What does the future hold? 00:00:01.36\00:00:02.70 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty? 00:00:02.73\00:00:05.33 The Book of Revelation provides hopeful answers 00:00:05.37\00:00:08.37 for today, tomorrow and forever. 00:00:08.40\00:00:11.11 Join Mark Finley, author and world renowned speaker 00:00:11.14\00:00:14.61 on a journey into the future 00:00:14.64\00:00:16.38 with Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 00:00:16.41\00:00:19.51 Welcome back to Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 00:00:23.92\00:00:27.59 We are journeying through the Book of Revelation 00:00:27.62\00:00:29.99 and discovering end-time truths. 00:00:30.03\00:00:33.29 The Book of Revelation reveals the plans of God. 00:00:33.33\00:00:36.97 It unmasks the plans of Satan. 00:00:37.00\00:00:39.63 And one of the major issues in Revelation 00:00:39.67\00:00:42.90 has to do with Spirits, 00:00:42.94\00:00:45.37 The Holy Spirit and unholy spirits. 00:00:45.41\00:00:49.04 The unholy spirits, 00:00:49.08\00:00:50.81 demonic forces will bring deception, 00:00:50.85\00:00:54.72 false religious leaders will arise. 00:00:54.75\00:00:57.49 Cult-like leaders, many will follow them. 00:00:57.52\00:00:59.72 There will be false miracles. 00:00:59.75\00:01:01.49 There will be, throughout time, right at the time at the end 00:01:01.52\00:01:06.36 deceptions that are perpetrated upon the human race. 00:01:06.39\00:01:09.73 How do you identify a cult? 00:01:09.76\00:01:11.93 How do you identify a cult leader? 00:01:11.97\00:01:13.80 How can you know that you are not being let astray? 00:01:13.84\00:01:17.27 We're gonna go to the Bible 00:01:17.31\00:01:18.74 and answer some of those questions. 00:01:18.77\00:01:20.51 But first, let's pray. 00:01:20.54\00:01:22.44 Father in Heaven, 00:01:22.48\00:01:23.81 thank You that the Bible reveals Your truth. 00:01:23.85\00:01:26.18 You've said sanctify them through Thy Word, 00:01:26.21\00:01:29.55 Thy Word, Your Word is truth. 00:01:29.58\00:01:32.35 You've said that You will enable us to know the truth 00:01:32.39\00:01:35.99 and the truth will set us free. 00:01:36.02\00:01:37.76 We want to be free from error, free from deception, 00:01:37.79\00:01:41.23 free from the falsehoods that are so filling our world. 00:01:41.26\00:01:45.53 And so as we study the Book of Revelation, 00:01:45.57\00:01:47.87 give us clear light on the road ahead, 00:01:47.90\00:01:50.67 may Your truth penetrate falsehood. 00:01:50.71\00:01:54.18 May Your light illuminate darkness 00:01:54.21\00:01:57.21 and may we sense Your will for our personal lives, 00:01:57.25\00:02:01.38 in Christ's name, amen. 00:02:01.42\00:02:04.45 The title of our presentation 00:02:04.49\00:02:06.05 is Revelation Unmasks the Cult Deception. 00:02:06.09\00:02:11.03 Have you noticed how many people 00:02:11.06\00:02:13.23 are actually being let astray by cults today? 00:02:13.26\00:02:17.23 The 911 call was made in Rancho Santa Fe, California, 00:02:17.27\00:02:22.40 a number of years ago. 00:02:22.44\00:02:24.31 The person on the other end of the line said, 00:02:24.34\00:02:26.74 "You should check out a certain community." 00:02:26.78\00:02:29.98 The 911 operator was quite baffled by that, 00:02:30.01\00:02:33.28 it was a very wealthy community, 00:02:33.31\00:02:36.02 a very upmarket community, 00:02:36.05\00:02:38.19 a very up-scaled community 00:02:38.22\00:02:40.59 in a very posh area of California. 00:02:40.62\00:02:43.39 Multi-million dollar homes on the hillside. 00:02:43.43\00:02:46.76 But the caller was insistent. 00:02:46.80\00:02:48.93 "You better check out that home, 00:02:48.96\00:02:51.80 something is wrong." 00:02:51.83\00:02:54.10 When the authorities came there 00:02:54.14\00:02:56.07 they found the followers of Marshall Applewhite. 00:02:56.10\00:03:00.18 Marshall Applewhite was the leader of a cult 00:03:00.21\00:03:03.75 called Heaven's Gate cult. 00:03:03.78\00:03:06.15 He believed, as his followers did, 00:03:06.18\00:03:09.12 that the Hale-Bopp comet would be followed 00:03:09.15\00:03:13.09 by a catastrophic end to the world 00:03:13.12\00:03:15.62 but that his followers would be whizzed away to heaven. 00:03:15.66\00:03:19.79 As the authorities came to that home, 00:03:19.83\00:03:23.13 they found an amazing scene. 00:03:23.16\00:03:26.77 They found a scene in which people were dressed 00:03:26.80\00:03:30.64 all in black. 00:03:30.67\00:03:32.27 They had... 00:03:32.31\00:03:33.64 Each one of them committed mass suicide, 00:03:33.68\00:03:36.88 they were lying on their beds. 00:03:36.91\00:03:39.91 Why did they do it? 00:03:39.95\00:03:41.72 Who were these people that followed Marshall Applewhite? 00:03:41.75\00:03:45.95 Were they ignorant people that could easily be taken in 00:03:45.99\00:03:51.06 by a cult leader? 00:03:51.09\00:03:52.89 Were they uneducated? 00:03:52.93\00:03:54.70 A careful look at who they were helps us to understand 00:03:54.73\00:03:59.67 the deceptive power of cults 00:03:59.70\00:04:02.64 and the deceptive power of false leaders. 00:04:02.67\00:04:05.94 They were teacher... 00:04:05.97\00:04:07.31 One was a teacher, very well educated. 00:04:07.34\00:04:10.75 Another was a postal worker 00:04:10.78\00:04:13.52 who had a very good government job. 00:04:13.55\00:04:15.85 Another was a housewife and a mother of five. 00:04:15.88\00:04:19.72 When you look at who is in that home that day, 00:04:19.75\00:04:23.26 those people deceived by Marshall Applewhite, 00:04:23.29\00:04:26.59 you see they were common men and women. 00:04:26.63\00:04:29.06 They were people like you and people like me. 00:04:29.10\00:04:32.07 But we ask how could they be deceived? 00:04:32.10\00:04:35.30 Revelation talks about the final deception, 00:04:35.34\00:04:38.91 the deception of the antichrist power. 00:04:38.94\00:04:41.68 In Revelations 13:1, it says, 00:04:41.71\00:04:44.21 "I stood upon the sand of the sea, 00:04:44.25\00:04:45.95 saw a great beast rising up out of the sea, 00:04:45.98\00:04:47.82 having seven heads and ten horns, 00:04:47.85\00:04:49.42 and upon his horns ten crowns, 00:04:49.45\00:04:50.89 and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 00:04:50.92\00:04:52.82 The beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, 00:04:52.85\00:04:55.22 his feet were like the feet of a bear, 00:04:55.26\00:04:56.69 his mouth like the mouth of a lion. 00:04:56.73\00:04:58.63 The dragon gave him his power," the dragon, who is that? 00:04:58.66\00:05:01.20 Satan, the deceiver, "And great authority." 00:05:01.23\00:05:03.47 Then verse 3 says, 00:05:03.50\00:05:04.83 "All the world wondered after the beast." 00:05:04.87\00:05:07.07 A great deception 00:05:07.10\00:05:09.07 at the last days of earth's history, 00:05:09.10\00:05:11.07 "With all the world that do not know Christ, 00:05:11.11\00:05:14.78 that have turned their backs on His Word 00:05:14.81\00:05:16.88 and have not faithfully followed it." 00:05:16.91\00:05:18.71 So the cult deceptions we see today 00:05:18.75\00:05:21.82 are simply a foreshadowing 00:05:21.85\00:05:25.52 of what is coming in the future. 00:05:25.55\00:05:29.22 Why is it that people turn to cults? 00:05:29.26\00:05:31.56 What is it that leads them to those cults? 00:05:31.59\00:05:34.80 They are actually looking for answers. 00:05:34.83\00:05:38.10 See cult followers don't want to be deceived. 00:05:38.13\00:05:41.74 It's not that somebody says, 00:05:41.77\00:05:44.11 "You know, I think I'm gonna go follow that cult leader." 00:05:44.14\00:05:47.58 And the cult leader has a big sign around them saying, 00:05:47.61\00:05:49.91 "Don't follow me you will be deceived." 00:05:49.94\00:05:52.11 Cult followers don't want to be deceived. 00:05:52.15\00:05:54.78 They are really sincere, very sincere. 00:05:54.82\00:05:58.32 In fact, they are looking for truth. 00:05:58.35\00:06:01.12 You see, when the church 00:06:01.16\00:06:02.89 discards or downplays the Bible, 00:06:02.92\00:06:06.03 when the church substitutes tradition for the Word of God 00:06:06.06\00:06:10.13 that opens the mind of people 00:06:10.17\00:06:13.57 they turn away from the falsehood, the error, 00:06:13.60\00:06:17.84 the tradition of the church, 00:06:17.87\00:06:19.84 and they go seeking in another way. 00:06:19.87\00:06:23.21 When, for example, the church lacks spiritual power 00:06:23.24\00:06:26.82 and people come to church week after week, 00:06:26.85\00:06:29.58 and it's dry, it's formal, 00:06:29.62\00:06:32.29 it's traditional, it's external, 00:06:32.32\00:06:34.79 it does not move the heart or change the life. 00:06:34.82\00:06:38.83 When that happens, people go looking in another direction. 00:06:38.86\00:06:44.33 When the church fails to reveal God's love, 00:06:44.37\00:06:48.70 when people are judgmental, when they are graceless, 00:06:48.74\00:06:53.54 people go looking 00:06:53.58\00:06:54.91 for an environment of love and warmth. 00:06:54.94\00:06:57.45 And one things that cults do provide, 00:06:57.48\00:07:00.12 it's a falsehood, of course, 00:07:00.15\00:07:01.92 but they provide the sense of warmth, 00:07:01.95\00:07:04.19 they provide the sense of brotherhood, of sisterhood, 00:07:04.22\00:07:07.72 and they develop an attitude towards us against the world, 00:07:07.76\00:07:12.53 and the cult leaders have a certain amount of certainty. 