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Fred R. Coulter—November 21, 2015
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services.
Some other facts have come out about what was happening in the concert hall in Paris. Very amazing! It's something, because those of us who are in the Church, we're not out there in the world and we don't know what's going on. Though we understand some things are degenerating very quickly, and sinking very low, we really don't know how bad it is.
When you analyze how we started out, it's a little known fact in history that the first colony in America in Virginia, when they got off the boat their prayer was to dedicate this colony and the whole new continent to preaching the Gospel. That was quite a thing!
When they were doing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, they actually prayed on their knees, asking for guidance during the sessions.
How do we come from this start to where we are today? A little at a time! You've heard me say the word incrementalism, a little here, a little there. That ties right in with Unleavened Bread. 'A little leaven leavens the whole lump.'
How far had they sunk in Paris? Which means also the United States. This report came to me and I had Ron Carey confirm it and then Mack confirmed it this morning that this actually did happen the way it is in this report. Here's what was going on. So, you ask the question: How do people get this way?
PARIS CONCERT CROWD WAS SINGING 'KISS THE DEVIL' AT MOMENT Of TERROR
November 17, 2015 Don Campbell
(http://outcastradio.net/paris-concert-crowd-was-singing-kiss-the-devil-at-moment-of-terror)
Mere moments away from slaughter, Paris fans of Eagles of Death…
That's what they call themselves, a band.
…metal concert sang this song glorifying the devil.
With their hands raised high in the air, as you see in this photo taken moments before the attacks began, Paris fans at the Eagles Of Death Metal concert made the Satanic "devil horns"...
You know what that is?
…[this is a] salute without seemingly a care in the world. Amazingly, the song that was playing the moment the shooting started was called 'Kiss the Devil', and here are some of the lyrics from that tune:
Now think of this!
"KISS THE DEVIL"–BY EAGLES OF DEATH METAL
WHO'LL LOVE THE DEVIL?
WHO'LL SING HIS SONG?
WHO WILL LOVE THE DEVIL AND HIS SONG?
I'LL LOVE THE DEVIL
I'LL SING HIS SONG
I WILL LOVE THE DEVIL AND HIS SONG
WHO'LL LOVE THE DEVIL?
WHO'LL KISS HIS TONGUE?
WHO WILL KISS THE DEVIL ON HIS TONGUE?
I'LL LOVE THE DEVIL
I'LL KISS HIS TONGUE
I WILL KISS THE DEVIL ON HIS TONGUE
Right when that was being said, the shooting began. That band was from Northern California. That's where they grow all the pot.
Stop and think about it. Did you know that it's going to get worse? We know that Rev. 12:9 says that the ancient serpent, the devil, has the whole world deceived; is deceiving. People would say, 'No one is going to worship the devil.' Really?
- Does he want to be worshiped? Yes, he does!
- Did he tempt Christ to worship him?
- Of all people, did he tempt Christ to worship him? Yes!
- What about the rest of the world? 'A little leaven leavens the whole lump.'
It talks about when the beast comes to power and he'll probably come to power now that all of this has happened in Europe. They're going to have to do something with all the Muslims. They cannot live together in the situation it is.
The comment was made there from Palm Desert, California, and also another comment that there's an alert in Belgium, another one. Anyone that solves that problem in Europe is going to be hailed as a savior, a special person.
Revelation 13:4: "And they worshiped the dragon, who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?'"
Very interesting that as that was going on and they came in to shoot, it shows this that Satan's kingdom is divided. That's why Jesus said, 'A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.' His kingdom will not stand. Christ is going to take it down.
Let's take a look at how people look at the Bible today. Most people view the Bible as nothing more than myth or if you're religious fulfilled, you don't have to pay any attention to it. What happens when people turn their back on God? He lets them go their way! Satan welcomes them with open arms. What happens then? They can't see right from wrong! They can't understand the words of God!
We're going to see that the Old Testament is written just exactly like it says in Isa. 28: 'Line upon line; here a little, there a little; precept upon precept.' That's why they can't understand it.
As we go through certain sections here is Isaiah today, more like a Bible study, we're going to see that it is exactly like that. Because it will go along and it will be a few verses talking about what is contemporaneous in Isaiah's time. Then what is just ahead for Judah. Then it will jump clear ahead to Christ and then it will come back to the present. Then it will jump clear ahead to the Millennium, setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth. God inspired it to be written that way so that those who reject Him will never understand.
Isaiah 29:9: "Be stunned and amazed! Blind your eyes and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink."
What Scripture in Revelation can you tie this to? Rev. 17, all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Without the New Testament and Revelation you never understand this verse in that particular way.
