The book of
Revelation talks about a beast
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rising up out of the sea.
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You are about to learn
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some practical
lessons from the beasts
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which may change your life
right here on His Voice Today.
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Welcome to
another His Voice Today
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with Steve Wohlberg.
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Do you like visiting
zoos? My family does.
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My wife and I have a
four-year-old little girl
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and an eight-year-old boy
and we've been to many zoos
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in California and Oregon,
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and my kids just
love looking at the lions
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and the tigers and the
bears and the hippopotamuses,
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the giraffes and
all these different
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creatures that God has made.
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When you read the
book of Revelation,
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Revelation is the
last book of the Bible,
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and it is often,
or at least sometimes
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been referred to as
God's Mysterious Zoo
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because in this book
are the strangest creatures.
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There's a
dragon, there's a beast,
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there's another beast
that has two horns like a lamb,
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there's a woman riding a beast
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that has seven
heads and ten horns
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and let's just take a
quick look at these beasts
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so you can see
them from the Bible
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and then we'll look at
some very amazing lessons,
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some practical lessons that
we can learn from God's zoo.
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Revelation chapter 12 verse 3
talks about a great red dragon
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having seven heads and ten horns
and seven crowns upon his heads.
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So, here's the big
dragon in Revelation.
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Then in chapter 13, we
have a mysterious beast
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in verse 1...
rising up out of the sea,
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he also had seven
heads and ten horns,
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upon his horns
he had ten crowns,
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and he had names of blasphemy.
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And then in chapter 13 verse 11,
there's another strange creature
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in God's zoo,
His Revelation zoo...
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Verse 11 says: "
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And then in chapter 17
there's a mysterious woman,
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I called her "Hell's harlot,"
she's a Babylonian Mystery Lady.
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In chapter 17
verse 5, the Bible says,
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And this woman is riding a
seven- headed, ten-horned beast.
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And then when you go to
chapter 14... the scene...
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the scene changes again
and we have a different...
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it's not really a beast,
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it's not really a
creature but it's a lamb.
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We're all familiar with
lambs, chapter 14 verse 1
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John wrote:
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So, here we have all
these different creatures
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and then we have the lamb
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and it's obvious... when
you study Revelation carefully,
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and ponder these
different bizarre shapes
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and creatures that
we find in God's zoo,
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that these are
not real creatures.
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There's not going to be a real
seven- headed, ten-horned dragon
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that starts
running around the earth.
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And there's not going to
be a real beast that rises up
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out of the Pacific
Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean
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or the Mediterranean Ocean,
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and there's not
going to be a real harlot
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that's riding a beast
that rides through New York
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or rides through Los Angeles,
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that's covered by
all the major networks:
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CNN, ABC, Fox News... this
just isn't going to happen.
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And obviously there
isn't going to be a real lamb
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that makes little
lamb sounds like baa...
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no, these are what you
could call "sacred symbols"
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sacred symbols...
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I've written
numerous books in my life,
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I've been studying
prophecy for 33 years
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and in my books, I detail
who exactly these beasts are.
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Just for the
record... I do believe
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that the beasts of Revelation
do refer to real evil powers
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in this
world... except the lamb,
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obviously the lamb is not evil,
the lamb points to somebody else
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it points to Jesus Christ.
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But again, just for the record
I believe that these animals
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do have real
applications but in this Program
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we're not going to look at who
exactly these beasts refer to,
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we're going to
go and look at these
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from a different perspective.
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Probably a perspective
that you've never looked at,
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we're going to look at
the characters of the beasts
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and see if we can
learn some practical lessons
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for your life and
for my life as well.
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There's an amazing
verse in the book of Job
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that has impressed
me as I ponder this
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and I've used this verse
many times in different meetings
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and in different contexts.
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I've written a book about
animals that also talks about
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this verse... in
Job chapter 12 verse 7,
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the Bible says:
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Ask the beasts and
they will teach you.
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This verse is
telling us that we can learn,
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we can learn things from
the animals that God has made
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and this verse is obviously
talking about things like
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birds and fish and horses
and there are so many animals
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and creatures in this world
that are full of lessons for us.
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We can learn lessons
about the power, the love,
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the creativity,
and the wisdom of God
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through the
things that He has made.
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We can also learn
character lessons.