00:07:12.56\00:07:15.90 So when the church is uncertain, 00:07:15.93\00:07:17.83 doesn't know what it believes, 00:07:17.87\00:07:19.27 lacks spiritual power, is loveless, 00:07:19.30\00:07:22.54 then obviously thousands of people, 00:07:22.57\00:07:25.14 young people particularly, go searching for certainty, 00:07:25.17\00:07:28.28 searching for meaning, 00:07:28.31\00:07:29.64 searching for something that they can hold on to 00:07:29.68\00:07:31.68 and searching for love. 00:07:31.71\00:07:34.52 People go somewhere else when the church fails. 00:07:34.55\00:07:38.79 Now somebody says, 00:07:38.82\00:07:40.16 "Pastor Mark, are you suggesting 00:07:40.19\00:07:43.22 that the church has failed 00:07:43.26\00:07:45.19 and that has driven people to cults?" 00:07:45.23\00:07:47.86 Not every church, 00:07:47.90\00:07:49.23 there are Bible believing churches 00:07:49.26\00:07:50.60 that uplift Jesus Christ, that uplift His Word. 00:07:50.63\00:07:53.03 There are places that you and I can go 00:07:53.07\00:07:55.70 and I praise God for the thousands of them, 00:07:55.74\00:07:57.81 the millions of them over the world. 00:07:57.84\00:08:00.04 But here is a certain truth. 00:08:00.08\00:08:02.44 In the last days, 00:08:02.48\00:08:03.81 there'll be false christs and false prophets. 00:08:03.85\00:08:05.78 In the last days, 00:08:05.81\00:08:07.15 there will be those that are followers of Jesus 00:08:07.18\00:08:09.38 and there will be those 00:08:09.42\00:08:10.75 that are followers of demonic forces. 00:08:10.79\00:08:12.35 In the last days, 00:08:12.39\00:08:13.72 Satan is gonna do everything he can 00:08:13.76\00:08:16.36 to deceive men and women. 00:08:16.39\00:08:19.36 And if the church is not preaching the Word of God, 00:08:19.39\00:08:23.43 if the church is not lifting up Jesus, 00:08:23.47\00:08:26.57 if the church is not calling people to obedience, 00:08:26.60\00:08:29.54 if the church does not have spiritual power, 00:08:29.57\00:08:32.54 if the church is loveless, 00:08:32.57\00:08:35.14 people will go looking someplace else. 00:08:35.18\00:08:38.45 The reason cults are growing is because people are seeking. 00:08:38.48\00:08:44.05 So the growth of cults 00:08:44.09\00:08:45.82 should indicate to the Christian church 00:08:45.85\00:08:48.89 that people are seeking. 00:08:48.92\00:08:50.56 People are looking, 00:08:50.59\00:08:51.93 but they are looking in all the wrong places. 00:08:51.96\00:08:54.63 They are walking down a pathway 00:08:54.66\00:08:56.80 that will eventually lead them to disaster 00:08:56.83\00:09:00.00 and eventually lead them to death. 00:09:00.04\00:09:02.97 Now how can you tell a cult? 00:09:03.00\00:09:06.64 You know, cults leaders don't come 00:09:06.68\00:09:08.28 as I've said with a sign around their neck saying, 00:09:08.31\00:09:10.38 "I'm a cult leader, come follow me." 00:09:10.41\00:09:13.28 Not at all. 00:09:13.31\00:09:14.65 I want to give you five biblical tests from the Bible 00:09:14.68\00:09:17.09 to distinguish between 00:09:17.12\00:09:19.29 the genuine and the counterfeit. 00:09:19.32\00:09:20.89 Now you say, "I would never ever be deceived by a cult. 00:09:20.92\00:09:25.79 Impossible for me." 00:09:25.83\00:09:28.53 You know, in Florida, 00:09:28.56\00:09:31.57 we can learn a lesson from the sorting of oranges. 00:09:31.60\00:09:36.10 Now let's suppose for a minute, you are an orange. 00:09:36.14\00:09:39.07 I don't want to suppose I'm an orange but you just... 00:09:39.11\00:09:40.94 Come on now stay with me. 00:09:40.98\00:09:42.31 Let's suppose you are an orange 00:09:42.34\00:09:44.11 and you are out here in an orange tree. 00:09:44.15\00:09:46.11 So you are in the sunshine, enjoying the Florida sunshine, 00:09:46.15\00:09:49.95 and you get picked. 00:09:49.98\00:09:51.49 Have you ever been in Florida, you see these big huge semis 00:09:51.52\00:09:54.72 with all these oranges in the back of the semis, 00:09:54.76\00:09:57.13 hundreds, thousands of them. 00:09:57.16\00:09:58.49 You may not know how they are sorted. 00:09:58.53\00:10:00.30 When they bring the oranges into the warehouse, 00:10:00.33\00:10:03.97 there's a conveyor belt 00:10:04.00\00:10:05.77 and all these oranges are put on that conveyor belt. 00:10:05.80\00:10:08.87 Now let's suppose you are an orange, 00:10:08.90\00:10:10.31 and you can think, you can't, I know, 00:10:10.34\00:10:12.07 and you're on this conveyor belt 00:10:12.11\00:10:13.44 and think, "Man, this is Disney Land for oranges. 00:10:13.48\00:10:15.08 This is great." 00:10:15.11\00:10:16.44 You see all these oranges on this conveyor belt, 00:10:16.48\00:10:17.81 they are going along and they come to a hole. 00:10:17.85\00:10:20.65 The holes in the conveyor belt are large enough 00:10:20.68\00:10:24.59 to let the small Grade-C oranges through, 00:10:24.62\00:10:28.26 but they are not large enough 00:10:28.29\00:10:30.06 to let the Grade-B ones through. 00:10:30.09\00:10:31.56 So these oranges are on this conveyor belt, 00:10:31.59\00:10:33.16 you imagine in your mind, hundreds, thousands of them. 00:10:33.19\00:10:35.30 And they come to these sorting holes 00:10:35.33\00:10:37.60 and all the Grade-C ones, the small ones fall through. 00:10:37.63\00:10:40.90 The rest of the oranges are going, 00:10:40.94\00:10:42.27 now the B oranges, I'm sure they are thinking, 00:10:42.30\00:10:44.27 "Man, I'm never going through one of those holes. 00:10:44.31\00:10:47.38 You know, I'm better than those people, 00:10:47.41\00:10:49.88 I'm not going through." 00:10:49.91\00:10:51.25 Then the conveyor belt goes on 00:10:51.28\00:10:52.61 and there're holes large enough to let the B oranges through, 00:10:52.65\00:10:55.28 the B-Grade but not the A-Grade. 00:10:55.32\00:10:57.25 So all the B-Grade goes through 00:10:57.29\00:10:59.62 and then pretty soon the A's look over saying, 00:10:59.65\00:11:02.32 "Man, those B's, those little guys went through, 00:11:02.36\00:11:04.06 those C's went through. 00:11:04.09\00:11:05.43 We are going on to the end." 00:11:05.46\00:11:06.80 But what you know is right around the corner, 00:11:06.83\00:11:08.96 there is a hole 00:11:09.00\00:11:10.33 and those A oranges are going through, right there, 00:11:10.37\00:11:12.13 they are going to be orange juice too. 00:11:12.17\00:11:13.94 Look my friend, the people that I'm concerned about the most 00:11:13.97\00:11:18.01 are not the humble people 00:11:18.04\00:11:19.67 on their knees seeking God for his truth. 00:11:19.71\00:11:22.64 I'm concerned about arrogant people, 00:11:22.68\00:11:24.65 people that say "Look, I'll never be deceived by a cult." 00:11:24.68\00:11:27.85 Because you don't understand 00:11:27.88\00:11:30.12 the deceptive power of the devil. 00:11:30.15\00:11:32.85 The only way we can be kept from being deceived 00:11:32.89\00:11:37.49 is such a commitment to the living Christ. 00:11:37.53\00:11:41.23 You shall know the truth 00:11:41.26\00:11:42.86 and the truth shall make you free. 00:11:42.90\00:11:44.57 And a commitment to His Word. 00:11:44.60\00:11:46.84 Now let's look at 00:11:46.87\00:11:48.20 five distinguishing characteristics of a cult. 00:11:48.24\00:11:50.67 Because you see millions 00:11:50.71\00:11:52.04 are gonna fall for the antichrist 00:11:52.07\00:11:53.81 at end-time. 00:11:53.84\00:11:55.51 And antichrist is the largest cult leader 00:11:55.54\00:11:59.31 ever to manifest himself in the history of the world. 00:11:59.35\00:12:02.72 But before that time 00:12:02.75\00:12:04.35 there will be false christs and false prophets. 00:12:04.39\00:12:06.62 And why do people accept these counterfeits? 00:12:06.65\00:12:09.86 Because they don't know how to distinguish 00:12:09.89\00:12:12.09 between a counterfeit and a genuine, 00:12:12.13\00:12:14.40 between the true and the false. 00:12:14.43\00:12:16.60 This telecast... 00:12:16.63\00:12:18.40 may be one of the most important in your life. 00:12:18.43\00:12:20.90 It may save you, it may save your children. 00:12:20.94\00:12:24.17 If your children are anywhere in the house right now, 00:12:24.21\00:12:25.87 get them, sit them down in front of this screen 00:12:25.91\00:12:28.88 because there are so many young people, teenagers 00:12:28.91\00:12:33.15 that are following cults. 00:12:33.18\00:12:34.98 First, how do you identify a cult? 00:12:35.02\00:12:36.82 Number one, all cults have a single powerful leader 00:12:36.85\00:12:41.62 who becomes the cult's messiah. 00:12:41.66\00:12:43.83 When you have any single human leader 00:12:43.86\00:12:47.96 that becomes a substitute for Jesus Christ, beware. 00:12:48.00\00:12:54.57 Look, Marshall Applewhite, who led those people, 00:12:54.60\00:12:58.07 the Heaven Gate's cult leader, the one that led them 00:12:58.11\00:13:01.14 in Rancho Santa Fe, California to death, 00:13:01.18\00:13:05.58 said, "I am on an evolutionary level above human. 00:13:05.61\00:13:10.45 I am part of the kingdom of Heaven, 00:13:10.49\00:13:12.55 I am incarnated in..." 00:13:12.59\00:13:15.16 The Kingdom of Heaven is incarnated in two bodies. 00:13:15.19\00:13:17.79 In other words, what he is saying is, 00:13:17.83\00:13:19.36 "I am divine." 00:13:19.39\00:13:20.73 That should have been a clear signal 00:13:20.76\00:13:25.33 to his followers immediately. 