Participants:
Series Code: DPM
Program Code: DPM000018A
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00:09 Tom had decided that it was time for his family
00:13 to start going to church. 00:16 So he decided to get out the phone book 00:18 and find a good Christian church 00:20 for his family to go to. 00:22 But as he flipped 00:24 through the pages of the phone book, 00:26 to his amazement, he discovered that 00:28 there were literally hundreds of different churches 00:32 in his city alone. 00:35 Many of them had names he had never even heard of. 00:39 Some of those denominations had names 00:42 that he couldn't even pronounce. 00:44 And he recognized that it took up 00:46 five whole pages of the phone book. 00:50 And Tom was just confused. 00:51 He scratched his head and he thought to himself, 00:54 there's one God. 00:56 There's one Bible, there was one Christian church, 01:00 where in the world did we get 01:03 all of these different denominations? 01:07 Now I have a feeling Tom is not the only one 01:10 who has ever asked that question. 01:12 Chances are pretty high that you've asked it, 01:15 I've asked it, or somebody we know has asked, 01:18 if there's one God, if there's one Bible, 01:21 where did we get all these different groups 01:23 with thousands of different doctrines 01:26 and teachings? 01:28 Believe it or not, did you know 01:30 the Book of Revelation prophesied 01:32 that this would happen? 01:34 Revelation told us that the early Christian church 01:38 would eventually fall away from truth 01:40 and would begin to split up into many different groups 01:44 throughout the centuries. 01:46 So tonight, we're gonna take a look at those prophecies 01:49 in the Book of Revelation 01:51 that predicted the emergence of these groups. 01:54 Then we're gonna go back and trace the steps of history 01:57 to see how it happened, and then we're going to end 02:01 with watching how God decided to restore His truth. 02:06 So tonight, go ahead and get out your Bibles. 02:08 And we're gonna start 02:09 in Revelation 12:1, 02:14 you want to go to Revelation Chapter 12, 02:18 and I'm gonna start reading verses 1-5. 02:22 Now we were in Revelation 12 last night, 02:25 but we focused on the last part of that chapter. 02:29 Tonight, we're gonna focus on the first part. 02:32 So as I read these first five verses, 02:35 I want to invite you to just use your imagination, 02:39 and I want you to picture the things 02:41 that John is describing in this vision. 02:45 Revelation 12:1, the Bible says, 02:51 "Now a great sign appeared in heaven. 02:55 A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, 03:00 and on her head a garland of," how many stars? 03:03 Twelve stars. "Twelve stars. 03:05 Then being with child, 03:06 she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. 03:11 And another sign appeared in heaven, 03:14 behold a great fiery, 03:16 red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, 03:20 and seven diadems on his heads. 03:23 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven 03:26 and threw them to the earth. 03:28 And the dragon stood before the woman 03:32 who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child 03:36 as soon as it was born." 03:39 Verse 5, "And she bore a male Child 03:42 who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. 03:46 And her Child was caught up to God 03:49 and to His Throne." 03:52 Now, let's stop there for a second. 03:54 How many of you would agree 03:56 that's a pretty vivid description 03:58 that John gives us, can I see your hands? 04:00 Yeah, you have this picture of a dragon 04:04 who is attacking a woman who's ready to give birth 04:07 to the male child. 04:09 And when the dragon cannot conquer the male child, 04:13 the dragon turns his attention to who? 04:17 The woman itself. 04:19 So now literally speaking, 04:20 here's what we see in this passage. 04:22 You have a woman and her child 04:24 being attacked by a dragon 04:26 that's got seven heads and ten horns. 04:29 And the question is, well, 04:31 what in the world does that mean? 04:33 Well, that passage has a number of symbols 04:36 that we have already interpreted 04:38 throughout this seminar. 04:39 So let's just take a look at them on the screen. 04:42 We've already learned that a woman in Bible prophecy 04:45 represents God's people, or you could say God's Church, 04:50 the sun and the moon, though Revelation 04:52 doesn't come right out and say what that is. 04:55 The sun and the moon both give and reflect light. 04:59 So they seem to be symbols of righteousness. 05:03 The 12 stars or the garland that's around the woman's head, 05:06 no doubt that represents the 12 apostles. 05:09 The child Revelation 12:5 tells us represents who, 05:12 what do you think? 05:14 Yeah, Jesus Christ. 05:15 He rules all nations. 05:16 He's caught up to God and His throne. 05:18 That was pretty easy. 05:19 That's Jesus. 05:21 The dragon we've already learned 05:22 represents Satan. 05:24 And we've studied that 05:26 this beast with seven heads and ten horns 05:28 represents the persecuting power of Rome. 05:33 So when you put all those symbols together, 05:36 here is the picture that Revelation is giving us. 05:39 It's a picture of Jesus Christ and His Church 05:44 being attacked by Satan through the Roman Empire. 05:49 That's how Revelation 12 begins. 05:52 Now, the question is, 05:54 is that actually what happened in history? 05:56 And the answer is yes. 05:58 No sooner was Jesus Christ born, 06:02 then Mary and Joseph had to take him 06:05 and they had to hide away in Egypt for a while. 06:08 Do you remember why? 06:10 Because King Herod had made the decree 06:14 to murder all children aged two years and under 06:18 because he had heard that the King of the Jews was born. 06:21 Can you imagine that, murdering all the children 06:23 two years and under to protect your throne? 06:27 You know, I would not want to be Herod 06:30 when the record of my life comes up in the judgment. 06:34 Now Herod was a Roman ruler, 06:35 tried to kill Christ 06:37 from the moment that He was born. 06:39 All through His life, the devil dogged His steps, 06:42 and eventually Jesus was arrested by Roman soldiers, 06:46 tried in Roman courts and nailed on a Roman cross. 06:52 But when Jesus died and resurrected, 06:55 He had victory over the grave and He had victory over sin. 06:58 Can you say amen? 07:00 Because when Jesus laid His life down, 07:02 that sealed the devil's fate and the devil's doom, 07:06 and eventually when He ascended back to heaven, 07:09 back to the throne of God, it was clear 07:12 the dragon could not conquer the male child. 07:15 And so now the dragon Satan 07:18 turns his attention to who? 07:22 The followers of Jesus or the Church of Christ, 07:27 and all we have to do is just look at the first, 07:31 second and third centuries of Christian history. 