Revelation Insights!

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: RIN

Program Code: RIN231008S


01:00 Welcome to each of you.
01:02 We're going to travel together now and
01:04 I need to give you a little bit of forewarning.
01:07 This journey that we're going to take is not pleasant.
01:12 This will be the first, last, and only time that we'll have
01:15 such a travel log.
01:17 But it's directly related to the subject matter
01:20 we need to share a few moments later.
01:23 So if you will please, relax and fasten your seatbelts
01:26 and we shall go to Dachau.
01:29 We leave from the city of Munich Germany and take the side rail
01:32 only just 11 miles.
01:34 And we arrive at the village of Dachau.
01:37 It was one of the extermination camps of the Third Reich.
01:40 It was one of the torture chambers,
01:43 one of the gas chambers.
01:45 And continues to be a very tragic reminder.
01:51 We got off the train and went across from the depot to
01:55 buy some fruit for breakfast.
01:58 And we asked the lady at the fruit stand, "How, from here,
02:02 may we find the prison camp of Dachau?"
02:05 And she said, "Nicht verstehen. I don't understand no English. "
02:08 But she'd understood perfectly when we asked her,
02:10 "How much are the bananas?"
02:13 But at any event, we explained, "We're not here to try to
02:17 be judgmental or to be unkind.
02:20 But we're here only in the hope that this kind of thing will
02:24 never happen again. "
02:26 And I told her my name.
02:28 And she said, "Well, you're surely not Italian. "
02:31 "Alright," she said, "welcome you German. "
02:33 And she said, "Take bus number 7 to the last stop. "
02:36 And that we did.
02:37 And in just a few moments, we were at the
02:39 prison camp of Dachau.
02:41 As soon as we got off the bus, we could see that it was
02:44 a place of maximum security.
02:46 There was an outer wall of concrete.
02:48 There was an inner wall of concertina wire.
02:51 And inside of that still, there was a mote
02:54 filled with razor wire.
02:56 And every 100 yards, there was a machine gun tower
03:00 with a guard waiting for someone to come near the wall
03:03 so he could use that as an excuse to gun them down.
03:06 There's a sign board from which we're
03:07 going to get our directions.
03:09 And then we're going to move out into the camp proper.
03:12 I want to begin now by telling you that you're going to be
03:15 seeing three different kinds of pictures.
03:17 You're going to see colored pictures like these that
03:19 we shot with our cameras of the camp as it is today.
03:23 And then you're going to be seeing some
03:25 black and white pictures.
03:27 Those are pictures of pictures that hang in the museum wall.
03:31 Pictures that were taken during the time the camp was used
03:34 as an extermination camp.
03:37 And then the third type of picture will be colored,
03:42 but you'll immediately see the coloration is different.
03:45 Those colors were furnished me by our war department
03:48 when I returned from this journey and wrote them
03:51 and asked them if they would share with me some pictures.
03:54 And that they did.
03:56 This whole camp was built by forced labor.
04:00 The majority were Jewish, of course.
04:03 But there were quite a few Christians who suffered
04:07 for their faith during this time.
04:08 Corrie Ten Boom, you may remember, and her sister and
04:11 several other Christians were incarcerated.
04:15 And many of her family members died in one of these camps.
04:18 But at any event, the prisoners were required to dig up the soil
04:23 and move it here and there in wheel barrels
04:25 and in bushel baskets.
04:26 And then they were put to work rolling down the soil
04:31 and compacting it.
04:32 They were harnessed to great iron rollers
04:34 that were filled with water.
04:36 And they worked like draft animals.
04:38 And when the earth was smooth and solidified,
04:41 then they were put to work digging the trenches.
04:43 And by hand, mixing concrete for the footings and foundations.
04:47 And then building the buildings.
04:49 Those concrete foundations are all that remain
04:53 of the old barracks at the time that this was in use.
04:56 In the foreground, you'll see there a building.
05:00 That is, today, the museum.
05:02 And that's where we shot a lot of pictures.
05:04 That was the command center at the time this place was in use.
05:08 Now this obviously, is one of the pictures furnished
05:10 by the war department.
05:11 This is life as it was when it was used
05:13 as an extermination camp.
05:15 And you see lots of Jews here, prisoners, in the foreground.
05:20 They've not been here too terribly long.
05:21 We know that because they're wearing their street clothing
05:24 and they still have some flesh on their bones.
05:27 And then in the background, you see the barracks.
05:31 There are some windows, but very few of the windows
05:33 have glass in them.
05:34 And they lived in conditions we wouldn't keep animals in;
05:38 spring, summer, winter, fall, and always.
05:42 Every morning, there was roll call.
05:45 Not to see if any had escaped, but rather to see who
05:48 had survived the night.
05:49 And after you had been here a few months, that really
05:51 was the miracle.
05:53 And all across Europe, the propaganda machinery of
05:55 the Third Reich was stirring up hatred against people of color.
05:59 "If you know of someone with dark skin and dark eyes
06:02 and dark hair, please tell us where they are, who they are
06:05 so we may relocate them. "
06:07 And a similar thing was happening down in Italy
06:10 under Mussolini.
06:11 Now this black and white picture is a picture of
06:15 an original that was made in 1820.
06:18 It's a picture of burning books.
06:20 In the very center of that picture, you find a bonfire.
06:24 And they're burning Jewish books.
06:26 And in 1820, poet Heinrich Heine was more prophet than poet
06:31 when he said of this, "This was but a prelude
06:34 where books are burnt, humans will be burnt in the end. "
06:38 And 120 plus years later, that's exactly what was happening.
06:43 Across Europe, the officers of the Third Reich
06:49 of the German Army were gathering up men,
06:53 younger men, the more able bodied,
06:56 those who were able to work, and telling them,
06:58 "We're going to relocate you, we're going to take you
07:00 to a place where there are better jobs and
07:02 better living conditions.
07:03 And soon we'll send the wife and the kids. "
07:06 And with that promise in mind, they were marched off
07:09 to the railheads.
07:10 And there at gun point, they were forced into cattle cars,
07:14 standing up, no provision made for their physical needs,
07:19 no restroom facility.
