Anchors of Truth

The Final Act

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Lomacang

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000035


00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth
00:14 live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 Last Day Events with John Lomacang.
00:23 Hello friends and welcome to the final meeting of our series
00:26 entitled, Last Day Events.
00:28 Thank you for tuning in again here to southern Illinois
00:31 to the 3ABN Worship Center, also the church that I pastor.
00:35 And so I'm doubly blessed to be able to be in my own pulpit
00:38 and have my congregation here.
00:40 And we thank you that you are a part of our extended
00:43 congregation, as either by internet, by radio,
00:46 by satellite, whatever medium you tune in to hear what
00:49 God has to say to your heart.
00:51 This final message is entitled, The Final Act.
00:54 A few nights ago on Wednesday, we began with
00:56 The Final Countdown.
00:57 Then Thursday, The Final Stage. Friday, The Final Coalition.
01:01 This morning, The Final Apostasy.
01:04 And this afternoon, combining the remainder of that,
01:07 The Final Act.
01:09 And we thank the Lord for how He has led.
01:11 We pray that you'll invite your friends.
01:13 If there's someone running around the living room
01:15 or in your space, just pull them aside and
01:18 invite them to sit down.
01:20 And if you've missed any of the presentations, very soon
01:22 the entire series will be available through 3abn.org,
01:26 all five presentations packaged on a DVD.
01:30 We encourage you to get those, along with others.
01:32 Pastor Jim Gilley did a series.
01:35 We have a number of others that if you'd like to look at
01:36 our library and see how God is using this ministry to get
01:40 the gospel forward to the world.
01:42 As we believe Jesus is soon to come.
01:44 But right now, I'd like to invite you to bow your heads
01:46 with me as we ask for the Lord's presence and His Holy Spirit
01:49 to lead in this message.
01:51 Let us pray.
01:53 Our heavenly Father, thank You so much that the Word
01:58 that You've entrusted to us and have preserved
02:00 to this day and age, is a reliable Word.
02:04 We thank You for the inspiration we receive from it,
02:07 and we thank You so much for the guidance
02:10 it has given to our lives.
02:12 We pray for those that are tuning in to this program,
02:15 whatever the medium may be.
02:16 Cause their ears to hear and their eyes to see
02:20 and their hearts to listen for the voice of Your Holy Spirit.
02:24 We know the content sometimes can be strong,
02:27 but Father, it's done in love that someone may find the truth,
02:32 may find Jesus and walk in the path leading to eternal life.
02:37 So bless these messages.
02:38 We pray in Christ's name, amen.
02:45 My wife gave me a really really good lunch today.
02:50 It doesn't seem like a very beginning story,
02:52 but it fits in a wonderful way.
02:54 I was so tired and my energy level was low.
02:58 But there's nothing like a really good meal when
03:00 you need nourishment.
03:02 And in the very same way, there are many in our world
03:07 that are hungry, that are undernourished spiritually.
03:13 But in this day and age, the bread of life
03:15 is still available.
03:17 And so what I've been using every meeting, and I continue
03:20 to use for our foundation, is the Word of God.
03:23 There is no better food than the food you find
03:25 in the Word of God.
03:27 And so I want to encourage you to open your Bibles,
03:30 if you have it.
03:31 If you don't have your Bibles, you can look to the screen.
03:33 I thank the Lord for a faithful crew that has made sure
03:37 that everything you need to see and hear is brought your way.
03:41 A very powerful passage in the book of Matthew.
03:45 It's amazing that right before Matthew 24:14 is a passage
03:49 that kind of fits into the way that the Lord has blessed me
03:52 through my wife's very good cooking today.
03:54 It says, "He that shall endure to the end shall be..."
03:58 What's the next word? "...shall be saved."
04:00 We need spiritual nourishment to endure to the end,
04:05 to make it across the finish line,
04:08 to make it to the goal line,
04:10 to get that last shot off in the basketball game.
04:13 We need endurance to run that last mile.
04:16 As one of my faithful elders, Dick Hutchinson, who was my
04:19 elder in California and also for a time here in Thompsonville.
04:22 One day he called me and he said, "I'll be running
04:24 over to your house, I have something for you to sign."
04:26 And I went to the front door and there he was.
04:28 He ran to the house and ran all the way back.
04:32 And I think he's circled the globe about 4 or 5 times,
04:35 all the running he's done.
04:36 But you know, friends, all that running is of no value
04:38 unless we endure to the end.
04:39 Can you say amen.
04:40 So we are at the end, the finish line in these last days.
04:44 And the Lord is saying, "He that shall endure
04:47 to the end shall be saved."
04:49 But He follows that with a very profound scripture.
04:53 The world is not going to end with a nuclear explosion
04:56 or a massive extinction level event earthquake.
05:01 It's going to end on the highest and most positive
05:04 note of the ages.
05:06 Matthew 24:14 reads as follows.
05:28 Jesus is going to have the last word.
05:33 The message that He has given us will be delivered
05:38 before His return.
05:40 Jesus is the winner.
05:43 He's going to have the final say.
05:44 The world is not going to end on Satan's terms.
05:47 It's going to end on Christ's terms.
05:49 Can you say amen to that.
05:51 But also, this is an hour where Satan has really
05:54 turned up the heat.
05:56 Everybody is feeling it.
05:58 Whether you are wealthy or whether you are poor.
06:01 Just recently, I think during this week, more than 1600 homes
06:05 were destroyed in Texas.
06:08 The fires didn't care what the person's financial status was.
06:12 Destruction comes to the wealthy and to the poor.
06:15 When earthquakes come and wipe out homes,
06:17 and tornados come and wipe out people's life savings
06:19 and their life work, when stock markets because of a financial
06:23 earthquake wipe out the very thing people are hoping to
06:25 one day collect on, it doesn't really care what
06:28 category you fall in.
06:29 That's why this is the age where we have to trust the Lord
06:33 and look to Him as the author and the finisher of our faith.
06:35 Jesus will have the last word.
06:37 But it is in this hour He says these words to us
06:40 from a man who knows what it's like to be sifted by the devil.
