Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190008A
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00:31 Hello friends, welcome to our 3ABN Sabbath School Panel
00:34 as we continue our trek through the exciting Book of Revelation. 00:40 Can I get an Amen? Amen! 00:41 I do that, that's kind of my signature, 00:43 I like Amens, they mean something. 00:45 Don't they Pastor Kenny? They do! A lot! 00:46 You know, they said - if you want to get a preacher... 00:48 saying "Amen" to a preacher is like saying, "Sic 'em to a dog." 00:52 That's right! But today, we're going to 00:54 dive into another exciting component of Revelation, 00:57 this is lesson 8: "Satan, a Defeated Enemy" 01:02 He has already lost, but there's 01:04 another component to his madness. 01:05 We're going to talk about that today. 01:07 If you'd like a copy of the lesson, you can go to the 01:09 following website: ABSG.Adventist.org 01:13 download "The Book of Revelation," 01:16 a wonderful treatise done by Dr. Ranko Stefanovic, 01:20 and, I tell you, it's been exciting to see that there's a 01:23 unity coming together through this lesson... 01:26 and what an appropriate time for the Church of God 01:29 that has a powerful message for the end times, 01:33 to get back to the crux of 01:35 telling the world how the story ends. Amen! 01:38 But we want to also say, on that very note, we don't 01:40 want to pretend that we know EVERYTHING about Revelation. 01:43 It is like an artichoke, there are some things that are still 01:46 to become clearer but I appreciate our 01:50 "Biblical Research Institute" and the diligent work that 01:52 they do to keep the church unified on the things that 01:55 God has made very clear to us. 01:57 And we're going to go on to that today, but good to have you 02:00 here Pastor Kenny... Good to be here, thank you. 02:02 Shelley, you look sharp today; thank you! 02:05 And Ryan, I tell you... he's our singer in Zion, 02:09 and he wakes up singing, but today you're going to 02:11 preach instead. Preach the word, brother! 02:14 And Jill, always good to have you. Thank you. 02:16 I appreciate your approach; every time Jill does a 02:18 presentation, I'm over here writing down... 02:21 Five ways to let you know... Seven ways... 02:23 Nine ways... and she's always got that chronology 02:26 that really makes - for pastors we kind of want to 02:28 take her notes to preach our next sermon, 02:31 and I appreciate that - I've done that 02:32 a few times, taking pictures of her notes. 02:34 But this is going to be a wonderful time and we want to 02:37 ask for the Lord's leading and guiding 02:39 as we study the word of God together, 02:41 so, Jill, would you pray for us? Absolutely! 02:43 Holy Father... We come before You in the name of Jesus, 02:46 and we just thank You for the privilege of opening up 02:49 Your word of studying together here on the panel, 02:52 and with our brothers and sisters at home. 02:54 We ask for the outpouring of Your Holy Spirit, 02:58 and that You would open up our minds and hearts to receive 03:01 the truth You have for us today. In Jesus name... Amen, Amen! 03:07 I'm going to begin with Sunday, but our memory text comes from 03:11 Revelation 12:11, and it reads as follows... "And they overcame 03:17 him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their 03:21 testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." 03:25 We cannot overcome any other way, 03:27 but by the blood of the Lamb. Amen! 03:29 And so when we talk about Revelation and we talk about 03:31 this book, this tremendous book, we want to keep Jesus 03:34 central; He is the Alpha and the Omega but He's also 03:38 the Center - He is the Head of the church. 03:41 We don't want Him to get lost in the symbolism of the book, 03:44 while each of the symbolistic components have a powerful 03:48 message behind them, Jesus is the central focus 03:52 in the theme of the Book of Revelation. 03:54 And, you know, we begin with just the overview of Revelation. 03:58 Revelation is the end of the Great Controversy. 04:01 This controversy began in heaven. 04:05 The Bible makes it very clear that Lucifer was perfect 04:08 in all the ways he was created until iniquity was found in him. 04:12 And that, in and of itself, is a mystery of iniquity, 04:16 but as I studied the Bible, I came to discover 04:19 when the Bible uses the word "mystery," it doesn't 04:21 mean "remain hidden," it just means 04:24 "hidden to that particular point." 04:26 The mystery of godliness was hidden for many ages, 04:29 but in the New Testament, the Lord unfolded that 04:31 beautifully to the New Testament Church... 04:33 And Revelation was a book that, for some time, people 04:35 didn't understand - not because it was a closed book, 04:39 but because they didn't have the knowledge necessary 04:43 and the Bible says, "As we live in the end, Daniel 12, 04:46 "Knowledge shall increase." 04:48 And so we know now, today, not because more information 04:52 has been made available, but the Lord in His 04:56 love for humanity, He only unveils what is needed 05:01 at that particular time. 05:04 He lets us know the time is at hand and so when the 05:07 time is at hand, He reveals the understanding. 05:10 Amos 3:7... "Surely the Lord God does nothing 05:13 except He reveals His secrets to His servants, the prophets." 05:15 And the word of God is denoted as a light that shines 05:18 more and more unto the perfect day. Amen! 05:20 So the light is continuing to increase, but we dive into the 05:24 setting that Revelation gives us the big picture 05:28 behind the final crisis of world history. 05:31 It is so good to know we're living in the seventh church. 05:35 The next church is the Church Triumphant! Yes, Amen! 05:37 We're living in the fourth beast of Daniel 7, 05:41 the fourth component of the image of Daniel 2. 05:45 We're living in the second beast of Revelation 13, 05:48 and so after that, the only thing that we look 05:51 forward to is the victorious kingdom of God, 05:54 as Revelation 11 says, "The kingdoms of this world 05:57 will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of our Christ. 06:00 And Isaiah says that and He shall reign forever 06:02 and ever. Amen. Halleluiah! 06:03 But the devil... let's go to Revelation 16, I want to 06:06 give you this component behind-the-scene look 06:08 because the controversy began in heaven; the devil lost, 06:14 he did not prevail, he was cast to the earth. 06:16 And in the Garden of Eden, he mounted the second attack. 06:19 The first one didn't work, he mounted the second attack 06:22 which, in fact, Revelation takes us to the overreaching 06:25 picture of the second attack. 06:27 But there's going to be one more attack... Revelation 16. 06:31 "He knows he has a short time, Revelation 12:12, 06:33 He knows he has a short time but look at 06:35 Revelation 16:13, Satan's final hurrah, if I could use that 06:41 phrase, it's the battle of Armageddon, 06:43 "Armageddon." 06:45 Revelation 16:13, the Bible reveals here the final 06:48 component what the devil is attempting to do because 06:50 he knows he can't win. 06:52 Verse 13... "And I saw three unclean spirits, 06:55 like frogs, coming out of the mouth of the...? 06:57 dragon, out of the mouth of the...? 07:00 Beast and out of the mouth of the...? False prophet 07:03 Clearly, the dragon, Satan or spiritualism. 07:07 The beast talked about here is Catholicism. Right. 07:10 And the false prophet here is apostate Protestantism. 07:14 Protestants were to be the ones to hold the rein, 07:18 to keep biblical and scriptural integrity. 