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My family... we
live in North Idaho,
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and it wasn't too long ago
that my wife and my kids and I
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were looking out our
back window into our backyard,
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and we often have
deer that run around there
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and we try to get our
dog... we have a dog named Pooka
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and we try to teach the
dog not to chase the deer
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because we like to watch
the deer when they come out
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and feed...
sometimes in the evenings
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especially in the evenings,
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well, one evening,
we were quite amused
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to watch a mother
deer and her little baby
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they were in the backyard,
just chewing up the grass,
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and all of a sudden
our dog saw the deer
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and she just chased
them which she often does
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and she chased the two
of them into the forest,
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and we just watched this
like we were watching a movie,
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and the funny thing that
happened after that was...
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in just a couple of seconds
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we saw Pooka
running out of the forest
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and we saw the mother deer
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right on her
heels chasing her out,
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so, we saw the
dog chase the deer in
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and then the
deer chase the dog out
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and it didn't take us long
to figure out what had happened,
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that Pooka chose
to chase a mommy deer
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who was very
protective of her little fawn
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and that little humorous
scene can teach us a lesson.
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We can learn lessons from
the beasts, learn from the deer,
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and in that particular
case, the lesson is that
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parents should be
protective of their kids
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and most of the time, they are.
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And anyway, there are a lot
of lessons that we can learn
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from God's creatures.
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Now, what about the creatures
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that are here in
the book of Revelation?
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Can we learn
lessons, as the Bible says,
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"ask the beasts and
they will teach you... "
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Can we learn character lessons
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from the creatures
that are in God's zoo
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in the last book of the Bible?
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I believe that we can.
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I've been
researching this for many years
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and one day it just struck me.
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Don't just look at
the historical aspect
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of who these beasts are
but look at their characters
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and find out what they're like
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and then look in the
mirror and see if you can learn
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the kind of characters
that we shouldn't be like
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and the kind of character traits
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that we should focus on
developing in our hearts,
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in our words and in our actions,
so let's go to Revelation 12
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and let's start with the dragon
and see what lesson we can learn
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from this beast.
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Revelation 12 verse
3... the Bible says,
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"There appeared a
great wonder in heaven;
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and behold a great red dragon,
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having seven
heads and ten horns,
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and seven crowns upon his heads"
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when you go down to verse
9, it tells us that this dragon
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specifically refers
to the devil himself.
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Verse 9 says that the
great dragon was cast out,
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that old serpent,
called the Devil and Satan,
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who deceives the whole world,
he was cast out into the earth
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and his angels
were cast out with him.
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So, this tells
us that the dragon
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representing Satan, the devil,
is a very deceptive power,
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Satan is a
deceiver and the Bible says
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that he deceives the whole world
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and obviously as
believers in this Book,
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we need to be on
guard against deception
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against false doctrines,
against teachings that are
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contrary to the Book,
because that's what Satan
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tries to do... is to
trick us and deceive us
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with his messages.
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But if you look
carefully at this chapter,
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it's also clear that
Satan not only deceives people
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with his doctrines,
but he also tries to mold
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people's
characters to be like him.
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If you go down to verse 13,
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verse 13 says
"... when the dragon
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saw that he was
cast out into the earth,
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he persecuted the woman who
brought forth a man child. "
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so here the dragon
becomes a "persecuting power. "
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Now, the woman
represents God's people
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and the dragon is
persecuting God's people
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and when it says that
he persecuted the woman,
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obviously, Satan
himself doesn't directly appear
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and then start killing
people or persecuting people,
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Satan works through people
who yield to his character
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and to his mind and to
his ideas and to his ways...
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Satan molds people's characters
so that they do what he does
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and that's how he
persecutes people...
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is by imbuing
them with his spirit.
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When you look closer at
this chapter, it also...
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there surfaces one dominant
characteristic of the dragon
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and of the devil, in verse
12, Revelation 12:12 it says,
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"... rejoice, you heavens,
and you that dwell in them,
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Woe to the inhabiters
of the earth and the sea!
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for the devil is
come down to you,
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having great wrath,
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because he knows that
he has a short time. "
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Satan or the
dragon is an angry...
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he's an angry
personality, he's an angry being
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because he knows that
he's running out of time,
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in verse 17, this
trait surfaces again,
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verse 17 says, "And
the dragon was wroth"
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or wrathful or
angry with the woman,
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"and he went to make war
with the remnant of her seed,
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which keep the
commandments of God,
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and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ. "
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And so twice... in
verse 12 and in verse 17,
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the dragon is referred
to as "mad" he's angry,
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he's full of
wrath, and let me ask you
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is anger and wrath something
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that only rests in
the bosom of the dragon,
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or is anger a
problem for many of us today?
