Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW190015A
|
00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:18 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:09 Hello and welcome to Friday night Family Worship. 01:12 Honey, isn't this an exciting program? 01:14 It sure is. I'm happy to be here. 01:16 I'm glad that you have joined us too. 01:18 We just... We're excited. 01:20 We just got started. 01:21 The topic is gonna be phenomenal. 01:22 What's the topic, honey? 01:24 It's about end time events. 01:25 That's right, "The Time of the End". 01:27 And all you need is a Bible. 01:30 If you want to have a pen, that's up to you, 01:32 but gather your family around, it's Sabbath, 01:35 it's time for family worship. 01:37 And we have a great panel with us today. 01:39 Why don't you introduce our panel? 01:41 Sure. 01:42 To my right, your left, we have Donald Janelle, 01:45 sitting right here, and Donald Owen. 01:47 They've been married for how long now? 01:49 Well, it's been what, 10? Eleven, going on eleven. 01:51 We just celebrated 21 years. 01:53 Hey, don't forget. Don't mess it up now. 01:55 Not of marriage, 01:56 we always count our dating anniversary too. 01:58 So we've been together 21 but married for almost 11. 02:02 Oh, wow. Yeah. 02:03 Hey, you took a long time to ask her. 02:06 Okay. 02:07 There is a story there, you guys know it. 02:11 Oh, we're glad to have you both. 02:13 Thank you. 02:14 Graphic publishing, is this right? 02:15 And Pastoral Department 02:17 and Pastoral Ministries for the church. 02:18 Yup. 02:19 And you're a great team together. 02:21 Glad to have you both. Thank you for having us. 02:22 Imagine if we said how long we've been dating, 02:24 date and marriage. 02:25 Okay, that will remain anonymous, 02:27 nine years. 02:30 That's how long we've dated, nine years. 02:32 We dated nine years. 02:33 We were only 16, so that was kind of like... 02:34 You don't want to rush and get married at 16. 02:36 No. Yeah. 02:37 'Cause it's not gonna go away anytime soon. 02:39 My childhood sweetheart. 02:40 But now we're going on... 02:41 Don't say it. Oh, come on. 02:43 They're gonna figure out our age now. 02:44 That's right. Do not ask us how old we are. 02:46 Who's to your left? 02:48 Brian Dickens, we're so glad to have you here. 02:50 Thank you. 02:51 And you're the manager of... 02:53 I'm the Programming Manager of 3ABN. 02:57 I've been here for a couple of years, 02:58 almost year and a half now. 03:02 Two years ago, 03:03 I probably would have never dreamed 03:05 that I was doing the job that I am right now. 03:07 To be able to work with all the different ministries, 03:09 to help put everything together for it to be aired on, 03:13 you know, throughout the networks that we do. 03:15 That's right. 03:17 And it has just been a wonderful blessing 03:18 to be able to work for, 03:20 you know, God's ministry in this way. 03:21 That's right. 03:23 And by the way, his position is so important. 03:24 We do programs 03:26 but if Brian doesn't schedule it 03:27 correctly digitally and then compute 03:29 and put all the information, it's just not gonna happen. 03:31 And you have a wonderful team that helps you, 03:33 but pretty much it falls on your shoulder. 03:35 A great group of ladies 03:36 that are with me right now in that department, 03:39 and without them, 03:40 you know, without them and God's guidance, 03:43 we would not be able to do it at all. 03:45 That's right. Yeah. 03:46 And he's also Celestine's husband. 03:49 Seeing at Celestine, you have a beautiful wife 03:51 and we're glad to have you both here 03:54 as a team in our church. 03:56 All right. 03:57 It's definitely a blessing to be able to do everything 03:59 that we can for the ministry. 04:01 Amen. Amen. 04:02 And over here, we have our wonderful friend, 04:05 my sister in the Lord, Donna, 04:09 Donna Berg, 04:11 but we've known you as Donna Gantz 04:13 when you were here. 04:14 She's since been married and moved on to Phoenix, 04:18 but we're happy to have you here today with us, 04:21 and she's always filled with a lot of wisdom. 04:25 That's why I wanted Donna to be here on our set with us. 04:28 So thank you for being here, Donna. 04:31 Well, it's by the power of the Holy Spirit 04:33 that we have wisdom, it's nothing of our own. 04:36 Not at all. 04:38 So I'm thankful to be here. 04:40 It's a blessing. Amen. 04:41 I'm glad to be on the set here today. 04:43 Oh, thank you. That's right. 04:45 And, honey, would you pray for us 04:46 before we go any further? 04:48 Sure. 04:49 Let's bow our heads as we approach the throne. 04:50 Our kind and gracious Heavenly Father, 04:52 we bow before Your awesome presence, 04:55 and we are so grateful for Jesus. 04:57 Where would we be without You for Calvary, 05:00 for the ultimate sacrifice? 05:02 Now, Father, as we about to start this family worship, 05:06 we invite Your Holy Spirit here to be with us, 05:09 to just enlighten our minds, give us wisdom 05:12 and understanding where we lack. 05:14 And, Lord, those who are watching this program, 05:17 may they be blessed also. 05:19 And we thank You for what You are going to do. 05:21 In Jesus' name, amen. 05:23 Amen. Amen. 05:24 Thank you, honey. Thank you. 05:26 Once again, the topic is "The Time of the End". 05:29 And what's nice about the time of the end 05:31 is this horrible world has to come to an end. 05:36 Amen to that. Yes. 05:38 I mean, all that we've been going 05:39 through, the pain, the heartache. 05:41 And the reason I titled it "The Time of the End" 05:44 is because there are certain references in the Bible 05:48 that particularly pertain to the time of the end. 05:52 In other words, you wouldn't know about these things 05:56 a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, 05:59 thousand years ago, 06:00 these were all, I'm gonna use a big word here, 06:02 prognosticated. 06:04 That will happen at the time of the end. 06:06 That's simply a broadcast 06:07 or a prediction of the time of the end, 06:09 and which means these signs 06:10 could not appear at any other time 06:12 other than the time of the end. 06:14 They're like mile markers. 06:16 You know, if you start a journey in Florida, 06:19 and you hit Texas, and you see 880, 06:21 that means that's how many miles 06:23 you have left in Texas. 06:24 Those are mile markers. 06:26 And so we're gonna talk about some mile markers, 06:28 some quite eye-opening mile markers. 06:31 And the beautiful thing about that, in a summary, 06:33 each one of these mile markers point us 06:37 to the eminent return of Jesus. 06:39 So let's go ahead and look at one. 06:42 I'm gonna give each one of you an opportunity, 06:44 but since my lovely wife is right to my left, 06:47 I'm gonna ask a question 06:48 and we're gonna look at a book 06:50 that most people know where to find, Habakkuk. 06:52 Habakkuk. 06:54 Habakkuk, that's one of those books 06:55 people say Habakkuk. 06:56 I always say Habakkuk. 06:58 Habakkuk. Habakkuk. 06:59 Well, Habakkuk 2:3, 07:02 and according to the Bible, here is the question, 07:04 according to the Bible, 07:06 what are we told about signs assigned to the end, honey? 07:10 All right. 07:12 "For the vision is yet for an appointed time, 07:16 but at the end, it will speak, 07:19 and it will not lie, 07:21 though it tarries, wait for it 07:24 because it will surely come, it will not tarry." 07:28 Okay, so what do we get out of that? 07:30 It's gonna happen. 07:31 The visions for an appointed time. 07:33 What do we get out of that, Donald? 07:34 I just look at this. 07:35 Yeah, there's things that happen in sequence 07:37 or it's like events 07:38 are happened in its predicted time. 07:39 I thought about this just a little bit ago, 07:41 I think about when Jesus, if you're reading Daniel, 07:44 He died on the cross at an appointed time. 07:46 That's right. 