Participants: John Lomacang (Host), John Stanton
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL100019
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00:01 Hello friends. Grab your Bible and a friend
00:03 and sit back as we explore God's Word together 00:05 on this editon of House Calls. 00:22 Welcome back and we are excited that you have tuned in. 00:25 I know you've been looking forward to this program 00:27 because we are excited about God's Word. 00:31 Aren't you, John? Amen! 00:33 And we have invited you to be in our living room. 00:35 Hopefully that we are in your heart, in your life. 00:37 And if you're at work, just take a break right now 00:40 and watch this program because this is a topic 00:42 you don't want to miss. We are finalizing today 00:44 our fourth part on the Top Ten Counterfeits. 00:48 And John did an excellent job in putting this together. 00:51 I think this was some sermon material that you put together 00:54 or a series you did? A series I did before 00:56 a few years ago. Yeah, great topic! 00:58 You know, it's moving fast. 01:00 We've been covering a number of topics on each of the programs 01:03 and today we're going to cover our last three. 01:06 We're not going to tell you what they are right yet, 01:09 but you sit back and hit the record button 01:11 because I know that when the program is done you're going to 01:13 say: "I should have taped it. " 01:14 So this is your chance to do that. 01:16 And, um, thank you for your prayers and all that you do 01:19 to keep 3ABN going and growing. 01:21 And we believe the reason why we have been called to do this 01:24 is because people need to be ready 01:25 for the coming of our Lord. 01:27 And that's why House Calls is so vitally important 01:29 to us and I hope it is also to you. 01:31 But before we do anything and go into our questions 01:34 John would you have prayer for us? Let's have prayer. 01:36 Dear Father in heaven, what a blessing it is 01:38 to come before Your throne here now and seek Your face 01:42 and ask for a blessing from You, Lord: 01:45 the impartation of the Holy Spirit to each and every heart 01:48 that is with us here today. 01:50 We just pray that You would give us not only words 01:53 of truth but, Lord, the ability to understand 01:56 because we want to know You better... we want to know 01:58 Jesus better. We are getting also ever so close 02:01 to His soon return. And so we pray that 02:03 that will be our experience here today. 02:05 In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. 02:07 You know, I have some questions here, John. 02:09 And you've given me the option today of 02:12 going and being the first one to bring these together. 02:16 And the question that was given to me here 02:19 actually... You know what? It's actually titled to you. 02:24 But since you and I share the first name - there you go - 02:28 we're going to read this together. 02:29 "Can you please tell me exactly 02:32 what exactly is the heart of man? 02:35 I'm always told it is the mind yet many places 02:39 in scripture heart and mind are used together. 02:42 For example: 'Love the Lord with all your heart, 02:45 with all your soul, with all your mind. ' 02:46 If heart is only the mind 02:50 then He would be saying 'with all your mind, 02:53 with all your soul, and with all your mind. ' 02:55 I don't believe this is the case. " 02:58 Um-hmm. "There is language in Matthew that Jesus talks about 03:02 all who came before Him were only thieves and robbers. 03:06 And there is no difference in the two terms 03:09 other than He must be wanting to emphasize 03:12 the perverse nature of those who had been chosen. " 03:16 OK, John, let's begin to talk about this topic here: 03:19 heart and mind. What do you think? 03:21 Heart and mind. Same thing? Different thing? 03:23 You know, I think they are absolutely connected 03:25 but they're different parts... they're different things. 03:28 When you think about that... And there are some passages 03:30 in scripture, some of those have been mentioned. 03:32 And right now the ones that are often... 03:35 often the popular ones are the ones in Matthew and then also 03:38 in the book of Luke where Jesus says truly: 03:40 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 03:42 with all your soul, and with all your mind. " 03:46 Now let's go ahead and put that together. 03:47 Now the mind is obviously the base where our thoughts are 03:50 gathered. Let's think of the mind as the hard drive: 03:55 the storage space of our thoughts. 03:57 But the heart... let's think of the heart as the battery 04:02 in the computer. Now you know if the battery stops working 04:06 the hard drive is going to quit. Um-hmm. 04:09 If the hard drive goes bad it doesn't matter 04:12 what the battery does because the information flow ceases. 04:16 But they work together in harmony. 04:19 But let me more specifically break that down 04:21 in a different context. 04:23 Let's think of the mind as the hard drive and the heart 04:26 as the memory module. 04:28 Because what happens is what's in the hard drive 04:31 gets conveyed to the screen 04:35 through the memory module. I'm getting technical here. 04:39 That's some of my background. 04:40 So if you have a lot of memory that means the information 04:44 moves from the hard drive, it gets to the screen 04:46 through the processor a lot quicker. 04:49 So here's my point: the heart and the mind 04:53 work together in the same way that the hard drive, 04:56 the processor, and the memory work together. 04:58 If any one of those go out then the thought is not complete 05:01 or it will never get to the hard drive. 05:02 And the hard drive it'll never get to the screen. 05:05 In this sense, what comes out of my mouth 05:08 the Bible says: "As a man thinks in his heart 05:12 so is he. " Then it says: "Out of the abundance of the heart 05:15 the mouth speaks. " Um-hmm. 05:17 So we could say in the same terminology 05:19 "What you see on the screen went from the hard drive 05:24 to the processor through the memory 05:28 right to the video card right to the screen. " 05:31 All right? All of these avenues working together. 05:34 So in the very same way a person has to sometimes 05:38 keep his mouth shut so that you won't know what's in his mind. 05:42 And when he gets angry and it goes from his mind to his heart 05:46 it often comes out. Right. 05:47 And people said: "I want to give you a piece of my mind. " 05:51 And then somebody else would say: "You know why 05:52 you said that? Because it was in your heart. " 05:54 So when we talk about this, when the Bible says "the heart 05:58 is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. 06:02 Who can know it? " It's talking about 06:04 the things that have become passionate to a person. 06:07 So nowadays we don't see signs where it says "I mind you, " 06:11 we see things "I heart you" 06:13 meaning the place, the seat of affections. 06:15 So these things are very interchangeable. 06:17 But here's another part: 06:20 when the Bible says in Genesis "the thoughts and intents of 06:23 the heart were only evil continually" 06:26 it had gone beyond just some- thing that they were thinking 06:29 but it became a passion, and the heart is usually 06:32 the seat of passion. I'm really excited about that. 06:35 Not too many months ago... Well, we go to Wal-Mart a lot. 06:38 If you live in the Midwest, Wal-Mart is like Nordstroms, 06:42 you know. 06:45 That's terrible, isn't it? That's true. 06:47 Anyway, I don't want to slam Nordstrom or I don't want to 06:49 slam Wal-Mart. But kind of like Wal-Mart is the one-stop 06:53 shopping. And for some people it can also be the place 06:56 where you get your blood pressure checked. Yeah. 06:58 And you know when you're not feeling well, somebody's in the 07:00 aisle, but somebody sits down sometimes at the blood pressure 07:03 checking machine. Put that... press down on the red button 07:05 and it just goes ahead. And you say, you know, 120/71... 07:10 whatever over whatever. 