How to Live For God in An Evil World

(Chapter 4)
How to fight the "reassuring lies" perpetrated by Satan the devil

Fred R. Coulter—February 3, 2018

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services.

I think 2-Cor. 4 very fitting with the things that have been going on recently, and how it is especially with our conversations that we've had before services about how difficult it is to find the Truth, even in places where they say they want the Truth. 2-Cor. 4 becomes very interesting and very helpful for us to understand

  • what's happening in the world
  • what's happening in the churches that call themselves Christians
  • how we know who is who and doing what
  • it is very difficult

Paul writes, 2-Corinthians 4:1: "Therefore, having this ministry, according as we have received mercy, we are not fainthearted. For we have personally renounced the hidden things of dishonest gain…" (vs 1-2).

That would be nice if those in Washington, D.C., would do that. Look at all the trouble that we're having today with that, and also in religion.

"…not walking in cunning craftiness… [having a personal agenda] …nor handling the Word of God deceitfully…" (v 2).

  • How is that done?
  • How many churches have the Bible?
  • How many preach from the Bible?
  • How many use the Bible?
  • How man don't handle it honestly?

They may read certain verses, and those verses coming from the Word of God are true, but how do they apply it? It's been a difficult proposition for centuries.

Here is how it is done, v 2: "…by manifestation of the Truth…" Let's stop for just a minute and think. What is Truth?

  • the Word of God
  • commandments of God
  • laws of God
  • statutes of God
  • God Himself: impossible to lie
  • Jesus Christ: the Way, the Truth and the Life

The Word of God which has been inspired and caused to be written by God, with His Spirit of the Truth, to contain for us what we need. How then do we avoid the twisting of Scriptures?

2-Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not like the many, who for their own profit are corrupting the Word of God… [How can you preach some of the Word of God and corrupt the Word of God?] …but we speak with sincerity, as from God, and before God, and in Christ."

What is one of the things that we are to do in proving what is true, what is right, and what is the Word of God, and how people handle it, even though they're not honest with it? Or, they have their own agenda that they want to accomplish? What did Jesus say?

We're going to talk a whole lot about Satan the devil today. Let's come to Matt. 4 and the temptation of Jesus by Satan the devil, which tells us how we are to look at things and judge things and know what is right and what is wrong. With the Word of God especially today—and we have the whole Word of God—what we need to realize is that using part of the Word of God is like going to court and someone is giving testimony, but they only give part of the testimony.

Right here, this tells us several things. Matthew 4:3: "And when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.'" He had full power to do that, without a doubt.

Verse 4: "But He answered and said, 'It is written…'" You have to go to the Word of God. How much of the Word of God? You have those who say 'we follow the Old Testament only.' You have those who say 'we follow the New Testament only.' But like all of us had to do, in coming to the Truth:

  • we had to check it
  • we had to prove it
  • we had to understand it

so we would know is it the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth! Or, is that just a word said, but not really delivered?

"…'Man…'" (v 4). This applies to every man and every woman. Since Jesus was God manifested in the flesh, as a man, He was speaking of Himself as well.

"…'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God'" (v 4).

Since the Word of God is the Truth, it has to be every word. Some words are easy to understand; some words are harder to understand. But that's where you start. Then with this measure, you follow through with what Paul wrote, 'Prove all things.'

We were talking before services and Mack was telling us about his searches over the past 40 years. It's quite amazing how many churches he has checked out on. We'll have to have him tell us a little more of that story sometime so everybody will know. He's really checked them out.

I'm not going to cover it today, but I'm just going to show you what was sent to me by Albert Ackerman in Texas. How did he prove? Remember, every Word of God.

Sure enough, they're going to say, 'What about the sacrifices?' We have a greater one, we have Christ! 'What about a temple?' God has a different way of doing today, which is better!

So, here this man studied, I think it is, 26 different translations. He found in the New Testament alone over 2900 missing words in the modern translations.

To show you how they deceitfully use the Word of God with improper translations, rather than going by every Word of God—we'll just take this one example:

1-John 4:1: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God… [that's what you do to prove all things] …because many false prophets have gone out into the world…. [they keep that verse] …By this test you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God" (vs 1-2).