06:45 Listen to what Peter says. 1 Peter 5 and verse 8.
06:49 I think this is kind of personal for Peter
06:51 because it happened to him.
06:53 He begins with two words.
07:09 We were down in Botswana two years in a row;
07:13 earlier this year and also last year.
07:16 And we had a chance to see a lioness
07:19 and her two baby lions.
07:21 It was the most exciting thing because it was the
07:23 first time I saw a lion that was not in a cage.
07:26 As a matter of fact, I was in the cage.
07:30 I was the one that needed protection from her.
07:34 But the person doing the tour said, "Don't worry about it,
07:36 her stomach is full.
07:37 And lions don't kill unless they're hungry,
07:40 or they feel that they're being threatened
07:42 and that their safety is in jeopardy,
07:44 or that you may be between them and their cubs."
07:49 And so we had a chance.
07:50 I trained my Canon on her, that is, my camera,
07:53 and put it on high speed mode and took about 35 or 40 shots.
07:58 And I could almost paste them together to make somewhat of an
08:01 old fashioned movie of the continued strides of that lion.
08:05 But I had to respect the ability which that lion has.
08:08 Because it may be quiet, but it's still a man eater.
08:11 You may not hear Satan in your life, you may not directly
08:15 feel the heat of what's happening in these last days,
08:17 but we cannot forget that he is a roaring lion
08:20 seeking whom he may devour.
08:21 And the reason why she didn't bother us is because she
08:24 devoured something before she saw us.
08:27 But Daniel makes it clear.
08:31 And the question is not whether or not Satan is devouring.
08:34 The real question is, what is he devouring?
08:37 Listen to the words of Daniel the prophet
08:39 in Daniel 8 and verse 12.
08:41 Speaking of the enemy, he says:
08:52 In other words, Satan put a lot of good jabs in there.
08:57 He may have hit Christ and he may have wounded Christ.
09:00 But in the very end, Jesus is going to win the match.
09:03 Throughout the ages, Satan fights as a warrior
09:07 committed to a plan.
09:09 He cast the truth down to the ground
09:12 and for a short time it seemed as though he prospered.
09:14 But in the end, Jesus always comes out victoriously.
09:20 We're living in the day and age where truth is being
09:22 cast to the ground.
09:23 It's not being cast to the ground unintentionally.
09:25 It's being cast to the ground intentionally.
09:28 A lot of churches don't want to teach the truth.
09:32 You go to YouTube and just type in the word "Sabbath"
09:35 and you will see the plethora of videos that come up.
09:38 Many of them mocking and belittling the Bible Sabbath.
09:43 Many of them laughing at those who keep the Sabbath.
09:47 And then pastors stand in their pulpit and say,
09:50 "I honor the seventh day of the week.
09:52 I keep it holy and I keep Sunday holy.
09:55 And I keep Monday holy, and I keep Tuesday holy."
09:58 And the thousands of their church members
10:00 to the glee of their foolishness begin to applaud them
10:03 in their determination to resist the truth of God's word.
10:07 Truth is being cast to the ground.
10:09 Truth is not being preferred.
10:11 People want to feel good.
10:12 They want great choirs and great programs
10:14 and great community outreach.
10:15 Those are good things, nothing bad about that.
10:17 But when they are preferred over the truth of God's word,
10:20 that's where the danger comes in.
10:22 Truth is being cast to the ground.
10:25 It is this age that the Lord says to us;
10:27 the dark age for the world, but this should be a bright age
10:31 for the church.
10:32 And here's the reason why.
10:34 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 1 to verse 6.
10:39 The Lord says to us:
10:53 We've got so much knowledge.
10:55 You know if you study the Bible, all these things happening
10:58 in the world are not coming to you by surprise.
11:01 If you read prophecy, all these things are not a shock.
11:03 I think one song writer says, "It may be another earthquake
11:07 or just another war.
11:09 But to every child of God, it's something more.
11:12 When you hear the sound of marching,
11:14 hear the sound of the battle cry,
11:16 we know our Lord is coming, even now it may be nigh."
11:20 So when we see all these things in the world,
11:22 it's saying to us, "Jesus is on His way."
11:24 Just like when you see a dust cloud in the distance
11:26 in the desert, you know something is coming your way.
11:28 In the very same way, Paul the apostle says
11:31 "I don't really have any reason to write to you.
11:33 You are the church. You should know.
11:35 It's the world that's in darkness."
11:36 Look at verse 2.
11:46 Not to the Christian, but to the world.
11:49 And this is not the secret rapture.
11:51 But it comes upon them because they're not prepared for it.
12:13 All those books we have on the shelf; The Great Controversy,
12:16 Conflict series, Bible commentaries,
12:18 all the books we have, we are not in darkness.
12:20 We know what's coming.
12:21 As a matter of fact, I said this to my wife just
12:23 I think a day or so ago.
12:25 I said, "Seventh-day Adventists could literally publish in the
12:27 newspaper predictions of what's going to happen in the future.
12:30 And it will happen exactly as we say."
12:34 Because God has given us a glimpse, an understanding
12:39 of Bible prophecy that no other denomination has.
12:44 So we could publish something and say, "Here's what's going to
12:46 happen in the government.
12:48 Here's what's going to happen in the Protestant world.
12:50 Here's what's going to happen as it relates to the Sunday law."
12:53 And it will occur as we've said it.
12:55 And you know what?
12:56 We ought to do that because every now and then
12:58 when something happens, evangelicals come out
13:01 of the woodwork, "This is the battle of Armageddon."
13:02 I remember that very well, 1990, when the Gulf War began.
13:06 They all said, "This is the battle of Armageddon."
13:07 And one news reporter said...
13:09 I think I used this story in my first meeting.
13:11 But one news reporter said, "If you knew that the battle of
13:14 Armageddon was coming, why didn't you tell us
13:17 before it came so that we could be ready?"
13:21 We can honestly, as a church, write pages upon pages
13:26 of events that will unfold in the future
13:28 and be exactly accurate.
13:31 Not all the details, but the end result.
13:34 Amen.
13:36 But he continues.