07:21 They were packed in, standing up, and then when not room
07:26 for one more was available, they shut the door
07:28 and it was locked.
07:29 And they traveled that way from 4 to 10 days.
07:33 When one who had to relieve himself or herself,
07:36 they were passed head over head to a corner.
07:42 And that was the best that they were able to do.
07:45 After the young men were gone, then the old and the infirmed
07:49 and the women and children, at gun point, were rounded up.
07:52 And it was a part of the plan of Hitler to divide and conquer.
07:55 To send dad to Auschwitz and mom to Birkenvau,
07:58 and maybe the kids to Dachau.
08:02 You can imagine those horrors.
08:04 Here's a man in the camp who sat down for lunch.
08:07 He's put down his pick and he has in his hand, a bowl.
08:11 And in that bowl, there's a little warm water in which some
08:13 rice has been boiled.
08:14 If he's very lucky, there may still be
08:16 a kernel of rice or two.
08:19 This man has been here for a while as you,
08:22 obviously, are able to see.
08:24 So also, his friends in the background.
08:32 All kinds of experimentation was done.
08:36 If you wanted to know how long a German Air Force pilot,
08:40 or luftwaffenpilot, could survive if he was shot down
08:44 over the waters of the North Sea, you just take a Jew
08:48 and put him in the uniform of the pilot,
08:50 put him in a tank of ice water, and see how long he survives.
08:55 And watch what he goes through before he dies.
08:59 If you want to know how nerve gas works,
09:01 you just take a Jew and put him in the tank and open the gas.
09:04 And again, watch the various stages of horror
09:08 until finally, the release of death comes.
09:12 If you want to know how the human brain works...
09:17 Unbelievable.
09:21 This is the interrogation room.
09:23 If it was felt that some prisoner was withholding
09:26 information about a brother or an uncle or someone else,
09:29 he was brought here and interrogated.
09:32 And if he was not forthcoming, then that bid mallet
09:35 was used on his hands, knuckles, and his knees and elbows.
09:39 And if still he wouldn't tell, then he was hanged to death
09:44 with his arms tied behind him and his body suspended
09:47 from those tied arms.
09:50 Here we see out in the woods, some men who were hanged
09:52 to death in exactly that way.
09:54 A medical doctor down in Georgia described to me that when
09:57 one is hung in that way, he dies of drowning.
10:01 For you cannot exhale deeply enough to get the
10:03 fluid from your lungs.
10:05 And you drown in your own body fluids.
10:09 When a train load of prisoners would come in,
10:11 their decent street clothing was taken from them
10:14 to give to the German people.
10:15 And the filthy old rags from those who'd already been
10:18 through the system were given to them.
10:21 This then, was the shower room.
10:23 After they were here for months, or weeks perhaps only,
10:27 They were told, "We're going to give you a nice shower.
10:30 We're going to give you then a clean change of clothing.
10:34 They were stripped naked, men, women, and children,
10:37 and all marched together inside and told,
10:40 "Stand right beneath the shower heads. "
10:44 And when the place was packed, then the door was closed
10:48 and bolted shut and sealed.
10:50 The valves opened and poison gas came.
10:54 And they died en masse.
10:56 Next door was the power house for the prison camp.
11:02 It is also known as the crematorium today.
11:06 For inside were gas fired furnaces.
11:11 And they accommodated those furnaces
11:17 with steel stretchers that could be slide back.
11:20 And two or three emaciated bodies strapped to them
11:23 and then shoved back into the flame.
11:25 And in just a few moments, there were few charred
11:29 remains left only.
11:35 The allies were getting nearer and nearer and nearer by 1945.
11:39 And it was quite obvious that they were not going to be able
11:43 to hide all of the evidence by burning the bodies
11:47 in the furnaces.
11:48 And so they began, with great earth movers and bulldozers,
11:52 to dig mass graves.
11:54 Perhaps you've seen the news reels of those starved,
11:58 emaciated bodies thrown over, like so much cordwood,
12:02 into the graves and then buried under.
12:06 I have talked to service men, two at least,
12:11 who helped to liberate this camp.
12:12 They, by the way, were paratroopers.
12:14 And they dropped in.
12:16 And these are among the things they found.
12:19 And they both told me that they were unable to
12:23 eat for weeks and weeks.
12:25 And unable, still, to sleep without disturbed sleep,
12:31 without nightmares and flashbacks, as you can imagine.
12:39 You know, ladies and gentlemen,
12:40 if this kind of thing had happened
12:44 in some remote corner of the world,
12:46 if this atrocity had happened in some dark jungle
12:52 or some remote mountaintop of ignorance,
12:57 we could have, perhaps, better understood it.
13:00 But it did not happen in the midst of paganism
13:04 or in some Godless Christless society.
13:07 Rather, this happened in Luther land.
13:11 This happened at the birthplace of the reformation.
13:16 Still today, ladies and gentlemen,
13:18 people are dying for their faith.
13:21 It was said that in the last 5 years, more Christians
13:26 have died for their faith than died during the first 100 years
13:31 of Christianity under the persecutions of Nero,
13:35 Hadrian, and Diocletian.
13:37 So this kind of thing is still going on.
13:40 How long?
13:42 Every human heartache casts a shadow upon the heart of God.
13:46 If God is all powerful, as we believe He is,
13:50 why does He do this?
13:51 And if He doesn't do it, why then, does He step back
13:54 and allow it?
13:55 If he is omniscient, that means "all knowing,"
13:58 why didn't He make a plan to prevent all of it?
14:02 God is to blame.
14:04 Tonight, during the lecture, I stand as God's attorney.
14:10 I stand tonight, in defense of the character of God.
14:14 I want to thank you for traveling with me.
14:18 Just this morning, I was asked this question.
14:21 "Lyle, do you believe that God is punishing America
14:25 for her sins, for her disregard of God's law,
14:29 for her immorality, adultery, incest, and all of the rest?
14:35 Do you believe that the collapse of the towers on 9/11
14:39 were the result of God's punishing the children of earth?
14:44 Do you believe that the tsunami's out in the far east
14:47 were part of God's retribution upon a sinful mankind?