07:20 But they have departed from the "Thus saith the Lord," 07:23 and have given themselves to tradition and extra biblical 07:26 resources that have no bearing on what the word of God says. 07:30 So when Protestantism no longer holds to the creed of 07:33 Protestantism, "Sola Scriptura," the Bible and the Bible only, 07:36 they become apostate and they build a bridge, 07:39 and you'll see that bridge we talked about 07:40 in the lesson as we go on. 07:42 But quickly, verse 14, speaking about what the devil 07:45 is going to do... "For they are the spirits of demons 07:47 performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth, 07:49 and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that 07:52 great day of God Almighty and verse 16 calls it, 07:55 "The battle of Armageddon." 07:56 That's the place called in Hebrews. 07:58 But go to Revelation 12:1, let's look at the 08:01 setting here because this is, in fact, I could refer to as 08:05 a waltz... a waltz through the big picture from 08:09 who is the focus; who doesn't like the fact that 08:14 who is the focus; what he does to try to change the focus, 08:18 and when he can't change the focus, what he tries 08:21 to do while God is preserving His people and then 08:24 he goes and says, "Uhhh, I'm angry with the woman," 08:28 and the question is, "Why is he angry?" 08:29 Let's look at the focus... 08:30 Revelation 12:1... "Now a great sign appeared in heaven; 08:34 a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, 08:37 and on her head a crown or garland of twelve stars." 08:40 Twelve is the kingdom number; 12 disciples, 12 apostles, 08:44 12 tribes, 12 gates, 12 foundations, the name of the 08:49 12 disciples... it's the number of the kingdom. 08:52 And so the woman is given here and, by the way, 08:55 the woman has no glory of her own because Malachi 4 08:59 refers to Jesus as the "S-u-n" of righteousness. 09:03 So she is reflecting His glory; the church is a reflection of 09:07 the glory of Christ. 09:09 We have no glory of our own. 09:11 But the Bible says, "Then being with child, (verse 2), 09:13 she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth." 09:16 When you read this verse, you'll discover... 09:18 it goes on further in verse 5, "And she bore a male Child... 09:23 Well actually, verse 4; speaking about the devil, 09:26 well, verse 3... "And another sign appeared in heaven; 09:29 and behold a great fiery red dragon having seven heads 09:32 and ten horns and seven diadems (or crowns) 09:34 on his heads." A description of Satan once again... 09:37 We'll talk about the seven heads in a moment. 09:39 "His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven, 09:41 and threw them to the earth. 09:42 And the dragon stood before the woman who was 09:44 ready to give birth, to devour her Child 09:47 as soon as it was born." 09:49 Once again, a peek into what happened when Jesus 09:52 was being born and the edict sent out by 09:56 the Roman governor to kill all 09:59 children 2 years old and under in an attempt 10:04 to defeat the baby Jesus. 10:06 But you know, Jesus had more secret service 10:09 than Donald Trump and the Lord hid Him. 10:13 He couldn't defeat Him, so that Child was born 10:16 and the verse says, in verse 5, 10:20 "And she bore a male Child who was to rule all nations 10:24 with a rod of iron and her Child 10:25 was caught up to God and to His throne." 10:27 That's at the end of His ministry. 10:29 But, now it goes on to this dragon who doesn't like 10:32 the Child of the woman, so he now goes after the woman, 10:36 so what does she have to do? 10:37 The woman fled into the wilderness; verse 5, where she 10:40 had a place prepared by God that He should feed her there 10:44 or they should feed her there. 10:45 How long? 1,260 days. 10:48 During the time of persecution during the Dark Ages, 10:51 the Lord preserved His church during that time. 10:54 And the Bible goes on further to say, in verse 13, 10:58 I want to just give you an interlude there... 11:00 in verse 13 which continues the picture in verse 6. 11:06 "Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, 11:10 He persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child, 11:14 but the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, 11:17 that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, 11:20 where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, 11:23 from the presence of the serpent." 11:25 Once again, 1,260 days. 11:28 The church looked as though it was about to be extinguished, 11:31 but God had a plan and we're going to see what 11:34 that plan is as we go on further. 11:37 But now, the Reformation which happened during that 1,260 year 11:42 period - the devil tried to wash even the Reformation away. 11:45 That's what the very next verse talks about. 11:47 Verse 15... "So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth 11:50 like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her 11:54 to be carried away by the flood." 11:56 Water in the Bible, Revelation 17:15 means "people 12:00 or multitudes and nations." 12:01 The devil created a counter-Reformation and 12:05 people in the category of art and music and science, 12:08 and philosophy - the Roman Church began a movement 12:11 to distract from the Reformation and was called 12:15 the counter-Reformation. 12:16 But the Lord, once again, knew that He had to give 12:21 the woman an opportunity to survive... 12:24 and so He raised up another nation. 12:26 It says here in verse 16... "But the earth helped 12:30 the woman and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed 12:33 up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth." 12:37 So we'll talk about that nation... I'm not going to... 12:40 As-a-matter-of-fact, that's another lesson coming up 12:43 in, I think, a week or two, we're going to talk about 12:46 the nation that God raised up to swallow up the flood 12:50 that the dragon spewed out of his mouth after the woman. 12:53 The Lord gave her a safe haven. Amen! Yes. 12:57 And praise God for that, we have a safe haven. 13:00 And the reason why the Lord established the safe haven 13:03 is because the devil continually... he knows he has 13:06 a short time Pastor Kenny. 13:07 He knows his time is winding down. 13:10 Since he knows his time is short, he has now taken on 13:13 the role from wanting to be like the Most High, 13:16 he is now taking on the attitude of a kamikaze. 13:19 "I'm just going to bring down with me whomever I can, 13:23 I'm going to bring them down." 13:24 But here is his final attitude... 13:27 Revelation 12:17... "And the dragon, (Revelation 12:9 13:31 refers to him as Satan, the serpent of old) was enraged 13:34 (or angry) with the woman, and he went to make war 13:38 with the remnant of her seed, (or the rest of her offspring... 13:41 who are they?), who keep the commandments of God 13:43 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 13:45 Let me segue by saying this... 13:47 When Christians and Satan agree, we are having a difficult time.. 13:54 Christians today are taught the commandments of God 13:57 are no long necessary and they have joined Satan 14:00 in his attempt to get rid of the commandment-keeping 14:04 church... Pastor Kenny, take us to the next level. 14:08 Well-covered, thank you for that. 14:10 You know I always like a good foundation, 14:12 and then each one can contribute beyond that. 14:15 Mine is Monday: "Satan Cast Down to the Earth" 14:19 Just to read that... I don't want to say this in a bad way, 14:22 it kind of brings joy to my heart, in a sense, 14:25 because we realize that's in the progression 14:27 of the fall of coming down here 14:29 and then a final end to the enemy. 