Anchors of Truth

War No More

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: C.A. Murray

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Series Code: AOT

Program Code: AOT000045


00:22 Good afternoon, friends, and welcome once again
00:25 to the 3ABN Worship Center here in Thompsonville,
00:28 Illinois... southern Illinois.
00:30 If you're in the vicinity and you'd like to come by and
00:32 join us for this final meeting in the series of
00:35 The Winds of War, we surely do encourage you to come
00:39 and spend the day with us.
00:40 But if you've been tuning in from wherever you are
00:42 in the world, we welcome you once again.
00:44 And we have been blessed as we've discovered
00:46 that Pastor Murray has not been talking about wars
00:49 like World War I and the Vietnam War
00:52 and whatever war your country may have had.
00:54 But he's talking about the war that continues to rage
00:57 in our heart. This afternoon we pray that you will
00:59 set your mind on the day when there will no longer be
01:03 any kind of war.
01:05 And Pastor Murray is bringing that message to us entitled
01:08 War No More.
01:10 We were blessed this morning with the challenge of
01:13 how do we win the war? When War... Who?
01:16 or When War... How? Very unique titles.
01:19 But I encourage you to invite the Spirit of God to come
01:22 and to speak to your hearts as we once again
01:24 open our ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to us.
01:28 So before we introduce our speaker
01:30 let's go to the Lord in prayer.
01:32 Gracious Father, We thank you...
01:34 The blessing of the Word of God can never be estimated
01:38 in the natural sense.
01:40 But truly, Father, these spiritual seeds are being
01:42 planted to produce in us trees and fruits
01:46 for eternal life.
01:48 We pray that You will bless once again your manservant
01:50 Pastor C.A. Murray. Bring these words to life.
01:55 Give us the hope and the courage that we need
01:59 to not only hear but the strength to follow
02:02 and live out in our lives all that You intend for us to be.
02:06 And thank you, Father, that You promised that one day
02:08 there will be war no more.
02:11 We thank you in Jesus' precious name. Amen.
02:15 And now our speaker for this afternoon: Pastor C.A. Murray.
02:28 How quickly time flies.
02:32 Seems like we were just at the beginning of our sojourn
02:35 together and now we come down to the last presentation.
02:38 Want to thank Pastor John for sticking by me.
02:43 The brethren ran off and left me this week.
02:46 Everyone had something to do.
02:47 Pastor Jim is away preaching.
02:49 Danny is away speaking.
02:51 And this was one of the weeks when
02:55 Pastor John was in town. And so it was good to have him
02:59 sort of come on for me there.
03:05 We have been talking about war and drawing lessons from war.
03:11 My sister said the other day:
03:13 "Bet you can't go through those titles without looking. "
03:17 And, I assured her that I could.
03:21 What War... When?
03:23 When War... Why?
03:25 Why War... Who? When War... How?
03:28 War No More.
03:29 Very easy.
03:35 But this afternoon it's War No More.
03:37 And I would invite you to turn with me if you will
03:40 to Revelation chapter 20.
03:44 20th chapter of the book of Revelation.
03:49 And we will consider a fairly lengthy
03:56 passage of scripture - just verses 5 through 10-
03:59 in Revelation 20.
04:10 Gracious Father, again we call upon You
04:13 to be our teacher.
04:15 To mentor us as we seek to learn from Your Word.
04:21 We thank you already for what You have promised
04:25 to do whenever we open the Word of God in faith.
04:32 And so fail us not.
04:34 Teach us again we do pray.
04:36 And thank you in Jesus' name, Amen.
04:39 Revelation 20 verse 5.
04:43 I am reading from my New King James
04:47 and the words should be there on the screen just momentarily.
04:50 The Bible says:
06:19 Now before I leave this text
06:21 I want you not to get too hung up and afraid
06:24 or ashamed or chagrined by "forever and ever. "
06:28 That is not saying that they will be burning
06:32 forever and ever. One of the reasons we know that
06:35 is we jump back to verse 9: "fire came down
06:38 and devoured them. " Burned them up.
06:40 Forever and ever. The quickest way to translate that is
06:43 for as long as it lasts.
06:46 That is a sermon in itself that perhaps we ought to
06:48 just wrestle with one day. That's a good hour's worth of
06:51 Bible study. But it doesn't mean they're going to be burning
06:53 forever and ever because verse 9 says "they will be devoured. "
06:56 But they will be totally devoured.
06:59 The fire will burn as long as is necessary to do the work
07:03 that needs to be done.
07:05 Amen.
07:06 Now I want you to close your eyes for just a moment
07:08 and I want you to think about heaven.
07:15 You're thinking about heaven.
07:18 Now open them up and look at me.
07:21 Yeah, you're still here.
