Last Day of Unleavened Bread 2018—LIVE

Satan Never Gives Up!

God helps us, fights for us and forgives our sins,
but we've got to be faithful to the Word of God under all circumstances

Fred R. Coulter—April 6, 2018

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The only type of week that Christ could have been crucified in was when there was a Wednesday, 4th day of the week, Passover. Also, you go back, and I've mentioned this before:

• God set the sun and moon in its proper place on the 4th day
• Jesus was crucified on the 4th day
• Jesus ascended into heaven on the 4th day

Three days and three nights, ascended in the morning on

• the Wave Sheaf Offering Day—the 4th day from the Passover
• Jesus began His ministry in a Jubilee Year, the 50th year, which begins on the Day of Atonement, and that is in the middle of the week on a Wednesday, 26A.D.

then we have

• 40 days of tempting of Satan the devil
• 44 months—Jesus ministry, because there were 2 leap years in His 3-1/2 year ministry
• ascended to the Father on the 4th day
• after coming back He was with the disciples 40 days

Sidebar: Why did God wait for the 4th day to set the sun and the moon in its proper place? It had been there before, but because of the war with Satan the devil and everything, it all get out of shape. So, God reset it on the 4th day. Then on the 5th day He created all the animals that need to follow the sun and the proper magnetics of the earth for their various pathways and lives. The fish need it, the birds need it, etc.

God does everything in proper time and in proper order. Jonathan designs houses and is an excellent and marvelous designer of houses. He knows that he cannot have certain things out of place, because it won't pass code. Everything has to pass God's code, which is what He said! No man can add to what God has said, that God must accept it.

We have to reason with the Scriptures properly, led by the Holy Spirit to put it together in a way that conforms to everything else that God has said. There are no contradiction in the Bible. There may be apparent contradictions, but those need to be solved in the light of other Scriptures to give us the full meaning of it, because it's not all in one place. For the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

Leviticus 23:7: "On the first day you shall have a Holy convocation. You shall not do any servile work therein, but you shall offer a fire offering to the LORD seven days…." (vs 7-8).

We don't offer offerings at the temple, and this is referring to all of the temple offerings. This is not necessarily referring to the individual offerings that people would bring.

"…In the seventh day is a Holy convocation. You shall do no servile work therein" (v 8).

Then we find how we are to give on the Holy Days, because we are to give of our substance. On the Holy Days there are certain Scriptures we must cover, because those contain the meaning of the Holy Days.

Deuteronomy 16:16: "Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God…" That doesn't give women an out; some may not be able to travel because they're pregnant. Some may not be able to travel because they're assisting with the sick at home.

Even when the Jews were in the Diaspora, they didn't all come to Jerusalem for the Feast. They could do it when they all lived in the area of what we call the 'Holy Land' today, which is one of the most unholy lands in the world today. It's better to call it Palestine, because it's neither Israel… I suppose we shouldn't call it Palestine either because it doesn't belong to the Palestinians.

What they would do is send their offerings by an official delegation from their local congregation to bring it to the temple. How they had the services in the local synagogues we don't know. But when you look at it today… I saw a shot of a synagogue and guess what they had in the background? A choir! Guess what they had in front of that? A lectern! Guess what they had in front of that? All of the important people up front!

The Jews sell the seats in the synagogue. The one who buys and pays the most, gets the prime seat. That sounds like that runs in the genes! When you read James 2, God is telling you it's entirely different.

"…in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty, every man shall give as he is able… [this  is in addition to whatever animal sacrifice that he may want to give] …according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you" (vs 16-17).

That's how we are to do it. Paul says that 'the grace of God is sufficient' if we 'sow sparingly we will reap sparingly.' If we 'sow abundantly, we will reap abundantly.'

I was surprised to see that scene in a synagogue, almost the same as a Protestant.

(pause for the offering)

Satan never gives up, but God is always greater! Bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt required a tremendous number of miraculous plagues. Let's take a quick review, because this will tie into where we come to in Exo. 14 to show that Satan never gives up, but God has a plan for him!

First of all, God heard the prayer, called Moses and sent him to go into Egypt and said that 'your brother Aaron will meet you when you get into Egypt and you go to Pharaoh and say, 'Let my people go!'