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The Bible has a
lot to say about anger.
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In Ecclesiastes
chapter 7 verse 9 it says that
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anger rests in
the bosom of fools.
00:11:29.55\00:11:31.55
In James chapter 1
and verse 20, it says...
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the Scripture says
that the wrath of man
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does not develop the
righteousness of God.
00:11:37.26\00:11:40.00
In Revelation
chapter 11 verse 18,
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it talks about the nations
of the earth being angry.
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The nations were angry,
and so, as we think about
00:11:45.77\00:11:48.90
anger... we think about wrath,
00:11:48.97\00:11:51.47
we need to
seriously search our hearts
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and realize that in Revelation,
the dragon is an angry power
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and if we develop that
trait in our characters,
00:12:00.82\00:12:04.42
and if we are often
mad, quick to get angry,
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if we're full of rage,
then... I hate to say it
00:12:08.52\00:12:12.56
but we can actually
look in the mirror...
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not just the physical
mirrors in our bathrooms,
00:12:15.03\00:12:17.80
but we can look in Revelation's
mirror and we can realize...
00:12:17.83\00:12:21.24
we should realize how
God looks at such anger.
00:12:21.27\00:12:25.17
He looks at it... just being...
as being like the dragon.
00:12:25.24\00:12:28.51
When we have anger in our
hearts, we are dragon-like
00:12:28.54\00:12:32.01
and we are being conformed
to the image of the devil.
00:12:32.05\00:12:35.42
And this is not a trait that
God wants His people to develop.
00:12:35.45\00:12:40.26
Let's look at the next beast.
00:12:40.29\00:12:43.22
Revelation chapter 13 describes
this beast from the sea.
00:12:43.26\00:12:47.30
Verse 1 talks about a
beast rising up out of the sea
00:12:47.33\00:12:51.27
again... he has
seven heads and ten horns,
00:12:51.30\00:12:52.80
and as you read chapter 13
00:12:52.83\00:12:54.97
it describes all
about what this beast does
00:12:55.00\00:12:57.54
and his deceptive
activities, but in verse 5
00:12:57.61\00:12:59.94
there's a character
trait that surfaces.
00:12:59.97\00:13:02.28
In verse 5... the Bible says,
"there was given him a mouth
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speaking great
things and blasphemies,"
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a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies,
00:13:08.82\00:13:11.55
and so, if you just think
about this and analyze it,
00:13:11.59\00:13:14.29
and look at the
character of the beast,
00:13:14.32\00:13:16.16
instead of being, primarily,
an angry power like the dragon,
00:13:16.19\00:13:20.40
he is a power with a big mouth,
in other words... he's proud
00:13:20.43\00:13:24.50
and he's full of
vanity and self-righteousness
00:13:24.53\00:13:29.70
and he speaks
great words against God.
00:13:29.74\00:13:33.11
Now, let me ask you...
is the beast in Revelation
00:13:33.14\00:13:35.68
the only one who speaks
great words against God?
00:13:35.71\00:13:38.18
Is he the only one
that has a mouth...
00:13:38.25\00:13:40.05
speaking great things?
00:13:40.12\00:13:41.45
If you read the Bible,
it has a lot to say about
00:13:41.48\00:13:44.79
the danger of pride,
British author, Daniel Defoe,
00:13:44.82\00:13:47.99
once said that Pride
is the President of Hell.
00:13:48.02\00:13:51.13
When you read the Bible,
00:13:51.16\00:13:52.93
Lucifer's problem
in heaven was pride.
00:13:52.96\00:13:55.40
If you go down
through Bible history,
00:13:55.43\00:13:57.87
Israel was often proud,
00:13:57.90\00:13:59.43
and if you go all the way
to the book of Revelation,
00:13:59.47\00:14:02.17
you get to chapter 3
where it talks about Laodicea.
00:14:02.24\00:14:04.71
And Laodicea says, it's rich
00:14:04.74\00:14:06.41
and increased with
goods and in need of nothing,
00:14:06.44\00:14:08.44
but it doesn't realize
its spiritual condition.
00:14:08.48\00:14:10.45
You can do a Bible search
00:14:10.48\00:14:12.21
just like Google
something on the internet,
00:14:12.25\00:14:14.45
you can do a
study in the Scriptures
00:14:14.48\00:14:16.32
on pride... and
you'll find that it's
00:14:16.35\00:14:18.12
it's all over the
place, pride is a problem.