00:13:25.37\00:13:27.34 Because Jesus says in Isaiah 45:22, 00:13:27.37\00:13:30.87 "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! 00:13:30.91\00:13:34.84 For I am God, and there is no other." 00:13:34.88\00:13:38.71 Anytime we look to human being, 00:13:38.75\00:13:42.18 anytime the word of that human being 00:13:42.22\00:13:44.95 takes the place of the Word of God, 00:13:44.99\00:13:46.79 anytime the authority of that human being 00:13:46.82\00:13:49.39 takes the place of the authority 00:13:49.42\00:13:51.03 of the Word of God, 00:13:51.06\00:13:52.39 we know, we know for certain 00:13:52.43\00:13:55.13 that we are on the pathway to deception. 00:13:55.16\00:13:58.93 In September 1995, 00:13:58.97\00:14:01.80 Marshall Applewhite referred to himself as a what? 00:14:01.84\00:14:05.37 Can you believe it? A messenger from God. 00:14:05.41\00:14:08.04 Then he said, "Just like Jesus." 00:14:08.08\00:14:12.15 What did Isaiah 45:22 say? 00:14:12.18\00:14:14.78 "Look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth, 00:14:14.82\00:14:18.79 for I am God and there is" what?" 00:14:18.82\00:14:20.89 None like me. 00:14:20.92\00:14:23.06 So anytime a cult leader arises, 00:14:23.09\00:14:26.19 claims to be this messianic figure, 00:14:26.23\00:14:29.40 that simply preparing people to receive the antichrist. 00:14:29.43\00:14:33.60 Anti means not against 00:14:33.64\00:14:35.50 but another or substitute for Christ 00:14:35.54\00:14:38.27 at the time of the end. 00:14:38.31\00:14:39.77 And so we see these false christs, 00:14:39.81\00:14:42.28 false prophets arising today. 00:14:42.31\00:14:44.71 I think of David Koresh. 00:14:44.75\00:14:47.32 David Koresh led a group mostly of young people, 00:14:47.35\00:14:50.55 young adults to a fiery inferno in Waco, Texas. 00:14:50.59\00:14:56.09 He led them to their death. 00:14:56.12\00:14:58.59 I interviewed a young man 00:14:58.63\00:15:01.53 that was in Waco with David Koresh 00:15:01.56\00:15:05.47 and he left two weeks before that fiery inferno. 00:15:05.50\00:15:09.87 He got out of there alive and I said to him, 00:15:09.90\00:15:13.84 "You are intelligent, bright, 00:15:13.88\00:15:16.18 why were you with David Koresh for so long? 00:15:16.21\00:15:19.11 Why did you follow him for so long?" 00:15:19.15\00:15:22.45 He happened to be an Australian. 00:15:22.48\00:15:24.72 David Koresh came to Australia 00:15:24.75\00:15:26.49 and this is the story my friend told me when I interviewed him. 00:15:26.52\00:15:29.69 He said, "David came to Australia 00:15:29.72\00:15:32.33 and we as young people were looking for somebody 00:15:32.36\00:15:35.36 to study the Bible with us deeply 00:15:35.40\00:15:37.77 and David seemed to know the Bible. 00:15:37.80\00:15:40.54 He studied the Bible with us, 00:15:40.57\00:15:41.90 we would study from 8-9 o'clock at night 00:15:41.94\00:15:43.84 to 2 o'clock in the morning, 00:15:43.87\00:15:45.47 and his interpretations of the Bible were fresh, 00:15:45.51\00:15:48.54 they were new. 00:15:48.58\00:15:49.91 We were studying Revelation, 00:15:49.94\00:15:51.28 we wanted to study the Book of Revelation, 00:15:51.31\00:15:53.45 and we kept studying together 00:15:53.48\00:15:55.78 and pretty soon we were so mesmerized by David, 00:15:55.82\00:15:59.12 so mesmerized by the thing we studied. 00:15:59.15\00:16:01.56 We agreed to move with him to Waco." 00:16:01.59\00:16:04.46 He said, "I thought something was wrong 00:16:04.49\00:16:06.86 when my wife and I moved there 00:16:06.90\00:16:09.16 and I had to sleep in separate quarters. 00:16:09.20\00:16:12.00 My wife was in one home for women 00:16:12.03\00:16:14.07 and I was in another home for men." 00:16:14.10\00:16:15.54 But David said, "If you're gonna be ready 00:16:15.57\00:16:17.34 for the coming of Jesus, 00:16:17.37\00:16:18.71 you need to deny your earthly lusts." 00:16:18.74\00:16:20.51 And he said, "Something didn't seem right. 00:16:20.54\00:16:23.41 Then we began having meetings that would last all night 00:16:23.45\00:16:27.28 and pretty soon I was so exhausted, 00:16:27.32\00:16:29.08 I couldn't think straight 00:16:29.12\00:16:30.65 and when David said, I am the lamb of Revelation. 00:16:30.69\00:16:34.56 He said... 00:16:34.59\00:16:35.92 I didn't figure all that out but pretty soon, 00:16:35.96\00:16:38.43 two weeks before the fiery inferno 00:16:38.46\00:16:41.03 I said this is not religion, this is insanity." 00:16:41.06\00:16:44.93 And he said, "I left." 00:16:44.97\00:16:46.47 He said, "But we were so mesmerized, 00:16:46.50\00:16:48.07 my wife left, 00:16:48.10\00:16:49.44 but we didn't sit together on the plane on the way back." 00:16:49.47\00:16:51.71 He said, "It took me weeks 00:16:51.74\00:16:53.78 to get my head back straight again." 00:16:53.81\00:16:56.58 Friend of mine, when you start giving your allegiance 00:16:56.61\00:17:02.12 to any human being rather than Christ, 00:17:02.15\00:17:05.25 that's incredibly dangerous. 00:17:05.29\00:17:06.72 Think of Jim Jones, 00:17:06.76\00:17:08.92 who led over 900 people to the jungles of Guyana 00:17:08.96\00:17:13.06 and there they committed mass suicide. 00:17:13.09\00:17:16.16 He was a popular evangelical preacher 00:17:16.20\00:17:20.37 out in San Francisco. 00:17:20.40\00:17:21.74 He sat on the San Francisco housing commission, 00:17:21.77\00:17:24.24 did a lot for the poor and underprivileged 00:17:24.27\00:17:26.61 through his church. 00:17:26.64\00:17:28.31 But yet, once he was preaching, held up his Bible and said, 00:17:28.34\00:17:31.68 "Don't look at this, look at me." 00:17:31.71\00:17:33.95 He said, "There is God-like qualities in me." 00:17:33.98\00:17:37.39 See here's what these three cult leaders 00:17:37.42\00:17:40.86 that I have mentioned have in common. 00:17:40.89\00:17:42.22 Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, Jim Jones, 00:17:42.26\00:17:44.86 they all become messianic-like figures. 00:17:44.89\00:17:47.80 They all become substitute gods. 00:17:47.83\00:17:50.57 May I take this a step further? 00:17:50.60\00:17:53.10 If your pastor, if your priest, 00:17:53.13\00:17:56.84 if your rabbi becomes the sole source 00:17:56.87\00:18:00.78 of your spiritual authority, 00:18:00.81\00:18:03.14 if they become more prominent in your life than Jesus Christ, 00:18:03.18\00:18:07.68 you are on the verge of opening your mind to cult deception. 00:18:07.72\00:18:12.39 I thank God that he uses pastors, 00:18:12.42\00:18:16.19 I thank God that He uses religious leaders. 00:18:16.22\00:18:19.09 But if they become substitute Christ, 00:18:19.13\00:18:22.16 we have a deceptive falsehoods 00:18:22.20\00:18:28.50 that are gonna shape our minds. 00:18:28.54\00:18:30.61 The Book of Revelation says this, 00:18:30.64\00:18:32.51 Revelation 17:13. 00:18:32.54\00:18:34.58 It says, "These are of one mind." 00:18:34.61\00:18:36.04 You see the cults must function as one mind. 00:18:36.08\00:18:39.61 They must function under the authority figure 00:18:39.65\00:18:43.89 of the cult leader. 00:18:43.92\00:18:45.25 "These are of one mind. 00:18:45.29\00:18:46.72 They will give their power and authority to the beast." 00:18:46.76\00:18:49.76 So the final antichrist 00:18:49.79\00:18:52.53 will exhibit himself as an authority 00:18:52.56\00:18:55.06 taking the place of Jesus. 00:18:55.10\00:18:56.80 So the call of the hour 00:18:56.83\00:18:59.17 is the call of commitment to Jesus, 00:18:59.20\00:19:01.50 the call of decision for Christ, 00:19:01.54\00:19:04.47 making Christ supreme in our lives. 00:19:04.51\00:19:07.01 Not letting anybody else take the place of Jesus 00:19:07.04\00:19:10.25 but listening to His voice, following His Word. 00:19:10.28\00:19:14.28 These have one mind. 00:19:14.32\00:19:15.92 What's gonna bring churches together? 00:19:15.95\00:19:17.45 What's gonna unify churches at a time of famine, 00:19:17.49\00:19:20.46 at a time economic disaster, at a time of natural disasters, 00:19:20.49\00:19:24.63 at a time of terrorism, at a time of rising crime, 00:19:24.66\00:19:27.26 and violence, and immorality, and war? 00:19:27.30\00:19:29.93 A cult leader will arise. 00:19:29.96\00:19:32.23 The Bible calls him in Revelation, the antichrist. 00:19:32.27\00:19:34.70 He will try to bring all the world together 00:19:34.74\00:19:36.94 under his own auspices of worship. 00:19:36.97\00:19:40.38 These have one mind. 00:19:40.41\00:19:42.71 So anytime any human being 00:19:42.74\00:19:46.35 takes the authority of Christ, beware. 00:19:46.38\00:19:49.78 Anytime, any human being 00:19:49.82\00:19:52.25 substitutes his or her authority 00:19:52.29\00:19:55.59 for the authority of the Word of God, beware. 00:19:55.62\00:19:59.19 The Bible says, Jesus said in Matthew 24, 00:19:59.23\00:20:03.06 when Christ is describing the signs of the end. 00:20:03.10\00:20:06.03 Jesus says, "There will be wars and rumors of wars. 00:20:06.07\00:20:09.84 There will be famines and earthquakes, 00:20:09.87\00:20:11.74 and pestilences, and rising crime and violence." 00:20:11.77\00:20:14.68 But then Jesus says, Matthew 24:24, 00:20:14.71\00:20:18.01 "For false christs..." 00:20:18.05\00:20:19.38 What kind of christ? 00:20:19.41\00:20:20.75 False christ. 00:20:20.78\00:20:22.12 "False prophets..." What kind of prophets? 00:20:22.15\00:20:23.49 "False prophets will rise 00:20:23.52\00:20:25.12 and show great signs and wonders." 