Participants: Christian Berdahl
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000310
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00:01 Please stay with us
00:08 3ABN Presents 00:16 this closed captioned program 00:31 Welcome to Faith Chapel. I'm Christian Berdahl, 00:34 director of Shepherd's Call ministry. 00:36 Before we pray together I'd like to ask you a question. 00:39 it's a deep question though. 00:41 Are you in Babylon? 00:43 Or would you consider yourself 00:45 to be a Babylonian? 00:47 And of course most Christians 00:48 will say, "Of course not!" 00:50 In fact I hope you answer that way. 00:52 But friends, I'm just wondering 00:56 if in the Bible, when it refers to Babylon 01:00 if it's more than what we think it is. 01:02 Let's pray together and ask God to show us. 01:05 Father in Heaven, I pray that You would be with us today, 01:08 during our study. 01:09 And I pray that You will send the Holy Spirit 01:11 to guide our minds into all truth. 01:13 I pray that your Word will be very clear to us. 01:16 I thank You and ask this in Jesus Name! Amen. 01:20 I'd like to have our opening verse start in Revelation 18:2 01:55 So, I'll ask you again friends, Are you in Babylon? 01:59 Now what do we all know Babylon to be? 02:02 In general what is Babylon? 02:03 And most will answer, "confusion" 02:05 or a false system of worship. 02:07 And friends you would be right answering those. 02:10 But we've been taught that Babylon 02:15 is a false system of worship and confusing doctrines. 02:20 But I'm just wondering if there are Christians out there 02:24 that think that Babylon is not an issue in their life, 02:28 that Babylon is something that's out there, 02:31 and they've come out of her 02:33 and so it's not a personal issue in their life or is it? 02:37 Could it be that we as Christians 02:41 are living our lives for six days a week as Babylonians 02:47 and only worshipping God for one? 02:50 That's a pretty heavy question isn't it? 02:53 Could it be that we say, we love Jesus 02:57 with our mouth, but the way we live our lives 03:01 says we love Babylon, we love the world? 03:04 Because friends, this is a day and age where we need 03:08 to get ready for the soon coming of Jesus Christ. 03:11 And I see the Spirit of Babylon in God's people. 03:15 And I'm not here to call the church Babylon, friends. 03:18 That's not what this is about. 03:19 That wouldn't be consistent with inspired writings. 03:22 The church is not Babylon. 03:24 But friends are there Babylonian roots in your own heart 03:28 or in your home? 03:29 Could it be the devil is using what we know which is 03:30 true, about spiritual Babylon, that it's a false system of 03:42 worship, it's something other religions are engaged in. 03:44 Could he be using this as a means by which we're 03:49 being lulled to sleep in carnal security, thinking that Babylon 03:53 is just not an issue for me? 03:55 Babylon is something out there. 03:57 As I've traveled around this country, America, 04:01 and as I've traveled around the world, 04:03 I've seen the spirit of Babylon in God's people 04:07 and it breaks my heart. 04:09 I see the spiritual life and the spiritual growth 04:12 has been blunted by the Babylonian world around them 04:16 and in them. 04:18 They have partaken of her sins. 04:22 I believe that our opening verses, friends, 04:26 can be applied to us on a deeper spiritual level. 04:29 That I believe, Babylon is more than 04:33 just a false system of worship. 04:36 Now it is that, but I believe it's more than that. 04:39 I think God wants us to go deeper 04:41 into the Scriptures today. 04:43 I believe frankly, it's a way of life 04:46 that God is calling us out of. 04:48 The Babylonian says, "I'll do whatever I want to, 04:54 I'll do whatever I want to, whenever I want to, 04:57 with whomever I want to," 04:59 no matter what God says. 05:01 That's the Babylonian attitude. 05:03 "Oh it's just too fanatical to just live your life 05:07 like those goodie-two-shoes. " 05:08 "I'm going to be doing whatever I want to, whenever I want to. " 05:12 Could it be that we as professed Christians, God's followers, 05:21 are living like Babylonians for six days a week 05:24 but only worshipping God for one? 05:27 Is it a possibility? 05:33 We don't have the everlasting gospel. 05:38 We might know the everlasting gospel 05:42 but we don't possess it. 05:43 We don't live it. 05:45 And 1 Peter 2:9 says 06:04 God has called us out of darkness, friends. 06:06 Do you need to come out of the darkness of the world? 06:08 Amen! He says, "I'm calling you out of darkness," 06:11 out of the world, out of Babylon 06:13 and into His marvelous light." Amen! 06:16 When God calls us, there's to be a new life that's hid in Jesus. 