14:51 And what about Katrina, and what about this morning's news
14:54 of the terrible tornadoes that have gone through Atlanta?"
14:57 It seems hardly a day goes by except there is some horror,
15:01 either man made; murder, mayhem, rape, riot,
15:05 or some natural disaster, that the insurance companies
15:10 often like to refer to as the "act of God. "
15:13 It seems somehow God, continuously, is blamed
15:16 for that which He did not do, and really had little,
15:19 if anything at all, to do with.
15:20 I want you now, to open your Bibles to our first scripture.
15:23 It's Revelation chapter 12, beginning at verse 7.
15:27 Revelation chapter 12, beginning with verse 7.
15:30 And I hope that you "A" students have something to write upon
15:32 because we're going to be covering a lot of scriptures
15:34 without time to read every single verse.
15:37 Revelation 12:7, and following.
15:39 "There was war in heaven and Michael and his angels fought
15:42 against the dragon; and the dragon fought with his angels.
15:45 And the dragon prevailed not, neither was his place found
15:48 any more in heaven.
15:49 And the great dragon was kicked out, the old serpent called
15:52 the Devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world.
15:54 He was cast out into this earth and so also were his angels
15:59 kicked out with him. "
16:02 My subject for this evening, "God and Human Suffering. "
16:08 Within hours after our son Terry died, Peggy and I were asked,
16:15 "Do you blame God?
16:17 Do you feel that God is responsible?
16:19 Are you angry somehow with God?"
16:22 And I know that folks who deal with grief counseling,
16:26 and all of this kind of thing, are well intended.
16:28 And I don't throw stones at psychologists or psychiatrists.
16:34 But I do sometimes feel like the Australian, you know,
16:38 who asked, "What is a psychiatrist?"
16:41 They said, "Well that's someone that you pay to talk to. "
16:43 And he said, "What's the matter, ain't you got no mates?"
16:49 Did I blame God when my boy died?
16:50 No, no.
16:53 Did I see God allowing evil?
16:56 Not really. No.
16:58 Did I see terror?
17:00 No.
17:01 I'll tell you what was manifested to both Peggy and me.
17:04 I saw in my neighbors, and in my friends, and in my relatives,
17:10 the love of God.
17:11 That's what most impressed me.
17:14 Not evil, but so very, very much good.
17:18 And I've been asked, "How can God be so bad?"
17:20 And my question is, "How can God, to we who turn our backs
17:25 on Him so often, be so very, very good?"
17:29 I want to read something to you because it was very helpful
17:32 to me when we had our loss, and continues to be.
17:35 You listen now.
17:36 This is a quotation from an article entitled,
17:39 "America: Superpower Prophecy. "
17:41 Listen now.
17:42 "The cross of Calvary, while it declares the law
17:45 to be immutable, proclaims to the universe that the
17:48 wages of sin is death.
17:51 In the Savior's expiring cry, 'It is finished,'
17:55 the death knell of Satan was rung.
17:57 The great controversy which has so long been in progress
18:00 was then decided, and the final eradication of evil
18:04 was made certain.
18:05 The Son of God passed through the portals of the tomb,
18:09 that 'through death He might destroy him that has the power
18:15 now over death; and that is the devil. '"
18:18 And that last quotation, of course, is from Hebrews 2:14.
18:23 It is the devil who now has the power over death,
18:26 and those kinds of things.
18:27 And so we don't blame God when we see tragedy
18:31 and when we know heartache.
18:33 A lady ministered to me, really unknowingly, when
18:37 our boy died.
18:38 I've mentioned it before but might again momentarily,
18:41 that when this happened, Peggy and I had just opened meetings
18:45 over just south of Olympia, Washington ten miles.
18:54 I missed two nights of meetings because of the death of our son.
18:58 But I hurried back.
19:01 And on my first night back, a lady gave to me a CD
19:06 of the hymns of Elvis Presley.
19:09 Many or most of them, I think I had heard before.
19:12 But there was one, that while I'd heard it from others prior,
19:16 I'd never heard it from Elvis.
19:19 I knew that it had been written and sung and
19:21 recorded by Larry Gatlin.
19:22 But I didn't know Elvis had immortalized it.
19:25 It's entitled, "Help Me. "
19:27 And I want to read to you just a few of the words.
19:33 "Lord, help me walk another mile, just one more mile.
19:43 I'm tired of walking all alone.
19:46 Lord, help me smile another smile, just one more smile.
19:50 You know, I just can't make it on my own.
19:54 I never thought I needed help before.
19:57 I thought that I could get by, by myself.
19:59 But now I know, I just can't take it anymore.
20:03 With a humble heart on bended knee,
20:06 I'm begging you, Lord help me.
20:11 Come down from your throne to me Lord, just to me.
20:15 I need to feel the touch of your scarred hands.
20:17 Remove the chains of darkness and let me see, Lord.
20:21 Let me see just where I fit into your master plan.
20:26 I never thought I needed help before.
20:29 I thought that I could get by, by myself.
20:32 But now I know, I just can't take it anymore.
20:35 So with a humble heart on bended knees,
20:40 I'm begging you please, help me. "
20:48 I thought about our suffering, and then I compared it
20:51 with that of others.
20:53 And I want to share with you now
20:57 a story of a few days in a preachers life.
21:01 You think as to whether or not it related to us
21:05 or to your own problems.
21:06 Listen now.
21:09 Over along our coast, a pastor was called quickly
21:12 to the hospital because there was a woman there who's
21:15 husband had suffered a terrible heart attack.
21:20 He went there to pray with her and went to visit the husband.
21:23 And it seemed that he was getting better when they found
21:26 in his neck, a cancerous tumor.
21:30 His wife stayed by his bedside day after day after day.
21:33 But after more than a week, she collapsed with a
21:36 perforated and bleeding ulcer.
21:39 And then she got pneumonia.
21:40 And while she was suffering from pneumonia in this same hospital,
21:44 her husband died.
21:45 In another hospital nearby, was her daughter suffering
21:49 with a kidney infection.
21:51 And this lady, as you might well guess, asked,
21:54 "Why is God punishing us?