07:48 So it's kind of what we're talking about, 07:49 there's appointed times for things that happen. 07:50 So that kind of spoke to me an idea of tarrying, 07:52 you know, if you think of Revelation 14:12, 07:54 "Here is the patience..." 07:56 That's right. You know what I mean? 07:58 Patient, you have to be patient 07:59 and they will reveal themselves. 08:01 We were talking earlier and I was asking him 08:03 about the second part of that verse. 08:05 This says, 08:07 "Though it tarries, wait for it because it will surely come, 08:09 it will not tarry." 08:11 So it's saying it tarries, but then it will not tarry. 08:15 Okay. 08:16 So I was asking him, so what does that mean 08:19 'cause I was actually a little confused on it, 08:20 but I think what that means, it's just my understanding, 08:23 is it'll happen 08:25 when it's supposed to happen. 08:26 You know, we'll see it as it's tarrying, 08:31 but it actually comes when it's supposed to happen 08:33 because it's all in God's time. 08:35 Exactly. 08:36 And of course, whenever it says, 08:37 "At the end, it will speak, and it will not lie." 08:41 If we know the Bible so well, 08:44 you know, when the end time comes, 08:46 then we will be familiar with what's going to happen 08:50 and that it is true, 08:51 and it's not a lie at that time. 08:53 You know, whenever it does come, 08:55 we will know. 08:56 Yeah. Yeah. 08:58 We don't know exactly how it's gonna come, 08:59 but when it comes, we know it is the time. 09:03 Didn't Daniel talk about that? 09:05 That's right. Yeah. 09:06 At the time of the end, knowledge will increase. 09:08 Daniel 12, he says... Everything is time. 09:10 Everything is time. 09:11 And when you pointed that out, Galatians 4:4, 09:13 "When the fullness of time had come." 09:16 So everything has a timetable to it. 09:18 And that's beautiful because lot of times, 09:21 Christians today... 09:22 I recently spoke to somebody who said, 09:25 "Well, the coming of the Lord could be any moment now." 09:28 And I said, "Well, let me encourage you, 09:31 He's not coming tomorrow." 09:33 Although we don't know the day or know the hour, 09:35 Jesus is not coming tomorrow 09:36 because one of the beautiful things about prophecy, 09:39 and Habakkuk is a minor prophet, 09:41 is there are events that have been established, 09:44 has a mile marker. 09:46 It's like getting in your car here in Illinois and say, 09:49 "We can be in California tomorrow." 09:50 Yeah. 09:52 Well, Donald, you plan on sitting up all night long, 09:54 it's not gonna happen. 09:56 But though it tarries, wait for it. 10:00 Yeah. 10:01 So it's on its way, be patient. 10:03 That's what is actually being said. 10:04 It's coming, but don't be in a hurry. 10:06 And when it gets here, it will not lie 10:09 and it will surely come. 10:11 You know, something you spoke on made me think of the 1844, 10:14 you know, they all though that... 10:16 And you saw around the world, 10:17 the message was just lighting up the world, 10:19 they thought, "Surely Jesus was coming then." 10:21 But they missed the event, 10:22 they get the message but they missed the event. 10:24 Event was, of course, Christ going to the most holy place, 10:26 but that's where it's saying the idea of tarrying, 10:29 they thought, "Well, He is coming, 10:30 He is coming." 10:32 But yeah, it comes in His time. 10:33 And for me, Bible prophecy has made confirm for me 10:37 that God's Word is true and that, you know, 10:41 what He says has happened and will happen, 10:44 and is happening actually. 10:45 But it's just, for me, that confirmed 10:48 the truth of God's Word is Bible prophecy. 10:51 And He lets us know what's coming next 10:54 because He loves us. 10:55 Yes. Amen. 10:56 Yes. 10:58 He reveals it to His what? 10:59 Servants? That's right. 11:00 Three servants. Amen. 11:02 Three servants. 11:03 So surely, He would do nothing 11:05 except He reveals His secrets through His prophets. 11:07 Very good point. 11:08 But also, He is saying to us another thing is, 11:11 right now it doesn't make sense, 11:13 but when He comes, 11:14 He will not lie, it is gonna make sense. 11:17 So there are many people today 11:19 that are throwing out predictions 11:21 or pastors today are... 11:24 Oh, secret raptures. 11:25 Say that again. 11:28 You're gonna be raptured they say. 11:30 So all of this, 11:31 we won't be here to see all these things happen, 11:34 we'll be secretly raptured. 11:36 That's another deception, isn't it? 11:38 And we're gonna find out about how these things come to play. 11:41 In fact, I was speaking to our Jewish gentleman recently. 11:44 Oh, yeah, sure. 11:45 A very wonderful conversation I had with him. 11:48 I was at an event and he was there, 11:49 and I was checking out at the cash register, 11:52 and I said to him, "Hey, I keep the Sabbath, 11:55 you keep the Sabbath. 11:57 Yeah, I don't eat unclean foods and neither do you." 12:00 And he says, "Why not?" 12:02 I said, "Because I'm a Bible believer." 12:05 He says, "Hey, so am I." 12:08 I said, "But I believe the whole Bible." 12:11 He said, "Well, I believe the Old Testament." 12:14 We had a wonderful conversation about Jesus, 12:16 about the coming of Jesus, 12:18 and so I shared with him 12:19 some of the things in the New Testament. 12:20 He said, "Well, we don't believe in the New Testament, 12:22 we just stick with the Old Testament." 12:24 And I said, "However, 12:26 on that note, read Daniel 9:24-27," 12:29 which outlines from the time 12:31 the command goes to rebuild Jerusalem 12:34 under the Messiah the Prince is a particular time frame. 12:36 Yup. I said, "Read that." 12:38 And he said to me, I was surprised, he said, 12:41 "I haven't heard that before." 12:43 So I gave him my business card, 12:45 I said, "Read that, 12:47 and if want to get in touch with me." 12:50 He says, "But Christianity, 12:51 Christianity is just so showbiz, 12:54 it's just so fake." 12:56 I said, "To a great degree, you're right." 12:57 He said... 12:59 I said, "But not every Christian is that way." 13:02 And so I said, but... 13:04 So there has to be some accuracy in the Bible. 13:06 So when these things happen, 13:08 we will know that it's gonna take place. 13:10 Amen. Yeah. 13:12 But now, with all that said, with all those secret rapture 13:15 and all these strange teachings about the end time, 13:17 how does the Bible explains 13:19 the prevalence of these end time 13:21 or doctrines, false doctrines? 13:23 Let's look at the second scripture here, 13:26 1 Timothy 4:1, 13:28 if anybody has that, they can read. 13:31 On the syllabus number two, but... 13:34 Donna? 13:35 Oh, just right on the syllabus she hasn't read. 13:37 It's right on the paper there. 13:38 I know it's right on the paper, guys. 13:41 Yeah. 1 Timothy 4:1. 13:43 Okay, all right. I'll get to it. 13:46 Okay. Well, maybe... 13:47 Somebody else get to it. Yeah. 13:49 Go ahead. Brian could read that. 13:51 And we'll get to Donna on another one. 13:52 Yeah. 13:53 "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times 13:57 some will depart from the faith, 13:59 giving heed to deceiving spirits 14:01 and doctrines of demons." 14:03 Amen. Amen. 14:04 Wow. 14:06 Now look at that, let's just break that down for a moment. 14:07 A couple of points jumped out at me. 14:10 Yeah, a couple of points jumped out at me was, 14:14 "The spirit expressly says that in the latter times 14:18 some will depart from the faith." 14:22 What does that mean? 14:23 It kind of burn out. Amen. 14:24 Means they had to be in the faith too. 14:26 Okay. Say that again? 14:27 They had to be in the faith to depart from it. 14:29 So it's believers. Yeah. 14:32 Who probably didn't have a true love for the Lord 14:34 or why would you leave the Lord, 14:38 why would you leave when you know, 14:40 you know? 14:43 If you know the Lord, why would you leave Him? 14:46 Well, I think that what he is saying is, 14:48 maybe they didn't know, maybe they knew about the Lord. 14:50 Exactly. 