07:24 It occurs to me that when you ask someone to think about
07:27 heaven you really do them a disservice
07:30 because "eyes have not seen, ears have not heard. "
07:33 We don't really have a concrete idea as to what
07:37 heaven is like because there is simply nothing
07:40 to compare it to.
07:42 So we are reduced to thinking about the best thing
07:46 on planet earth and making it better... and that's heaven.
07:52 So if the best thing for you is ice cream,
07:57 then heaven is all ice cream.
07:59 I'm sure glad heaven is more than ice cream.
08:02 Amen. Amen?
08:04 If the best thing on earth to you is health and freedom
08:09 and not getting up in the morning with any aches or pains,
08:12 well that's a little more of the heaven that I want to go to.
08:17 But "eye hasn't seen; ear hath not heard. "
08:19 We don't really know precisely what to expect.
08:22 And that may be part of the excitement of the whole thing.
08:25 We're going to go to a place for which there is no parallel.
08:28 We've never seen it before.
08:31 We certainly have never experienced it before.
08:34 Likewise, if we were asked to think about
08:39 a world where there is no war,
08:42 that's a difficult thing for humans to imagine.
08:48 I was doing a little research the other day online.
08:51 And a number of historians, paleontologists,
08:55 archaeologists came together
08:57 and they have determined that in the last 4,500 years
09:03 of recorded human history
09:05 there have been 279 years of peace on planet earth.
09:10 279 out of 4,500.
09:14 We've been at war a long time.
09:19 I want to go to Revelation 14 for just a moment
09:23 because there is housed in that wonderful chapter
09:29 messages from the three angels.
09:33 Beginning at verse 6.
09:35 The messages of the three angels are solemn messages.
09:40 The messages of the three angels are warning messages.
09:45 The messages of the three angels are final messages.
09:52 The constitute the last and most urgent
09:57 of the warning messages given to God's people
10:01 in this truly lost and dying world.
10:06 Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake about it:
10:09 we inhabit a lost and dying world.
10:15 One of the television stations that my wife and I
10:19 have begun to watch since we got the new G9 dish
10:22 that 3ABN and all of the Adventist channels have moved to
10:26 is a station called Al-Jazeera
10:28 It's an international news station.
10:30 out of Dohar in Qatar or Qatar... depending on
10:34 which side of potato/potato you flip on.
10:37 Dohar, Qatar.
10:38 And they have a London bureau
10:41 but being an international station they cover
10:45 international news.
10:47 And we tend to watch a little of that each evening
10:50 because it gives you a view of the world that we live in.
10:54 And one of the things that you quickly realize
10:57 when you watch Al-Jazeera or any international news
10:59 station is that this planet is in trouble.
11:02 There's not a corner of the earth where there's not
11:05 fomentation and aggravation
11:07 and drama and trauma and bloodshed
11:11 and war and killing and death and cheating
11:15 and treachery across the globe.
11:17 What must it be like to be God and daily have to watch
11:21 the drama and the death and the trauma that this world
11:26 is going through.
11:29 Truly this world is lost and dying.
11:35 And it is very difficult for we humans -
11:38 even converted Christians - to drink in the reality
11:43 of the times in which we live.
11:47 It seems very hard for us
11:50 to maintain the readiness
11:54 and close contact and connection with God
11:58 that these times demand.
12:00 The hour, ladies and gentlemen, is very late
12:04 and Christ is coming very soon. And yet
12:08 it seems almost impossible for God's people to focus
12:13 on that and to stay focused on that.
12:16 It's very easy to lose our focus and forget
12:19 the times in which we find ourselves.
12:23 So that first angel gave a stirring message.
12:26 "Fear God
12:29 and give glory to Him
12:32 for the hour of His judgment is come. "
12:38 Amen?
12:39 "And worship Him who made heaven and earth
12:43 sea and springs of waters. "
12:45 "Fear God... give glory. "
12:48 This is not a suggestion... it is a command from God.
12:51 It is time to fear God, respect God,
12:54 and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth.
13:01 And in these last days that command is both corporate
13:06 and personal.
13:10 The corporate aspects stand out much clearer
13:13 in the second and third angel's messages, but all three
13:17 are corporate message and personal message.
13:20 Make no mistake about it: these messages demand...
13:23 they demand attention and response from God's people.
13:26 These are not messages that you can ignore.
13:29 I am so glad that when the Lord impressed Danny Shelton
13:34 to start this network He gave him the title
13:38 Three Angels Broadcasting.
13:41 That's right up there with Seventh-day Adventist
13:46 because it speaks a message.
13:47 It's a message that comes from God.
13:49 Now there are other... there are other...
13:51 There's Trinity Broadcasting Network and other kinds
13:53 of networks. But Three Angels Broadcasting
13:57 speaks a message just like Seventh-day Adventist
14:00 speaks a message every time you call it.