00:14:18.15\00:14:20.16
And there's another verse
00:14:20.19\00:14:21.52
that says in Proverbs
chapter 6 and verse 17,
00:14:21.56\00:14:25.33
that a proud look is
something that God hates.
00:14:25.36\00:14:29.16
And so, if you
think about pride,
00:14:29.40\00:14:33.54
we think about
this human problem,
00:14:33.57\00:14:37.84
if we yield to
the devil's pride,
00:14:37.87\00:14:42.08
if we develop a
"mouth" speaking great things
00:14:42.11\00:14:45.65
then we can
look in the mirror...
00:14:45.68\00:14:48.05
look in the mirror of the book
of Revelation of God's zoo...
00:14:48.08\00:14:52.29
and the Holy Spirit
can talk to our hearts
00:14:52.32\00:14:54.69
and we can realize that
the character of the beast
00:14:54.72\00:14:58.83
has worked its
way into our humanity
00:14:58.86\00:15:01.96
and it should be a
warning to us that God hates...
00:15:02.00\00:15:04.57
he hates human anger and wrath
00:15:04.60\00:15:08.07
that's not anger
for righteous causes
00:15:08.10\00:15:10.41
and He hates pride
and self-sufficiency
00:15:10.44\00:15:12.61
and these are all
characteristics of the beast
00:15:12.64\00:15:16.11
that God wants us to avoid,
now let's look at another beast.
00:15:16.18\00:15:20.85
Let's go to
Revelation chapter 13 verse 11,
00:15:20.92\00:15:24.29
let's look at the beast
that has two horns like a lamb.
00:15:24.32\00:15:29.49
Revelation 13:11 the Bible
says, "I beheld another beast
00:15:29.52\00:15:33.83
coming up out of the earth,
he had two horns like a lamb,
00:15:33.90\00:15:38.00
and he spoke like a dragon. "
00:15:38.03\00:15:41.04
So, here's a deceptive power
described in Revelation 13:11,
00:15:41.07\00:15:47.11
he looks on the
outside, like a lamb,
00:15:47.18\00:15:49.98
but when he speaks,
he talks like the dragon.
00:15:50.05\00:15:53.05
Now, a lamb... in the Bible,
00:15:53.08\00:15:54.42
especially in the
book of Revelation
00:15:54.45\00:15:55.78
represents Jesus Christ,
00:15:55.82\00:15:57.19
but this beast in Revelation
13 is not Jesus Christ.
00:15:57.22\00:16:00.66
He is a power
that looks lamb-like,
00:16:00.69\00:16:04.53
that professes to be lamb-like
or to be a follower of Jesus
00:16:04.56\00:16:09.43
but yet when he speaks,
00:16:09.46\00:16:11.03
he speaks like
the devil himself.
00:16:11.07\00:16:12.57
Now, what word do we
use to describe people
00:16:12.60\00:16:15.24
that make a
profession of Christianity,
00:16:15.27\00:16:17.54
perhaps they go to church,
00:16:17.61\00:16:18.94
they think a high
profession of morality,
00:16:18.97\00:16:21.94
and yet their lives... at
least when they're at home
00:16:22.01\00:16:24.88
or when they're with people,
when they're not in church,
00:16:24.91\00:16:27.78
they act completely different.
00:16:27.82\00:16:29.65
What character trait do
we label these people as?
00:16:29.68\00:16:35.02
The answer is:
hypocrisy... hypocrisy.
00:16:35.06\00:16:38.06
I've heard about people that
go to church all their lives,
00:16:38.09\00:16:40.93
they go to church once a week,
00:16:40.96\00:16:42.63
but during the week,
they live like the devil.
00:16:42.66\00:16:45.27
In fact, I had a
group of people once...
00:16:45.30\00:16:47.34
I had somebody tell me once
about someone that they knew
00:16:47.37\00:16:50.01
and that's exactly what he did,
he was a regular churchgoer,
00:16:50.04\00:16:52.57
but if you knew him privately,
00:16:52.61\00:16:54.11
he was not really a true
follower of Jesus Christ.
00:16:54.18\00:16:58.48
Hypocrisy... this is a
trait that is very dangerous.
00:16:58.51\00:17:02.82
It's a trait of
the beast in Revelation
00:17:02.85\00:17:05.15
and it's not a trait that
God wants to see in His people.
00:17:05.19\00:17:11.03
If we have that trait,
if we look in the mirror...