14:31 But I found something very interesting and I'm just 14:33 going to read Scripture here first, so you have your 14:35 Bible, go to Revelation 12, I'm going to read verses 7-9. 14:39 This will establish what we're talking about here. 14:42 Starting with verse 7, Revelation 12... "And there was 14:45 war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the 14:49 dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 14:51 And prevailed not; neither was there place found 14:55 anymore in heaven. 14:57 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 15:00 called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; 15:04 he was cast out into the earth, 15:06 and his angels were cast out with him." 15:10 Very clear Scripture here. 15:12 I found something in "Early Writings," 15:14 I love "Spirit of Prophecy," I'm not ashamed of it. 15:16 I think it's good, you know, the Bible's here, 15:18 I find that to read the Bible passages and 15:21 Scriptures are good and then we have the "Spirit of Prophecy" 15:23 that backs it up - I love that! 15:25 But in "Early Writings," p. 178, says this - for the sins 15:29 because we're talking about getting rid of the enemy. 15:31 The time will come when we'll get rid of the enemy 15:33 and there is a price to pay for being the enemy. 15:36 And notice how she puts it here... "For the sins of those 15:39 who are redeemed by the blood of Christ, 15:41 will at last be rolled back upon the originator of sin. 15:47 He must bear their punishment, while those 15:51 who do not accept salvation through Jesus will suffer the 15:55 penalty of their own sin. 15:57 There's a time and it's come to an end. 16:00 But the enemy is going to have to pay, notice this 16:02 right here... as a way for not accepting Jesus Christ. 16:05 I found some other things I thought interesting. 16:06 I just wonder, when you think about this thing called "sin." 16:10 Now jot it down, it says... "It's impossible 16:12 to explain the origin of sin." 16:14 I don't know if you can do that or not. 16:15 If anybody can really explain the origin of sin, you know, 16:18 how it originated, what really happened here... 16:21 so as to give a reason for its existence. 16:24 Yet enough of it is known to see that justice and the love 16:28 of God. Isn't that wonderful? 16:30 And dealing with evil... 16:32 so we can see, you know, it's not all been revealed 16:35 to us - there's things that we know but it's not all been 16:38 revealed about the sin issue. 16:40 God knows and one of these days, it will be revealed to us. 16:44 For sure, God is not responsible for sin. 16:48 Even though we're talking about putting an end, Satan is cast 16:51 down, the wicked is going to be destroyed; God is not 16:54 responsible in any form or fashion. 16:56 Nothing that He did - that He created that would cause this. 17:01 There's nothing that He did that would cause this issue, 17:05 and there's nothing in His government that would 17:09 cause this rebellion. 17:11 And so, but still yet, what did Satan... you know. 17:14 He decided, he made his own choice, 17:17 but no reason then can be given, if you think about it, 17:19 if we make excuses. 17:21 I've heard people make excuses... have you? 17:23 I've heard people make excuses for when they talk about sin. 17:27 This simply defending it... think about it. 17:29 If you could defend it and make excuses for it, 17:33 it would cease to be sin. 17:36 That makes sense, doesn't it? 17:37 If you can excuse it, make excuses for it, 17:40 then it ceases to be sin. 17:42 And the only definition that I know of in the word of God 17:46 for transgression of His laws is 1 John 3:4... 17:50 "Sin is the transgression of God's law." 17:55 So that's where we come through, right here, 17:57 sin is the transgression of God's law. 18:00 And we think about that war, to me - I jotted it down, 18:03 war is just a bad thing, war period. 18:05 But it actually started where...? In heaven. 18:08 It actually started in heaven, is what it says. 18:10 The conflict between Christ and the enemy; 18:12 between good and evil; between Michael and His 18:16 angels and the enemy and his angels. 18:18 War started and then talk about the "Great Controversy" 18:21 between Christ and Satan. 18:23 It's still going on and it will continue on until 18:26 God says that's enough, He's going to put an end to it. 18:29 I talked to people who supposedly say they can 18:34 identify when the war started in heaven... 18:36 so you meet all kinds of people. 18:38 I don't find that anywhere. 18:40 But for just for sure about it, and a lot of discussion 18:42 goes on about it, the Bible simply says... 18:44 "Well, there can't be war in heaven." 18:46 Have you talked to anyone like that? 18:48 "Now there's no such thing as war being in heaven." 18:49 "The Bible says," it's just that simple. 18:51 "The Bible says," the Greek is simple when it's translated. 18:55 It says, "There was war in heaven." 18:58 Let's just by faith, just take that. 19:00 The main point of Revelation 12 is the enemy was defeated; 19:04 he's cast out; he's cast down with his angels. 19:09 But notice in that casting out, in Revelation 12:12, it says... 19:14 But there's a woe given to the earth. 19:15 If he is cast out of heaven, the heaven is rejoicing. 19:18 I mean, think about it... heaven rejoiced because 19:21 he was cast out - because he was meddling with a lot of 19:24 things he shouldn't have been meddling with. 19:25 He decided he'd come down here and meddle with some things 19:27 that he thought he could get away with. 19:29 And so as he came down to the earth... 19:31 you notice the Bible says... That a woe was 19:33 given to the earth because the enemy is mad. 19:36 Pastor John mentioned... he said, "Now I think 19:38 the enemy knows his time is short... 19:40 And if you know your time is short, you're going to do 19:42 all that you can. 19:43 I don't want to say if you're playing basketball or doing 19:45 something like that, you look at the clock and if you're 19:47 a little bit behind, you play a little bit 19:49 harder to try to get ahead. 19:51 The enemy is behind, he knows he's behind. 19:55 He knows he's defeated and he's doing all he can to 19:57 try to make up the difference here. 20:00 But if you think about it, people say... "Aw, you said 20:02 that ever since everybody said, "Aw, his time is short." 20:04 Think with me about this... 20:07 His time is short as we compare it with the few thousand years 20:11 that he has to do what he's doing with all eternity. 20:15 Now, that would be pretty short, wouldn't it? 20:17 A few thousand years with all eternity, that's pretty short. 20:20 Romans 9:28 says, talking about God, "He will finish 20:24 this work and what will He do? Cut it short. 20:26 He said He's going to cut it short in righteousness sake 20:30 because short work will He make upon the earth." 20:33 Aren't you glad about that? Amen! 20:35 Time's coming, it's getting bad. 20:37 God said, "I'm going to put an end to it." 20:39 I'm so thankful for that! 20:40 We know the enemy was expelled from heaven, 20:43 we do know that for sure because he rebelled against 20:45 God's government and he said he wanted to be 20:48 what? Just as you mentioned... ... even 20:50 Isaiah talked about in 14; he wanted to be like the 20:52 the Most High. 20:54 He wanted to sit in God's seat. 20:55 There are many people who do that today when you 20:57 look at Scripture and you misquote and maybe 21:00 not on purpose but you believe something different 21:02 than what God's word teaches. 