06:24 New motives will emerge 06:26 and new ambitions, new thoughts, new words, new 06:29 desires, even a new character, will begin to develop. 06:35 And the old will fall away. 06:38 That's the Christian's hope. 06:40 I want my once carnal man 06:44 to fall away. 06:45 I want to be that spiritual Israelite if you will. 06:49 And this can only happen through a vital connection with Jesus 06:53 which can only happen by beholding Jesus. 06:56 When we spend time with Him in His Word, 06:59 and spend time with Him in prayer, 07:02 when we fellowship with His people, 07:04 and when we witness to others. 07:07 But friends, when we take His name in vain, 07:11 when we take His name in vain, by living 07:14 a life that's no different than the world's, 07:16 no different than Babylon's, 07:18 then we are like the luke warm water that the Bible refers to 07:23 in Revelation 3:15 and 16, quote 07:46 God would rather you and I 07:49 to be real Christians, 07:51 or real Babylonians, that's what the Scripture just said. 07:55 It says, "I'd rather you be hot or cold. " 07:58 But because you've combined some Babylonian things, 08:02 and some Christian things and you've put them together, 08:05 in kind of a Babylonian Christianity... 08:08 or a term that I've coined... "you've become a Babylistian" 08:13 I mean, I know that's kind of a silly term, but think 08:17 about that, is that how we are living our lives? 08:18 Are you and I being Babylistians? 08:21 We've got, you know, nine toes 08:23 out in the world and just a pinky toe in the Church. 08:28 Friends, this is a serious problem, 08:33 because our youth are not finding the leaders, 08:38 and the role models that they need in the Church. 08:40 You know as well as I do, friends, that 08:44 there are countless traps out in the world. 08:46 The devil has set them far and wide. 08:48 And they range from TV, to movies, to video games, 08:53 to the bad stuff on the internet, 08:56 to soul stealing music. 08:57 Traps that keep us from having that close walk with God, 09:01 to love the world more than we love God. 09:03 In fact, our young people are not seeing 09:08 any difference between us and the world. 09:11 And so they run off to the world. 09:13 Were you aware that there was a poll done 09:17 of 1500 pastors, in America, 09:21 'Christianity Today' conducted the poll. 09:23 And it said that 54% of pastors revealed 09:29 that they had looked at internet pornography 09:31 within the year of the poll. 09:33 What! 09:34 The men of the cloth? 09:37 God's pastors, over half of them, said they 09:41 had looked at internet pornography! 09:42 We have a problem friends. 09:44 By beholding the world we become changed into the world. 09:52 And then 30% of them said, 09:55 that they had looked at internet pornography, 09:57 within the last month. 10:00 Friends, if those are the statistics for the "Men of God", 10:05 the "Pastors and Preachers" throughout America, 10:08 what are the statistics for you and I, just the laity? 10:12 That's a sobering thought, Amen? 10:14 So let me ask the question, 10:17 Are you in Babylon? 10:19 Are you living your life like a Babylonian? 10:22 I hope not. Oh God, I hope not. 10:24 Frankly friends, the way that we are representing Christianity, 10:32 in fact, when I was a young person, 10:34 I looked at Christians and I thought 10:36 they were a bunch of hypocrites, 10:38 because they lived their lives no differently 10:41 than I was living, and I wasn't even a professing Christian. 10:44 They just went to church a few hours one day, 10:46 and said a prayer, and they're going to get to go to heaven. 10:48 Doesn't that seem silly? 10:50 There must be a difference between us 10:54 and the world, friends. Amen? AMEN! 10:58 There must be a difference. 10:59 Another study revealed that 41% 11:04 that's a big number- 11:06 41% of Christian youth surveyed 11:10 said that there was no one in the church, 11:12 that they respected enough to consider a role model. 11:15 That breaks my heart. 11:18 Well, why isn't it? In fact, 67% of youth 11:23 see adults as hypocrites. 11:26 Church members as hypocrites! 11:29 So, why do you suppose our young people see us, 11:32 leaders and older people, 11:35 as hypocrites in the church? 11:37 And there's no role model, 11:38 because they know what the pastor 11:40 is watching and doing at home. 11:42 They know what mom and dad are doing at home. 11:44 Right? Right. 11:48 Friends, we have got to get 11:51 our fingers, and our eyeballs, 11:53 and our ears, out of the world. 11:55 Can you say, "Amen! "? 11:57 This is not a time to play with sin, friends. 