00:17:11.06\00:17:16.33
of the book of Revelation,
we can see the beast within.
00:17:16.36\00:17:20.64
At least the
character of the beast
00:17:20.67\00:17:23.07
being developed in our hearts.
00:17:23.10\00:17:24.47
All right, let's keep
going, we're not done.
00:17:24.51\00:17:28.78
Revelation chapter
17 describes a woman...
00:17:28.81\00:17:33.08
and this woman
is called Babylon.
00:17:33.11\00:17:37.12
She's a harlot.
00:17:37.19\00:17:38.52
In Revelation
chapter 17 and verse 5,
00:17:38.55\00:17:40.76
actually the whole
chapter describes this woman
00:17:40.79\00:17:43.53
riding upon a
seven-headed, ten-horned beast.
00:17:43.56\00:17:46.16
In verse 5 it says,
"Upon her forehead was an
00:17:46.23\00:17:48.60
name written,
MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
00:17:48.63\00:17:50.97
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
00:17:51.00\00:17:54.47
This woman is a harlot.
00:17:54.50\00:17:55.84
A harlot is basically a
sexually, immoral woman,
00:17:55.87\00:17:59.31
it's a prostitute and although
we may not be prostitutes,
00:17:59.34\00:18:03.48
it's not difficult to realize
00:18:03.55\00:18:06.05
that we can still
share the same spirit...
00:18:06.08\00:18:07.92
the same spirit
of sexual immorality
00:18:07.95\00:18:09.75
we can still
have that character.
00:18:09.78\00:18:12.19
If we are
unfaithful to our spouses,
00:18:12.22\00:18:14.19
if you're not married
00:18:14.26\00:18:15.59
and you have sex with your
boyfriend or your girlfriend,
00:18:15.62\00:18:18.69
outside of marriage,
00:18:18.76\00:18:20.13
if you are trapped
by internet pornography,
00:18:20.20\00:18:23.57
and you can't seem to
get out of sexual sin,
00:18:23.60\00:18:26.94
you've been
tempted and just pulled in
00:18:26.97\00:18:30.71
to the darkness of this hole,
00:18:30.74\00:18:32.07
then sexual
immorality is not just a problem
00:18:32.11\00:18:34.91
for the woman in Revelation,
but sexual immorality
00:18:34.94\00:18:37.68
leads to problems
all around the world.
00:18:37.71\00:18:39.28
And as I've pondered this
00:18:39.31\00:18:41.88
and looked at this from
the perspective of character,
00:18:41.92\00:18:44.29
and I looked at the
dragon, and his anger,
00:18:44.32\00:18:47.16
I looked at the
beast and his pride,
00:18:47.19\00:18:48.82
the second beast is hypocrisy,
00:18:48.86\00:18:50.23
and then I looked at
the woman and it hit me...
00:18:50.26\00:18:52.76
it hit me... just
like a ton of bricks...
00:18:52.83\00:18:55.96
that sexual immorality is
the character of the harlot
00:18:56.00\00:18:59.77
in Revelation
and that God wants me
00:18:59.80\00:19:02.27
to have nothing to do
with this character trait
00:19:02.30\00:19:06.44
or with this spirit,
00:19:06.47\00:19:07.98
God wants me to be pure
and clean and holy in His sight
00:19:08.01\00:19:12.51
and it's the same for you.
00:19:12.55\00:19:13.92
Now, there's one more
beast, one more beast...
00:19:13.95\00:19:18.32
or actually, it's not a
beast... I mentioned before,
00:19:18.35\00:19:20.06
it's a lamb
described in Revelation 14
00:19:20.09\00:19:22.99
and there are other
beasts in Revelation as well,
00:19:23.02\00:19:25.69
but we only have
time to zero in on a few.
00:19:25.73\00:19:28.13
Revelation 14 verse
1, the Scripture says,
00:19:28.16\00:19:30.67
the Scripture says:
00:19:30.70\00:19:33.07
Now, here's a group of
people that are with Jesus,
00:19:40.88\00:19:44.85
the lamb represents Jesus Christ
00:19:44.88\00:19:46.61
and it says that
they have His name
00:19:46.65\00:19:48.35
written in their foreheads.