13:58 Another phrase, "Watch and be ready," is another way.
14:02 Satan opposes the truth.
14:03 And the reason he does that, friends, is because it is the
14:06 means whereby his hold is broken.
14:10 Satan creates a diversion so that he can keep people
14:13 in his grip, so that he can keep them shackled.
14:16 He fights against the truth because it is the means
14:19 whereby his hold is broken.
14:22 Satan has established strongholds.
14:26 And I go so far as saying he's established many strongholds
14:29 even in the Christian world.
14:31 The Bible predicted that he would do that.
14:34 The Bible said that there will be those who feel that they are
14:38 rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing,
14:40 but they don't understand their own condition;
14:42 wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
14:44 That's not the world.
14:45 Do you know that the world doesn't have to change?
14:47 The world is already on the course to be lost.
14:52 But the danger is in the church, the place where light is.
14:56 The devil is not concerned about somebody
14:58 that's not shooting at him.
14:59 He's not concerned about those who are sitting as a fan
15:01 at a baseball game.
15:03 He's concerned about the opposing team.
15:04 We are the opposing team.
15:06 And once you get on the Lord's side,
15:08 the devil is always against you.
15:09 And Jesus said, "He that is not with Me..." is what?
15:12 ...against Me."
15:13 "He that's not gathering with Me is scattering abroad."
15:18 So wherever there is darkness, the truth is,
15:22 the prince of darkness is at work.
15:25 He resists the truth.
15:28 And even those who resist the truth, the reason is clearly
15:31 outlined by Paul the apostle.
15:33 Look what Timothy wrote in 2 Timothy 3 verses 7 to 9.
15:37 This is one of those passages that we often ignore
15:40 because it doesn't fit into the...
15:43 You know, "Unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,
15:45 disobedient to parents."
15:46 It doesn't fit into that category.
15:48 It fits into one that we often overlook.
15:51 But it pulls us back to a story in the old testament.
15:56 When Moses was resisted by two magicians
15:59 in the courts of Egypt.
16:01 How they were able to turn two rods into snakes
16:04 right in the presence of Moses.
16:07 And although it's not mentioned in detail in the Old Testament,
16:13 Timothy now brings it to our mind again in the New.
16:16 Notice what he says.
16:17 He begins in verse 7 by saying, "Always learning."
16:28 You know, you can study the Bible for the rest of your life
16:30 and ignore all the things that lead you to truth.
16:33 You can read the book of Psalms everyday
16:36 and ignore the things that are critical issues
16:37 in the Christian walk.
16:39 He says in verse 8:
17:05 Ellen White says in the book, Patriot And Prophets,
17:07 she says Jannes and Jambres did not possess the ability
17:12 to give life to sticks.
17:15 And Satan does not have the ability to turn sticks into
17:20 something that is alive.
17:21 Only God can give life.
17:23 But she said this, and this is powerful.
17:26 She says, but he's the master illusionist
17:29 and he creates in the minds of those who yield to him
17:33 things that only they can see.
17:37 He created in the minds of those that he had captive,
17:42 they saw his illusions.
17:45 It pulled them in, it didn't pull Moses in.
17:47 He didn't get fooled by it because he was protected
17:50 by the truth of God's word.
17:51 So he was able to create an illusion.
17:53 And what's happening in the Christian world today;
17:55 people can look at error, and through illusions
17:59 it looks like the truth.
18:03 That's why they pull those text out, "to be absent from the body
18:05 is to be present with the Lord."
18:07 What about all the other verses that say,
18:08 "the dead know not anything."
18:11 "They're in the grave waiting for the second resurrection."
18:12 What about all those text?
18:13 They pull out one little verse and build an
18:16 entire cathedral around that.
18:17 And people look at that every time somebody dies,
18:19 "Well, they're present with the Lord."
18:22 Have you heard that a billion times?
18:23 "They're in heaven now."
18:25 And I always say, "On what verse, can you give me
18:27 one text outside of Elijah and all those special ones
18:30 that God called to heaven?"
18:31 There's not any passage in the Bible that says,
18:33 "Well now, he's in heaven now."
18:39 But the reason why it says their progress will go no further
18:42 is they will succeed for a time, but because of their corrupt
18:47 minds, sooner or later who they are will really be seen.
18:51 That's why there are so many Christian leaders that
18:53 are being unmasked.
18:54 So many of them are falling because their minds are corrupt.
18:57 And when you are not protected by the grace of God,
18:59 you will fall eventually.
19:01 And all will see, as it says, "Their folly will be
19:04 manifest for all."
19:05 Everybody will see who they really were,
19:09 what was really behind the messages that they preached.
19:12 But if you think about it, the final condition
19:15 of the final piece brings the final act into focus.
19:19 But the final piece to the final coalition took time to develop.
19:24 Corrupt leaders were able to hide the light
19:26 during the dark ages.
19:28 Light that is hidden does not add up to light
19:31 that is extinguished.
19:35 There's a passage in the Bible,
19:36 "What is hidden in the dark shall...
19:44 ...shall come to light."
19:45 If it's in the dark, it's going to come to light.
19:47 What was hidden during the dark ages came to light.
19:52 Look at Revelation 12 verses 13 and 14,
19:54 what God did to preserve the truth.
19:56 During the dark ages, God preserved the light.
19:59 How did He do it?
20:00 The devil went after His woman and God protected His woman;
20:04 that is, the church.
20:05 Revelation 12 verse 13.
20:27 If you read European history, you'll find the Waldensians
20:30 found their security in the mountains and in the rocks
20:33 of Europe; in the Alps of the Swiss
20:36 and the Austrian portions of Northern Europe.
20:39 They found their safety there.
20:41 God hid them in the dens and the rocks of the mountains
20:44 and the truth was preserved.
20:46 They would duplicate passages of the Bible
20:48 and they would come to the towns and walk past other people and
20:51 just simply slide them the page that was
20:53 completed the night before.
20:54 And the truth of God continued to grow.
20:56 The Waldensians.
20:57 That was the beginning stages of what was looked back on as
21:01 the Protestant Reformation.