14:52 Some people leave 14:53 because they know about the Lord 14:54 but they don't know the Lord. 14:56 Right. 14:57 Let's use an example. 14:59 How many of us 15:00 know about the name of our Vice President? 15:04 We know about him, but do we know him? 15:05 Or our President, we don't know. 15:07 We all know our President, so do we know him? 15:08 So are we talking about the idea of a relationship? 15:10 A relationship with them. Right. 15:13 How do we have that? 15:15 You got to have the most deep loving relationship for Him. 15:18 And like it says, it says, 15:20 "Giving heed to deceiving spirits, 15:21 and doctrines, or demons." 15:23 You're also, I mean, 15:25 not only as your love being swayed from God 15:29 but you're being deceived 15:32 of what you think your love is to God. 15:36 When you start having your thoughts 15:39 and expressions being turned and, 15:43 you know, being taught of different doctrines 15:46 and things. 15:48 And then you think, you know, 15:49 "Am I truly loving the Lord in this way," 15:52 and then you start thinking, 15:53 "Well, maybe I should do it this way." 15:55 It's those deceiving spirits and everything. 15:57 You got to look out for, and you got to be vary of 16:00 and make sure that you're not being, 16:03 you know, tempted by that, 16:06 tempted and drawn into that teaching, you know. 16:10 Whole entire doctrines of demons, 16:14 people are lead astray with a new doctrine, 16:18 or another doctrine, 16:19 and it's not truly the Word of God. 16:23 Satan brought one-third of the angels out with Him. 16:29 And so... but the doctrine of demons, 16:32 we know that it's not the truth. 16:36 But what's the fault 16:38 if you look at two words in this entire passage, 16:41 what two words causes that person 16:43 to become a victim of what they hear? 16:45 Giving heed. Giving heed. 16:46 Giving heed. 16:47 They're listening to it. 16:49 And departing. Yes. 16:50 Look at what happened to Eve, what was her problem? 16:53 Right. Giving heed. 16:54 Yeah. Right. 16:55 She sure did. Why not just heed it? 16:57 Go for it. 16:58 He says, "Has God said..." 17:00 At that point, she just said, "Yes, and I'm out of here." 17:03 Yeah. Giving heed, the moment... 17:05 And these deceiving spirits introduce doctrines of devils. 17:11 Right. Yeah. 17:13 I was just thinking, Donna, 17:14 as you were talking, I was thinking about 17:15 how Satan likes to send us on rabbit trails, 17:18 and, you know, a lot of the things 17:21 even within our own church that, 17:23 you know, come up that, you know... 17:26 I feel like, sometimes, I want to be informed, 17:28 but I don't want to go so far to the end 17:31 to understanding particular things 17:33 that Satan takes me off. 17:35 I just want to know a general, what's it about kind of thing 17:39 because I feel like Satan can just send us down 17:41 on those rabbit trails just like that. 17:44 Like, "Oh, what's the..." Curiosity, you know. 17:47 You know that expression. Yeah. 17:50 You made me think of Romans 1:25, 17:52 this is happening so prevalent, 17:54 the exchange of truth of God for a lie 17:55 and they worshipped 17:57 and served their own reasoning in the sense. 17:58 So they worshipped and served the creature 17:59 rather than the creator. 18:01 So they end up serving their own reasoning. 18:03 Right, yes. 18:05 Oh, boy. 18:06 And what happens, professing themselves 18:08 to be wise, 18:09 what happens? 18:11 So what happens when you turn away from what you know, 18:13 you'd give heed to deceiving spirits 18:15 and then all of a sudden, 18:17 these doctrines and this is a powerful word, 18:18 they use... 18:20 Paul uses the word doctrines 18:21 because here's some people that say, 18:23 "Oh, I don't believe in doctrines." 18:24 Well, you know 18:26 why you don't believe in doctrines 18:27 because those are doctrines of demons. 18:29 They say, they think the word doctrine is the problem. 18:32 Oh, I don't believe in doctrines, 18:33 I don't want it, I'll just worship the God, 18:35 I don't take doctrines. 18:36 Now if it's in the Bible, anything in the Bible, 18:38 the word doctrine simply is the Greek word for teaching. 18:40 Yeah. 18:42 What is the Bible teaching about a particular topic? 18:43 So if we say, "I don't want that doctrine," 18:45 you're rejecting what the Bible is teaching. 18:47 So if you reject what the Bible is teaching 18:50 because you think that what you're being taught 18:52 may say, well, 18:53 it differs from what somebody else teaches, 18:56 then you're wide open as... 18:58 What's the saying, Donna? 18:59 If you don't stand for something, 19:00 you'll fall for... 19:02 Everything. 19:04 You have a point I see. 19:06 Want to make a point on this one? 19:07 Well, I've done that. 19:09 I've been there, I've done that. 19:11 And, you know, 19:13 when I came into the truth, I was in awe, you know, 19:19 John the Revelator was in awe 19:21 at times of what he saw, the deceptions. 19:25 I was in awe of the deceptions that I had not known 19:29 that I was in. 19:30 Yeah. 19:32 So when you come into the truth, 19:33 you can truly celebrate that and embrace that. 19:36 Amen. So... 19:37 And this table is made up of people 19:40 that didn't know the truth right here, you know. 19:42 Amen. 19:43 Even if you saw us before in the spirit realm, 19:47 we would be as hobos on the street 19:50 who knew nothing, nothing, but God came, 19:53 and He straightened out the picture, 19:55 and He made things right. 19:57 You know, there's something that we touched on, 19:58 the idea of doctrine. 20:00 Even in the Bible said that 20:01 all these people listening to Jesus, 20:02 they're astonished as a doctrine. 20:04 I think that's important, people don't realize, you know, 20:06 like you mentioned the teaching 'cause He was teaching 20:08 something that was bringing them healing. 20:11 So He was bringing healing, setting them free 20:12 from these demons, demonic force. 20:15 So I think that's a really powerful thought, you know. 20:18 Also, if we look at 2 Thessalonians, 20:19 the very next verse, the very next text, 20:24 it tells you why they were deceived. 20:26 And here is a point that you have to keep in mind, 20:28 you don't just get deceived 20:30 because you want to be deceived. 20:34 I don't know think there are... 20:35 I don't know if any Christian that says, "Please deceive me." 20:39 No. I don't... 20:40 I mean, that's just... 20:42 that's kind of ludicrous to say, 20:44 "You're a Christian and you want to be deceived." 20:47 You had a story, honey, you want to share. 20:48 Oh, I do. 20:50 Okay, I see, go ahead and share with us. 20:51 You know the story of Little Red Riding Hood? 20:55 Okay. Okay. Yeah. 20:56 You know, she went to... 20:57 This is the Grimms and Paris version. 21:00 And, you know, 21:02 she had her red cape, 21:03 and her hoodie, and everything, 21:05 and she walked through the woods 21:07 to deliver food to her sickly grandmother. 21:11 And in the Grimms version, 21:13 her mother ordered that she stay on the path, 21:16 do not leave the path. 21:18 And the big bad wolf wants to eat the little girl 21:22 and the food in the basket. 21:24 So he secretly stalks her 21:26 behind the bushes and the shrubs, 21:29 and he unpatches of little tall grass 21:31 as he approaches Little, reminds me of Satan, 21:33 he approaches Little Red Riding Hood 21:36 who naively tells him where she is going. 21:39 He suggests that the girl pick some flowers 21:42 as a present for her grandmother, 21:44 which she does. 21:45 In the meantime, he goes to the grandmother's house, 21:48 gains entry by pretending to be the girl, 21:52 the little girl. 21:53 He swallows the grandmother whole. 