07:34 And you read all about the persecution 07:37 that the early Christian church went through. 07:41 You see, to be a Christian 07:42 in their pagan Roman Empire was illegal 07:45 because Christianity was an illegal religion. 07:48 If you chose to follow Jesus, 07:50 if you chose to be a disciple of His, 07:53 you risk your house, your home, your business, 07:57 and even your life. 08:00 To give you an idea how bad that persecution was, 08:02 I'm gonna put a symbol of that persecution up on the screen. 08:06 And as soon as you see it, 08:08 you're gonna immediately recognize what it is. 08:11 What's that a picture of? 08:13 The Roman Colosseum. 08:16 Now, how many of you have ever been to Rome 08:18 and had a chance to go through the Colosseum? 08:20 Can I see your hands? 08:22 Okay, a few of you had. 08:23 About 10 years ago or so, 08:25 Marquita and I had the opportunity 08:27 to go on a study tour of the Protestant Reformation, 08:32 and to go to all the significant sites 08:34 where the reformers were, 08:36 and one of the places they took us 08:39 was into Rome to go into this Colosseum. 08:43 Now to give you an idea how large this Colosseum is, 08:47 can you see the little truck that's parked right there 08:50 in the first level, you see that? 08:52 Compare the size of that truck? 08:55 So the three levels of the Roman Colosseum, 08:58 that was a huge monstrosity of a structure, 09:02 three levels high. 09:04 And it was said that it could seat probably 09:06 70,000 screaming fans and see here's what happened. 09:11 Inside that Colosseum is where Rome would throw 09:15 all their prisoners, all of the enemies of the state 09:18 those who were condemned to die. 09:21 And they were then forced to defend themselves 09:23 against armed gladiators, 09:25 but also wild and ravenous beasts. 09:29 You see a picture 09:30 of the circular plainfield there. 09:32 Now half of it is excavated. 09:35 And you might be able to notice that 09:37 right below the plain floor, you have these tunnels 09:40 or these caverns that had been carved out. 09:43 That's where they would hide all the wild beasts. 09:46 And they actually had, believe it or not, 09:49 ancient primitive elevators that would bring those animals 09:54 up to the plainfield 09:56 and see what would occur is they would throw thousands 09:59 upon thousands of Christians over the years, 10:02 of course, not at the same time, 10:04 into the middle of this plainfield, 10:06 70,000 people screaming to see their death, 10:12 70,000 people 10:14 calling for their blood to be spilled. 10:18 Not that different from 10:19 when Jesus stood on one side of Pilate 10:22 and Barabbas stood on the other. 10:24 And the Bible describes, and there's also a book called 10:27 The Desire of Ages about the life of Jesus 10:30 that actually describes as the crowd screamed for Jesus 10:34 to be crucified that it was like 10:36 the bellowing of wild beasts, 10:39 as though demons had taken over the crowd 10:42 and were screaming for the blood of Jesus. 10:45 That's what happened inside this Colosseum. 10:49 Seventy thousand people who wanted to see a Christian 10:52 getting mauled to death by wild beasts, 10:56 they would throw blood on top of the Christians. 11:00 And then these wild beasts 11:01 that had been starved for weeks, 11:03 when they smelled and saw the sight of blood, 11:06 they went into a wild frenzy, 11:09 and they tore them limb from limb. 11:13 Can you imagine a society so depraved, 11:18 that you're eager to watch people die 11:20 in front of your face? 11:22 That's what sin does to us. 11:24 It twists our minds and our perceptions. 11:28 But yet you read in history, these Christians, 11:31 they could look death in the face. 11:34 They could look wild beasts in the eyes, 11:37 they could stand before the Roman emperor 11:39 and they would say, 11:41 "I will not give up my faith in Jesus Christ. 11:44 I will not give up the truths of Scripture, 11:47 the truth of the Gospels that I know." 11:50 And I believe Jesus is looking for Christians today, 11:53 like those early believers. 11:55 Can you say amen? 11:56 People who are willing to stand for Christ and His truth, 12:00 no matter what the cost, 12:01 people who are not willing to make excuses, 12:04 people who are not going to compromise, 12:07 people who are not going to straddle the fence, 12:09 but are willing to put Jesus above everyone else, 12:13 and to put His Word above everything else. 12:17 You see, the dragon was not able to conquer 12:20 the male child. 12:22 And the dragon was also not able to conquer the woman 12:26 or the Church of Jesus Christ in those early centuries. 12:31 But you know, 12:32 then a shift occurred in the Roman world, 12:36 because Satan decided to follow an old adage. 12:41 Have you ever heard that saying, 12:42 which says, "If you can't beat them, 12:47 join them." 12:49 See, the devil realized, 12:51 the dragon knew that persecution never stamps out 12:54 the Christian church. 12:55 In fact, all throughout history 12:57 when you persecute the followers of Christ, 12:59 that's when they grow. 13:01 Because for every Christian martyr 13:03 whose blood was shed, 13:05 four or five more would stand up in their place, 13:07 and the devil realized this is not working. 13:10 So here's what happened. 13:12 Within the Roman Empire, a shift took place, 13:15 Satan changed his strategy. 13:18 The Roman Emperor Constantine became a Christian. 13:23 And Christianity went from being an illegal religion 13:28 to becoming the official state religion. 13:32 In 313, Constantine issues the Edict of Milan, 13:37 where Christianity is now acceptable 13:39 in the Roman Empire. 13:41 Now at first, that may sound good, 13:44 you may say wonderful, God is getting the victory. 13:48 But you see when that happened, 13:50 Constantine because he formerly was a pagan, 13:54 brought many of the false pagan teachings 13:58 into the Christian church. 14:00 And out of Rome came a religious system, 14:03 where the traditions of men 14:05 took the place of the truth of Scripture, 14:08 and the commandments of men and human authority 14:11 was placed above the commandments of God. 14:15 And papal Rome became a persecuting power 14:20 for over 1,000 years. 14:23 And that's why you read what you see in verse 6. 14:27 Now go to Revelation 12:6. 14:32 Now this is after the male child, 14:34 Jesus is caught up to God and His throne. 14:36 This is after the ascension. 14:38 This is after the persecution of the early centuries. 14:41 Now notice what verse 6 says, 14:44 Revelation 12:6, 14:47 the Bible says, 14:49 "Then the woman fled," where? 14:53 Into the wilderness. 14:55 where she has a place prepared by God 14:59 that they should feed her there 1260," what? 15:04 Days. "Days." 15:05 Now we already know from our previous study, 15:07 if you apply the day for a year principle 15:10 what time frame is that, not 1260 days but what? 15:14 1260 years. 