21:02 Although it did not begin until the 1500's.
21:04 God always had a people in every age that stood up against error.
21:09 And the reason why they succeeded,
21:11 the reason why they survived, is Matthew 16 and verse 18.
21:15 Look there with me.
21:16 The Lord guaranteed the survival of His church.
21:19 He said:
21:24 "Peter" is a word that means "pebble."
21:36 I am so glad that the church is not built on Peter.
21:38 Anybody else?
21:40 A lot of people say that the church is built on Peter,
21:41 and Peter was the first Pope.
21:43 No, that's not the case.
21:44 If the church was built on Peter, the church would have
21:46 fallen a long time ago.
21:47 It's not built on Peter, it's built on Christ.
21:49 Just look in your Bibles, 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 4.
21:52 That rock was Christ, not a man.
21:54 David said, "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,"
21:56 which is Christ Jesus.
21:57 Not built on a man, it's built on Christ.
22:01 The church of the dark ages found refuge in a new world,
22:03 not just in the mountains of Europe.
22:05 But God found a place outside of Europe for the church to go.
22:09 Revelation 12 and verse 16.
22:23 Many people don't know, but that's the very place,
22:25 when the Bible talks about a lamb like beast,
22:28 that's the very place where the United States gets its identity.
22:31 This godly nation, this Protestant nation.
22:35 This nation where pilgrims came and found freedom to worship,
22:39 freedom from tyranny, freedom from fear,
22:42 freedom from persecution.
22:44 God opened up this nation for a special reason.
22:46 That's why this nation, even in this shaky economy,
22:51 we're like 212 on the list when it comes to how far down
22:56 of debt we're in, we are still a nation admired by the world.
23:01 People from all walks of life, if you gave them a choice of
23:04 a nation, they want to live here in the United States
23:08 because of all the advantages, a free nation.
23:11 It gives every person the right to worship
23:14 according to their dictates.
23:15 Well the founding fathers, not only signed the
23:19 Declaration of Independence to their own risk, but they also
23:25 framed the Constitution.
23:26 And when you look at that, I used a graphic here.
23:28 I want you to see this.
23:29 When the Constitution was framed, there were 55 signers.
23:32 Of that, 49 were Protestants, three were Catholics.
23:36 Thomas Jefferson was an anti-clerical Christian,
23:39 meaning he believed in unorganized religion.
23:41 Meaning, no religion that's connected to a denomination.
23:44 And there were two deists.
23:45 Deist simply means, they believe that God created the world
23:48 and left it to its own natural course after that.
23:51 But notice what the framers did.
23:53 They had 49 Protestants.
23:57 What does a Protestant mean at that time in history?
24:00 A person that's safe from the tyranny of Rome.
24:05 1775, safe; 1785, safe.
24:10 Rome could not have a foothold.
24:12 They only allowed three that were Catholics.
24:15 And they had a particular creed.
24:17 They made sure that they prevented Rome from
24:19 gaining a foothold,
24:20 re-establishing itself in America.
24:22 So they carefully chose who could be a part of
24:24 that Constitution; three.
24:27 But now, if you look at our Supreme Court,
24:28 the majority of our Supreme Court judges are Catholic.
24:32 The majority in critical leadership positions
24:34 are Catholic.
24:35 You know what, I don't even fear that because I know
24:37 that God is still in charge.
24:38 Can you say amen.
24:39 I'm not fearful of a person's political persuasions.
24:42 But their political persuasions contribute to the decisions
24:45 that they make.
24:46 There's no way that your religion does not
24:48 affect your decisions.
24:49 It surely does.
24:51 You also see that the pillars of the Protestant framers
24:56 was sola scripture, look at that.
25:00 49 believed in sola scriptura; the Bible and the Bible only,
25:04 and sola fide; justification by faith alone.
25:08 But three of the framers believed in the sacred scripture
25:11 and sacred tradition.
25:12 Sacred tradition, I talked about that today.
25:15 In other words, they believed traditions handed down
25:17 combined with what the Bible says will equal
25:21 what we believe doctrinally.
25:23 That's how the Catholics did it.
25:25 They only had three people out of those 55 that had
25:28 those kinds of convictions.
25:29 All the other 49 said, "I'm sorry, in this nation;
25:33 Bible and the Bible only, justification by faith only."
25:37 And that's how the nation began.
25:38 So when people say they want to go back to their
25:40 founding fathers, I agree to that to a certain degree.
25:45 Because our founding fathers were so terrified of what
25:49 happened in Europe, they created somewhat of their own tyranny
25:51 right here and established another colony
25:53 of religious persecution.
25:55 They didn't want people that did not agree with them
25:57 to exercise their own religious beliefs.
26:00 So a man by the name of Roger Williams said that
26:03 we ought to be religious libertarians.
26:05 And they said absolutely not.
26:07 And he continued to insist.
26:08 And they put him out of the colonies.
26:10 And Roger Williams went and lived among the Indians.
26:14 They refused to allow him to remain among the colonists.
26:17 And Roger Williams established the first truly religious colony
26:21 in America called Rhode Island.
26:25 So when they say, "We're going to go back to our
26:27 founding fathers," I agree to a certain degree.
26:30 Not all the way.
26:32 Even though the fathers of our Constitution were predominately
26:35 Protestant, something else that was pretty unique.
26:37 They still held to the two most binding beliefs in common
26:43 with the three Catholic framers.
26:46 Now I want you to hear me carefully, because
26:47 this will go by you like a jet.
26:50 49 believed in the Bible and the Bible only.
26:52 49 believed in justification by faith only.
26:55 But all 52 believed in the sacredness of Sunday
27:00 and the immortality of the soul
27:06 from the very outset.
27:07 The only two that really didn't chime in very much
27:10 were the deists, "I could care less."
27:12 And Thomas Jefferson really didn't paddle in their direction
27:17 because he didn't believe in anything organized at all,
27:20 strangely enough with all the impact he had in history.
27:23 The Great Controversy says this, page 588.
27:45 I've heard the evangelicals say that.
27:47 They say, "Well you know, the Rome of the past is not
27:50 the Rome of today.