07:11 And you are amazed that if you were upset when you came 07:15 into the store it shows up on that blood pressure machine. 07:20 And then sometimes I would say to my wife 07:24 or she would say to me or I have heard people say: 07:26 "Now walk around a little bit. Just calm yourself 07:28 and then come back and take it again. " 07:30 Because what indelibly what goes into your mind 07:33 would sometimes make your heart race. 07:35 Your mind doesn't race but your heart races. 07:38 Shows that they are connected together. 07:39 So what Jesus meant when He said: "Love the Lord your God 07:43 with all your mind, 07:45 heart, and soul" He says: "Give Me the entire you 07:50 and that's what I'm looking for. " Yeah. 07:53 You know, and I think the other way that I have shared 07:55 the difference is that when you hear some disturbing news 07:59 or when you get nervous or something emotional takes place 08:03 you don't feel it here. 08:07 Right. No one says: "Oh my head. " 08:09 They always go: "Oh I am just tormented with just... pain. " 08:13 Or if it's a good thing you feel so happy inside. 08:15 You don't say: "I'm so happy up here. " 08:17 "I'm happy in here, " you know? 08:19 And so the heart is the seat of the, you said, "passions. " 08:24 I typically say, you know, the emotions, the motivation 08:28 that we have. The things that move us with emotion. 08:33 And it's hard... You know, sometimes the English... 08:35 there is no English word for certain words - that's right - 08:38 and so it's just tough to find a word for it. 08:41 But clearly, your mind does the thinking 08:44 but your heart feels. And what you feel often is what 08:48 you're motivated by, what moves you, 08:49 what you're passionate about. 08:51 And so I would say that's what He's talking about: 08:54 "with all your heart, your mind, your soul. " 08:56 It's not only thinking it intellectually. 08:59 It's you're moved and impassioned by it too. 09:02 And here's some scriptures that you could use 09:04 that will give you the foundation to just kind of 09:06 understand this in a broader sense than just what 09:08 Matthew and Luke say about loving the Lord with all your 09:10 mind and heart. Job 38 verse 36. 09:13 And I'm reading from the New King James version. 09:15 The question is: "Who has put wisdom in the mind? 09:18 Or who has given understanding to the heart? " 09:22 So when you understand things... Hmmm. 09:25 You ever see people "OK, I get it. " 09:28 They don't say: "OK, I get it. " 09:30 No. "I get it, I get it. " 09:31 "Well I understand, I understand. " 09:33 You have people: "I understand. " 09:35 Now they're not just talking about the... 09:36 But they tend to put their hand toward the heart. 09:39 They don't say: "I understand. " 09:40 They don't hit their leg: "I understand. " 09:42 They go toward the heart: "I understand. " 09:44 What they're meaning is "I get it now! " Here's another one: 09:47 Psalm 26 and verse 2: "Examine me, O Lord, 09:51 and prove me. Try my mind and my heart. " 09:55 David is saying this is vitally important. 09:58 "Try my mind and my heart; 09:59 don't leave any one of those out because these are the 10:01 places of storage. " And then lastly 10:04 Psalm 73 verse 21. 10:06 "Thus my heart was grieved and I was vexed in my mind. " 10:11 Meaning I was troubled in my mind. My heart was 10:13 going through pain. My heart ached. 10:16 You've heard that phrase heartache? You don't call it... 10:17 you don't call it a headache over a grieving situation. 10:23 But oftentimes when you do have a headache 10:25 your heart is going to respond to it. Yeah. 10:27 So the Bible makes it very clear that the place of 10:31 our passions can also be referred to as the mind, 10:35 the heart, and the soul. 10:37 When you get to the bottom of the issue you say: 10:39 "Now we've gotten to the heart of the issue. " Yeah. 10:42 You don't say "we've gotten to the mind of the issue. " 10:44 One more thing too here. 10:46 They both have to work together: heart and mind - right - 10:48 to have a full, well-rounded, spiritual relationship... 10:52 a good relationship with God. 10:54 And I think there are some out there that only have a spiritual 10:59 experience with their mind. 11:02 And there are some out there that only have the spiritual 11:05 experience with their heart. 11:07 In other words, with the mind they intellectually know 11:10 all the truths of God's Word. 11:12 They can repeat it; they've got good memorization of scripture. 11:15 But when you try to appeal to them on a heart level 11:19 they just want to talk logic and the facts 11:22 and the things that God's Word is, and there's not a lot of 11:24 emotion. There's one gal that was asked by one of our elders 11:29 up there. He said... he mentioned to her... 11:32 he said: "do you think Jesus ever smiled? " 11:36 And she said: "Oh, no. I mean He had a nice look 11:41 on His face but no, He wouldn't have smiled. " 11:44 And he said: "Well I'm not sure the God that I imagine 11:47 is the same one that you're imagining. " 11:48 So she came from a very, just intellectual-only perspective 11:52 I think. 'Cause that's the thing he was trying to get at 11:54 was "what's your emotion with regard to God? 11:56 What's His emotion for you? " 11:57 Then there's the other side with just the heart. 12:00 There's no mind thinking, and that's what we're often talking 12:02 about here with our Top Ten Counterfeits 12:04 is that people often can be so caught up in their emotions 12:07 with God, their relationship with God and their love for Him. 12:11 And you can have that passionate love for Him. 12:12 It's an emotion-based one - right - for what He's done 12:15 for you, but then if you don't use the intellect 12:18 to go into God's Word to study and to temper those emotions - 12:23 not to tame them but temper them with truth - 12:28 then you're imbalanced as well. 12:29 We have to be careful to use mind and heart 12:33 when it comes to our experience with the Lord. 12:36 I found some other scriptures. And one of the things that's 12:39 so nice about studying God's Word, John, is that was 12:41 one that we put together is people often say now 12:44 "Now OK I hear what you're saying but tell me what 12:47 your heart is. " Um-hmm. And you even have songs: 12:49 I Left My Heart In San Francisco. 12:52 So the heart has a whole lot... Huh? I did that. 12:54 You did? Left my heart in San Francisco. 12:58 I know, you are a west coast die hard. 13:01 Well you know what? Rochelle, when she actually 13:03 sees a picture of San Francisco and the valley 13:06 she cries. It's beautiful out west. 13:08 She cries because she misses what was her home. 13:13 And I do too... I get emotional about it. 13:15 But I actually don't cry because it's just not me. 13:17 But I am emotionally moved whenever I see pictures of home. 13:21 John, yeah, that's true. 13:23 You had a beautiful home in the west coast. 13:25 I have often said to people that have never been to the west 13:28 "If you want to see perfect weather, go where it's like 13:30 85 degrees, 92 degrees, 100 degrees 13:32 and there's no humidity and you can actually sit outside 13:35 and not be eaten... eaten by bugs... 13:40 You could actually sit outside at night 13:42 and not become the subject of a dive-bombing session 13:45 by mosquitoes - um-hmm - 'cause for some reason 13:47 it's so minimal in California. 13:50 It obviously depends on where you live. 13:52 If you're by the water then the chances are much higher 13:55 but for the most part it's just the perfect weather. 13:58 It's just a wonderful place. 13:59 If they only got rid of the earthquakes I think it would be 14:01 just like the ultimate. That's why people often say 14:03 San Diego: "I left my heart in San Diego. " 14:06 It's like the best of all three worlds together. 14:09 Little bit of tropics and all and very, very nice. 14:11 But look at a few that you could just add to the list 14:15 I just gave you. Jesus gave the heart a different place 14:19 than He gave the mind. And notice what He talked about. 