12:00 It's time to overcome and be the people 12:04 that God has designed us to be. 12:06 If mom and dad aren't going to live, 12:11 any life that's different than the neighbors, 12:17 the children see it. 12:19 How many times, I've talked to lots of young people 12:22 not just in America but in other parts of the world too, 12:25 and you know what they tell me? 12:27 "Mom and Dad are nicer to me when other people are around. " 12:30 Now, that's not okay! 12:32 That's not okay is it? 12:34 Absolutely not. 12:36 And I've talked to others 12:39 who have said, "You know, my mom and dad, they just do 12:43 everything else that all their friends do, 12:45 and yet, when the pastor comes around 12:49 or when the other church people come around 12:51 they act like it's not okay anymore. " 12:54 They're living a dual life, they're being hypocrites. 12:56 No wonder the children are running out of the church. 13:00 They're not seeing mom and dad 13:03 have victory in their lives, friends, 13:06 and if mom and dad aren't having victory, 13:09 then they must assume, that neither is anyone else in the 13:13 church, because after all, they can't find role models. 13:17 What are we going to do? 13:18 We've gotta make changes. 13:20 We have got to get to the place 13:22 where we stop playing with our Christianity, 13:24 and we become the true Christians, 13:27 the real Christians. 13:29 You know people ask me, 13:30 "How do you make your ministry relevant to the young people? " 13:33 You know what I do? I preach TRUTH! 13:35 I talk to them about a real Christain life style. 13:38 In fact, I recently just had a wonderful time 13:40 with a bunch of young people at a campmeeting, 13:43 and I pulled them aside and I said, 13:44 "You know what, young people, 13:45 I'm not going to preach to you, 13:47 I want you to teach me. " 13:48 "What have your parents done right? " 13:50 They thought about it and told me some things. 13:52 I said, "What have your parents not done right? 13:54 Because I want to be an awesome daddy to my children. " 13:57 Then I asked them, "What would you change in your home? " 14:01 And do you know what they started to say? 14:03 They said, "You know what? I'd get rid of that dumb TV, 14:06 get it out of here. " 14:07 "I'd love to just go for a walk, with my mother or my father, 14:11 I'd love for them to just throw a ball with me. " 14:13 And then I asked them another question, 14:16 "When was the last time you received 14:20 a hug from your mom and dad, 14:21 and it was a real hug? " 14:23 I had one young lady say, "Just this week." 14:27 I said, "Praise the Lord!" 14:28 And I had one girl break down and said, 14:31 "Five years ago... " 14:33 Friends, what are we doing? 14:37 We're more interested in what's going on in movie stars lives 14:42 than we are in our own children! 14:44 They're crying out, wanting to spend time with us, 14:47 and what are we doing? 14:48 We're off like little Babylonians 14:52 watching things we shouldn't. 14:55 And we fight and we scream, all the way through Sabbath morning, 14:59 getting ready to go to church, we get in the car 15:01 "Come on everybody, where's my Bible? 15:02 Oh, it's still here where it was last week" 15:04 Didn't read it all week. 15:05 "Come on, everybody's in the car. " 15:07 And we're rushing, and fighting and bickering, all the way 15:09 to church and then something miraculous happens, 15:12 as we get out of the car, 15:14 we become holy people. 15:17 Oooo, we become holy all of a sudden 15:19 and the kids go, "Give me a break." 15:21 Right? 15:24 It's true, friends. 15:26 Why do you think the children are leaving the churches? 15:30 Because mom and dad aren't having 15:33 real victory in their lives, 15:34 and it's breaking my heart. 15:36 It's gotta stop. 15:38 I wish I could bring young people into my home 15:41 and just, "Come on, come live with me. " 15:43 I'm not perfect but I'll tell you what 15:47 I'm forgiven and I want to walk 15:49 a life like Jesus wants me to walk. 15:51 Amen? 15:52 Praise the Lord! 15:57 Jeremiah 17:9 says 16:09 You see friends, we need a heart transplant. 16:11 We need to have Jesus, and allow Him to come into our 16:14 hearts, to change our motives, 16:16 to help us, and to let the world die away from us, you see. 16:21 Ezekiel 36:26 says 16:40 Praise GOD! 16:41 I want that! I want my stony heart to be cast away 16:45 and I want my new heart that Jesus wants to give me. 16:48 Jesus says, "Look, I'll take away 16:50 that stony Babylonian heart you have 16:53 and I'll help the desires to change in your life." 16:57 Praise the Lord. 16:59 "A new heart, a new mind will I give you, 17:04 a new conscience, a new moral character, 17:07 new emotions, new passions, new courage, 17:10 to take on your Christian life." 17:11 I'll take away that stony heart, 17:14 that Babylonian heart, 17:16 and I will give you a heart like Jesus. 