27:51 Surely she's changed."
27:57 You read the records, you read the decrees they've made
28:00 just in the last 15 to 20 years and you'll see
28:02 whether or not she's changed.
28:05 But you also discover, when we talk about spiritualism
28:07 and the immortality of the soul; spiritualism and the immortality
28:12 of the soul are on the same platform.
28:15 Sunday sacredness is the second one.
28:18 Ellen White refers to these as the two great errors.
28:22 Nuclear missile number one and nuclear missile number two.
28:25 Both can do the same amount of damage.
28:28 Both, not based on sola scriptura, amazingly enough.
28:32 Protestants who declare sola scriptura embrace that,
28:35 because they were victims of what they came out of.
28:37 That's what they believed when they escaped from Europe.
28:40 They had that already in their minds.
28:42 And at that early stage of the reformation of doctrinal
28:45 teachings, they did not yet discover all the truths about
28:48 what the Bible taught concerning the immortality of the soul.
28:52 And even though the centuries have passed,
28:55 those Protestant reformers, those who came from their
28:59 lineage continue to embrace the sacredness of Sunday.
29:03 Spiritualism is the oldest of the seven systems,
29:05 and Sunday sacredness is upheld as the most religious
29:09 weekday in America.
29:13 Bu the reason why we still have religious freedom
29:15 is because God is preserving it until His work is done
29:20 here in America.
29:23 So whether we like it or not...
29:25 Let me just say something.
29:26 Whether we like it or not, people can teach and believe
29:29 what they want in America.
29:31 The moment we say, they don't have the right to say
29:33 what they want to say, they can turn it around and say
29:36 we don't have the right to say what we want to say.
29:38 This Constitution guarantees freedom of speech,
29:41 although there are some messed up folk that are using it
29:45 for the wrong reason;
29:48 to bring tyranny and fear to the citizens of this country.
29:52 But The Great Controversy goes on to chime in again
29:55 on page 542.
29:57 Rome hasn't changed.
30:16 They're not giving up an inch of ground.
30:17 Absolutely not.
30:19 And let me say something in a declarative way.
30:21 Protestants who stand on the Bible should not give up an
30:24 inch of ground either.
30:25 Can you say amen.
30:27 Have you followed through the years up in Northern Ireland?
30:30 You always hear about the Protestants and Catholics
30:32 always fighting.
30:33 Why Northern Ireland?
30:35 Because the northern territory is where Protestants
30:37 had the greatest foothold during the reformation.
30:40 And Rome is still fighting to regain access
30:44 to those who refuse to budge.
30:46 The Protestants don't want to budge and the Catholics don't
30:49 want to stop trying to get them to budge.
30:52 Still fighting to this very day.
30:55 The Serbs and the Croatians also went head to head
30:58 on the same issues of religious freedom.
31:02 What's happening in America that is pushing us in the direction
31:05 of what happened in Europe?
31:07 Look at this slide.
31:08 It's called Keep Sunday Special.
31:10 You can go to keepsundayspecial.org
31:12 and read all the detail for yourself.
31:16 But listen to what they say on that particular website.
31:21 And this slide pertains to the United Kingdom.
31:44 keepsundayspecial.org
31:47 You know what, I respect anyone for anything
31:49 they choose, religiously.
31:52 I respect them.
31:53 I don't have to believe it or support it, but I respect it.
31:57 We've got to respect each other.
32:00 But we don't have to believe it.
32:06 The push that is taking place in Europe is beginning to
32:08 dribble here into America.
32:11 Listen to what Pope John Paul II said in 1998.
32:15 He said:
33:01 The third commandment?
33:02 Come on, which one is missing? Somebody tell me.
33:05 The second commandment has been abrogated, deleted, whiteout.
33:11 Because it forbids the very practice of image worship.
33:13 We talked about that this morning.
33:15 So you begin to see that what's happening is not arbitrary.
33:18 And what's happening in Europe is happening here.
33:20 I remember coming home one day from...
33:23 I forgot what I was doing.
33:24 We lived in Florida at the time and my aunt,
33:26 that is, Angie's aunt had on the radio.
33:28 She always listened to family radio.
33:31 And there was a guy by the name of Oliver B. Greene.
33:34 Kind of like the dearly laid to rest Joe Crews.
33:37 They continued playing his sermons long after
33:39 he had passed away.
33:41 But this particular day, there was an advertisement.
33:43 And as I walked into the living room, it happened
33:46 in a timely manner, it said, "We'd like to talk to you about
33:48 keeping Sunday special."
33:51 And I said, "Huh, Sunday?"
33:54 And I froze because I had read about it in the
33:56 Great Controversy, but I thought, "Not in America."
33:59 And I kept listening and listening and listening.
34:01 And you know what, I didn't hear about it again until I
34:03 moved to northern California and began to pastor there.
34:06 And unfortunately, I heard it on one of our radio stations,
34:08 Pacific Union College, "Keeping Sunday special.
34:11 Write to this website to get the letter, the materials."
34:13 And I surely did that.
34:15 But I did not hesitate to call our church radio station
34:17 and say, "How on earth..."
34:19 It's like 3ABN advertising how to keep Sunday special.
34:23 I said, "Don't you edit, don't you listen to what
34:25 you put on the air?
34:27 How can you put that on an Adventist radio station;
34:29 how to keep Sunday special?"
34:31 I have the materials in my possession today.
34:32 I laminated them just so that they won't age.
34:36 But listen to what was a part of that, or watch.
34:38 These cards were a part of that package.
34:42 One Sunday challenge card was for the church leaders.
34:45 I could actually read that.
34:47 "Joining with God's people throughout North America,
34:49 I will choose to make Sunday the high point of my week,
34:52 begin my Sunday preparation by Saturday at the latest,
34:55 promise to set aside a regular weekly time of prayer for
34:58 my church leaders, and expect God to honor my obedience
35:02 with the reality of His wonderful presence
35:05 when our church gathers."
35:07 That's a good vision. Can you say amen.
35:09 That's the card that the people sign.
35:12 But there's a card that the clergy sign.
35:14 Here is this one.