15:16 See when it talks about 15:18 the woman having to hide in the wilderness. 15:21 This is referring 15:23 to the 1260 years of persecution 15:26 in the Middle Ages, 15:28 when papal Rome dominated, 15:30 when church and state came together. 15:34 And if you chose not to follow the doctrines 15:36 or the creeds of Rome, you were considered a heretic 15:40 that could be tortured, and that could be put to death. 15:44 If you wanted to follow what the Bible said, 15:47 if you wanted to follow God's authority 15:49 instead of man's authority, 15:52 you could lose your life. 15:54 If you wanted to believe 15:55 that you could go to Jesus Christ 15:58 and to Him crucified for your salvation 16:01 instead of to earthly human leaders, 16:03 you were considered to be a traitor to Rome 16:07 who was not fit to live, you lost everything. 16:12 That's why Revelation describes that time period 16:16 as the woman hiding in the wilderness. 16:19 It's the time of persecution. 16:22 And what's amazing, when you look back in history, 16:25 538 is when church and state came together 16:29 in the Roman Empire. 16:31 It lasted all the way to 1798 16:34 when the papal government 16:36 was abolished by Napoleon in the French Revolution. 16:40 And if you do the addition or the subtraction, 16:43 that is exactly 1260 years, 16:48 when the woman is in the wilderness. 16:52 God's people have to exist underground, 16:56 in a sense. 16:57 See, it was a time 16:59 when the Bible was forbidden to the people, 17:01 you couldn't translate it, you couldn't own it, 17:03 it was taken away. 17:05 That's why people couldn't just open the Bible and say, 17:08 "Oh, well, that's not the truth. 17:09 I need to follow what the Scripture say." 17:11 They didn't have the Bible to look at. 17:16 In fact, just to give you a little illustration of what 17:19 it was like during this time in the wilderness, 17:22 I wanna read you a couple quotes 17:24 from a book called Foxe's Book of Martyrs. 17:27 Now, that's a very well known book 17:30 that details some of the horrible persecutions 17:33 that God's people 17:35 and His church went through in the Middle Ages. 17:38 On page 250, it says, 17:41 "A Spaniard named Juliano traveled into Germany, 17:45 and there became a convert to the reformed religion." 17:49 Now, do you know what the reformed religion is? 17:52 That's talking about Protestantism, 17:54 that's talking about 17:55 the movement in the Middle Ages, 17:56 which said, we need to start 17:58 coming back to the Bible and the Bible alone. 18:01 That's the reformed religion. 18:03 It goes on to say, 18:06 "When he went back to Spain, 18:08 he took with him to Seville a number of," what? 18:12 "Bibles... 18:14 He succeeded in this dangerous enterprise 18:17 so far as getting books 18:19 into the hands of a great number of people... 18:22 Juliano was immediately seized 18:25 and put to the most cruel tortures 18:27 to make him confess the names of all to whom 18:31 he had given the hated books." 18:35 Now, I want you to notice the word that's used there. 18:37 What book was Juliano sharing with people? 18:41 The Bible. 18:42 What was that book called during this time? 18:45 The hated book, 18:48 just for owning or sharing a Bible. 18:52 See, folks, there's a reason it was called the Dark Ages, 18:55 people were living in darkness because the light of truth 18:59 was not able to shine, 19:02 not in its full brightness. 19:04 It goes on to say on page 234. 19:08 "The usual charge brought against prisoners 19:10 was heresy. 19:12 Now this was held to mean anything 19:14 spoken or written 19:15 against any of the articles of the creed 19:18 or the traditions of the Roman church... 19:20 The most common, 19:22 the tortures most common in the Inquisition 19:24 were those of the rope and pulley, 19:27 and the rack... 19:28 And there were many other murderous machines 19:31 used by the Inquisition 19:33 in exhorting confessions from unhappy victims." 19:38 No such thing as religious liberty. 19:41 People were tortured 19:43 until they were willing to reject the Bible 19:46 and go with the traditions of men. 19:48 You and I can't imagine that because we have only known 19:52 religious liberty, praise God for that. 19:55 That's the time that woman's in the wilderness. 19:57 It's the time of papal persecution. 20:00 We can't even imagine what it's like. 20:03 You see, there's a reason Revelation symbolizes 20:06 Rome of the Middle Ages as a beast. 20:09 Now, I don't say that to be unkind 20:12 or offensive in any way. 20:14 It's just unfortunately, the sad facts of human history. 20:19 Because whenever you stray from the Word of God, 20:22 whether it's an institution, or whether it is a person, 20:27 it always changes our character. 20:31 And it always changes it for the worst. 20:35 Now, here in Revelation 12, 20:36 we see a picture of a pure woman, 20:40 the church being persecuted by the dragon. 20:44 The woman has been left in the wilderness. 20:48 So now I want you to take a journey to Revelation 17 20:51 and you're going to see 20:53 the picture of another woman and another church. 20:57 Revelation Chapter 17, 20:59 I want us to go to verse 1 here. 21:02 Revelation Chapter 17, 21:05 and I want to start by reading the first four verses. 21:10 Now I want you to take note here. 21:13 You saw how the pure woman of Revelation 12 was described. 21:18 I want you to notice 21:20 how the woman of Revelation 17 is described, 21:23 and you're going to notice a very distinct difference. 21:28 Revelation 17:1, 21:32 the Bible says, 21:35 "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came 21:40 and talked with me, saying to me, 21:42 'Come, I will show you 21:44 the judgment of the great harlot 21:47 who sits on many waters, 21:48 with whom the kings of the earth 21:50 committed fornication 21:52 and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk 21:54 with the wine of her fornication.' 21:57 " Verse 3, "So he carried me away 22:00 in the spirit into the," where? 22:03 "Into the wilderness." 22:04 Now in Chapter 12 of Revelation, 22:07 where did we leave the woman? 22:10 In the wilderness. 22:11 So now we're coming back 22:12 to the wilderness in Chapter 17. 22:15 Notice that something has changed. 22:20 Verse 3, 22:22 "And I saw a woman 22:24 sitting on a scarlet beast, 22:28 which was full of names of blasphemy, 22:31 having seven heads and ten horns. 22:35 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, 22:38 and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, 22:42 having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations 22:47 and the filthiness of her fornication." 22:50 Now, let's stop there for a second. 22:53 Now, we may not know what all that means just yet, 22:55 but just let me ask a simple question. 22:57 Does that description sound like a positive one 23:00 or a negative one? 23:01 What do you think? Negative. 