14:04 That didn't come from a man... it came from God.
14:08 For indeed "Babylon has fallen"
14:13 and we must come out of her. That's the corporate reality
14:18 that there are systems of worship that are bankrupt.
14:23 That's the reality:
14:26 that every system of worship is not the same.
14:30 The truth is that there are individuals
14:35 who are worshiping God but they are doing so
14:39 in ways that are unacceptable to Him.
14:43 Now that sounds very bigoted in this pluralistic society.
14:47 Because the world we find ourselves in today
14:51 is conditioned to accept everybody and everything.
14:54 I've had pastors say to me: "Well that's your truth...
14:58 this is mine. "
15:01 "And when last I looked, pastor, truth is truth.
15:05 Not your truth and mine. "
15:07 And all 33,000 Christian denominations can't be right.
15:11 Somebody's got to be wrong.
15:14 Either the train is on the track or off the track.
15:20 Either the Sabbath is crucial and important or it's not.
15:26 And I remind you, ladies and gentlemen, we serve
15:29 a particular God. Amen.
15:31 We're coming to that toward the end of this message.
15:34 God is not a slip shod, half-hearted,
15:38 do-it-any-kind-of-way God. God is VERY particular,
15:42 and when He says one in seven He means one in seven.
15:46 And when He designates which one in seven
15:48 either He means it or He doesn't.
15:51 Either it is important or it is not.
15:55 If He gives you ten commandments
15:59 all ten are important.
16:01 Amen?
16:04 If I'm towing your car with a ten-link chain
16:07 and the chain breaks at link number four,
16:12 is it broken?
16:14 Can I pull you?
16:18 If it breaks at link number nine, is it broken?
16:22 Can I pull you?
16:25 Donna?
16:31 If the chain is broken, it's broken.
16:37 Doesn't matter what link because in order for the chain to work
16:43 all links have got to function.
16:46 And if it breaks at link number four or number one
16:49 or number ten or number nine doesn't matter...
16:52 I can't pull you with a broken chain.
16:57 So our God is very particular.
17:00 He is very, very particular
17:03 and the truth is: everybody cannot be right.
17:07 Now that's a fact, Jack.
17:15 And even in this pluralistic age everything is not OK
17:20 and everything is not acceptable to Him.
17:22 Now that is not... that is not a commentary
17:25 on any Christian or anybody's Christianity.
17:28 It is a commentary on worship systems that God has said
17:33 are bankrupt.
17:35 They're not acceptable.
17:37 Now there may be honest Christians in them.
17:40 That is why the call comes: "Worship Him
17:44 in Spirit and in truth. "
17:49 And if you're in a system that is teaching or preaching
17:53 something that is unlike God, you've got to "come out"
17:58 and follow the truth because so much of the Christian world
18:03 prizes tradition over truth.
18:08 The Catholic bishops went into conclave.
18:12 Stayed in 18 years
18:15 and in 1558 at the Council of Trent they came out and said
18:18 "tradition is equal to truth. "
18:24 And the Catholics accepted it and Protestants accepted it.
18:28 And now we believe if you can do something long enough
18:31 and get enough people to do it it's gotta be right.
18:36 But that's not the Word of God.
18:39 Tradition cannot trump truth.
18:44 Doesn't matter how many people believe it,
18:46 truth will always be truth.
18:52 And so many people refuse to study for themselves.
18:57 You know II Timothy 2:15:
18:59 "Study to show thyself approved. "
19:02 Sit down in front of the TV. Open up your head and let
19:06 some televangelist pour in truth?
19:09 Study it for yourself.
19:11 The secular world is godless and ranges from mildly intolerant
19:16 or mildly tolerant to apathetic to openly hostile
19:19 against the things of God.
19:21 And much of the religious world Ellen White tells us
19:24 is in a spiritual stupor.
19:27 They rely on the comfort of familiarity
19:32 and of tradition. And a lot of people think and I've heard it
19:36 "If you've got a guy who has 30-40,000 people listening
19:40 to him every week, he's got to be right! "
19:47 I want to say something but it may not be kind.
19:50 Let me say it this way:
19:54 Everybody loves a circus.
20:00 Amen?
20:03 Everybody loves a show.
20:06 But worship is not a show.
20:09 Worship is an affirmation of a connection between man and God.
20:16 And if we look at the Bible history
20:18 the majority has never been right.
20:23 God doesn't deal with neither is He impressed by
20:29 the majority.
20:32 Many don't want to know
20:37 and so they just don't know.
20:41 Many don't care because the cost of caring
20:45 is just a little too high
20:47 and is more than they're willing to pay.
20:50 I've had two pastors that I've studied with.
20:53 One, the pastor of a large Methodist church.
