Participants: John Stanton & John Dinzey
Series Code: HCL
Program Code: HCL110010
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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 edition of "House Calls." 00:21 Hello, and welcome again 00:22 to another edition of "House Calls." 00:24 We are glad that you decide to join with us today, 00:27 and we are excited have you with us to study God's word, 00:30 and hopefully all of us will be blessed 00:33 by this time together. 00:34 My name is pastor John Stanton. 00:36 With me in the studio is pastor C.A. Murray. 00:38 Good to be here again. 00:39 It's good to be here with you as well. 00:41 And a blessing I think, whenever we get together 00:44 to open the word of God 00:45 and just kind of let it speak. Yeah. 00:47 Often it does on this program, 00:48 it takes same directions 00:49 that we don't often plan for but that is, 00:52 that is the way God works a lot of times. 00:54 And so we are excited that you've decided 00:56 join with us today in that journey. 00:59 Before we dive into anything that we want to make sure 01:02 we go to the Lord and pray and so I want to invite 01:04 our pastor here to share that word with us. 01:09 Gracious Father again, 01:10 we come to you with open hearts and in humility. 01:14 We are thankful for the power of the word, 01:18 we thankful for Jesus our savior and friend. 01:22 We are thankful for this program 01:24 and this opportunity to dig into your word 01:28 and find there the nuggets of Gold, 01:33 the water of life that we need for our growing 01:36 for our nurture and for our spiritual enrichment. 01:39 We pray now Father that you would bless us. 01:41 Give us spiritual eyesight that we may see 01:45 that which you have for us 01:46 that we may interpret to write, that we would make 01:49 correct application to our lives 01:51 and by extension to those who sit and listen and watch 01:55 and hear this particular program. 01:57 Be the center and circumference 01:58 of all that we do this day. 02:00 We surrender ourselves to you 02:01 and ask you to be the divine teacher. 02:03 And we thank you in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 02:08 Well, we're gonna dive into our questions 02:10 here very quickly. 02:12 We appreciate your involvement 02:13 in sending us the questions by email. 02:15 Some of you are still sending snail mail, 02:18 that's fine as well. 02:19 I say snail mail just because 02:20 it takes a little longer for it to get here. 02:22 But we do appreciate in whatever way you respond 02:25 that you do interact with us here at House Calls. 02:28 We really appreciate that. 02:29 We want to give our email address to write to, 02:32 it's housecalls@3abn.org, housecalls@3abn.org. 02:38 To send us your email 02:39 and we will be sure that we do our best. 02:41 We try and cover your question 02:42 on the future program. Thank you. 02:45 Pastor you wanna start this off with a question today? 02:47 All right, we gonna start off with the question 02:49 that comes from time to time in different aspects 02:53 but I think it's something we need to touch on 02:56 and to touch on with love. 02:59 I don't have a name 03:01 for this email that came and says, 03:04 I work for church that says homosexuality is not sinfull 03:09 and has an openly gay music minister. 03:14 The pastor also says 03:15 that God of all religions is the same one. 03:20 I used to think that it was okay. 03:23 I've learned from the Bible and Holy Spirit 03:25 that this is an Apostolic Church. 03:28 What shall I do? I am a recently, 03:34 I am recently single and cannot afford to quit. 03:38 Well, I think in answering this question, 03:42 a number of things come into play 03:44 and we wanna take them sort of sequentially. 03:48 As far as homosexual practice is concerned, 03:53 I think and I think you will agree with me John, 03:55 the Bible is very clear on that. 03:57 We will give you some texts 03:58 and then I wanna go into this, 04:01 I can't afford to quit thing. 04:05 First I go to first Corinthians 04:06 6, 9, and 10, which is a text 04:09 we are looking at just a little bit go. 04:11 There is a list here. 04:17 Here's what the Bible says, 04:18 Paul wrote to the Church of Corinth, 04:19 "Do you not know that the unrighteous 04:22 will not inherit the kingdom of God? 04:24 Do not be deceived." 04:25 So he is setting a very firm premise at the outside 04:28 of this literal preaching portion. 04:32 Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, 04:34 nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, 04:36 nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor the covetous, 04:38 nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, 04:42 will inherit the kingdom of God, 04:44 and such were some of you: but ye are washed, 04:48 but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified 04:51 in the name of the Lord Jesus, 04:52 and by the Spirit of our God." 04:54 And so we find at the very outset 04:57 that people on this list 05:00 cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 05:02 are not in right stand with God. 05:04 So as far as homosexuality is concerned, 05:08 say what you will, Old Testament, 05:10 New Testament agree that this is not a practice 05:14 that has the blessing of God in any way. 05:18 So as far as the church saying 05:22 that it's okay, they are going against 05:24 the clear counsel from the word of God 05:26 because it is not okay. 05:28 Couple of other things, if you will jump with me 05:31 to Romans Chapter 1, 05:34 I think I can pick it up about verse 26, 05:42 "For this reason God gave them up 05:44 to vile passions: for even their women exchanged 05:47 the natural use for what is against nature. 05:50 And likewise also the men, 05:51 leaving the natural use of the woman, 05:53 burned in their lust one toward another; 05:55 men with men committing what is shameful, 05:58 and receiving in themselves 06:00 the penalty for their error which was due." 06:03 So again we see the total picture 06:09 of homosexual acts. 06:11 It is something that is frowned upon 06:12 and not accepted by God. 06:14 It is a Biblical abomination, 06:17 and something that a Christian cannot practice 06:20 with any sort of blessing from heaven. 06:23 So that's the first thing. 06:26 Well, just one really quick thing on that too. 06:28 If you look at verse 20 of that Chapter in Romans, 06:31 Romans 1, it says there, 06:33 For since the creation of the world 06:34 His invisible attributes are clearly seen, 06:36 being understood by the things that are made. 06:40 You know, when you read the creation account, 06:42 it said that He made male for female. Yes. 06:47 And clearly had put those two together 06:49 and the image of God was represented in both. 06:54 The same sex coming together with acts of homosexuality 06:59 do not reproduce or represent 07:01 the image of God. Yes. 07:03 And that is clear as he goes on in these passages 07:06 as He describes how people wandered from that ideal 07:10 homosexuality as mentioned. Yes. 07:11 But it ties to back to the creation account. 07:14 So from the very beginning, 07:15 we see even in the creation of this world 07:18 that it's meant to be. 07:19 Now some would argue, well, there are some things 07:22 that we find where there is some homosexual stuff 07:25 maybe in the animals and so forth. 07:27 That's Evolution. I mean that is an issue. 