Why God Stirs Up the Enemy

"I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols/sins!"

Fred R. Coulter—February 3, 2024

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Let's go to Matt. 16, and we know that everything that Jesus told us was the Truth, there was no lie. That's what He said, 'If there was any lie, tell Me.' But He didn't!

The very first and biggest lie of the Roman Catholic Church is found there, because of a wrong translation, a knowingly wrong translation; not just a misinterpretation.

There are some Scriptures that are hard to interpret, and sometimes we just have to say we don't know. Because if we don't know and we try and answer it and we give a wrong answer, then that puts us in trouble.

But here's what Jesus said, and this is what the Catholic Church bases everything that they do so that the pope's pronouncements can be greater than the commandments and sayings and Word of God.

Matthew 16:15: "He said to them, 'But you, whom do you declare Me to be?' Then Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God'" (vs 15-16).

Notice how he got that. It wasn't because he was smart, because later on we know that Christ had to correct him for some very grievous mistakes.

Verse 17: "And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona… [the Son of Jona] …for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven.'"

God does things in our lives, and many times we don't know that He's doing it until we come to a point and look back on it and say, 'Oh, thank You, God.'

I know that in my life there were two times that God saved me from sure death, and I remember that. So, I tell myself, 'Fred, don't do anything stupid,' because we're all inclined to do that. Especially in your old age.

Verse 19: "And I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatever you may bind on the earth…"

That's in the subjunctive meaning that there are conditions tied to it.

"…will have already been bound in heaven…" (v 19).

In other words, the Word of God will have already made the decision for you. You find out what that decision is in the Word of God, and if you can't find it, you pray to God so that you understand what the decision was already made in heaven.

Remember, you go back to Dan. 9, where you have the 70 weeks prophecy. Then Dan. 10:21 is in the 'Scripture of Truth' in heaven. So, the Truth of Scripture is in heaven and transmitted to us by God in languages, whatever the language may be, that whoever has whatever language can understand it, and will have already been bound.

That doesn't mean if you bind it—because you want to do it, even though it's contrary to Scripture—it is bound.

• that's what they do with Sunday
• that's what they do with idols
• that's what they do with everything in the Roman Catholic Church

"…will have already been bound in heaven; and whatever you may loose on the earth will have already been loosed in heaven" (v 19).

Then He charged them, but He said, v 18: "…and the gates of the grave shall not prevail against it"—the Church!

I have in my hand a whole bunch of Church of God Seventh Day publications from Greg White who runs the Friends of the Sabbath website. He has many things on there. What I want to do is let you know that a lot of these things that came into the Church of God came from the Church of God Seventh-Day. All of the doctrines that Herbert Armstrong had came from the Church of God Seventh-Day. But he didn't want to admit that it came from them. That later sowed the seeds of trouble down the road!

I'll read some of the titles:

• It Makes No Difference or a Popular Error Refuted

That is, whatever the commandment says, they say it makes no difference, you don't have to do it.

• The Kingdom of Heaven Upon the Earth Literally: Location Is to be Set Up at the Savior's Second Coming—1880s
• Change of the Sabbath: Who Authorized It?

An excellent treatise showing that it was not changed by Divine Authority by the Pope of Rome
by A.C. Long, 16 pages price: 4 cents

• Resurrection of Christ: When did it occur?

by W.C. Long;16 pages price: 3 cents
This is a work showing that Christ was resurrected

When was Christ resurrected? At the end of the Sabbath! How many Sabbaths were there in that week? Two, first day of Unleavened Bread! That's noted in the Greek in Matt. 28.

• The Gift of the Holy Spirit: To Whom is it is the Promise Made by S.S. Davidson; 12 pages, 2 cents
• Second Coming of Christ by Jacob Blinkerhoff; 5 cents
• Lazarus and A Rich Man by W.C. Long

16 pages, 3 cents
Showing the falsity of the popular view of the parable and also its true application

Now, we can understand that by how we understand Lazarus and a rich man, because everybody turns out to show hell for the rich man and heaven for Lazarus. But if you have the Holy Days and understand them, and you put those on the framework of the Holy Days, you know the timeframe and when it occurs. Luke 16 doesn't tell you the timeframe. You get that from something else.