20:56 Studied the Word of God together and after we were done
21:00 he said: "Murray, I've got to ask you a question:
21:06 how much money do you make? "
21:10 So I told him. He said: "Oh. "
21:14 "Does the church buy you a car? "
21:18 I said: "No. "
21:21 Said: "Oh. Does the church pay for your house? "
21:26 "No. " "Ooh. "
21:31 "Does the church buy you a boat? "
21:34 "No. "
21:37 He said: "Oh. " He said: "Well I'll tell you frankly...
21:43 I like your doctrine but I can't take that pay cut. "
21:49 What he told me!
21:50 Brian, he told me: "I love your message;
21:54 can't take that pay cut. "
21:56 He said: "I'm making $92,000. "
22:00 This was in the 80's.
22:02 "I get a new car every 18 months
22:05 and give the old one to my wife.
22:07 My church is paying for my house
22:10 and they just bought me a new boat. "
22:16 Told me it was about a 36-, 40-footer.
22:19 Cabin cruiser, sleeps 6. Two screws, flying bridge.
22:23 I said: "Wow! My church bought me a TV set. "
22:32 He said: "I love your message but I can't take the pay cut. "
22:35 So he turned his back on God.
22:38 But I did baptize his associate pastor.
22:44 Amen.
22:46 So some don't care because the cost of caring
22:52 is a little more than they are willing to pay.
22:55 II Peter chapter 2 verse 5.
22:57 says that there are some who are "willfully ignorant. "
23:03 They don't know because they don't want to know.
23:09 And there are some who have settled down in ignorance.
23:11 I remember being on a certain Christian network
23:16 before I came to 3ABN.
23:18 And we were supposed to be talking about my book
23:20 and the pastor tried to embarrass me.
23:23 And, um, he read half of a text
23:28 and he sort of sat up on the chair and said:
23:31 "So what about that? "
23:35 And after I got myself composed I said:
23:38 "You only read half the text.
23:40 You read the other half...
23:42 your answer is in the other half of the text. "
23:46 And I said: "Anyway, how many times is that text that you're
23:51 referring to in the Bible? " He said: "Oh, hundreds. "
23:54 I said: "No... just once. "
23:57 Said: "You know where it is? "
23:59 He couldn't think of that.
24:01 I said: "Well here is where it is and here is what it means. "
24:05 Study to show THYSELF approved.
24:09 So some don't know because they don't want to know.
24:14 Some don't know because the cost of knowing is too high.
24:18 Some don't know because they simply preach and teach
24:22 what they have heard...
24:24 what tradition teaches them.
24:29 Ellen White says in Selected Messages page 443
24:33 that "ignorance is inexcusable. "
24:37 Did you know this?
24:39 We are told that one of the things we're going to be
24:41 judged on is the stuff that we could have known
24:47 and should have known but were too lazy to know.
24:53 Um-hmmm.
24:56 You could have known it and should have known it
25:01 but you were watching Gunsmoke.
25:09 God knows. Bibles collecting dust on coffee tables
25:14 while we're looking at our iPads, iPods, iPhones,
25:18 yada, yada, yada.
25:23 Ignorance is no excuse.
25:26 The world must know and God's people must know
25:31 and we must teach them.
25:36 The warning must be sounded
25:38 inside and outside of the church.
25:42 You know, Dick O'Fill, Richard O'Fill,
25:44 said something last month... We were at a Summit together
25:47 with Pastor Stephen Bohr.
25:49 He said something very intriguing. He said: "You know,
25:52 so many of us spend a wonderful Sabbath with the Lord
25:58 and sit in heavenly places.
26:01 Then we go home, turn on the television,
26:05 and crawl right back into the gutter.
26:09 Isn't that interesting?
26:11 He said: "Spend a little more time with Jesus. "
26:14 Take the time to spend with Jesus
26:18 and a little less time polluting our minds
26:22 with the things that the world has to offer.
26:27 Spend a little more time with the Lord.
26:32 Ellen White says: "Our Christian experience ought not to be
26:37 a ceaseless round of sinning and repenting. "
26:40 We wonder why so many times our Christian experience is
26:43 up and down and up and down and up and down
26:46 and up and down
26:47 and why so many times we lose focus on the things of God.
26:53 The Bible says: "The hour of His judgment IS come. "
26:59 True worship is not something you just do in church.
27:05 True worship is a lifestyle.
27:10 True worship is a 24/7 experience
27:14 that includes corporate worship.
27:18 But true worship is something you do with your life.
27:21 II Peter chapter 3 verse 11 says
27:25 in speaking about the times of the end:
27:42 Amen?
27:43 What'd you ought to live like? What'd you ought to be like?