07:29 That is a model of founding this world 07:34 and this universe that we simply don't agree with. 07:36 The Bible is in contraction with. 07:38 So to argue something that an Evolutionist would argue 07:41 to establish proof that the Bible is wrong 07:44 simply just destroys the Bible anyway. 07:46 So you can't go there and of course, 07:49 you know, the people want to explain in a way, 07:50 well God is not like that. 07:51 He is loving. He is kind. 07:53 He would not destroy someone 07:55 if I was born this way then I am this way. 08:00 But you know, many of us are born 08:02 with challenges in life and we have to 08:05 and it's the nature of sin. 08:06 We have to resist the inclination to sin. 08:10 And so I like what you said a couple of time, 08:12 the practice of homosexuality, 08:14 you know, staying away from vying on the debate 08:18 is to whether one is born homosexual. 08:21 I think it's kind a like a mood point, 08:24 because we are all born with inclinations to sin 08:27 whatever that sin maybe 08:29 that is our challenge in life. Yes. 08:31 And for some that's sin maybe 08:33 what their inclination is to practice homosexuality. 08:37 Still the word of God says, do not practice it. Right. 08:40 And God will deliver us from it. 08:42 Be it nature or nurture, we are not scientist enough, 08:46 medical persons enough to even weigh into that. 08:49 Having said that we are born with any number of, 08:56 any amount of baggage here I say, 08:58 and we are called to overcome in the name 09:01 and the power of Jesus Christ. 09:03 That text in Corinthians gave a fairly long 09:06 and impressive list of sins. 09:07 All of which must be overcome, 09:10 if we ought to be in right standing for the Lord. 09:12 Having said that the idea of shunning, 09:17 hating, treating with contempt irrespective, 09:21 homosexual is also not sanctioned 09:24 by the word of God, 09:25 and so some of the treatment that they get in this word 09:29 really is awful and non-Christian 09:31 and some of it comes from the hand of Christians. 09:34 That of course is not sanctioned by God either 09:38 but to condone the practice 09:40 that is not sanctioned by God. 09:42 Now the last thing I want to touch on, 09:44 he says I become single 09:47 and I can't afford to quit. 09:51 I think that is something you really need 09:52 to take to the Lord in prayer. 09:54 You may find that you can afford with. 09:57 You may have to trust God really a lot. 10:00 You may need to put out some feelers 10:01 to see what other options are open for you, 10:04 and I submit if you really 10:06 want to serve the Lord 10:12 and be free to serve the Lord 10:14 in conscience and mind and practice 10:15 then put it to God. 10:17 Lord, I would like to do something else. 10:20 I would like to work some place else. 10:22 Put it before the Lord, keep it before the Lord 10:24 and then watch the Lord work in your behalf. 10:27 He knows that you are now uncomfortable 10:29 with the situation 10:30 and I think God wants you to be free 10:32 to grow in grace and in His spirit 10:35 and to not have this incompetence. 10:37 So put it before the Lord, 10:39 and talk that the Lord about it. 10:41 Make it a matter of serious prayer, 10:43 and put out the feelers 10:44 and see what God will do for you 10:46 in the course of time. 10:47 We will join you in that praye. Amen, amen. 10:49 You know, I would even add, 10:51 I have a similar queston here 10:52 about a similar issue, not the similar issue 10:53 but the same kind of contradiction. 10:56 And I think anytime that God is convicting you something, 11:00 He is actually paving the way for you 11:03 to put out a fleece before Him. Precisely. 11:05 In other words, if He is convicting you 11:06 that you shouldn't be there anymore, 11:08 He is preparing already an answer. 11:10 He just wants you to move. 11:11 He wants you to step out in faith. 11:13 And that is where the same advice 11:15 comes in for this next question 11:17 which comes from, let's see here, Francis. 11:22 And he says, hi John. 11:25 And John I've always watched 11:26 your program on the TV station. 11:29 I am from Belize, Central America. 11:32 My question is that I would like to 11:35 serve God with all my being. 11:37 However, my job does not permit me 11:38 to get my Sabbaths off. 11:41 What must I do not to feel guilty anymore? 11:44 God's blessing to you both, 11:47 I pray for you both as well. 11:50 You know, I don't know exactly what job you have. 11:54 There are obviously some jobs that, 11:58 you know, without weighing heavily into the debate 12:00 that are absolutely necessary 12:01 such as a job of a doctor. 12:03 You can't respond to a patient 12:06 that needs emergency medical care 12:08 by saying I'm sorry it's my day off. 12:10 I can't be involved in the work of healing you. 12:13 So there are those doctors, nurses 12:15 providing for the care of individuals, 12:17 some even involved in the emergency, 12:20 a protection of the community. 12:22 Fire fighters, they can't, you know, say I'm sorry 12:24 I won't put out your fire because it's the Sabbath. 12:27 So there are things that are, 12:29 that I believe God allows provides allowance for us 12:32 to be able to continue to provide the service 12:34 or help for people, 12:35 but it probably is not the case here I am guessing. 12:39 But many do struggle in the same way, 12:42 you know, my job doesn't allow me 12:43 to have all my Sabbaths off. 12:45 I really feel convicted or little guilty about that, 12:48 what I can do to stop the guilt. 12:50 I would say the only thing to do to stop the guilt 12:51 is follow the word of God. Follow the Lord, yeah 12:53 And it says there that clue the Fourth Commandment, 12:57 "you shall do no work on that day." 12:59 And so you need to pretty much just kind of 13:03 put your foot down and say to your employer, 13:05 I'm sorry I can no longer work 13:07 on any Sabbaths because of the fact that it is my, 13:11 it's God holy Sabbath day 13:13 and I wanna honor Him first and foremost. 13:16 And then the Lord will move. 13:18 I often find the Lord will not move 13:21 until, we move first to respond Him. Yeah. 13:24 So you, you know, to say 13:26 well I have to get another job 13:27 before I lose this job, 13:29 let me tell you it almost never works like that. 13:32 The Lord opens the door for work 13:34 after we first honor and commit to Him. 13:36 Yes, because there is no faith element in that. 13:39 If you leap and you know you have some place to land 13:43 then the leap has not really a leap of faith. 13:45 It's just a jump. 13:46 You gonna jump, you gonna land. 13:48 But if leave not knowing or you're gonna land 13:51 and trust God to land you safely. 13:53 That is a leap of faith. 13:56 And that could be 13:58 what the Lord is waiting for you to do. 14:00 We've seen it happen so many, many, many times. 14:05 When I was in Public Affairs in Religious 14:06 Liberty Director for the Conference, 14:08 we had a fellow who was a carpenter, 14:10 never worked on Sabbath. 14:12 And the Transit Authority, he works in New York 14:15 Transit called him in and he wouldn't go. 14:18 And well, he said I'm gonna just have to quit 14:24 if you gonna insist. 14:25 And they insisted and he quit. 14:27 And he was out of work for two weeks. 14:29 And then he got a better job 14:32 but he was out of work for two weeks. 14:34 His faith was tested. 14:35 He didn't go from one to another. 14:37 And so many times God is asking us 14:39 to exercise our faith to trust Him, 14:41 to try Him, to test Him, to prove Him he says. 14:46 And when we do that 14:47 we find that God is faithful. 