00:20:25.15\00:20:28.02 Well, if they show great signs and wonders, 00:20:28.06\00:20:30.19 they must be of God, right? 00:20:30.23\00:20:31.56 If they work miracles they must be of God, right? 00:20:31.59\00:20:33.96 Well, the Bible says, Revelation 16:13, 14. 00:20:34.00\00:20:38.87 It says, "These are the spirits of demons working miracles." 00:20:38.90\00:20:44.91 Can the demons work miracles? 00:20:44.94\00:20:46.81 According to the Bible, 00:20:46.84\00:20:48.34 the devil can work apparent miracles 00:20:48.38\00:20:52.81 and according to Scripture, 00:20:52.85\00:20:54.48 miracles will be one of the ways, 00:20:54.52\00:20:56.15 you look at Revelation 19:20 and onward, 00:20:56.18\00:20:59.29 they are deceived by the miracle. 00:20:59.32\00:21:01.42 So miracles, false miracles 00:21:01.46\00:21:04.09 will be one of the agencies the devil uses for deception 00:21:04.13\00:21:07.40 when men and women turn away from the living Christ, 00:21:07.43\00:21:10.43 when they turn away from the Word of God, 00:21:10.47\00:21:12.93 when they turn to fables and traditions, 00:21:12.97\00:21:15.40 the devil will use miracles to deceive them. 00:21:15.44\00:21:18.54 Can God work miracles? Yes. 00:21:18.57\00:21:20.58 Will God work miracles in the last days? 00:21:20.61\00:21:22.91 Certainly. 00:21:22.94\00:21:24.28 Can we expect miracles? Yes. 00:21:24.31\00:21:26.08 But miracles are never a substitute for truth. 00:21:26.11\00:21:29.95 Miracles are never a substitute for the Word of God 00:21:29.98\00:21:33.25 and because a false leader work some kind of miracle 00:21:33.29\00:21:36.96 that takes your mind 00:21:36.99\00:21:38.89 from the Jesus that died for you, 00:21:38.93\00:21:42.26 we know that leads to deception. 00:21:42.30\00:21:44.67 To deceive, if possible... To do what? 00:21:44.70\00:21:47.10 Deceive, if possible, even the elect. 00:21:47.14\00:21:51.21 Who are the elect? 00:21:51.24\00:21:52.57 The saved, the redeemed, the faithful. 00:21:52.61\00:21:55.34 So the miracles are gonna be so powerful, 00:21:55.38\00:21:58.51 the deception is gonna be so strong. 00:21:58.55\00:22:01.12 What is our safety? 00:22:01.15\00:22:02.68 Jesus and Jesus alone. 00:22:02.72\00:22:04.45 You know that old song, turn your eyes upon Jesus. 00:22:04.49\00:22:07.29 "Look full in His wonderful face 00:22:07.32\00:22:09.62 and the things of earth will grow strangely dim 00:22:09.66\00:22:13.03 in the light of His glory and grace." 00:22:13.06\00:22:15.36 Somebody says, "But I am sincere." 00:22:15.40\00:22:17.17 Is sincerity enough? 00:22:17.20\00:22:18.60 Proverbs 16:25, 00:22:18.63\00:22:20.80 "There is a way that seems right to a man, 00:22:20.84\00:22:24.31 but the end is the way of death." 00:22:24.34\00:22:26.78 There is a way that, what? 00:22:26.81\00:22:28.48 What is it to? 00:22:28.51\00:22:29.84 Seems right 00:22:29.88\00:22:31.51 but the end is the way of death. 00:22:31.55\00:22:35.35 So merely because one is sincere, 00:22:35.38\00:22:38.49 sincerity is not enough. 00:22:38.52\00:22:40.66 You can sincerely follow error and be lost. 00:22:40.69\00:22:44.16 And there are some people that smoke cigarettes 00:22:44.19\00:22:46.70 and they say, "Oh, it's not gonna harm me. 00:22:46.73\00:22:49.40 It's not gonna touch me." 00:22:49.43\00:22:51.00 And they smoke away, 00:22:51.03\00:22:52.47 they may be sincerely believing that it's not gonna harm them 00:22:52.50\00:22:55.77 but that doesn't make any difference at all 00:22:55.80\00:22:57.64 because they are still putting that tar in their lungs 00:22:57.67\00:22:59.87 and they are still destroying their bodies. 00:22:59.91\00:23:02.01 Sincerity is not enough. 00:23:02.04\00:23:04.81 If you are following a trailer truck on a foggy night 00:23:04.85\00:23:09.08 and you are following their headlights 00:23:09.12\00:23:11.29 and that truck goes around the corner 00:23:11.32\00:23:13.56 and misses the turn and drives off a cliff, 00:23:13.59\00:23:16.36 you may be ever so sincere in following their headlights, 00:23:16.39\00:23:20.60 but you're going over that cliff too. 00:23:20.63\00:23:22.60 You can be so sincere. 00:23:22.63\00:23:24.50 Have you ever been driving your car 00:23:24.53\00:23:27.50 and you got your directions mixed up, 00:23:27.54\00:23:29.44 and so you are driving along saying, 00:23:29.47\00:23:31.07 and your wife is saying, 00:23:31.11\00:23:32.44 "I think you are going in the wrong direction." 00:23:32.47\00:23:33.84 "No, honey, I am not going in the wrong direction." 00:23:33.88\00:23:35.74 "I think, darling, 00:23:35.78\00:23:37.11 you are going in the wrong direction." 00:23:37.15\00:23:38.75 "I am not going in the wrong direction." 00:23:38.78\00:23:40.12 "Sweet pea, I think you are going in the wrong direction." 00:23:40.15\00:23:42.58 But you are so proud, "I am not going in the wrong direction, 00:23:42.62\00:23:45.32 I know I am going right." 00:23:45.35\00:23:46.89 And then you drive 15 miles down the road, 00:23:46.92\00:23:49.46 you see the sign 00:23:49.49\00:23:50.83 and you see you should be going south and you are going north 00:23:50.86\00:23:53.60 and you say, "Honey, I think 00:23:53.63\00:23:56.06 there's a restaurant over there, 00:23:56.10\00:23:57.43 let's go eat." 00:23:57.47\00:23:58.80 And then you turn around 00:23:58.83\00:24:00.17 and get going in the right direction. 00:24:00.20\00:24:01.54 See you may be sincere, 00:24:01.57\00:24:03.17 but if you are going in the wrong direction, 00:24:03.20\00:24:04.54 you are going in the wrong direction. 00:24:04.57\00:24:06.31 Sincerity is not enough. 00:24:06.34\00:24:09.01 And you may be ever so sincere, 00:24:09.04\00:24:11.48 but if you are not going in harmony with the Bible, 00:24:11.51\00:24:13.35 if you have not committed your life fully to Christ, 00:24:13.38\00:24:15.82 you may be sincerely following a cult leader. 00:24:15.85\00:24:19.92 Anytime we transfer our loyalty to a religious leader 00:24:19.95\00:24:22.96 and exalt that leader in the place of God, 00:24:22.99\00:24:25.33 we're on the very, very dangerous ground. 00:24:25.36\00:24:28.56 You know, I've had people come to my Bible lectures, 00:24:28.60\00:24:31.57 they hear messages on Christ, messages on his soon coming, 00:24:31.60\00:24:35.34 messages on the Bible Sabbath 00:24:35.37\00:24:37.24 and they say, "Oh, Pastor, Pastor, 00:24:37.27\00:24:39.44 but that's not what my religious leader teaches." 00:24:39.47\00:24:43.41 And I don't know if I can ever make a change 00:24:43.45\00:24:45.05 because look what my religious leader teaches. 00:24:45.08\00:24:47.48 That is very dangerous ground 00:24:47.52\00:24:50.49 because if you substitute 00:24:50.52\00:24:52.19 the word of your religious leader 00:24:52.22\00:24:54.09 for the Word of God, 00:24:54.12\00:24:55.46 you are preparing to receive 00:24:55.49\00:24:57.53 the teachings of the antichrist. 00:24:57.56\00:24:59.76 Our only safety is we have one leader 00:24:59.79\00:25:02.00 and that's Jesus Christ. 00:25:02.03\00:25:03.40 There are no substitutes for Jesus, 00:25:03.43\00:25:05.37 there are only counterfeits. 00:25:05.40\00:25:07.64 Christ and Christ alone is our savior. 00:25:07.67\00:25:11.21 Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other, 00:25:11.24\00:25:15.34 for there is no other name under heaven 00:25:15.38\00:25:18.11 given among men by which we must be saved." 00:25:18.15\00:25:21.82 There is no other name under heaven. 00:25:21.85\00:25:24.55 There's only one Jesus. 00:25:24.59\00:25:25.95 He was born as a babe in Bethlehem's manger. 00:25:25.99\00:25:29.46 He lived that perfect life that we should have lived. 00:25:29.49\00:25:32.89 There's only one Jesus. 00:25:32.93\00:25:34.36 He walked through the crowds, healed the sick. 00:25:34.40\00:25:37.70 He walked through the crowds 00:25:37.73\00:25:39.27 and touched the eyes of the blind 00:25:39.30\00:25:40.64 and they were open, 00:25:40.67\00:25:42.00 touched the ears of the deaf and they were in stop, 00:25:42.04\00:25:44.04 walked through the crowds and healed the lame, 00:25:44.07\00:25:47.84 ministered to the poor, raised the dead. 00:25:47.88\00:25:51.28 There is only one Jesus. 00:25:51.31\00:25:54.52 There is only one that hung upon the cross. 00:25:54.55\00:25:56.82 There is only one who came out of the tomb alive. 00:25:56.85\00:26:00.82 There is only one Jesus. 00:26:00.86\00:26:03.39 There are no substitute christs. 00:26:03.43\00:26:06.16 There may be many counterfeits, many false christs 00:26:06.19\00:26:09.26 but there's only one. 00:26:09.30\00:26:10.80 I know that you along with me today 00:26:10.83\00:26:13.17 want to open your heart to the true Christ. 00:26:13.20\00:26:15.67 You want Him to be your leader. 00:26:15.70\00:26:17.64 You want no substitute to be in your life. 00:26:17.67\00:26:20.34 Now secondly, cults not only have a powerful world, 00:26:20.38\00:26:24.41 a powerful leader, 00:26:24.45\00:26:25.91 that whose authority they substitute for Christ 00:26:25.95\00:26:28.75 but cults often substitute human teachings for God's Word. 00:26:28.78\00:26:33.15 So when you look at these cult leaders, 00:26:33.19\00:26:35.49 they'll often have teachings, 00:26:35.52\00:26:37.79 in fact always have teachings 00:26:37.83\00:26:39.89 that are not in harmony with the Word of God. 00:26:39.93\00:26:42.70 In fact, in Revelation 18:23, it says, "By your..." 00:26:42.73\00:26:48.20 That is by the antichrist, by the great cult leaders, 00:26:48.24\00:26:50.74 "sorcery or falsehoods all nations were deceived." 