In these 26 translations, only 4 of them—and this one is the 5th, he didn't include this one—have the phrase 'that Christ has come in the flesh.' What does that do to the whole Gospel? It waters it down and can provide something else! This is why it has to be by every Word of God.

What does this also show us? This shows us the work of Satan. He wants to do all he can to discredit God.

Let's read something about Satan. What do we also find in the Scriptures concerning Satan? What was his original sin? He wanted to take over from the Most High (Isa. 14), replace God. Since he couldn't replace God, and he lost the battle and was thrown down to the earth, now his goal is to corrupt as much as he can.

Out of that mess, God calls people. So that's another whole topic, but let's continue on here. Here's what happens:

2-Corinthians 4:3: "But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing; in whom the god of this age…" What was the temptation of Jesus by Satan concerning the world? If You worship me, I'll give it all to You!

"…has blinded the minds of those who do not believe…" (v 4). That's an interesting statement. How many people actually really, really believe every Word of God? That doesn't mean that they know it, but they understand that it does come from God. What does that do with these 26 translations, that leave out many, many words and phrases? The truth is, it is known. The truth is, you can find the whole Truth.

"…lest the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them" (v 4).

How do you tell a preacher who is preaching the Truth consistently from someone who is preaching it partially?

Verse 5: "For we do not preach our own selves but Christ Jesus the Lord… " Key thing in understanding where the Truth is. If men preach themselves instead of Christ, and preach what they are doing instead of giving all the glory to God that everything is done to serve God and serve the brethren, that's a good sign for you to understand.

"…and ourselves for servants for Jesus' sake" (v 5).

Keep this in mind and let's look and see what else the Bible tells us about Satan—Rev. 12:9—this is one we should all have memorized. How good is Satan the devil? He's very good!

That reminds me of the cartoon I had last week. The problem isn't that we don't have access to the Truth, it's that most people don't want to hear it. This one here is inconvenient truth and reassuring lie!

What is a reassuring lie about the Christianity of this world? Have you ever heard it from a preacher? It is: 'God's love is unconditional and it doesn't matter what you do as long as you're God's.' How do they say you become part of God? By standing up and making a public profession of Christ! That may not be exactly what the Bible is saying, but that's what they teach. There is the reassuring lie!

What's another reassuring lie? Sabbath! Which day is the Sabbath? So, they say, 'everybody keeps Sunday, so we'll go with Sunday.' How thorough is that. You can add into it the other religions, but we're just focusing on Christianity. All the other religions are deceived, too, and are from Satan the devil.

This is a most important verse for understanding, especially living in the end-time; Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…" That is active, present-tense participle, meaning it is ongoing.

Stop and think about it—the whole world. That means that those who are Christ's are very few, and it's intended that way. God has to deal with each one.

Let's see something else concerning Satan the devil. Let's see how he works and we will see how that is multiplied today with all the modern media, all the means that are available to do so.

Eph. 2 tells us quite a bit we need to know about how God deals with us; Ephesians 2:1: "Now you were dead in trespasses and sins." This tells us that if you're actively living in sin, spiritually you are dead.

Verse 2: "In which you walked in times past…" There has to be repentance, baptism, all of these things to bring us out of the world and to receive God's Spirit.

"…according to the course of this world… [which is deceived] …according to the prince of the power of the air…" (v 2)—Satan the devil!

He's able to send thought-waves out to people and they're able to receive them because they are not looking to God. Think about what Satan has today to help him: all the technology, entertainment, movies, television, sports, everything.

Just take the Sabbath Day today. What all has been happening from Friday night to Saturday night on the Sabbath Day in whatever city or place you live. All designed to break the Sabbath!

To show you another deceitful thing in the world, they talk about Christ. They talk about all the things that He's supposed to do and be doing. Then they say, 'We'll see you in church on Sunday.' What's happened to Sunday-keeping churches? Satan's confusing them even more and more!

"…the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (v 2).