35:16 "I will diligently teach that Sunday is a unique
35:19 holy celebration."
35:20 As a matter of fact, we'll go to the next slide.
35:22 I put it in larger print so they can see it.
35:28 This is in America.
35:42 Oh by the way, did you see the reference?
35:48 In this very state.
35:49 There's also a website.
35:51 There's a book with a chart that comes along with that.
35:54 The book is called, Making Sunday Special.
35:56 Karen Burton Mains, the wife of the owner of
35:59 that particular station.
36:00 And that Keeping Sunday Special, you can go to their website
36:02 and order that book nowadays.
36:03 You can go, and what you'll find out on that chart
36:06 is everything the Bible espouses on how to make Sabbath special.
36:10 They just pushed it one day forward to make Sunday special.
36:14 They prepare for Sunday by getting everything ready
36:16 on Saturday night.
36:19 They do all their cooking on Saturday evening.
36:21 They say they're going to get their housework done
36:23 on Saturday evening,
36:24 or their clothes ironed on Saturday evening.
36:26 Everything that we should do on Friday, they do on Sabbath.
36:29 And you know how they get away with it?
36:31 They quote the fourth commandment.
36:34 But they say, "We follow the fourth commandment's principle."
36:37 Not the fourth commandment.
36:39 That's the only one broken down to them in principle.
36:42 Everything else is, "Thou shalt not kill."
36:44 They take that as it says.
36:46 But they use the principles of this.
36:49 There's also the website. Here's a picture of the website.
36:51 This making Sunday special website.
36:54 So it's still there today.
36:55 You can go there if you want to get the materials.
36:57 But the reason why I bring this to your attention
37:00 is because I asked the question;
37:01 Whatever happened to the fourth commandment in Christianity?
37:08 Let's do something a little different today.
37:10 If you're joining us, you can follow along.
37:11 Let's read the fourth commandment together, shall we.
37:14 And I'm going to do it from the King James Version.
37:16 It's on the screen, but I know it by heart.
37:18 I was raised with this text.
37:19 Every Sabbath in our church, we stood up and said,
37:21 "Let us together read."
37:25 And they called it, the confession of our faith.
37:30 Or something to that effect.
37:31 And the entire church would read it.
37:33 After a while, 1200 people reading together
37:35 sounds like one voice.
37:36 And here is how it reads. Together.
38:14 He blessed it, He rested, He hallowed that.
38:17 It's like when I got married.
38:18 I married my wife on May 22nd.
38:20 She married her husband on May 22nd.
38:23 Anybody else with May 22nd as an anniversary in here,
38:25 raise your hand.
38:26 Praise the Lord, the lady with May 22nd has an anniversary
38:30 is my wife.
38:32 Blessed, hallowed, and we are sanctified,
38:35 set apart for each other.
38:36 It's not like any other day.
38:37 You can't even pick another day and make it our anniversary,
38:41 because we didn't get married on that day;
38:43 anymore than you can pick another day and make it blessed
38:45 when God doesn't bless it.
38:48 But the real issue surrounding the fourth commandment
38:50 is not just which day.
38:52 But the real issue is, who is you God.
38:54 Because particularly in verse 10 it says,
38:57 "but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God."
39:03 So the question today is just like it was
39:05 in the days of Elijah.
39:06 "If God be God, then serve Him."
39:08 If you believe in the God of creation,
39:10 He's got the day set aside.
39:12 There was a book written, and in an article about things
39:16 Catholics are asked about, very interesting,
39:18 a man by the name of Martin Scott registered his response.
39:22 As a Catholic, he was asked questions about his faith.
39:25 And listen to what his response was.
39:27 This was written in 1927, page 136,
39:31 "Things Catholics Are Asked About."
39:33 He said:
40:03 What's the authority?
40:05 Tradition.
40:07 A man, not God's word.
40:10 But since Sunday worship is uniquely a Catholic institution,
40:14 how could Protestants honor an institution
40:16 made by its arch rivals?
40:18 The answer is, they are no longer arch rivals.
40:23 In 1995, an evangelical and Catholic together document
40:28 was signed as leading leaders of both sects of Christendom
40:34 joined together, major leaders in both,
40:37 Catholicism and evangelicalism, signed a document
40:40 that from this day forward, we will be one.
40:43 Here's a quotation from it.
40:44 Evangelicals and Catholics Together, January 1995.
40:51 ECT is abbreviation for,
40:53 Evangelicals and Catholics Together.
41:15 Elucidate means, to specify or clarify.
41:19 In other words, we are all concerned about where
41:21 the world is going, so we're joining together.
41:23 And together we're going to fix the world.
41:25 But what they don't know, in the document, there are
41:27 some Protestant leaders that opposed that document after
41:30 they signed it, because in the details forty-two pages long,
41:34 they discovered that the Roman Catholic Church
41:36 included this line, "We believe our doctrinal
41:41 clarities are the same.
41:42 We both believe in the holy Eucharist and the
41:44 holy Roman Catholic Church, and the holy masses."
41:47 They said, "No, we do not support that."
41:49 And so now there's some back tracking, back peddling,
41:51 by those evangelical leaders that signed the document.
41:54 But the fact of the matter is, and the record is,
41:56 once it's signed, it's irreversible.
41:58 So they're now voicing their disdain for how they feel
42:02 they were tricked into signing this document.
42:09 But the reality of it is, the true issue is not the economy,
42:12 or decline in morality, or hunger, or disease.
42:15 The issue is not being talked about.
42:17 Look at Review And Herald, December 11, 1888.
42:20 They're not telling you the real issue.
43:03 That's what is happening in America.
43:05 Getting ready to go down the very road of persecution.
43:07 And if you could look behind the scenes,
43:10 there is Satan right there, "Ah, got them."
43:16 The real issue is not economics.
43:19 You can solve that without joining together
43:21 and throwing your doctrinal differences out the window.
43:24 Stand on the Word of God.
43:26 I'll go back to Chapel Of The Air, Wheaton Illinois.
43:28 Listen to what they say.
43:29 This was amazing.
43:30 I showed you the Sunday challenge card.