00:26:50.77\00:26:55.11 People are deceived by the falsehoods of error. 00:26:55.14\00:26:58.91 Jesus says in John 17:17, "Sanctify them by Your truth. 00:26:58.95\00:27:04.75 Your word is truth." 00:27:04.79\00:27:06.86 So God's word stands out in sharp contrast to error. 00:27:06.89\00:27:13.13 Marshall Applewhite taught that the Hale-Bopp comet 00:27:13.16\00:27:16.43 would usher in the end of the world. 00:27:16.46\00:27:18.10 Now that's not found any place in the Bible at all, 00:27:18.13\00:27:21.37 his followers should have known. 00:27:21.40\00:27:23.51 Here you have a false religious leader 00:27:23.54\00:27:25.64 who substitutes as the Messiah 00:27:25.67\00:27:27.61 and his word substitutes for the Word of God. 00:27:27.64\00:27:30.81 Any time tradition takes the place of God's Word 00:27:30.85\00:27:34.78 and people are accepting tradition 00:27:34.82\00:27:36.72 rather than God's Word, 00:27:36.75\00:27:38.35 they're in a very dangerous position. 00:27:38.39\00:27:41.06 If Marshall Applewhite's followers 00:27:41.09\00:27:43.99 would have known this text, it would have helped them. 00:27:44.03\00:27:45.89 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 00:27:45.93\00:27:47.93 "The Lord Himself is gonna descend from heaven," 00:27:47.96\00:27:49.76 not from Hale-Bopp comet that they are gonna latch on to 00:27:49.80\00:27:53.27 and be whizzed off into eternity. 00:27:53.30\00:27:55.40 "The Lord Himself is gonna descend from heaven 00:27:55.44\00:27:56.81 with a shout, 00:27:56.84\00:27:58.17 with the voice of an archangel, 00:27:58.21\00:27:59.91 with the trumpet of God. 00:27:59.94\00:28:01.31 And the dead in Christ shall rise first." 00:28:01.34\00:28:05.01 Jesus says, "You shall know the truth 00:28:05.05\00:28:07.32 and the truth shall make you" what? 00:28:07.35\00:28:08.68 "Free." 00:28:08.72\00:28:10.05 When you know the truth about the Second Coming of Christ, 00:28:10.09\00:28:12.35 "that every eye will see Him," Revelation 1:7. 00:28:12.39\00:28:15.12 "Every ear will hear it," Psalm 50:3. 00:28:15.16\00:28:18.49 When you understand 00:28:18.53\00:28:19.86 that "Christ is coming in glory and majesty," 00:28:19.89\00:28:22.33 Matthew 16:27. 00:28:22.36\00:28:24.43 When you understand that He's coming in power, 00:28:24.47\00:28:27.30 when you understand that when He comes, 00:28:27.34\00:28:28.77 He's going to raise the dead. 00:28:28.80\00:28:30.14 When you know the truth about the Second Coming of Christ, 00:28:30.17\00:28:32.94 you can detect the false sort of cult leaders 00:28:32.97\00:28:36.58 who have this messianic end-time complex 00:28:36.61\00:28:40.88 that is all jumbled and garbled with part truth and part error. 00:28:40.92\00:28:45.89 Also one of the devil's great deceptive devices 00:28:45.92\00:28:50.99 is a misunderstanding of death. 00:28:51.03\00:28:53.09 And so he uses spiritualism. 00:28:53.13\00:28:54.90 But what does Jesus say? 00:28:54.93\00:28:56.26 "You know the truth 00:28:56.30\00:28:57.63 and the truth shall set you free." 00:28:57.67\00:28:59.00 I've had people say me, 00:28:59.03\00:29:00.37 "But Pastor, I had that experience, 00:29:00.40\00:29:01.87 you know, I went to sleep. 00:29:01.90\00:29:04.24 I saw pastor, I saw my mother, I saw my father." 00:29:04.27\00:29:10.28 Yes, but that was an apparition. 00:29:10.31\00:29:13.82 "The devil," 2 Corinthians 11:14, 00:29:13.85\00:29:15.88 "masquerades as an angel of light." 00:29:15.92\00:29:18.95 And so by not knowing God's Word, 00:29:18.99\00:29:22.49 by not understanding the clear truth of God's Word, 00:29:22.52\00:29:25.89 we make ourselves vulnerable for deceptions 00:29:25.93\00:29:30.20 if any religious leader distorts the gospel. 00:29:30.23\00:29:33.87 The good news is that we're saved through Christ. 00:29:33.90\00:29:36.14 The good news that grace gives us a passport to heaven. 00:29:36.17\00:29:42.38 The good news that we can be pardoned by Christ, 00:29:42.41\00:29:45.51 that Christ can change our life. 00:29:45.55\00:29:47.35 If any religious leader discards biblical principles 00:29:47.38\00:29:51.62 and substitutes human teachings for them, 00:29:51.65\00:29:54.72 beware, my friend. 00:29:54.76\00:29:56.73 If any religious leader downplays God's law, 00:29:56.76\00:30:01.60 you say, "Pastor, what do you mean?" 00:30:01.63\00:30:04.00 Jesus through the Prophet Isaiah said, in Isaiah 8:20, 00:30:04.03\00:30:07.84 "To the law and to the testimony, 00:30:07.87\00:30:11.07 if they speak not according to this word," 00:30:11.11\00:30:13.21 that is the testimony of Scripture, 00:30:13.24\00:30:15.48 the teachings of Christ and the law of God, 00:30:15.51\00:30:17.31 "there is no light in them." 00:30:17.35\00:30:19.51 You see, it doesn't say there is no truth in them 00:30:19.55\00:30:22.72 because Satan mingles truth and error. 00:30:22.75\00:30:25.69 It does not say there is no power in them 00:30:25.72\00:30:29.02 because Satan at times can use satanic power, 00:30:29.06\00:30:34.20 so it doesn't say there is no truth or power. 00:30:34.23\00:30:35.80 It says there is no what? No light. 00:30:35.83\00:30:37.83 Why does it say there is no light in them? 00:30:37.87\00:30:39.43 Light is what you follow. 00:30:39.47\00:30:41.17 Light is what you follow. 00:30:41.20\00:30:42.70 And Jesus invites us to follow the light. 00:30:42.74\00:30:45.24 And if they're not teaching in harmony 00:30:45.27\00:30:47.24 with the Ten Commandment law, 00:30:47.28\00:30:48.74 if they are not leading men and women 00:30:48.78\00:30:50.38 because they are saved by grace to be obedience, 00:30:50.41\00:30:52.25 there is no light there, therefore, turn away from it. 00:30:52.28\00:30:56.52 Now thirdly, cults manipulate minds, 00:30:56.55\00:31:00.02 they coerce members into submission. 00:31:00.06\00:31:04.33 This is a common characteristic of cults. 00:31:04.36\00:31:07.60 The cults will often dress the same way, 00:31:07.63\00:31:10.67 eat the same way, live the same locality, 00:31:10.70\00:31:14.47 they'll have their cult compound. 00:31:14.50\00:31:16.97 You remember in Revelation 13, 00:31:17.01\00:31:19.77 it talks about that beast coming up out of the sea 00:31:19.81\00:31:22.34 with the seven heads and ten horns, 00:31:22.38\00:31:24.48 and upon his horns ten crowns, 00:31:24.51\00:31:26.01 upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 00:31:26.05\00:31:28.62 It says in Revelation 13:16, 17, 00:31:28.65\00:31:32.19 "He shall cause both small and great, 00:31:32.22\00:31:36.73 rich and poor, free and slave, 00:31:36.76\00:31:38.96 to receive a mark in their right hand 00:31:38.99\00:31:41.30 or in their foreheads." 00:31:41.33\00:31:42.66 Now here is the master cult, the master cult. 00:31:42.70\00:31:46.40 And what does the master cult leader do? 00:31:46.43\00:31:49.00 He causes all to receive a mark. 00:31:49.04\00:31:51.61 And if they do not have that mark, 00:31:51.64\00:31:53.88 the Bible says they can't buy or sell. 00:31:53.91\00:31:56.24 Revelation is talking about a conflict 00:31:56.28\00:31:58.81 between good and evil, 00:31:58.85\00:32:00.18 a conflict between Christ and Satan, 00:32:00.22\00:32:02.98 and it's talking about a last day conflict. 00:32:03.02\00:32:05.72 Jesus appeals to men and women with love and truth, 00:32:05.75\00:32:09.12 Satan appeals to men and women with falsehood and force. 00:32:09.16\00:32:13.60 So on the one hand, 00:32:13.63\00:32:14.96 you have Jesus appealing to people through love, 00:32:15.00\00:32:18.07 appealing to people through truth. 00:32:18.10\00:32:19.90 On the other hand, you have the devil 00:32:19.93\00:32:22.24 appealing to people through force 00:32:22.27\00:32:24.64 and appealing to people through falsehood. 00:32:24.67\00:32:29.34 The beast power passes a decree that no man can buy or sell, 00:32:29.38\00:32:35.68 uses force or uses manipulation. 00:32:35.72\00:32:39.65 God never appeals to us through force. 00:32:39.69\00:32:42.76 His truth is revealed in His Word, 00:32:42.79\00:32:46.39 His love shines from His Word. 00:32:46.43\00:32:50.17 Jesus appeals to us not in some conformity. 00:32:50.20\00:32:54.60 You know, one night I was preaching in Moscow, 00:32:54.64\00:32:57.21 I was in the Olympic Stadium, and there as I preached, 00:32:57.24\00:33:01.14 I had had many, many meetings in Moscow before. 00:33:01.18\00:33:05.88 And I had preached in Plekhanov University 00:33:05.91\00:33:08.85 where 500 came to Christ and were baptized, 00:33:08.88\00:33:12.09 preached in Moscow's Kremlin Auditorium, 00:33:12.12\00:33:16.83 about 1500-2000 came to Christ. 00:33:16.86\00:33:19.66 So now I was in the Olympic stadium, 00:33:19.69\00:33:21.33 opening night of the meetings. 00:33:21.36\00:33:22.83 There about 18,000 people there 00:33:22.86\00:33:25.17 and as I went to preach, ladies got up 00:33:25.20\00:33:29.14 and they began bringing me bouquets of flowers. 