14:21 These things that are very deviant, 14:26 very destructive in nature sometimes are more deep-seated 14:31 than just the thought in the mind. 14:33 Matthew 15 verse 19: "For out of the heart 14:35 proceed evils thoughts, murders, 14:39 adulteries, fornications, 14:41 thefts, false witness, blasphemies. " 14:46 So the Lord is going beyond just a concept. 14:50 The conception is sometimes 14:53 "As a man thinks in his mind or in his heart so is he. " 14:56 And that is the heart that has not been transformed 14:59 by the renewing of the mind. 15:00 OK. Say that again. 15:03 That's what happens with a heart that has not been transformed 15:07 by the renewing of the mind - um-hmm - which we find in 15:10 Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. 15:13 That's right. "Be ye transformed by the renewing of the mind. " 15:16 And lastly Hebrews 4 verse 12. 15:19 And the reason why we strongly suggest that you read the Word: 15:22 there are a lot of people that live philosophically. 15:25 You know some people wake up in the morning and they 15:26 go to the horoscope, they go to the website, 15:29 they can find out what the tea leaves say. 15:31 They want to go to their local guy and get their palms read. 15:34 That's not going to give you the bearing that you need 15:38 for the day because they can't tell you what's in your 15:40 thoughts, they can't tell you what's in your heart... 15:43 only God can. 15:44 When you read the Word of God you begin to hear the voice 15:47 of God talking to the very ones He made and created 15:50 and gives us a more solid foundation. 15:53 Last text: Hebrews 4:12. 15:55 "For the Word of God is living and powerful 15:59 and sharper than any two-edged sword 16:03 piercing even to the division" - get this now - 16:06 of soul and spirit" - meaning the life force 16:10 and the intellect - "and of joint and marrow" 16:14 Getting way down inside. 16:16 "and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 16:20 of the heart. " So you clearly see... 16:22 If you really want to find out what's going on in somebody's 16:24 life, read the Word of God. 16:26 One of the books I really like, John, and this is something 16:29 that if you want to get wisdom and be wiser than the people 16:31 that are around you that are intellectual sometimes 16:33 make the book of Proverbs the central focus of your life. 16:37 Dr. Ben Carson... He told the story 16:41 and I didn't get it directly from him but I heard the story 16:43 conveyed. He said a book that he read 16:47 almost every day as he was growing up was the book of 16:49 Proverbs. And it's a book that gives you wisdom 16:53 to the intellect and allows you to guard your heart. 16:56 Very powerful book. So yes, 16:58 the heart and mind are interchangeably connected 17:01 an invariably inseparable. 17:04 Good. Good. 17:06 Let's just do one more question. Sounds good to me. 17:08 We spent a lot of time on that one. 17:10 This question is from Juan, and it's tied in to some of our 17:12 topic. OK. He says: "When I was a young child 17:16 my parents told me that prior to the Lord's second coming 17:20 there will be a false Christ who will reveal 17:23 and exalt himself. 17:27 Will he be in the heavens? And if so 17:32 will he be touching or actually touching the ground? 17:35 Um, my parents say that the true Christ 17:40 won't be touching the ground. Please help. " 17:42 OK. Very small font there. It was hard for me to read. 17:44 I had to get close. Uh, good question. 17:47 Here's what we know, and we're going to... You know, 17:50 we talked a little bit about the second coming 17:53 here in our last program as one of the things 17:55 counterfeited by Satan. So this is the same kind of 17:57 reference that Juan is making here to that occasion. 18:00 Um-hmm. That incidence in the future - um - 18:03 that when... when the false Christ comes it is true 18:06 he will be on this earth for a while. 18:09 In fact, the reference made in Matthew 24 18:12 talks about some of the things that he will be doing 18:15 and the places that he will be. 18:16 For instance it says in verse 26: 18:21 "If therefore they say to you 'he is in the desert' 18:23 do not go out; 'look, he is in the inner rooms' 18:25 do not believe it. " Basically this false Christ is where 18:28 the people are. He comes to meet the people 18:30 to try and talk with them and to deceive. 18:32 So that's what the false Christ will do. 18:34 But it says in I Thessalonians chapter 4 that when Jesus 18:38 comes He will come with the voice of an archangel, 18:41 with the trump of God. With this trumpet, you know... 18:43 this blast - that's right - loud voice. 18:46 And that those who are asleep in Jesus will be raised up 18:51 and those who are alive and remain until that time 18:54 will meet the Lord where? In the air. IN THE AIR. 18:58 And so Jesus will not touch the ground when He returns 19:02 the second time. In fact, there's no need to 19:04 because He's not heading to this earth He's heading 19:07 back to heaven with His saints. 19:09 That's right. In fact, His promise in John chapter 14 was 19:11 "I will come again and receive you to Myself 19:15 that where I am you may be also. " 19:17 Um-hmm. So you know this whole idea of the millennium 19:21 you know being this peace on earth where Jesus will come down 19:23 and rule over the earth... He's not coming a second time 19:26 to stay here; He's coming a second time to take us there. 19:30 Great! That's right. Then after the millennium 19:32 He will bring us all down here with the New Jerusalem 19:34 as it says in Revelation 21 and 22. 19:37 It will set down on this earth and He will re-create the earth, 19:41 put an end to all traces of sin, 19:43 and live with us in the New Jerusalem and in this earth 19:47 forever. And you know what's so nice about that topic, John, 19:50 is when we look forward to that re-creation 19:52 I can only imagine... there's a song now that has that title... 19:57 I could only imagine how beautiful the earth must have 20:00 been when it was fresh from the Creator's hand. 20:03 Um-hmm. It's kind of like... I don't know if you've seen this 20:06 before but sometimes you'll get something that's made out of 20:09 Styrofoam or you go and buy Styrofoam. 20:12 I've done that before. 20:13 And people that are into making those plants... 20:16 I'm sure Rochelle is creative like that... 20:18 You know, you get those Styro- foam; you can make arrangements. 20:21 Um-hmm. And people that are skilled like that 20:23 they can make something that costs $300. 20:25 And really it's just the skillful artistry of putting 20:28 things together, and Styrofoam is the thing that holds it 20:31 all together. Well when you buy that wonderful block 20:33 of Styrofoam it looks so perfect. And then you... 20:37 If you write on it or you draw on it, it's irreversible. 20:42 You can't erase the magic marker off of Styrofoam 20:46 without messing it up. 20:47 You can't un... you can't unmake a hole on Styrofoam. 20:52 It's just not possible. 20:53 You can't repair it when it breaks. It just... 20:57 you can't restore it to it's original condition 21:00 in anything you do... only God can do that. 21:02 And the beauty of looking forward to the New Earth 21:04 is one day being restored as God intended it to be 21:08 from the very beginning. And I want to add this thought: 21:10 this is not the question but I addressed this thought before. 21:14 And John, this probably is a pretty good segue into 21:18 the final ones we have for today 21:19 is there are not going to be animals in heaven. 21:22 A lot of times we've heard people preach that 21:25 maybe your pet is going to go to heaven. 21:27 Maybe your cat is going to be in heaven. 21:29 But animals are going to be in the New Earth, not in heaven. 21:32 And when it talks about "in My holy mountain 21:36 the lamb will be with the lion" 21:38 it talks about the New Earth... in the New Earth. 21:41 Because the question very few people ask themselves is: 21:44 how are animals going to get to heaven? 