14:48 Yes, He is always faithful. Yeah. Okay. 14:51 Now the question you have here. 14:52 I've got one from Australia, 14:55 from New South Wales from Wayne. 14:58 Wayne wants to know, how is it that Jesus being God, 15:04 was born through Mary by the Holy Spirit 15:07 and not affected by sin through the birth of Mary, 15:11 as Mary is a sinner just like us? 15:15 Well, this is called the incarnation. 15:20 The Bible says the word which is Christ 15:23 became flesh and dwelt among us. 15:25 And God doesn't spend a lot of time 15:27 really explaining how that happened. 15:29 And I think even if He did 15:31 we probably couldn't understand it 15:32 and how does divinity become humanity. 15:35 How does God take Himself 15:39 and form Himself into a little baby 15:41 and insert Himself into the womb of woman, 15:44 and then come through the natural birth process, 15:46 and allow that to happen. 15:50 Perhaps through the ages we were studying that, 15:52 the depth of the incarnation. 15:54 So if I to say and praise God, 15:56 it did happen. 15:57 Now was He affected? Yes. 16:01 He was affected. 16:03 He got hungry. 16:04 He got tired. 16:06 He needed rest. 16:07 All of those things are very human qualities, 16:09 John, as you well know. 16:11 So He was affected by sin 16:16 as the word is affected by sin 16:18 but not infected by sin. Absolutely. 16:22 Christ made the statement, the text in case perhaps 16:25 you can help me with this, 16:26 He says the God of this word has nothing in me. 16:29 There is no hook in me. 16:30 There is nothing for Satan to reach and sort of latch 16:32 unto because I am not allowing that. 16:34 The propensity. Precisely. 16:36 What sin was in bear? 16:37 When we talk about the incarnation 16:39 with the God man, there are two words 16:41 that tend to come to mind, 16:42 infirmities and propensities. 16:44 He had the infirmities. 16:45 He got tired, He got weak, He needed food, 16:49 those are very human things, 16:50 but He didn't have the propensities. 16:53 He didn't have the bent toward sin that we have. 16:56 He didn't have that natural leaning towards sin. 16:59 And of course that was kept up 17:00 by a constant relationship with His Father, 17:05 by dependence upon his Father. 17:06 He overcame the same way we can overcome 17:10 and that is through 17:11 a constant connection with Jesus Christ. 17:13 So He was affected by but not infected by 17:17 and praise God, He lived a sinless life, 17:20 and these are example and died for us. 17:23 And now ministers the benefit of that death 17:26 and that life in heaven for us even as we speak. 17:28 You know, and it is a very different. 17:30 It's just beyond our grasp, some of these things, 17:33 just like the God had the three in one. 17:36 It's just as tough for us to really understand. 17:38 One of the things I know one person mentioned to me 17:42 one time talked about, 17:44 you know, the nature of Christ. 17:45 And he said, you know, 17:46 He came likeness of sinful flesh 17:48 but likeness doesn't mean sameness. 17:50 He wasn't exactly like us, 17:53 because we are born with a propensity to sin. Yes. 17:56 We are bent toward that. 17:58 He was not, He did not have that, 17:59 yet He was affected by sin. 18:01 It impacted His life. Very much so. 18:03 And there is no one ever been exactly like that. 18:06 But yet, He came in the lightness of us, 18:09 to show us that we can conquer 18:11 as He conquered through His father. 18:13 Yeah, that comes to mind John. 18:15 People say, well okay, He didn't have 18:16 the natural tendency that we have, 18:19 so He had to vanish. 18:20 But here is a question I asked myself 18:21 and I ask myself every time we have our grandkids over. 18:25 Is it easier to get clean 18:27 or having been clean to stay clean? 18:31 Now we can dress our grandchildren up 18:35 to take them to church. 18:36 And if we don't watch them by the time 18:39 we are ready to go, they are filthy. 18:41 Because they're gonna find something, 18:43 they're gonna grab something 18:44 and the other day it was, we were making smoothies. 18:47 And one of the little ones got into the blueberries. 18:50 And of course the blueberries are all over. 18:51 He started out clean but he didn't stay clean very long. 18:54 So, Christ started out clean, 18:57 but then it was His job to stay clean, 18:59 you know, with the temptations 19:02 and of course He had 19:03 the attention of Satan Himself. 19:05 So He had to stay clean 19:08 and to resist those kinds of temptations 19:11 and Satan took him on his pet project. 19:14 So is it easier to get clean or to stay clean? 19:18 Well, six of one half a dozen of the other. 19:20 He started out clean 19:21 but it was His job to stay clean 19:23 and not to sin in thought, word, or deed. 19:26 And He was faithful unto death, 19:27 even the death at the cross. 19:29 So in that He can indeed be our example. 19:31 You know, the other thing too is that He, 19:34 well, you know, He is, while He came 19:37 and He did not conquered 19:38 using His divinity, His deity. 19:41 Yes, He is all God but He is all man. 19:44 And He conquered where man stands. 19:46 He conquered him in the power and strength 19:48 that we have as we depend upon on the Holy Spirit 19:52 in our Father to provide the strength that we need. 19:54 So that's what He stood so that He can 19:56 then give us that victory. Precisely. 19:57 He conquered as God. 19:59 He couldn't give us that victory. 20:01 Not my example. He is not our example. 20:03 We're not God. Yeah. 20:04 And so you know, word is harder. 20:08 You know, that's the same question, 20:10 to be on a Cross and have the power, 20:13 to end it right there, or to be on the cross 20:16 with no possibility of getting off 20:18 which is what we would be in and then just having 20:20 to stay there and experience it. 20:21 I would say it would require more to stay there, 20:25 not using power, 20:26 you had at your resource, at your availability. 20:29 Then it is to just a human being 20:32 not have the power. Yeah, yeah. 20:34 He could have come down. He could end this. 20:35 Why direct, to go through this, 20:37 just end it. That's right. 20:38 But, and you've got it's like 20:39 you have money in the bank 20:40 and you are living in the backseat of your car. 20:43 I could live in a mansion if I want, 20:45 but I'm not gonna do that. 20:46 Well, He had the power but He did not use that power 20:50 and in that He becomes my example 20:51 because he has to overcome just like I owe Him. 20:53 And in that respect I would say 20:55 He didn't have an advantage. Precisely. 20:56 'Cause, you know, it took more to resist but... 20:59 Yeah, we have to resist. 21:00 Amen. All right. 21:02 We have one last question here 21:04 I will just mention briefly, 21:06 'cause it really doesn't have a specific answer. 21:08 It says in Mark 14:21 with regard to Judas 21:15 that it would have been good 21:16 for that man to never have been born. 21:18 My question is if there were no Judas then how would 21:21 the crucifixion resurrection of Jesus 21:23 had been fulfilled? Okay. 21:26 So let me read Mark 14:21, 21:28 "The Son of Man indeed goes 21:29 just as it is written of Him, 21:31 but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! 21:35 It would have been good for that man 21:36 if he had never been born." 21:39 You know I've heard this question 21:40 many times before and framed in different ways. 21:43 Here is another one and maybe I am pouring fuel 21:46 on the fire or something, but another one would be, 21:48 you know, what if, 21:50 what if the Jews had accepted their Messiah? 