Here's a rod and you take it and it's going to be your authority and power. God said in another place, 'You will be a god to Pharaoh and Aaron will be your spokesman.' Does that sound like an operation in heaven? The Father and the Son? Yes, indeed! The Son is called the Word! So, He's a Spokesman!

Later on, Moses did all the talking when he overcame all of his temerity. So, the first plague was 'cast your rod down on the ground and it will become a serpent.' This shows that Satan has identical powers, because the priests of Pharaoh—priests of all the pagan gods—cast down their rods and the rods became serpents, as well, but the one from the Lord ate up all of theirs.

The next plague was to 'take your rod and cast it over the waters and all the waters turned to blood.'

What I'm telling you about all of these things that in the booklet How Credible is the Bible? by Duncan MacLeod, there are historic recordings by the Egyptians that these things did absolutely take place. We're not reading some fairytale here.

The pagan priests were able to duplicate that, and then the third plague was frogs. In the Nile they have very large frogs, and great huge mouths. Can you imagine the bellowing of the whole land filled with frogs? How did they get there? Well, God probably created them instantaneously! The Nile couldn't have contained all of them and then cover the whole land.

Now then, the magicians were able to do that. After that the land stunk. Can you imagine the big piles of frogs? I don't know how long it took to get rid of all of them, but they probably had to burn them. So, you can imagine what the air smelled like with all of that.

The fourth plague was lice, in everything, everywhere, and the priests of the Egyptians could not duplicate that. Even when they are defeated, even when Satan knows the 'jig is up' he still doesn't stop!

Exodus 8:19: "And the priests said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.'…." This is important to understand from this point of view: Satan never gives up, even though he knows it's of God!

"…And Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them, as the LORD had said. And the LORD said to Moses, 'Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh. Lo, he comes forth to the water….'" (vs 19-20).

Verse 21: "And if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you…"—big ones! Nasty ones! Everywhere over everything! And even then Pharaoh didn't get it.

Then the next one was murrain that caused boils to be on the animals, all the livestock and the people. Where did God use boils before? With Job! That's #7; # 8 is the hail, and I'm sure that these were not little, itty-bitty stones that came down. As I'm reading this, you can see the parallel in the book of Revelation where God uses the same things against the armies that Satan has raised up to fight Christ.

After that is the locust and then #10 is darkness for three days. So bad no one could see each other, but there was light for the children of Israel. So, the Egyptians said, 'Okay, we'll let you go.' But God had one more plague!

I want you to think about all the destruction that Egypt would have been left with. When you go back and analyze all of those plagues, everything that took place.

The last plague is the 11th one. What is #11 in the numbering of God's system? Judgment! This is the final judgment against the Egyptians. Think about how many people had already died because of all of the plagues that came. Now here comes the death of the firstborn of all men and women. If it's a woman firstborn, she's dead. It was the firstborn, and all the beasts. Finally, Pharaoh let the children of Israel go.

Israel goes out with a 'high hand,' they take their journey, God is with them in the pillar of fire by night and the cloud in the daytime to lead them.

I'm sure that the cloud was a covering over them so when they were out in the desert area—it wasn't completely desert like we have today—they had shade from the clouds.

They're all ready to go, and now God says that He's going to do something. Here's a very important thing to understand: When God begins to intervene in our lives and helps us and rescues us, there may be things that happen that you don't expect to happen, because God is also testing us. This is what happened"

Exodus 14:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal Zephon….' [on the other side of the Red Sea] …You shall camp before it by the sea, for Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, "They are trapped in the land; the wilderness has shut them in." And I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he will follow them. And I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, so that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.' And they did so" (vs 1-4).

God uses His power to show His power so that the people who do not know Him will know Him!

Ezekiel 39:11: "'And it will be in that day that I will give to Gog a burial place there in Israel—the valley of those who pass by, east of the sea. And it shall block off those who pass by. And there they shall bury Gog and all his multitude. And they shall call it, The Valley of the Multitude of Gog. And the house of Israel shall bury them, to cleanse the land, seven months. And all the people of the land shall bury them, and it shall be to them a day of renown, the day that I shall be glorified,' says the Lord GOD" (vs 11-13).

Verse 21: "And I will set My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgments which I have executed, and My hand that I have laid on them. So, the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel was exiled for their iniquity. Because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore, I hid My face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness…" (v s 21-24).

That's when all the nations shall know that God is God, because of all the plagues that He brings upon them.