Verse 10: "For the LORD has poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes; He has covered the prophets and your rulers, and the seers." Quite an amazing thing!
In the forward of the coming book—From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born?—I think it's Stephen Hawking who says the worse thing in the world is the illusion of knowledge. Meaning, because you have a little knowledge, you delude yourself into thinking you have very much. I thought what a self-condemning statement, really when you think about it, because he rejects God and that's an illusion of knowledge. Quite an amazing thing!
Verse 11: "And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one who is learned saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed.'"
It's a mystery. That's why God hid His plan in the Bible and it has to be put on the framework of the Holy Days and the Passover. Always remember this: the Passover is the key thing. Everything after that must be based on the Passover.
Verse 12: "And the book is delivered to him who is not learned, saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I am not learned.' And the LORD said, 'Because this people draws near Me with their mouth, and with their lips honor Me, but their worship of Me is made up of the traditions of men learned by rote, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandments of men'" (vs 12-13).
That's why people don't like the Word of God. We will see God doesn't like them attaching their ways to Him. You look at the two extremes:
- open devil-worship on this hand
- pure worship of God the Father and Jesus Christ on this hand
Then you have varying degrees of it. Many, many people are entering a time where they think they're honoring God with Christmas. Some of them don't even care; it's just time for a big bash.
Verse 14: "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do again a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise ones shall perish, and the wisdom of their intelligent ones shall vanish."
That's quite an amazing thing! That's what's going to happen, vanish. Look at all of the candidates trying to solve the problems in America. Look at all the politicians in Europe trying to solve the problems in Europe. Look at all the nations in the Middle East now without their dictators to make the people hew the line. How are you going to solve that?
That's why Jesus said at the end we would come to a time that unless He returned all flesh would be destroyed. There's a whole lot more to say on that because some other things are doing I'll bring out a little later in some other sermons.
Verse 15: "Woe to those who go deep to hide their purpose from the LORD! And their works are in the dark, and they say, 'Who sees us? And who knows us?'"
You can apply this to some of the secret societies: Knights of Columbus, Masons, Illuminati, International Group.
Verse 16: "Surely, you have turned things upside down!…." That's what the world is like. People who are not at this extreme over here in worshiping Satan or at this extreme over here truly worshiping God, in degrees they don't understand what is happening. They don't realize the difficulties and problems that are brought on because of the sin.
For example. Remember Charlie Sheen? He announced he had HIV and infected many people! The Center for Disease Control puts out a report. Guess how many people are infected with STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) every year? 20-million! So, that tells you what is going on.
"…Shall the potter be regarded as the potter's clay… [That's how they think of God. 'Oh, we came from slime and dirt.] … for shall the work say of him who made it, 'He did not make me?'…." (v 16).
You go into this art display and here this artist has all of his paintings up there and he's real famous and just think if there was a little voice in the back of it that said, 'Hey, he didn't do these.' That would be a disaster to his reputation. Same way with people. They say, 'We just evolved. He didn't make me.' They don't realize that the Bible is the handbook on how to live because God has made you.
"…Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'He had no understanding?'" (v 16). Then it blends right into the Millennium from there.
We're going to go through some things in Isaiah that tell us some very important things. Obviously those at the concert were worshiping Satan the devil. There are a lot of people upset and disgusted what they did. I imagine there are a lot of good staunch Catholics over there in Europe who are actually just upset with the whole thing. If you went up to those Catholics and said, 'Did you know these people were worshiping the devil?' Yes, yes, I know that. 'Did you know that you are worshiping the devil?' Oh, no!
This is quite a chapter; it talks about the return of Christ; Isaiah 40:5: "'And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.'"
Remember this was written 800B.C. What is the verse in Revelation that tells us that's going to happen? 'Every eye shall see Him' (Rev. 1:7).
Verse 6: "A voice says, 'Cry!' And he said, 'What shall I cry?' 'All flesh is grass, and all the beauty of it is as the flower of the field.7: The grass withers, the flower fades because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass'" (vs 6-7).
You stop and think about that statement. That is true. We eat everything from a vegetable base. Even the animals we eat, eat the vegetables and then we eat the animals. But it still goes back to grass, hay, grain and leaves.
Verse 8: "The grass withers, the flower fades; but the Word of our God shall stand forever."
As you go through and read these things and understand that this is the Truth of God, this means when we come to Scriptures that are hard for us to understand we register it in our mind that we don't understand it, but we keep a question mark there so when we study other parts of the Bible we may find the answer to it. What verse did Jesus say when He began His ministry to verify this?