21:55 You know, and He... and did not crucify Him? 21:57 How were they been different from mankind? 22:00 You know, there is all these different "what ifs", 22:03 but it didn't happen that way. 22:05 You know, I would say the answer to that "what if" 22:07 would be there would have been no church 22:08 because the Jews and Israel 22:09 would have been the church, right? 22:12 But the issue is with regard to Jesus and His crucifixion 22:15 and I will throw a scenario out. 22:16 Let's say the Jews had accepted their Messiah. 22:22 I would say it's very possible 22:23 that maybe Rome would step forward to see Him 22:25 as the opposition and would have crucified Him anyway. 22:27 You know, someone would have step forward 22:29 and provided the impetus 22:30 for the crucifixion of Christ, 22:32 for the death of the Messiah 22:33 because that's what was required, 22:35 that's what the Bible had foretold. 22:37 And so it's hard to cometh throw 22:40 around these "what ifs" 22:41 and to really know the answer 'cause we don't, 22:43 we cannot possibly know. 22:45 But God always does have that full knowledge. 22:49 And there would have been a way regardless, 22:51 there have been no Judas 22:52 it would have been something else. Yeah. 22:54 And that's why we can't, you know, people say, 22:56 well, you know it's unfair to choose Judas. 22:58 Well, Judas could have been forgiven. 23:00 Judas thought he made a pretty slick bargain, 23:04 pick up some cash and identify Christ. 23:06 That's basically what it's in his mind. 23:09 I will point him out I'm going to get pay. 23:12 Is that worse than Peter is denying him? 23:16 You know, that's pretty bad. 23:18 Peter said, I don't know the man. 23:19 I have nothing to do with him. 23:20 I don't know who you talking about, 23:21 and cursed to sort of back it up. 23:24 Is that worse than Judas pointing him out 23:27 to some soldiers? who did known 23:29 Well, you can banter it about either way. 23:32 The fact is both could have been forgiven. 23:35 Peter was, Judas choose to end his life in despair. 23:41 But he could have been forgiven. 23:42 Someone would have betrayed him. 23:44 Was it Judas? Yeah, 23:45 but Judas could have been forgiven for that act 23:47 just as Peter was forgiven for his act. 23:51 And I think we need to look at that on our own lives. 23:54 We are never beyond the hope, 23:56 the help of Christ. 23:58 You may do some things that in your mind pretty bad 24:01 but just as Peter denied Him and was forgiven, 24:05 so you too can be forgiven. 24:07 Judas turned his mind inside out, 24:09 there is no hope for me. I am sad. 24:11 I will just end it all. 24:13 Peter looked to Jesus 24:15 and remembered the words of Jesus 24:17 and used that as motivation 24:19 to get back into right standing with God. 24:22 Never think you are beyond Christ. 24:23 Christ has seen it all. He has heard it all. 24:26 There is nothing you can do that surprises Him. 24:29 You can't go too far 24:30 if you have enough sense to call, 24:32 He has got enough love to answer. 24:34 You know, I would also say that 24:36 God can handle your sin. Precisely, yes. 24:38 He has already got an answer for sin. 24:43 But He doesn't have an answer 24:45 for rejection of Him or walking away of Him 24:47 because of our own free will. 24:48 He has given us that free will 24:50 to be able to step away 24:51 and reject Christ as Judas did 24:54 and do not accept that forgiveness, 24:56 or the change of heart even that comes with that. 24:59 So the tragedy there is always in us, 25:02 in the man that commits that sin. Yeah. 25:05 The tragedy for Christ is definitely there 25:08 but not the sin itself. He can handle the sin. 25:10 Yeah, yeah. 25:11 Christ in his dealing with Judas 25:12 never gave indication 25:14 and He knew what he was doing, 25:15 what Judas would do. 25:16 You know, He knew what's coming 25:17 but He never said listen by the way when you do this, 25:19 don't ever come back. 25:20 He didn't say that time, you know... 25:22 Maybe wash His feet. Precisely. 25:24 Trying to let him know. 25:26 I know what's going on, 25:27 I know what's going to go down, 25:28 I love you still. 25:29 And that's the message that He has for us today. 25:31 He knows. There is no secret. 25:33 Nothing hidden from God, but His love is still there 25:35 and His love is overriding 25:36 and all encompassing and eternal. 25:38 So fall on that love 25:40 and take that love to yourself 25:41 and know that Christ doesn't reject you, 25:43 so don't reject Him. Amen. 25:45 What a positive note. 25:46 Can I transition on? Yeah. 25:47 The love of Christ for us 25:49 in the way that He deals patiently, 25:52 and you know with us and our problems. 25:57 Let me go ahead and introduce to you 25:59 in our topic to kind a segway. 26:02 Actually before I do that 26:03 let's put up the House calls 26:05 email address one more time. 26:07 You can send your questions into housecalls@3abn.org 26:10 or you can email or actually send them regular mail 26:13 through card or letters or something. 26:15 We will make sure we do our best to put them up 26:19 and answer them on our future programs. 26:21 So thank you very much 26:22 for participating in that part. 26:24 Now for the introduction. Amen. 26:26 You know, we started last time with part 1, 26:30 start talking about you know prophecy 26:32 and the biblical rules 26:33 and methodology of interpretation. 26:36 Because it's very important to understand that 26:37 and we gave several reason why it is important. 26:41 But we ended getting into a discussion 26:42 on the different methodologies 26:45 or actually the different types of interpretation, 26:48 the methods and that have grown overtime. 26:51 First of all, Historicism 26:52 which came really out of the Protestant Reformation 26:55 that was the model they used and stuck to. 26:58 Then there was the Counter Reformation 26:59 in response to that. 27:00 When we see the enemy responded to 27:02 the truths of God's word getting out with error 27:05 that he tried to disperse 27:06 and through the Church of Rome. 27:08 And we find that two methods then that Rome introduced 27:12 as theories were Preterism and Futurism. 27:15 Preterism being predominantly 27:17 that all the prophecies in the book of Revelation 27:19 have already happened 27:20 and they centered around the time of A.D. 70, 27:24 where Titus and his army 27:26 besieged and sacked Jerusalem 27:28 and destroyed the temple as well 27:30 and of course then the persecution 27:32 by its emperors in the future after that. 27:35 Futurism says that all the prophecies 27:37 that are spoken of in Revelation particularly 27:41 after Revelation Chapter 4 are in the future. 27:44 They are way down at the end of time. 27:46 You don't have to deal with this 27:47 and one of the main doctrines associated 27:49 with that understand is the rapture theory, 27:53 which is that the church 27:54 will be rapture out of this earth 27:55 and not have to be here on the earth 27:57 during the time of trouble, 27:59 during the persecution that is described 28:01 in the book of Revelation 28:02 from that Chapter 1, Chapter 4. Yes. 28:05 And that's the essence of Futurism. 28:08 And Futurism of the two, Futurism is the one 28:10 that God basically gained the most deem 28:13 that caught with Christianity 28:17 and many denominations today and it is being taught 28:20 as the most prevalent 28:21 methodology for interpreting prophecy. 