 09:15 But if you break down those 25 denominations, 09:18 you get the following categories. 09:20 You have liberal Protestants, moderate Protestants, 09:24 conservative Protestants. 09:26 Adventists are listed in the category 09:28 among conservative Protestants. 09:31 But it depends on what church you go to. 09:33 See, because Adventism is very diverse today, 09:36 depending on where you go. 09:38 You go to Trinidad, 09:39 where sometimes the hymn sound like Calypso, 09:41 you go to Jamaica, where some sometimes 09:43 in some places it may sound like it have a reggae beat. 09:45 So depending on your definition of conservative or liberal, 09:48 it depends on where you are in the world. 09:51 You go to some Adventist churches, 09:52 they don't have a piano 09:53 because they still, in some countries, 09:55 they still believe in no instruments. 09:57 But you have some that are filled 09:58 with the whole band, 10:00 the drums, the guitar, the bass 10:01 and the categories go on and on. 10:04 So the liberal, moderate 10:05 and conservative Protestants, 10:07 then they are Roman Catholics, 10:09 then they're Latter-day Saints, 10:10 one of the denominations, 10:11 then there are the Pentecostal 10:13 and the Holiness Protestants. 10:15 This does not include Jehovah's Witnesses, 10:17 Judaism, Sikhs, Neo-pagans, 10:20 Chinese traditional, Islam, Bahá'í, 10:23 Hinduism, Narcissism, Rastafarianism, Taoism, 10:27 Atheism, and the list goes on and on and on. 10:30 So I go back to my original thought. 10:33 One good thing that I've discovered 10:34 in this research of all these movements, 10:37 Christianity, if you combine Christianity together, 10:41 no singular religion on the planet 10:43 is larger than Christianity. 10:45 Can you say amen? Amen. 10:46 The man called Jesus has affected the entire world. 10:50 2.1 billion 10:53 all claim to be Christians. 10:57 But tonight, as we begin this topic, 11:00 and I didn't go into, 11:01 there's so many more, 11:02 I mean, you got Confucianism, 11:04 you've got Neo-Pentecostalism, 11:10 then you have the category, 11:12 which I didn't mention this. 11:13 But among the evangelicals, 11:15 you can choose any of these groups 11:17 and stick them in there. 11:19 Because evangelicals 11:20 is another category 11:22 that includes Pentecostals, Assemblies of God, 11:27 you notice I didn't link them here. 11:29 They're under the category of Protestants. 11:31 There's so much. 11:32 So the question really has to come to the forefront. 11:35 Go with me to the Book of Ephesians. 11:38 And let's go ahead and begin to kind of, 11:40 as I say, unwrap this package, 11:44 and come to the conclusion, 11:45 why it is so vitally important for us 11:48 to know the truth about God's true church. 11:52 Now when the New Testament church began, 11:53 we're going to Ephesians Chapter 4, 11:55 when the New Testament church began, it was easy. 12:00 It was Jesus and His 12 disciples. 12:04 Then after the day of Pentecost, 12:06 the church began to grow and grow and grow, so quickly, 12:09 they went from 3000, then another baptism, 8000, 12:13 that's 5000 more was added to that 8000, 12:15 then it grew so rapidly that the Bible says, "Many," 12:19 the Lord added to the church daily, 12:21 such as should be saved, 12:22 and they could just simply use the word multitudes, 12:25 so rapidly did the church grow. 12:27 But then there was a period 12:28 called the period of religious persecution, 12:31 early, inflicted by the early Roman Empire 12:34 from 303 to 313 AD, 12:37 by Roman Emperor Diocletian, 12:38 where the Christian church grew so rapidly, 12:41 they tried to wipe it out, 12:43 because Rome couldn't control it. 12:45 But the more they killed, the quicker the church grew. 12:48 Amen, somebody? Amen. 12:49 So that period ended in 313 AD, 12:52 and the church had a gradual growth. 12:54 Well, by the year 321 AD, 12:57 actually, let me go back a little bit. 12:59 By the year 168 AD traditions began to be inserted 13:03 into the church under the Roman Empire, 13:06 not under Catholicism, 13:07 under the Roman Empire. 13:09 And in 321 AD, Roman Emperor 13:12 Constantine made the first civil Sunday law. 13:17 But the Church of Rome was not yet in existence. 13:22 It was the Rome and it was the Roman Empire, 13:27 which was the pagan Roman Empire. 13:29 But in the year 476 AD, 13:31 pagan Rome gave way to papal Rome. 13:35 When pagan Rome fell, 13:36 the Pope's rose to prominence. 13:39 So then the pope's became the head of the Roman Empire. 13:42 That's why you have these phrases 13:44 that are almost synonymous with the leaders of Rome. 13:47 You have some of these terminologies 13:49 that could either be a Caesar or a pope, okay? 13:52 But so now, but something happened in the year 538 AD 13:56 that has spun us into this massive explosion 14:01 of thousands and thousands and thousands of denominations, 14:06 and thousands and thousands of congregations. 14:09 It was called the Dark Ages. 14:12 What did I say it was? 14:13 The Dark Ages, 14:15 which means someone turned the light off. 14:17 Bibles were taken. 14:19 Matter of fact, Bibles were not in multiple quantity 14:22 as they are today. 14:23 There was no printing press to duplicate Bibles. 14:27 So they were in rare form. 14:29 And the churches chained the Bible to the altar, 14:32 so only bishops and popes had access to the Bibles. 14:35 The common man did not. 14:36 So whatever I said to Yannick, as the priests, 14:39 you had to take my word, 14:41 you had no point of reference. 14:42 So for 1260 years, 14:44 the Dark Ages continued to proliferate era, 14:48 which many doctrines came out of that time, 14:50 such as purgatory, and limbo, 14:53 and ever burning hell, 14:55 and the idea that you die and go to heaven 14:57 and sacredness of the first day of the week, 14:59 just to name a few, infant baptism. 15:02 Many of these things rose up during the Dark Ages. 15:05 But then praise the Lord, 15:07 around the 1300s, 15:09 a spot begin to be ignited 15:11 among individual men, men that said, "Wait a minute, 15:14 wait a minute, this is not what God intended." 15:16 So they found portions of Scripture. 15:19 But it was not until Martin Luther in the 1500s 15:22 in a pilgrimage to Rome, 15:24 he read the Bible and he read a phrase, 15:26 "The just shall live by faith." 