Here's another one, and I like this one:

• The Plan of Redemption by J.R. Goodenough; 32 pages, 5 cents

Plan of Salvation is 'good enough.'

• Modern Prophets and Prophecies by Harlan P. Peck; 48 pages, 8 cents
• Approaching Crisis and End of the World by J.H. Nichols; 48 pages, 8 cents

This is an able treatise on the signs of the time and clearly shows that we are living near the end of time.

All the things going on. Everywhere in every generation there are certain events that come along that make it look like we're close to the end. But you have to have all the circumstances put together before you get there. Now, there's another page of this.

• From Darkness to Light: Meat in Due Season
• Reasons for Embracing and Observing Jehovah's Sabbath
• The Soul Baptism and Its Importance
• The Two Horned Beast

That is of Rev. 13

• The End of the Ungodly: The Fate of the Wicked

Showing their entire destruction

That is Lake a Fire!

• Claims of Ellen G. White

They show where many of those things are not true!

• Sunday is Sabbath by Albert D. Rusk

This is a work showing the that heathens worshiped on Sunday and that Sunday-Sabbath is directly opposed to God's Sabbath

I promised Kip he could take it because he's doing some study about the history of the Church and so forth. So this is study.

Everything that Herbert Armstrong got and everything that we got came from the Bible. We had a lot of instruction from the teachers and Herbert Armstrong had instruction from the teachers back then.

They had certain things that they didn't follow, and he brought that out to Duggar and Dodd about Israel being modern America and Britain and Europe. They weren't ready to accept it at that time.

However, when Duggar moved to Jerusalem for his church he had quite a few congregations on the East Coast and they kept all the Holy Days of God. Very interesting. not many people know that.

Which shows us what God is always working. Lies brought down Worldwide Church of God. Not just one, not just two not just three, but grievous lies!

Just like it shows in the Bible WHEN those mount up and there is no real repentance, THEN as we will see, God sends those in who will destroy! I'll mention some of that as we begin the next half of services here because we're seeing a lot of things take place today and no one knows what's going on.

Everybody says repent, but they don't tell you to:

• repent of leaving God
• repent of forsaking Him
• repent of cursing Him
• repent of rejecting the Bible
• repent of Sunday-keeping and all the holidays

No they don't tell you that! They just want you to repent to their organization. That's not to God! What is God doing and why are all these difficulties coming upon us. I'll end it with this.

• Did you see the policemen that were beaten up by the mob of immigrants this last week? You saw it on television if you watch the television news!
• What do you think you're going to do during the election?
• Did you see what they did with a whole crowd of immigrants?
• Who do you like for president? That whole mob chanting: Biden! Biden! Biden! Biden!
• How did Biden get in there? Such an incompetent and stupid man and a liar!
• How did he get in there? I'll tell you!

God put him there because of the sins of the people beginning with the religious leaders who call themselves Christian, the government officials at every level, and the educational system at every level!That's why he is there.

So, if you like all these lies, stick with it. If you don't like them, you better come back to the Truth of God or the lies are going to devour you and everyone else! That's just the way it works out.

Let's see why God stirs up different people to correct us! Now that's not exactly the title that I had for it, but that's exactly what God does.

This will also help you understand what happens with anyone, doesn't matter who it is—Church of God, government, family, community—whenever they get wrapped up in lies and sin and don't repent, God raises up people to bring His punishment!

That's why they don't understand what's happening today, because they see all of these difficulties happening:

• we have got to take care of the border
• we have got to get rid of abortion
• we have got to take care of the homeless
• we have got to fight this war
• we have to go here, we have to go there
• we don't know why anything isn't working out the way it should

Why? We will see!

Let's start out with Solomon. Solomon had a tender heart. He was also the son of Bathsheba. But when you read the chronology coming down to the birth of Jesus in Matthew it brings in Solomon.

But when you come to the genealogy of Mary, which is what it is, Mary's father, in Luke 3 you come down to David and the genealogy goes through his son, Nathan, not Solomon. Why? When Solomon started out, he was young, he was tender, he was good.

Let's see what the charge was that was given to Solomon. David was told that he could not build the temple, although God gave him all of the plans for the temple, and he actually wrote them all down, you know, kind of like what Jonathan does in architectural drafting, and you get all the different layers of how to build a house: the foundation, the framing, the roof, the windows, the plumbing, and all of these different things that go with it.