What happens when you handle the Word of God deceitfully? They have Islam come in and you have Chrislam, where they read the Koran and they read the Bible. Even in the Vatican they have Muslim prayers given. So how deceived is the whole world? Let's look at a couple more verses. People do not think of Satan this way, but this is how it happens when you become complacent.

2-Timothy 2:23: "But foolish and ignorant speculations reject…" We get a lot of those and we have to prove if they are right or if they are wrong, whatever.

"…knowing that they engender arguments" (v 23). Have we been through all of that? Yes, still go through!

Verse 24: "Now, it is obligatory that a servant of the Lord not be argumentative, but gentle toward all, competent to teach, forbearing, in meekness correcting those who set themselves in opposition; if perhaps God may grant them repentance unto acknowledging of the Truth" (vs 24-25). What has to happen when you come across Truth?

  • you have to admit that it is true
  • you have to admit that you've been believing things not true

Verse 26: "And that they may wake up… [there are a lot of people who are in the category of sleeping spiritually] …and escape from the devil's snare, who have been taken captive by him to do his will."

Doesn't that describe the world today? Taken captive to do his will. Wrong religion, all the sex problems, drug problems, whatever. Look at all of the doctors we have today. Some of them do pretty good, but how many things kill many people because of the drugs that they have?

How do we live in such a world, with so much pressure against us, from so many different angles?

  • God has provided His Word
  • God has provided His Sabbath

Those who will preach the Truth God can use to call people to understand the Truth! That's another whole subject there, but:

  • How does it start in our lives?
  • How can we live in this world that is deceived by Satan the devil and yet not find ourselves entrapped by it?

Matthew 22:37: "And Jesus said to him… [after He was asked which is the greatest commandment] …'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'"

That's what it has to be. God first, loving Him with all your soul, with all your heart, with all your mind. That's how, and with God's Spirit. Can't be any other way. If the world is powerless before Satan, we need:

  • the Word of God
  • the help of God
  • the Spirit of God
  • the Truth of God

so that we can survive in this terrible world! Look at what's going on in the world, not counting the political things you see all the time. Everything is upside down and backward!

Jesus said, v 38: "This is the first and greatest commandment." This is the whole focal point of what we are to be doing.

Verse 39: "'And the second one is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets'" (vs 39-40).

How do we then put this together in a practical manner to do it on a daily basis?

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Let's see how we put all of this together. How do you live by every Word of God? The first and greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and being, and your neighbor as yourself. We know we have the other commands of loving the brethren, and so forth, even loving your enemies. The best way to love your enemies is pray they'll stay far away from you. That's the best way.

Proverbs 3:1: "My son, do not forget my law…" How do you remember the Law of God? You study it! If you don't study something and go over it, you'll forget it.

Jonathan does drafting, one of the best drafters in the world, architectural drafting. He also writes reviews for all of these very high complex technical things from Samsung. They recognize him as one of the best writers and reviewers. What if he quit using his computer, quit using all of his material in drafting plans, how long would he remember it? He's got to continually upgrade, keep ahead of it. Same way with Mack working with metals and welding. Same way with Jack with mechanics. Same thing!

"…but let your heart keep my commandments" (v 1). This tells you it has to become a very part of your very being.

Verse 2: "For they shall add length of days…" Look at all the young people that die early. How many people died of opioid overdose just this year? 67,000! Just that one thing! How many died because of other afflictions: car accidents, accidents at home. We're not talking about just a natural death at old age. We're talking about being cut off at a younger age.

"…and long life, and peace, to you. Do not let mercy and Truth forsake you…" (vs 2-3). We go right back where we started: What is Truth? Don't let it forsake you. Because what happens? Wherever there is a vacuum, something fills it.

If you forsake the Truth, what will fill that vacuum? Error! Where does false doctrine within the Church come? From ministers and brethren who are not doing what it says right here in Prov. 3! They get all settled in, they have a routine. They go to Sabbath services and the Holy Days and all of this thing. They have their friends, and they think they're okay. Then BAM! Along comes a false doctrine.

"…bind them around your neck… [make them a part of your being] …write them upon the tablet of your heart" (v 3). How is that done? By God's Spirit!