21:04 It's like we reach and we try to get God and we set Him 21:06 over here and we get in His chair. 21:08 Think about that! 21:09 In other words, we know more than God. 21:11 That's what some people are saying here... 21:13 And that's Adam and Eve... we realize he was cast 21:16 down to this earth; he was deceived. 21:18 Adam and Eve were deceived. 21:20 I like to think about they were also defeated. 21:23 But also it's noticed in the Scripture we just read 21:26 that Satan deceives the whole world. 21:28 There's only a little small group that's not going to be 21:30 deceived - that's how good he is at his job! 21:33 But God knows this and He said there's going to be a time 21:35 he is going to be expelled from heaven. 21:37 He says, I've come down; they were in charge of 21:40 this world; I defeated them and now the world is mine. 21:44 I'll do what I want with this world. 21:46 And, you know, if you really think about this, 21:49 he even said, you know what, when God's council met 21:52 together... the enemy said what? 21:54 I can come there because the earth is mind and, therefore, 21:57 I can join in at the council, and we know as we read 22:00 Job 1:6-12; in fact, Job 1:6 says... "Now there was a 22:05 day when the sons of God came to present themselves 22:08 before the Lord, and Satan came along with them." 22:11 So we see, he felt that he had... what? 22:13 He had a right - he had a right to be there because 22:16 he was a rightful ruler. 22:19 This verse can cause some speculation - it need not be 22:21 in the read Scripture here. 22:23 Now remember, when I say this here in the last couple of 22:25 minutes, we're not addressing, and I jotted down Genesis 6:2, 22:30 when it's talking about the sons of God saw the 22:32 daughters of men..." 22:34 In the lexicon, translates "the sons of God," 22:38 as meaning "angels of God." 22:41 "Desire of Ages," p. 834, says, "There is the throne 22:47 and around it, the rainbow of promise. 22:49 There are cherubim and seraphim. 22:51 The commanders of the angelic hosts, the sons of God, 22:56 representatives of the unfallen worlds are assembled." 23:00 So definitely, there's a difference between the other 23:03 in Genesis and what we're talking about here. Right. 23:06 "Great Controversy," p. 518, says... "The Scriptures declare 23:10 that upon one occasion when the angels of God came to present 23:13 themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them." 23:17 So it's just telling that he thought he had the right 23:19 to do it, but praise God, because of Calvary, 23:22 you know, because finally sin had to be let go so that 23:26 the other worlds could see what was going on. That's right. 23:29 And as it was revealed as they were nailing Christ 23:31 to Calvary, the other worlds were saying and the angels 23:33 were saying... "Now I get a better picture of it," 23:35 and his work was... what? 23:36 Satan's work was restricted. 23:38 He could no longer go to the other worlds. 23:40 He could no longer agitate the other worlds, 23:41 and his work was cut even short here, praise God for that. 23:45 And praise God, Jesus came! Amen! 23:48 He lived a perfect life. 23:49 He lived, He died, He won back this world; 23:51 He gave us a second chance, and I've needed more than 23:55 second chances, but praise God for that big second chance. 23:57 Jesus is the Supreme Ruler of this world. 24:01 He is in charge and no one is going to take His place. 24:04 Praise God for that! Amen! 24:05 And so, just keep that in mind as we study, right here, 24:08 we serve the Victorious One. 24:10 We need not worry about these things, "Jesus is coming," 24:13 we just need to be ready. Absolutely! 24:15 Well thank you Pastor Kenny. 24:17 We're going to take a short break and we'll be back 24:19 in just a moment. 24:25 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 24:28 again or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. 24:32 Well, you can! By visiting 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.com 24:37 A clean design makes it easy to find the program 24:41 you're looking for. 24:42 There are also links to the "Adult Bible Study Guides" 24:45 so you can follow along. 24:47 Sharing is easy, just click "share" and choose your 24:50 favorite social media. 24:52 Share a link, save a life, for eternity! 24:58 We now continue our study on Revelation as I throw it 25:01 to Shelley: "The War on Earth" 25:03 Well I'll catch it - "The War on Earth" is our Tuesday's lesson, 25:07 and the war in heaven - in the Greek it is really clear. 25:12 This is not a physical war, this was not with 25:15 swords and things... it was a war of words. 25:19 The preamble to the war was the accusations, 25:23 the false accusations that Satan was making against the Creator. 25:29 So now, having been barred from heaven, he comes down 25:33 and he continues his attack on the church for 1,260 days. 25:38 Let's look at Revelation 12:13, "Now when the dragon 25:48 saw that he had been cast down to the earth, 25:50 he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child." 25:54 Revelation 12:9 told us the dragon was who...? Satan 26:00 The dragon is Satan and the woman - the people of God 26:06 both from the Old Testament and the New Testament, 26:09 are referred to as a woman. 26:12 We are the bride of Christ. 26:14 And the woman is the object of Satan's great hatred. 26:19 You know, the persecution, actually when you think 26:22 about it, where did it begin? 26:23 It began in the Garden of Eden and it has continued on 26:28 throughout history. 26:30 But as you pointed out, when Adam and Eve fell for this 26:36 war of words, as Satan is twisting the Scriptures, 26:40 and twisting God's word, they fell for this lie. 26:45 What they did was - God had given them dominion 26:49 over the earth - they transferred dominion to Satan. 26:53 So now, Satan has gained access to heaven again, 26:58 as the earth's representative. 27:00 So he first rages against the woman before Christ was born. 27:07 The Old Testament, people of God, were persecuted 27:12 in so many ways, but the most intense time, I think, was 27:16 during Christ's ministry and what he did to Jesus, obviously. 27:20 But because Christ became our second Adam, 27:26 Christ took on our flesh. 27:29 He is the last Adam; we had the first Adam who failed. 27:33 Jesus comes back and now He's our second Adam. 27:37 He regained authority over the earth and the accuser of the 27:43 brethren was permanently booted out of heaven - halleluiah! 27:47 So what happens though is now Satan's great wrath 27:52 is on the New Testament Church. 27:55 Revelation 12:14, and listen, I just love this... 28:00 I love this! "But the woman was given (that's the New Testament 28:05 Church), two wings of a great eagle that she might fly 28:12 into the wilderness to her place." 28:15 In Exodus 19:4, we hear God's covenant love-language, 28:21 just before He speaks the Ten Commandments to His people. 28:26 Listen to this... "You have seen (this is God 28:30 speaking), you have seen what I did to the Egyptians, 28:34 and how I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you 28:41 to Myself." Isn't that precious? 28:44 That's God's covenant love-language. 