So, David couldn't build the temple. Why? Because he was a bloody man, a man of war! Also, because of his sin with Bathsheba.

So, here's Solomon, he's young. God also showed His grace and mercy in selecting Solomon, because when Solomon was young, he was seeing his father stay close to God because he was overcoming all the difficulties that he went through because of being caught with Bathsheba.

Remember, there was revolt almost overthrowing the kingship? Absalom was the one who was going to take over. David loved Absalom, and Absalom was fleeing away, and he had this long bright red hair, and it got caught up in the tree in there he was hanging, and I forget who it was that did him in, but killed him. However, David wept and cried and could hardly get over it.

David had a lot of difficult years leading up to the time when Solomon was ready to take over.

Let's see what happened. They had a great assembly, all the important people, all the leaders, all the priests, all the princes, they were all there:

1-Chronicles 28:2: "And David the king stood up on his feet and said, 'Hear me, my brethren and my people. I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD…'"

The Covenant of the Lord was, at that time, in the house of David in a separate little tabernacle, and Asaph was the high priest who was running it there.

Whenever David made a Psalm, he would give it to Asaph, and Asaph would record that Psalm and put it in the stack of things that would later become part of the Bible. That's how we get many of the Psalms.

"'…to build a house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations for the building. But God said to me, "You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood." However, the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever….'" (vs 2-4).

That's something else! We know there has to be a resurrection to take place in order for that to be carried out.

"…For He has chosen Judah to be the ruler, and of the house of Judah the house of my father. And among the sons of my father's house He was pleased to make me king over all Israel. And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), He has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the Throne of the Kingdom of the LORD over Israel" (vs 4-5).

So, God made the choice. This also shows quite a few things, especially that Solomon had the best start of any king. I mean, of everything!

Verse 6: "And He said to me, 'Solomon your son shall build My house and My courts, for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father.'"

Think about that!  I want you to understand how important that individual choice is that we make; very important.

We can read about the repentance of David and why God accepted him because his repentance was so thorough and so complete.

Verse 7: "And I will establish his kingdom forever if..."

Always conditions, and those conditions we are faced with every day.

• What are we going to do?
• How are we going to do it?
• When are we going to do it?

lots of times we're confronted with:

• What do we say?
• What do we do?

A lot of times we're confronted with problems that we don't know how to handle. But we put them in God's hands and ask Him to work it out for us.

"…if he continues resolute… [that means a fixed mind, absolutely going to do it] … in keeping My commandments and My ordinances, as he is today" (v 7). That's what he was trying to do!

Verse 8: "And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God…"

That's quite profound! All the commandments. But what happens? People like to pick and choose! That's what Solomon disobeyed. What were two commands that God gave to the king back in Deut. 17?

• he wished to write a copy of the Law from the book that Aaron the priest had
• have it with him to read it day and night

so that he does not lift himself up above his brethren!

In other words, though he was king, the hierarchy was not established for rule and command control to live people's lives. But:

• to help
• to serve
• to show them to come to God

IF anyone comes to God, He's going to take them. But you have to come to God His way!

Verse 8: "And now in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the LORD your God so that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever."

Now think about that relationship to the land that God gave America! One of the most beautiful locations on earth. Those who first came in the 1520s to Virginia and landed on the coast. They knew they got there by God's help and God's power; they were trying to get away from the religious persecution that was in England. That's why a lot of them fled to Holland and then came over later with the Mayflower and left Holland. They had to escape all the persecution in England.

• What was one of the persecutions against them? Same one we have today!
• What's the big one we have today? Sabbath/Sunday!

When they landed on the coast, the first thing they did, they took and made a cross, stuck it in the ground and prayed the prayer that the Gospel of God would go forth from this nation!

From where has the Gospel gone? From this nation more than any other nation in the world! God also raised up down through history honest men who kept the Word of God true so we could have the Word of God the way He wanted it so it could be preached at any time, especially in the last days.

Today, the whole Bible is translated in about 3300 different languages. What's contained in the Bible? The whole Gospel! That's an amazing thing!