Exodus 14:5: "And the king of Egypt was told that the people fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people. And they said, 'Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?' And he made his chariot ready and took his people with him" (vs 5-6).

Just think about how many are left, how few that there really are. But nevertheless, Satan is never going to give up! We can draw parallels in the book of Revelation with what's going to happen in the end-time. This is similar to it. Of course, Pharaoh is a type of Satan and his army is a type of the demons.

Verse 7: "And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And he pursued the children of Israel, and the children of Israel went out with a high hand" (vs 7-8).

Think about what it was with the children of Israel. God was with them and leading them, and they were going out of Egypt. They thought that they were going to go to the 'promised land' soon. But God had to test them, and also to destroy the rest of the army of the Egyptians.

When you look into history, the Hyksos came in and took over Egypt and it was a wasteland for nearly 400 years because of what happened. This also shows that when it doesn't go the way that we think, we resort to the old human nature. You have to blame someone else, so that's what they did.

Verse 11: "And they said to Moses, 'Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt?…. [plenty of room in Egypt for graves] …Why have you dealt this way with us to carry us forth out of Egypt?'"

Notice how many times this also happens to us; we have second thoughts. That's why we have the Feast of Unleavened Bread, so that every year we focus in on the deception of human nature so that we don't have second thoughts about things that God is doing with us, to us and through us.

Verse 12: "Did we not tell you this word in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians?'…." That's not true, is it? What was happening is that they were crying to God to help them, 'we're being oppressed.' So, God got them out of there.

"…for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.' And Moses said to the people…" (vs 12-13).

Here's where we learn the lesson that we've got to start thinking from God's point of view:

"…'Fear not!…. [it's easy to say not to fear; however]: …Stand still… [don't get so excited, don't start running away] …and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will work for you today… [we have to wait on God, and He will do it] …for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again! The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still'" (vs 13-14).

Now, this is what we need to do: Whenever there is a problem that is more than you can handle, take it to God and ask Him to work it out and help you see how He's going to work it out as it comes.

Have you ever had a difficulty or problem and you just struggle with it and struggle with it, and finally one day you realize that God intervened to help you. God doesn't come along to intervene immediately. He waits until the opportune time. Like with this, this was the opportune time. "The LORD shall fight for you, and you shall be still."

Verse 15: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Why do you cry to Me? Speak to the children of Israel that they go forward.'" Always remember that, regardless of the circumstances we go forward!

Don't live in the past. Ask yourself: How many problems do I have today because I'm living in the past? Forget the past! We're to forget the things that are behind.

Verse 16: "And you—lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it…." That was a huge gap for them to through. The children of Israel were all in a narrow column along the edge of the sea. Going across the sea on dry land was not like you see in the movies. Do you know how long it would have taken them to cross through the Red Sea if it were just single file or column? It had to be the whole column doing a flanking movement and they all went across and got there on the other side in a very short period of time. Otherwise, it would have taken hours and hours for the children to get across.

When God does a miracle, it's not the sea of reeds where you splash through about three inches of water. This is the Red Sea moved back probably four or five miles. Then it dried up so the children of Israel could, in mass, quickly get to the other side.

So, in the morning God lifted the veil that separated between the Egyptians and the children of Israel. The Egyptians saw that the children of Israel went across, 'it's dry, let's go get them!' (v 24).

They all charged in there with their chariots and soldiers to go get the children of Israel. After all they were totally spoiled. They had slaves to do everything.

Sidebar: Think about how many slaves you would have to have to help you run a household, to replace all of your electrical slaves:

• washer and dryer
• refrigerator
• vacuum cleaner
• electric lights
• air conditioning
• heater

You'd need slaves to help you with all of that! How would you heat your water? Every time people think about slavery, they don't think about what it would be if they had to give up all of the modern conveniences that they have.

• What if you had to get rid of your car and get a horse or a donkey?
• What would you do?
• How would you get a replacement?
  • you'd have to know a little bit about breeding
  • you'd have to know a little bit about how to take care of the newborn calf, donkey, whatever
    • How about all the food that we eat that's delivered here?
    • How about all the farmers with their great equipment and they can do hundreds of acres of land that one man could not handle?

Stop and think that when all of those slaves become inoperable when the disaster at the end-time happens. Think of what that's going to be like!

Do you have enough food for a year for the next crop to grow? All your nice neighbors are going to suddenly become very hostile!