21:47 Are there animals in heaven now? 21:48 Not a single scripture that even gives us that hint. 21:51 Well it doesn't say that there won't be... 21:54 it just doesn't say that there will be. 21:57 Well here's the real question, when you could deduce from that 22:00 very... when you could deduce from that 22:02 I believe... Let me give you the reason why this comes up 22:05 all the time. I've had pets that I've lost... 22:08 I mean that have died. 22:10 Rags and Snuggles and Comanche: all these animals 22:13 I've had through the years. 22:14 And little kids have asked the question, and I understood 22:16 the context: "Will my animal be in heaven? " 22:18 In the New Earth, great possibility but not in heaven. 22:22 Right. Because you know the question we don't ask ourselves 22:25 is: are they going in the resurrection? 22:27 Are they taken up with us when we go to heaven? 22:30 The Bible says the Lord is coming back with us. 22:32 He's not taking dogs and cats any more than He's taking 22:35 horses and cows. 22:36 But in the New Earth as He re-populates the New Earth 22:39 we will have... and I don't think it's beyond God... 22:42 to give us our pets in the New Earth 22:45 that brought great joy to us. Oh yeah... Totally speculating. 22:48 In that context I understand. I just... I have a hard time 22:50 believing that there aren't already in heaven 22:52 birds in the air and the trees and those things that are 22:54 going on. That's just my opinion 'cause the Bible's kind of 22:57 silent on - right - exactly what is in heaven except 23:00 what it does describe. 23:01 So you're kind of giving us a hint that... Anyway... 23:05 Since there's no scripture for or against it. 23:07 Right. Yeah, we'll leave it at that. But our pets 23:09 and so forth in heaven? Not a possibility. 23:12 I totally agree with that. All right. 23:13 Uh, why don't you segue on this? I think we're done with our 23:16 questions. Well I think we're done for today for the questions 23:18 but you know friends, I know that you have questions. 23:20 We may have even just given you one right there 23:22 by talking about animals in heaven. 23:24 If you want any clarification on that, we could probably do 23:26 our homework and come up with something that may satisfy 23:28 your thoughts. BUT, if you have any questions 23:31 on your own and you want to send them to us, 23:33 send those to: housecalls@3abn. org 23:38 And either John or John will answer that question. 23:41 Hopefully one of us will be John 23:42 and we'll be appreciative of whatever you send. 23:45 But our question today, John, now gives way to our last 23:49 three of the Ten Counterfeits. That's right. I'm excited about 23:51 these last three. And I've been trying to recap them in each 23:54 program, and so we'll do that again here briefly. 23:56 These are the Top Ten Counterfeits Satan is using 23:59 in these last days to deceive - 24:01 OK - to counteract the work of God as He is pulling people 24:04 together for His return. 24:06 And number one was attacking the Word of God. 24:11 And he does that in many ways. We talked about that. 24:13 Number two: hiding behind kind of a mask, a different 24:18 character, is Satan himself 24:21 to confuse people with regard to the Great Controversy 24:24 and what that really is all about. 24:26 Um, you know... whether he's not even real 24:29 or in reality he's this ugly beast where, you know, 24:32 he's actually far... he can do anything really he wants 24:35 to be as far as transforming himself into an angel of light 24:38 even if he wants to do that. Will do that at some point 24:41 in the future. Number three: spiritualism 24:45 and how he communicates with those here on earth. 24:49 And understanding of what happens when you die 24:53 and confusing that. 24:54 Number four is the character of God... 24:57 running a smear campaign on God's character 25:00 using immortality of the soul and eternal torment 25:03 in hell forever and ever - um-hmm - and how God keeps 25:06 people and tortures them - those who have not accepted Him - 25:09 that is a device of the enemy. 25:11 Number five: the covenants. 25:13 Our last program we began a study on the covenants. 25:17 The dispensation theory, law and grace, 25:19 the dual covenant: separate ones for the Jews and the church. 25:22 We see that the Bible talks about an everlasting covenant 25:25 that is for mankind itself... 25:27 himself... that, you know, through different individuals 25:31 down through time He renewed that covenant or gave a 25:34 specific covenant to, but it was part of that everlasting 25:37 covenant that He has. 25:38 Um, and then that... how that is confusing 25:41 some prophecy, understanding of prophecy and 25:43 what's happening in these last days with regard to Israel 25:46 as the nation of Israel and many who believe that 25:49 they are still part of God's covenant, 25:52 specific covenant, when that's not necessarily the case. 25:57 And so then we went to... from prophecy 26:01 and seeing some of the issues there to a look at the - 26:04 number seven - the return of Christ and the secret rapture 26:07 theory... how that all plays into it. 26:09 How all the people are expecting the rapture 26:12 prior to the antichrist 26:14 and how a lot of people aren't going to see 26:19 Satan when he appears as Christ as being antichrist 26:21 because the rapture hasn't happened yet. So they're safe... 26:24 this has got to be Jesus... which is not even real 26:27 in the first place. So all these things kind of fit together. 26:30 We see how these counterfeits kind of come together 26:32 and how they work. We're going to talk about the last 3 here. 26:35 OK. And they're not so much end-time stuff as 26:39 they are - although they fit into it - 26:41 as they are general just doctrines of the Bible that 26:45 I think are essential to our salvation. 26:47 All right. Very important for us to understand 26:49 why Satan is doing what he's doing in these last days. 26:52 Number eight... number eight: salvation theology. 26:56 OK. And there's so many aspects of this 26:59 that we could cover, and we're not going to get into this 27:00 with an intense picture at all. But... but many people are 27:04 confused about how one is saved. 27:09 Not only that, what is part of that salvation experience. 27:13 Um-hmm. And in addition to that 27:15 this teaching of once saved always saved 27:18 and how that has confused many into thinking that they're 27:21 just... they're perfectly safe and fine as they are. 27:24 Once they profess Christ's name 27:26 everything's OK. It doesn't really matter what you do. 27:29 And then we'll get into the last two deceptions 27:32 which is that transitions into the law of God 27:34 and the importance of the law of God in our experience 27:37 and the counterfeit of Satan which is antinomianism 27:40 which is anti-law in the experience of salvation. 27:45 And then the last one being the attack on God's creation 27:48 and the Sabbath day - which is at the heart of creation. 27:51 And that will be the last one. But anyway... 27:54 Salvation theology, John. There's so much on this. 27:57 I've heard this preached so often that it's 28:02 it provides an imbalance, I believe, 28:05 of faith... in the whole experience of faith and works. 28:08 If you read the book of James you'll find that 28:11 faith is evident in our works. 28:14 Faith doesn't save you, but part of the salvation experience 28:17 excuse me, faith... works aren't going to save you 28:21 but part of our salvation experience is the works 28:24 that we do which is the evidence of a change 28:27 that God has wrought in us. 28:28 OK. Is making in us. That is the balanced view of 28:31 the salvation experience of all who come to Jesus 28:34 and take Him as their Lord and their Savior. 