21:57 What have we done?"
21:59 And I shall never forget when I first heard this question
22:03 asked by parents of a little baby girl, I was only just
22:07 weeks into my ministry over in Central Idaho.
22:10 We went on a campout, did our church.
22:13 We camped on the banks of the Snake River.
22:15 Still in the timber on the Idaho side.
22:17 And there came to our campout, a young couple by the name of
22:21 Jack and Penny Delano.
22:23 They had with them a beautiful little 5 year old daughter.
22:27 Blonde hair, blue eyes.
22:29 And I learned during those few hours that we spent together
22:33 that they had just moved up from the Bay Area of California.
22:37 An uncle had helped them to move, had driven their
22:40 furniture up in a rental truck.
22:42 Helped them unload it and settle in their new home
22:44 in Cambridge, Idaho.
22:45 And when he backed the truck away to return it to California,
22:49 he backed over their 2 year old blonde headed baby girl.
22:54 Jack and Penny were asking that age old question,
22:57 "Why, why. If there is a God, why do the innocent suffer?
23:02 Why my baby? Why?"
23:04 Why?
23:06 Sometimes, there comes a larger question.
23:10 "God, what are You doing?"
23:12 And sometimes, we hear from scripture those verses.
23:16 Deuteronomy 6, here's one.
23:18 Deuteronomy 6:24, it raises a question.
23:21 God says, "What I do is always for your good. "
23:25 That's what Moses said, "What God does is
23:27 always for my good. "
23:28 Oh really now?
23:30 Sometimes we wonder.
23:31 Romans 8:28, this one is more familiar to us, of course.
23:35 "All things work together for good to those who love God
23:39 are called according to His calling. "
23:43 So there, then, comes the question, "Who is responsible?"
23:47 And we found the answer in our first scripture, didn't we.
23:50 There was war in heaven.
23:52 When I first heard this, it was hard for me to imagine.
23:55 War, maybe on some other planet, maybe out on Pluto.
23:58 But surely not in heaven.
23:59 Nah, there was.
24:01 There was an angel, honored above all of the others,
24:04 given position higher above all the others,
24:07 more handsome than all of the others,
24:08 and had a wonderful voice.
24:10 Says the old prophet.
24:11 But he was not satisfied with what he had.
24:15 He wanted more.
24:16 He wanted to create, he wanted to be like God.
24:18 He wanted, says the Bible, to sit on the throne.
24:21 "I also will sit. "
24:22 Created beings cannot create.
24:25 So God called him in and said to him,
24:27 "Lucifer, you're not My equal nor are you Christ's equal. "
24:31 The Bible says about Christ that when He finished His work here,
24:34 He went back to heaven and He was sat down.
24:36 He was among equals.
24:38 He sits on a throne.
24:39 He is the creator of this planet.
24:40 The Bible is abundantly clear about that.
24:42 But this angel, Lucifer, wanted to create.
24:45 "It is my turn. I have the ambition.
24:46 I have the ability. Let me. "
24:48 And God called him in and talked to him and said,
24:50 "No. Put it out of your mind. Deny yourself this idea.
24:54 You cannot create. I've not denied you anything.
24:56 You're nearest to the throne, you're one of the
24:58 covering cherubs, and you have this wonderful voice,
25:00 and you are handsome beyond description.
25:02 But you cannot create, you cannot sit on the throne.
25:06 You are not my equal, you're not equal to Jesus. "
25:08 And instead of doing what God had asked, humbling himself,
25:12 the devil threw a tantrum and began a whispering campaign
25:15 amongst his buddies.
25:16 And as we mentioned this morning,
25:17 he is the great divider.
25:19 And one third of the angels joined him in his rebellion.
25:22 And it turned into open war in the streets of gold.
25:25 Imagine that.
25:28 Jesus and God the Father, of course, always are victorious.
25:31 And so the devil was kicked out.
25:34 And he transferred the struggle, the controversy,
25:38 to planet earth.
25:40 For, you see, the controversy had originally started
25:42 over the creation of planet earth.
25:45 Our Lord Jesus was about to hang this one, this beautiful orb
25:49 in that vacant space there.
25:51 And the devil says, "It's my turn, I want to do it. "
25:53 And God said, "No. "
25:54 And so he said, "Alright, I'll show You then.
25:57 I'll fix Your newly created planet that You
25:59 wouldn't let me make. "
26:00 And he came here to planet earth and the war transferred.
26:05 The angel that was perfect in every way
26:09 was transformed, transferred into a devil.
26:13 The apostle Paul, you may or may not remember, said,
26:16 "I saw Satan fall from heaven as an angel of light. "
26:22 An angel of light.
26:24 Well there comes then, that question still.
26:27 "Is God now punishing us for our sins?"
26:30 And it comes again and again and again.
26:32 And by the way, when the Twin Towers fell
26:35 and when the terrible storms, Katrina and Edna and the others,
26:39 hit the southern coast, there were televangelists,
26:42 who's names we'll not use tonight, who were saying,
26:44 "Were paying now, this is the retribution of God.
26:47 God is coming down on us because we've turned our back,
26:50 we've taken the Bible and the ten commandments out of
26:52 schools and out of courtrooms.
26:53 And now God is giving it to us, He's giving us
26:57 what we deserve. "
26:58 And there is in the news today even, if you have been watching
27:03 the last 2 or 3 days, another man in a church in Chicago
27:08 who is becoming very infamous right now for preaching
27:11 the very same kind of an idea.
27:12 And He's really blaming God.
27:15 You know the phrase, don't ya, that's been used
27:19 in the last 2 or 3 days.
27:20 "Is God doing this, is God causing human suffering?"
27:23 No, no, no.
27:25 And even the devils and those who are behind the
27:28 human suffering and tragedy know it very well.
27:30 And so I'm going to refer us to some verses.
27:32 I want us to read them together, Matthew 8.
27:36 Matthew chapter 8, and I want us to read verses 28 and 29.
27:42 Matthew 8:28-29
27:47 And this I find most comforting, most encouraging.
27:49 And by the way, I've preached a sermon like this
27:52 many, many, many times.