28:24 But in doing so, we, I think ended our program by saying 28:28 that is deviating really pastors from the reformers 28:33 and what they viewed as the essential 28:37 for understanding prophecy in its proper context. 28:41 And one of those contexts they say that 28:43 they went to were the writings of Daniel. 28:45 Daniel in Revelation are bookends, to prophecy. 28:49 Daniel reveals things that will come to pass 28:52 in the latter days but then seals up the book. 28:55 It's not understandable. 28:56 Knowledge of these things will not be available 28:59 until the time of the end itself. 29:02 Of course, that period lasts 2300 days, Daniel 8:14 29:06 and then of course Revelation, 29:07 we read Revelation 10 where it say that the delay 29:11 or the time prophecy is being sealed up, 29:14 no longer exists that 29:15 now we can understand those things 29:17 and the time of the end is at hand, 29:20 which I believe we are living in today. 29:22 Yeah, and that's what history says, 29:24 the history says prospective does. 29:26 It walks us through from the ancient times 29:31 and brings us right up to our day. 29:34 And we see that played out 29:36 particularly in the book of Daniel. 29:39 Yeah, and Daniel being a latter day, 29:42 these latter day prophecies for kind of supporting 29:46 in the foundational aspect of Historicism, 29:48 let's go there 29:50 and I would like to look at what the reformers looked at 29:53 and what we are still today 29:54 in the Seventh-day Adventist church 29:56 who are continue to be viewed 29:59 as the champions of Historicism. Yes. 30:02 We are Historicists to the core 30:04 but let's look as to why 30:07 and for that we must go to the Bible. 30:09 Remember the Bible and the Bible alone. 30:11 That's what the principle of the Protestant Reformers 30:15 that was their principle that was their foundation. 30:18 And so let's take a look at Daniel. 30:20 Let's just talk about Daniel Chapter 2 30:22 here at the beginning because 30:23 this is probably the most clear explanation 30:26 of why the reformers adopted the historicists model. 30:31 Daniel chapter 2, just a kind of give you 30:34 a little bit of a flavor for what's happening here. 30:38 Daniel and his three friends and more than that, 30:44 Judah had been taking captive by Nebuchadnezzar 30:48 and his kingdom of Babylon. 30:50 And they had brought them from Jerusalem 30:53 in the captivity in Babylon and began to rule over them 30:57 and began to what you say, 31:01 especially with Daniel and his three friends 31:03 trained them up in the ways of Babylon. 31:06 Well, Daniel and his three friends 31:07 began to resist a bit 31:09 and they were some issues 31:10 that are talked about in Daniel 1, 31:12 specifically in the area of diet 31:14 and so of course, this program isn't on that 31:16 but there is definitely a difference so to speak 31:19 between the wise man of Babylon 31:21 and Daniel and his three friends 31:24 who had been taken captive and then brought to Babylon. 31:28 We get to Chapter 2 where Nebuchadnezzar 31:30 the whole scene shifts 31:31 to Nebuchadnezzar and his dream. 31:34 He has a dream 31:35 and in that dream something profound happens. 31:40 I mean, may be you've experienced 31:41 this before pastor as well. 31:43 You have a dream, you know it's big 31:44 but you can't quite remember 31:46 everything that requires. Oh, yes. 31:47 Well, it was even worse for him. 31:49 It was so profound, but yet he couldn't 31:51 even understand the elementary pieces of it. 31:53 Just even begin to put the picture together. 31:56 And he was so concerned about it, 31:58 he could hardly even sleep 31:59 and he put out the word that all of the wise men, 32:03 not only were they to come up 32:04 with the interpretation of the dream 32:05 they were to come up with the dream itself. 32:09 And can you imagine what some of these 32:11 "wise men" thought about that. 32:14 In fact, their response to the king 32:16 was no one ever does that. 32:17 I mean we can come up with an interpretation 32:19 but we can't come up with the dream itself. 32:22 Of course, the response by king Nebuchadnezzar was, 32:24 listen if you are truly wise 32:26 you can come up with the whole thing. 32:28 They didn't like that and the Edith that went out 32:31 of course was that they would die 32:33 if they weren't able to come up with it. 32:34 Daniel heard about it. 32:36 His friends heard about it and they began to pray. 32:39 And as they prayed, they trusted in the Lord 32:41 that He would provide the interpretation 32:44 and the dream for Nebuchadnezzar 32:47 and the word goes out that Nebuchadnezzar, 32:49 the king should meet with Daniel 32:52 about this very thing. 32:53 And so let's see, 32:56 let's pick up this passage the story, 33:01 let's see here with verse, 33:03 let's talk about verse 17, 33:06 it says Daniel went to his house 33:08 after hearing about this death decree 33:11 and he made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, 33:15 and Azariah, his companions, 33:18 that they might sick mercies from God, 33:21 the God of heaven, concerning the secret, 33:23 so that Daniel and his companions 33:25 might not perish with the rest 33:26 of the wise men of Babylon. 33:28 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, 33:31 so Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 33:34 So Daniel received, none with the interpretation 33:37 but the dream itself, from God himself. 33:40 Yeah and these Hebrews were in very hostile atmosphere 33:44 and this was a common practice 33:46 back in those days. 33:47 You take a group of people, 33:48 you sort of siphon off the best. 33:50 You change their name, you change their culture, 33:52 you change their dress 33:54 and you really try to make them 33:56 into something that they are not. 33:57 The names are changed, Hananiah, Azariah, 33:59 Mishael changed to Shadrach, 34:01 Meshach, and Abednego. 34:02 And you really try to co-op their thinking, 34:06 try to brainwash them and change them. 34:10 So there is this pull now for them 34:12 to hold on to their garden and to their faith, 34:14 and now God gives them an opportunity 34:17 to show to this hostel environment 34:20 the kind of God that they serve. 34:22 Yes, and he does saw in a vision. Yes. 34:24 So clearly Daniel is a prophet 34:25 and he has had visions throughout this book 34:29 that are relating different times 34:31 and different kingdoms. 34:34 So let's look at verse 26 here 34:36 because Daniel comes before the king 34:38 and the king says to Daniel 34:40 whose name was Belteshazzar, 34:42 "Are thou able to make known unto me the dream 34:45 which I have seen," and it's interpretation, 34:49 Daniel answered in the presence 34:50 of the king and said, 34:51 "the secret which the king has demanded- the wise men, 34:55 the astrologers, the magicians, 34:57 the soothsayers, cannot declare to the king. 35:00 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, 35:04 and He has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar 35:07 what will be in the latter days. 35:09 Your dream and the visions of your head 35:12 will upon your bed, are these. 35:16 And then we get into what this dream 35:19 that king Nebuchadnezzar had 35:21 which was very much a dream that God had given him. 35:25 I mean the statement is clear 35:26 that God gave Nebuchadnezzar, 35:28 He revealed to Nebuchadnezzar 35:29 what will be in the latter days. 35:32 So here we have then as we began to look at this, 35:36 just to provide another quick snap shot, 35:39 we have God giving Nebuchadnezzar 35:41 the king a dream of what will happen 35:44 in the latter days. 35:46 But notice as the dream becomes known to Daniel 35:50 and he relates them to the king, 35:52 notice where he begins this latter day prophecy. 