17:18 Do you want total victory in your life friends? 17:21 Do you want total victory? 17:24 Well here's a very powerful Biblical formula, 17:27 very simple, but very powerful. 17:30 Let's read James 4:7 17:40 Now notice that there are 3 stages to this Scripture. 17:43 Submit, resist and then the victory. 17:47 Are we clear there? 17:48 It starts with submission. 17:50 Well of course, what is submission? 17:52 It's simply praying to God, 17:54 asking Him to give you that new heart that he has promised, 17:57 new discernment to see ourselves for who we really are, 18:00 asking Him to heal our backslidings, 18:03 to forgive us for engaging in all the stuff 18:07 we've been engaging in. 18:08 Forgive us for all the junk we've been allowing in the home. 18:10 And then we must accept what God reveals to us, 18:15 in regard to changes necessary 18:18 for victory in our lives. 18:19 That's submission. 18:21 And with this power, with Jesus Christ's power 18:24 not just your own will power, but no, 18:27 being connected to the Source of all power in Jesus Christ. 18:31 When we're connected, then we can resist the devil, you see. 18:36 There's two parts. 18:38 There's me and God, 18:42 there's two very powerful factors here. 18:45 God and me. 18:46 When we are drawn together 18:49 When I say, "Lord I need Your help." 18:52 Do realize what I've done? 18:53 I've opened up the storehouse of heaven 18:56 to help me overcome whatever I need to. 19:00 That's awesome to me! Praise GOD! 19:02 But until we see the sinfulness 19:07 of our natures, and have a new revelation of Jesus Christ, 19:12 a new revival in our hearts, 19:14 then we will just continue to be Babylistians. 19:17 And friends, I'm not going to be a Babylistian. 19:22 Do you know what revival means? 19:26 It's a beautiful word. 19:28 The root word is "revive", 19:30 to return to life, to restore from a state of neglect. 19:36 Have we been neglecting our privileges 19:39 and responsibilities as children of God? 19:42 Then the Reviver, Jesus Christ, 19:46 wants to come in and work reformation 19:49 in our hearts. 19:53 You see, Jesus knows we need to have that change happen in us, 20:01 and He's more than willing to help us do that, 20:04 He wants to revive us 20:06 to a return, or a recall to activity, 20:09 from a state of languor, 20:11 and languor means dullness of the intellectual faculties. 20:14 Very interesting. 20:15 Or listlessness, where we just don't care anymore 20:18 about the sin in our lives, 20:20 and this is just what the wine of Babylon does, friends. 20:25 It dulls our connection with Jesus Christ. 20:29 He wants to show us where we are dead in our trespasses, 20:32 and where sin has become less sinful in our lives. 20:36 But when we are so distracted by the world, 20:41 we can't hear that still, small voice anymore. 20:44 And that's a scary time in our lives. 20:47 When that revelation, that waking up happens, 20:54 then we will see the need of change in our lives. 20:58 You know, it's amazing, many have written into our ministry, 21:01 they've emailed us, they've called us and said, 21:03 "Christian," because we do send out messages... 21:06 and they say, "Christian, conviction from God came. " 21:10 And do you realize many of them 21:12 took their TV's out. 21:13 I've actually had some say, "You know what, 21:15 We've resisted all the worldly programming, 21:17 but we're not getting rid of 3ABN." 21:19 And I said, "Well, Praise the Lord!" 21:20 I didn't say to do that. 21:22 And so they got rid of the junk out of their house. 21:26 The first thing they did was they surrendered, 21:28 they submitted to God, 21:30 and said, "Lord what would you have us to do? " 21:32 Not, "What would Christian have us to do? " 21:34 or anyone else, even your church leaders. 21:36 What would God have you to do? 21:38 They prayed this prayer of submission, and 21:39 then with the power and revelation Jesus gave them, 21:42 they got rid of some stuff out of their homes. 21:44 One man even emailed me and said, 21:46 "I moved the computer from my office, out 21:48 into the family room where there'd be less temptation," 21:51 because he was having a problem. 21:53 And men you know what I'm talking about. 21:55 You know what that's called? 21:58 Resisting! Praise GOD! 22:01 Yes, submission, resisting and then the devil fleeing. 22:07 That's the formula of James 4:7 22:09 Submit, resist and then the devil flees. 22:13 Praise the Lord! 22:16 And when we have that revelation, when 22:18 we have Jesus Christ coming into our hearts, 22:21 then we will see the need of change. 