Hebrews 10:16: "…I will give My Laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds." That's what it is here in Matt. 22. Does the Old Testament agree with the New Testament? Obviously, yes!

Proverbs 3:4: "And so you shall find favor… [grace] …and good understanding in the sight of God and man." Whenever you read something like this, say okay, what is the opposite?

  • you won't know God's way
  • your mind and heart will be all mixed up
  • you won't know what to do
  • you'll find you'll have difficulty wherever you go

What is this to lead to? Trust, which is another word for faith! Trusting means the action of faith-izing toward God. You love God. You believe God. You have faith in God and now you act upon that faith because you believe. Therefore, you are trusting God for whatever you do!

Verse 5: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart…" Doesn't that tie in with that first and greatest commandment: with all your heart?

"…and lean not to your own understanding" (v 5). That's where people get themselves in trouble. That's why we have the whole book of Proverbs.

I got an e-mail from a young man who says, 'What do I do with my life?' I said, 'You start with Proverbs. You start by finding out what's right, what's wrong, what's good.' Actually Proverbs is another proof concerning the credibility of the Bible. Everything in the book of Proverbs tells you what you need to know on a practical, every day basis of living.

It starts out in the Prov. 1. It warns that if you don't follow wisdom, if you don't do something with your life and with your mind, you're going to get in trouble. When you get in trouble, it's going to get so bad that if you don't turn, nothing's going to come and solve the problem.

Then all of Prov. 2 shows how you must apply your heart, your mind, and really seek after knowledge and understanding. Those things on a continuous basis through your whole life.

"…and lean not to your own understanding" (v 5). How does that work? The more you put the Word of God into your mind through study with the Spirit of God, the more you will make your decisions based upon the things of God, the laws of God, the commandments of God, the precepts that are there!

Verse 6: "In all your ways acknowledge Him…" Why? Think about it for a minute!

I know I told you, I generally wake up somewhere around midnight and I keep a supply of apples in the refrigerator. I go get an apple and I go sit down in the chair, eat the apply. I enjoy the apple and to me Fuji is the best tasting. I sit there and I think what a fantastic thing that God has done. You look at everything He's created just for the earth, for all of mankind: food, air, water, things that we can make and build and do, and things like that. God gives that even to people that know nothing about Him.

I am sure that if someone in Japan, or Russia, or China, had a Fuji apple, it would taste really good to that individual, just like it does when I eat it. So that also shows that God is no respecter of persons with those things. That's quite a thing. He keeps the earth moving, the moon moving, the sun moving in the galaxy and everything God has done. Therefore, we live and move and have our being within Him, so we need to acknowledge Him in all our ways.

Notice the blessing that will come: "…and He shall direct your paths" (v 6). How does He do that?

  • He's got a lot of angels out there to protect us and watch over us
  • He will give us understanding with His Spirit as we need to make decisions
  • He will help us see where we're wrong
  • He will help us overcome things and difficulties that come along

One of the greatest verses in the Bible is v 7. This is designed to keep us from thinking more about ourselves then we ought to. When you come to the understanding of how really deceitful and awful that human nature actually is, then you will realize.

The comment was made on Prov. 14:12 and Prov. 16:25. If you don't follow what's here in Prov. 3, then you're going to do those two verses. What will happen, 'there's a way that seems right to a man and a woman, but the ways thereof are the ways of death,' and sorrow and destruction along the way. Because you think you're right!

When people gives themselves over to evil, if you want to know how that works, watch the program, I Almost Got Away With It. I saw one the other night. This man was so smart, so clever, and made so much money. He got in and out of jail and was able to fool everybody. He had 15 aliases, but he got caught, because they always make a mistake, whoever does it. The police know that, so they do all the tracking.

They finally tracked him down and he was out for a long, long time. He escaped out of jail six times. He even had the audacity for one of his friends who was in juvenile detention to pretend that he was a psychologist to help him, and the authorities let him in. He'd go and counsel this young man. They were actually setting up and planning how they were going to get him out of there. There is a way that seems right, the end thereof are the ways of death!

Verse 7: "Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD… [be in awe of God. There are some things that you can do that may result in immediate extinguishing of your life, not all things, but fear Him] …and depart from evil."