Matthew 5:17: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill." Fulfill does not mean to do away by completing it, it means to complete it so you have the whole picture. The Old Testament is like a half a picture, and like a puzzle, with all the parts all mixed up together. The New Testament is more straight line.
Then it talks about preaching the Gospel, Isaiah 40:13: "Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, and who was His counselor that he might instruct Him?" Job could have used this, but this is 900 years after Job.
- no one can instruct God
- no one can tell God
- no man can replace God
Verse 14: "With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him…" Did God come down and knock on the door and say, 'Mr. Pope, I understand you're My replacement on the earth. Could you tell Me what I should do?' No!
"…and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and made known the way of understanding to Him?" (v 14). Here's how God views the nations. How great is God?
Last night I woke up at midnight and I was hungry. I had gone to bed early, so I got a midnight snack. We have some fresh wonderful Fuji apples in the refrigerator, really cold, crisp, sweet and delicious. I got one of those and I thought I would check on the news.
The news was just a re-run, so I went to NatGeo. They were showing about the universe, quite an awesome thing, and how they can see so much more, because there are different wavelengths of which color comes and so forth. They have straight visual and then they have x-ray and they have radio waves, and they have all kinds of things. When it goes through the ones with the colors, then the stars that look like they are just white and shining, they're red, blue, yellow, purple. Quite a fantastic thing! I just got done studying for the message today and I thought about it.
Here were these people trying to tell us what they were seeing and how great they were and their intellect was so good that they could understand these things. I thought—God made it all! You don't even know anything. Thanks for taking the pictures. I think God gave the knowledge and information of those things so that He would be glorified and they would have no excuse to say, 'This just evolved.' They don't even know what it is.
They can name this galaxy and name that galaxy and take a picture of what looks like our galaxy and they can do a little drawing and say, 'Here we are right on the tail-end of this tail of this spiral galaxy and this is where the earth is.' They have all that knowledge but they won't acknowledge God. God said, 'You are nothing but a drop in a bucket.'
Verse 15: "Behold, the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the scales… [blow them away] …behold, He takes up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts of it sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing …" (vs 15-17). What do we see today? Everybody struggling for power and might and dominance and control.
"…and they are counted by Him as less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will you compare God?…." (vs 17-18).
I want you to think on that because those that God has called and given the Holy Spirit to, so we can grow in grace and knowledge and at the resurrection be born again into the Kingdom of God as spirit beings, how great is that going to be? How fantastic is that going to be?
We got a real nice picture that we're going to put in the book, Why Were You Born? It's a brand-new baby, just born. His mother is holding and looking at him. How much does that little baby know? Nothing! The only thing it knows is that it practiced nursing by sucking its thumb before it was born.
When we are born into the Kingdom of God, on a comparable basis, how much will we really know? Very little! That's why God wants us to develop the Godly character, because eternal life needs Godly character. He's not going to have the whole universe torn apart again.
Verse 18: "To whom then will you compare God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?" Notice what He thinks about idols. Whom do you worship?
You come on down the line, here the middle ground, you come over here and you start going toward God. Maybe right at that place, just a little way from the middle, you have some Protestants. Catholics are on this side over here. Then you come down and there are churches who keep the Sabbath, so they have some knowledge.
There are some churches who keep the Passover, Churches of God, and they have some knowledge. Then it comes on down to the maximum amount that we can learn as human beings. What that is, we don't know.
Let's add in here Ezek. 14, idols in the mind: What occupies the majority of your thoughts? If you blow your mind away with terrible music, that's your god! There are narcissists who worship themselves, that's their god! But just like the grass withers and dries up, one day everybody this person knows are going to pass by the casket and they are going to see this one is dead.
What are you going to compare to God? I know, we'll make an image, v 19: "The workman melts a graven image, and the goldsmith spreads it over with gold, and casts silver chains. He who is too poor for that offering chooses a tree that will not rot …" (vs 19-20). Good cedar tree, stand up tall. In the northwest they call them totem poles.
"…he seeks for a skillful workman for himself to prepare a graven image that will not totter. Have you not known?" (vs 20-21).
Think about this! The God Who has created the heavens and the earth and everything on the earth, and all human beings on the earth, and look what men do? Where are they on the scale toward Satan the devil? I don't know, but they are certainly getting close to total delusion.
Verse 21: "Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers; it is He Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in" (vs 21-22). Trillions of light years, amazing.
What is it going to be like to live at the level that God lives? That's going to be an amazing thing. But here they are. God made men to worship Him. If they reject Him, they build their own god.