28:46 And then in Deuteronomy 32:9-12, it says, "The Lord's portion 28:50 is His people - He found them in a desert land, 28:53 and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; 28:56 He encircled him, instructed him, He kept him as 29:00 the apple of His eye. (You are the apple of God's eye) 29:05 And as an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its 29:09 young; spreading out its wings, taking them up, 29:13 carrying them on its wings, 29:15 So the Lord alone led them." 29:18 So what we need to remember, just like when an eagle 29:21 is teaching its little eaglets how to fly, and it protects it 29:26 from danger - we need to remember as God's weak, 29:29 helpless people, He is always there for us and we must have 29:33 faith in His divine power. 29:34 So now verse 13... She is taken out into this wilderness 29:40 where she is nourished for a time, times and a half a time 29:44 from the presence of the serpent. 29:47 So God is watching over her; He's nourishing her 29:52 just like He nourished Israel in the desert when He 29:57 gave them manna. 29:58 He is nourishing the New Testament Church in His 30:01 continued covenant love. That's right. 30:04 And, you know, He promised... The gates of hell shall not 30:08 prevail against His church." 30:10 I want to take the time and try to do this... 30:14 I hope in a way that it won't be confusing. 30:17 But I want to explain time, times and half a time. 30:23 There are three different terms in the Bible (descriptions) 30:31 that are used to describe the same time period. 30:35 We see them as 1,260 days; 42 months; 30:41 and time, times and half a times. 30:44 All three of those are equal and I'm going to tell you 30:47 in advance and then I'll prove it - they all mean 30:51 1,260 year period. 30:53 Now, in the Bible, there is a principle that we apply 30:57 to prophecy - that a day in prophecy equals a year, 31:02 and the two Scriptures I'll give you for that is 31:05 Numbers 14:34 that says, "According to the number of 31:08 the days in which you spied out the land (40 days), 31:11 for each day, you shall bear your guilt one year," 31:15 (namely 40 years). 31:17 And then, their 40 days, that led to rebellion corresponded 31:24 with the predicted 40 years of wandering in the desert. 31:27 And Ezekiel 4:5 establishes the same principle, he says... 31:31 "I've laid on you the years of their iniquity 31:34 according to the number of their days (390), 31:38 so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel." 31:41 So in prophecy, it's a day for a year; 1,260 days 31:46 equals 1,260 years. 31:50 Now Bible prophecy was established on the Jewish 31:54 calendar - the Jewish calendar had a 30-day month... 31:58 that means it had a 1,260 day year. 32:01 The Gregorian calendar wasn't established till 1582. 32:05 So 42 months, using the Jewish calendar, would be 42 x 30 32:10 which equals 1,260. 32:13 Then the expression "time, times and half a time"... 32:18 "Time" meant one year, so that's 360 days under 32:22 the Jewish calendar. 32:24 "Times" meant multiple, so that's 720 days. 32:30 "Half a time" would have been one-half year, 6 months, 32:35 180 days. 32:36 That equals 1,260! 32:39 So there are seven quotes in the Bible that refer 32:43 to the same time period. 32:45 I'm going to go through a couple of them real quickly... 32:47 Daniel 7:25, speaking of the little horn beast... 32:52 "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High. 32:55 He had persecute the saints of the Most High, 32:57 and intend to change the time and law of God. 33:02 Then the saints shall be given into his hand (into this 33:05 persecuting power's hand) for a time, times and half a time." 33:11 This is the little horn power that arises from Rome. 33:14 Daniel 12:7... "I heard the man clothed in linen, above the 33:18 waters of the river; he held up his right hand 33:21 and his left hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives 33:25 forever and it shall be for a time, times and half a times; 33:31 and when the power of the holy people has been completely 33:34 shattered, all these things shall be finished." 33:36 Revelation 11:2 makes mention of the holy city 33:42 will be tread underfoot for 42 months (same time period, 33:47 1,260 years). 33:48 Revelation 11:3 talks about the two witnesses that you 33:54 covered last time, that prophesy for 1,260 days. 33:59 Revelation 12:6 talks about the woman going out into the 34:04 wilderness for this 1,260 day period. 34:08 And, Revelation 13:5 talking about the antichrist says... 34:13 "He was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, 34:17 he was given authority to continue for 42 months." 34:21 So 42 months, 1,260 days; time, times and a half of time, 34:27 all equal 1,260 years and this was the time period 34:34 in history when the little horn power of Daniel 7 is persecuting 34:40 God's people and this was during the 34:46 the historical period 538 to 1798, during which time 34:52 the Roman Church, as an ecclesiastical power, 34:56 dominated the Western World until the events of the 35:01 French Revolution which brought the repressive power for a short 35:05 time, temporarily, to a close. 35:08 But Revelation 12:15 says... "The serpent spewed water 35:13 out of his mouth like a flood after the woman 35:15 that he might be carried away by the flood. 35:18 And we're going to see, I think, in further lessons 35:21 how God is protecting His people. Amen! 35:23 Absolutely! So I have Wednesday's lesson entitled: 35:28 "War against the Remnant" 35:30 And, you know, this is not some new concept... 35:34 We do see that there is a direct war being launched 35:38 against God's people in Revelation 12 35:41 all the way through, but this was kind of a thematic 35:45 thing all across Scripture because we see throughout 35:48 the history of Israel, God has always had a people, 35:52 and Satan is always attacking God's people. 35:55 I think of that text in... I think it's Matthew 12 35:58 where Jesus says, "He that is not with Me, is against Me;" 36:04 and so, you know, any time that I see in Scripture 36:06 where Satan is making war against a certain people, 36:09 that's the people I want to be a part of. Yes. 36:11 Because that means that the people that he's making 36:14 war against, are with Christ and that's the people 36:17 I want to be a part of. 36:18 And so we're going to talk about the" War Against the Remnant. 36:21 We're going to do a little bit of identification... 36:23 Who is this remnant biblically? 36:25 What are the characteristics of this remnant? 36:27 And so I want to begin, obviously, with our key 36:30 text here on this day's lesson which is Revelation 12:17, 36:34 and the Bible says... "And the dragon was enraged (or wroth 36:38 or angry) with the woman, and he went to make war with 36:41 the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God 36:44 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 36:47 And so this concept of a remnant, a special peculiar 36:52 group of people who follow the Lamb wherever He goes, 36:56 who are committed to Him absolutely. 