00:19:48.38\00:19:50.29
Now, if we just ponder this
and study this from the Bible,
00:19:50.32\00:19:53.36
it's pretty clear
that what this means
00:19:53.39\00:19:55.12
is the lamb is Jesus...
and God is going to have
00:19:55.16\00:19:58.36
a final group of people
00:19:58.39\00:19:59.73
who have His
name or His character
00:19:59.76\00:20:01.93
written in their foreheads,
which means... their minds,
00:20:01.96\00:20:04.20
it doesn't mean that
Jesus is going to be writing
00:20:04.27\00:20:06.67
something
actually out on the skin,
00:20:06.74\00:20:08.37
in between your eyes
and above their noses,
00:20:08.40\00:20:10.74
God's name in their foreheads
represents His character
00:20:10.81\00:20:15.21
now what kind of a...
00:20:15.24\00:20:17.05
what character traits
00:20:17.08\00:20:19.38
do you think of
when you think of a lamb?
00:20:19.41\00:20:22.25
We think of purity,
we think of humility,
00:20:22.28\00:20:25.05
we think of...
especially of Jesus' sacrifice,
00:20:25.09\00:20:28.59
the lamb refers to His sacrifice
and when the Bible says
00:20:28.62\00:20:32.26
that God's going to
have a people, a 144,000,
00:20:32.29\00:20:35.03
who have the name of the
lamb written in their foreheads,
00:20:35.06\00:20:38.20
it means that the
character qualities of humility,
00:20:38.27\00:20:41.77
meekness, and self-sacrifice
for the good of others,
00:20:41.84\00:20:45.74
that those character qualities
have become part of them
00:20:45.77\00:20:49.64
they don't have the
character of the dragon
00:20:49.68\00:20:53.05
they're not angry people,
00:20:53.08\00:20:54.42
they don't have his pride,
they don't have the hypocrisy
00:20:54.45\00:20:57.42
of the second beast,
00:20:57.49\00:20:58.82
they don't have
the sexual immorality
00:20:58.85\00:21:00.36
of the harlot.
00:21:00.39\00:21:01.72
They have the purity,
and the humility and the love
00:21:01.76\00:21:05.63
of Jesus Christ in their heart,
00:21:05.66\00:21:07.73
character
lessons from the beasts,
00:21:07.76\00:21:09.76
these lessons surface
when we look at the Bible
00:21:09.80\00:21:12.40
with spiritual discernment.
00:21:12.43\00:21:14.34
It's right there.
00:21:14.37\00:21:16.91
The Book of Romans,
chapter 8 verses 29...
00:21:16.94\00:21:25.98
verse 29 describes God's
ultimate desire for His people
00:21:26.01\00:21:31.09
and it's very clear.
00:21:31.12\00:21:32.45
In Romans chapter 8 verse 29,
00:21:32.49\00:21:34.69
Paul wrote that
Jesus wants His people
00:21:34.72\00:21:38.13
"... to be conformed
to the image of His Son. "
00:21:38.16\00:21:43.20
When we look at the Son of God,
00:21:43.23\00:21:46.47
and we look at what He
went through on the cross,
00:21:46.50\00:21:49.17
for you and for
me, 2,000 years ago,
00:21:49.20\00:21:52.01
on the cross... Jesus Christ
took the anger of the world.
00:21:52.04\00:21:54.94
He took the pride of the world,
00:21:54.98\00:21:58.25
He took the
hypocrisy of the world,
00:21:58.28\00:22:00.82
He took the sexual
immorality of the world,
00:22:00.85\00:22:03.39
He took all the
sin... of the whole world
00:22:03.42\00:22:05.95
into His mind and into His heart
00:22:05.99\00:22:08.29
and He paid the ultimate
sacrifice as the Lamb of God
00:22:08.32\00:22:12.39
who takes away
the sin of the world
00:22:12.43\00:22:14.63
and when we really see that
and understand what Jesus did
00:22:14.66\00:22:17.93
and how hateful...
unrighteous anger and pride
00:22:17.97\00:22:21.27
and hypocrisy and
sexual immorality is to God,
00:22:21.30\00:22:24.57
then we are moved
by the Holy Spirit
00:22:24.61\00:22:29.11
to make a decision,
and the big decision
00:22:29.14\00:22:33.62
that we need to make
is this, to make a choice,
00:22:33.65\00:22:38.45
to turn away, to
give up our anger,
00:22:38.49\00:22:40.66
to give up our pride,
00:22:40.69\00:22:42.02
to give up our "big mouths"
00:22:42.06\00:22:43.39
that have mouths
speaking great things
00:22:43.43\00:22:44.76
and our hypocrisy where we
00:22:44.79\00:22:46.13
call ourselves Christians
but live like the devil,
00:22:46.16\00:22:48.43
and our sexual
immorality in that...