So, the Egyptians were all destroyed in the Red Sea; their chariots were smashed, their wheels were removed. The children of Israel were telling God what a wonderful fighter He was, victorious and He was for them and everything was wonderful and good. For three days they were joyful until they got thirsty. Then they came to the place where there was water, but it was bitter and they couldn't drink it. What happened, again? It was Moses' fault!

Sidebar: Whenever God did something for the people, they were the people of God. Whenever the Israelites rebelled, they were Moses' people!

Think about all the way through everything that happened. Think about how Satan is there, even at the most important time of giving the Ten Commandment and all the laws that God gave to Moses when he was on the mountain for 40 yeas and 40 nights. What did the people do? They came to Aaron[transcriber's correction] and said, 'We don't know what happened to this Moses, maybe he fell into the lava up on top of the mountain! Make us gods, Aaron!' So, he did!

How about the Churches? Stop and think about all the things that we went through. Delores and I and others who have been in the Church a long time, or have been through Ambassador College—remember that there were three colleges, Pasadena, Bricket Wood and Big Sandy—and we were at Pasadena. Everyone said that this was like a little part of the Millennium: beautiful grounds, nice little brooks running, fish in the brooks, nice trees, all well taken care of and everything was fine.

But what happened? Underground there were things taking place! According to the law of leaven, a little leaven leavens the whole lump!

• look at what happened to the Church
• look at what happened to the lives of people
• look at how many ended up accusing different ones for the problems that took place

And they were rightly to be accused!

However, how many walked away and gave up, because they did not realize that Satan never stops!

(go to the next track)

Now let's come to the New Testament and we will see that Satan never stops! He always wants to try and get at the Churches of God.

Let's see what the Apostle Paul said to the elders in Ephesus. Paul is on his way up to Jerusalem and he knows that there is trouble. The prophecies were that he was going to have some difficulties, but he still went, and God wanted him to go. After calling all the elders down to Miletus:

Acts 20:24: "But I myself do not take any of these things into account, nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify the Gospel of the grace of God." He also said it was also the Gospel of the Kingdom of God!

Verse 25: "And now behold, I know that you all, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the Kingdom of God, will see my face no more; wherefore, I testify to you on this day… [this became an important particular day for them] …that I am pure from the blood of all, for I have not held back from preaching to you all the counsel of God. Take heed… [watch out and be on guard] …therefore, to yourselves…" (vs 25-28)—for all elders and ministers wherever you are. Go back and look at what Satan was doing:

• he tried to get Jesus right at the very first
• he tried to get Peter later on
• he tried to get some of the other apostles later on after that

"…and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood" (v 28).

The most important thing to understand for any minister is that the Church and the people do not, do not, do not belong to him! Every elder is to teach the people to have their own personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. It doesn't come through the minister. The minister is an elder to teach all the brethren how to maintain that relationship and grow in grace and knowledge, and how to overcome:

• sin
• Satan
• society

We're not fighting against the Gestapo SS, we're fighting against Satan's SSS! Remember, those who are in the Church of God are there not because of the minister, but because of God the Father and Jesus Christ, and His sacrifice! No other way, no other means, nothing else! That's the foundation.

Some of the things that we've heard that have gone on in the Churches of God, and it's gone on from nearly the beginning.

Verse 29: "For I know this: that after my departure grievous wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock." They always come smiling with personality, understanding and ability. That's fine if they're converted. But if they're not…

Another thing that's important to understand is that we must maintain our own conversion! Maybe you've never heard that. How do you maintain your conversion? Through:

• prayer
• study
• living God's way
• keeping His commandments
• developing the mind of Christ

And if there's going to be any harsh judgment on the Church today, it's because we have multitude of knowledge and understanding that hasn't been known down through the centuries. We are responsible for that.

Verse 30: "And from among your own selves… [even ones you don't think would do it] …men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves."

Almost from the time the Feast of Tabernacles ended, right up through to the Feast of Unleavened Bread:

• What have we been dealing with? False doctrines! False teachings!
• Where do those come from? They don't come from God!

Remember what Paul said in 1-Cor. 11 that there are divisions among you, there are heresies among you, and these have to be; these are necessary. Why? To weed out the pseudo Christians! That is the fake! 'Pseudo' means lie and fake! Paul just labeled some of them. Through all of this, remember independent free moral agency! We can always choose to repent. That is a choice. So, we must never get to the point of saying that 'I'll repent later when it's convenient. NO! You repent now while it is convenient!