21:56 Yeah. 21:57 And in some stories, 21:59 he locks her in the closet, okay. 22:00 And when the girl arrives, 22:03 she noticed that her grandmother 22:05 looks very strange. 22:06 And what did Little Red Riding Hood say? 22:09 "What a deep voice you have!" 22:12 "'The better to greet you with,' 22:13 responds the wolf." 22:15 "Goodness, what big eyes you have." 22:16 "The better to see you with." 22:17 "And what big hands you have." 22:19 "'The better to grab and eat you with, 22:21 ' responds the wolf." 22:22 At that point, the wolf jumps out of the bed 22:24 and eats her up too. 22:26 Then he falls asleep. 22:28 And so the moral of the story is... 22:33 the moral of the story is, 22:35 don't leave the path. 22:36 Amen. 22:37 If she didn't leave the path, 22:39 she would not have seen him. 22:41 She wouldn't have been deceived. 22:42 And read this. Okay. 22:44 This is from Last Day Events. 22:46 It says, "We are approaching," Last Day Events, page 155. 22:50 "We are approaching the end of this earth's history, 22:52 and Satan is working as never before. 22:55 He is striving to act as director 22:58 of the Christian world 23:00 with an intensity that is marvelous. 23:01 He is working with his lying wonders. 23:04 Satan is represented as walking about as a roaring lion, 23:08 seeking whom he may devour," 23:10 kind of like the wolf in the story. 23:12 "He desires to embrace the whole world 23:15 in his confederacy. 23:17 Hiding his deformity under the garb of Christianity, 23:23 he assumes the attributes of a Christian 23:25 and claims to be Christ Himself." 23:29 But it says, "The Word declares 23:32 that when it suits the enemy's purpose, 23:37 he will through his agencies manifest a great power 23:41 under a pretense of Christianity 23:45 that if it were possible, 23:46 he will deceive even the elect." 23:48 But he won't be able to deceive the elect. 23:50 So it's not possible. 23:51 Praise God for that. Amen. 23:53 You know, something that was touching me 23:54 is I watched movies as a kid I remember, 23:56 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, claymation. 23:58 Anyways, I did this in a sermon 23:59 once in a blue people awareness, 24:00 the Lord brought this to my remembrance. 24:02 So there was a scene where these Rudolf, 24:04 Yukon in the Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys, 24:07 and then they take them to see the king, 24:09 the misfits take them to the king, 24:10 and it's a lion sitting on a white throne 24:13 in its white sanctuary, whatever you want to call. 24:16 He's got wings on either side and a golden crown. 24:19 I said, "Now you remember anybody in the Bible, 24:21 it was a lion with wings. 24:22 Do you remember what that was?" That's right. 24:24 And they said, "Oh, my, are you kidding me. 24:26 I didn't know that." 24:27 So, you know, the enemy is so sober. 24:28 He's claiming all of the misfits are his. 24:33 I take care of you. 24:35 Presenting a picture that doesn't help us at all. 24:38 But an answer to the question, why do people, 24:40 how do people get to see. 24:41 If you look at 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 24:43 it's the third text on our syllabus. 24:47 Donna has it this time. 24:48 I have it this time. Okay. 24:51 This is my first time here, I'm a little nervous. 24:53 You're doing well. Okay. Okay. 24:56 2 Thessalonians 2:10, 24:58 "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them 25:03 that perish because they received 25:06 not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." 25:10 Okay. 25:11 So notice, the deception is 25:13 because they don't receive a love of the truth 25:16 that they might be saved. 25:17 So if I tell somebody something, 25:19 and they say, "Okay, 25:22 I don't want that." 25:24 About the Sabbath? 25:25 I don't want that. Yeah. 25:27 Some way you die, you rest in? 25:29 I don't want that. 25:31 Tell you that hell is not eternally burning. 25:32 I don't want that. 25:34 You know, unclean food? Well, no. 25:35 Peter had a vision and that changed everything. 25:37 I don't want that. Yeah. 25:38 They all take everything. They're in cafeteria. 25:41 They're going through cafeteria 25:43 and just take taking what they want. 25:44 Yeah. 25:45 And what happens is, 25:47 so when you don't receive the love of the truth, 25:48 what happens easily? 25:50 Believe a lie. 25:51 You believe a lie. Yeah. 25:52 You believe a lie. Yeah. 25:54 So the truth is presented to them 25:55 and they just didn't accept it basically. 25:58 So there's no excuse if you think, 26:01 present it with the truth and you don't accept it. 26:04 Yeah. 26:05 There was a movie with Pilgrim's Progress, 26:06 I remember when Christian went to the room 26:08 of the interpreter. 26:09 And it showed that it was already the end, 26:11 everything had done, 26:12 and so the lady was in the bedroom, 26:14 he showed her the vision, she said, 26:15 "I had all this opportunity, 26:17 people kept telling me this, but I didn't listen. 26:19 Now it's too late, I'm done." 26:21 This is just a sad tragedy, she ignored it. 26:25 And then she lost her life. 26:26 And we know that every person's gonna be given an opportunity, 26:29 I mean, we know that's gonna happen 26:31 in the last days that, you know, 26:33 God's gonna give everyone an opportunity 26:35 to have information about Him, you know? 26:39 And our part is to take, you know, 26:42 to share that, 26:43 but He will give people an opportunity. 26:46 I think this will rather finish over verse 12, 26:48 you know, in this same chapter. 26:50 "That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, 26:52 but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 26:54 Right. 26:55 And the word damned, that mean condemned 26:58 because they don't have pleasure in truth, 26:59 they have pleasure in unrighteousness. 27:02 They don't want the truth, they want unrighteousness. 27:06 And I've read in the Bible, 27:09 it says, "From those who persist 27:11 and turn in from these warnings, 27:14 God withdraws His spirit 27:16 leaving them to the deceptions that they love." 27:20 Wow. 27:22 Anything on that one, Brian? 27:23 Oh, it's just, I know it throughout my life. 27:26 Yes. 27:28 And all the things that I did, 27:29 you know, all the jobs that I had, 27:31 all the times going out with friends, 27:33 and, you know, 27:35 the parties and things like that. 27:37 Talk about leading a life of deceptions, 27:39 you know, and as you said, you know, 27:42 Rudolph is like one of my favorite shows, 27:44 you know, and to think that, 27:47 you know, the lion with the wings, 27:49 with the crown, you know, was the savior of me 27:54 being a misfit toy, you know. 27:57 And it just kind of like, it opens your eyes, 28:00 you know, when you finally see the world 28:02 and when you start to finally realize 28:04 where God's love is for you, 28:08 you know, and how He protects you, 28:09 and how He tries to teach you, 28:12 everything about the end times that are coming, 28:14 and what you have to do to prepare for, 28:16 and the love that He gives you, and the love that, 28:20 you know, once the Holy Spirit is in you, 28:22 it just overwhelms you, 28:23 and it fills you back up, 28:25 and then brings you back toward Him. 28:27 That's right. 28:29 You know, when you know 28:30 that you can be deceived for so long 28:32 and yet you can be saved by the Holy Spirit. 28:35 Right. You know? 28:36 And finally, bringing you back 28:38 is just a wonderful blessing from God. 28:40 Amen. 28:42 Donna wants to say something. Donna? 28:43 Well, I'm agreeing with Brian. 28:46 I wasn't out in the world in deception, 28:49 I was in the church of deception. 