27:46 What'd you ought to act like? What ought you to do
27:50 with your life? The tenor of the times
27:53 and the lateness of the hour demand attention
27:57 from God's people.
27:59 Luke 21:34 says:
28:20 King James say, I think, "unawares. "
28:23 In other words, God is saying "Heads up, ladies and gentlemen.
28:29 Be aware of the times. Don't get so concerned with the
28:33 things of this life that you forget Jesus is coming soon.
28:38 I was looking at my friend and fellow director
28:42 here at 3ABN. We were all so pleased.
28:45 A couple years ago I married Robert and Nadia.
28:49 Now Robert and Nadia have this gorgeous little baby.
28:51 He's a director here.
28:52 And they were in the back of the church this morning.
28:56 And everybody is looking at the little baby
28:58 and she's such a cute little child and she's gorgeous.
29:01 Looks like Nadia... not like Robert.
29:06 And it's very easy to get caught up in stuff like that.
29:10 We have grandkids, and grandkids are fun.
29:13 They are the ultimate present.
29:14 You can play with them, have fun with them, and as soon as you
29:17 get tired you send them back home to their parents.
29:19 What could be better than that?
29:22 But we can get caught up in these things, can we not?
29:25 Children and grandchildren and parents and children
29:29 and car notes and house notes and mortgages and repairs
29:34 and clothing and food. And all of these things
29:36 which are necessary and not bad in themselves
29:40 and yet the Bible is saying: "Don't get so caught up
29:43 in these things that you forget the times which you find
29:46 yourself because one day, like it or not,
29:49 ready or not, believe it or not,
29:50 Christ is coming. Amen.
29:54 So we've got to live in the reality, the expectancy
29:57 of that time: the fact that Jesus is coming very, very soon.
30:02 "Take heed to yourselves
30:04 lest that day come upon you unexpectedly. "
30:09 There are people on earth today - even Adventists -
30:14 who think they have more time than they really have.
30:21 And the truth is that the last movements
30:25 will move and fly with lightning rapidity.
30:30 Lightning speed.
30:32 Look at Revelation chapter 13.
30:34 We are told that this nation will one day speak as a dragon.
30:39 And things are happening, ladies and gentlemen,
30:41 in this world that we never believed could happen.
30:43 I used to wonder: "How are we going to get the word
30:46 into the Soviet Union? "
30:48 The Soviet Union no longer exists.
30:51 There's no such thing as Soviet Union
30:53 and now the gospel is in Russia.
30:55 We know because we carry it there
30:58 and others carry it there.
30:59 How are we going to get the gospel into some of these
31:01 Arab countries? Some of these countries which are so locked
31:04 down and so closed up? And in the last several months
31:07 we've seen this Arab Spring take off.
31:10 And now dictatorships that are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years old
31:15 no longer exist
31:18 and opportunities are being made for the opening of the gospel.
31:22 God is going to move things and open things
31:25 and open things up, and God's people have to be ready
31:29 to go in with the gospel and do the work that God has called us
31:31 to do. And there's not going to be a lot of time to get it done.
31:35 You've got to know what you believe and be ready
31:39 to give a reason for the hope that is within you.
31:45 So Revelation 13 says that this country will speak like
31:47 a dragon, will repudiate its heritage,
31:51 withdraw freedoms and cherished rights from its own people.
31:57 We're going to be compelled to fall in line
32:02 under the pretext of either national security
32:05 or some other pretext. But things are going to change
32:08 and we will have to know Him
32:12 in whom we have to believe.
32:14 We cannot draft on the faith of others...
32:16 you've got to know it for yourself.
32:18 You cannot have the Bible on your iPad...
32:20 it's gotta be in your head.
32:26 Knowing our faith and being able to defend it
32:31 will be crucial in these last days.
32:37 One day each of us will be called to give a reason
32:41 for the hope that is within us,
32:43 and I pray that we'll be ready on that day.
32:50 The answer cannot be: "I forgot my iPad. "
32:54 "Forgot my iPhone. "
32:57 "Forgot my iPad. "
32:59 The Bible says the Word's got to be hidden in your heart...
33:04 right here. Amen?
33:07 Everybody's going to be tested.
33:12 Armageddon is the corporate cosmic culmination
33:17 of the age-old struggle between good and evil,
33:20 right and wrong, error versus truth.
33:24 But I submit that each of us in a greater or lesser way
33:30 will be brought to our own personal Armageddon
33:33 and experiences where our stand for the right
33:38 will be sorely tested and we will have to make a decision
33:42 not in a closet but before kings, priests,
33:46 and princes.
33:47 And my fear is that we may not be ready.
33:51 My prayer is that we will all be.
33:55 Ellen White indicates in the Great Controversy page 608
34:01 that some saints are going to spend some time in jail.
34:07 Some saints are going to spend some time before magistrates.