15:30 He began studying the scripture and discovered 15:33 that the very church he stood with 15:35 was not in harmony with the Bible. 15:37 And then he began by nailing his protest 15:40 to the door in Wittenberg, Germany, 15:43 called The Ninety-five Theses. 15:46 Ninety-five reasons why I reject 15:48 that Rome is the Church of Bible of the Scriptures. 15:53 Ninety-five reasons, among those are so many, 15:56 the supremacy, 15:57 the infallibility of a single man, 15:59 and all the other things that I mentioned just brief, 16:01 I'm not gonna go into the 95. 16:03 But there were 95 reasons. 16:06 Martin Luther went into hiding. 16:10 And he wrote, 16:11 he translated the Bible from Latin to German, 16:15 the language of the people at that particular time. 16:18 Then following him not too long, later on, 16:20 then the Wittenberg press, 16:22 where the Bible began to be printed 16:23 in Old English. 16:25 Then the King James Version of the Bible, 16:27 I wanna make sure very clear, this is history, 16:29 where the King James Version went through many, many stages. 16:33 You know, you had 16:34 where the letter U look like a V 16:36 and V look like U in the old lingers. 16:39 So when people say today that they only want 16:41 the original King James Version, 16:43 I don't think you really mean that, 16:44 because modern man couldn't read it. 16:47 It's the first translation when it was first off of, 16:50 and by the way King James commissioned it, 16:53 but King James did not translate it, 16:55 all right? 16:57 But then you had the America n Bible Society 16:59 that came along in the 1800s.? 17:01 And they began, 17:02 and then this light began to dawn in the 1700s. 17:06 Why? 17:07 Because in 1798, this is some history, 17:09 very important about this topic. 17:11 In 1798, the Pope of Rome was taken captive 17:16 by French General Berthier, taken into captivity, 17:20 died in exile. 17:21 And from 1798, it appears though Roman lost its power. 17:25 But the Bible said in Revelation 13, 17:27 "The deadly wound would be healed." 17:29 And in 1929, authority was returned 17:31 to the Roman Catholic Church, 17:33 when Mussolini gave the Vatican City 17:37 to the Church of Rome. 17:40 So today, now, we have this multiplicity 17:43 of religious groups. 17:44 And as I mentioned, in America, the largest of all those groups 17:48 in number is Roman Catholicism, 67 million. 17:51 But when you read this text, 17:52 it's kind of hard to put your head around that 17:55 what I've showed you or walked you through here 17:58 is the evolution of Christianity, 18:01 the evolution of religion. 18:03 And by the way, I said nothing of the evolution 18:05 of all these other outside religions, 18:08 Eastern mysticism, Shakti 18:10 and Yoga, and New Age 18:11 and all this other stuff that's called religion. 18:14 Because anything that could be identified, 18:17 any movement that could say it has a holy book, 18:20 and has creeds that according to the outline established 18:24 for an official religion, 18:26 it could be recognized as a religion 18:28 when it does not connect itself to Christ, right? 18:32 You had also the phrases during the Dark Ages, 18:35 something else that came into prominence 18:36 in around the year 515-565. 18:39 During the Dark Ages, 18:40 was the formulation of this secret rapture. 18:43 I was so glad when National Geographic's 18:45 had done a program on the secret rapture. 18:49 And they traced it all the way back 18:51 to Francisco Ribeira, 18:53 a Roman Jesuit, 18:54 who was commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church 18:56 during the Dark Ages 18:57 to create this theory, 18:59 so that people can take their eyes off 19:01 of the Roman Catholic Church 19:02 as the fourth beast of Daniel Chapter 7, 19:06 the beast of Daniel. 19:07 But today, we come now and if you walked into a store, 19:11 this is just, I wanna get the perspective, 19:13 if you walked into a store, 19:16 and you asked for a pair of socks. 19:21 That is a huge question. 19:24 Because they 'll say, "What color? 19:25 What size? What shape? 19:27 Want for the winter, for the summer? 19:29 Do you want shear? Do you want tall? 19:30 Do you want short? Do you want ankles? 19:32 Do you want those who go across your knees? 19:34 Do you want thermal socks? 19:35 Or do you want socks to swim in? 19:37 Which one do you want? 19:38 Do you want socks for skis 19:39 or socks for climbing in the mountains? 19:41 Which kind of socks do you want?" 19:42 And today, the church has been narrowed down 19:45 to what kind of socks do you want, 19:47 what fits you rather than what do you fit into. 19:51 The church today has become what do you want 19:54 rather than what does God want. 19:57 And that's why this lesson is so vitally important, 20:00 because I wanna say, as the Bible says, 20:02 there is a way that seems right unto a man, 20:07 but in the end there of is the way of death. 20:11 So that we're gonna read a couple of scriptures 20:12 before we go to the first question, 20:14 just to establish a couple of very important points. 20:16 Look at the Ephesians Chapter 4. 20:18 And I'm gonna read verse 4 20:20 and down to verse 6, all right? 20:23 According to the Bible, 20:24 this is during the time of New Testament, 20:26 the Bible says, "There is," how many bodies? 20:28 "One body and one spirit, 20:31 just as you are called in one hope of your calling, 20:36 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 20:39 one God and Father of all, who is above all, 20:42 and through all and in all." 20:44 So if I asked you how many did the Bible 20:48 indicate exist in New Testament times, 20:51 how many numbers would you hold up? 20:52 One. 20:54 One, not 314,000, but one. 21:00 Not 25 or 27 major denominations, 21:02 but one, 21:04 one Lord, one faith. 21:06 But let me give you encouragement, 21:07 because today you may come up 21:09 with your own concept 21:11 based on what I've been saying so far. 21:12 You may because I know that when I speak sometimes, 21:15 people try to think ahead of me and say, 21:18 "Are you saying," 21:19 so just for those who are deep thinkers, 21:21 I wanna clarify what I'm not saying. 21:23 Go with me to John 10:16, okay? 21:28 Let's go to John 10:16. 21:30 And then we're gonna look at one more text, all right? 