27:53 But I have never quite approached it in this way
27:56 for the simple reason that I never quite understood it
27:59 like this until recently myself.
28:03 And I hope it will be encouraging to some of you.
28:05 Matthew 8, beginning to read at the 28th verse.
28:11 Matthew 8:28-29
28:20 "When Jesus had gone over to the other side of the lake
28:23 and over to the country of the Gadarenes,
28:27 there met Him two men who were demon possessed.
28:31 They came out from amongst the tombs,
28:33 they were exceedingly fierce and wanted that no man
28:37 should pass by that way.
28:38 And when they saw Jesus, they cried out to Him and they said,
28:41 'What have we to do with you, Jesus, You Son of God?
28:45 Are You come here to... '"
28:47 Now tell me what it says next.
28:49 "Are You come here to torment us... "
28:52 Come on.
28:55 "... before the time?"
28:56 You see the theology here?
28:58 "Are You come to bring torment to us now?"
29:01 No, torment is to come at the end of all judgment.
29:05 And even demons, those demon possessed knew it.
29:08 "Are You come to torment us ahead of time, before the time?"
29:10 No, no.
29:13 The time for punishment is not yet.
29:15 I want us now to go together to Job chapter 21.
29:20 Job, and then the Psalms and the Proverbs, chapter 21.
29:24 And we shall read at verse 30.
29:28 Job 21:30
29:31 Here it says, "The wicked are reserved to the
29:37 day of destruction, that they shall be brought forth
29:40 to the day of wrath. "
29:42 When is the punishment?
29:44 At the end, at the time of destruction.
29:46 Now there is a scripture almost exactly like that
29:49 to be found in 2 Peter.
29:51 And so I want you to turn with me there, if you will please.
29:53 Only just for a moment.
29:56 2 Peter carries on the theme in chapter 3 and verse 7.
29:59 2 Peter 3:7
30:02 "But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word
30:06 are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment
30:11 and the perdition of ungodly men. "
30:13 And so it is abundantly clear, both Old and New Testaments,
30:16 that this day and age is not the time for punishment.
30:20 But that rather, that is still in the future.
30:23 Now listen to me.
30:25 And follow this logic, or lack thereof, as you choose.
30:28 If God were causing punishment, if God was behind the dropping
30:33 of the Twin Towers, if God brought the tsunami out
30:36 in the far east, if God brought Katrina to destroy the homes
30:40 and the lives of so many hundreds and hundreds of people,
30:45 wouldn't it be only just the wicked who are suffering?
30:48 If God is punishing wickedness, wouldn't it just fall
30:52 upon the wicked?
30:55 But the righteous suffer as well.
30:57 And oft times, it seems to me and a lot of other folks,
31:00 that the righteous suffer more intensely than do the wicked.
31:03 Revelation chapter 19 and verse 2.
31:06 "True and righteous are Thy judgments, oh Lord. "
31:10 And there are a number of other places in the Bible.
31:12 I'm going to give you some references where it is
31:14 abundantly clear that, now, the wicked are the ones
31:17 that are really prospering.
31:18 They're, to a large degree, the ones that are getting wealthy
31:22 because they have no conscience and they're willing to cheat
31:25 and steal and lie, and do whatever it takes to get ahead.
31:28 They'll walk on the back of any honest man
31:30 to get to the top of the heap.
31:31 Psalm 73:3
31:34 Here Psalm 73:3, David said, "I was jealous of the
31:39 prosperity of the wicked. "
31:42 Alright?
31:43 And then in Psalm 73:12, he said, "The ungodly are the ones
31:48 who now prosper. "
31:49 The ungodly prosper.
31:50 And then in Psalm 73:17, he said, "I didn't understand
31:55 why the wicked were prospering and God's children were so
31:59 terribly suffering, until I went and studied the sanctuary. "
32:05 And there's another good reason, my dears, for studying and
32:08 loving the sanctuary service.
32:10 He said, "I began to understand why good people suffer
32:14 and why wicked people prosper when I studied God's sanctuary.
32:20 I understood then the prosperity of the wicked. "
32:23 In the time of Christ, and for a long while before,
32:26 Jewish people believed that if a man were sick,
32:29 that was a result of God's punishment.
32:32 If a man is both sick and diseased, God really
32:35 dislikes that person, really despises him.
32:37 And the more sick he is, the poorer he is,
32:40 the greater his disease, the more God is showing
32:43 His disrespect and really His distaste
32:48 for those kinds of people.
32:53 The disciples, because of their Jewish background, believed
32:56 the very same kind of a thing.
32:59 In John chapter 9 and the first three verses,
33:03 they express that idea.
33:04 And we want to read it together now please.
33:06 John's gospel, chapter 9 and the first three verses.
33:13 Chapter 9 of St. John, verses 1, 2, and 3.
33:24 "As Jesus passed by, He saw a man who'd been blind from birth.
33:28 And the disciples said to Him, 'Master, who sinned?
33:31 Was it this man or was it his parents, the cause of
33:35 his being born blind?'
33:36 And Jesus said, 'Neither this man nor his parents are to
33:40 blame, but rather the works of God be made manifest. '"
33:44 And so, here we see that very same idea very prevalent
33:47 amongst the disciples of Jesus.
33:49 In Luke chapter 13, and we ought to, we have the time,
33:51 let's turn there as well.
33:53 Luke 13, and we're going to notice the first five verses.
33:58 This, by the way, is in the context of the
34:00 belief of the Pharisees.
34:03 And this is the way it reads.
34:04 Luke 13, beginning with verse one.
34:09 "There were present at that season, some of those who
34:14 told Him of Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled
34:19 with their sacrifices.
34:20 And Jesus... "
34:22 And, by the way, it's talking about believers in Jesus.
34:24 Folks who'd been martyred for their faith in God and Christ.
34:27 In verse 2 it says, "Jesus, answering, said unto them,
34:32 'Suppose ye that the Galileans were sinners greater
34:36 than others of Galilee?
34:37 My people, were they greater sinners than other Galileans
34:40 because they suffered so?'"
34:42 And then in verse 3 He says, "I tell you, no.