Verse 23: "Who brings the rulers to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth as vanity. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, then He shall blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away like stubble. 'To whom then will you compare Me… [Job had to have this encounter.] …or who is My equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold, Who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number? He calls them all by names by the greatness of His might, for He is strong in power; not one fails" (vs 25-26). That's quite a thing!
After seeing all that God can do here in Isa. 40, in the discussion that what about these people that God hasn't called, how do you know God didn't give them enough information somewhere along the line? You don't know. So his making that statement is an illusion of knowledge. He doesn't know.
Anyone who wants to find God can find Him. If they don't, it is their choice, so God blinds them. But He's going to safe them at a later date, not now. All of that is to prove that no other way but God's way will work—period! But it also shows the power of choice, like we talked about in the sermon, Lessons Learned from the Terrorist's Attack—Independent Free Moral Agency (IFMA). How the human mind is able to think and then also give itself over to the delusions of Satan the devil.
I don't know the end result of what this person was saying, because they are led to worship whatever, but it gets down to you either have the Spirit of God or you don't. There is no in-between.
God expects everyone in the world to keep the Ten Commandments in the letter of the law. That is required! So, people who keep some of the commandments, though they don't know them, their lives are better off, because God is no respecter of persons. But that doesn't mean that they are necessarily called for salvation.
Isaiah 41:1: "Listen to Me in silence, O isles; let the people renew their strength; let them come near; then let them speak; let us come near together for judgment. Who raised up the righteous one from the east…" (vs 1-2). He's talking about raising up of Cyrus to release the children of Judah out of captivity.
"…at whose steps victory attends? Who gives the nations before him, and made him to rule over kings? His sword makes them as the dust, His bow as windblown stubble. He pursued them; he passed on safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Who has planned and done it, calling forth the generations from the beginning? 'I, THE LORD, AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST; I AM HE'" (vs 2-4). You find that in Revelation, don't you? Yes you do! He talks again about an idol (v 7).
Verse 8: "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend." We can take this several ways:
- "My friend"—referring to Jacob himself
What was the proposition given to Israel, there at Mt. Sinai? 'If you will obey My voice, you'll be a kingdom of priests to Me.' That's what he was to do, but he didn't do it.
- "My friend"—the seed of Abraham, My friend
That can be talking of Christ, as well as all Israel, because both happened.
Verse 9: "Whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called you from its uttermost parts. And I said to you, 'You are My servant; I have chosen you, and have not cast you away.'" This can refer:
- to what Jacob and Israel are going to do during the Millennium
- to how God gave to the twelve tribes of Israel the blessings in Gen. 49 and Deut. 33 and how through them God has governed the world
It gets very expansive and very broad.
Verse 10: "Do not fear; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness."
How did we become great? You can apply this
- to Christ
- to individuals that are called
- to the nations of Israel when God determined to bless them
Remember the Scriptures we cover in Jer. 18, how God judges the nations. All of this fits together.
Many times we go through and read these verses and we don't connect them with the rest of the Bible. Taken independently they can be difficult to understand. Then it talks about bringing them into the Millennium.
Isa. 42 is quite a chapter because this is talking about Christ with also elements of Cyrus. It starts out with Christ and is identified that way.
Isaiah 42:1: "Behold, My Servant, Whom I uphold; My Elect, in Whom My soul delights.…" what happened when Peter, James and John saw the vision of transfiguration. What was it God said? 'This is My Son in Whom I delight; in Whom I am well pleased.'
This also happened: "…I have put My Spirit upon Him…" (v 1). Of course, He had God's Spirit from conception, but then when He was baptized, the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and that was a sign to John the Baptist that yes, this was the Christ. So, it applies there.
"…He shall bring forth justice to the Gentiles" (v 1). How far out is that? So look at everything that is tied into this one verse. Christ, My Elect, delights in Him. Puts His Spirit upon Him; "…He shall bring forth justice to the Gentile."
The Gospel going to them and those selected through the nations of the world, that's part of it. The majority of this is going to be when the Millennium takes place. The next fulfillment of it is the Last Great Day.
This is quite a thing to understand these verses. It relates to today. That's why people can't understand. For us to say to someone just straight off the street, 'God did this through the agency of Satan the devil for the sins of the people,' they wouldn't believe it.
Notice, it talks more about Christ, v 2: "He shall not cry out… [have a political slogan to go with] …nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street." That is in a way to solicit people to Himself as a leader would do to gather a group together and then start a movement.
Verse 3: "A bruised reed He shall not break, and a smoking wick He shall not quench; in Truth He shall bring forth justice."