21:33 I'm just gonna make sure 21:35 I'm not running ahead of myself. 21:36 Great, I did not include in my lesson. 21:38 We're gonna go to John 10:16. 21:40 And so if you look at that, 21:43 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 21:45 one God, one Father of all, all the one, one, one, one. 21:47 Look what Jesus said, 21:49 because Jesus knew... 21:52 How did He know? 21:53 He knows the end from the beginning. 21:55 He's the Alpha and the Omega, amen for that? 21:57 But look at what He said in John 10:16. 21:59 Speaking about he is the Good Shepherd, 22:01 he is the one shepherd, but there's a caveat here. 22:05 He says in verse 16, 22:07 "Other sheep I have, 22:11 which are not of this fold, 22:15 them also I should bring." 22:17 Must bring... 22:19 What's the word there? Must. 22:20 "Must bring, 22:22 and they will," what? 22:24 "Hear My voice, 22:26 and there we will be together, 22:29 one flock and one shepherd." 22:33 So with this cotton candy machine of religion... 22:37 Anybody that ever had cotton candy before 22:39 knows what I'm talking about? 22:41 You know, if you go to the State Fair, 22:42 you get your cotton candy. 22:43 What do they do? 22:45 They just pour some sugar in the center, 22:46 and they turn that thing on, 22:48 spinning it in all directions 22:50 and out of that comes cotton candy. 22:51 Religion today has become a cotton candy religion, 22:55 it's spun in all directions. 22:56 They've been poured 22:58 into a centrifugal force of time, 22:59 and they are in all different directions. 23:01 But when you really boil it down, 23:03 the Lord says, "There's only one shepherd, 23:05 and I've had only one flock. 23:06 I've got one flock, I'm one shepherd." 23:09 But here is how there is going to be one flock. 23:13 He says, "My sheep will," what's the next word? 23:17 Hear. "Hear My voice." 23:20 So the question that I must lay down today it's huge. 23:25 I mean, I've taken the top of my Bible, 23:27 I'm flowing right now. Praise God for that. 23:30 In the Garden of Eden, 23:32 this is powerful, this is deep, 23:34 the Lord just gave it to me, in the Garden of Eden, 23:37 the reason why Eve was deceived, 23:40 is she listened to the wrong voice. 23:44 Didn't she? Come on, help me out. 23:45 Yes. 23:46 She listened to the voice of Satan. 23:48 And I wanna say today, 23:50 the Bible makes it clear 23:51 that there are so many voices 23:54 from all different directions of religion, 23:57 all different directions of Christianity, 23:59 their voices coming out of the woodwork, 24:01 just turn your television on. 24:05 But if you don't read the Bible, 24:07 you will just listen to the voice 24:09 and decide based on how he dress, 24:11 what kind of church they have, 24:13 what kind of music, what kind of community status, 24:16 you cannot base religions, or churches, 24:19 or what church to join on aesthetics. 24:23 It has to be based on the Word of God. 24:24 Amen, somebody? Amen. 24:26 So let's look at one more text. 24:27 So there will be one shepherd. 24:29 There's only one shepherd. 24:30 One day there'll be only, what? 24:32 One flock. 24:33 But let's go to our last one before question number one. 24:36 Revelation Chapter 18. 24:38 See, the Lord says, 24:39 "My sheep will hear My voice." 24:42 I want you to see Revelation tells us 24:45 that before this whole thing is done, 24:47 before the world is over, 24:49 there is gonna be a massive call. 24:52 And I wanna also encourage you that call is going forth today. 24:56 Praise the Lord to that. 24:57 That call is going forth today. 25:00 Revelation Chapter 18. 25:03 And I'm gonna look down at verse 4. 25:08 "And I heard another," what? 25:11 "Voice," from where? "Heaven." 25:13 That's the only voice you need to listen to, 25:15 voice from heaven. 25:17 When Jesus came to the earth, 25:18 He said to the Jews, 25:20 "I am the bread 25:21 that came down from heaven." 25:23 So the voice that is coming from heaven 25:24 is the voice of God. 25:26 If you wanna find the voice of God today, 25:28 look in His Word. 25:29 Anything that deviates from God's Word 25:32 is not the voice of heaven. 25:35 What is this voice of heaven doing? 25:37 "Saying, 'Come out of," what? "Her," whose people? 25:43 "My people," other sheep I have, 25:45 they are My people, 25:46 I got to get them out. 25:48 "Lest you share in her sins, 25:49 lest you receive of her plagues." 25:51 The whole context of this is there are two women 25:55 in the Bible, Revelation 12, 25:56 the woman clothed with the sun, the moon and the stars, 25:59 then the woman in Revelation 17, 26:01 clothed with gold and precious stones and pearls. 26:04 She's sitting on a scarlet colored beast. 26:06 She has a cup of wine 26:08 that the whole world has been drinking of. 26:11 And the nations of the world and the kings of the earth 26:14 and leaders, both religious and secular are drunk 26:18 because they've been drinking what she's been giving them. 26:21 They are intoxicated. 26:22 And one thing that an intoxicated person 26:24 can't do is walk a straight line. 26:27 See, powerful. 26:29 So tonight, let's go ahead and begin unfolding. 26:32 And by the way, I know we're not gonna cover 26:33 this whole lesson tonight. 26:34 But there's another Wednesday by God's grace, 26:36 He'll give it to us. 26:37 Look at the first question for tonight. 26:39 Question number one. 26:42 What is the message that God's Church 26:45 will be preaching? 26:47 This is how and you got to keep... 26:49 Go to Revelation Chapter 14. 26:52 When you begin to put these pieces in place, 26:55 you will discover that it's really easy, 26:57 it's very easy to find the true church. 27:01 Because here's the key, 27:03 the church that is established on God's Word 27:08 will be proclaiming His voice. 27:14 If it's deviating or if it's excluded, 27:17 then don't follow it. 27:19 Okay, here it is. Revelation Chapter 14. 27:22 Let's look at verse 6 together and it'll appear on the screen. 27:25 The Bible says, 27:26 "Then I saw another angel 27:28 flying in the midst of heaven," 27:31 that is above the above the earth's atmosphere, 27:34 "having the," what kind of gospel? 27:36 "Everlasting gospel to preach 27:39 to those who dwell on the earth, 27:41 to every nation, tribe, tongue," and what? 27:46 "People." 