What does the New Testament say about avoiding fornication? Flee, get away from it! Now here's why: God wants to bless you and even people in the world that do well. Those blessings come from God. That doesn't mean God is calling them. That just means God is upholding His Word and God is no respecter of persons.

With God calling us to know and understand about salvation, that should tell us an awful lot about God's calling and what we need to be doing.

Verse 8: "It shall be health to your navel…" Where does sickness mostly come? From your mouth down through the rest of your digestive system. What is the center of that? Your navel! How did you get the navel? That's because that was connected to the placenta. That's how your mother in carrying you gave you nourishment so you could grow and develop and be born. When it says navel, it means the very inner most part of your being.

Verse 9: "Honor the LORD with your substance..." and so forth.

Let's see some other things that tie right in with this. In Matt. 5 it tells us about our attitudes, about our thoughts, and what we need to do, and how blessings come. Then He also tells us how to keep the commandments in the spirit of the Law in Matt. 5-7. Blessings come this way.

Matthew 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven"—resulting in eternal life; living in the Kingdom of Heaven.

What is that going to be like? The closest we can understand is read Rev. 21 and 22. But what does this tell us? Not very much really!

Verse 4: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." We've talked about comfort in the first couple sessions of 2-Cor. That comes from God.

Verse 5: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

If you want to know what it says about the proud, study the Word through the book of Proverbs. God resists the proud.

Verse 6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." This ties in with everything that has to do with how we avoid Satan and not get caught up in his deceptions and his traps, whether in the world, whether in the Church, whether in false doctrine, or whatever.

That's why study every day is important. Prayer every day is important. That is like spiritual breathing and eating—if we could liken it to it.

Verse 7: "'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven'" (vs 7-10).

You go through the whole thing and this tells us about every experience we will have as a Christian living in the world with the Spirit of God, pointing toward the Kingdom of God.

What is all this going to end up in? Sometimes things get so bad you wonder what's up. It's all pointing to v 48, which sums it up:

Verse 48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect…" This is what God is doing. He's perfecting us through everything that we do, every experience we go through: some good, some bad. Many of them we have to repent of every day.
Think of this in relationship to what we've been covering in the series, God the Father Was Not the God of the Old Testament.

Verse 48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect."

What does this verse tell us? Think on this verse for a little bit. "Therefore, you shall be… [become] …perfect…" The work of God in us is to make us like Him! That's something!

Now you understand why God hates religion, because religions are designed to take you away from God by improperly using and deceitfully manipulating the words of God, or entirely rejecting it and having another religion.

Sidebar: Have you ever seen concerning the Buddhists? Have you ever seen them where they're all together and they're all going, 'Aaaaaaa.' Then on certain days they have these long horns and they blow these long horns. You know what they're trying to do? Empty their minds of evil, which in itself is a deception, because 'the mind is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.'

Yes, you may make yourself totally non-thinking while you're doing all of the chanting. You may empty your mind of some things, but when you're done chanting, have you changed human nature? NO! God's way is to completely convert and change human nature. The question is:

  • Would v 48 be fulfilled at the resurrection? Partially!
  • How long has the Father been in existence?
  • How long has He been perfect?
  • How much more do we have to learn when we're resurrected and have the minds and bodies capable of learning spiritual things on a level that's completely different from what we are able to do as human beings?

This verse actually reaches way out into time and space. That's why Satan wants to get at the Church, deceive the Church. How do you do that? Like everything else that Satan does: a little bit at a time when you let your guard down!

Stop and think, our Church experience, what happened? The Church got so filled with carnal-ism and everything, that it just flew apart.

Then we have on what we need to be doing. I'll let you read Matt. 6 and study that; v 33 is the summation. Of course, the whole Bible is built around these two verses. The whole process for eternal life is built around v 48 and everything that has to lead to that is all the rest of the Bible. This is the pinnacle of it. So here is what we are to do daily:

Matthew 6:33: "But as for you, seek first… [primary goal, everything that we're doing] …the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…'"—which comes from being perfected! It is true, we're perfected to a certain degree in our lives and prepared for the resurrection.