Take that one statement: "…in Truth He shall bring forth justice": Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In Truth:
- His Word is Truth
- His laws are Truth
- His judgments are Truth
- His precepts are Truth
- everything He taught is the Truth
All of this is contained in this one verse. Then you tie this into
- the Millennium
- the removal of Satan the devil
- the Last Great Day when the nations are raised
So you see how broad some of these verses can be in their fulfillment. But if you read it in a restricted way, you think about this: "…in Truth He shall bring forth justice," and you think have any of the Christian religions done this? No!
Verse 4: He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He has set justice in the earth; and the isles shall wait for His Law…. [all future events] …Thus says the LORD God, He who created the heavens and stretched them out, spreading forth the earth and its offspring; He who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. 'I the LORD have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand…'" (vs 4-6), talking of Christ and secondarily, of Cyrus.
"'…and will keep You, and give You for a covenant of the people… [Christ alone] …for a Light to the Gentiles'" (v 6).
Now then, it talks about His first coming. This ties in with Isa. 61 where it says almost the same thing.
Verse 7: "'To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness out of the prison house." In type that happened to the Jews when they came out of WWII. So many different applications we have of these.
(go to the next track)
I want to pick up just on one thing in Isa. 43. There are many things you can read there:
Isaiah 43:13: "Yea, before the day was, I am He; and no one delivers out of My hand; I will work, and who can reverse it?" Think about that; that's quite a statement! God alone can reverse it.
What can make God reverse the difficulties that we see in the world today? Repentance! Nothing else will change it. Can they get enough soldiers, policemen, investigators, watchers or monitors to stop evil? No! God alone can do that!
Then He says, 'I'm going to bring you out of Babylon,' which He prophesied He would do. When you are reading Isa. 40-53, especially, you have to keep in mind: past, present, future. Israel, Judah, Christ, the Passover, the Holy Days, the meaning of the Feasts past, present and future. All of these things are added in Isaiah, line upon line; a little here, a little there; precept upon precept, which means that on this line you can have two or three precepts, as we've already seen.
So, when we're looking at all the difficulties in the world, this is why it's futile. It's interesting to watch politics, but it's futile to think you can solve very much with politics. That's why Christ has to return as King of kings, Lord of lords, rule the world. That's why He needs all of us so we can administer the Kingdom of God on earth. You're not going to do it through any political movement anywhere in the world. Not going to happen. Any religious movement, anywhere in the world, won't take place.
Very interesting statement, v 21: "This people that I formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise." God talked to Jeremiah and said, 'I knew you before you were formed.' As we've covered, because we all have genes and chromosomes, they come down from Adam and Eve, and what do you have to prove it? It's called a 'belly button'!
Another miracle takes place, because each of us have 46 genes and chromosomes, and maybe thousands more genes within those 46 chromosomes. But your mother gives you 23 and your father gives you 23, so each one of us literally are the one-flesh of our mother and father. When the phrase is 'you shall become one flesh,' that has a lot of meaning.
Isn't it interesting that every cell in your body has 46 genes and chromosomes—DNA. Your reproductive genes have 23. How did God do that? That's something we certainly can't tell! To show you how common miracles are, God has done this with virtually all life. That's why it says in Genesis, 'after their kind.'
Take that one phrase 'after their kind'; what does that mean? Think about that the next time you watch a special on NatGeo or something, and it's showing these millions of birds, flying, landing, squawking, fighting, laying eggs. There's a chick. Same thing, half from father/half from mother and there it is.
God says, 'I formed you.' Speaking of the people, you can apply this to 'I formed you for Myself!' That can apply to Christ, every individual, those who are called and how does the word formed apply spiritually? You can use another word: made.
Ephesians 2:10: "For we are His workmanship…" Now God is forming in us the character. He is forming us. See the application. 'And for Myself,' God says. Are we God's children? Yes!
Speaking of Jacob, Isaiah 43:22: "Yet, you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; much less have you troubled yourself about Me, O Israel." So, He says in v 26 'put Me in remembrance.'
Isaiah 44:1: "Yet, now hear, O Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen; thus says the LORD Who made you, and formed you from the womb … [that's quite a thing] …Who will help you, 'Fear not, O Jacob My servant, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen, for I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon your seed, and My blessing upon your offspring'" (vs 1-3).
You can take that verse and you can analyze physically for the nation of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. You can analyze it spiritually, receiving the Holy Spirit of God. How did God pour out the Spirit upon them when He began the Church (Acts 2)? You can think about this during the Millennium when He gives the Spirit to all people, especially to Israel.
Verse 6: "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer even the LORD of hosts, 'I AM THE FIRST, AND I AM THE LAST; and besides Me there is no god'"
People say, 'See, that means only one God.' No! The Father was not revealed until Christ came. This refers to no god on the earth. I suppose properly we should make that a small g, instead of a capitalized G.