27:47 So first of all, let's begin with a very important point. 27:50 The gospel is not new. The gospel is everlasting. 27:53 Amen? Amen. 27:54 So here's the point, was the gospel in effect 27:56 from the Old Testament? 27:58 Yes. Yes. 27:59 God gave Adam and Eve hope. 28:02 He said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman." 28:06 He said this to the serpent, between thy seed and her seed. 28:11 You will bruise his heel, 28:12 but he's gonna bruise your head. 28:15 He gave Eve and Adam hope. 28:18 The everlasting gospel, 28:20 there is gonna be deliverance 28:21 and the end result of this deliverance 28:23 is Satan's head is gonna be crushed. 28:26 And in the process of delivering His people, 28:28 Jesus will have His heel wounded. 28:32 Praise the Lord! My heel could heal. 28:35 But if you crush my head, I'm down and out. 28:37 The devil is gonna be down and out. 28:39 So here's the first point, 28:41 is your church teaching the everlasting gospel, 28:46 the first of three messages of Revelation? 28:51 Very important point. 28:52 Is your church preaching the messages found 28:55 in Revelation Chapter 14? 28:57 Now, let me go ahead and just make the... 28:59 I'll answer the question myself. 29:01 The majority of denominations are not. 29:05 Because what follows in, 29:06 what is set up in this particular chapter, 29:10 you have to qualify to preach this message. 29:14 Did you hear what I said? 29:16 When you buy a Mercedes from a Toyota dealer, 29:21 be careful, 29:24 because Toyota is not an authorized dealer 29:28 of Mercedes. 29:29 If you want a Mercedes, 29:30 go to an authorized dealer, amen? 29:33 Amen. 29:34 Don't buy an iPhone, 29:36 from a store that sells Android only. 29:40 Go to an Apple store or an authorized dealer. 29:44 You have got to be authorized by God's Word 29:47 to proclaim this message. 29:49 You wanna see the authorization? 29:50 Go with me to Revelation Chapter 14 29:52 and look at verse 12. 29:54 Who's preaching this message? Who's preaching this message? 29:58 Here's what the Bible says, 30:01 "Here is the patience of the saints, 30:05 here are those that," say it together with me, 30:08 "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." 30:13 So now, 30:15 in order to preach this message, 30:16 you've got to be a commandment keeper. 30:18 One of the reasons 30:19 why you're not gonna find this message preached in, 30:21 I would say more than 30:24 almost this whole list of more than 300,000 congregations, 30:29 is because 30:31 the majority of churches today 30:33 are not teaching people to honor 30:35 all of God's commandments. 30:39 You can narrow that down very easily. 30:41 And somebody may say, 30:42 "Well, Pastor John, 30:43 I know where you're going with this, 30:45 you're really talking about your church." 30:47 Well, you know what? 30:48 The litmus test applies to every denomination. 30:51 Am I right? Yeah. 30:52 So if my church or the church 30:56 that I'm a member of does not follow the Bible, 31:00 then we are also on the wrong path. 31:04 This is a passage that applies to everyone. 31:07 What is the message that's given here? 31:08 Look at the second question. 31:10 Look at the second question, okay? 31:12 The first question is, 31:14 what is the message that God's Church 31:16 will be preaching? 31:17 The answer is the everlasting gospel, 31:21 the everlasting gospel. 31:22 And here is question number two that breaks it down. 31:26 What are the first two messages of Revelation's, 31:29 of the everlasting gospel? 31:30 Revelation 14:7. 31:32 Here it is. 31:33 What are the first two messages of the everlasting gospel? 31:36 Let's go to Revelation 14:7. 31:39 And here it is, all right? 31:42 The Bible says, 31:43 as we continue beyond verse 6, 31:45 to give us the last message, or the first message, 31:48 "Saying with a loud voice," 31:50 what is the Bible message, "'fear God, and," do what? 31:54 "Give glory to Him, for the hour of His," what? 31:58 "Judgment has come 32:00 and worship Him, who made," what? 32:04 "The heaven and the earth, 32:06 the sea, and the springs or the fountains of waters.'" 32:08 Now, this twofold message is what? 32:13 What are the two aspects that this message 32:15 will be proclaiming to the world? 32:18 One, that judgment hour has come. 32:21 Is the church you are a member of teaching 32:24 that we're living in the judgment hour? 32:27 The judgment hour is preparatory 32:29 to the coming of Jesus. 32:31 Now today, you're not gonna find the judgment, 32:33 our message preached 32:34 in the majority of denominations, 32:36 because so many denominations 32:37 are busy talking about finances, 32:40 nothing wrong with that, 32:41 relationships, 32:43 nothing wrong with that, we all need good relationships. 32:44 But the everlasting gospel 32:46 has been replaced with the prosperity gospel 32:49 and the social gospel. 32:53 Let's build parks, nothing wrong with that, 32:55 let's build community centers, nothing wrong with that, 32:57 let's feed the hungry and cloth the naked, 32:59 very imperative and very important. 33:01 But you cannot push this aside in favor of that 33:05 and be still connected 33:08 to the everlasting gospel. 33:11 And nowadays, 33:12 most churches that you find on television 33:14 are nothing more than a very good hour of counseling. 33:17 Your hour has come. 33:19 This is the moment that you're gonna spread your wings, 33:20 you're gonna rise. 33:22 This is your moment of deliverance. 33:23 This is your day. 33:28 Well, that may be true. 33:30 But it's not about your day, it's about Jesus, amen? 33:33 Amen. 33:35 It's not about the prosperity or the money 33:36 you have in your account. 33:37 And recently on the news, 33:39 a lot of and I'm gonna be kind tonight, 33:41 I don't want to mention names, 33:42 because I believe that no matter where a person is, 33:44 God can still get a hold of anybody, 33:47 and lead them down the right path. 33:48 Amen, somebody? 33:49 He has sheep in all different folds, 33:51 all walks of life, they're everywhere. 33:54 The second portion of this message, 33:56 first is the judgment hour message. 33:58 Second aspect of it is worship. 34:03 What is it, friends? 34:04 Worship. Worship. 34:06 What kind of worship? 34:08 This is so important. 