34:45 That's not right, but except you repent,
34:48 you'll perish likewise. "
34:50 And then He goes on, "Were those eighteen folks upon whom
34:54 the tower of Siloam fell and died, were they greater sinners,
34:59 sinners above all that live in and around Jerusalem?"
35:02 "No," He says. "No. "
35:04 God is not punishing His saints.
35:07 But rather, this is the result of the old enemy
35:10 who brings disease and all of the rest,
35:14 the pain and the suffering and the death.
35:16 Would a righteous God... Now listen carefully.
35:19 Would a righteous and holy God cripple some little boy
35:25 or little girl in order to punish his dad?
35:29 Of course not.
35:32 Of course not.
35:34 We, parents, wouldn't react in such a way.
35:38 And certainly God wouldn't.
35:40 We human judges wouldn't react in that way.
35:43 Job 14:7, it says there, "Shall mortal man
35:47 be more just than God?"
35:49 And the answer, of course is "no. "
35:50 That's a rhetorical question.
35:51 Of course not.
35:53 God wouldn't cause harm to someone just to get revenge
35:57 on his dad or upon someone else who's doing wrong.
36:00 When the Twin Towers fell, they fell on a lot of innocent folks.
36:04 You see?
36:06 God wasn't behind it at all.
36:08 You remember the story of Job.
36:10 Job loved and served God so faithfully.
36:12 And the devil said, "You let me at him.
36:14 The only reason he serves You is that You give him everything.
36:17 He has everything going his way.
36:19 Look at his wealth and look how prosperous are his children
36:22 and how happy are they all.
36:24 He serves You because You give him everything. "
36:25 And God said, "It's not so. "
36:28 And the devil said, "You let me at him.
36:30 I'll prove to You he'll curse You. "
36:32 And God said, "Alright Satan, you may do anything to him.
36:35 You can take the houses and the land and the family and
36:38 all of the rest, but you can't take his life.
36:41 There I draw the line. "
36:42 And so you remember, he lost the ranch
36:45 and the cattle, and he lost his kids.
36:47 And then he had this terrible disease.
36:51 It covered from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.
36:53 Like suppurating wounds, someone said, or terrible boils.
36:57 And in verse 12 of Job chapter 1,
37:00 "The Lord said unto Satan," and this is after the devil has
37:04 tested him and Job has remained faithful.
37:06 "The Lord said unto Satan, 'All that Job has is in your power
37:12 and he is in your hands. '"
37:15 You see?
37:17 The devil is behind it.
37:18 Now, if sickness, disease, heartache was as a result
37:25 of the judgments of God, what right would a Christian have
37:32 to open a hospital?
37:34 What right would a Christian nurse have to go
37:38 and minister to the sick?
37:39 What right would a Christian doctor have to help those
37:43 in the surgery room or to dispense medicine
37:45 for the better health?
37:46 What right would anyone have to meddle in the punishment of God?
37:51 No, God has been grossly misrepresented
37:54 all down through the ages.
37:56 Now, we must be very careful to point out that we may have,
38:01 we have opportunity to have, and too oft times we take advantage
38:05 of the opportunity; the ability, that's the best way
38:11 to say it I guess, the ability to help the devil out.
38:14 And I'm going to read you some scriptures in that regard.
38:17 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 25.
38:20 1 Corinthian 9:25
38:22 Here the apostle Paul says, "Every man that strives
38:26 for the mastery is... "
38:28 What?
38:29 Lives a profligate life that goes out and eats and drinks
38:32 and parties all day and all night long?
38:34 No.
38:35 "Every man that strives for the mastery is temperate
38:39 in all things. "
38:42 Are you over working?
38:44 You know, too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
38:47 Am I overeating, am I not exercising enough?
38:49 Am I being intemperate?
38:51 Temperance is the law of life and health.
38:55 And we've had so many, many illustrations of those who
38:59 live the other kind of life and then pay with an early death.
39:02 And we could mention names, not to be in judgment
39:05 of their souls, but I think immediately of John Belushi
39:08 who snorted cocaine and injected all kinds of things
39:11 and ate like there would never be another meal.
39:14 And John Candy was another.
39:15 And Chris Farley still another.
39:17 Galatians chapter 6 and verse 7.
39:20 There, God through the apostle Paul said,
39:22 "Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
39:25 For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. "
39:33 Not always in this life, we're not always going to
39:35 reap the harvest in this life.
39:37 But one day,
39:38 one day.
39:41 Someone, in response to the move amongst politicians
39:46 these days to guarantee and provide total health,
39:50 and health and medical insurance to all Americans,
39:53 cradle to the grave, womb to the tomb,
39:54 infants to the very end of the old man's life,
39:58 said this, and you ask yourself if it makes sense.
40:03 "Why is it that we spend our money when we're young
40:07 to ruin our health, and when we're older we expect others
40:11 with their tax dollars, to spend those hard earned dollars
40:15 in order to help us try and get our health back?"
40:19 Uh-huh.
40:22 Proverbs 6:27-28
40:25 There God asks another rhetorical question.
40:28 "Can a man take fire into his bosom... "
40:32 And as soon as I read that, I was thinking of course
40:34 about tobacco, smoking.
40:37 "Can a man take fire into his bosom and his
40:39 clothes not be burned?
40:40 Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be burned?"
40:43 And the answer, of course is "no. "
40:46 "Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. "
40:51 We cannot continuously disobey God openly and flagrantly,
40:56 and expect to walk away unscathed.
41:00 John Greenleaf Whittier said it in these words.
41:04 "We shape ourselves, the joy or fear, of which
41:08 the coming life is made.
41:10 We fill our future atmosphere with sunshine or with shade.
41:15 The tissue of the life to be, we weave with colors of our own.
41:21 In the field of destiny, we reap as we have sown. "
41:28 And that's what God said as well.
41:30 Someone said to me not long ago,
41:32 "Well, I'm not sure I agree with you in that regard.
41:35 For I read not very long ago, 'Whom God loves, He chastens. '"
41:41 You've heard it as well, haven't you.
41:42 "Whomever God loves, He chastens. "
41:44 With the idea He beats up on them.