00:22:48.46\00:22:50.40
is so... so hateful to God,
00:22:50.47\00:22:53.00
when we're not sexually pure
00:22:53.03\00:22:55.60
and true and honest
in the sight of God,
00:22:55.64\00:22:58.61
with our spouses and with
those of the opposite sex,
00:22:58.64\00:23:02.71
God wants His people to be pure,
00:23:02.74\00:23:04.51
and when we realize this,
00:23:04.55\00:23:06.25
then we make a choice to
give up all the evil ways,
00:23:06.28\00:23:09.35
that are reflected in
the characters of the beasts.
00:23:09.42\00:23:12.15
When we choose to give
our hearts to Jesus Christ,
00:23:12.22\00:23:14.72
we repent of our sins,
00:23:14.76\00:23:16.09
believe that Jesus
is our personal Savior,
00:23:16.12\00:23:17.56
ask Him to forgive us,
ask Him to change our hearts,
00:23:17.63\00:23:20.90
to come inside of
us by the Holy Spirit,
00:23:20.93\00:23:23.40
and then to write the
attributes of His character
00:23:23.47\00:23:26.37
where He's meek
and lowly in heart
00:23:26.40\00:23:28.54
so we can find rest to our souls
00:23:28.57\00:23:30.54
and the
attributes of His character,
00:23:30.61\00:23:32.44
then are written inside of
us and we then become like Him
00:23:32.47\00:23:37.05
and as the Bible says,
00:23:37.15\00:23:38.51
we become conformed
to the image of His Son
00:23:38.55\00:23:43.59
instead of the
image of the dragon
00:23:43.62\00:23:45.62
and the beast and the harlot.
00:23:45.65\00:23:47.56
This is God's plan
for you and for me.
00:23:47.66\00:23:50.93
I was moved... some time
ago by reading an article
00:23:50.96\00:23:55.20
that came out in
the Associated Press,
00:23:55.23\00:23:57.07
it was about a woman, she...
00:23:57.10\00:24:00.84
this report came
out of Los Angeles,
00:24:00.87\00:24:02.77
and she walked
out of a Post Office,
00:24:02.80\00:24:04.71
her name was Talen Curtis
00:24:04.74\00:24:06.44
and she looked
down and she saw a check
00:24:06.47\00:24:09.41
which she immediately
thought was just one of these
00:24:09.44\00:24:11.91
gimmicky sweepstakes that would
have a little note at the bottom
00:24:11.98\00:24:15.02
that said, "Don't
really cash this check,
00:24:15.05\00:24:16.62
because it's not real...
00:24:16.69\00:24:18.02
if you win, then
you'll get all this money"
00:24:18.05\00:24:20.36
and she read the
amount of money on the check
00:24:20.39\00:24:22.86
and it was $357,959.55,
00:24:22.89\00:24:30.97
so, it was a
check for over $300,000
00:24:31.00\00:24:34.04
and she looked down
and she was about to...
00:24:34.07\00:24:36.04
she picked it up
and she looked at it
00:24:36.07\00:24:37.74
and she was about to
deposit it in the trash,
00:24:37.81\00:24:39.57
to keep the planet
a little bit cleaner,
00:24:39.61\00:24:41.84
she was about to
do her good deed,
00:24:41.88\00:24:44.41
and then she looked
down closely and she noticed
00:24:44.45\00:24:46.92
that it was a
real Cashier's check
00:24:46.95\00:24:49.42
with a real
signature, she was shocked.
00:24:49.45\00:24:52.09
She said,
00:24:52.12\00:24:53.96
"I couldn't believe
it, I almost passed out"
00:24:54.06\00:24:55.66
and she went back
to the Post office
00:24:55.69\00:24:59.09
and eventually they
connected her to a Reporter
00:24:59.13\00:25:01.26
and the Reporter did research
00:25:01.30\00:25:05.20
trying to find out
who owned this check
00:25:05.23\00:25:07.54
and they finally found
00:25:07.57\00:25:09.27
the person that
was just beside herself
00:25:09.30\00:25:12.64
that they had dropped
a real Cashier's check
00:25:12.67\00:25:14.88
for all this money and this
Associated Press Report says
00:25:14.91\00:25:19.48
that Curtis
delivered the check personally
00:25:19.51\00:25:22.52
to its owner, she
said that she never thought
00:25:22.55\00:25:25.52
about keeping the
check for herself,
00:25:25.55\00:25:26.89
and then she declined the
woman's offer of a reward.