34:09 The judgment, the messages that are proclaimed here, 34:12 and the first angel is about the judgment hour, 34:15 and it's about the kind of worship 34:17 that the Lord has ascribed. 34:21 There's a particular kind of worship 34:23 that the Lord has established here, 34:24 and we'll look at that in just a moment. 34:26 But what I wanna spend a little time on 34:28 so put the answers there for question number two. 34:31 Judgment hour and worship. 34:33 Those are the two things 34:34 that this first of three messages 34:36 proclaim in reference to the everlasting gospel. 34:39 Now, let me tell you 34:41 why the judgment hour is so vitally important. 34:42 Do we all believe that Jesus is coming again, 34:44 yes or no? Yes. 34:46 One of the things that really ignited the world, 34:49 in the 1800s was 34:51 up until a man by the name of William Miller, 34:53 who's the Baptist, 34:56 up until William Miller began to proclaim 34:59 the message of the Second Coming, 35:02 it was like it is today. 35:03 They were not talking about the Second Coming. 35:05 If you listen to these 35:07 popular preachers on television, 35:09 which ones is talking about the Second Coming? 35:14 Which one is saying Jesus is coming soon, 35:16 we must get ready to meet Him? 35:18 Do it, just go through your television channels, 35:21 go through all those religious broadcasts, 35:23 go to their websites and click on their videos, 35:26 try to find a message 35:27 about the Second Coming of Jesus. 35:29 And you practically, it'll be difficult to find. 35:33 3ABN. 35:35 Except... 35:36 3ABN. 3ABN, amen? 35:38 I got to add our sister channel, 35:39 Hope Channel too, praise the Lord. 35:41 Those who are preaching the advent message 35:43 have not lost their bearings. 35:46 Those who are preaching the advent message 35:48 have not lost their bearings. 35:50 That's why we're called Adventists. 35:53 Because that means, 35:54 if you're looking for the Coming of Jesus, 35:56 you are an Adventist, right? Right. 35:58 And by the way, I need to add something else here. 36:01 It is not the church's responsibility 36:03 to fix the world 36:05 because the world can't be fixed. 36:09 The world is in the condition 36:10 that it's in and it's going to get worse. 36:13 It's only gonna be fixed 36:14 when the Lord completely gets rid of this society, 36:17 when the Lord destroys sin, 36:19 and then remakes and gives us a new earth, 36:22 and a new heaven, amen? 36:24 But many Christians today, 36:26 through the very lies 36:27 that were planted during the Dark Ages, 36:29 are trying to get the world ready for Jesus to come back. 36:32 They call that His millennial reign. 36:34 Jesus is not coming back to spend 1000 years on earth. 36:37 We're going 36:39 and we've talked about this in one of our topics, 36:40 the millennium. 36:42 Jesus is coming back to take us 36:43 to where He's building a house for us. 36:45 Can we say amen? Amen. 36:47 He's building a house for us. 36:49 We are not building a house for Him. 36:53 But so many people, 36:54 that's why all these social issues 36:56 are being pushed about abortion, 36:57 about the Judaism, 36:59 about all these issues, 37:00 all the controversies, in Christianity, 37:04 so many of them are based on issues, 37:06 to try to fix the world. 37:08 When in fact, 37:09 our message is not to fix the world, 37:10 our message is to get people ready 37:12 to get out of here, amen? 37:13 Amen. 37:15 I'm getting on the next plane that gonna be piloted by Jesus. 37:18 I'm getting ready to get out of here. 37:20 But let's look at the everlasting gospel. 37:22 Let's look at question number three. 37:24 Wow! 37:26 See what the vacation does. 37:27 It fills your bottle whole up again. 37:29 How does the Bible describe 37:31 the components of the everlasting gospel? 37:35 Go to Ephesians Chapter 2. 37:37 And we're gonna look together at verse 8 and 9, all right? 37:40 Ephesians 2:8-9, 37:44 all right? 37:47 Look at the everlasting gospel. 37:50 Beautiful, beautiful gospel. 37:52 Here it is. Here it is. 37:54 Paul the Apostle says, 37:56 "For by grace 37:58 you have been saved through," what, friends? 38:00 Faith. 38:01 "Faith, and that not of yourselves. 38:04 It is the gift of God, 38:06 not of works, lest," what? 38:09 "Anyone should boast." 38:11 So let's pause for a moment. 38:12 What should we be preaching? 38:14 What should be connected 38:17 to the everlasting gospel? 38:18 Not just the judgment hour, 38:20 not just the fact that we have to worship God 38:22 according not only 38:23 do we have to worship the one 38:24 who made heaven and earth and sea, 38:26 and the fountains of waters, 38:27 we're talking about that in the moment. 38:28 But we must be preaching salvation, amen? 38:30 Amen. 38:31 If your gospel does not include salvation from sin, 38:36 then you are not preaching the everlasting gospel. 38:39 So many people are preaching everything 38:41 but the everlasting gospel. 38:43 I'm always amazed when I hear religious men say, 38:46 the answer lies within you. 38:48 You know what? 38:49 The answer does not lie within me. 38:50 Come on, somebody. 38:52 The answer is not in Lorraine, 38:54 it's not in any of us. 38:55 Because within us is a corrupt human heart, 38:58 a fleshy heart, it is, the Bible says, 39:01 "Our hearts are deceitful 39:03 above all things and desperately wicked." 39:05 Who can know it? 39:06 The answer is not in our minds. 39:07 The Bible says, 39:09 "The carnal mind is enmity against God." 39:11 The answer is not enough. 39:12 That's new age philosophy. 39:14 I was reading an article today 39:15 about how the deceased now Reverend Ike 39:19 accepted a new age message that he was preaching. 39:21 He was a leader of a huge church 39:24 in Manhattan, New York, 39:26 great following, large, massive following 39:29 made buku dollars, 39:31 but the gospel that he was preaching 39:33 was modified from the New Age movement. 39:37 This whole idea of philosophy 39:38 that's now today called the prosperity gospel, 39:41 the name it, claim it gospel. 39:44 You sow a seed, 39:46 God will pour you out a blessing. 39:48 As one of the popular preachers said, 39:50 "The reason why he wants money 39:51 because when I get to heaven, 39:52 I'm not going to heaven broke," 39:54 not gonna mention his name. 39:56 Well, you ain't taken anything to heaven with you, 39:58 except your character, amen? 40:00 And if you don't have a good character, 40:01 you ain't going. 