22:24 In fact, we'll make some changes, we'll reform. 22:28 Now do you know what the word "reform" means? 22:30 That's a word, my friends, that's very misunderstood 22:34 in Christendom today, 22:35 and I think that stems from 22:37 some people on the name 22:38 of reformation have 22:39 kind of beaten others 22:41 over the head. 22:42 But 'reform' is not a bad word 22:44 to the Christian, 22:45 'reform' is a beautiful word. 22:48 You know what reform means? 22:49 It means to change from worse to better, 22:51 to restore to a former good state, 22:55 to remove that which is bad or corrupt, 22:57 to form again. 22:59 Jesus the Reformer wants to 'reform' us. 23:05 Let me ask you a question, 23:07 how were we first created? 23:09 How was man created? 23:12 Well Genesis 2:7 tells us. 23:23 How careful and how tender Jesus, 23:27 reached down into the dust, and got His hands dirty, 23:30 and He formed us and shaped us, 23:32 everything else he spoke into existence, 23:34 but us, He touched us, 23:36 he formed us into His likeness and His image. 23:40 Have we come away from God's image? 23:42 Ohh yes friends. 23:44 Do we need to be reformed into His image? 23:48 I need reformation in my life, 23:50 reformation is not a bad thing, 23:52 and when you and I submit, 23:54 when we're walking closer with God, 23:57 and we're walking closer to the real Christain ideal, 24:00 then we will have that reformation begin in our lives. 24:06 Praise Jesus! 24:08 I don't know about you, 24:09 but I need more reformation, more changes in my life. 24:13 You see, I was a heathen before, 24:15 I made fun of Christians. 24:17 Was I in need of reform? Ohh yes. 24:19 I was a sick person, I had terrible health. 24:22 Was I in need of being reformed? 24:25 Ohh yes I was, 24:26 and now I've gotten all the big stuff out of my life, 24:30 all the big junk out of my life, 24:31 the TV and the movies, the bad music, 24:34 got all of that stuff out of my life. 24:35 And guess what happens now? 24:36 God says, "Good, now we can really get to some 24:39 character development in you, Christain." 24:41 There's more? 24:43 Yes, praise the Lord, there's more, 24:45 you see now, self is being truly exposed for what it is. 24:53 When we have all these Babylonian distractions 24:56 in our life, do you realize what the devil is doing? 24:58 He's keeping us in a cycle of escape, 25:00 where we are escaping the reality of who we really are, 25:04 and friends, the best thing we can do is look in the mirror, 25:09 God's Word and say, "Who am I really?" 25:12 What change do I really need to make? 25:15 And when you and I make these kinds of changes in our lives, 25:18 do you realize we are going to set the world on fire, 25:21 because we have set the Church on fire. 25:24 And the young people will say, "Amen! Let's go 25:27 we want to finish the work. " 25:28 Amen, Amen. 25:33 James 4:7 says 25:44 Praise GOD! 25:46 Submit to God, resist the devil with His power, 25:51 and he WILL flee from you. 25:54 Friends, are you having problems with Babylon in your life, 25:57 with Babylonian distractions? 25:59 God says, "I will free you completely. " 26:02 Amen, Amen. 26:04 Friends, when my wife and I finally got 26:08 all the Babylonian distractions 26:10 out of our lives, 26:12 it almost seemed like, I could hear God 26:15 for the first time in my life, because my 26:18 sensitive, communication center in my mind, 26:25 wasn't being numbed 26:28 by all the Babylonian distractions. 26:31 Do you remember what Revelation 18:2 says? 26:36 "And he cried mightily with a strong voice 26:39 Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen", 26:42 finally out of my heart! 26:44 Amen, friends! 26:46 When God has a people, that have this testimony, 26:53 that Babylon has fallen out of their hearts, 26:56 then He's going to come again and He's going to take us Home! 26:59 Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 27:03 Let's pray. 27:05 Father in Heaven, I pray that you would bless us, 27:10 help us to see what we need to change in our lives, 27:13 help us to know how Babylon has infected us, 27:18 and I pray that you would give us the power to overcome, 27:21 we pray this in Jesus name. 27:23 Amen. 27:25 And friends, I want to encourage you, 27:26 I want to encourage you, 27:29 to let the world die from your heart, 27:32 to worship God, 27:37 to not spend time with Babylon for six days a week, 27:41 but I want you to spend time with God for six days a week, 27:46 and worship Him on the seventh. Amen! 27:49 Don't just spend time with the world, 27:52 spend all the time you can with your Savior, Jesus Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17