That's what the truth is! The goal is eternal life! The goal is to have glory, power and shine like the sun and the stars! It is so great that there is nothing physical in this world that we need to go after.

Let's see how this false doctrine and teaching happens. We'll start with the Church of the Ephesians. Please understand that Rev. 2 & 3 are direct letters from Christ Himself to all the Churches of God! There were seven churches in Asia and these churches became a type of the Churches of God down through history.

Note pre-recorded sermon for the day after the Last Day of UB: A Generational Shift. Down through the centuries of the Church they were faced with all the same problems, and they all thought one way or the other that they were closer to the end than they had supposed!

We must be faithful to God because we don't know when the end is going to actually be, because many of these prophecies—Matt. 24, Mark 13, Luke 21—are cyclical. They happen over and over again. The main thing to come is the temple. When that happens you'd better make sure that you're really right with God at that point, because there's much time left. Right after that time, that's when the heads roll! The heads of the true Christians (Rev. 5).

The Church of Ephesus:

How does it start? Christ tells them; Revelation 2:1: "To the angel of the Ephesian church, write: 'These things says He Who holds the seven stars… [to the seven churches] …in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.'" Christ is in the midst of His Church always!

It may get down to two or three, because he said, 'Wherever two or three are gathered in My name, there I am with you.'

• Does Christ know what He's doing? Yes!
• Does Christ know what we are doing? Yes!
• Does He know what we are thinking? Yes!
• Does He expose a lot of the thoughts in our mind for us to repent, because He doesn't want them there? Yes!

Because He and the Father are dwelling in us! All of those things are true!

Verse 2: "I know your works, and your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil; and that you did test those who proclaim themselves to be apostles, but are not, and did find them liars."

We just did that with the doctrine of Who is the God of the Old Testament. {note sermon series: God the Father was Not the God of the Old Testament}

Verse 3: "And that you have borne much and have endured, and for My name's sake have labored and have not grown weary; nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love" (vs 3-4).

• What does that mean? The Greek is 'protos' meaning primary love!
• What is the primary love? To love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being!

Sometimes that's difficult to do. Sometimes there are a lot of problems that come along that make it hard to do. Your own mind and the evil that is still in there that has to come out—which God is helping us to get rid of—is there warring against us! The world is warring against, and the things that are happening! So, if you lose your first love, and not really focus in on loving God with all your heart, mind, soul and being every day…

That's not going to make you some 'religious' freak, that is going make you be in contact with God! That's the important thing!

Verse 5: "Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the first works; for if you do not, I will come to you quickly; and I will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent."

That's what happened to the Worldwide Church of God, exactly the same thing! Did Christ remove it? It's gone! It took a little while to get rid of it, but it's gone!

Verse 6: "But this you have: that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To the one who overcomes I will give the right to eat of the Tree of Life that is in the midst of the paradise of God" (vs 6-7).

The Church of Smyrna:

The Church was in such disarray that the next level of the Church had nothing but trouble, persecution and jail! I still have yet to hear of any of the splinter groups of the Churches of God say that they are the Church of Smyrna! They don't want to lose their head.

Verse 9: 'I know your works and tribulation and poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who declare themselves to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan." This is right at the time of the rise of the Roman Catholic Church.

Note sermon series: Scripturalism vs Judaism. You will be astonished to find out that Catholicism actually originated with Jews in Egypt. Amazing! If you don't' believe that, then ask yourself: Why do the Jews wear this little yamaka? Why do the Catholics wear this little yamaka? Because they come from the same origin!

Verse 10: "Do not fear any of the things that you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death" (vs 10-11).

The Church of Pergamos:

Pergamos is another story, because that's where Satan's throne was. The big throne to Zeus! Guess where they moved it archeologically? To Germany! Watch the Germans; they're not going to stand for this Islamization of Germany much longer. All they need is someone to lead them, and they're off to the races again!