28:51 And I didn't even realize it. 28:54 And there came a time 28:56 when I began to read Psalm 51, 29:02 what David was praying. Oh, yeah. 29:05 You know, cleanse my heart, created me a clean heart. 29:08 You know, if there's anything wrong in me, 29:11 please, you know, fix all that. 29:13 You know, whatever it is, it says, 29:15 and it wasn't long, and I believed that 29:18 even the Holy Spirit Himself put that in me to pray that. 29:24 You know, I was in deception, 29:27 so He put that in me to pray that 29:29 at a specific time in my life, 29:31 when He knew I had a lot of frustrations. 29:35 And so I prayed that prayer and the Holy Spirit took me 29:41 on a journey 29:45 to where He was putting me on that straight and narrow 29:50 that I thought I was already on. 29:52 But I was on a wide path, 29:55 but the straight and narrow is definitely there, 29:57 and anybody can pray that Psalm or one like it. 30:02 And the Holy Spirit will come and He will begin to work 30:05 and do what needs to be done to take the, 30:09 you know, sav on the eyes. 30:13 Yeah. 30:15 And cause us to finally realize. 30:17 And there I was and all again, you know. 30:20 Remember your dream, Donna? 30:21 Oh, yeah. Which one? 30:23 Oh, an old picture dream. The color of carpet. 30:25 The carpet. 30:26 Oh, the color of the carpet. Yes. 30:28 In a dream, and when after I prayed that prayer, 30:32 God gave me a dream 30:33 where I was out at the ocean 30:34 and I was at the end of a long pier at the ocean, 30:39 and waves kept coming over me. 30:41 And they would stand, they had looked like 50 feet 30:44 above my head and I thought, "I'm gonna be killed. 30:47 I'm gonna die." 30:48 And I would just shake on the inside, 30:50 but it would subside 30:51 and then another wave would come 30:53 and it would subside. 30:54 And the third wave that came, it came and crashed over me. 30:58 But I was still standing. 31:00 And the Lord spoke to me and said, 31:02 "Turn around and run. 31:04 And you see that building over there, 31:05 run into that building." 31:07 And I did in the dream, I ran into the building. 31:11 And in that building, I was running, 31:12 I didn't know where I was. 31:14 It was a nice new building. 31:16 And it had an unusual carpet 31:18 and I looked down as I was running, 31:20 "Oh, that carpets awfully pretty." 31:22 And as, you know, in the dream... 31:26 Two years later, 31:28 it took two years for me to go through, 31:30 more and more confusion, 31:32 yet learning a little here and a little there, 31:35 and still begging, "God, God, show me, 31:37 please show me. 31:39 Show me what I need to do." 31:40 And I would go to my pastor in the church and I would say, 31:43 "Something's not right. 31:44 I don't know what it is." 31:46 And the pastor would say, 31:47 "Oh, Donna, everything's just fine." 31:49 And I just was too uneasy, you know. 31:53 But one day, somebody invited me 31:56 to a Seventh-day Adventist Church 31:59 in Thompsonville, Illinois 32:01 because I lived in Benton and I had never been there. 32:05 I thought, "Oh, a Saturday church? 32:08 Okay, okay." 32:10 She said, "You'll be blessed." 32:12 Okay. 32:14 Came to the church, 32:15 walked in on the Sabbath morning. 32:18 John Hauser said, 32:19 the first time anybody had ever said 32:21 Happy Sabbath to me was John Hauser, 32:25 and a member of the church. 32:27 But he said that and I looked down 32:30 and there was that carpet. 32:31 Wow! From the dream. 32:33 Two years later, there was that carpet. 32:35 And I could go on and say, 32:38 "Truly that church hadn't even been built yet." 32:41 That's timing. Wow! 32:42 You know, God shows you things ahead of time 32:45 so that when the time comes, you're gonna know it. 32:48 Amen. Wow! 32:49 Your mouth must have dropped, like, "What? 32:51 This is my dream." There was the carpet. 32:53 You know what? I never left. 32:56 And I think the reason why because the Lord knew that, 32:58 you know, the Bible talks about 33:00 one of the work of the Holy Spirit, 33:01 one of the aspects, 33:02 He will lead you and guide you into all the truth. 33:05 He will only lead you if you want to be led, 33:08 He'll only guide you if you wanna be guided. 33:11 1 John 4:1, that's why this is important. 33:14 It says... 33:15 Because there are so many spirits in the world today 33:17 and these spirits that we talked about this, 33:19 deceiving spirits, 33:21 but listen to what the Bible says in 1 John 4:1. 33:23 It's on the syllabus also. Okay. 33:26 It's on the syllabus, dear, number... 33:28 Right above number three, it's says, 33:30 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit 33:33 but test the spirits, 33:35 whether they are of God 33:37 because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 33:41 And that's what we're dealing with nowadays. 33:43 Question is how do you test the spirit though. 33:46 Go to 1 John 2... 33:49 Well, you have it. 8:20. 33:50 Okay. The law. 33:52 To the law and to the testimony, 33:53 they speak not according to these words 33:54 because there is no light in them. 33:56 And you in 1 John, right? Yeah. 33:57 Read 1 John 2:3-4. 34:00 Three and four? Yeah. 34:03 1 John 2:3-4. 34:04 "And hereby we do know that we know Him 34:07 if we keep His commandments." 34:09 Verse 4. 34:11 "He that saith, I know him 34:12 and keepeth not his commandments is a liar 34:14 and the truth is not in him." 34:16 So if somebody says, "I know the Lord," 34:18 but they're not honoring His commandments, 34:23 the Bible says, "My truth is not in him." 34:27 And a strange that we have that approach, 34:30 when I've read that text before, people have said, 34:33 "You know, that's not nice. 34:34 Why would you say that?" 34:36 I said, "You know what, I didn't say that. 34:38 The Bible said that. 34:40 Right, Brian? I know. 34:42 I didn't say it, it's right here. 34:44 Yeah. 34:45 It's in the Bible. Yeah, yeah. 34:48 And you know what, there's Ten Commandments. 34:50 A lot of people keep a lot of the commandments, 34:52 but do they keep them all? 34:54 And when you keep them all, 34:56 you've got more truth coming at you. 34:58 Well, sad thing. I think you just said that. 35:00 So now I would assume that 35:01 person must think that God is not nice. 35:03 Yeah. Yeah. 35:05 You say that wasn't nice and apparently God's not nice, 35:07 but look what He's making me do. 35:08 Yeah. 35:09 Well, "People will speak lightly of the Word of God," 35:11 it says, "and set their impressions, 35:13 feelings, and exercises above the divine standard." 35:18 "We may know that they have no light in them." 35:20 Oh. 35:22 That's what it says from 35:24 Mount of Blessing's page 146. 35:26 And one of the reasons why this topic is so important, 35:28 if you notice when I talk about nations, 35:29 fighting, and wars, and all that 35:31 because that's always a focal point. 35:34 The focus of the study is, 35:36 when the Lord is trying to reveal truth to you, 35:38 you are in terrible danger. 35:41 If you decide, "I'm happy with... 35:44 I'm happy with my religion. 35:46 I'm just comfortable where I am," 35:49 and the Lord is saying, 35:50 "I want to lead you and I want to guide you." 35:52 Matter of fact, John 14:15. 35:56 Anybody, read that, John 14:15. We know what it says. 35:59 Yeah. Yeah. 36:00 We know what it says. If you... 36:02 It says, "If you love me, keep my commandments." 36:03 My commands. You have it, Honey? 36:04 Right here. Read John 14:15-16. 36:07 "If you love me, keep my commandments. 36:10 And I will pray the Father, 36:12 and He will give you another helper 36:15 that He may have abide with you forever." 