Verse 7: "And who, as I, shall call and shall declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? And the things that are coming, and shall come, let them declare it to us." And nobody knows anything about anything, what's going to happen. God says what's going to happen from the beginning, everything.
Verse 8: "Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time; and have declared it? So, you are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Yea, there is no other Rock; I know not one." He's talking about on the earth.
God the Father was not revealed. The Most High, in the Old Testament, you could read that and you could say that just applies to the Lord. But with the New Testament, now you can read that as talking about God the Father. Melchizedek was Priest of the Most High. Melchizedek became Jesus Christ and His Father is the Most High.
Once you get all of these things in mind, then you can begin to put them together. But if you just say, 'I'm going to read the Bible, just pick it up and read it.' Pretty soon you get lost. That's why I recommend to people the place to start is Proverbs. First you have to learn right and wrong, good and evil, and all that sort of thing.
The next place to start is the New Testament. Then as you begin to understand some prophecies, then come back to the Old Testament and you can begin to put them together.
Someone is going to ask, 'Why are you going through this with all the things going on in the world?' Because the most important thing for us to do is:
- to know God
- to know that He is in charge of everything
- if we stay close to Him, He's going to be with us
- we don't have to be afraid
- we don't have to fear
- we don't have to worry
- we don't have to go out and see if we can solve the problems and set up a political movement; isn't going to work.
Our work is to develop the character of God for the resurrection, so we can help Christ straighten out the world. Donald Trump isn't going to do it!
Verse 9: "Those who make a graven image are all of them vanity; and the things in which they delight shall not help; and they are their own witnesses.…"
Think about this the next time you see the pope with a 'high mass.' By the way, he couldn't do it without his glasses. It's all set. No heart, memorized. Look at all the idols and images on his hat, clothes and the altar: the crosses, the sunbursts. Do you know why they have so much art in St. Peter's Basilica there? My theory is this (speculation): that is the history of Satan's religion.
This whole chapter is about being formed; formed by God or making an idol. Talks about a graven image there.
Verse 10: "Who has formed a god, or melted a graven image that is profitable for anything? Behold, all his companions shall be ashamed; and the craftsmen, they are of men. Let them all come together, let them stand up, they shall dread; they shall be ashamed together. The black smith fashions an axe. He works in the coals, and forms it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms. Then, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and is weak" (vs 10-12). All the work they go in to making idols.
Verse 13: "The carpenter fashions wood and stretches a line… [v 14]: He cuts down cedars and takes cypress and oak… [after they have made it, v 15]: … Then it shall be for a man to burn; for he will take some of it and warm himself. Yea, he kindles it and bakes bread; yea, he makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down to worship it. He burns part of it in the fire; with part of it he eats flesh; he roasts a roast and is satisfied; yea, he warms himself, and says, 'Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire.'" (vs 13-16).
This is exactly what we are doing with all of the modern stuff that we have. Everyone who runs around with texting right in front of their face, what is that? That occupies their mind! Be careful of the 'text neck'; they're finding that's a problem. So, He makes the comparison between that.
Verse 20: "He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside, so that he cannot deliver his soul. Neither does he say, 'Is this not a falsehood in my right hand?'" God blinds them, closes their eyes and their minds.
Then He says, v 21: "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for you are My servant; I have formed you; you are My servant; O Israel, you shall not be forgotten by Me." That is everything that God does, even through everything that they go through.
Verse 22: "'I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins; return to Me; for I have redeemed you.' Sing, O heavens; for the LORD has done it. Shout, O lower parts of the earth. Break out into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel" (vs 22-23). You can apply this to the Millennium. You can apply this to the Church.
Verse 24: "Thus says the LORD your Redeemer, and He Who formed you from the womb…" What God is doing is really a great and marvelous work. It's not a 'religion' so we can be better people in the world. Yes, God wants us to be better people, that's true; you can find some people who are really nice out in the world. But God hasn't called them. He is doing a work in us. Down through history He has been doing it with His people.
"…'I am the LORD Who makes all things; Who stretches out the heavens alone; Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; Who brings to nothing the signs of the liars, and makes fools of diviners; Who turns the wise backward, and makes their knowledge foolish'" (vs 24-25). You can tie that in with the Proverbs about the wise and the foolish. You can tie that in with Rom. 1 about all of those who have understanding, etc.
Isa. 45 mostly talks about Cyrus.
Isaiah 48:22: "'There is no peace,' says the LORD, 'for the wicked.'" Again, notice how He emphasizes that He creates things through procreation.