23:02 Yeah, that doesn't sound too good. 23:04 Now here's the summary what John is describing for us, 23:07 "You have the picture of an impure woman 23:10 dressed in scarlet and purple and adorned with jewels. 23:15 And she is holding a cup of fornication 23:19 and riding on the beast." 23:23 Now notice back in Revelation 12, 23:25 the woman was being attacked by the dragon 23:29 and the beast. 23:30 Here in Revelation 17, 23:33 It says though she has now partnered with the beast, 23:36 because she is riding on the beast. 23:40 That gives us a clue 23:41 that something has drastically changed. 23:44 There has been a shift. 23:48 Now again, let's look at these symbols 23:49 and let the Bible interpret them for us. 23:52 We already know the woman represents the church 23:56 or God's people. 23:58 When it's a pure woman, 23:59 it represents God's faithful people. 24:02 When it's an impure woman or a prostitute, 24:04 it represents God's unfaithful people 24:07 or an unfaithful church. 24:11 The scarlet, purple, 24:12 and jewels of which she is adorned. 24:14 It's quite interesting because in Ezekiel 16, 24:17 that was the adornment of a prostitute 24:20 in ancient times, 24:22 you know, but even back in biblical times, 24:25 when prostitutes wanted to advertise 24:28 that they were available, 24:29 there was a certain way you dress to communicate that. 24:33 And unfortunately, 24:34 the same thing still exists today, 24:36 does it not? 24:38 You go into the major cities of America, 24:40 I guess it doesn't even have to be the major cities, 24:42 you go to certain street corners, 24:44 and women will be dressed a certain way 24:46 in order to communicate what they do for a career. 24:51 In ancient times, if you were a prostitute, 24:54 you were to dress in scarlet, purple and jewels 24:57 to show that you were available. 25:00 It's interesting that here in Revelation 17, 25:03 that's how the woman is adorned. 25:06 It says that she's holding a cup of fornication. 25:09 Well, that's probably not good 25:11 because fornication simply means what? 25:14 Unfaithfulness. Unfaithfulness. 25:15 And we already know the beast is Rome. 25:18 So put all of those symbols together. 25:21 And here's what you have. 25:24 "You have the church of the Middle Ages, 25:27 acting like a prostitute and being unfaithful 25:31 by joining with Rome and accepting her errors 25:35 and traditions." 25:36 In other words, instead of staying true 25:39 to the pure Word of God, 25:40 they have now left the Word of God 25:43 to follow the traditions and the commandments of men 25:46 that are coming from Rome. 25:50 That's why the woman is no longer being persecuted 25:54 you might say about the dragon. 25:55 She's now riding with the beast. 25:59 Revelation 12 was a pure woman, a faithful church. 26:03 Revelation 17 is an impure woman 26:06 or an unfaithful church. 26:10 You say, well, what happened 26:12 that God describes the woman 26:14 in such two different ways? 26:18 You see the time 26:19 when the woman was in the wilderness. 26:22 The truth is when you face persecution, 26:26 when you have to go through difficult times 26:28 because of your faith in Jesus, 26:30 because of standing for His Word. 26:33 For so many people, 26:36 it was just easier to compromise and to give him, 26:41 it was easier to just simply go with the majority 26:45 instead of wanting to be in the minority, 26:47 because if you went along with Rome, 26:49 if you went along with the traditions of men, 26:52 you could live a normal life and not be persecuted. 26:57 But if you chose to stand 26:59 for the truths of the Word of God, 27:02 if you chose to stand for Jesus Christ, 27:05 that He's the only mediator that He's the only Savior 27:08 and you wanted to point people to the cross, 27:12 you were a heretic. 27:15 You were persecuted. 27:16 You lost everything. 27:19 So see the majority just gave into Rome. 27:23 And it was only a few 27:25 who decided to remain faithful. 27:29 You know, folks, 27:30 that doesn't just happen in the Middle Ages. 27:33 It even happens in our lives today, 27:36 in our workplace, 27:38 in our schools, 27:39 sometimes to say I'm a Christian. 27:42 Sometimes to say I'm a believer in Jesus Christ 27:45 does cause persecution, 27:46 maybe not the same kind of persecution of the Middle Ages. 27:50 But people shying away from you, 27:52 people making fun of you, 27:54 people talking behind your back and saying, 27:56 you know what, that person's just different 27:59 and they don't necessarily mean it in a good way. 28:03 But the truth is, if Jesus Christ 28:05 could have abuse heaped upon Him, 28:08 if He could go to the cross, 28:10 because He wanted you and I to be saved, 28:12 if He will confess our names 28:15 before the Father, 28:16 then we need to be 28:17 willing to confess the name of Jesus 28:19 before men. 28:20 Can you say amen? 28:21 And we need not be ashamed of following the scriptures 28:25 and what the Word of God says. 28:28 See, I don't want to join with the beast. 28:30 I don't want to join with culture. 28:33 I want to be faithful to Jesus, 28:34 I want to uphold His Word. 28:38 But you know, then comes verse 5, 28:41 and verse 5 answers the question, 28:43 why are there so many different denominations? 28:47 Notice what it says. 28:49 Revelation 17:5, 28:52 "And on her forehead a name was written, 28:56 Mystery, Babylon the Great, 29:00 the mother of," what? 29:02 "Harlots and the abominations of the earth." 29:07 Let's pause there. 29:08 Now that's a pretty hard hitting verse. 29:10 That is definitely not a verse that you would consider to be 29:14 politically correct. 29:16 But God's not beating around the bush 29:18 about what happened during this time, 29:21 on the woman's forehead, 29:23 the unfaithful church in the Middle Ages, 29:25 Babylon the Great. 29:27 And remember what Babylon means? 29:29 Religious confusion. 29:31 See, it was the church of the Middle Ages 29:33 that was responsible 29:34 for all the religious confusion, 29:36 the doctrines, the traditions of men, 29:39 human authority being put above God's authority 29:42 that brought it into the world, 29:44 even all the way to our time today. 29:49 But then it says she's the mother of harlots. 29:54 And when you connect that with history, 29:56 what is it saying, the unfaithful woman 29:58 has given birth to daughters. 29:59 She's the mother of harlots. 30:01 The unfaithful church of the Middle Ages 30:04 has given birth to other churches. 30:07 The Mother church has given birth to others. 30:12 And isn't it interesting even today, 30:16 Rome is considered to be the Mother church. 30:20 See, what Revelation 17:5 was telling us 30:24 is that the woman's giving birth to daughters. 30:27 What Revelation was telling us is that in the Middle Ages, 30:30 there would be groups that would start 30:32 to break away from Rome. 30:35 And they would eventually break into many different groups 30:38 or many different denominations. 