00:33:29.17\00:33:32.61 They had been come to Christ, 00:33:32.64\00:33:34.28 they were so joyous in this new life of Christ 00:33:34.31\00:33:37.11 and I was reaching down, getting the flowers, 00:33:37.15\00:33:38.98 taking them here 00:33:39.01\00:33:40.35 and a couple of deacons were standing by me 00:33:40.38\00:33:41.72 and I was handing them. 00:33:41.75\00:33:43.08 A lady came down the aisle, she looked a little strange 00:33:43.12\00:33:45.19 but I didn't pick it up right away. 00:33:45.22\00:33:46.86 She handed me a bouquet of flowers 00:33:46.89\00:33:48.52 and the flowers were dead, 00:33:48.56\00:33:50.13 and I didn't know what to do 00:33:50.16\00:33:52.39 and when I went to reach out to take them, 00:33:52.43\00:33:54.26 she pulled the microphone out of my hand 00:33:54.30\00:33:56.87 and she yelled, "This man is the antichrist, 00:33:56.90\00:34:00.34 attack him." 00:34:00.37\00:34:01.87 Now I learned later who she was. 00:34:01.90\00:34:04.14 Her name was... 00:34:04.17\00:34:05.51 Her assumed name was Mary David Christ. 00:34:05.54\00:34:08.84 You can look her up on the Internet, 00:34:08.88\00:34:10.55 she is one of the leading, 00:34:10.58\00:34:11.91 was one of the leading cult leaders in all of Russia. 00:34:11.95\00:34:15.02 She took the name Mary 00:34:15.05\00:34:16.38 because she believed she was pregnant 00:34:16.42\00:34:17.75 with the Christ child, David 00:34:17.79\00:34:19.49 because the Christ's child would be king and Christ, 00:34:19.52\00:34:21.56 because that was going to be her new baby, 00:34:21.59\00:34:23.16 they were going to usher in a kingdom 00:34:23.19\00:34:25.06 that was going to rule the world. 00:34:25.09\00:34:27.13 She believed that the good angels, 00:34:27.16\00:34:29.70 not the evil angels, 00:34:29.73\00:34:31.07 now remember the Bible says that Satan and the evil angels 00:34:31.10\00:34:34.00 are cast out of heaven. 00:34:34.04\00:34:35.37 She believed the good angels were cast out of heaven, 00:34:35.40\00:34:37.57 they were called the white knights, 00:34:37.61\00:34:39.21 they were on earth to fight evil, 00:34:39.24\00:34:41.18 and I was the embodiment of evil, 00:34:41.21\00:34:42.64 not very pleasant rather. 00:34:42.68\00:34:44.75 And so when she yelled her white knights, 00:34:44.78\00:34:48.78 she had about 20,000 followers 00:34:48.82\00:34:50.72 and many of them were in our audience that night. 00:34:50.75\00:34:52.92 They were young men between 18 and 22 00:34:52.95\00:34:55.66 and she yelled, "Attack" 00:34:55.69\00:34:57.29 and these young men jumped up out of the audience 00:34:57.33\00:34:59.43 and began running to the stage. 00:34:59.46\00:35:01.50 It's rather interesting, to say the least. 00:35:01.53\00:35:04.60 I was little younger and I kept trying to dodge, 00:35:04.63\00:35:07.24 but here these young guys are coming, 00:35:07.27\00:35:08.94 they want to tackle the old preacher. 00:35:08.97\00:35:10.84 Fortunately, I had baptized and led to Jesus Christ 00:35:10.87\00:35:14.48 many Russian army soldiers 00:35:14.51\00:35:16.61 and fortunately I had baptized, 00:35:16.64\00:35:18.61 lead to Christ many KGB officers. 00:35:18.65\00:35:21.62 They had not forgotten their skills 00:35:21.65\00:35:25.05 and when these guys attacked the preacher, 00:35:25.09\00:35:27.46 these army officers from Russia and these KGB, 00:35:27.49\00:35:29.72 they knew exactly what to do 00:35:29.76\00:35:31.19 and they took care of them well. 00:35:31.23\00:35:33.23 But you know 12 nights in a row they attacked. 00:35:33.26\00:35:36.10 We had to take the stairs away from the stage, 00:35:36.13\00:35:39.10 we had to do everything we could to make precautions. 00:35:39.13\00:35:42.60 We would have our music in our meetings, 00:35:42.64\00:35:43.97 things would be fine. 00:35:44.01\00:35:45.34 We have a health, talk, no problems. 00:35:45.37\00:35:46.74 But once I got up to speak, 00:35:46.78\00:35:48.28 they attacked that night after night after night. 00:35:48.31\00:35:53.52 That Mary David Christ had so manipulated these young men 00:35:53.55\00:35:59.02 and they were actually forced and coerced 00:35:59.05\00:36:02.39 into submission to her. 00:36:02.42\00:36:04.53 Cults use force and submission and the devil is a deceiver. 00:36:04.56\00:36:09.76 2 Corinthians 11:14, "No wonder! 00:36:09.80\00:36:13.07 For Satan himself..." 00:36:13.10\00:36:15.00 Now it doesn't come with a big sign on it, 00:36:15.04\00:36:17.11 "Satan himself transforms himself 00:36:17.14\00:36:19.91 into an angel of light." 00:36:19.94\00:36:22.44 So Mary David Christ just like David Koresh, 00:36:22.48\00:36:27.82 just like Marshall Applewhite, just like Jim Jones, 00:36:27.85\00:36:31.35 they all have this veneer, they come as messianic figures, 00:36:31.39\00:36:36.56 they come pretending to be Christ-like beings or figures. 00:36:36.59\00:36:41.63 They come substituting their word 00:36:41.66\00:36:45.17 for the Word of Christ 00:36:45.20\00:36:46.63 and every single one of them will have a method of force. 00:36:46.67\00:36:50.51 When you study, for example, 00:36:50.54\00:36:52.61 what happened in the Waco conflict, 00:36:52.64\00:36:54.74 Waco compound? 00:36:54.78\00:36:56.81 When I interviewed the young man who left. 00:36:56.85\00:36:59.15 He said, he often was beaten if he fell asleep in meetings, 00:36:59.18\00:37:03.35 and often he was coerced 00:37:03.39\00:37:05.15 or forced to listen to David Koresh. 00:37:05.19\00:37:07.42 When you look at Jim Jones' compound, 00:37:07.46\00:37:10.36 he had actual guards, tough men, strong men 00:37:10.39\00:37:13.76 that force people to listen and not go to sleep. 00:37:13.80\00:37:16.50 So here you have that coercion, 00:37:16.53\00:37:18.57 you're going to find that in the last day cult as well. 00:37:18.60\00:37:22.14 Now, how do you identify a cult? 00:37:22.17\00:37:23.84 Here's number four, cults claim to work miracles. 00:37:23.87\00:37:27.24 You see, cults use miracles 00:37:27.28\00:37:29.94 as some kind of test of divinity. 00:37:29.98\00:37:32.71 They use miracles as a basis for what they're doing. 00:37:32.75\00:37:37.12 In Jim Jones' cult, 00:37:37.15\00:37:39.05 I've listened to recordings of some of his sermons 00:37:39.09\00:37:41.89 when he was in San Francisco, 00:37:41.92\00:37:44.49 and he would say, "That sister over there sitting, 00:37:44.53\00:37:47.10 this brother over here. 00:37:47.13\00:37:48.46 Yes, you with the blue shirt there, 00:37:48.50\00:37:50.80 you've got cancer, 00:37:50.83\00:37:52.17 come forward and I'll touch you. 00:37:52.20\00:37:53.60 And you in the wheelchair, wheel her forward, 00:37:53.64\00:37:56.00 and so there's these apparent miracles you say 00:37:56.04\00:37:58.37 but that's evidence, isn't it? 00:37:58.41\00:38:00.08 Look what the Bible says, Revelation 13:13, 14, 00:38:00.11\00:38:04.15 "He performs great signs..." 00:38:04.18\00:38:06.45 That's the antichrist, that's the great cult leader. 00:38:06.48\00:38:08.95 "So that he even makes fire come down from heaven on earth 00:38:08.98\00:38:12.95 in the sight of men." 00:38:12.99\00:38:15.22 Jim Jones claimed that he could work miracles, 00:38:15.26\00:38:18.33 people leaping out of wheelchairs. 00:38:18.36\00:38:19.86 Of course, it was a sham, it was pretence, 00:38:19.89\00:38:22.43 but cults claim that they can work miracles. 00:38:22.46\00:38:26.37 Miracles are never a substitute for the Word of God. 00:38:26.40\00:38:30.51 You say, "How can I be free 00:38:30.54\00:38:33.38 if the deceptions are so subtle? 00:38:33.41\00:38:36.24 How can I be free?" 00:38:36.28\00:38:37.81 Jesus Christ is your only leader. 00:38:37.85\00:38:40.35 As you give your life to Him, you are secure in Christ. 00:38:40.38\00:38:44.85 "There is a man" Isaiah 32:1, 00:38:44.89\00:38:47.89 "there will be a hiding place from the wind." 00:38:47.92\00:38:50.56 A source of refuge from the tempest 00:38:50.59\00:38:53.86 from all the winds of error, 00:38:53.90\00:38:55.66 from all the winds of falsehood, 00:38:55.70\00:38:57.57 from all the winds of apostasy, 00:38:57.60\00:38:59.70 from all the winds of deception, 00:38:59.73\00:39:01.67 there is one that will protect you, 00:39:01.70\00:39:04.87 Jesus is His name. 00:39:04.91\00:39:06.47 The Word of God, "sanctify them through thy truth, 00:39:06.51\00:39:09.91 thy Word is truth." 00:39:09.94\00:39:12.48 John 17:17. 00:39:12.51\00:39:14.22 Psalm 119:105, 00:39:14.25\00:39:16.25 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a" what? 00:39:16.28\00:39:19.72 "Light unto my path." 00:39:19.75\00:39:21.59 Jesus' Word will illuminate your future and Jesus says, 00:39:21.62\00:39:25.53 "Whosoever will, let him take the word of life freely." 00:39:25.56\00:39:28.56 Jesus invites us to come not because we're coerced, 00:39:28.60\00:39:32.30 we are never motivated by fear, only motivated by love. 00:39:32.33\00:39:37.91 How can I be free from deception? 00:39:37.94\00:39:40.71 Beware, beware of the spectacular, 00:39:40.74\00:39:43.95 beware when the spectacular overshadows 00:39:43.98\00:39:47.95 and takes the place of simple biblical truth. 00:39:47.98\00:39:52.32 There are some people that want to go to churches, 00:39:52.35\00:39:54.89 that there is a lot of emotionalism, 00:39:54.92\00:39:57.39 a lot of hallelujahs. 00:39:57.43\00:39:59.19 I'm not against hallelujahs, 00:39:59.23\00:40:00.73 we're to be saying hallelujah when Christ touches our heart. 