40:03 So it's not about your bank book, 40:04 it's about the condition of your heart. 40:06 The gospel includes salvation from sin not... 40:11 And I want to be very kind tonight, 40:13 because I'll have to be very tender, 40:15 I don't want my message to offend anybody 40:17 but I want to be clear. 40:19 God does not have a problem with wealth. 40:22 Amen. 40:23 Wealth is not a sin. 40:25 It's the love of money that's the root of all evil. 40:28 Many men in the Bible, 40:29 many men today have houses and lands, 40:32 is not an indication of sin. 40:35 But when the access 40:38 of materialism becomes the focus 40:40 over the truth of God's Word, 40:42 then you step out from the everlasting gospel 40:44 to the prosperity gospel. 40:46 That's the problem 40:47 with much of what's happening in our world today. 40:49 If you're not preaching salvation, 40:51 you can't counsel anybody 40:53 into a right relationship with Jesus. 40:55 Salvation means we must be born again. 40:58 Amen? Amen. 41:00 You can't even say to people 41:01 how you were born is good enough. 41:02 God accepts you as you are. 41:04 Well, He does accept us as we are. 41:05 But He never leaves us as He finds us. 41:07 Come on. 41:09 He never leaves us as we find us. 41:11 And if your church teaches that how you were born, 41:13 some people say, "Well, I was born this way." 41:15 Whatever the condition may be, 41:17 you may be born in a family 41:18 that was alcoholics or drug abusers 41:20 or you in atmosphere 41:22 where you are influenced by homosexuality 41:24 or lesbianism. 41:26 However you were born and whatever your influence, 41:28 that's why a part of the everlasting gospel 41:30 is "You must be born," what? 41:33 "Again." 41:35 The gospel is not tolerance, 41:37 the gospel is salvation. 41:40 It is a love based salvation. 41:42 I love you, no matter what you do, 41:44 no matter how you sin, 41:46 no matter what your nature of sin, 41:48 God loves you, Jesus loves you, 41:50 but because He loves you, 41:52 He wants to save you from sin. 41:55 He's not gonna save us in sin. 41:57 Amen? 41:58 That's the mission of Jesus, 42:00 Matthew 1:2, "Call His name Jesus, 42:01 He'll save His people from their sins. 42:04 Behold, the Lamb of God 42:05 that taketh away the sin of the world." 42:07 John 1:29. 42:08 Wow, am I teaching or preaching? 42:10 I don't know which one. 42:12 But the message is salvation, grace. 42:15 If your church is not teaching salvation, 42:17 if it's meandering in the maze of mediocrity, 42:19 or pondering at the pool of popularity, 42:21 get out of that 42:22 and look for a salvation based message 42:25 that is based on the three angels' messages. 42:28 Let's narrow this thing down 42:30 where the commandments of God all ten are honored. 42:34 Let's go to the next stage. 42:36 Let's go to the next phrase. 42:37 How does the Bible describe 42:39 the components of the everlasting gospel? 42:41 Let's go to 1 John 1:7. 42:43 1 John 1:7, 42:46 question number three, right. 42:49 So the first component is salvation, 42:51 under question number three, 42:52 Ephesians 2:8-9, salvation, 42:54 "We are saved by grace through faith." 42:57 You can't work your way into God's favor. 42:59 The next one is what? 43:00 What else is included in the everlasting gospel? 43:02 Here it is. 43:03 1 John 1:7, 43:05 the Bible says, 43:06 "But if we walk in the light 43:10 as He is in the light, 43:13 we have," what? 43:14 "Fellowship with one another," 43:16 and here's the salvation component," 43:18 and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son 43:21 cleanses us from," what? 43:23 "All sin." 43:26 Today, 1 John 1:7, today, 43:29 sin is not talked about. 43:31 Most of these shows, sin is not talked about. 43:34 You know, what's talked about? 43:36 You haven't come into yourself yet. 43:38 You haven't gotten to your place yet. 43:41 Your wings are about to be spread, 43:44 foolishness. 43:45 If it does not include salvation from sin, 43:49 it's meandering in the maze of mediocrity, 43:51 or negotiating at the table of the enemy. 43:55 It's one of those three categories, 43:56 mediocrity, 43:58 you name it, it's not the gospel. 44:01 If you're not being told that the problem with your life 44:04 is you need to give your heart to Jesus 44:07 to save you from sin. 44:10 Then you can have all the possessions 44:13 and the money in the world, 44:14 and you are not in a relationship with Jesus. 44:17 But what you have to do to be in this relationship? 44:19 You have to do what? 44:20 Walk in the light. 44:22 So the second component is, 44:24 how does the Bible describe 44:25 the components of the everlasting gospel? 44:28 Cleansing from all sin. Cleansing from all sin. 44:35 And the focal point of that is none other than who? 44:38 Jesus. 44:40 Look at the third component. 44:42 The third component of the everlasting gospel. 44:44 There are many more components 44:46 but these are the three that I chose. 44:47 This is not the exhaustive lesson, 44:49 I'm sure you know that. 44:50 But look at John 1:12. 44:53 Look at John 1:12. 44:55 How do you get out of sin ship to son ship? 44:59 Here it is, here it is. 45:02 John 1:12, here it is, 45:04 "But as many as received Him, 45:07 to them He gave the right 45:09 to become children of God, 45:12 to those who," do what? 45:14 "Believe in His name." 45:16 The third component of the everlasting gospel 45:18 is belief in Jesus, is belief in Jesus. 45:25 You know, that was a problem in the days of Jesus, 45:27 because everybody believed, 45:28 "Well, there was a great belief in God." 45:31 Today, so many believe in God. 45:33 So almost all religions of the world 45:36 believe in a supreme deity, 45:38 but the majority of them leave Jesus out. 45:40 Some believe He was a good guy, 45:42 some believe He was a good rabbi, 45:43 some believe He was a good teacher, 45:45 some believe He was a good prophet, 45:48 but the majority don't believe Him 45:49 as the Son of God. 45:52 And the Bible says, if you do not confess 45:54 that Jesus Christ has come into flesh, 45:56 you are an antichrist, 45:58 you're trying to replace the very one 46:01 on whom our salvation is based. 