30:40 And that's what you see, 30:41 when God ignited the Protestant Reformation, 30:44 and people rebelled against the idea that 30:47 man's word can be placed above God's Word. 30:50 They started to bring people back to the Bible. 30:52 And when Rome wouldn't accept that 30:55 after a period of many, many years, 30:57 it started other movements. 30:59 It started other churches that came out of Rome. 31:02 And you fast forward through the centuries. 31:04 Now we have today, 31:06 hundreds of different denominations. 31:09 And it all started 31:11 when the woman gave birth to daughters 31:15 when other churches came out of Rome. 31:18 Revelation predicted all the way back 31:21 in the first century. 31:23 And it happened just the way God said it would. 31:28 But now here's the question. 31:32 Let's trace the steps of history 31:35 and look just in a little bit more detail 31:37 how that actually happened. 31:39 And then we're gonna see how God began to restore truth. 31:43 Because when you think about it, 31:44 when you fall away from truth, 31:46 does that happen in one day? 31:49 Not usually, it happens over time. 31:52 I want you to take your Bibles and let's go to 31:54 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 31:59 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 32:03 now since we're on night 18, by this point 32:06 you ought to be pretty familiar and pretty quick 32:09 at finding the different books of the Bible. 32:12 2 Thessalonians 2:3, by the way, 32:15 I gotta tell you, I remember doing one seminar 32:18 where there was a guy coming, 32:19 who didn't know 32:21 where a lot of the books of the Bible were. 32:23 And you know, after doing this for a month, 32:25 and I mean, you've noticed 32:26 how many Bible verses we look up every single night. 32:29 By the time the thing was done, he said, "You know what, 32:32 I have now learned 32:33 where most of the books of the Bible are," 32:35 because he got familiar with the scriptures, 32:38 can you say amen? 32:39 And if you get nothing else from the seminar, 32:41 then you get familiar with your Bible, 32:43 then it's all been worth it. 32:46 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 32:50 the Bible says, 32:52 "Let no one deceive you by any means for that day," 32:57 that's referring to the second coming, 32:59 "for that day will not come 33:02 unless the falling away comes first. 33:06 And the man of sin is revealed 33:08 the son of perdition." 33:12 Now, did you notice what Paul warned about? 33:15 He said, there's going to be 33:17 a Falling Away from Truth, 33:21 because he already saw it starting to happen in his day. 33:26 Why do you think 33:28 most of the books of the New Testament 33:29 are simply letters that were written 33:32 to Christian churches? 33:33 In most of those letters, 33:35 they're trying to combat false teachings 33:38 that were already coming in to the Christian church then 33:42 and Paul knew when they were dead and gone, 33:45 it would just accelerate. 33:48 Let me show you a little summary 33:49 of the falling away of truth. 33:52 It started with Arienism, 33:53 the belief that Jesus was not fully divine. 33:57 In 321 Constantine passes one of the first Sunday laws 34:01 and the Sabbath is beginning to be lost sight of. 34:05 In 327 pagan images were introduced into the church 34:09 and image worship began. 34:11 In 538, church and state began to combine. 34:15 In 590, the false doctrine of Purgatory was invented. 34:19 In 850, the worship of Mary 34:22 as intercessor was introduced 34:24 and Jesus as our mediator was lost sight of. 34:28 In 1198, confessional began 34:31 where you confessed to an earthly human being 34:33 instead of to Christ. 34:35 In 1229, the Bible was 34:37 officially banned as a hated book. 34:40 In 1311, different forms of baptism came in, 34:44 and in 1411, 34:45 the Spanish or rather 1480, the Spanish Inquisition began. 34:49 Now do you know what the Inquisition is? 34:52 The Inquisition was basically a group of people, 34:55 many of them Jesuits, who had been commissioned by 34:58 Rome to go hunt down and find heretics. 35:02 Find anybody who believe the Bible 35:05 and disagreed with the traditions of Rome, 35:08 find them, torture them, make them recant. 35:12 And if they don't, put them to death. 35:16 You know, when the Bible talks about 35:17 the end times and times of trouble, 35:20 it's hard for us to imagine how that can happen. 35:22 But you have to keep in mind, 35:24 it has happened many times throughout history, 35:27 because what happened in the Middle Ages 35:29 may very well happen again. 35:31 But God promises to protect His faithful people. 35:35 Can you say amen? Amen. 35:36 Now, this Falling Away from Truth. 35:39 Notice, it didn't happen in a year. 35:41 It didn't even happen in one century. 35:44 Over a period of hundreds of years, 35:48 there was this gradual falling away 35:51 from the Bible. 35:53 See, just like in our personal lives, 35:56 do you think any of us wake up one morning and decide, 35:59 you know what, 36:00 "I think I ought to totally backslide today 36:02 and completely fall away from truth." 36:04 Does that happen? 36:06 Not usually, it happens in perceptively 36:10 a little bit at a time, 'cause the devil is too smart 36:14 to get us to do everything at once. 36:16 He wants to do a little bit here 36:18 and a little bit there 36:19 until we don't even recognize the direction he's taking us. 36:24 That's what he did 36:26 with the church of the Middle Ages, 36:28 till it got to the point 36:30 where Scripture is totally lost sight of. 36:35 Now, that seems like a depressing story, doesn't it? 36:38 But here's the good news. 36:41 You would think that when the Bible was banned, 36:43 and anyone who wants to follow is a heretic, 36:45 you would think that all hope is lost. 36:49 But you know, it's when all hope is lost, 36:51 that's when God steps in. 36:52 Can you say amen? 36:53 And he ignited a series of events 36:56 that today is known as the Reformation. 36:59 And even while this falling away occurred, 37:03 behind the scenes, 37:04 God was already raising up people 37:07 who were gonna begin 37:08 the process of restoring God's truth 37:11 from the Middle Ages, all the way to the end of time. 37:15 Now we've talked about the Falling Away from Truth. 37:17 I don't wanna end on that. 37:19 Let's talk about 37:20 how God began to restore His truth 37:23 from the latter Middle Ages onward. 37:25 And this is gonna be a fascinating study. 37:28 You might say it 37:29 began somewhere around the 1300, 37:31 well, it actually began long before that. 37:33 But in the 1300s, God raised up a man 37:36 by the name of John Wycliffe. 37:38 Now, how many of you ever heard of Wycliffe? 37:40 Can I see your hands? 37:41 Awesome. 