00:40:00.76\00:40:03.97 But look, when emotional fancy, 00:40:04.00\00:40:07.14 when miracles and the spectacular 00:40:07.17\00:40:10.17 take the place of clear, thoughtful, 00:40:10.21\00:40:13.98 reasonable open hearted study of the Word of God, 00:40:14.01\00:40:18.58 God's Word is the basis of truth. 00:40:18.61\00:40:22.48 Miracles grow out of truth, 00:40:22.52\00:40:25.05 miracles do not substitute for truth. 00:40:25.09\00:40:28.92 Revelation 16:14, 00:40:28.96\00:40:31.19 one of the great deceptions of Satan, 00:40:31.23\00:40:34.30 "For they are the spirits of demons..." 00:40:34.33\00:40:37.63 The spirits of what, everybody? 00:40:37.67\00:40:39.17 "They are the spirits of" what? 00:40:39.20\00:40:40.64 "Demons, performing," what? 00:40:40.67\00:40:42.70 "Signs, wonders, or miracles 00:40:42.74\00:40:45.61 that go out to the kings of the earth 00:40:45.64\00:40:47.74 and of the whole world, 00:40:47.78\00:40:49.24 to gather them to the battle 00:40:49.28\00:40:51.01 of the great day of God Almighty." 00:40:51.05\00:40:53.08 This is the summary of the sixth plague. 00:40:53.11\00:40:57.49 There is famine, there is earthquake, 00:40:57.52\00:41:00.32 there is fire, there is flood, 00:41:00.36\00:41:02.89 there is natural disasters. 00:41:02.92\00:41:04.99 And all over the world this calamity, 00:41:05.03\00:41:07.70 the antichrist power rises. 00:41:07.73\00:41:09.96 He claims that he has authority, 00:41:10.00\00:41:12.43 claims that he can bring world peace, 00:41:12.47\00:41:14.87 substitutes his traditions for the very Word of God, 00:41:14.90\00:41:19.24 and then to top it all off, 00:41:19.27\00:41:22.04 the antichrist begins working miracles. 00:41:22.08\00:41:25.05 The antichrist begins moving in lives 00:41:25.08\00:41:28.82 and begins healing the sick. 00:41:28.85\00:41:32.35 The antichrist begins working in amazing ways 00:41:32.39\00:41:35.49 and what happens? 00:41:35.52\00:41:36.86 Men and women who've turned their backs on God, 00:41:36.89\00:41:40.46 men and women who've turned from the truth of Scripture 00:41:40.50\00:41:43.47 and who've accepted the falsehoods 00:41:43.50\00:41:45.97 in the human teachings. 00:41:46.00\00:41:47.34 Men and women who do not know Jesus Christ, what happens? 00:41:47.37\00:41:50.74 They yield to that deceptive power. 00:41:50.77\00:41:53.44 Now there's a fifth thing about cults 00:41:53.48\00:41:55.81 that we must understand. 00:41:55.84\00:41:57.65 Cults always deny individuality. 00:41:57.68\00:42:00.98 People have to dress the same, eat the same, 00:42:01.02\00:42:03.99 march to the same drummer. 00:42:04.02\00:42:05.65 I thank God that Jesus loves individuality. 00:42:05.69\00:42:10.39 When somebody tries to mould you and shape you, 00:42:10.43\00:42:13.53 force your thinking, 00:42:13.56\00:42:15.43 that is simply to prepare people 00:42:15.46\00:42:17.90 for the last days of earth's history, 00:42:17.93\00:42:20.54 prepare them for the final deception. 00:42:20.57\00:42:23.17 The devil wants people to march in lockstep, 00:42:23.20\00:42:26.57 but Jesus loves variety. 00:42:26.61\00:42:29.11 When the genes and chromosomes came together 00:42:29.14\00:42:31.41 to form the unique biological structure 00:42:31.45\00:42:33.78 of your personality, 00:42:33.82\00:42:35.15 God threw away the pattern. 00:42:35.18\00:42:36.52 There's nobody like you in the universe. 00:42:36.55\00:42:39.09 You cannot photocopy a person 00:42:39.12\00:42:43.16 and produce another human being. 00:42:43.19\00:42:45.26 God does not have some kind of celestial photocopy machine 00:42:45.29\00:42:48.46 who is cranking out people. 00:42:48.50\00:42:50.27 You are you, 00:42:50.30\00:42:51.90 there's nobody like you in the whole universe. 00:42:51.93\00:42:54.67 And God wants your praise, not to be manipulated, 00:42:54.70\00:42:58.54 not to be forced, 00:42:58.57\00:43:00.11 not to be structured by some antichrist power, 00:43:00.14\00:43:03.08 some false cult religious leader 00:43:03.11\00:43:05.75 but Jesus rather. 00:43:05.78\00:43:07.78 He wants you to praise Him from the depths of your heart. 00:43:07.82\00:43:12.15 He loves to have you come to Him just as you are. 00:43:12.19\00:43:15.56 He loves to have you come to Him 00:43:15.59\00:43:17.79 with your own uniqueness of personality. 00:43:17.83\00:43:21.03 You know, Revelation 22:17, 00:43:21.06\00:43:23.80 the Bible comes to an end this way. 00:43:23.83\00:43:25.53 "The Spirit and the bride say, what, "Come! 00:43:25.57\00:43:28.57 And let him who hears say, 'Come!' 00:43:28.60\00:43:31.77 And let him who thirsts come. 00:43:31.81\00:43:34.11 And whoever desires..." 00:43:34.14\00:43:35.91 Not forced, not coerced. 00:43:35.94\00:43:38.38 The devil works with falsehood and force. 00:43:38.41\00:43:42.45 Jesus works with love and choice. 00:43:42.48\00:43:47.09 And choice never can be forced or coerced. 00:43:47.12\00:43:50.39 "Let him who thirsts come. 00:43:50.43\00:43:52.96 And whoever desires, 00:43:52.99\00:43:54.33 let him take the water of life freely." 00:43:54.36\00:43:58.80 Jesus has given you freedom of choice. 00:43:58.83\00:44:01.04 Who will you follow? 00:44:01.07\00:44:02.64 See the Book of Revelation is all about choice. 00:44:02.67\00:44:05.67 It's all about who we follow. 00:44:05.71\00:44:07.74 A rebel angel rebelled against God in heaven. 00:44:07.78\00:44:11.61 A rebel angel deceived Adam and Eve on earth. 00:44:11.65\00:44:14.95 A rebel angel has deceived men and women 00:44:14.98\00:44:17.09 down through the centuries 00:44:17.12\00:44:18.75 and in the last days of earth's history, 00:44:18.79\00:44:20.56 there is no middle ground, who will you choose to follow? 00:44:20.59\00:44:25.53 Who is your savior? 00:44:25.56\00:44:27.50 Who is your Lord? 00:44:27.53\00:44:29.03 Will you allow any human being to substitute for Jesus Christ? 00:44:29.06\00:44:33.23 Will you allow the teachings of men 00:44:33.27\00:44:34.97 to substitute for the Word of God? 00:44:35.00\00:44:37.57 Will you fall for spectacular miracles 00:44:37.61\00:44:41.14 when they're contrary to God's Word? 00:44:41.18\00:44:45.11 Will you mark, march in lockstep with the majority? 00:44:45.15\00:44:50.59 You see the majority in Christ's day 00:44:50.62\00:44:54.22 try to crucify Christ. 00:44:54.26\00:44:56.96 Think about Noah's day. 00:44:56.99\00:44:58.36 The majority didn't go into the ark. 00:44:58.39\00:45:01.16 In the last days of earth's history, 00:45:01.20\00:45:03.53 the devil will marshal the majority. 00:45:03.57\00:45:07.34 God invites you to stand out for Him. 00:45:07.37\00:45:12.54 He invites you to be willing to be 00:45:12.57\00:45:14.84 one of the tens of thousands around the world 00:45:14.88\00:45:18.98 that do not compromise your integrity 00:45:19.01\00:45:22.02 but stand for Christ. 00:45:22.05\00:45:24.12 The scientists, a number of years ago, 00:45:24.15\00:45:28.99 wanted to do an experiment with caterpillars. 00:45:29.02\00:45:32.46 And this particular caterpillar 00:45:32.49\00:45:34.90 was a caterpillar that was a herd caterpillar. 00:45:34.93\00:45:38.60 The caterpillar would always follow its leader. 00:45:38.63\00:45:43.51 And the caterpillar would follow its leader to death, 00:45:43.54\00:45:48.21 but this particular caterpillar 00:45:48.24\00:45:49.91 survived on a special kind of plant, 00:45:49.94\00:45:53.82 and so the researchers wanted to find out, 00:45:53.85\00:45:57.45 is the caterpillar's drive to eat 00:45:57.49\00:46:00.26 greater than the caterpillar's drive to follow its leader? 00:46:00.29\00:46:03.79 So this is what they did. 00:46:03.83\00:46:05.16 They took this plant that the caterpillar would eat 00:46:05.19\00:46:08.76 in his favorite plant 00:46:08.80\00:46:10.27 and they planted it in a pot 00:46:10.30\00:46:12.43 and then they took caterpillars 00:46:12.47\00:46:14.60 and they put them around a circle in the pot. 00:46:14.64\00:46:17.84 So on the edge of this pot, 00:46:17.87\00:46:19.74 you can imagine lined up with all these caterpillars, 00:46:19.77\00:46:23.24 and they kept going round and round and round 00:46:23.28\00:46:26.08 on the edge of the pot. 00:46:26.11\00:46:27.45 Now their plant that would enable them to survive 00:46:27.48\00:46:31.32 was right there in the center of the pot. 00:46:31.35\00:46:35.32 But they kept going round following the leader, 00:46:35.36\00:46:37.06 round following the leader, round following the leader, 00:46:37.09\00:46:39.79 they kept circling. 00:46:39.83\00:46:41.56 One after the other of these caterpillars 00:46:41.60\00:46:45.60 began to fall over dead as the days went on. 00:46:45.63\00:46:49.80 They would not break ranks. 00:46:49.84\00:46:53.98 They were so fixated on following that leader 00:46:54.01\00:46:58.38 that when life was right before them to eat, 00:46:58.41\00:47:01.15 they wouldn't take it. 00:47:01.18\00:47:02.62 You are not a caterpillar, friend. 00:47:02.65\00:47:05.59 Life is there in the hands of Christ, 00:47:05.62\00:47:09.29 and to follow a human leader 00:47:09.32\00:47:12.39 contrary to the word of the living God 00:47:12.43\00:47:15.26 only leads to death. 