36:58 We see this concept in 1 Kings 19:18, notice what 37:02 the Scripture says here in reference to a special 37:05 group of people... it says, "Yet I have reserved 7,000 37:08 in Israel all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and every 37:14 mouth that has not kissed him." 37:16 So the concept that God has a committed people; 37:19 they're obedient to Him and they follow Him, as we said 37:22 earlier, "wherever He goes." 37:24 Joel 2:32, this is one that many people don't consider 37:27 when it comes to the remnant, but the actual word, 37:29 "remnant," is used here and Joel 2 is famous for that text 37:32 that talks about the last days where God says, "I will 37:35 pour out My Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your 37:38 daughters shall prophesy," sometimes we stop with 37:40 that text but if you keep reading to verse 32, 37:42 notice what it says here; speaking of the last days, 37:44 "And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name 37:47 of the Lord shall be saved, for in Mount Zion and in 37:50 Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, 37:52 as the Lord has said, "Among the remnant whom the 37:56 Lord calls." 37:57 So God has a special remnant people. That's right. 38:00 And the devil is making war against these people, 38:03 and the question is... Why? 38:06 Why? Well you know, obviously we see that as we've been 38:10 studying the history of the church, we see that from 38:13 Genesis all the way through to the Gospels, 38:16 he's focused on the seed, he's constantly focused 38:20 on the seed because we were told in Genesis 3:15, 38:23 "I will put enmity between you and the woman, 38:25 and between your seed and her Seed, that He will 38:28 crush your head and you shall bruise His heel." 38:30 But the devil comes in with this concept, after hearing 38:33 that, that he's going to focus his attention on this Seed 38:36 and so we see this constant struggle all the way through 38:39 the Old Testament where God's people are being persecuted 38:42 because the devil knows maybe this is the generation 38:45 where the Seed comes; maybe this is the generation 38:47 where He shows up. 38:49 And so he follows it all the way through until 38:51 we get to the time of Christ and he's determined to kill Christ. 38:55 He's determined to destroy Jesus but does he overcome? 38:59 Is he able to defeat Jesus? Absolutely not! 39:02 So the devil decides, "You know what, if I can't 39:04 defeat the Master Himself, I will go to the second best 39:08 thing - I'll turn my attention to His people." 39:11 And as you beautifully described as it was clearly 39:13 set up here, we see the history of the Christian 39:16 Church from the days of the first century - all the way 39:19 through to the time of the end, how God's people were 39:22 oppressed through the Dark Ages; how Satan has waged 39:25 war against this people who upheld the truths of God, 39:29 and have put a special emphasis on truth and it is 39:33 no exception because now we come down to the end of time. 39:36 This is post-1798; this is in the time of the end prior 39:41 to the second coming of Jesus and we see that God has a 39:43 people - notice verse 17 again, of Revelation 12... 39:46 "God has a people who keep the commandments of God 39:50 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 39:52 Why is Satan making war against this remnant? 39:55 It is because they are obedient to Him; 39:58 they are committed to Him and they are reflecting 40:00 that of the character of Jesus Christ. 40:02 The central issue and we're going to get to this more 40:05 clearly, I think, as we get into Revelation 13 and onward. 40:08 But if you haven't notice this by now, the central issue 40:11 at the end of time is worship. Yes. That's right. 40:14 Not only just about worship itself, 40:15 but WHO will be worshipped. 40:18 WHO will be worshipped! 40:21 God has a special people and if you study the word of God, 40:26 you will learn that there are many different identifying 40:29 marks, identifying characteristics for this people. 40:32 Many years on the road, as an evangelist, being able to meet 40:36 thousands of wonderful people and study the Bible 40:38 with different people from different denominations and 40:41 different faiths, different outlooks and takes on Scripture. 40:44 One of the common questions that I would get from some 40:46 people would say, you know, "How can I know; 40:48 how can I make sure that I'm a part of 40:50 that remnant group at the end of time? 40:52 How can I make sure that I am a part of the camp of the 40:56 saints that will make it into the Kingdom of God?" 40:57 Well the best way to do that is to go into the Scripture 41:00 and make sure that your life, your beliefs, your idea, 41:05 your perspective of Scripture, and, of course, 41:08 a relationship of Christ matches up with that 41:10 of God's remnant people in the last days. 41:12 So I just want to go through a few characteristics, 41:14 really quickly, for those of you who are wondering, 41:16 you know, how can I make sure... we're going to start, 41:18 I just have a few here, about 6 or 7... 41:21 The first one comes right out of Revelation 17. 41:24 If you want to make, for sure known that you are 41:28 a part of God's people - you have to be a 41:31 commandment-keeping people because God's people 41:33 in the last days, are a commandment-keeping people. 41:36 What did Jesus say in John 14:15? 41:40 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 41:42 It's not about keeping the commandments in a legalistic 41:46 perspective - we don't keep the commandments 41:48 because it's saves us. 41:49 We keep the commandments because Christ HAS saved us, 41:52 and we keep the commandments because we love Him. 41:55 It's simply a love issue. 41:56 Here's the second one here... 41:58 That these people also have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 42:01 Now we don't have to go very far to determine what the 42:04 testimony of Jesus Christ is because if you go over 42:06 to Revelation 19:10, it tells us that the testimony of 42:10 Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy. 42:13 Early on in my early Christian experience, I would go from 42:17 church to church, to church, to church seeking for truth, 42:20 and while all churches have truth... I really hungered 42:27 and hungered - I wanted to know more about the 42:28 Books of Daniel and Revelation, 42:30 the prophetic passages of Scripture, 42:32 and, you know, it wasn't until I came in contact with 42:35 the Seventh-day Adventist Church that I really felt 42:37 that prophecy was really addressed and that I was 42:40 learning and coming to understand those deep 42:42 prophetic Scriptures and messages from Bible prophecy. 42:47 God's people will be a prophetic people. 42:49 They will have and will express and use the gift of prophecy, 42:53 and they will follow the Scriptures and prophecy. 42:56 God's people, #3, is a worldwide mission-driven 43:00 movement, not just some little church on, you know, 43:03 a "mealy-nealy" church on the corner street somewhere 43:05 that they're entire church experience is just 43:08 within four walls on one or two days out of the week, 43:10 and I'm not saying that that's not a good thing. 43:12 We should go to church, we should have a building 43:14 of worship, but the Christian experience is a 43:17 worldwide mission-driven movement. 43:19 We want to take the gospel to the world. 43:21 Notice Revelation 14:6 which we're going to get to 43:24 the First Angel's Message, but it says... 43:26 But these Three Angels' Messages are going to 43:28 every nation, every tribe, tongue and people. 43:31 God's people will be a part of delivering those 43:33 Three Angels' Messages. 43:34 Christ says in Matthew 24:14... "This gospel of the kingdom 43:38 will go to ALL the world." That's right! 43:40 I made a note here that God's people will proclaim 43:43 the Three Angels' Messages; they will teach people 43:46 to fear God and give glory to Him. 43:47 They will be teaching that we are 43:49 living in the judgment time period. 