36:18 Okay, then you got to help us. 36:19 So if you keep the commandments, 36:20 you have to help. 36:22 And now look at John 16:13, right here. 36:24 What's that helper gonna do? 36:25 "However, when He the spirit of truth has come, 36:28 He will guide you into all truth 36:31 for He will not speak on His own authority, 36:33 but whatever He hears, He will speak 36:36 and He will tell you things to come." 36:38 So whenever we link the Holy Spirit 36:40 to the fact that we don't need the truth, 36:42 it's not scriptural. 36:44 Some people say, "I know the Holy Spirit's leading me," 36:46 but the Holy Spirit can be leading you 36:49 if you say he led me into darkness. 36:53 The Holy Spirit... 36:54 Or you know, I feel this is right. 36:56 Say it again. Go by feelings. 36:59 I hear that so many times in the Christian world. 37:01 Yeah, I feel this is just fine for me. 37:03 Well, who told you that? 37:05 Do you get on a plane, Brian, based on how you feel? 37:07 Oh, no. 37:08 What do you get on? What do you choose? 37:10 Oh, I choose whether or not to, you know, 37:13 to lay down in bed 37:15 or just to get up in the day, you know? 37:17 Well, no, I mean, if you get on an airplane... 37:18 Oh, yeah. 37:20 If you get on an airplane based on what you... 37:21 I feel this is the right plane. 37:22 Oh, yeah. Okay. 37:24 I've never done that. 37:26 Usually, I have to have a destination. 37:28 You know, I don't just get on a plane 37:31 and get a feeling. 37:33 Now I've been on a plane, sometimes it's like, 37:35 "Shall I really be going to this place?" 37:37 But you might see... 37:39 But to get on there, 37:40 you have to have the right airport. 37:41 Yeah. Yes. 37:43 The right itinerary, 37:44 the right gate, the right plane number, 37:47 and the right destination. 37:49 And that takes a little study, doesn't it? 37:51 Oh, yeah. 37:52 It does. You got to prepare. 37:54 And just like people... 37:56 Everyone's on their own journey. 37:57 And just like, you know, 37:58 we've all experienced along in our lives 38:01 and like you're saying, you know, 38:03 it was a journey that 38:04 God was showing you things 38:06 as His Holy Spirit was speaking to you 38:07 and you were searching, 38:09 and there are some that are out there 38:11 that maybe don't understand things, 38:13 but they're just still trying to learn and, you know, 38:15 I think that's what God looks at is, 38:17 you know, a willing heart, 38:18 a teachable spirit 38:20 that maybe they don't understand of the Bible yet, 38:25 just like, you know, 38:26 we'll be learning through eternity, you know? 38:28 But it's the idea that 38:30 when people might not understand a lot of the truth, 38:35 God takes them where they're at. 38:37 And even if they died, 38:38 you know, He judges their heart. 38:39 So maybe they don't understand all of our doctrines or, 38:44 you know, whatever yet, 38:46 but God takes them where they're at. 38:47 And that's, 38:49 you know, we can leave the results with Him. 38:50 And the key is this. This is the key. 38:51 And I totally support what you're saying. 38:53 But the key is this. 38:55 If the opportunity never came to you, 39:00 but if it comes to you and you pass on, 39:02 there's a difference all together. 39:03 If this is all you have 39:05 and you respond according to what you have... 39:08 The light that you have, yeah. 39:09 Live to the light you have, but if light comes, 39:11 as the Bible says, John 3, verse... 39:14 Not John 3:16. 39:16 I think it's John 3:12, I believe it is, 39:19 but check it out. 39:20 John chapter 3 and bring up the text for me. 39:22 The Lord says, "And this is the condemnation 39:27 that light has come into the world." 39:29 1 John 3 or John 3? 39:30 It's John chapter 3. 39:31 "The light has come into the world, 39:33 but men loved darkness rather than light 39:36 because their deeds are evil." 39:38 Just look it up. You'll find it. 39:40 That's what... 39:41 search your scripture is all about. 39:43 Yeah. Well, this is the condemnation. 39:45 That light is coming to... Oh, verse 19. 39:46 Verse 19? 39:48 Okay, yeah. Yeah. 39:49 Okay, there it is. 39:50 "This is the condemnation 39:52 that light is coming to the world 39:54 and men loved darkness rather than light 39:55 because their deeds were evil." 39:57 Okay, so there you go. 39:58 And Hosea 4:6. 40:00 Okay, do you have it? Okay, got it. 40:03 Hosea 4:6. 40:06 "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge 40:10 because that has rejected knowledge. 40:12 I will..." 40:14 I hate to even say it, 40:15 "I will also reject thee 40:17 that thou shalt be no priests to me, 40:20 saying that has forgotten the law of thy God, 40:22 I will also have to forget the children." 40:26 Wow. Isn't that... 40:28 And this is her commentary. Oh, Donna. 40:29 They reject what? 40:31 What are they rejecting? Knowledge. 40:32 And they're rejecting knowledge. 40:34 And if you reject knowledge, who you rejecting? 40:36 The one that... God. 40:37 The one that gives you knowledge. 40:39 We don't have to reject knowledge. 40:41 It's given to us freely. Yeah. 40:44 Something that the Lord put upon my mind, 40:46 He said to me, "Your feelings will destroy your faith." 40:50 Your feelings will destroy your faith. 40:51 The SDA commentary said this 40:52 and I thought was interesting and said that 40:54 love is a principle and not an emotion. 40:56 I really liked that. 40:58 Love is a principle, not an emotion 40:59 'cause so many people go about what they feel 41:01 and they get lost 41:02 and all this confusion by your feelings 41:04 can lead you anywhere like that. 41:06 You don't know, you're on the path, 41:08 riding here, you know, 41:09 "Oh, look at the beautiful flowers!" 41:11 and you're going... 41:12 Distracted. Uh-oh. 41:14 Well, there is a plaque 41:16 that's seems like every time I turn around, 41:19 I see it, and I just don't like it. 41:21 And it's a cute little plaque and it says, 41:23 "Live, laugh, love." 41:24 Oh, yeah! And it's not that easy. 41:27 It's not that easy. No. 41:29 You know, reminds me of the constitutional phrase, 41:32 Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, 41:34 which is nothing wrong with that. 41:35 Obviously, it's a constitutional content. 41:38 But if all it is Life, Liberty, 41:41 and the pursuit of Happiness, it reminds me of Noah's day. 41:44 You know, they ate, they drank, 41:45 they gave in marriage, 41:46 but they didn't even know anything was coming 41:48 and the flood came and took them all away. 41:51 And there are so many people today 41:52 that just involved in the rounds of life. 41:54 I asked somebody recently, "You know, 41:57 where's your life going? 41:58 Where's it headed?" 42:00 And this person... 42:01 I was telling my wife about that. 42:03 This person said, "Well, I'm looking for my next job, 42:06 I lived here. 42:07 Now I don't know where I'm going." 42:08 I said, "Now, let me ask you again. 42:10 Where is your life headed?" 42:11 And this person didn't know. 42:13 I said, "Here's my card. 42:15 This ministry can help you know where your life is headed." 42:19 There's so many people that are that way today. 42:21 They're just living for the moment. 42:23 They're pursuing everything that brings happiness, 42:25 which is nothing wrong with that, 42:26 but don't pursue happiness 42:28 when the biggest part of happiness is in Christ. 42:31 Not without Jesus. You know? 42:33 Yeah, exactly. 42:35 I mean, all this kind of reminds me 42:36 and takes me to 2 Timothy chapter 3, 42:39 where it talks about perilous times 42:40 and perilous men. 42:42 It says in 2 Timothy 3:1, 42:45 "But know this, that in the last days, 42:48 perilous times will come, 42:49 for men will be lovers of themselves, 42:52 lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, 42:55 disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, 42:59 unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, 43:03 brutal, despisers of good, 43:05 traitors, headstrong, haughty, 43:08 lovers of pleasure 43:09 rather than lovers of God and mercy, 43:12 having a form of godliness but denying its power. 