46:03 So the third component 46:05 of the everlasting gospel is believing in Jesus. 46:10 He said in John 14, you believe in God, 46:13 don't stop there. 46:14 Believe also, what? In Me. 46:16 If you don't believe, 46:18 if you're not a part of a fellowship 46:19 that believes in Jesus, 46:21 let's get the components, 46:23 belief in Jesus, 46:25 salvation from sin, 46:26 salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, 46:29 commandment keeping, 46:32 the gospel that includes 46:33 the preaching of the judgment hour message, 46:36 and that we must worship the Creator of the earth. 46:39 Praise God for that. 46:41 Wow. 46:42 Let's go to number four. 46:43 I think we're gonna make it down to number seven. 46:45 I think we can. 46:47 If not, we got another program. 46:48 And Lord may give us opportunity 46:50 to cover that. 46:51 All right, here we are. 46:53 Number four. 46:54 So the third component is, belief in Jesus. 46:56 That's the third component under number three. 46:58 Question number four, here it is. 47:01 How does the Bible describe the mission of God's Church? 47:12 Go to Matthew 28:19-20. 47:16 Matthew 28:19-20. 47:19 This is a powerful scripture, by the way, 47:21 you are gonna see the church the way that God sees it, 47:25 the way that Jesus sees it. 47:27 You know, 47:28 one of the problems today is people want membership. 47:29 This will show you 47:31 that this has nothing to do with membership. 47:32 All right, here we go. 47:34 Matthew 28:19, the Bible says, 47:36 He's speaking to His disciples, 47:38 "Go therefore, and make," what? 47:41 "Disciples of all the nations, 47:44 baptizing them 47:45 in the name of the Father and of the Son 47:47 and of the Holy Spirit, 47:49 and then teaching them 47:51 to observe all things that I have commanded you, 47:55 and lo, I am with you always, 47:58 even to the end of the age." 48:02 Now, let me make a point here, 48:03 because this has been a point of controversy. 48:05 I remember being on a program a number of years ago, 48:08 where there was a big argument 48:09 about the name, the name, the name, the name. 48:12 Well, the word there in the Greek 48:13 is not the word name, 48:16 because let me just say, 48:18 what's the name of Jesus? 48:21 Okay, help me out, say it, Bill, Jesus. 48:24 Okay, the name of the Father, the name of the Son, 48:27 and name of the Holy Spirit, 48:29 the word there is the Greek word 48:31 meaning authority of. 48:33 Now, if somebody knocks on your door, 48:37 you'll start by saying, 48:39 "Who is it?" Right? 48:41 And they'll say, "Bill. 48:43 "Bill, who? 48:45 "Bill from your local power company." 48:48 "Oh, that bill?" 48:51 Let's go in there, "Bill who?" 48:54 "Officer Bill." 48:55 "Oh, you with the police department? 48:59 Bill, who?" 49:00 "Bill from the IRS." 49:02 "Oh, I'm not home." 49:06 You know, 49:07 what you want to know about is 49:08 who's he connected to, right? 49:10 What authority is behind his name? 49:12 See, when Jesus... 49:15 The verse before this, Jesus says, 49:17 "All authority is given to Me in heaven and in earth." 49:20 Ain't He say that? 49:22 So all the authority belongs to who? 49:24 Jesus. 49:25 So when He says, 49:26 "Go and baptize in the name of the Father, 49:28 the one who sent me, the name of the Son, 49:30 the one who was sent, 49:31 and the name of the Holy Spirit, 49:32 the one who I'm gonna send after I leave," 49:34 He's saying, 49:36 "We've got the same authority behind all of us." 49:37 Amen. 49:39 Divine authority. 49:40 So for those who are arguing over the name of Jesus, 49:42 there are those who say Yahweh, 49:44 and Krishna and Buddha, 49:46 and the list goes on and on. 49:48 Get out of that maze. 49:50 There's no other name given among men 49:53 whereby we must be saved 49:55 than the name of Jesus. 49:56 Amen? 49:58 So get out of that, it's not just the name. 50:00 So when a person is baptized, 50:01 they're those that won't baptize, 50:03 but in the name of Jesus, 50:05 because he said, "Well, 50:06 the New Testament Church changed it." 50:09 The New Testament Church, Paul, 50:11 and any of the apostles 50:12 have no more authority to change anything 50:15 than I do. 50:17 So when they baptize in the name of Jesus, 50:21 they were simply baptizing in the authority of, 50:24 the same authority that Jesus articulated to His disciples, 50:28 when you go forward, 50:29 you got all of the heaven with you. 50:31 The Father is with you, I'm with you, 50:33 and the Holy Spirit will never leave you 50:34 and never forsake you. 50:36 Amen? We are with you. 50:37 So go and carry our authority to the entire world. 50:41 And let me reiterate in an earlier statistic, 50:43 out of all these religious groups, 50:45 Christianity is the largest in the world. 50:48 Can we say amen to that? 50:49 2.1 billion. 50:51 And I must add, that was as of 2012, 50:56 two years ago. 50:57 So it's more now because we're moving faster 51:00 than any other movement on earth. 51:01 And you know why we are? 51:03 Because of what Jesus said, 51:04 "Upon this rock, I build My church 51:06 and the gates of hell 51:08 will not prevail against the church." 51:11 You know what the church is? 51:12 The church is the bulldozer going forward? 51:14 You know what hell is? 51:15 The plastic picket fence, 51:17 it cannot stop the progress of the church. 51:19 Can we get an amen somewhere? 51:21 So hell can't stop it. 51:23 So what has hell done? 51:25 Hell has diversified 51:28 so that you're so confused that you say, 51:30 you know what? 51:32 I don't know which one is which. 51:34 But let me tell you, stick with this program, 51:35 by the time this topic is done, 51:37 you will know unequivocally, unapologetically 51:40 and without any deviating left to right, 51:43 you'll know clearly, 51:45 what church is God's true church for today. 51:49 But He says not only that, 51:51 let's go to the rest of the text. 51:53 And I think I read that right 51:54 teaching them to observe all things, 51:55 I read that, didn't I? 51:57 Okay so, 51:58 how does the Bible describe the mission of God's church? 52:00 What is the mission? 52:04 Teach, baptize, and make disciples. 52:08 Teach, baptize, and make disciples. 