34:13 Some saints are going to spend some time hidden in forests.
34:17 There is coming a time, she says, when:
34:32 Standing up for Christ
34:35 is going to be treated like treason.
35:03 All that live in Christ will suffer persecution.
35:58 Amen?
35:59 We're going to have that same test.
36:01 We're going to have that same set of trials.
36:03 We are going to have to fight through as they fought through.
36:08 All that live godly shall suffer
36:14 persecution.
36:18 This is my fear: that I, we, particularly in this country
36:23 may not be ready for severe trial.
36:28 Let's look at this sobering statement.
36:30 I'm in Great Controversy 609.
36:36 Sorry, 610.
36:38 610.
37:04 So when you step out for Jesus you pick up at least one enemy.
37:09 Amen? And as long as you're on Jesus' side
37:12 he's going to be there.
37:14 She says: "Evil men and angels will try to tempt you out.
37:17 And if that doesn't work, Satan will use raw force,
37:21 threats, insults, and suffering. "
37:24 First he'll try to trick you out.
37:26 Then he'll try to entice you out.
37:28 And if that doesn't work, he'll try to just force you out.
37:31 He'll use your friends; he'll use your family members;
37:35 he'll use anybody he can.
37:37 You know there are people in this church today right now
37:39 who are suffering silently for their faith in God.
37:43 Family members have turned their backs.
37:45 When my mom became a Seventh-day Adventist
37:47 her family said: "Hm-mmm, not going to have it. "
37:51 And they just stepped back.
37:54 That's not a single incident.
37:56 There are many whose families have said: "We don't want you
37:58 in that faith, and as long as you're there
38:00 we're not going to support you. "
38:03 Praise God Christ says: "When mother and father and
38:06 family and friends desert you, I'll be your family. "
38:13 So he turns friends, family members, co-workers.
38:19 We must be prepared to stand for Christ
38:23 at all costs.
38:26 It is hard for us to think that things will get that bad.
38:29 And yet the Bible tells us it will be that way
38:33 before Christ comes.
38:34 We can go where we please now.
38:36 We can do what we want now.
38:38 We can worship as we please now.
38:40 It's difficult to see a time
38:42 when freedom-loving people will not be able to exercise
38:46 their faith, and yet that time is coming.
38:53 I'm reading now from Great Controversy, 610.
38:58 Ellen White says:
39:12 Praise God! Christ is holding things back now.
39:40 Amen... Amen.
39:45 Their lifestyles say that.
39:54 Amen?
39:55 The devil's got some in there; so does God.
40:01 Ellen White says that "the Advent Message of 1844
40:07 was the first angel's message. " She called it "a glorious
40:10 manifestation of the power of God. "
40:13 It had its flaws; it had its mistakes;
40:15 but it turned men's hearts toward heaven.
40:19 Then one of my favorite passages:
40:24 Great Controversy page 611.
40:26 This is something that God's people need to hold onto.
40:50 Isn't that a powerful statement?
40:52 I want to be part of that.
40:55 I don't know how much longer I have on planet earth.
40:59 I'm not an old man... I don't feel like an old man.
41:01 Hopefully I don't act like an old man, Pastor.
41:04 But I want to be a part of that loud cry.
41:08 I want to be a part of that great manifestation.
41:11 You know, it's funny. When I was colporteuring...
41:13 I'm not a good colporteur. If I had to live selling books,
41:16 I would starve to death. Can't do it.
41:18 People have certain talents.
41:21 Selling books door to door is not my thing. I tried it.
41:23 Had to do it in school before we could get our degree
41:25 so I spent a summer. I first of all would starve to death.
41:28 I'm a sucker... I use that term for every story.
41:30 I want to sell you a book. You say to me: "I don't have the
41:32 money. " I'm going to give you the book.
41:33 Well that means you've got to take the money out
41:35 of your pocket.
41:37 And I remember once going up on this porch.
41:40 There was a lady there, and I wanted to get a...
41:44 I had given her the book and she said: "Come back next week
41:47 to get the money. " And I came back the next week
41:51 and she had an attack cat on her porch.
41:56 This wasn't an attack... this was an attack cat.
42:00 Big, thick, furry, mountain lion-looking cat.
42:04 And as I went up on the porch it would raise up and...
42:07 This was an attack cat. I've never seen a cat that vicious.
42:11 And I said: "Lord, You've got to get me in that house
42:14 'cause I need this money. " And my,...
42:16 You know, your group leader said: "You've got to
42:19 collect this week. "
42:21 And this... hissing... and just an attack cat.
42:25 I said: "Lord, how'm I gonna... how'm I gonna? "
42:29 You know, this cat is backing me up.
42:32 Grown man, a college student, basketball player.