37:43 John Wycliffe was actually a parish priest, 37:45 he was a Roman priest in Oxford, England, 37:49 but he thought that it was wrong of the church 37:52 of the Middle Ages 37:53 to keep the Bible from the people. 37:55 He believed the Bible ought to be 37:57 put in people's hand in the common language 38:00 so they can read truth for themselves. 38:03 And that man translated the Bible 38:06 into the English language. 38:10 Now, we may not think that's a big deal, 38:12 but I can tell you standing here tonight, 38:14 the fact that you have an English Bible 38:16 in your hand regardless of what version is, 38:19 you and I owe to the courage 38:21 and the fortitude of John Wycliffe. 38:23 Can you say amen? 38:25 He translated that Bible down into English 38:28 at the risk of his life. 38:31 And when he died, 38:34 in order to show their contempt for the man 38:37 that put the Bible in the hands of the people, 38:41 you know, Rome dug up his bones 38:43 and burned them publicly. 38:47 In the 1400s, 38:49 God raised up a man named John Huss. 38:51 Now, John Huss was a disciple of John Wycliffe. 38:54 Huss believed that the Bible is the supreme authority. 38:59 Now to you and I, we're thinking, well, 39:01 yeah, that's like fundamental, isn't it? 39:03 But remember, back then you were taught 39:06 the church is the final authority. 39:09 The church has the power to place its laws, 39:12 its traditions above the Bible, 39:15 that the church can even change the Bible 39:17 if it wants to. 39:18 But John Huss said, "No, 39:20 the Bible is the final authority, 39:22 not the church, not religious leaders." 39:25 He taught the church doesn't change the Bible, 39:27 the Bible ought to change the church. 39:29 Can you say amen? 39:31 And just for teaching that, 39:34 this man was burned alive at the stake 39:38 in the year 1415. 39:41 Now I had the chance to go to his memorial, 39:43 his grave site in Konstanz, Germany. 39:46 And you know, I was expecting to see some, 39:49 you know, huge memorial that everybody would notice 39:51 as they walked by. 39:53 And you know what it is? 39:56 It's just a little stone 39:58 in the corner of a street somewhere. 39:59 And if it wouldn't have been for the tour guide, 40:01 I would have never even noticed it. 40:06 You see, the world may forget what John Huss did, 40:10 the world may forget things we do. 40:13 But the good news is, 40:14 God never forgets His faithful people. 40:18 He knows the choices John Huss made. 40:24 But it didn't stop with John Huss. 40:25 In the 1500s, came William Tyndale, 40:28 he translated the Bible some more. 40:30 And then in the 1500s, God raised up someone 40:34 that you have heard of quite a bit. 40:36 How many of you know about Martin Luther, 40:38 let me see your hands. 40:39 Everybody's heard of Martin Luther. 40:41 Why was Martin Luther significant? 40:43 Because Martin Luther was also a parish priest. 40:47 And by the way, I got to say something about that. 40:50 You know, sometimes I meet people 40:52 who get a holier than thou attitude and they think, 40:54 "Oh, yeah, that's what Rome did. 40:56 Us, Protestants we're great, we would never do that." 40:58 But I wanna remind you of something. 41:01 Who started the Reformation? 41:05 Roman Catholics of the Middle Ages. 41:09 John Wycliffe and Martin Luther 41:11 were parish priests who decided that 41:14 they wanted to stand up and follow the Bible 41:16 and the Bible alone. 41:18 So before we're too quick to get on our high horse 41:20 because maybe some of us are Protestants, 41:22 you have to remember 41:24 it was many dear Roman Christians 41:26 who were also part of that reformation 41:29 and coming back to the Bible and the Bible alone. 41:31 Can you say amen? 41:33 Now, Martin Luther is this parish priest. 41:35 But you know, 41:37 he never felt the assurance of salvation with God. 41:42 He never felt that no matter how many rosaries he did, 41:45 or prayers he prayed or penances he performed, 41:48 he just never felt like he was forgiven. 41:52 Until one day he came across the Bible 41:54 that was chained in a convent cell 41:57 and he came across one simple verse. 42:00 Romans 117, 42:02 "The just shall live by," what? 42:04 Faith. "Faith." 42:06 Not by works, not by penance, 42:09 not by going to a human leader. 42:11 The just shall live by faith. 42:13 Faith in what? 42:16 Faith in Jesus Christ and the cross. 42:19 And Martin Luther realize for the first time, 42:23 he can go to Jesus and find forgiveness, 42:27 that Jesus' perfect life will cover him, 42:30 that Jesus offers him His righteousness. 42:33 And when he finally understood that 42:35 this righteousness by faith concept, 42:38 it changed his entire life and his outlook, 42:41 that he can't save himself, but Jesus can change him 42:45 and give him assurance. 42:46 It's about what Jesus has done. 42:49 When Martin Luther finally understood 42:51 that he began preaching the cross of Christ, 42:54 he began directing people to pray 42:56 and talk to Jesus directly. 42:58 In fact, they had something called 42:59 indulgences back then. 43:01 Now I don't know if you know what indulgences are, 43:03 most people read about it in the history books. 43:05 That was basically, 43:07 if you gave enough money to the church, 43:09 you could buy your own salvation. 43:11 You could pull a loved one out of purgatory 43:13 and into the kingdom, 43:15 you know, or you could gain your own assurance. 43:17 In fact, it is said that Martin Luther 43:19 came across someone lying in the street, 43:22 who was known to be a regular drunk 43:25 and being intoxicated. 43:27 And when he walked by him, the man looked up at him 43:30 and so Martin Luther tried to talk to him about Jesus. 43:33 And the man said, "Well, you don't need to do that. 43:35 I've already, I'm going to heaven." 43:36 And he said, "How's that?" 43:38 He says, "I bought indulgences. 43:40 And the church gave me this certificate 43:42 so I can live however I want, and I'm going to heaven." 43:45 That really irritated Martin Luther 43:48 and he began preaching against indulgences, 43:51 because you don't put your faith in human beings, 43:54 you put your faith in Jesus. 43:55 And do you know when Tetzel, 43:57 the guy who was in charge of selling indulgences, 44:00 when he came to Martin Luther's town 44:02 you know how many indulgences he sold? 44:05 Not one, because Martin Luther 44:08 had taught \people to look to Jesus 44:10 and He who was crucified. 44:14 From there, Martin Luther nailed on the door 44:17 of the Wittenberg Church 95 Theses. 44:20 You say, "What's that?" 44:21 He basically wrote down 95 ways 44:24 in which the church had strayed from the Bible. 44:27 You say, "Why did he put on the door of the church for?" 44:30 Well, you got to understand 500 years ago in the 1500s, 44:33 that was basically the internet of the day. 44:35 You know, anything that was going on in town, 44:37 you nailed it on the door of the church. 