Though you have the mountain of sin and evil over here, you've got all the promises of God over here in getting the Word of God out. So, anyone who wants to know about the Word of God today and has one of those 'dumb' smart-phones, you can get the Bible. and if you don't know the language, you can come to the Holy Bible in its original order. You can click on that and get it and say, 'Give it to me' in whatever language you want, and they'll get it for you.

How about having everything right in the palm of  your hand so you know what to do? Look at us here today, we have Bibles right in front of us. There it is.

Verse 9: "And you, Solomon my son, acknowledge the God of your father and serve Him with a perfect heart…"

Think about that! What does it say about the heart of man?

Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" I just described the Internet!

1-Chronicles 28:9: "…a perfect heart…"

Solomon was to follow God every day of his life! That's what's important. Every day of our lives, because He's the One Who has given us Life!

 "…and with a willing mind..." (v 9).

• no reservations
• no doubts
• a willing mind

notice why:

• What does God do?
• How does God do this?

"…for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts…" (v 9).

How does He do that? Well, we read about the creation of every human being!

God formed man and woman with His own hands. He put in the genes and chromosomes and the reproductive process to continue life. So, every life and reproduction comes from God; it's His work.

Sidebar: People thought when they got rid of Roe vs Wade, abortions would go down. No, it went out to 50 states, just like we discussed. So, they did a survey recently. Before the overturning of Roe vs Wade, there were 77,000 abortions a month.

After Roe vs Wade, it went up to 83,000 a month. That tells you one of the reasons why we are suffering so many things, because there are so many people that have rejected God.

There are so many men and women out there who want to have sex of any kind, anywhere, with anyone or anything or any animal, and still be accepted and come into the church and say, 'You accept me and love me.' That's what they have in the Methodist Church and in the Presbyterian Church. Yes, they do!

So, there it is because in every human being, with the spirit of man, there is what is called the R-E-I-N-S!

That's what you have with a bridle for a horse. You use the reins to make the horse go where you want it to go. Now, if you get a stubborn horse, then you're in trouble. If you can't force him, then you're really in trouble.

God can know the thoughts of anyone at any time that He chooses to do so. David speaks of the reins in Psa. 139. Christ speaks of it in Rev. 2: 'I try the reins and the heart.' This is what He's talking about here 1-Chron. 29:9, and we'll see what happens when it doesn't work out that way.

 "…with a perfect heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts…" (v 9).

What did it say before the Flood of Noah about the thoughts of man? The thoughts, not just the actions; there were a lot of actions, but the thoughts!

We'll talk about the thoughts here again in a little bit. That's what you think in your mind and heart that only you know from other people. They don't know, but God knows!

• no one can fool God
• no one can hide from God

David said, 'If I go into heaven, You're there. If I go into the depths, You are there. If it's dark, You are there. If it's light, You are there.'

How does God do it? He has control of everything! Think about those of us who have the Holy Spirit of God. We'll talk about this a little bit more when we get toward the days of Unleavened Bread what God is doing with us and preparing us for His Kingdom! Brethren, it is awesome! It is the greatest thing that there is.

• there is nothing that anybody can offer that can replace it
• there is nothing on the earth that compares to it
• it is a spiritual thing
• God gives us His Holy Spirit
• we are to choose

just like David said here!

"…If you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever" (v 9).

So, a lot of people, like the Jews in Jesus' day, Jews always wanted a sign. 'What sign are you going to show us?'

 (Jesus said): I'm not going to show you anything. Just that Jonah was in the belly of the great whale for three days and three nights, so will I will be in the heart of the earth.

They couldn't understand that!

"…But if you forsake Him, He will cast you off. Take heed now…. [be on guard, watch] …for the LORD has chosen you" (vs 9-10).

What are we called? The called, the chosen, and that means selected (Rev. 17)!

Whoever you are, you have God's Spirit, He personally—through Christ—has chosen each one of us! That's an amazing thing! Same way with the people of Israel. They're not held to the same standard as the Church, but we will see that they have to, at a minimum, become repentant and law-abiding and getting rid of the killers.

Verse 10: "Take heed now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it."

1-Chron. 5—when the children of Israel, did not do well, when they sinned against God.

• What did God do?
• Did He come down and personally destroy them? No, the closest you come to that is Sodom and Gomorrah!
• Is there any other thing like that? No!