00:47:15.30\00:47:17.07 The Bible says, Romans 14:12, 00:47:17.10\00:47:20.14 "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God." 00:47:20.17\00:47:24.24 Before the judgment power of God, 00:47:24.27\00:47:25.61 God's not gonna say, what does your father do? 00:47:25.64\00:47:27.24 What does your mother do? 00:47:27.28\00:47:28.61 What did your priest tell you to do? 00:47:28.64\00:47:29.98 What did your rabbi tell you do? 00:47:30.01\00:47:31.35 What did your pastor tell you to do? 00:47:31.38\00:47:32.71 So every one of us must give account of himself to God. 00:47:32.75\00:47:36.38 You become vulnerable to cult deceptions 00:47:36.42\00:47:38.79 when you look to any human authority 00:47:38.82\00:47:41.46 rather than Christ. 00:47:41.49\00:47:42.82 You become vulnerable to cult deceptions 00:47:42.86\00:47:45.83 when you accept the teachings of tradition 00:47:45.86\00:47:48.16 rather than the Word of God. 00:47:48.20\00:47:50.50 Jesus is appealing to you right now to follow His Word. 00:47:50.53\00:47:55.00 When you're awed by spectacular miracles, 00:47:55.04\00:47:58.11 you become vulnerable to cult deceptions. 00:47:58.14\00:48:02.24 When you fail to live by your personal convictions, 00:48:02.28\00:48:05.41 when God moves on your heart 00:48:05.45\00:48:07.55 and you do not step forward or step out to follow Him 00:48:07.58\00:48:11.05 because you're influenced by others, 00:48:11.09\00:48:13.52 you become vulnerable to cult deceptions. 00:48:13.56\00:48:15.99 Jesus says to you, He speaks to you, 00:48:16.02\00:48:19.76 "Come to Me, all you that are heavy laden in labor 00:48:19.79\00:48:22.76 and I will give you rest." 00:48:22.80\00:48:24.87 Jesus appeals to you right now to stand in Christ 00:48:24.90\00:48:29.14 and Christ alone. 00:48:29.17\00:48:30.64 In Christ alone I take my stand, 00:48:30.67\00:48:33.84 in Christ alone I make my decision. 00:48:33.88\00:48:37.88 Listen as Yvonne comes to sing, "In Christ and Christ alone". 00:48:37.91\00:48:43.18 Let the Spirit of God touch your heart. 00:48:43.22\00:48:45.99 Why not make your decision that you will follow Jesus 00:48:46.02\00:48:49.76 and Christ and Christ alone will be your leader, 00:48:49.79\00:48:53.19 your guide, your savior. 00:48:53.23\00:48:54.56 In Christ alone my hope is found 00:49:12.88\00:49:18.59 He is my light, my strength, my song 00:49:18.62\00:49:23.43 This Cornerstone, this solid ground 00:49:23.46\00:49:28.93 Firm through the fiercest drought and storm 00:49:28.96\00:49:33.80 What heights of love, what depths of peace 00:49:33.84\00:49:39.31 When fears are stilled, when strivings cease 00:49:39.34\00:49:44.71 My Comforter, my All in All 00:49:44.75\00:49:49.82 Here in the love of Christ I stand 00:49:49.85\00:49:55.59 In Christ alone, who took on flesh 00:50:02.60\00:50:07.97 Fullness of God in helpless babe 00:50:08.00\00:50:12.97 This gift of love and righteousness 00:50:13.01\00:50:18.65 Scorned by the ones He came to save 00:50:18.68\00:50:23.49 'Til on that cross as Jesus died 00:50:23.52\00:50:28.82 The wrath of God was satisfied 00:50:28.86\00:50:34.00 For every sin on Him was laid 00:50:34.03\00:50:39.30 Here in the death of Christ I live 00:50:39.33\00:50:45.71 Oh, there in the ground His body lay 00:51:03.43\00:51:10.70 Light of the world by darkness slain 00:51:10.73\00:51:15.37 Then bursting forth in glorious Day 00:51:15.40\00:51:21.14 Up from the grave He rose again 00:51:21.18\00:51:25.91 And as He stands in victory 00:51:25.95\00:51:30.89 Sin's curse has lost its grip on me 00:51:30.92\00:51:36.36 For I am His and He is mine 00:51:36.39\00:51:41.83 Bought with the precious blood of Christ 00:51:41.86\00:51:48.40 No guilt in life, no fear in death 00:51:54.68\00:52:00.55 This is the power of Christ in me 00:52:00.58\00:52:05.55 From life's first cry to final breath 00:52:05.59\00:52:10.96 Jesus commands my destiny 00:52:10.99\00:52:15.60 No power of hell, no scheme of man 00:52:15.63\00:52:20.94 Can ever pluck me from His hand 00:52:20.97\00:52:28.78 Till He returns to take me home 00:52:28.81\00:52:34.18 Here in the power of Christ I'll stand 00:52:34.22\00:52:38.92 No power of hell, no scheme of man 00:52:38.95\00:52:44.49 Can never pluck me 00:52:44.53\00:52:47.50 From His hand 00:52:47.53\00:52:54.74 Here in the power 00:52:54.77\00:52:57.54 Of Christ 00:52:57.57\00:53:03.28 I'll stand 00:53:03.31\00:53:08.68 Here in the power of Christ I stand. 00:53:13.59\00:53:18.43 I was only 17 years old. 00:53:18.46\00:53:22.56 I knew little about the kingdom of God, 00:53:22.60\00:53:26.07 little about the Bible, little about Jesus. 00:53:26.10\00:53:30.11 I was brought up in a religious home. 00:53:30.14\00:53:33.17 My parents helped me to understand 00:53:33.21\00:53:36.44 the basic principles of righteousness and morality. 00:53:36.48\00:53:40.08 My father had become a Sabbath keeping Adventist, 00:53:40.12\00:53:44.29 but I was attending the Catholic Church 00:53:44.32\00:53:48.02 and although I learned 00:53:48.06\00:53:49.39 the basic principles of morality, 00:53:49.42\00:53:52.33 although I learned the basic principles of righteousness, 00:53:52.36\00:53:55.76 honesty, integrity, and I thank God for that. 00:53:55.80\00:53:59.53 I never really understood the Bible, 00:53:59.57\00:54:02.00 never made a complete decision to follow Christ. 00:54:02.04\00:54:06.17 I really listened to the priests 00:54:06.21\00:54:07.91 as my source of religious authority. 00:54:07.94\00:54:11.65 But then when I was about 17, 00:54:11.68\00:54:15.38 my father who had recently become 00:54:15.42\00:54:18.19 a committed Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 00:54:18.22\00:54:21.36 began sharing Jesus with me. 00:54:21.39\00:54:23.79 And I began to see that in Christ alone 00:54:23.83\00:54:27.60 I had a leader, a ruler, one of authority. 00:54:27.63\00:54:31.07 I began to see in my own life that in Christ alone, 00:54:31.10\00:54:34.70 I could have one that would forgive me, 00:54:34.74\00:54:37.04 one that could accept me, one that would change me. 00:54:37.07\00:54:41.18 I began to study His Word, 00:54:41.21\00:54:43.58 and I found in His Word the source of strength, 00:54:43.61\00:54:46.92 the source of authority. 00:54:46.95\00:54:49.32 It was not easy to step out for Jesus Christ, 00:54:49.35\00:54:54.32 to step out from friends, 00:54:54.36\00:54:56.73 to step out from some family members. 00:54:56.76\00:54:59.69 You know, when we make a decision for Christ, 00:54:59.73\00:55:02.66 it's not always the easiest thing in our life. 00:55:02.70\00:55:06.03 Sometimes there are struggles, 00:55:06.07\00:55:08.47 and as you have watched this telecast, 00:55:08.50\00:55:10.84 you may sense the Holy Spirit working in your life. 00:55:10.87\00:55:13.71 You may sense God leading you 00:55:13.74\00:55:16.28 to make the most important decision of your life, 00:55:16.31\00:55:20.12 to cast aside tradition, 00:55:20.15\00:55:22.75 to cast aside those teachings 00:55:22.78\00:55:27.26 that are not in harmony with the Word of God. 00:55:27.29\00:55:29.92 God may be calling you to make a step in your life, 00:55:29.96\00:55:34.50 not to have a priest, a prelate, a pastor, 00:55:34.53\00:55:40.47 or any other religious leader 00:55:40.50\00:55:42.30 as the sole religious authority in your life. 00:55:42.34\00:55:46.94 He may be calling you right now and is calling you 00:55:46.98\00:55:50.45 to make Jesus and Jesus alone your savior, 00:55:50.48\00:55:54.95 to make Christ Word 00:55:54.98\00:55:56.55 as the source of your authority. 00:55:56.58\00:55:59.62 He is calling you to make that positive choice 00:55:59.65\00:56:03.56 to follow Jesus now and forever 00:56:03.59\00:56:06.26 and to live in harmony with His Word. 00:56:06.29\00:56:08.43 Would you like to make that choice right now? 00:56:08.46\00:56:10.83 Would you like to say, Jesus, I don't want to be deceived 00:56:10.87\00:56:14.07 by a mastermind cult at the end. 00:56:14.10\00:56:16.77 Christ is preparing a people now 00:56:16.81\00:56:20.14 who step out of the majority and stand for Him. 00:56:20.18\00:56:24.25 Would you say, Jesus, I choose You today. 00:56:24.28\00:56:28.55 I choose Your teachings today. 00:56:28.58\00:56:30.72 I choose Your Word today. 00:56:30.75\00:56:33.29 By Your grace and through Your power, I'll stand for you. 00:56:33.32\00:56:35.46 Do you like to make that decision as we pray? 00:56:35.49\00:56:37.53 Father in heaven, thank You for the call 00:56:37.56\00:56:42.80 to step out of falsehood, 00:56:42.83\00:56:45.13 thank You for the call of Jesus 00:56:45.17\00:56:47.34 to make Christ number one in our lives, 00:56:47.37\00:56:49.97 the sole source of our authority. 00:56:50.01\00:56:51.84 Thank You for Your Word 00:56:51.87\00:56:53.21 which is light on the road ahead 00:56:53.24\00:56:55.18 that dispels darkness and falsehoods. 00:56:55.21\00:56:58.45 Father, we open our hearts to You right now. 00:56:58.48\00:57:01.35 I pray for that man, that woman 00:57:01.38\00:57:02.98 on the verge of decision. 00:57:03.02\00:57:04.55 I pray for that man, that woman 00:57:04.59\00:57:06.29 right now in that valley, 00:57:06.32\00:57:08.59 trying to choose which way to go 00:57:08.62\00:57:10.26 at the crossroads of their life. 00:57:10.29\00:57:12.03 Touch them right now, 00:57:12.06\00:57:13.86 may they make that full decision to follow Jesus 00:57:13.90\00:57:19.07 and His Word now and forever more until eternity comes 00:57:19.10\00:57:23.00 and Christ returns, 00:57:23.04\00:57:24.41 in His name we pray, amen. 00:57:24.44\00:57:27.48 Thank you for joining us 00:57:27.51\00:57:28.84 on Revelation's Ancient Discoveries. 00:57:28.88\00:57:31.58