28:37 Some people say "Well... " And these are the accurate 28:40 statements... Some people accurately say 28:43 that faith is part of receiving Jesus as 28:48 your Savior. And then, um, 28:52 making... works are part of making Jesus your Lord. 28:57 And I find that that is very good because there's 28:59 clearly in the Bible two aspects: Jesus as our Savior, 29:03 Jesus as our Lord... the Lord of our life. 29:05 And so anyway there's a confusion. 29:07 I hear it over and over again people will say: 29:09 "Just believe. Just believe in Jesus 29:13 and you will be saved. " 29:15 And that statement is actually in the Bible. 29:17 But we probably need to put a little context to it, John. 29:20 I'm hoping maybe you're pulling up a statement or two 29:22 on that. Um-hmm. But there is a statement 29:25 clearly in the Bible that Paul uses saying: 29:28 "Only believe in Jesus Christ and you are saved. " 29:32 Let's bring some context to that. 29:34 Well the passage that we often... 29:37 And thank you for that introduction, John. 29:39 I really appreciate that. 29:40 The passage we often bring to the table when it comes to 29:44 salvation and we kind of just drop it there. 29:47 It's kind of like taking one piece of a car and saying: 29:50 "Hey, I've brought you your car. " 29:52 Or sometimes it's like taking a picture of a car 29:54 and say "I hope you enjoy driving this vehicle" 29:56 when in fact you have no substance to it. 29:58 The issue of salvation is very substantive. 30:02 In other words, it's broader than just a theology 30:04 that talks about what God can do for you right now. 30:07 And I have broken that down in three particular parts. 30:10 The first text I would like to bring to your attention is 30:12 Ephesians 2 verse 8. 30:13 You've heard this one before. 30:15 I'll read it from various translations. 30:18 "For by grace are you saved through faith. " 30:21 That's the King James. 30:23 "For by grace you have been saved through faith... " 30:26 That's the New King James. 30:27 "and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God... " 30:31 And verse 9 says: "not of works 30:33 lest any man should boast. " 30:34 But here's the point: that's the present. 30:36 That's the justification. "For by grace are you saved 30:40 through faith. " So if you ask somebody: "Are you saved? " 30:43 the answer is "Yes! " 30:45 But that's the present... that's justification. 30:48 And that salvation is the salvation from the penalty 30:53 of sin. Remember that. The first experience of salvation 30:56 is from the penalty of sin. 30:58 Death no longer reigns over your head. 31:01 But then if God only saves you today 31:03 and gave you life today, what about tomorrow? 31:06 Here's the other one. 31:08 Acts chapter 2 verse 21: "And it shall come to pass 31:12 that whoever calls on the name of the Lord 31:16 shall be saved. " 31:18 That's the day by day one. I call on Jesus tomorrow. 31:21 I call on Jesus the day after that. 31:23 I call on Jesus... He's going to save me 31:25 every time I call on His name. 31:26 And we need that day-by-day salvation. 31:28 Salvation from what? 31:30 We live this salvation experience in a mortal body. 31:33 Um-hmm. And Paul says in Romans 8 31:35 and Romans 9 and Romans 6 31:37 he talks about the sin struggle in the mortal body. 31:41 "Don't let sin reign in your mortal body. " 31:44 "You who have been freed from sin... 31:46 you who have been dead is free from sin. 31:49 Sin no longer reigns in your life. " 31:51 And so that second phase of salvation is salvation 31:54 from the power of sin. 31:56 That happens every day. When you call on Jesus 31:59 regardless of how long you have walked with Him... 32:01 whether one day or 55 years... 32:03 He can save you from the power of sin. 32:06 That's also known as justification. 32:08 There's a last portion of it: that is the ultimate salvation. 32:12 So here we are again. Are you saved? Yes. 32:16 Are you being saved? Yes. 32:19 Will you be saved? Yes. Um-hmm. 32:22 The last phase of salvation is Isaiah 25 verse 9. 32:25 "It will be said in that day: 'Behold, this is our God. 32:29 We have waited for Him and He WILL save us. 32:32 This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. 32:35 We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. ' " 32:39 We are in His salvation but He is going to save us. 32:42 Why are we rejoicing? Because the final phase 32:45 is when we are made immortal. 32:47 When we are saved from the presence of sin 32:50 and that's called glorification. 32:52 That is yet to occur. 32:53 So here's my point: I have been saved, 32:55 I am being saved, 32:57 and until Jesus changes me from mortal to immortal 33:00 I need that saving relationship every day. 33:03 And finally He'll save me from the presence of sin. 33:06 Penalty, power, and presence. 33:09 But some people, John, I think where you're headed 33:10 with this is some people just say: "Once saved always saved. 33:13 I accepted Jesus May 2, 1946, 33:16 or May 5, 1975, and I'm done. " 33:20 And there's some verses that they use, they quote - yeah - 33:22 in that. In fact Paul in Romans chapter 10 verse 9 33:25 says "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus 33:28 and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead 33:31 you will be saved. " 33:33 OK. And then that becomes the... the end of 33:38 end all of all ends. So that is it. 33:41 You know, just believe and you're going to be saved. 33:43 And that's what people go around saying. In fact, 33:45 the signs are like "I got milk" signs: "I got saved. " 33:48 And so you hear that over and over again. 33:50 When I hear that "got saved, " that's a great thing. 33:54 But it makes me cringe a little bit because I know the theology 33:56 behind that is very much a "just believe and it doesn't matter 34:01 what goes along with your faith as long as you believe. " 34:04 And texts like this are quoted. But listen to also what Paul 34:07 says in the book of Romans. 34:09 OK. Chapter 3 verse 31. 34:12 "Do we then make void the law through faith? " 34:16 In other words, where does the law come into this whole thing? 34:19 Because he's already said the law can't save you. 34:22 You can't by your own works be redeemed, become saved. 34:25 So do we make void? Do we just get rid of it? 34:28 And then what is his answer, John? 34:30 "Certainly not! " 34:33 "Absolutely not. " He says: "Do we make void the law 34:35 through faith? Certainly not! 34:39 On the contrary, we establish the law. " 34:43 Um-hmm. We establish the law where? 34:45 Well first of all we establish it in our hearts. 34:47 Part of the new covenant experience in Hebrews chapter 8 34:51 is that the law is written on the heart of the believer 34:55 in that new covenant... the covenant of Christ 34:58 who is the minister of the heavenly sanctuary 35:00 and our High Priest has given us. 35:05 So that is the law being put within our heart. 35:08 But we also establish the law in this respect, and here's... 35:10 here's something that I still haven't heard anybody 35:13 that's had an answer for really that's had this issue 35:16 with the "once saved always saved" or "just believe. " 35:19 If the law could have been changed to accommodate sin, 35:25 in other words, if somehow, um, 35:28 the law was unimportant 35:32 or at least - I shouldn't say unimportant 35:33 'cause no one admits that - 35:35 but if the law could somehow have been changed, 35:37 if it wasn't so much a part of the foundation of God's throne 35:39 for our salvation, then why would Jesus have to die? 35:44 That's a good premise. 35:45 Jesus died because He came to make the law 35:49 honorable or show that the law was honorable - 35:53 Isaiah 42:21 - 35:54 and elevate the law to its proper standing 35:57 which is a law or a foundation of God's throne that cannot 36:01 be altered. That's right. So Jesus paid that price. 36:04 Paid that penalty for our sin as you said: the "P" word - 36:08 PENALTY - for each of us who have transgressed God's law. 36:11 But then can we as a Christian all of a sudden say...? 36:15 And this is the statement Paul is making. 