44:39 That was the bulletin board. 44:40 So when he did that, that's like you 44:42 and I posting something on Facebook 44:44 or posting something on the internet. 44:46 Everybody read it. 44:48 And you know what's interesting? 44:51 You see what day that happened? 44:53 What day is it? 44:55 October 31, 1517. 44:59 That is one of the most important events 45:01 in Christian history, 45:04 the truth of people going to Jesus 45:07 to find salvation, the cross being rediscovered. 45:11 But you fast forward 500 years. 45:15 And what is October 31? 45:18 Halloween. Halloween. 45:20 Now, I'm not here to judge whether or not 45:21 you should participate in Halloween. 45:23 I mean, I went trick-or-treating 45:24 when I was a kid. 45:26 My point is this. 45:28 Isn't it interesting 45:29 how what Martin Luther did was totally lost sight of? 45:34 And now the day is all about ghosts, 45:36 ghouls and goblins and lifting up the dark side. 45:41 That's no accident. 45:44 That's part of the devil strategy, 45:45 you lose sight of coming back to the Bible. 45:49 Eventually, Martin Luther was called 45:51 before all the leaders of the world 45:53 that then known world, both political and religious. 45:55 And when they tried to force him to recant, 45:57 they intended you know what if this guy don't recant, 46:00 he's not going back home, 46:01 we'll burn him at the stake right here. 46:04 And most people wilted under that pressure. 46:08 But you know what Martin Luther did? 46:10 As he stood before that council of kings 46:13 and princes and religious leaders, 46:17 he looked them in the eyes and he said, 46:20 "If I can be shown 46:21 from the Bible that I am in error, 46:24 I will gladly recant. 46:26 But if not, 46:27 here I stand on the Word of God, 46:30 so God help me." 46:34 And that man walked out of the council, 46:37 and nobody dared to lay a hand on him. 46:42 Of all the Reformers, 46:43 Martin Luther died a natural death 46:47 because God's grace was upon him. 46:49 I mean, we could spend all night talking about this. 46:51 Then John Calvin came, 46:53 in the 1600 Roger Williams came, 46:55 in the 1700s John Wesley 46:58 talked about being born again and overcoming sin. 47:01 And in the 1800s came William Miller, 47:04 who brought people back to the prophecies of Daniel 47:06 and Revelation, 47:08 began teaching Jesus is coming soon, 47:11 something that wasn't taught back then. 47:13 And bit by bit, 47:15 little by little God restored the truth. 47:19 Now you notice, 47:20 he didn't do it all in one century. 47:22 Why do you think that is? 47:24 It's too much to handle. 47:25 I mean, until you recognize 47:27 that the Bible is the supreme authority, 47:28 all that other stuff doesn't matter. 47:30 You know, like when you turn a light 47:32 on in the middle of the night, 47:33 that's too much light, you can't handle it. 47:35 He did it one century at a time. 47:39 But unfortunately, something happened 47:41 that is all too common to the human nature. 47:45 What happened is many of the people 47:46 who follow these Reformers 47:49 began to build churches around them 47:51 and they stopped following the light. 47:55 Those who followed Huss became Hussites. 47:58 Those who followed Luther became Lutherans. 47:59 Which by the way, 48:00 did you know Martin Luther begged them 48:02 not to build a church around him. 48:04 Most of these Reformers 48:06 did not want a church to be built around them, 48:08 because they knew there was still more light 48:12 and there was still more truth to discover. 48:15 But the problem was 48:16 those who followed Luther 48:17 wouldn't go on to follow Calvin's light that he found. 48:20 Those who followed Calvin 48:22 wouldn't go on to accept Wesley's light, 48:24 those who followed Wesley 48:25 wouldn't go on to follow Roger Williams' light, 48:28 and so the Protestant Reformation began to stop 48:32 because we're gonna come this far. 48:34 And if our leader doesn't believe 48:35 these other truth, 48:36 we're just going to stand still. 48:40 And see that happens so much even in our world today. 48:43 I follow this person. 48:45 I follow this preacher or this leader, 48:48 and what they teach maybe well and good. 48:50 But when God brings me to a knowledge of truth 48:53 that I didn't know before, we need to follow it. 48:57 And so by the time the 1800s came, 49:01 then Revelation 12:17 kicks in, 49:04 remember what we read last night. 49:06 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman," 49:09 it's talking about the Middle Ages, 49:12 "but then went to make war with," who? 49:15 "The remnant of her seed," 49:17 the people, God's people, the end of time, 49:20 "which keep the commandments of God, 49:22 and have the testimony of Jesus." 49:23 What is Revelation saying? 49:25 Revelation is telling us, 49:27 after the time 49:29 when the woman is in the wilderness, 49:31 after the 1260 years of persecution is over, 49:35 Revelation says, 49:36 "There's gonna be a remnant movement." 49:38 And that remnant is going to call people 49:40 back to the commandments of God, 49:42 which includes the true Sabbath 49:44 and back to the testimony of Jesus. 49:47 And that period of persecution, 49:49 the 1260 years ended in 1798. 49:52 So that means somewhere in the 1800s, 49:56 we should see a continuation of the Reformation, 49:59 we should see a movement of people 50:01 that are drawing folk back to the Bible, 50:04 back to the commandments of God 50:05 and back to the Bible Sabbath. 50:09 And when you look, that's exactly what happened. 50:11 Now I've told you where other churches 50:13 have played a part in this Reformation. 50:15 Now I'd like to share with you where this church, 50:17 the Seventh-day Adventist Church played a part. 50:21 In the 1800s, 50:22 after Rome lost its power 50:24 and church and state are no longer united. 50:26 "It was the early 1800s 50:28 the printing press was improved upon. 50:31 Bible societies were formed. 50:33 Bibles were widely made available to the people. 50:36 And so people from various churches 50:38 began to study the scriptures together." 50:41 Baptists, Methodists, 50:44 Episcopalians, Catholics, 50:47 they thought, you know what, 50:49 now that we have religious liberty and freedom 50:51 because by now America is formed. 50:53 Let's open the Bible and let's study it together. 50:57 And as they did these people 50:59 from all different denominations, 51:01 they discovered truths that had been lost 51:03 during the Middle Ages. 51:05 And two of them was the soon return of Jesus, 51:08 and the seventh day Sabbath. 51:10 See, the other truths had already been recovered. 51:12 These were two that had not been. 51:15 Because remember, 51:17 what did Revelation say the remnant would do? 51:20 Keep the commandments of God, which includes the Sabbath, 51:23 and have the testimony of Jesus. 