Isaiah 49:1: "Listen, O isles, to Me; and hearken, you people from afar; the LORD has called Me from the womb; He has made mention of My name from My mother's belly." That is referring directly to Christ. Gabriel told Mary to call His name Jesus.
Verse 2: "And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword … [that's how Christ talked] …in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and made Me a polished shaft. He has hidden Me in His quiver, and said to Me, 'You are My servant, O Israel … [this is Israel personified in Christ] …in whom I will be glorified'" (vs 2-3). So this is quite a thing!
I think we can understand a little bit more how the apostles preached the Gospel from the Old Testament. You go through and you can read some more there with that.
Then you come over to Isa. 53 and that talks all about the Passover. Let's come back here to the New Testament.
- Whom do you worship?
- How do you worship Him?
In John 4 when Jesus was waiting at the well in Samaria, and the woman came and asked for water. He said He would give her living water. He explained to her that the one she was with was not her husband and she had five husbands.
Then the woman answered here, John 4:19: "The woman said to Him, 'Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, but you say that the place where it is obligatory to worship is in Jerusalem.'" (vs 19-20). Which was true.
Verse 21: "Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you shall neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father.'" He has already revealed the Father.
Verse 22: "You do not know what you worship. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth; for the Father is indeed seeking those who worship Him in this manner. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth…" (vs 22-23).
- with the Spirit of God
- with the Truth of God
- with our whole minds and hearts open to God all the time
Not to anyone else. You don't confess your sins to a man in a little booth. No, you confess them to God.
"…for the Father is indeed seeking those who worship Him in this manner" (v 23). That's what God is looking for, those who want to know the Truth about God.
Verse 24: "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth."
What happens when human nature causes you to slack off?
John 3:34: "He Whom God has sent speaks the words of God… [John referring to Christ] … and God gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand" (vs 34-35).
So then, likewise it is with any minister or teacher. The one that God sends, be it one or be it many, what do they do? They speak the words of God. No traditions of men. No ideas of men, etc.
Are those who have the Spirit of God perfect in the flesh? No! We're growing; we're overcoming. We have human nature to overcome. Conversion goes on in the mind. Conversion is a process and we have to be actively involved in it all the time, because: Whom do you worship? We need to worship God in Spirit and in Truth and in zeal and in strength!
Here in Rev. 2 and 3 we have the listing of all the problems people will have who have the Holy Spirit of God and are part of the Church of God. Just like you can't be sleeping all the time or awake all the time, it's impossible to be zealous all the time. That's why we have to have prayer every day; study every day, and let God stir us up with His Spirit.
Notice what happened to the Church in Ephesus. They did a great thing. They tested all the apostles, whether they were true or not and found the false one liars. But what happened over a period of time? They forgot the principle commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and being. Then they started doing physical things.
This is Christ, first person speaking in a letter to the churches. So yes, Christ did write, but He had His secretary do it, whose name was John:
Revelation 2:4: "Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Compared to what we were talking about if you lived up in the Alps a thousand years ago. Quiet, peaceful, you didn't have all the distractions and things we have today. So, this applies to us an awful lot, as well. What you have to do is constantly remember this and this is what I keep in mind every day:
- I have nothing I didn't receive
Everything I have has come from God. Everything I will ever have comes from God.
- we live and move and have our being in Him
- have God's Spirit
We have to use it and exercise that Spirit through prayer and study every day.
Do you fall short? Do I fall short? Yes, that's why we have the Sabbath to stir us up! Then He says repent. If not, 'I'm going to take things away from you.'
The Church of Smyrna were persecuted, but the thing that they had, they were loyal to God unto death. I don't know about those at Ephesus or not, how many maybe have fallen away, but He says, 'I'll give you a crown of life. You be faithful unto death. Don't worry what's going to take place.'
The angel of the Church at Pergamos; we'll concentrate on this one and Thyatira for a reason: Satan wants to trip us up. How is he going to do that? A little at a time!
Now here they were in Pergamos, v 12: "And to the angel of the Church in Pergamos, write: 'These things says He Who has the sharp two-edged sword.'" That's quite a greeting! That's the Word of God. So He's letting them know He's going to be judging them by His Word. The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword; cuts asunder, dividing the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
What did they do here? They allowed themselves to get deceived by Satan after Antipas was martyred! While he was alive they were holding fast Christ's name:
Verse 13: "…and did not deny My faith, even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells"
They were living in the world where Satan's throne was. There was a big temple to Zeus, with a huge altar. There they had the regimented priesthood. They had all of these things and they borrowed from Satan's way and brought it into the Church. That is called the Nicolaitans.