36:16 Once we believe in Jesus can we say: 36:18 "Well then the law is not important? " 36:19 No you can't. 36:21 No we can't! We follow the example of Christ 36:23 in upholding the law by living according to that law 36:26 within our hearts and in our lives. 36:27 That's right. And that's what works... how works 36:29 comes into play. I always say: 36:32 "Which side of the equation of salvation are you talking about 36:35 works? " Because the salvation 36:38 of proclaiming Christ as your Savior is an event - 36:42 it's a justification event - where when you do that 36:44 Jesus justifies you as if you had never sinned. 36:47 He puts His righteousness... His robe on you... 36:50 and His price that He paid for you on the cross 36:53 is imputed to you. 36:54 At that moment - that's a single event - 36:58 which side of that moment are you talking about works? 37:01 Hmmm. Because if you put works before that 37:04 it's legalism because you're trying to work your way 37:07 into God's grace. That's good. But if you put works on the 37:09 other side which is a result of the change that's taking place 37:14 in you, then it's not legalism... it becomes love. 37:18 It becomes the evidences of the salvation experience 37:22 that you've had. Um-hmm. 37:24 So that's why James can say: "Faith without works is dead. " 37:28 Because that experience you had in proclaiming Jesus as 37:31 your Savior, did not change you. 37:33 You weren't serious about it nor did it really occur 37:37 but instead it resulted in no works. 37:40 Yeah, as a matter of fact, when you suggested James 37:43 James puts the law, salvation, and works 37:46 in the very same passage. James does a job 37:49 to many of the modern theologians that have a problem 37:52 with Paul. You know a lot of people say: "Well Paul 37:55 said this, Paul said that. " They try to get rid of their... 37:57 their works and salvation equation 38:00 by saying: "You're saved apart from works, " 38:04 and that is in fact the truth. 38:05 You're not saved by your works but believing you are saved 38:08 by the works that Jesus accomplished in our behalf. 38:11 That's right. But then after you're saved do you do nothing? 38:14 Well Ephesians 2 verse 10 says: "For we are His workmanship 38:18 created in Christ Jesus for good works 38:21 which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in. " 38:25 And that is on the heels of "By grace you have been saved 38:27 through faith. " It's not... not of works. 38:30 Not of works; it's a gift! 38:32 Verse 9 says: "Not of works lest any man should boast. " 38:35 Verse 10 says: "But you are saved for works. " 38:37 We're not saved by works we're saved FOR works. 38:40 And so the equation here when you put the law together 38:43 James 2 verse 12 says: 38:45 "So speak and so do as those... 38:48 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by 38:52 the law of liberty. 38:54 Whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point 38:57 is guilty of all. " Verse 10: 38:58 But then now he goes down to verse 14 and he says... 39:01 James chapter 2 verse 14: 39:03 "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says 39:06 he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? " 39:09 And then he goes down to verse... "thus" - 39:13 he talks about, he uses the equation - "a brother or 39:16 sister is naked and destitute of daily food 39:18 and one of you says to them 'depart in peace. 39:20 Be warmed and filled' but you do not give them the things 39:23 which they are needed for the body, what does it profit? 39:28 Thus also faith by itself if it does not have works 39:31 is dead. " And you pointed out something earlier. 39:33 "Only believe. " Verse 19. Do you have James? 39:36 I'll go ahead and read that. But look at James here 39:39 verse 19 of chapter 2: "You believe 39:42 that there is one God? You do well. 39:44 Even the demons believe and tremble. " 39:46 So clearly verse 24 puts the whole issue together. 39:50 Um-hmm. "You see then that a man is justified by works 39:54 and not by faith alone. " 39:56 It almost seems completely contrary to the entire idea 39:59 of salvation. A man is justified by works. 40:02 Here is my point: you hire a guy that's a mechanic 40:06 and he says: "I could do whatever. " 40:08 Then the guy that employed him says: "OK, prove it to me. " 40:13 He's justified not by saying "I could do anything" 40:16 but he brings a perfectly- restored engine. 40:18 I have a guy that does my lawn for me 40:22 and I have a lawnmower that didn't work for years. 40:26 I have a new Zero-Turn now and I said: "You know, 40:29 this thing... I can't get it to work. 40:30 It just... it doesn't even start up. " 40:32 And you know what? He got it to work! 40:34 And I said to him: "OK, you said you could fix it? 40:37 Fix it. " And he brought it by the house yesterday 40:40 and he said: "Hey, I got it fixed. " And he pulled it... 40:42 And it looked so great. Because most of us in the 40:44 Midwest we cut grass without a catch basket 40:47 and there's grass everywhere. 40:49 And the small mower which has a catch basket 40:52 I said: "OK, I'll use that close to the house 40:54 so that there won't be grass everywhere flying all over 40:57 the garage. " And you know what? The point of the matter is 41:00 he said he could do it but his works justified his claim. 41:03 Yeah. And so our works justify our claim of Christianity. 41:06 It doesn't save us to make us Christians 41:08 but it shows to the world that we have a connection 41:11 with Christ. Yeah, absolutely. 41:13 And this "once saved" theology that has come about by - 41:15 ooh - this with its overemphasis on - glad you went there - 41:19 justification here... there are two parts: the parts you're 41:20 talking about with the saved from the penalty, 41:23 saved from the power of sin, saved from the presence of sin 41:26 are really other ways of explaining justification, 41:28 sanctification, and glorification. 41:30 That's right. Justification: being justified 41:34 in a moment of time when you accept Jesus as your Savior. 41:37 You're sanctified or you're being sanctified 41:39 every single day you walk with Him 41:42 as... with Jesus as your Savior. Maintenance... that's right. 41:45 And then glorification obviously comes later. 41:48 But what we find in the world today is an overemphasis 41:51 on justification or in some cases it's a justification 41:54 only doctrine. 41:56 And Satan wants it this way because if he can 41:59 get us to lose sight of the sanctifying element of our 42:01 salvation experience - the walk with Christ, the doing 42:04 the works of Christ - the need for Jesus... 42:06 the need for Jesus every day in our life to keep us 42:08 from this "old man" flesh that wants to rise up again 42:11 then we're not going to make it. 42:13 And he knows that, so he's trying to eliminate 42:15 one important element of our salvation experience 42:19 to keep us in that. 42:20 And this "once saved, always saved. " I always say - 42:22 and this is my term - sure - 42:25 this is... I call the doctrine of insecurity. 42:29 Ah. People say: "One saved, always saved. 42:32 How is it a doctrine of insecurity? " 42:34 Here, let me explain myself. 42:35 Ask someone. So, if there's someone that asks Jesus 42:42 to be their Savior and they end up in prison 42:44 for murder later on down the road - OK - 42:47 and you go talk to them and they're like 42:48 "Whew, that God thing. I tried that once. Didn't work for me. " 42:52 Let me ask you: are they still saved? 42:56 And the answer always is: "No. " 42:59 Why? "Well because they weren't saved in the first place. " 43:03 OK now, here's the problem with that. 43:05 Then how do you know that the faith you proclaimed 43:10 the first time worked? 43:12 Good point. 43:13 You're going to have a bunch of people running around 43:16 wondering: "Now when I declared my faith in Jesus 43:18 did that take? Did that work? " 43:21 Because this man that's in prison now 43:24 as part of our story, he thought when he took Jesus as his 43:27 Savior - at least with the knowledge that he had - 43:30 he thought that that worked. 