Verse 13: "I know your works and where you dwell, where the throne of Satan is… [they were faithful for a while when Antipas was there]: but you are holding fast My name, and did not deny My faith, even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful witness…" But look what happened if you don't overcome and you're losing your first love:

Verse 14: "But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication." That is:

• idolatry
• the beginning of the Eucharist

Remember that the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist is the sacrifice of the mass, where they crucify Jesus again by claiming that the bread and the wine are His literal flesh and blood concealed within those two symbolic things. But it can't be, because Jesus is a spirit being; He has no more flesh and blood. And a priest cannot command God what the priest wants to. That is satanic!

Verse 15: "Moreover, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." That's the hierarchy, and still the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is no one can be saved unless they are in the Catholic Church with the true hierarchy, and the pope is the head!

So, here's Satan coming after the Churches of God, fulfilling the prophecy that Paul said that there would be those who rise up against it. Then it gets worse:

The Church of Thyatira:

We actually have a man in the Church in Canada whose descendants go clear back to those in the Italian Alps where the Waldensians were. So, look at what God has done to reach into that family, that he is in the Church of God. He said some things, and I read it in the sermon that I pre-recorded for the Sabbath after Unleavened Bread: A Generational Shift.

Someone sent me something about the Romaunt Bible—because I mentioned it—that they were translating the Bible and they had a massive library. But guess who burned it? The Roman Catholics! So, the Church of God has never died out! It's gotten thin and few, but never died out.

Thyatira got so corrupted by the Prophetess that calls herself Jezebel, identifying with Baalism, and that's exactly what Roman Catholicism is today.

Verse 20: "But I have a few things against you, because you allow the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants into committing fornication and eating things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her fornication, but she did not repent" (vs 20-21).

The the Council of Trent was setup to combat the Protestants, but in particularly those who said that they need to follow the Bible and not the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. But did you know that at the Council of Trent that there was a faction of the Catholic who believe and said that same thing? 'We need to get rid of all of our traditions and follow the Bible.' But because—read this in Rome's Challenge to the Protestants—because the Protestants kept Sunday that turned the whole tide at the Council of Trent and they accepted tradition as well as Scripture. Of course, you know what always wins! Tradition!

Verse 22: "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation… [Doesn't that sound like the ecumenical movement? In bed with Rome?] …unless they repent of their works. And I will kill her children with death; and… [here is the key, never forget this]: …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 22-23)—whether the works of God or your own works, God knows!

If you don't believe that, remember the Scripture where Jesus said to the disciples, 'Don't worry about what you're going to eat or drink,' God takes care of even the sparrows, and if one dies He knows it. Aren't you worth more than the sparrows? Yes!

Verse 24: "But to you I say, and to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, and who have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will not cast upon you any other burden." How far down could they sink in it?

It's very interesting that the Seventh Day Adventists trace their actual beginning to those in the mountains of northern Italy. (see DVD: Israel of the Alps) Look at the SDAs today. What do they have left that's still Biblical? Sabbath! That's it! Virtually everything else has been subverted by the Jesuits.

{Note videos on The Jesuit Agenda—can be found on YouTube.com}

There are some Adventists that keep the Sabbath and Holy Days. However, in most cases they don't have the right calendar.

This shows that Satan comes in that are evil that look good. Look at what the Seventh Day Adventists do: they have a lot of good works that they do, but they have all of these satanic doctrines in with it. God says that He's going to judge them for that.

I don't know how God is going to do it; I don't know the things that He's going to enact upon them, but it's going to come.

The Church of Sardis:

These were the ones that were so beaten up by the religious authorities of this world that they have just the bear things that they hold fast to: the Sabbath and Passover, and a few other things.

Revelation 3:4: "You have a few names even in Sardis… [some of them keep the Sabbath and Holy Days] …who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white because they are worthy. The one who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments; and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels" (vs 4-5).

Quite a statement! Think about what that says! They could get so lax and so absolutely lacking of the Spirit of God and being truthful with God that Jesus says, "…I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life…" which means that if you're not faithful He is going to blot it out.

The Church of Philadelphia:

• they're faithful
• they keep the Word of God
• they haven't denied the name of Christ (Rev. 3:8).

Verse 9: "Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan…" Satan is active again in powerful ways! Satan never gives up! That's what we need to remember and understand! That's what this last day of Unleavened Bread pictures.

God will fight for us, but Satan never gives up! We have to yield ourselves to God to make sure that we're doing what God wants us to do. He will help us and fight for us and forgive our sins, but we've got to be faithful to the Word of God under all circumstances, even if people get upset over it. That just the way it has to be!