35:56 It's says in verse 29, 35:59 "As for you O king, 36:01 thoughts came to your mind while on your bed 36:03 about what would come to pass after this 36:06 and he who reveals secrets has meant to known to you 36:08 what that will be 36:10 but as for me this secret has not been revealed to me 36:13 because I have more wisdom than any one living, 36:16 but for our sakes who made known 36:19 the interpretation of the king, 36:20 and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 36:24 You, O king, will watching and behold a great image. 36:29 This great image, whose splendor was excellent, 36:32 stood before you; and its form was awesome. 36:35 This image's head was of fine gold, 36:38 its chest and arms of silver, 36:39 its belly and thighs of bronze, 36:42 its legs of iron, 36:43 and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 36:47 You watch while a stone was cut out without hands, 36:50 which stroke the image on its feet of iron and clay, 36:54 and broke them in pieces. 36:56 Then the iron and the clay, the bronze, the silver, 36:58 the gold were crust together, 37:00 and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. 37:03 The wind carried them away, 37:05 so that no trace of them was found: 37:07 and the stone was struck 37:08 the image became a great mountain, 37:10 and filled the earth. 37:12 This is the dream; now we will tell 37:15 the interpretation of it before the king. 37:18 You want to pick this up maybe here in Verse 36, 37:21 and we will just read through 37:22 the first part, the first few verses. 37:27 At Verse 37, "You, O king, are a king of kings: 37:31 for the God of heaven has given your kingdom, 37:33 power, and strength, and glory. 37:36 And wherever the children of men dwell, 37:38 or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, 37:43 he has given them into your hand, 37:46 and has made you ruler over them all. 37:49 You are this head of gold. So identifies Him. 37:53 You are the start. We start with you. 37:55 You are the head of gold. 37:56 And notice, this is a super power. 37:58 He put all these things 38:00 into the hand of king Nebuchadnezzar. 38:02 Very true, yeah. 38:03 So one of the things we are talking about here 38:04 is not just it starts with Babylon 38:06 that this vision in its succession 38:08 as it continues to go through other kingdoms, 38:11 it's referring to superpowers, world kingdoms, 38:14 kingdoms that influence the world 38:15 that impacted the world and all its people. 38:21 Then go ahead, just maybe a couple more 38:22 and we will see the progression here, verse 39. 38:25 "But after you shall arise another kingdom 38:28 inferior to yours, then another, 38:31 a third kingdom of bronze, 38:34 which shall rule over all the earth. 38:36 So we are still talking about universal rule 38:38 not quite as glorious or strong or magnificent 38:43 or opulent as Babylon but still being world power. 38:48 Yes, yeah. 38:50 And the fourth kingdom shall be a strong 38:53 as iron in his as much as iron breaks in pieces 38:55 and subdueth everything and like iron that crosses 39:00 that kingdom will break in pieces 39:03 and crust all the others. 39:05 Okay, and then he gets into the iron 39:08 and clay mixed together in the feet, 39:10 which clearly implies the residue 39:12 of the legs of iron, that kingdom residue there, 39:15 but yet it's divided because iron does not mix with clay 39:19 and then of course 39:20 we get down to the stone that was cut out 39:24 of the mountain without hands, verse 45, 39:27 that when it broke or struck 39:28 the feet of iron mix with clay 39:32 that it broke not only that 39:33 but it broke all the entire image, 39:36 all its metals represented there and in fact, 39:41 we read earlier here 39:42 that no trace of them was found, verse 35. 39:45 And of course that kingdom is the kingdom of God 39:49 that strikes the image. Yeah. 39:51 So you find here in this vision, 39:52 pastor that start point is with Babylon, 39:58 the time at the present, the king of Babylon, 40:00 king Nebuchadnezzar which is why 40:02 God gave him that dream. Yes. 40:05 But then there was a progression. 40:06 There was another kingdom after him 40:07 and another kingdom after that 40:08 and the fourth kingdom. 40:09 But then as we get to the fourth kingdom, 40:11 there was no fifth kingdom per se except that 40:14 there is a divided fourth kingdom 40:16 that looks a lot different. 40:19 This Chapter 2 of this image, 40:21 this dream that we're seeing here, is also replayed out. 40:27 Its various pluses replayed out 40:28 through the rest of Daniel through other imagery, 40:31 through other symbols. 40:32 We find beast coming up in Chapter 7, 40:36 with the same kind of things. 40:37 A beast is a king or kingdom is to find 40:40 as a king of kingdom, 40:41 so referring to the same kind of thing, 40:44 we find also in Chapter 8, 40:46 a couple other kinds of beast 40:48 but specific kinds of beast. 40:50 There's a ram and there's a goat there, 40:52 and things that happened there. 40:53 But Daniel is full of visions 40:56 and dreams giving to people to repeat 40:59 what will happen overtime in prophecy, 41:02 but in larger provide for the detail 41:05 about those things. 41:06 So this is repeating and enlarging throughout 41:09 from this dream on down through the visions 41:11 given to Daniel through the rest of the Chapter 41:13 or through the rest of the book, 41:15 that are then picked up in Revelation 41:18 as the other bookend 41:20 and especially we find I say, picked up, 41:22 we find that in Revelation 13, 41:25 a repeating of the same beast powers of Daniel 7, 41:29 but in reverse order. In Reverse Order! 41:30 So even Daniel is looking 41:32 forward and down at the end of time 41:34 and Revelation looks back 41:36 opposite direction through Daniel, 41:39 telling us these are bookends, 41:41 both referring to or bring us 41:44 down to the events in the latter days. 41:46 And looking this through historical lenses 41:49 makes it so clear we are talking about, 41:50 it's a session of world kingdoms, 41:53 each differing from the one above in wealth and glory 41:57 and power and stamina and affect on the word 42:01 but a succession of wording powers 42:03 and Daniel 2 sets it forth so nicely 42:06 and so you don't really have to be deep theologian, 42:11 Daniel 2 lays that out for you. 42:13 It doesn't give you a lot of detail just yet 42:16 because you are not ready for a lot of detail 42:17 or not intricate stuff, it just gives you the idea 42:20 that they are going to be 42:21 a succession of world kingdoms 42:24 that are strong but different in nature 42:27 then you gonna have a divided 42:29 set of entities some strong, some weak 42:33 and in that time God is going to 42:34 call into this thing 42:36 and this image is going to be gone 42:38 and this world will give away to a new, 42:41 dare I say, World Order, 42:42 a new Universal Order really, 42:44 when Christ comes and puts an end to this age 42:48 that we now find ourselves.. 42:49 So it's a nice little package, 42:51 not a lot of relief, not a lot of detail 42:53 but you do get a very broad picture of what's going on 42:56 and that's what God want Nebuchadnezzar to see 42:59 at that moment and that time. 43:00 and through the rest of prophecy, 43:02 it seems like the Lord depicts these kingdom. 