43:32 He thought that Jesus became or at least 43:35 became his substitute on the cross 43:39 and paid the penalty for his sins. 43:41 You know what? The Bible says that Jesus meets us 43:44 where we are. When we come to Him 43:46 and take Him as our Savior and put our faith and trust 43:49 in Him we are saved. 43:51 But from that moment on we continue to be saved 43:55 as long as we remain in Him and He in us. 43:58 That's a part of the salvation experience. 44:00 Not a one time thing but also a sanctifying thing. 44:03 But "once saved, always saved" says that if you do it right 44:06 the first time then you've got it for the rest of the time. 44:09 Um-hmm. And one of the texts they misquote as well is 44:12 "Who is able to separate... who can separate us 44:16 from God? " The love of God. They don't even say love. 44:19 "Who can separate us from God? " Oh, I got you. 44:22 But the correct reading of the verse is "Who can separate us 44:26 from the love of God? " There will be many wicked 44:29 who die in the fires of hell whom God loves. 44:33 Very, very powerful. And who have been separated 44:36 from Him because of their neglect of their salvation 44:39 experience or have walked away from Him. 44:41 God still loves them but they have fallen away 44:45 because they have not followed through on their 44:49 experience with Christ. 44:51 And you know the beautiful... It's in His power, by the way, 44:54 you can't just believe by conjuring up enough strength 44:56 to continue to keep your faith. 44:58 Even God supplies the faith that you need. 45:01 So don't misread me on that. 45:02 Yes. Ezekiel 18 and Ezekiel 33 brings out a wonderful parallel. 45:07 It's a very, very long story. We're not going to go into 45:08 it today. But it says "the wickedness of the wicked man 45:11 shall not be remembered in the day that he turns 45:13 to righteousness. " But it also says 45:16 "the righteousness of the righteous man will not 45:19 be remembered in the day that he turns to iniquity. " 45:22 That's right. All the good that he has done will be forgotten 45:26 and he will die for the sin he has committed. 45:28 And that word iniquity is not just a stumbling word. 45:31 It is the day that he decides to go back and plunge into sin 45:34 disconnecting himself from God 45:36 all that he had done prior to that will not be remembered. 45:39 And you know something? I don't want to dog any 45:42 political figures, but some political figures are remembered 45:44 for the transgressions that they have been involved in 45:47 and not for the good they have done for the country. 45:49 You know, you can go through the names of people and say: 45:51 "Oh, he'll forever be remembered because of what he did. " 45:55 Or "she'll forever be remembered because of what she did. " 45:57 And people tend to forget all the good you've done 45:59 once you are linked or connected to evil works. 46:03 Here are some scriptures that you can put together that 46:06 salvation is not a one-time, wham I'm sealed in, 46:11 great, God's got me. I'm not going to no matter what I do 46:14 fall away. You've got to walk day by day with Christ. 46:17 And here's the reason for that walk. 46:19 II Peter 2 verse 21. 46:22 Are you there, John, at that passage? 46:24 Read it, and I'll read the next one in Hebrews 6. 46:26 II Peter 2 verse 21: 46:28 I'll start with verse 20. "For if after they have escaped 46:31 the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the 46:33 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ they are again entangled in them 46:36 and overcome, the latter end is worse for them 46:39 than the beginning. " Boy! 46:41 "For it would have been better for them not to have known 46:43 the way of righteousness than having known it 46:46 to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. " 46:48 Wow! So he wouldn't counsel someone on something that 46:53 wasn't possible. Evidently it is possible to walk away 46:56 from God's grace. 46:58 You know, John, even Jesus made that point when He talked 47:01 about the house that was clean and swept and empty. 47:07 And then the problem with it was it wasn't filled. 47:11 As a matter of fact, let me read that passage here. 47:13 And it talks about how there are those lives 47:15 that sometimes are cleaned up whose lives are swept up 47:20 but whose lives are not filled up. 47:22 That's the most important thing here: John 12 verse 43. 47:25 "When an unclean spirit goes out of a man 47:28 he goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none. " 47:33 Then He says: "I will return to My house 47:36 from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it empty" - 47:40 that's what the Lord does - 47:42 "he finds it swept" - that's what the Lord does - 47:45 "and put in order. And then he goes and takes with him 47:48 seven other spirits more wicked than himself 47:51 and they enter and dwell there. " Get this: 47:54 "And the last state of that man is worse... 47:57 worse than the first. " 48:00 That's because the man did not begin to 48:04 put in his heart - the one that had been swept and put 48:07 in order - the things of God. 48:09 The sanctifying part of the experience of salvation. 48:13 He was swept, cleaned up. He was put together 48:17 but he was empty. He wasn't filled of God. 48:20 We've got to be cleaned up and filled up. 48:23 If our lives are not day by day filled up, 48:25 day by day filled up with the Holy Spirit, 48:27 we are just a sitting duck. And the demons will come 48:31 and with greater force than before. 48:32 "And the last will be worse than the first. " 48:36 I think Hebrews 6... you had mentioned that. 48:38 Hebrews 6:4-6. Yeah, go ahead. 48:41 "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened 48:43 and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers 48:46 of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good Word of God 48:49 and the powers of the age to come, 48:51 if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, 48:54 since they crucified again for themselves the Son of God 48:57 and put Him to open shame. " 48:59 So talking about - you know - those who walk away - 49:02 right - from that. You know I mentioned 49:04 Hebrews here. We talked about Hebrews. 49:06 Yes. Well one of the things that Satan's doing 49:09 in the salvation theology here is trying to obscure 49:12 the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, too. 49:14 It's a very little known teaching: 49:15 the heavenly sanctuary. 49:18 Most of Christendom doesn't even know anything about that. 49:22 And clearly if you want to find out more about the 49:26 salvation experience of anyone 49:28 who put their trust and faith in Jesus not only on 49:30 the cross in the outer court but puts faith in Jesus 49:34 as their High Priest day to day 49:36 in the sanctuary, read the book of Hebrews. 49:40 Oh, very good. Because it is full of things. 49:43 Now I was going to quote a text but I'm not going to do that. 49:46 I'll give the text only: 49:47 Hebrews 10 verses 26 and 27. 49:51 Read that and you'll have a chance to tie some more texts 49:54 together on this point. Hey, but there's somebody 49:56 watching that may not have a Bible. 49:57 Go ahead and hit 'em with it. It'll take about 30 seconds. 50:00 It's a powerful text. Well I just closed it up. 50:03 Life is in the sanctuary but life is more specifically 50:06 in the Lord of the sanctuary. All right, here we go. 50:08 "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge 50:12 of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins 50:16 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment 50:19 and the fiery indignation which will devour the adversary. " 50:22 So you know, essentially what it's saying there 50:25 is "if you continue with life as usual, 50:28 practicing sin and not giving any 50:32 way to the Holy Spirit's work in your life to change you 50:35 and to work out the salvation process in you, 50:38 then all you have to wait for is the fearful expectation 50:41 of judgment. There's no longer a sacrifice because it's in vain. 50:44 You know what's amazing about that, John? 50:46 Even Jesus had that experience. 