42:34 Six foot tall; 170+ pounds
42:38 and this little ball of fur is backing me down.
42:44 And I had to wait the cat out.
42:47 Finally he got bored and went away.
42:50 I sat there an hour waiting for that cat to leave.
42:54 I said: "I will starve to death trying to sell books
43:00 for the Lord. "
43:01 And yet that text says
43:06 God is going to send a power to finish the gospel
43:10 like He did on the Day of Pentecost.
43:12 I want that power.
43:14 I want to be part of that.
43:15 I want to see miracles wrought like never before.
43:18 I want to be there when the earth is lighted with the glory
43:22 of the third angel's message. When men and women
43:25 hear and know and understand to keep the Sabbath day.
43:28 I want to be... I want to see that with my own eyes.
43:31 More than that, I want to be part of that.
43:35 The work is not going to close with less of a manifestation
43:38 than when it began. I want to be a part of that!
43:45 But Satan will not stand idle.
43:48 He's not going to stand by and see us work unfeathered
43:54 or unfettered, rather.
43:56 We are going to experience a time of unfettered evil
44:00 as never before that will attend the unfettered power
44:04 of the Lord. I'm in Great Controversy 613 now.
44:06 Great Controversy 613.
44:36 This is crucial.
44:40 Satan's going to throw this world into chaos
44:44 in one last attempt to trip up the people of God.
44:48 You know, I ran out of time the other night.
44:50 Didn't get a chance to tell you. You need to read
44:53 Early Writings. I think it's page 147
44:57 where Ellen White gives this vision. She saw Satan.
45:00 She saw him sitting with his head resting in his hand
45:05 just thinking. And she described the vision.
45:08 She says he's a large-framed angel.
45:12 She said his skin hung loosely from his face.
45:16 She said he still bears the mark of a superior being
45:21 because he is an angel, but she says you can see
45:23 what sin and evil has done. How it has carved itself
45:26 into his features.
45:28 She said he was thinking about Christians.
45:33 Then she says an evil, Satanic smile came across his face.
45:39 And she said that's the smile that he gets
45:43 just before he claims another saint.
45:49 Just before he destroys another soul
45:52 that's the smile that he gets.
45:55 Don't think that Satan is going to stand idly by
45:58 and watch God do His work.
46:04 In Great Controversy page 620 she says:
46:45 Now I want to put my finger there
46:46 You hear what she's saying?
46:48 If you think you can sneak by with a little something
46:54 you're opening the door to your own defeat.
46:58 Every sin must be confessed.
47:01 Every sin must be forsaken.
47:05 Little things and big things must be put away
47:10 and we must be spotless if we're going to stand
47:14 in that final battle.
47:16 It is Satan's plan to think:
47:18 "God's not that particular about little stuff.
47:20 So I get mad and blow up.
47:24 I'm a Christian 99% of the time.
47:26 I'm fine... " when ALL must be surrendered to Him.
47:30 Even the little things.
47:32 And if we don't check the little things, we are opening the door
47:36 to our own defeat.
47:39 Now let me pick it up where I left off.
47:45 That's me. That's Pastor Lomacang.
47:48 That's Pastor Steve. That's every deacon,
47:51 every deaconess. That's John Dinzey.
47:53 That's Danny Shelton. That's Mollie Steenson.
47:56 That's Shelley Quinn. That's Jim Gilley.
47:59 That's the General Conference president.
48:01 That's everybody who is in a position of trust and honor.
48:22 Huh?
48:24 So when you get to be pastor, elder, deacon,
48:27 church treasurer... The higher your position
48:31 the more God calls upon you to follow Him.
48:40 So if you've got a high position, you've got to be
48:43 closer to God because Satan's comin' after you.
48:58 When the winds blow and the storm comes
49:01 it's too late to start working on your character.
49:05 You do it now so that when the wind comes
49:10 and the storms blow your character is already set
49:13 and fixed on Jesus Christ. Can you say "Amen? "
49:18 And the more God gives you, the more He expects from you.
49:22 Huh?
49:51 They used to say: "Get it now while the gettin' is good. "
49:56 Get it now while it's possible
49:59 because if you wait till the time of trouble
50:01 it's going to be too late.
50:06 So you see why I keep saying
50:09 "Examine yourself; examine yourself; examine yourself;
50:12 examine yourself. "
50:13 Take a look at your own works
50:15 and make sure of where you stand.
50:18 Our time is getting away so I've got to make
50:20 a couple of quick turns.
50:22 Revelation 16:13.
50:23 Revelation 16:13.
50:25 I'm not going to read it all... just refer to it.
50:28 "I saw three unclean spirits like frogs... "
50:31 I cannot read this text at all without thinking about my pastor
50:33 and unclean spirits. But... "I saw unclean spirits
50:36 like frogs... out of the mouth of the dragon, beast,
50:40 false prophet. " Satan, paganism, spiritualism,
50:44 and its ecclesiastical arm an apostate Protestantism.