Go back and analyze the Gospels and how Jesus preached. How in some ways, by modern standards, He was downright rude! One man came and said, 'I'll follow You, Lord, wherever You go, but let me go bury my father.' Christ said, 'Let the dead bury their dead.'

Think what would have happened if they had television and it was on all the news stations. Here's the One Who is supposed to be the Savior of the world, and 'look at how disgraceful He was, look at how He treated that man who was sincere and wanted to bury his father. What a wonderful gesture it was, and Jesus was so mean and nasty that He said let the dead bury their dead.'

Then on another occasion, here's this wonderful rich man, very righteous and good. He kept the commandments and came to Jesus and said, 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus said, 'Keep the commandments.' I'm doing that! 'All right, sell everything you have and give it to the poor and follow Me.'

That's a very difficult thing! Think about that! That's why baptism is by full immersion in water. You bury the old self; you bury the old sins!

The Church of Laodicea:

If the Laodiceans aren't this age, I don't know what age we're living in. Think about it! Every morning when I turn on the water, I can get hot water, just at the turn of a faucet. You get water already heated.

• you don't have build a fire
• you don't have to have a big tank
• you don't have to have servants splitting wood, hauling coal or anything like that

You just get up and go in the bathroom and you turn on the water and it's hot. If you're thirsty, you can get ice out of the refrigerator and you have ice-cold water. If you want something else cold to drink, you can have wine, beer. If you want something to eat you can go buy it all at the store.

One of the most powerful and worst weapons of Satan the devil is false prosperity! What happens when you lose all of your goodies. I don't know why that's weighing on my mind quite a bit lately, but it sure has been.

I think: What if I had to walk down to the office? It's only three or four-tenths of a mile! I get in my car and I drive down here. I walk into the building and turn on the lights. If I want cold water, it's in the refrigerator. If I want something to eat there's a restaurant there. If I want to buy something at the grocery store, it's just a short distance. Come in, the telephone is ringing, e-mails are there, all of that!

God says to the Laodiceans, v 18: "I counsel you to buy from Me gold purified by fire…" that is pure golden character that comes from God.

"…so that you may be rich; and white garments so that you may be clothed, and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed…" (v 18). It's not the clothes that you are wearing that covers you, it's the spiritual protection and power of God's Spirit that's important!

"…and to anoint your eyes with eye salve, so that you may see" (v 18)—especially to understand the Word of God! Let it sink in deep! To understand about our own nature and character, as the Feast of Unleavened Bread pictures.

Verse 19: "As many as I love… [Jesus love us, the Father loves us, that's why we're here] …I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door…" (vs 19-20).

How many Christians are in that position? Christ is not really in them!

"…I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me…. [notice the reward] …To the one who overcomes will I give authority to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (vs 20-22).

If you think about these last things that Jesus said, look at the Gospels, what did He have to fight? Remember the temptation of Jesus, Satan left Him for a season! There was that fight going on all the time.

You can imagine what it was on that Passover Day. What a spiritual battle that was going on in Jerusalem. I don't think we comprehend the intensity of the whole thing of the Passover and the death of Jesus Christ on the Passover Day.

With this, the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, let's take this day and use it as a day of dedication, that we can set our course correctly:

• strive to overcome sin
• strive to not sin
• strive to keep the relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ daily, every day and not fail!

Scriptural References:

• Leviticus 23:7-8
• Deuteronomy 16:16-17

• Exodus 8:19-21
• Exodus 14:1-4
• Ezekiel 39:11-13, 21-24
• Exodus 14:5-8, 11-16
• Acts 20:24-30
• Revelation 2:1-7, 9-11, 13-15, 20-24
• Revelation 3:4-5, 9, 18-22

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• James 2

• Exodus 14:24
• 1 Corinthians 11
• Matthew 24
• Mark 13
• Luke 21
• Revelation 5; 3:8

Also referenced:

Booklet How Credible is the Bible? by Duncan MacLeod

Sermon: A Generational Shift (pre-recorded for the day after the Last Day of UB)

Sermon Series:

• God the Father was Not the God of the Old Testament
• Scripturalism vs Judaism

Article: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants (found at truthofgod.org)

DVDs:

• Israel of the Alps
• The Jesuit Agenda (can be found on YouTube.com)

FRC: bo
Transcribed: 4/15/18

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