43:51 They will honor the Creator by keeping all of His 43:54 Commandments including the Sabbath Day; 43:56 the Sabbath commandment, the fourth commandment. 43:58 They will not be afraid to expose Babylon for what it is, 44:02 and declare the message, "Come out of her My people." 44:04 All of this stuff we'll study soon. 44:06 They will teach to not worship the beast 44:08 and accept its mark... No. The warning will be given. 44:11 And notice Revelation 14:12 tells us something about 44:14 these saints... it says, "Here is the patience 44:17 of the saints," (it's almost a confirmation 44:19 of Revelation 12:17), here are those who keep the commandments 44:23 of God and the faith, notice not the necessarily the faith 44:26 in Jesus but actually exercise the faith of Jesus - they will 44:30 replicate the character of Jesus so strongly in the last days, 44:33 that they will be set apart. 44:35 People will look at these people and say, 44:36 "Now that's a different person." 44:38 "That's a different kind of people - that's a whole 44:39 nother kind of peculiar people." 44:41 God's remnant people... here's an interesting one, 44:43 but God's remnant people will be a persecuted people. 44:47 Some people don't like that identification, 44:50 but, you know, that's one of the major identifications 44:52 because the dragon, as we're studying, is making 44:55 war with His remnant who keep the commandments 44:58 of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 45:00 Jesus said, "You shall be hated of all nations for 45:03 My namesake." Matthew 24. 45:04 2 Timothy... "And ALL the world will live godly in Christ Jesus. 45:09 All that will live godly in Christ Jesus 45:11 shall suffer persecution." 45:13 When you stand for truth and you have a love for 45:16 the truth as mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2, 45:19 you're separate, you're different, you're peculiar, 45:21 and the devil has his attention on you. 45:24 That's not necessarily a bad thing because the devil 45:26 has no power over a people who are in Christ Jesus! Amen! 45:31 AMEN brother! Amen! 45:32 Thank you so much Ryan, what an incredible study 45:35 each one of you have shared and aren't you glad that 45:38 God brought Pastor Ryan Day to 3ABN? 45:41 We are so excited that he has joined the 3ABN team. 45:44 You're a student of the word and thank you for that. Amen. 45:46 My day on Thursday is: "Satan's End-Time Strategy" 45:50 I want to be a part of the people of God... 45:53 what you shared, I want to be part of the people of God, 45:56 and we hope, at home, that you will make a decision 45:59 and a choice to be part of the people of God as well. 46:03 "Satan's End-Time Strategy," we know that Satan has 46:05 an attack and Ryan referenced persecution and that is one of 46:09 his methods he uses against the people of God. 46:11 We know all throughout history, the Book of Revelation 46:14 talks specifically about the Christian era... 46:16 We can say from the ascension of Christ, A.D. 31 all the way 46:19 through the end of time and future. 46:23 But I think of the Apostolic Age and the Church of 46:25 Ephesus and the disciples who were persecuted or killed. 46:29 I think of Paul, Peter, James, the apostles who were killed. 46:34 I think of the persecuted age and the Church of Smyrna, 46:36 and the persecution that arose from the Roman government there. 46:41 And then, of course, each one of you have referenced 46:43 the Dark Ages - the Church of Thyatira, that time from 46:46 538 forward where there was great persecution and we know 46:51 at the end time, those who refuse the mark of the beast; 46:56 those who refuse to fall down and worship, as it were, 47:00 the image to the beast, there will be persecution. 47:03 But my lesson focus is not persecution, 47:05 it's actually deception. 47:08 Satan uses the strategy of persecution, yes, 47:10 but he also uses the strategy of deception, 47:13 and Pastor Kenny, you referenced that - how Satan 47:16 deceives the whole world. 47:19 I think about deception - Satan deceived a 47:21 third of the angels in heaven. 47:24 Revelation 12:4... "His tail, (meaning the dragon, 47:28 and we know the dragon is Satan, so we can say 47:30 Satan's tail), drew a third of the stars of heaven, 47:33 and threw them to the earth." We know stars representing 47:38 angels and he threw a third, okay, so a third of them, 47:42 a third of the angels left heaven, joined Satan 47:45 in the rebellion and were cast down to the earth. 47:48 Now a tail in Scripture specifically represents 47:51 deception, look at Isaiah 9:14-15, it says, 47:55 "The Lord will cut off head and tail from Israel, 47:58 Palm branch and bulrush in one day. 48:01 The elder and honorable, is the head; the prophet 48:05 The prophet who teaches lies is the tail." 48:08 So Satan taught lies, the war of words that took place in heaven. 48:14 He taught lies and a third of the angels were deceived 48:18 and cast down to the earth with him. 48:20 Well that deception did not just begin in heaven, 48:22 it began in heaven, but then it spread to this earth. 48:25 Satan deceived Eve into eating the fruit of the 48:29 Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. 48:30 We know Adam was not deceived, he partook of the 48:33 fruit knowing, but Eve was deceived. 48:35 2 Corinthians 11:3, Paul speaking... "I fear lest 48:39 somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, 48:43 so your mind may be corrupted from the simplicity 48:46 that is in Christ." 48:48 Satan told Eve lies to get her to doubt God's word. 48:51 He twisted God's commands so Eve would believe that 48:55 God was unfair. 48:57 He denied the punishment that God had said 49:00 would follow transgression of the law. 49:03 And we know today that Satan has deceptions, 49:07 innumerable deceptions for us today... 49:09 They can be theological; they can be deceptions 49:12 as far as teaching or God is unfair; God is untrustworthy. 49:17 These are all deceptions; lies from the enemy: 49:20 God is selfish and cruel; God is the author of 49:22 suffering and sin; God's law can't be kept; 49:27 God is not love and He doesn't love me; 49:29 God can't hear my prayers; God cannot forgive 49:32 or accept me; God's word cannot be trusted... 49:35 These are all some of the many deceptions, the lies 49:39 that the enemy wants to feed us. 49:42 But I think at the end of time, Satan has special end time 49:47 deceptions prepared. 49:49 You look at Revelation 13, from Revelation 13 toward 49:53 the end of the Book of Revelation - we have that 49:55 counterfeit trinity; the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, 50:00 that counterfeit trinity that seek to deceive the whole world. 50:05 Revelation 13:13-14... "He (meaning of the land beast) 50:10 performs great signs, so that even he makes fire come 50:13 down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 50:16 and he deceives those who dwell on the earth, by those 50:20 signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, 50:22 telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image 50:24 to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived." 50:28 So I want to give you three keys, Pastor John, you 50:32 mentioned "keys," three keys to avoiding spiritual deception 50:36 and then five ways to develop spiritual discernment 50:41 because not only do we want to avoid the deception... 50:44 we want to develop spiritual discernment. 50:47 So let's look first at the three keys to avoiding 50:49 spiritual deception... #1. Recognize its danger. 