51:27 These faithful Christians of all different denominations, 51:29 they were excited about this. 51:31 They wanted to throw, 51:33 keep throwing away the traditions of men 51:34 and come back to the Bible. 51:36 So they took these truths, 51:37 then they went back to the churches of their day 51:40 in the 1800s. 51:42 But the sad part of the story is, 51:46 the churches of the 1800s 51:48 rejected those two truths, and they were not willing 51:52 to move forward with the light. 51:56 And as a result, many of those 51:57 dear Christians were disfellowshipped 51:59 from their churches, 52:02 and they were eventually forced to band together. 52:06 And they began what was known as 52:07 the Seventh-day Adventist movement. 52:10 It wasn't their original intent 52:12 to start a movement or a denomination, 52:14 they just wanted to bring people back to truth. 52:17 But when the churches of the day rejected it, 52:20 they had no choice. 52:21 And so when the Seventh-day Adventist movement began 52:25 in the early 1800s, 52:27 it was simply a continuation of the Reformation. 52:30 It was a fulfillment of this prophecy 52:33 in Revelation 12:17 that God would have a movement 52:36 that brings people back to His commandments, 52:39 back to His Sabbath, back to the testimony of Jesus, 52:43 and the traditions of men would be let go off. 52:48 Now that's partly why I choose to be 52:49 a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 52:51 not because I believe Seventh-day Adventists 52:53 are gonna be saved before anybody else, 52:56 because I wanna be part of that movement. 52:58 I wanna be part of the movement 53:00 that continues the reformation, that comes back to the Bible, 53:03 that comes back to His commandments. 53:06 And that's why Revelation speaks to us 53:08 in Revelation 18:4 that we saw last night, 53:12 where God gives this all important appeal 53:15 to people living in the last days. 53:18 He says to us, "Come out of her, 53:21 my people, lest you share in her sins." 53:25 What do you mean? 53:26 It's a call to come out of Babylon 53:28 like we learned last night. 53:30 Babylon representing 53:32 all the religious confusion in the world, 53:34 the traditions of men, the commandments of men, 53:38 the authority of men being placed 53:40 above the Word of God. 53:42 Just as it happened in the Middle Ages, 53:44 God is saying today, I want you to come out of that. 53:48 He's calling Baptists. 53:50 He's calling Catholics. 53:52 He's calling Episcopalians. 53:53 He's calling non denominational folk. 53:55 He's calling all of us no matter 53:57 what language we speak, 53:59 no matter what the color of our skin is. 54:02 He says, I want you to come out 54:03 of the religious confusion. 54:04 I want you to come back to following the Bible 54:07 and the Bible alone. 54:09 If you love me, 54:10 I want you to keep my commandments. 54:14 You see, folks, 54:16 the call to come out of Babylon, 54:18 is simply a call to put Jesus 54:20 above everyone else 54:22 and to put His Word above everything else. 54:26 Folks, in these last days, 54:28 I believe God's looking for people 54:30 just like Martin Luther. 54:32 People who aren't worried about what the majority says, 54:36 people who aren't willing to compromise. 54:38 People who like Martin Luther can stand up and say, 54:42 "Here I stand on the Word of God, 54:45 I can do no other." 54:48 He's looking for people who will follow Him 54:50 with all their heart, 54:52 all their soul, and all their mind. 54:55 Amen. 54:57 And you see as a Christian myself, 55:01 I know the commandments of God aren't popular. 55:04 I know the Sabbath isn't popular. 55:08 But when I see Jesus Christ lying prostrate 55:12 in the Garden of Gethsemane, 55:15 when I see drops of blood coming from His forehead, 55:21 when I recognize that He gave up all of heaven, 55:25 to go through the plan of salvation just to save me, 55:29 just to save you, 55:32 that He would leave a place 55:33 where He's worshipped and adored by millions, 55:36 billions of angelic beings, 55:39 and He would literally risk His eternal life 55:43 to come and save sinful human beings. 55:47 See, Jesus went all the way for us. 55:52 Now Jesus is calling His people to go all the way with Him 55:57 to come out of Babylon, 56:00 to keep His commandments, 56:02 to follow the Bible and the Bible alone. 56:06 That's God's call to His people in the last days. 56:10 And the question is, what will your answer be? 56:13 Are we willing to come out of Babylon, 56:16 to take our stand on God's Word, 56:19 and to take our stand with Jesus? 56:21 Because when we follow Jesus, 56:23 though there may be challenges, 56:25 we have peace, 56:27 we have assurance, and that we know that 56:30 we're standing on the right side. 56:33 Even if the majority is against us, 56:35 I can walk through anything as long as Jesus is by my side. 56:40 Amen. 56:42 I want to invite you to get out your response cards 56:44 for tonight. 56:45 Now as you came in, 56:47 you should have got a response card 56:48 that says Revelation's Remnant. 56:50 If you don't have one, 56:51 if you would just kindly raise your hand 56:53 and your row host should be able to give you one 56:56 because these are in the blue buckets. 56:58 Is there anyone that doesn't have a card 57:00 that says Revelation's Remnant? 57:03 All right, let's go through it together. 57:04 There's something on here for everyone to mark. 57:07 The first box says, 57:09 "I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God 57:13 and should be our guide." 57:15 If you can say, "Yes, 57:16 I believe we should follow the Bible 57:18 and the Bible alone." 57:19 I invite you to check that box. 57:22 By the way, you may wonder 57:23 why do you do response cards every night? 57:27 Because when we're convicted of something in our heart, 57:30 if we don't take some kind of step, 57:32 that conviction will die. 57:34 Even if that conviction is as simple as just 57:37 marking something on a card. 57:39 If it's important enough to speak about, 57:42 it's important enough to make a decision about. 57:45 The second box says, 57:47 "I wanna be baptized one day soon." 57:50 I don't know your situation or what's going on in life. 57:53 But if you've never taken that step of 57:55 publicly confessing Jesus, 57:57 through baptism by immersion, 57:59 I would invite you to just check that box. 58:01 And I'm sure Pastor Mark would love 58:03 to make that day possible for you one day soon. 58:07 Box number three says, 58:09 "I wanna be part of the remnant 58:10 who keeps the commandments of God." 58:12 And in other words, you're saying, 58:15 "Pastor Dave, I wanna keep 58:16 God's commandments in my life. 58:18 And I wanna ask the Holy Spirit 58:20 if he will help me to do that, including his Bible Sabbath." 58:24 If that's the desire of your heart, 58:25 I wanna invite you to check that box. |
Revised 2019-10-21