The greatest perfection is that when you die, your carnal mind is ended. So, when we're resurrected, we will have a spiritual mind and body. What can we do with that? We'll have to wait until we're there and find out what God has for us.

"…seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you'" (v 33). Cannot God provide for us greater than anything we can possibly think of? What's it going to be like to live in New Jerusalem? That's an amazing thing!

Everything that Jesus has said is predicated on what happens in your life. There are a lot of people out there who think they're Christians, have partial knowledge.

Every time I mention that, I think of this Amoco transmission ad. It shows this transmission just kind of blowing apart, every little piece. Amoco brings it all together so it works. Look at it this way. Human life is like that transmission that has blown apart. The only thing that can bring it back together the way it should be is:

  • God
  • His purpose
  • His plan

Matthew 7:13: "Enter in through the narrow gate…"—because it's not having partial knowledge. Just like the transmission. What if you leave out a part?

"…for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it" (v 13).

Think on this. What if people use part of the Bible and live a pretty good life? There are a lot of people like that! It's just like building a house on sand. In Sand City they like to build houses there because the ground is flat, they can compact the sand, they can make the foundation troughs perfect. Everything is easy to build, so they build a house.

What are you going to do when the tsunami wave comes in and it wipes it out? Think of that! Doesn't matter what the façade is up here. Doesn't matter how good it is up here if it's not build on Christ, the true Christ, the way God wants it built, it will not last!

Verse 21: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but the one who is doing the will of My Father, Who is in heaven."

They very rarely read that last sentence of it. What is the will of the Father in heaven? It's all in the Bible!

Verse 22: "Many will say to Me in that day…" They're going to be resurrected and think, 'Oh, boy, look we made it.'

"…'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy through Your name? And did we not cast out demons through Your name? And did we not perform many works of power through Your name?'" (v 22).

They don't get the answer they expect, v 23: "And then I will confess to them, 'I never knew you… [Lord, we did this, we did that] …Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.'"

I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but it stuck in my mind. John Hagee, one of the most powerful Protestant preachers, he's talking about how they need to give money to support his ministry. Hagee says, 'You do this. You take care of your responsibility, and keeping Sunday, and being in services, and God will take care of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.'

What's going to happen? Is John Hagee going to be one of those who said, 'Lord, look what I did'? "…you who work lawlessness…" If you reject the commandments of God, you're lawless!

Verse 24: "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and practices them… [Greek is poieo, continuous doing] …I will compare him to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock; and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; but it did not fall…" (vs 24-25).

They're finding this, that insurance companies and builders are wanting to build strong concrete houses in areas where there are hurricanes. Why? Because they get through it! Maybe they lose a window or two, but the house is intact.

Next time you watch an aerial photo of an area where there's been a hurricane and there's a house that's still standing, take careful look at it and you'll see it's made out of concrete with wrought iron reinforcement.

"…but it did not fall, for it was founded upon the rock" (v 25).

We need to look at it this way. It doesn't matter what the world is doing, we can't change that, only God can. But we have to take care of our own lives, as Jesus said, and build on that Rock!

Verse 26: "And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not practice them shall be compared to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (vs 26-27).

So, this gives us how we need to conduct our lives, living in a world that is controlled by Satan the devil!

Scriptural References:

  • 2-Corinthians 4:1-2
  • 2-Corinthians 2:17
  • Matthew 4:3-4
  • 1-John 4:1-2
  • 2-Corinthians 4:3-5
  • Revelation 12:9
  • Ephesians 2:1-2
  • 2-Timmothy 2:23-26
  • Matthew 22:37-40
  • Proverbs 3:1-3
  • Hebrews 10:16
  • Proverbs 3:4-9
  • Matthew 5:3-10, 48
  • Matthew 6:33
  • Matthew 7:13, 21-27

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

  • Isaiah 14
  • Proverbs 1; 2; 14:12; 16:25
  • Revelation 21, 22

Also referenced: Sermon Series: God the Father Was Not the God of the Old Testament

FRC:lp
Transcribed:3-16-18
Formatted: 03/20/18

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