50:55 You know, my uncle used to live in suburbia, we really live in 50:58 country here in southern Illinois, but my uncle lived in 51:00 suburbia until he moved to a large city which I won't 51:04 mention... he takes the train every day and goes downtown 51:08 for his place of work. 51:11 When he first rode the train, he kind of came from suburbia 51:15 so that was his background, but he learned, very quickly, 51:19 to recognize the danger of people who want to mug you; 51:22 people who want to pick your pocket. 51:24 And he started every day, he carries a whole stack of 51:27 money, all one-dollar bills with a 20 on the bottom. 51:31 And so when someone says, "Hey, I want your money," 51:33 he can throw it and it's worth almost nothing because it's 51:35 just dollar bills but it looks like a big stack of money. 51:38 So he learned to recognize the danger. 51:40 2 Corinthians 11:13-15... "For such are apostles, 51:45 deceitful workers, transforming themselves 51:47 into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! 51:51 For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 51:56 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also 51:59 transform themselves into ministers of unrighteousness 52:03 whose end will be according to their works." 52:06 We know Jesus also warned us, Matthew 7:15, about wolves 52:10 who would come in sheep's clothing. 52:12 So, #1, recognize the danger of deception. 52:15 #2... Learn to discern the lies of the enemy. 52:19 Satan is the father of lies. 52:21 John 8:44, this is Jesus speaking... "You are of your 52:25 father, the devil, and the desires 52:27 of your father you want to do. 52:29 He was a murderer from the beginning and does not 52:31 stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. 52:34 When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, 52:37 for he is a liar and the father of it." 52:40 #3... Keys to avoid spiritual deception. 52:43 Realize it is really a battle for the mind. 52:46 Lies are only powerful if you believe them. 52:50 That is the only power a lie has - is when you 52:52 actually believe the lie. 52:53 Romans 12:1-2... "I beseech you brethren, by the 52:56 mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living 52:58 sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, 53:00 which is your reasonable service. 53:02 And be not be conformed to this world; but be ye 53:04 transformed by the renewing, (in Greek it means renovating), 53:09 by the renovating - the renewing of your mind." 53:12 Now let's look quickly at the five ways to 53:15 develop spiritual discernment. 53:17 #1. Do not assume that you are immune from Spiritual deception. 53:24 Matthew 24:24... "False christs and false prophets will 53:28 appear and perform signs and wonders that if it were 53:31 possible, they would deceive even the very elect." 53:34 So don't say, "I know my Bible, I'm good, I'm immune 53:37 from Spiritual deception," don't assume you're immune. 53:40 #2. Study, understand and practice the word of God. 53:47 Studying the truth enables you and I to discern the 53:51 the counterfeit; how do we know the counterfeit unless 53:53 we know what the truth is! 53:55 Study, understand and practice. 53:57 Now we can study the word of God and that's wonderful. 54:00 We can seek to understand the word of God and 54:03 that is powerful but until you make a choice to put 54:07 that word into practice, to apply those principles 54:11 in your life, THAT is what God is calling us to do. 54:14 #3. Understand human nature. 54:17 Now I always teach from the "New King James Version" 54:19 of the Bible, but this is actually from the 54:21 "New Living Translation" because I like this 54:23 particular one... John 2:23-25... "Because of 54:27 the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem, at the Passover 54:31 celebration, many began to trust in Him, 54:33 but Jesus did not trust them because He knew human nature. 54:39 No one needed to tell Him what mankind is really like. 54:42 He knew the crowds were following Him for food 54:44 and healing... not for who He was. 54:47 So understand human nature. 54:49 #4. Commit yourself to prayer! 54:52 Philippians 1:9-10... "And this I pray, that your love may 54:56 abound still more and more in knowledge and what's 54:58 that word? All discernment that you may approve 55:02 the things that are excellent; that you may be sincere and 55:05 without offense till the day of Christ." 55:07 Then finally, #5. Ask God, simply ask Him for divine 55:12 wisdom and discernment. 55:15 James 1:5... "If any of you lack wisdom (and I lack 55:18 wisdom every day) if you lack wisdom, let him ask of God 55:22 who gives to him liberally and upbraideth not." 55:26 Don't follow your heart or your emotions. 55:29 Live your life by the truth of God's word. 55:32 Spend time in prayer and ask God for that heavenly 55:36 divine wisdom and that will keep you from being 55:39 deceived in these end times. Amen! Amen! 55:42 Wow, thank you, all of you... I told you that this was 55:45 going to be a dynamic study, did I not? 55:47 And we have just scratched the surface - if we could scratch 55:51 more, we would just give ourselves 20 minutes each, 55:54 but we know your time is valuable. 55:56 We want to invite you to come back for the next study, 55:58 but before we leave you on this one, I'm going to give 56:01 you a chance... Pastor Kenny, I just want to say before 56:04 I give it to you, that you know the mission of Jesus was to 56:06 destroy the devil, His plans and to release everyone 56:11 who is in bondage and fear and He's going to do it. 56:14 There's a last hurrah - the short battle of Armageddon, 56:17 and then the peace and joy forevermore. 56:20 Pastor Kenny, give us a summary... 56:21 This passage has been brought out a few times, 56:23 I'll just read it for those who might have missed it 56:25 because this is what I need is to understand truth, 56:27 but I need to come to love it and I think you mentioned 56:30 the passage there in 2 Thessalonians 2:10... "Even 56:34 him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all 56:37 power and signs and lying wonders, and with all 56:40 deceivableness of unrighteousness in them 56:42 that perish; again - because they received not the love 56:46 of the truth, that they might be saved." Truth is important! 56:49 Amen! War on earth, just remember Exodus 19:4... 56:54 that God said to His Old Testament people... 57:00 I have bore you on eagles' wings 57:03 and brought you to Myself." 57:05 He's still doing the same thing today. 57:09 Absolutely! You know that Scripture you read, 57:11 Brother Kenny, just then actually I had in my notes. 57:13 I didn't get to read it but I'm going to read verses 13-15 57:16 because it's incredible. 57:18 It says, very quickly... "But we are bound up 57:21 to give thanks to God always for you, brethren 57:23 beloved by the Lord because God from the beginning 57:26 chose you for salvation through sanctification by the 57:31 Spirit and belief in the truth. Amen, Amen! 57:34 Satan is the author of deception, of lies and 57:36 falsehood, but Jesus said, "You shall know the truth 57:38 and the truth will set you free." Amen! 57:41 We have been set free by the blood of the lamb. 57:44 We must determine, as Jill said, to remain free. 57:47 Our next lesson is lesson #9. 57:50 We'd like to invite you back. 57:51 It's going to be: "Satan and His Allies" 57:54 Who was he working with? 57:56 No matter who he works with, Jesus will still be victorious! 58:00 God bless you until we see you again. |
Revised 2024-08-22