43:05 I mean, He doesn't seem, 43:06 He does depicts these kingdoms 43:07 in the form of beast 43:08 rather then this image. Yeah. 43:10 Now the image plays its part in that. 43:12 We find shortly after that in Chapter 3 43:16 that king Nebuchadnezzar is not happy with the image 43:19 just having a head of gold. 43:20 He says, you know, if gold is referring to Babylon, 43:23 the whole image needs to be gold 43:25 and so it's really defiance of what's God plan was. 43:28 Very much so, yes. 43:29 And we don't have time to go into all of that 43:31 but just kind of sophist to say for now at least that 43:35 we are seeing a model 43:36 of Historicism here in prophecy. 43:39 It's got a starting point in history 43:41 and it's a timeline, an unbroken timeline 43:46 down to the very end referred 43:47 to as the latter days that events occur 43:51 and as Daniel repeats and enlarger 43:54 through other imagery throughout Daniel, 43:56 we need to find out where on that timeline 43:59 that they plugged in. Yes, yes, yes. 44:01 And we do that it seems like in recent Daniel 7 and 8, 44:05 through different imagery like beast and other things 44:09 and it's interesting to know that always 44:11 the four kingdoms are represented there. 44:13 Even when you get to beast there are four beasts, 44:15 just like there are four metals. Yes, yes. 44:18 And the, when you get to those kingdom 44:23 we know, of course, the first one is Babylon 44:26 that's already been told, 44:28 but Daniel actually has revealed to him 44:30 the next two kingdom. Yes. 44:32 Now talking about them is being beast. 44:35 Yes, it does shift to that instead 44:37 of the imagery of the image itself. 44:40 But the next two metals which are silver and bronze 44:45 are the second and third kingdoms 44:47 of Daniel Chapter 7 and 8, 44:50 and it says in Daniel 8 verse 20 and 21 44:55 that the ram that's the first beast 44:58 identify in Daniel 8 represents 45:00 the kings of Media and Persia. 45:03 And we know for a fact that the Medes and Persians, 45:06 some refer to it as Medo-Persia, 45:08 are the ones that conquered Babylon. 45:11 So it make sense that the next kingdom 45:13 would be Medo-Persia. 45:14 What we ask in history 45:16 what was the kingdom that conquered Medo-Persia? 45:18 Well, the Greeks did that 45:19 and they did that very swiftly 45:21 and we find in 8 verse 21, 45:24 and the male goat is the kingdom of Greece: 45:27 So there is even not just a historical reference 45:30 we can go to find out 45:31 the progression of this time prophecy, 45:34 the Bible itself even tells us 45:35 what those next two kingdoms are. 45:37 And of course this is played out in history. 45:40 So we are getting, the nice thing 45:43 about Daniel is, every time you come back to this 45:45 you get a little more coloring in the lines. 45:48 You get this broad picture in Daniel 2. 45:50 You know there are succession of word kingdoms, 45:53 but you don't get a lot of relief, 45:56 a lot of detail I should say. 45:58 But when you go now to Daniel 8, Daniel 9, 46:00 you get a little more detail, 46:01 you get a little more coloring in. 46:03 And of course this has been backed by history 46:05 and so you see that the Bible is a book, 46:08 dare I say, of history. 46:10 There is a history timeline that's very plain, 46:14 very little, very evident to be seen 46:19 as you go back to these kingdoms again 46:22 and again and again, 46:23 to get a little more detail on each one. 46:25 And I think to a great degree today, 46:27 if we forget our history then what is the text 46:31 that we don't understand how God has laid us, really. 46:35 And so it's a same way with prophecy 46:37 if you don't understand the history 46:38 and how it ties into the prophetic timeline 46:41 then you can almost forget in prophecy where you are. 46:45 And that to a great degree has fed 46:47 or fueled Futurism. Yes, yes, yes. 46:50 And I want to, as it's gonna tell you 46:52 where the Futurism model, kind of began here. 46:55 And for that let's turn Daniel Chapter 9. 46:58 There is couple of time prophecies within Daniel, 47:01 the first one is Daniel 8:14 through 23, 47:03 the days I referred to earlier 47:04 which is actually years, 47:06 because a day equals a year in prophecy. 47:09 But then there is the 490 which is the 70 weeks, 47:13 seven time seventy is 490 days, 47:16 day equals year, 490 year prophecy 47:20 which is a part of the 2300 years, 47:23 the beginning part of that 2300 years. 47:26 And I know that, we are not getting 47:27 into a lot of detail on this 47:29 and that's not really our goal here today, 47:31 but I do want to show you something 47:33 that is often abused, 47:35 that is a essential to Futurism. 47:38 That if you understand what happened, 47:42 you will know immediately you must toss out Futurism 47:46 entirely and stick with Historicism. 47:48 So Daniel Chapter 9 gives a sequence 47:53 of what happens during these 70 weeks, these 490 years. 47:59 And when we get to the end of the 490 years 48:02 there is a one week left. 48:05 The last week of those 70 weeks 48:08 is covered in verses, let's see here, 48:13 in verse 27 for the most part. 48:16 Yes. Okay. 48:18 So it says here, in fact, let's start with 26 48:23 'cause it's covered in 26 as well. 48:25 You will see in 25 it talks should be 7 weeks 48:28 and 62 weeks which added to 69 covered down through 25. 48:33 But then 26 and 27 leaves the last week 48:36 and here is what he says about it. 48:38 And after 62 weeks that brings us to the 69 48:41 'cause you got 7 and 62. 48:43 "Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself: 48:47 and the people of the prince who has to come 48:49 shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; 48:51 the end of it shall be with a flood, 48:53 until the end of the war desolations are determined." 48:57 Talking about that last week is refers to as the week 49:02 where the Messiah shall come in the middle of that week, 49:04 he shall be cut off. 49:07 So this the 490 years, the 70 weeks, 49:11 that very last week is referred 49:14 to as the manifestation of the Messiah. 49:18 And what His ministry is all about. 49:20 And here is the thing with that. 49:23 For years, for centuries, 49:26 this prophecy of 70 weeks 49:28 was referred to as the Messianic Prophecy, 49:32 the Messianic Time Prophecy. 49:33 It was prophecy revealing when the Messiah would come, 49:38 and the Messiah comes in the, 49:40 he manifest himself. 49:42 He is anointed for ministry 49:43 at the beginning of that 70th week. 49:46 Now as you go on here, it talks about 49:49 that he referring back to the Messiah 49:51 shall confirm covenant with many for one week, 49:54 that's the last week but in the middle of the week 49:56 he shall bring and to sacrifice 49:58 and offering which Christ did, 50:01 through the cross, and on the wing 50:03 of abomination shall be one who makes desolate 50:06 even until the consummation 50:08 which is determined is poured out on the desolate. 50:11 So this last week 50:12 which is referring to the time of Christ, 50:15 he is anointing for ministry, 50:17 his last 7 years of ministry that were cut short 50:19 by his crucifixion in the middle of the week, 50:22 and He confirmed that Covenant 50:24 with the rest of all through His the apostles 50:27 that He anointed for Ministry 50:28 is to preach the Gospel, referring that week 50:32 what happens in Futurism is, they take that 70th week, 50:36 that one week, they remove it from the timeline, 50:39 pick it up and put it at the very end of time 50:43 to refer to a time after Revelation Chapter 4, 50:47 which is still today in the future they say 50:51 and they say refers to not Christ but the Antichrist. 