43:31 Listen to this quotation.
43:32 It's amazing, America is moving rapidly in the direction
43:36 of exalting a national Sunday law.
44:07 This is not by Catholics, this is by Protestant leaders
44:13 who are not Protesting anything anymore.
44:16 Matter of fact, religion and politics recognize
44:20 the authority of Rome.
44:22 That's why September 11th was such a pivotal day.
44:25 My wife and I were traveling back from London that day.
44:28 She chose to come back on September 11th, by the way.
44:30 Just for the record.
44:33 Her uncle lived there and family lived there, so we
44:35 just spent a few days after going to the Stanborough Press.
44:37 I think where Pastor C.A. is now out there in London.
44:40 And she said, "Let's just go to London and enjoy ourselves
44:43 and go back on the 11th of September."
44:46 That morning when we got on the plane,
44:48 there was such a relaxation at the airport.
44:51 They even allowed us to check extra luggage
44:53 without even charging us.
44:54 We had no status with the airlines at the time.
44:56 They said, "Oh, it's a very light flight.
44:58 Just go ahead if you want to put extra bags.
45:00 No problem, no extra charge."
45:02 When we got on that plane, the world was one way.
45:05 When we got off, it was forever changed.
45:09 Two and a half hours outside of arriving in San Francisco
45:12 California, we got the message.
45:14 We got the message that the World Trade Centers and
45:18 Washington had been attacked, and there were
45:20 other coordinated attacks.
45:21 They said it could be Chicago Towers.
45:23 And they began to point out all these other places that
45:25 could be possibly in danger.
45:27 And I stood to my feet and I said to my wife as she
45:29 listened to the in-flight entertainment, I said,
45:30 "Did you hear what they just said?"
45:33 People began to fall apart on the plane.
45:34 A lady sat in front of us who had family members that
45:37 worked at the World Trade Center.
45:38 And as a pastor, I introduced myself as a pastor and I had to
45:41 console her as she cried profusely.
45:43 We were the first plane to land in Edmonton, Alberta Canada,
45:48 to realize that our world had been forever changed.
45:51 My sister, working for the fire department, was the
45:53 instant concern on my mind, knowing she would
45:55 be at ground zero.
45:56 And today, ten years later, all the things that she's suffering
45:59 medically; kidneys failed, respiratory problems,
46:03 all kinds of issues, health issues, directly relating
46:07 to what happened down there on September 11th.
46:10 Here's a book that was written as a result of it, though.
46:12 September 11, 2001; the turning point in America.
46:26 What a day it was.
46:28 I took a picture of an airplane, a United Airlines jet,
46:32 and I super imposed that on the background
46:35 of the atrocities of September 11th.
46:37 We're going to talk about that tonight after the meeting,
46:39 by the way.
46:40 But what a day it was.
46:41 I was down in New York City, my wife and I were there
46:43 just a month before this event occurred.
46:45 This is a picture of the World Trade Center,
46:47 both World Trace Centers I and II.
46:49 I took that picture on the left a month before this event.
46:53 On the right is a picture my sister sent to me
46:55 on September 11, 2001 as she took it with her own camera
46:59 down there at ground zero.
47:00 What a difference.
47:01 Strong towers brought to their knees, so to speak,
47:05 in one singular event.
47:07 That one singular event catapulted the entire world
47:11 into two categories, one or the other.
47:13 Everybody was either for what happened
47:15 or everybody was against it.
47:17 Everyone was in one religious position or the other.
47:21 Notice how one single event can polarize the entire
47:25 world together instantly.
47:26 There was not a third category.
47:28 There was not a single person saying,
47:29 "I don't even really care."
47:31 Everybody was in one group or the other.
47:35 But the concerns were amazing to me.
47:37 There were four particular concerns.
47:38 Look at them.
47:40 The concerns were:
47:49 It's amazing how that one made the top four reasons
47:51 that September 11th was an earth shattering event.
47:56 What happened on that particular day?
47:57 All faiths gathered together at St. Patrick's Cathedral
48:01 there in New York City.
48:02 Every faith, every faith, police, all religious leaders.
48:06 It was broadcast on international television.
48:09 And there was not a person in that congregation
48:11 that whatever they believed doctrinally didn't matter.
48:15 They got together on a different cause;
48:18 national security.
48:20 They had a different push that brought them together;
48:22 the concern for terrorism.
48:24 All their doctrinal beliefs evaporated.
48:27 In an instant, it didn't really matter what they believed.
48:30 And let me tell you where that's headed.
48:31 There are those who will do anything to preserve
48:34 their way of life.
48:36 And that's what happened in America.
48:37 On the heels of September 11th, people were willing to give up
48:41 anything just to preserve their way of life.
48:44 They were pushing for a constitutional change
48:47 if it could secure the way they lived.
48:50 But notice what Ellen White says about how dangerous
48:54 it is to tamper with the Constitution.
48:56 Testimonies, volume 5, look at the reference here.
49:16 Change the Constitution. Why?
49:18 We didn't change the Constitution in World War I,
49:20 World War II, Vietnam war.
49:22 We didn't change the Constitution then.
49:24 But there's a reason why the Constitution is the attack.
49:28 There's a reason why they want to change that.
49:29 Because it, right now, is the bulwark, it's the marble stone
49:33 that refuses to budge.
49:35 It is our security.
49:36 Change it, let's open up Pandora's Box and
49:39 begin to tinker with it.
49:40 And then we can make it say what we want it to say.
49:42 And because it's not being changed, there's a new
49:44 approach now they have called, constitutional interpretation.
49:49 In other words, that's not really what it says.
49:51 Let us interpret what it really means.
49:54 And Rome is trying to find anyway it possibly can
49:56 to bring in a false day of worship.
49:59 Now I believe in a literal six day creation week.
50:02 What about you?
50:05 But not even the Pope does any longer.
50:09 He says he believes in creation and evolution.
50:13 The moral leader of the world that doesn't keep the moral law.
50:17 The moral majority that doesn't keep the moral law.
50:19 The Christian coalition that pushes out the commandments
50:21 and teach that they were nailed to the cross.