41:47 He gives them a really hard spanking with a leather strap.
41:50 Well, I did some word study in that area.
41:53 And I don't want to come off ever as
41:55 a Biblical languages scholar.
41:57 I am not.
41:58 I do know how to use the tools and do the research.
42:00 And I discovered, that word that in the King James
42:03 is translated "chasten", "Whom the Lord loves, He chastens,"
42:07 is better understood to mean, "He instructs and He educates. "
42:13 How about that.
42:15 Whomever the Lord loves, He instructs and He educates.
42:19 God allows human suffering, but He's not the designer of it.
42:25 He's not the originator of it.
42:27 And He certainly does not cause it.
42:30 God has promised to be with us during the heartache
42:34 and during the difficult times.
42:36 And I think I've said to you before,
42:38 I don't understand, I can't understand
42:42 how folks without faith can walk away from the fresh grave
42:49 of their loved one; their child, their spouse.
42:51 I don't know how they survive.
42:53 I don't know.
42:58 I'm so thankful to God for the faith He's given
43:01 to Peggy and me, and for the hope for the future.
43:04 We know we're all going to be together again.
43:08 We clung, Peggy and I, and memorized once again
43:11 those promises of God.
43:13 "I won't allow you to be suffered above what
43:15 you're able to bear. "
43:16 "I won't allow that. "
43:18 "My grace... " 2 Corinthians 12:9
43:20 "My grace is sufficient for you. "
43:23 And I've claimed that promise day after day after day.
43:25 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. "
43:28 Philippians 4 and verse 13.
43:33 And in Philippians 4:19, same passage a few verses down,
43:37 "My God will supply all of your needs. "
43:42 Nahum 1:9, a favorite promise of mine lately.
43:49 "Affliction and suffering shall not arise the second time. "
43:55 That's good news, isn't it.
43:57 That is such wonderful good news
44:01 to those that are suffering
44:03 pain, loss, heartache, disease, separation.
44:11 "I know not where His islands lift their fronded palms in air.
44:15 I only know I cannot drift beyond His love and care. "
44:22 On our second night together, I shared with you in conclusion
44:26 a little story, a true story.
44:29 I'm going to repeat it tonight.
44:33 There was a lady who was senior, nearing death and knew it.
44:39 A very faithful Christian lady.
44:41 And she called her pastor over.
44:43 And she said, "With the legal authorities,
44:47 I have made my will.
44:49 Now I want, with you pastor, to plan my funeral. "
44:53 "I've been to so many," she said, "and it is traditional
44:56 that the one who lies in the casket lies with hands folded
45:01 over the chest.
45:02 Not me, pastor.
45:05 Not me. "
45:06 "Now," she said, "in my left hand,
45:08 I want to be holding my Bible.
45:12 And in my right hand, I want to be holding a kitchen fork. "
45:18 And I'm sure the preachers jaw dropped.
45:20 "What do you mean?
45:21 I can understand you wanting your Bible buried with you.
45:23 What do you mean you want to be holding your fork?"
45:25 And the lady said, "Pastor, one of the things I love
45:29 about the fellowship at church are the dinners.
45:31 One of the things I really look forward to are the dinners.
45:34 And we have such wonderful dinners.
45:36 But I always enjoy it most when they're cleaning up the tables,
45:41 someone leans over to me and says, 'Hang onto your fork. '
45:49 For I know something better is coming.
45:55 I know the dessert will soon be served. "
46:00 And so again, I say to all of you,
46:04 and to my own heart,
46:06 and to Peggy's and our kids,
46:12 "Hang onto your fork. "
46:17 Now let's pray.
46:20 Forgive us, Lord, if ever we have blamed You
46:26 for the pain and the sorrow, the death and the disease.
46:33 We know that You originally planned for life
46:37 that was full and abundant and healthful.
46:43 We know that our Lord Jesus promised,
46:45 "I am come that you might have the abundant life. "
46:48 And so often, we've turned away from Your lifestyle,
46:51 Your example, from Your diet.
46:55 So often times, we've lived the life of the prodigal.
47:00 So often times, we've taken in that which is
47:03 for our own destruction.
47:04 Forgive us.
47:06 Make us better tomorrow than we are today.
47:09 Strengthen our weaknesses.
47:13 Help us follow better our strengths.
47:16 In the meantime, give us the courage
47:22 as we hang onto our forks.
47:24 In Jesus' name, we praise You and thank You always.
47:27 Amen.
47:31 And I'm going to begin with a question that was
47:34 just handed to me a little bit ago.
47:35 Does the Bible call our Father and Jesus
47:38 and the Holy Spirit all God?
47:40 And the answer to that is "yes. "
47:42 The Bible does refer to the Holy Father, and the Holy Son Jesus,
47:46 and the Holy Spirit all as God.
47:50 Now one night here, I took only just a few minutes
47:53 to try to help one or two understand the God family.
47:59 And I remember saying that the name "God" is the family name.
48:03 And I likened it to our family name "Albrecht. "
48:06 There is Lyle, there is Peggy.
48:10 There is our son Troy and our daughter Tammy.
48:15 And we're different, yet we're very alike in many ways.
48:19 But we share a common family name.
48:22 "God" is the family name in the Bible.
48:26 And it's made up of three members of the family.
48:29 God, whom we now refer to as the Holy Father.
48:32 God, whom we now refer to as the Son, the Holy Son.
48:36 And God, whom we refer to as the Holy Spirit.
48:39 Different distinct people.
48:42 When Jesus was here on earth, John chapter 17, among other
48:45 places, He prayed, "Our Father which art in heaven. "
48:50 You see.
48:51 And the Holy Spirit, in the book of Acts you read,
48:56 He can be lied to.
48:57 You remember Ananias and Sapphira?
48:59 You have lied to the Holy Spirit.
49:03 He's different from the Holy Father, from Jesus,
49:07 but one in purpose and one in Their outreach.
49:15 One in Their desire for salvation for everybody.
49:18 They have different jobs to do.
49:21 When Jesus was here on earth He was a healer,
49:25 He was a teacher, He was an example.