50:55 Right, and there was not justification 50:57 for lifting that week out of context 51:00 and taking it all the way down to the end of time. 51:04 The description here says until Messiah. 51:07 So it's not a Cataloguing 51:12 or Identification of the birth of Christ, 51:14 it's at the point that began His ministry. 51:16 That's when he became Messiah, 51:17 that's when he became the one who began 51:20 to be our example and to do the work for us. 51:22 So it's a designation of the time 51:25 when Jesus Ministry would begin, 51:27 to lift that and take it to the end, 51:29 there is simply no Biblical justification 51:31 for removing that week from its fellows. 51:34 It's a package. 51:35 You got 70 weeks. 51:36 You got 69 and 1. 51:38 The reason that one is designated 51:40 is because something specific and spectacular 51:43 and wonderful it's going to happen, 51:44 but its part of that whole package, not separated 51:48 and taken down to the evidence. 51:49 And this is the essential role of Historicism. 51:51 You cannot break out 51:53 a part of prophetic timeline, 51:55 and put it somewhere else. 51:57 Historicism says it's an unbroken time prophecy 52:00 that has a beginning that has an end 52:02 and you can't muddy or you can't remove 52:05 any of its part along that timeline. 52:07 And if you pull it out of context you actually erase 52:10 the identification of Jesus as Messiah. 52:13 That's the biggest part. 52:14 I mean the most sinister aspect of Futurism is 52:19 that you are making Christ, the Antichrist. 52:21 Precisely, yeah, yeah. 52:23 The greatest work ever done on behalf of humanity 52:26 gets no identification if you pull that week out 52:30 because it's that week that set aside, 52:32 identifies, highlights, glorifies, 52:35 dare I say the work of Christ, 52:37 and if you pull that out of there 52:38 you make Christ now Antichrist. 52:40 There you go. Yeah. 52:41 You know, and one of the other pieces of that is 52:43 that it supported by the Rapture Theory. 52:47 Because the rapture is said to occur 52:49 at the beginning of that week 52:51 which leaves 7 years for those not raptured, 52:54 the church not raptured to experience the Antichrist, 52:57 the last battle between truth and error, 53:00 for then people to decide whether 53:01 or not they are saved with Christ or not. 53:03 Now this is all False Theology. 53:05 I am sharing this with you 53:06 as an essential piece of Futurism to show you 53:08 what's not right about it. Yeah. 53:10 And what it essentially has done is, 53:12 it's removed Historicism point to what Jesus did 53:16 and it puts in place of the Antichrist 53:18 at the end of time 53:20 and also destroys the historical timeline 53:22 of the time prophecy that takes us 53:24 down to the end of time. 53:25 There is no then reference point for knowing 53:29 or kind of we have done there, 53:32 there is no reference point for knowing 53:33 when the last days start. 53:36 Because you remove the ending point 53:38 for the 2300 days 53:39 that points to the beginning of the Latter Day prophecy, 53:44 which then you are all over the map again. Yeah. 53:48 You really have no anchor. 53:50 There is no way to know where you are 53:52 or what you doing or even where you going 53:54 because your starting point just disappears. 53:57 You taken the blunt and eraser 53:59 and you just take it out. 54:00 So now where am I? You just don't, you don't know. 54:03 Yeah, and this is where this text. 54:04 Let me just share a text with you 54:06 that comes into play here. 54:07 From Second Peter Chapter 1 verses 19 to 21. 54:12 And so we have the prophetic word 54:14 confirmed, which you do well 54:17 to heed as a light that shines in a dark place 54:19 until the day dawns and the morning star 54:21 rises in your hearts knowing this 54:23 first that no prophecy of the scripture 54:26 is of any private interpretation, 54:29 for prophecy never came by the will of man, 54:31 but holy men of God spoke 54:33 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 54:36 In other words, what we see today at least 54:39 if it's in the model outside of Historicism, 54:41 are nothing but private interpretations. 54:44 It is looking at the paper to see whether or not 54:47 maybe a certain event that happened 54:49 might fit within a certain prophecy, 54:51 and it's grasping for straws. 54:55 It's trying to make something fit 54:58 without any context of time 55:00 or element of time in knowing 55:01 where you are in that time of prophecy 55:03 which is why today so many, 55:05 back to where we started pastor, yes, 55:07 so many false prophets out there 55:08 are giving a prophecy, yet it falls flat. 55:11 It doesn't come to proving. 55:13 It doesn't happen because they obdurate the structure 55:16 of scripture and obdurate the rules, 55:19 biblical rules for interpreting prophecy. 55:22 The only way this makes sense 55:23 is to really follow the rules 55:26 and since prophecy is and can be treacherous water, 55:31 when you go in there 55:32 you need to follow the rules of swimming 55:34 because you can get turn around really. 55:37 You know, when I was back in Long Island in New York, 55:40 they had these undercurrent red tides, 55:42 you know, you couldn't see them but they were there. 55:44 And if you didn't watch out it 55:47 would pull you under and you couldn't be rescued. 55:50 It is the same with prophecy. 55:51 Prophecy can be understood, but it can be a mind feel 55:55 unless you follow those rules 55:56 laid down in the Word for understanding prophecy. 55:59 Amen. Yeah. 56:01 You know we've talked about a lot 56:03 in the last couple of days, 56:05 in the last couple of program on this, 56:07 and I just want to encourage all of you 56:09 out there who is studying this, 56:10 and maybe you have an interest in prophecy 56:13 to really stick with the Bible 56:14 and the Bible alone. 56:16 One of the things it comes to mind, 56:17 I've heard for in different aspects, 56:20 you know, oh I know what the mark of the beast is. 56:22 You know, well I know that number 666 is, 56:25 and it's always something like 56:26 it's some super computer or some, 56:29 you know, the number that's on a credit card 56:31 or some, you know, mark or microchip in your hand 56:34 or on your forehead or something like that. 56:37 There is always this grasping 56:38 what they think it might be. 56:40 But, you know, I want to encourage you friends, 56:43 stick to the word because beast is defined, 56:47 mark is defined, 56:49 seal is defined, all these elements. 56:52 The symbols within prophecies are defined 56:55 and if you define them 56:56 within the context of Historicism, 56:59 the prophetic timeline that has a beginning 57:01 and that has an end, 57:02 then you will know the elements of time 57:04 and you will see these things, 57:05 these powers, these things, 57:06 these events come into play and nowhere they fit 57:10 and nowhere we are today in history, 57:13 which is at the cusp of Jesus return, amen, 57:17 which we believe is just around the corner. 57:20 Friends get ready for that time as Jesus said, 57:23 He tells you these things 57:24 beforehand that you may know, 57:25 study the word of God, study prophecy because 57:28 I think in that He has an incredible 57:30 blessing for you and for your life. 57:32 God bless you. Have a great day. |
Revised 2014-12-17