50:23 What kind of morality do we have when the very document
50:26 of morality is pushed aside in favor of something that is
50:29 not supported by scripture?
50:31 But Testimonies, volume 7, tells us where we're headed.
50:34 Look at this again.
50:56 Thus my title, The Final Act.
51:01 The final act.
51:03 The final act; when Sunday is substituted for the
51:07 Bible Sabbath in our nation.
51:10 The final act.
51:12 I still believe that when God finished creation,
51:16 He finished it completely.
51:18 Genesis 2 verse 1 to 3, He says it this way.
51:46 I want to encourage you, if you're listening and watching,
51:50 that even though that says the last act is the
51:52 substitution of Sunday in place of the Bible Sabbath,
51:55 let me tell you, the last act really is something a whole
51:59 lot better than that.
52:02 Matthew 24:14 tells us the last act.
52:06 What's encouraging me about this is, 3ABN is involved
52:10 in the last act.
52:11 Those preaching the three angels messages
52:13 are involved in the last act.
52:15 In English and Latino and Portuguese and Russian,
52:19 and all other languages, they are involved.
52:21 If they're preaching the gospel, they are involved
52:23 in the last act.
52:27 Matthew 24:14.
52:42 Somebody say amen for that.
52:43 God will have the final say.
52:45 The message that Jesus has given to us will be preached.
52:48 Satan is not going to have the last act.
52:52 Jesus will tap him on his shoulder and say,
52:54 "It's My turn now."
52:56 He's going to have the final say.
52:58 He's going to look for people that have never heard
53:00 this message and find a place in their hearts.
53:02 People that are worshipping on all different days of the week,
53:04 whether they're Christian or Muslim or Buddhist or
53:07 not Christian at all, the Lord is going to turn the fire on.
53:10 He's going to pour out His Holy Spirit on this congregation,
53:13 on this nation.
53:14 There's going to be a Pentecost unmatched
53:17 like the Pentecost in former years.
53:18 And God is going to ignite this world and this gospel
53:21 will go forward with such power that Satan is going to hide
53:25 for fear of his life when the Lord is done.
53:30 Ellen White says, where there is now one conversion,
53:33 there will be thousands.
53:35 Hallelujah, somebody.
53:37 Don't worry about your family members.
53:39 God has got that all put together.
53:40 He knows how to work that out.
53:41 He's going to bring a crisis so much so that everything we
53:43 trust in is going to bottom out, and somebody is going to say,
53:46 "Show me the Lord that's keeping you.
53:48 Show me the God that is holding you through these tough times."
53:51 Oh, the conversions are going to be great.
53:54 But there's one thing we have to do in the mean while.
53:58 The last quotation, this is powerful.
54:00 If we are the ones that God has chosen, and I believe He has,
54:03 this is something we have to do.
54:05 Christ Object Lessons, page 415 and paragraph 5.
54:09 How beautiful are the words.
54:31 Not the mark of the beast, not Sunday worship.
54:34 The revelation of the character of God's love,
54:36 that's the last message of mercy.
54:39 But here's our part.
54:44 Isaiah 60, "Arise and shine, for your light has come."
54:55 The last act.
54:58 God is waiting for us to say to the world by the way we live,
55:01 by the way we treat each other, by the way we love each other.
55:04 The last act.
55:06 There are some folk that don't just believe the Sabbath,
55:08 they love each other.
55:09 There are some people that don't just have the 28
55:11 fundamentals, they've got the fruit of the Spirit.
55:12 They've got love, joy, peace.
55:14 There are some people that don't just believe in the Sabbath day,
55:17 they believe in righteousness by faith and they love each other
55:20 as they proclaim the message.
55:21 Amen, somebody.
55:23 This is the day and age that God is calling us,
55:25 not to just believe a message, but to live a message.
55:28 Not just to preach it, but to be an example of it.
55:32 And Satan works hard on this church.
55:34 He works hard on the Adventist church and all those
55:36 who proclaim the truth.
55:37 He wants us to be recalcitrant and hard and unforgiving
55:42 and lazy and complacent.
55:45 He says, "Don't look like a people excited to leave here."
55:48 But this is the day and age that those who are praying
55:51 for the infilling and the outpouring of God's Spirit,
55:53 He's going to set this church on fire.
55:55 And like a worldwide birthday candle, somebody is going to
55:58 see the light and they're going to come and taste
56:00 and see the Lord is good.
56:01 Can you say amen to that.
56:02 I'm excited to be a part of this.
56:03 I'm honored to preach this message.
56:07 I'm humbled that the Lord would even give us this much light.
56:11 And I'm going to appeal to you today
56:12 that have heard this message.
56:13 If you've heard this for the first time,
56:15 I'm going to encourage you, get a copy of this.
56:17 Contact 3ABN, 3abn.org.
56:20 Contact them and get a copy.
56:21 Share this with your family and your friends.
56:23 Share this with your neighbor, your pastor.
56:26 Share this with your friends at work.
56:27 Because one day, both of you are going to be on
56:30 either the same side or on opposing sides altogether.
56:33 Everyone that is hearing this message will be on the road
56:36 to life or on the road to death.
56:38 I want to be on the road to life.
56:40 What about you?
56:41 This is the hour.
56:42 Choose you this day whom you will serve.
56:44 But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
56:47 The Lord loves you, friend. Don't forget that.
56:49 And the reason the messages had to be as clear and straight
56:52 as I've preached them is because God has to unmask
56:55 the enemy for who he is before you see when it's ever too late
57:00 what he has done to you.
57:01 I want to pray that God will give you wisdom
57:03 and direction and understanding and the fortitude to say,
57:07 "I want to be in a nation and a kingdom that will never be a
57:11 place of war and violence and crime and dissatisfaction
57:15 and death any more.
57:16 That's what Jesus is offering to those of you
57:18 watching this program, those of you listening.
57:20 I pray by God's grace, if we never see you in this life,
57:25 that when we stand together on the sea of glass,
57:27 we will know that Jesus has made the difference.
57:29 God bless you until then.


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Revised 2014-12-17