50:49 The world is whipped up into a frenzy for the spiritual
50:53 showdown called Armageddon.
50:56 It is a spiritual showdown between the forces of good
51:00 and evil. So don't look for tanks and guns
51:02 and battles in the Middle East. This is a showdown
51:05 right and wrong, good and bad, good versus evil.
51:11 There may be and will be a physical manifestation
51:15 because people are involved.
51:18 Don't look for a rebuilding of Jerusalem.
51:20 Don't look for a regathering.
51:23 Look for a battle between good and evil,
51:28 and in rapid succession we see a number of things happening.
51:33 Seven vials, seven bowls being poured out.
51:35 The dissolution of Babylon the Great.
51:38 The second great call... that call of the second angel
51:43 repeated in Revelation 18 just like it was in Revelation 14.
51:48 And then we move to Revelation 19
51:50 and we see a great multitude
51:52 called to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
51:55 Here's where I want to pick up the story.
51:59 At the coming of the Lord, there will be four classes of people
52:03 and I've got just 5 minutes to get this done.
52:05 There will be first of all righteous dead.
52:09 When Christ comes, you're going to fall in 1 of the 4 classes.
52:12 You'll be righteous dead, unrighteous dead,
52:15 unrighteous living, or righteous living.
52:20 Three of those are taken care of in I Thessalonians 4:16-17.
52:48 Now... New King James on the screen,
52:52 my head is a King James head. So you'll forgive me?
52:55 When I did my memory it was in King...
52:56 I think you're like that too, Pastor Lomacang.
52:58 You know, you start out learning the King James
53:00 and it's hard to get that King James out of your brain.
53:04 So we dealt with righteous dead, righteous living.
53:08 We're going where?
53:10 Going with Jesus.
53:13 II Thessalonians 2:8 deals with the third class:
53:18 unrighteous living.
53:20 "And then the lawless one will be revealed
53:24 whom the Lord will consume with His breath
53:27 and with the brightness of His coming. "
53:29 So there's going to be a group of people who are not righteous
53:32 who are not ready and don't want to see Christ coming.
53:35 They'll be slain by the brightness of His coming.
53:39 Paul is targeting in that particular text
53:41 actually when you look at it he's targeting
53:43 a religious system. But when you read the ensuing verses
53:47 it goes for those unrighteous living also. So...
53:49 if you're righteous living, you are running to Jesus
53:56 but you've got to get in line behind the righteous dead
54:01 because they rise first.
54:06 If you are unrighteous and living,
54:09 you'll be slain by the brightness of His coming.
54:12 That leaves just one group:
54:14 that's the unrighteous dead. You follow me?
54:19 That's where the story is picked up
54:21 in Revelation where it says "the rest of the dead" -
54:25 we're in Revelation 20,
54:27 our reading for the beginning of the message -
54:30 "lived not again until the thousand years were passed. "
54:37 Time does not afford for me
54:41 to give you the complete scenario.
54:44 Safe to say one of the things we're going to do during that
54:47 thousand years is look over the books and ratify
54:51 and certify that all the things that God said and did
54:54 were just. Then the new earth is coming back down here
54:59 because this is going to be the permanent home.
55:02 At that point the rest of the dead are resurrected
55:07 and Satan goes about to deceive.
55:13 They think they can take the city
55:16 because of their numbers and because there's no reason
55:20 for them not to because there's absolutely no Holy Spirit
55:23 working now. This is under the total control of Satan.
55:26 Then the Bible says "fire comes down and destroys them. "
55:31 And ladies and gentlemen, just that quick
55:34 it's over!
55:37 It is.
55:39 Just that quick.
55:45 Then there will be a new heaven and a new earth
55:49 in which dwells righteousness
55:55 and sin will never rise again.
56:01 It's done... once and for all
56:06 and it will never come back again.
56:12 I long for that time.
56:16 I long for a time when everybody can get along.
56:21 When there's no anger, no malice,
56:25 no hate, no temper tantrums,
56:30 no lying, no stealing,
56:34 no covetousness, no death.
56:38 no dying, no aging, and no more tears.
56:44 It'll all be over!
56:48 We'll be with Christ. And I don't know about you,
56:52 I've got a million questions to ask Him
56:55 so you may have to get in line behind me.
56:59 I've got a lot to ask Him
57:02 but I've got a million years to ask them.
57:06 Amen? Amen.
57:08 And there will be truly
57:12 war no more.
57:19 Are you excited about that day? Amen.
57:21 Are you preparing for that day?
57:24 Are you doing all you can?
57:28 For that day is coming.


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Revised 2014-12-17