Verse 14: "But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam…" That was another one. Balaam taught Balak to invite the children of Israel over for an ecumenical dinner. Sacrificed a lot of lambs, bulls and have dancing women. Here are all these people out there: manna, manna, what a temptation. What did they do? They fell for it hook, line and sinker!
"…to eat things sacrificed to idols…" (v 14). What would that be like today? The sacrifice of the Mass! Do they not do that in front of an idol? Yes, indeed!
Verse 15: "Moreover, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." The hierarchy!
If you go listen to the sermon Invisible Idol/Visible Man, that happened within the Church of God in our day. Never to follow a man; only as he follows Christ. You have the pushers, those who want to worship a man push him up higher and higher. Then you have the pullers who pull up all of the pushers and put them in place and then you have a hierarchy. Then you begin controlling and ruling people. God wants Christ to rule in your heart.
The Holy Spirit that God gives us has the two elements of the Father and the Son.
Colossians 3:14: "And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts…" (vs 14-15). In other words, with His peace, with His love, with His Truth (Gal. 2). God wants the peace to rule and the Word of God to rule in you. That's how they came up with this false doctrine, having set up a hierarchy:
Revelation 2:16, He says: "Repent! For if you do not repent, I will come to you quickly, and will make war against them with the sword of My mouth." He's going to judge them with His Word.
Let's hope that that doesn't spill over into doing things that come close to 'Christian Satan-worship,' which is a mori-oxon. That's backwards of an oxymoron. It's so bad it's a mori-oxon. You cannot have those who profess Christianity to be worshiping God the way Satan has people worship him. That's what has happened to the Christian church in the world. It started with Sunday, then changing Passover. Then you need to control and you have a hierarchy.
Then you come to Thyatira, and they have all of these difficulties and things that come along with this.
Verse 20: "But I have a few things against you, because you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess … [the sun-god, which is Catholicism] …to teach and to seduce My servants into committing fornication and eating things sacrificed to idols."
He gives everybody chance to repent. Even the Catholics had their chance to repent. You know what that was? Do you know when that occurred? The Council of Trent! There was a whole group of Catholics that wanted to get rid of all the traditions and everything and go just by Scripture. But when the Protestants accepted Sunday, that killed that movement.
Then He says, v 21: "And I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she did not repent. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their works. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He Who searches the reins and hearts; and I will give to each of you according to your works" (vs 21-23).
That's quite a statement, isn't it? Remember, the message is to all of the churches. You can go through the rest of the seven churches and see the difficulties that are there.
What we need to do, is we can see the world is going this way in worshiping Satan the devil and doing his will with unabashed zeal. Those in the Church of God going this way, we need to get to the point to where we are faithful with the Word of God. You heard it about the Philadelphians. That is the goal:
- be faithful with the Word of God
- keep the Word of God
- love God
- develop the character of God
Because look what's happening in the world. Look what's happening in the Church and all of these things together.
Remember, God is working and forming us. Did not Paul write that he was in fear of the Galatians 'until Christ be formed in you.'
With that we can make a little sense out of what's going on in the world, what needs to go on in our lives!
Scriptural References:
- Revelation 13:4
- Isaiah 29:9-16
- Isaiah 40:5-8
- Matthew 5:17
- Isaiah 40:13-26
- Isaiah 41:1-4, 8-10
- Isaiah 42:1-7
- Isaiah 43:13, 21
- Ephesians 2:10
- Isaiah 43:22
- Isaiah 44:1-3, 6-16, 20-25
- Isaiah 48:22
- Isaiah 49:1-3
- John 4:19-24
- John 3:34-35
- Revelation 2:4, 12-15
- Colossians 3:14-15
- Revelation 2:16, 20-23
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Revelation 12:9
- Isaiah 58
- Revelation 17; 1:7
- Ezekiel 14
- Genesis 49
- Deuteronomy 33
- Jeremiah 18
- Isaiah 61
- Acts 2
- Romans 1
- Isaiah 53
- Galatians 2
Also referenced:
Article: PARIS CONCERT CROWD WAS SINGING 'KISS THE DEVIL' AT MOMENT Of TERROR November 17, 2015 Don Campbell
(http://outcastradio.net/paris-concert-crowd-was-singing-kiss-the-devil-at-moment-of-terror)
Book: From a Speck of Dust to a Son of God: Why Were You Born? (coming soon)
Sermons:
- Lessons Learned from the Terrorist's Attack
- Invisible Idol/Visible Man
FRC:lp
Transcribed: 11-30-15
Formatted: bo—12-4-15
Copyright 2015—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.