00:25:26.96\00:25:30.63
She wouldn't
even keep the money.
00:25:30.73\00:25:32.06
And then she said at
the bottom of this article,
00:25:32.09\00:25:34.10
"I just wanted to see her
face," Curtis said laughing...
00:25:34.13\00:25:36.26
"I just wanted her to
know that there are still
00:25:36.30\00:25:39.63
some honest people
left in the world. "
00:25:39.67\00:25:41.90
Isn't that a great story?
00:25:41.97\00:25:43.34
What would you do if you found
a $300,000 Cashier's check,
00:25:43.41\00:25:47.28
would you keep it
or would you return it,
00:25:47.31\00:25:48.64
are you honest,
00:25:48.68\00:25:50.15
are you one of those
honest people in the world,
00:25:50.18\00:25:51.68
what's going on
in your character,
00:25:51.71\00:25:54.02
what about mine?
00:25:54.05\00:25:55.38
The Bible tells us that the
character of the dragon... anger
00:25:55.42\00:25:58.55
and the character
of the beast... pride,
00:25:58.62\00:25:59.95
the character of the
second beast... hypocrisy,
00:25:59.99\00:26:01.89
the character of the woman...
00:26:01.92\00:26:03.93
the harlot
woman... sexual immorality,
00:26:03.96\00:26:06.49
that these are all
characteristics that are
00:26:06.53\00:26:09.40
woven into human hearts
because of the work of the devil
00:26:09.43\00:26:12.47
and God does not want
00:26:12.50\00:26:14.17
those character
qualities to be in His people.
00:26:14.24\00:26:16.64
In these last days,
00:26:16.71\00:26:18.04
God is developing
a different people,
00:26:18.07\00:26:19.41
He's developing a people...
00:26:19.44\00:26:20.78
like it says in
Revelation 14 verse 1,
00:26:20.81\00:26:22.58
"who have the
character of the Lamb
00:26:22.61\00:26:24.55
written in their foreheads. "
00:26:24.58\00:26:26.41
The Book of Romans
chapter 8 verse 29,
00:26:26.45\00:26:29.35
tells us that God's
will for you and for me
00:26:29.38\00:26:31.82
is that we should be...
00:26:31.85\00:26:33.49
rather than conform to
the image of the beasts,
00:26:33.56\00:26:36.42
that we should be conformed
to the image of His Son,
00:26:36.46\00:26:40.20
His Son... Jesus
Christ... so we will reflect
00:26:40.30\00:26:42.83
His character... to the world.
00:26:42.86\00:26:44.40
You have just
heard His Voice Today.
00:26:44.43\00:26:47.87
We hope you've
enjoyed this timely message
00:26:47.90\00:26:50.54
from Pastor Steve
Wohlberg and we want you to know
00:26:50.61\00:26:53.38
that White Horse
Media is deeply committed
00:26:53.48\00:26:55.91
to bringing you
many more simple messages
00:26:55.94\00:26:58.35
straight from the Bible,
designed to educate the mind,
00:26:58.38\00:27:01.35
inspire the heart,
and help bring our Viewers
00:27:01.38\00:27:03.79
and their
families, closer to God.
00:27:03.82\00:27:05.72
To learn more
about White Horse Media,
00:27:05.89\00:27:07.96
or to watch more
of Pastor Steve's
00:27:07.99\00:27:10.06
television programs online,
00:27:10.13\00:27:11.59
including his
powerful new series
00:27:11.66\00:27:13.60
of two-minute talks,
visit hisvoicetoday. com
00:27:13.63\00:27:17.07
If you've been blessed by
00:27:17.10\00:27:18.43
His Voice Today
with Steve Wohlberg
00:27:18.47\00:27:20.67
and would like to
have these timely messages,
00:27:20.74\00:27:22.27
to share with
family and friends,
00:27:22.30\00:27:24.01
you can now
order these programs.
00:27:24.04\00:27:25.64
The first 26
programs are packaged into two
00:27:25.71\00:27:29.31
13-part DVD series
for only $34.95 each set
00:27:29.34\00:27:32.91
plus shipping and handling.
00:27:32.95\00:27:34.32
To order, call 1-800-78-Bible
or order online at
00:27:34.35\00:27:38.52
whitehorsemedia. com or write to
00:27:38.55\00:27:40.16
White Horse Media PO
Box 1139, Newport, WA 99156.
00:27:40.19\00:27:45.93