50:47 The Bible talks about some disciples that walked with Him 50:50 and when they saw the price of discipleship the Bible says 50:53 that many of them walked with Him no more. Yeah. 50:56 And then Peter said: "To whom shall we go? " 50:59 And then Jesus said to them: "Are you also 51:01 going to leave Me? " 51:02 And he said: "I can't. Who are we going to go to? 51:06 You have the words of life. " That's right. 51:08 So there are people that walk with Jesus then walk away. 51:10 It's not an unusual thing. So there is no such thing as 51:13 "once saved always saved. " 51:15 It's a day-by-day walk with Christ. Yeah. 51:16 And so Satan is definitely using... has a counterfeit 51:19 salvation - that's right - and those are the various aspects 51:22 of it. Now number 10: we're finally here. 51:24 Number ten is "counterfeit creation" which is evolution. 51:31 Oh man, that's a huge one. Creation is under attack. 51:34 We know that; we see it very, very clearly 51:36 with evolution and how it's propagated out there in our 51:39 schools and our universities. 51:41 Um, that is clear. Also the connection it has - 51:45 creation has - to the Sabbath. 51:48 And now the Sabbath has also been obscured. 51:50 The only commandment that says "remember" people have 51:53 forgotten. Why? Because we're so evolutionarily 51:56 conditioned? conditioned to think today 51:59 that the Sabbath has just been removed from society. 52:03 And even the church endorses that. 52:04 It's endorsed Sunday as an alternative day of worship 52:09 that they say now is the Lord's day. 52:11 No, it hasn't changed nor has creation become evolution. 52:14 But that's Satan's tactic and we know that this is happening 52:18 today. You know we often quote those very famous passages like 52:22 Exodus where it talks about the fourth commandment. 52:25 You know, He's the One that made the heaven and the earth, 52:27 the sea and all that in them is. 52:28 But there are other passages in the Bible equally as powerful 52:31 that we oftentimes miss. For example: Nehemiah. 52:34 How many read Nehemiah 9:6 where it says: 52:36 "You alone are the Lord. You have made heaven... 52:39 the heaven of heavens with all their host, 52:43 the earth and everything on it, 52:45 the seas and all that is in them, 52:47 and You preserve them all. 52:49 The host of heaven worships You. " 52:51 That's a powerful passage. How many times do 52:53 we go to Nehemiah for a creation verse? 52:56 Yeah. And then another one in Psalms. 52:58 Psalm 115 verse 15. 53:00 "May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth. " 53:06 Wow! These guys declare the beauty of it. 53:08 And today this whole idea about evolution... 53:10 You know, get this John, it's ridiculous. 53:12 You brought this point up and you did this in your series. 53:14 How could some guy by the name of Charles Darwin 53:18 come along thousands of years after creation, 53:22 challenge God, and we fall for this philosophical mumbo jumbo? 53:25 Um-hmm. It doesn't even make sense. 53:27 It doesn't even add up. He's not even a 1 and 1 = 2 53:30 kind of a theory. And he came in at the exact time 53:34 of the Great Awakening. Um-hmm. 53:37 The Great Awakening of the gospel to reach the world 53:41 in the form of missions and other things 53:43 as it's continuing to go to all the world until Jesus comes. 53:46 So Satan knew he had to set up this counterfeit. 53:49 And he used Darwin to do it, and we have bought it 53:51 hook, line, and sinker. You know what? 53:54 You read scripture... I am reading specifically from 53:57 Revelation chapter 4 verse 11... 53:59 you find a prescription for why we worship God. 54:03 What is the reason why we worship God and God only? 54:08 There's no other way, other person, or other being that 54:10 we can worship, and it says here in verse 11: 54:12 "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor 54:15 and power... " Why? 54:17 "for You created all things" - that's right - 54:20 "and by Your will they exist and were created. " 54:23 Revelation 4 verse 11. 54:24 Revelation 4 verse 11. So He's worthy to receive 54:27 worship. And only worship of Him alone 54:30 because He's the Creator. 54:32 And when you say, when you compromise on this issue 54:34 even within Christianity today when you compromise 54:37 for the sake of science, you are... you are almost committing 54:42 um, I don't even know... have a word for it, but 54:46 it's blasphemy. Jesus can't accept your worship. 54:50 He can't accept your worship because you're not 54:51 acknowledge him as the Creator. 54:53 That's right! Powerful. 54:56 He knows what he's doing when he's putting evolution 54:58 into the minds of people. You know the very last text 55:02 in the Bible that talks about the Creatorship of God 55:04 is the first of the three angels' messages? 55:07 The very last. God - from beginning Genesis all the way 55:11 to Revelation - the Creator is present. 55:13 Revelation: the greatest message of the hour in which we live. 55:17 That's why Three Angels Network exists: to counteract 55:21 the counterfeit with the three angels' message. 55:23 "Fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment 55:27 is come. And worship Him who made heaven 55:30 and earth and the sea and the springs of water. " 55:34 A clear reference to the fourth commandment. 55:36 Clear reference to the fourth commandment 55:37 from beginning to end. Only God has that authority. 55:40 Only He is worthy of worship. 55:42 And these messages are clearly the last messages 55:46 given to the world for bringing them into that everlasting 55:50 covenant that we talked about for all mankind to accept, 55:53 find that Jesus is the Savior. So the command goes: 55:56 "Fear God and give glory to Him. " 55:57 Not those who proclaim evolution. 55:59 Not those who have all these alternative, counterfeit 56:03 things set up for drawing your mind away from the Creator. 56:07 But "worship God who created. " 56:09 And what did He do after creation? 56:11 He established a memorial of that creation 56:13 and He set up the Sabbath day whereby people could remember 56:17 who their Creator is. Oh, powerful! 56:20 What did Satan do? He stepped in and created 56:21 a counterfeit Sabbath to go along with the counterfeit 56:24 creation... which is evolution. 56:26 You know, there are three remembers in the Bible. 56:28 We're going to be very fast on this. 56:29 "Remember the Creator in the days of your youth. " 56:30 Young people need to remember Christ. 56:32 "Remember Lot's wife. " That means if you're on your way 56:35 out don't look back. 56:36 And the third one: "Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. " 56:38 Now get this: if it's important for young people to remember 56:41 the Creator; if it's important for Christians to not look back 56:44 who are following Christ; 56:46 how much more is it important in this day of counterfeits 56:49 for us to remember our Creator 56:51 by honoring the true Bible Sabbath? That's right. 56:53 Powerful thing. And people will say: 56:55 "Well it's a works-based thing when you honor the holy 56:58 Sabbath day. " It is the exact opposite! 57:00 "Thou shalt not do ANY works. " 57:04 And you know, after creation God said... 57:06 He declared it was done. On the cross Jesus said 57:08 "It is finished! " 57:09 At the end when all is said and done 57:11 it'll be... He'll say "It is done" again. 57:13 It's in Christ's finished work and that reason that 57:17 we worship on the Sabbath day. 57:19 It's trusting in Him. It's a faith issue! 57:21 That's right. And friends, you know what? 57:22 Like the guy that created something that said it was so 57:24 magnificent, he said "accept no substitutes. 57:27 Accept none because the best product is Jesus Christ. " 57:31 Give your life to Him today, friends. God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17