43:15 And from such people turn away!" 43:18 You know the scary part of that, 43:20 having a form of godliness... 43:22 These are people in the church. Yes. 43:23 It's talking to a person, 43:25 talking about people in the world. 43:26 That's scary. 43:27 Exactly what we were talking about earlier, 43:29 people that were falling away, being deceived, you know? 43:33 And in 2 Timothy, go to chapter 4 now. 43:36 Okay. 43:37 And look at this 2 Timothy 4:3-4. 43:40 This is... 43:41 I want to walk through this really 43:42 and just squeezed the orange here, look at this. 43:44 2 Timothy 4:3-4. 43:46 It's on the syllabus, Donna. 43:47 It will help you save some time. 43:49 Yeah, I know. 43:50 There it says, "For the time will come 43:51 when they will not endure sound doctrine," 43:54 I was talking about this, 43:56 the word sound there in the Greek means uncorrupted, 43:59 means truth, means safe, it means whole, 44:01 it means complete. 44:03 They will not endure complete, whole, safe, 44:06 uncorrupted doctrine. 44:07 "But according to their own desires," 44:09 and this is one of the problems here. 44:11 They say, "Okay, that's not right. 44:12 That's not what I want. 44:13 I want this, not that." 44:16 They have a precursor to what they want. 44:19 And if the Bible is giving them what they don't want, 44:22 they don't want what the Bible is giving. 44:24 It says, "According to their own desires," 44:27 and then it goes on and says, 44:28 "because they have itching ears," 44:31 meaning I don't like what I'm hearing. 44:33 What do they do? 44:34 "They will heap up for themselves teachers." 44:36 They pick teachers. 44:38 So if I'm saying, "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy," 44:41 and Donald's saying, "Oh, pick any day you want." 44:44 Let's say I like what Donald said. 44:46 Wednesday works good. You know, huh? 44:48 Wednesday works good. Yeah. 44:50 Wednesday works good. 44:51 If somebody else says, "Well, you know, 44:53 when the Bible says, you die in you're sleeping." 44:55 Well, no, no I like it... 44:57 My mom died and went to heaven. 44:59 So they pick a different teacher. 45:00 When the Bible is saying, what it's saying, 45:02 don't look for teachers that match 45:05 what you want to hear. 45:06 That's what is being said. 45:07 And look at what will happen as a result. 45:10 2 Timothy 4:4, 45:11 "And they will turn their ears away from the truth 45:16 and be turned aside to fables." 45:18 Isn't that amazing? Wow! 45:19 So it's not that they're not being 45:21 presented with the truth 45:22 is that they have designed their own approach to Jesus. 45:25 And... 45:27 Well, really, you know what that speaks to me 45:28 is they put God in a box, they're limiting. 45:30 They totally limit who He is, 45:31 and that's why we were talking about the idea of complete, 45:34 missing the complete package... 45:36 For making God in our image instead of allowing Him... 45:39 Basically. To make us in His image. 45:41 We want to make God in our image 45:43 so He fits what we want. 45:45 Does it have to do with the seven women saying, 45:49 "I need the name of one male, I want that name..." 45:50 Okay. Isaiah 4:1. 45:53 Isaiah 4... Oh, is it... 45:54 Yes, right. Look at numbers, number 6. 45:57 Read it right there. Okay. 45:58 Go on. Where are we at? 45:59 Yeah, right beneath it. 46:01 I know it, okay. Number six. 46:02 "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man," 46:06 I wonder who that one man is, "saying, 46:09 'We will eat our own food, wear our own apparel, 46:13 only let us be called by your name, 46:16 to take away our reproach.' 46:18 " That one man's name. 46:19 That's Jesus. Jesus. 46:21 That's why it says many will come in My name. 46:23 Yes. 46:24 Many will come on My name. Oh, wow! 46:26 And I wrote what that meant. 46:27 I mean, these points are so strong for me. 46:31 Read that, you know, at number 12. 46:33 Read that right there for me, Donald. 46:34 "Many Christians will be comfortable 46:36 with just the name, 46:38 they will have our own food, bread, 46:41 their preferred teachings in their own apparel, 46:44 their own standard of righteousness, 46:47 their religion will be surface. 46:50 Christianity will look genuine 46:51 but after examining it by the Bible, 46:53 it's true condition will appear." 46:55 Right. 46:57 So they'll say, "We want our own food." 47:00 Wow. 47:01 That's your food. This is our food. 47:03 A pastor once told me, he said, 47:05 "You have your scriptures to back up what you believe, 47:08 I have my scriptures to back up what I believe." 47:10 I said, "Excuse me, pastor, 47:12 I don't have any scriptures and neither do you. 47:15 And the Bible doesn't back up two opposing views." 47:21 But, you know, what the problem is 47:24 not the Bible, 47:25 the problem is the human heart. 47:27 And in the kind of Christianity existing in the world today is, 47:31 "This is what I want. 47:32 This is my kind of Christianity. 47:34 I'm happy right here." My comfort zone. 47:37 Customized Christianity. 47:38 And the Bible said, "Yeah, they just want the name." 47:41 Yes, Donna. 47:42 I was just, you know, you... Go, Donna. 47:44 Imagine being the marriage supper 47:48 in the wrong garment. 47:50 Now I know the Bible says that he was speechless. 47:54 He was speechless. He was... 47:56 I believe he was very upset with himself. 48:00 But it was too late. 48:01 He was extremely upset with himself. 48:04 But he couldn't say anything. 48:05 It was too late. 48:07 So if we don't want to have that experience, 48:11 it says not too late. 48:13 Not right now. 48:15 Exactly. Yeah. 48:16 Excellent point. 48:18 Good point. Wow. 48:19 I was thinking too and it says, 48:20 we will eat our own food, 48:22 really what they're doing is starving themselves, 48:24 literally starving themselves. 48:26 As God, you know... Junk food. 48:28 Really, this is... Oh, what a sermon title! 48:30 Oh, I know it. 48:32 Y'all didn't hear it. 48:33 Junk food. 48:34 Good one, Donna. 48:36 See that's her wisdom. 48:38 Right, exactly. 48:40 Pastors, don't write that down. 48:41 That's my sermon title. This whole thing, this whole... 48:43 Everything we've been talking about is, 48:46 well, it's all for us as Christians, 48:49 you know, to not to take it for granted 48:53 when God wants to show us something and give us, 48:56 you know, more of His life and to keep seeking because 49:01 we can always continually learn more about Him 49:03 and it's for us to not be content 49:05 and get too comfortable in our condition. 49:12 And it's all for Christians. 49:14 All of these things we're talking 49:15 about are all for Christians. 49:17 That's the pattern here as we're keep saying is, 49:19 you know, this is, 49:20 you know, judgment begins at the house of God, 49:22 I forget where that's at in the Bible. 49:23 1 Peter 4:17. 49:25 And so it's, you know, 49:26 if the church is not following God, 49:29 how can we expect the world to want the God 49:32 that we portray? 49:35 We kind of anchor ourselves down 49:36 on what we want. 49:38 And instead of saying, "Lord, what do you want?" 49:40 Yeah. Amen. 49:41 And even Jesus, you know, in His humanity, 49:42 didn't He struggle with that in His humanity? 49:45 My will... What did he say? 49:46 Not My will, but Thy will be done. 49:49 Okay, let me throw it out to all of you now. 49:50 So what are we getting out of this? 49:52 What's happening? 49:53 What's taking place amongst us? 49:55 Well, there's delusions. 49:58 And I think about delusions, strong delusions, like a drug. 50:03 So it would be delusions 50:07 that Satan sense would be our drug of choice. 50:11 Do we want the truth or do we want a drug of choice 50:13 to be diluted? 50:15 And, you know, so that's my thought. 