49:28 He discipled, that means He taught.
49:31 And then He apostled, that means He sent out
49:34 His students to share what He had taught.
49:38 Shortly before He ascended, and you find this in
49:41 John chapters 13, 14, 15, He said to His disciples,
49:45 "I won't' leave you helpless, I won't leave you in a jam,
49:49 I won't leave you comfortless.
49:51 But I will send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. "
49:58 I have had folks who, on occasion, have said to me,
50:03 "I know the Bible says this... "
50:04 It may be about what happens at death,
50:06 it may be about how to eat,
50:08 it may be about the Sabbath and which day to worship upon.
50:13 But I've had several who've said to me during my 37 years
50:17 of ministry, "I know that's what it says in the Bible,
50:19 but... "
50:22 And by the way, everything after the "but" leads us
50:24 into trouble, generally.
50:26 "... but the Holy Spirit hasn't impressed me that
50:30 it's important for me.
50:33 But the Holy Spirit has said to me that doesn't apply.
50:37 But the Holy Spirit has said to me,
50:40 'No, you do it this other way. '"
50:45 Now listen very carefully to this idea.
50:51 Jesus said in John 17:17,
50:54 "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth. "
51:02 Alright?
51:04 Jesus said in John's gospel chapters 14 and 15,
51:09 "When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will lead you
51:16 into all truth. "
51:19 By the statement of our Lord Jesus, the Bible
51:23 is the word of truth and the Holy Spirit
51:27 is the Spirit of truth.
51:29 Now, the bottom line as we've come
51:33 to the end of the logic here.
51:35 The Bible, the word of truth, and the Holy Spirit,
51:39 the Spirit of truth, will always be in harmony.
51:44 You see.
51:47 The Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit will always
51:50 say the same thing.
51:51 Our Bible came to us from the Holy Spirit.
51:53 Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
51:56 Do you remember?
51:58 And so, they'll always be in agreement.
52:00 And if someone says, "Well, I know that the Bible says
52:03 Saturday's the Sabbath, but the Holy Spirit has told me
52:06 to do it otherwise," I sometimes say to those folks,
52:10 if I don't verbalize, I certainly am thinking it,
52:12 "No, the wrong spirit has been talking to you. "
52:16 Not God's Spirit, the wrong spirit has been talking to you.
52:21 Now, in the Bible there are several names that are simply
52:26 translated as "God. "
52:28 There is Elohim, there is Adonai,
52:31 there is Jehovah, and there are others
52:35 all simply translated as "God. "
52:40 Among those names, there is one that is considered
52:43 by the Bible writer and by the children of God
52:48 early on in the Old Testament times to be so holy
52:51 that it ought not to even be verbalized.
52:54 And that is the name Jehovah.
52:59 The name Jehovah is, in it's origin, only just four letters
53:06 without any vowels.
53:07 YHWH
53:13 And theologians and Bible teachers refer to that today
53:17 as the tetragrammaton; four letters, YHWH.
53:24 So that we can say it in word form, we have added the vowels
53:29 E and A, and so forth, O.
53:32 Jehovah
53:35 Now the name "Jehovah" that is translated as "God"
53:39 was used almost exclusively to show the eternal nature of God.
53:46 At the burning bush Moses asked, "Who are You?"
53:50 And the voice came back, "I AM."
53:53 "I AM"
53:55 That means that God has always existed.
54:00 Way back before recorded history, ever before there was
54:06 mankind on planet earth, there was God.
54:11 Today, God is on the throne.
54:15 The God family.
54:16 And as long as there shall be eternity,
54:20 there shall always be God.
54:22 Now I must be honest and say to you that when I was a child
54:27 or a young teenager, that idea of God's being there forever,
54:32 way before, I mean, my mind sort of got lost in it.
54:36 The longer I live, the more sense eternity makes.
54:40 Especially in the future, it's going to take an eternity
54:43 to do all of the fun things that God has planned for us.
54:46 Isn't it now?
54:48 But here is what I'm moving toward now.
54:52 Jehovah, the eternal nature of God.
54:55 There have been those who have built whole churches around
54:59 the idea that Jesus is not eternal,
55:02 that Jesus is created.
55:04 And they will take that passage where it says, John 3:16,
55:09 that He is the only "begotten. "
55:13 Uh-huh.
55:14 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten... "
55:20 And they'll take that and build a theology around it.
55:24 In the original, the word "begotten" did not carry the
55:28 idea of one who was born, or created, for that matter.
55:33 But rather it meant, "one who is unique;
55:37 one like whom there is no other. "
55:40 And that's what it says about Jesus,
55:42 there was never another like Him.
55:44 God sent His unique Son.
55:46 Not that He was born, not that He was created.
55:49 But Jesus Christ is eternal, Jesus Christ is Jehovah God.
55:55 And at the burning bush, God said to Moses, "I AM."
56:00 "Who are You?" asked Moses. "I AM."
56:02 "I always have been, I am today, I always shall be. "
56:05 "I am eternal, I am Jehovah. "
56:08 Now, let's flash forward to the ministry of Jesus.
56:13 Folks would ask Him, "Who are You?"
56:15 And Jesus would respond with an answer that almost without
56:19 exception included two words, "I AM."
56:24 "I AM" "I AM"
56:27 And every time He said that, He was claiming to be
56:30 eternal Jehovah God.
56:32 "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life,
56:37 I am the bread. "
56:41 "I AM", "I AM", "I AM"
56:44 You see?
56:45 "Before Abraham was, I AM."
56:48 Eternal Jehovah God.
56:49 Now, if someone should come to you and say to you,
56:54 "I don't believe that Jesus Christ is eternal God.
56:58 I don't believe that He is Jehovah. "
57:01 you might respond like often times I do.
57:06 You might then say, "Then you're in real trouble. "
57:11 "You're in real trouble if Jesus Christ is not
57:14 eternal Jehovah God. "
57:16 And when folks come knocking on my door and want to come in and
57:20 study the Bible with me, this is often where I will begin.
57:24 Because it is essential, it is the primary building block
57:28 as far as I'm concerned, of the Christian faith
57:31 and of the plan of salvation.


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