52:14 Some churches, I remember somebody telling me this, 52:15 I'm not gonna talk about the denomination, 52:17 but somebody once, I roomed with a good friend of mine, 52:20 who is a pastor in another denomination, 52:23 and we were on the road and he said to me, he said, 52:25 "You know what I like about your church. 52:27 Before you guys baptize people, 52:29 you put them through Bible studies." 52:31 He said, "You can come to my church in the morning 52:33 and get baptized in the evening," he said, 52:34 "but the problem in my church 52:36 is the back door is always moving. 52:37 It's like a revolving door. 52:39 People get baptized this week, and you never see them again," 52:42 'cause they have no foundation. 52:44 If your foundational 52:46 is not based on the truth of God's Word, 52:49 then you have nothing to anchor your faith 52:51 and your trust in, 52:52 you've got to know God's Word. 52:54 And I want to say this, 52:56 knowing and studying God's Word 52:58 is more important than physical food. 53:01 Jesus says, Matthew 4:4, 53:03 "We must live by every word 53:05 that proceeds from the mouth of God." 53:06 All right? 53:08 So let's go to question number five. 53:09 I think we can make it. 53:11 If not, we'll just cut it off. 53:14 Okay. 53:15 Matter of fact, you know what? 53:16 This is kind of crazy. 53:18 But I'm gonna go to question number six. 53:21 So work with me, go to the next question, 53:23 question number six, 53:24 then we'll come back to number five, 53:25 because I'm gonna take some time on number five. 53:28 All right, let's go to question number six. 53:29 And so you can follow there on the production 53:32 and I appreciate that very much, 53:34 'cause I want to add the third component 53:36 to the everlasting gospel here. 53:38 This is very important, 53:39 because I stated this 53:41 in the beginning of the program, 53:42 I want to get to this before the program ends, 53:44 because when I mentioned 53:45 we'll be preaching the judgment hour message, 53:48 and then also we'll be preaching, 53:50 worship Him who made heaven and earth 53:53 and the sea and the springs of water. 53:55 The question is, how do you know 53:58 that you're worshipping the One who made 53:59 heaven and earth and the springs of water? 54:02 So here's the question. 54:06 What worship component 54:08 is connected to God's true church? 54:15 Let's go to Exodus Chapter 20. 54:17 Exodus Chapter 20, 54:18 and we're gonna look at verse eight. 54:19 Now, verse 8-11, 54:21 is the significant flow, 54:23 but let's look at verse 8. 54:25 Because if you believe that Jesus is the creator, 54:29 what you also need to embrace is the fact that 54:32 He's the one that tells us how to worship. 54:35 John 4:23, He says, 54:37 "The hour has come 54:38 when the true worshiper must worship 54:41 the Father in spirit and in truth." 54:43 Lot of people want to be in the spirit, 54:45 but you got to be in the truth. 54:46 And the spirit does not exist and emit, 54:49 the spirit doesn't delete the truth 54:50 and say the spirit is all you need. 54:52 There are a lot of churches who want to be in the spirit, 54:54 but you got to worship Him in spirit and truth. 54:56 Amen? 54:58 Exodus 20:8, here it is, 55:00 here it is. 55:02 Read this with me. 55:03 "Remember the," what? 55:04 "Sabbath day," to do what? 55:06 "Keep it holy." 55:07 I'm gonna continue in the Bible, 55:09 six days, verse 9, 55:11 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work." 55:14 So if your church here's the point, 55:16 notice this word begins with what word? 55:18 What word does it begin with? 55:19 Remember. What does remember mean? 55:21 Don't forget. 55:23 Now, if God says, don't forget, and your pastor says, forget. 55:28 You need to say pastor sayonara, 55:31 arrivederci, au revoir of what? 55:33 I'm out of here. 55:34 'Cause you cannot take the authority of a man 55:37 above the Word of God. 55:38 Amen? 55:40 So your pastor doesn't have enough degrees 55:42 to cancel what God says not to forget. 55:46 If you think I'm passionate. 55:49 Boy, thank you, Lord, for vacation. 55:52 God said, "Remember..." 55:54 Now let's put this to practice. 55:56 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." 56:00 You don't pick a Sabbath. 56:02 Look at the next verse. 56:04 Look at verse 10. 56:07 "But the seventh day..." 56:08 Exodus 20:10, 56:10 "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, 56:14 your God." 56:15 Okay, now, here's the point. 56:18 You gotta ask this huge question. 56:20 Who is your God, should be the first question, 56:22 not what day that you like? 56:24 'Cause some people pick Friday, some people pick Wednesday, 56:27 some people pick Thursday, some people pick Sunday. 56:31 It's not which one is convenient. 56:33 The question is, who is your God? 56:35 If you can answer that question, 56:37 then He'll say, "Well, here's My day." 56:40 You know, He'll say, "Here is my day." 56:45 Now, why is it His day? 56:46 Very quickly now, 56:47 why is it His day? 56:49 Genesis Chapter 2, 56:51 the Bible says, Genesis 2:1, 56:52 "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished 56:54 and all the host of them." 56:55 And Genesis 2:2, 56:57 "And on the seventh day God ended His work, 57:00 which He had done, 57:02 and He rested on the seventh day 57:03 from all His work which He had done. 57:05 And then God blessed the seventh day, 57:07 sanctified it, 57:09 because in it, He rested from all His work 57:10 which God had created and made." 57:12 Friends, as we wind up tonight. 57:14 If you're not preaching the judgment hour message, 57:17 not worshiping God 57:18 according to His day of worship, 57:20 not keeping the commandments of God, 57:21 not preaching salvation by grace 57:23 through faith in Jesus, 57:24 not preaching deliverance from sin, 57:26 you're in the wrong church. 57:30 Look at God's Word, and He will lead you. 57:33 As He says, 57:35 "If you walk in the light, 57:36 as He is in the light, 57:39 thy word is a lamp unto my feet 57:41 and a light unto my path." 57:42 Let God's Word be your guide, 57:44 and let the content of it be hidden in your heart. 57:49 Continue studying, 57:50 we're just getting ready and just getting started 57:52 on God's true church. 57:53 But I'd tell you, keep studying 57:55 and if it doesn't make sense, friends, 57:57 as you are faithfully trust in God's Word, 57:59 one day it'll come into A Sharper Focus. 58:02 God bless you. |
Revised 2019-06-28