50:17 I think too... 50:19 You know, let's not run past that 'cause 50:21 that is the drug of choice. 50:23 Choice. 50:25 I didn't make that up. No. 50:26 My cousin said that to me 50:27 when I was explaining to her truth. 50:30 And she said to me, and I was like, 50:32 "Wow, that's good." 50:33 And she said, "Well, 50:35 that would be like a drug of choice 50:37 if you choose something that's not the truth." 50:41 Just to be happy, you know, 50:44 to have feelings of wonderful, 50:46 ooey-gooey feelings, 50:48 you know, it's a drug of choice. 50:51 Well, the feelings get you. 50:53 They get you. It's not the truth. 50:54 Yeah. 50:55 Everything that popped in my head 50:57 and this makes me think of King David. 50:58 He had it all together. 51:00 He had this kingdom, beautiful kingdom. 51:01 Something happened, 51:02 he decided to stay back from war, 51:04 he became idol or idol and complacent, 51:07 that's when the enemy picks us off, 51:08 it's that idleness. 51:10 So I think about that, 51:11 being idol was a big one for me. 51:13 I'm not being vigilant than you. 51:15 Well, when I read our subject matter is like, 51:20 that's kind of tough for a Friday night. 51:22 Whose gonna go to sleep after this? 51:26 Yeah. 51:27 It's the truth. But it's the truth. 51:28 It's the truth, right? 51:30 Well, with the everything from the junk food 51:33 that we were talking about and everything else, 51:35 we're not getting the true nourishment that we need, 51:37 you know, 51:39 because of the deceptions and everything else. 51:40 But if you look in the Bible 51:44 and take in the actual Word of God 51:48 and not be deceived, 51:50 especially that we are so close to the end times, 51:53 you know, there is hope for every single one. 51:56 Amen. 51:57 And in John 6:51, 52:01 you know, going back to the junk food, 52:03 here it says, 52:04 "I am the living bread, 52:06 which came down from heaven. 52:07 If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. 52:11 And the bread that I shall give is My flesh, 52:15 which I shall give for the life of the world." 52:19 Yeah. 52:21 So it is not just for, 52:23 you know, our little section of Illinois. 52:26 That's right. 52:28 You know, it's not for just some area 52:30 in Great Britain. 52:31 It's all over the world. 52:33 It is for every single one of us 52:35 to be able to take in the Word of God, 52:38 to understand God's love for us 52:41 as a whole people, 52:43 and not just for a race of people, 52:45 not just for, you know, 52:47 not just for the Jews or Gentiles or anything else, 52:50 to all the world, you know, 52:53 for every Jew and every Gentile, 52:55 everybody, you know? 52:56 That's right. 52:57 It's just, you know, it's a wonderful gift that 52:59 He has given to us, especially now 53:01 that we are looking at things 53:03 that seem to be so close to the end times, 53:06 even though there's things that still haven't happened yet, 53:10 but it's getting closer. 53:11 That's right. 53:12 And whenever it does happen, 53:14 the Word will help us understand 53:15 when it is our time and when it's here. 53:19 Oh, yeah. 53:20 Because if you look at one of the... 53:21 I'm glad you brought that up about the hunger. 53:24 Donna, that's a great title junk food 53:26 and then emphasizing Jesus is the real bread of life. 53:30 In Matthew 5:6, says, "Blessed are those who hunger 53:33 and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." 53:37 Amen. 53:39 And Jesus says, "Why spend money for that 53:40 which is not bread?" 53:42 There are people today that are, you know, 53:43 they're willing to pay anything they want to. 53:46 They have this brand of righteousness that 53:49 it feels attractive 53:50 and they'll be willing to support it 53:52 and give their donations and give their offerings 53:55 at church week to week, 53:56 but it's like you're paying for junk food. 53:59 And the Lord, in essence, is saying, 54:02 "But you're not hungering 54:03 and you're not thirsting for righteousness. 54:06 So you will not be filled." 54:08 You reminded me of something I told you about... 54:12 Well, a family member I have, I'm gonna be vague. 54:15 Yeah. Be vague, yeah. 54:16 I was just thinking of that too. 54:18 You know, you want to say it? 54:19 No, you say it. Okay. 54:21 We have a family member that just... 54:24 That person's whole life is just consumed 54:26 in fun and pleasure 54:28 and keep coming up empty 54:30 over and over and over and over and over again. 54:32 And we said, if they only would try God's way, 54:35 they won't ever be frustrated again. 54:39 But this, you know, that's the problem. 54:40 Searching. 54:41 They're just are searching for love 54:43 in all the wrong place. 54:44 Yeah, yeah. 54:45 The person was talking about, 54:47 they're not happy and not content. 54:49 Not content. 54:50 Just do it the Lord's way, 54:51 you'll make a difference in your life. 54:53 It's funny sometimes, you know, we love our misery, 54:56 like we love to be miserable. 54:58 But why would you want to stay miserable 54:59 when you can have so much pleasure 55:02 and so much, yeah, joy. 55:03 And it's only comes from the Lord. 55:05 You know, I talk to people on prayer line, 55:07 and I try to encourage them, 55:09 "Look, you know," like this one young man said, 55:11 "How do I defeat Satan? 55:12 How do I take him out?" 55:14 I said, "Well, prayer, reading God's Word." 55:17 "No, I don't want to hear that. 55:18 I don't want to hear that." And it's like... 55:20 That's the only strategy we have, 55:22 reading and living in God's Word. 55:24 I mean, you can't... 55:25 Tell him this. He can't take the devil out. 55:26 No, I said. 55:29 He can't take him out. 55:31 Well, that's the thing is we don't want that. 55:32 We don't want those things that are gonna secure us 55:34 and give us that hope and that comfort and that joy, 55:36 we want something else. 55:38 Donna, I see you have your finger on a text there. 55:41 Oh, I don't know, I... 55:44 But if you look at... Do I say... 55:46 This in the last stage of... 55:49 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, 55:53 saith God, 55:54 I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, 55:58 and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 56:01 your young men shall see visions, 56:02 your old men shall dream dreams." 56:04 You know, and as we pray, 56:06 and as the Holy Spirit is alive and well on this earth, 56:11 He is totally alive and well. 56:13 And He's here to help us, you know? 56:18 And we're not alone. No. 56:20 We're not at all alone. 56:21 So even though we're saying these hard things and, 56:24 you know, it looks pretty gloomy, 56:26 we got answers. 56:28 We got answers in the Word of God. 56:29 Amen. And here's the good news. 56:30 Let me give you a bright part of the end times. 56:32 Matthew 24:14 56:34 and this gospel of the kingdom 56:37 will be preached in all the world, 56:41 for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. 56:45 The Lord wants to restore our hearts. 56:48 He wants to restore our lives. 56:50 But in order for us to get 56:53 to where the Lord wants us to be, 56:55 we have to allow His Word to be our guide, 56:58 and His Holy Spirit who will never tell us 57:02 what is not in God's Word. 57:04 That's important. 57:05 Don't ever say the Holy Spirit told me this, 57:07 what you can't find in Bible. 57:10 The Holy Spirit will never lead you 57:12 and guide you into falsity, but always into truth. 57:14 Amen. 57:16 The one thing that the Holy Spirit will... 57:19 Well, I look at it this way. 57:24 Now I know what not to do. Exactly. 57:28 On that note, friends, 57:29 we have to say may the Lord bless you 57:31 until we see you again. 57:32 Be in God's Word 57:34 and you will always be led right. 57:35 God bless you until we see you again. 57:37 Amen. |
Revised 2019-05-16