God uses other people and uses wicked people as punishment so that the children of Israel will repent. Because if He comes down to do it, you're looking at smoke and ashes.

1-Chronicles 5:23: "And the children of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They increased from Bashan to Baal Hermon and Senir, and to Mount Hermon. And these were the heads of the house of their fathers… [then it lists all of them; v 25]: And they acted treacherously against the God of their fathers…" (vs 23-25).

Think of it today. The politicians, the religious people, especially those who say that they are 'Christian,' based on the big lie of Sunday. That's the toughest one to figure out how to really bring conviction against those people.

I had one man write me an e-mail saying that because Christ came, that He's our Sabbath, and every day is the Sabbath.' I need to write him back and ask him: when does He work? How are you going to come up against that? Pray for me so we can do it!

Verse 25: "And they acted treacherously against the God of their fathers, and went awhoring after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them."

Notice what God does in v 26. I want you to think today about who are our enemies that are being stirred up:

• Russia
• China
• Iran

Just to start with!

Are they being stirred up? Yes, indeed! Remember what it says in:

Deuteronomy 28:43[transcriber's correction] "The stranger dwelling among you shall get up above you very high, and you shall come down very low."

• Are those words true?
• Are they going to happen?
• Is God stirring them up?
• Yes, indeed!

Just witness the beat up of the cops in New York City this week. They went in for bail and they got out scot free, and guess what they said? Were coming to California! So what are they going to do here?

1-Chronicles 5:26: "And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tilgath-Pilneser king of Assyria). And he exiled them, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, even to this day"—which was when Ezra was writing it!

Ezek. 14—Let's see what God says.

• Did they learn anything in their captivity?
• Who was one of the worst kings of Judah? The very worst!

Manasseh reigned 55 years! I mean, that's a long time. We can hardly endure four years of our current president.

The most wicked king was Manasseh. He did everything satanic, everything under the sun. So, God sent him off into captivity. The Assyrians came. They were in control of Babylon at that time and took him to Babylon and shut him up in the prison.

What did he do? He repented!  Imagine that! He repented!  So, what did God do? He had him sent back as the vassal king to Judah!

• he cleaned up the temple area.
• he got rid of all of the tents of the homosexuals because they put them right there around the Temple of God

All the homosexuals with their abominable habits and sex acts and everything, right at the Temple of God, Manasseh cleaned it up.

So, this tells us, even at this late date, things could change! But it's going to take that kind of repentance that Manasseh had, and it has to start with the political leaders.

Everyone's hoping that Trump is going to do a lot of good things. But there's one thing he can't do. He can't change the hearts and minds of people who are living in sin, and the judgment is coming because of that!

IF there's any reprieve that may come because Trump may be elected, who knows? Wouldn't it be ironic if Biden were re-elected?

• How about this?
• How about making Obama Vice-President?

Then Biden passes away and Obama comes in because it's now a whole different proposition. I've got the clip sent to me right during Obama's election where he said that 'we're going to transform America.' And he has done it because he's still running it.

So, let's see where the sin is. Let's see what has to happen, at every level.

Sidebar: Things are not going to get any better. If they do, it's only for the purpose of an open door to preach the Gospel! No other reason! So prepare! You better have extra food. You better have candles.

Oh, by the way, this week the power went off. I was watching the playoff game with the 49ers and the Detroit…. BAM! Electricity went off. Everything was dark. I thought, well, I got a battery in my laptop.

I found the chandelier that Dolores had three candles on it, and I got the matches and I lit those three candles. And here I'm sitting there with my laptop on the table. So I turn it on, and I try to use it, and it says, 'No internet connection.'

So, everybody better take a lesson from that for all of your digital things. You better have them permanently located, maybe on a separate computer, so that you can have it if you want it digitally.

But I was sitting there and here are these three little candles going, and it's all dark and it's not very light. I thought, how many brethren in the past, going down through the centuries, had the Word of God, and they would get up and read it with a candle or a little lamp?

Here we've got all this electricity. We have everything printed out. We have it all digitized. Plus that, we have anything we want digitally: music, news, essays, whatever.

Let's see what the big hindrance is with every human being toward God, and especially those from Israel. These are the ones in Ezek. 14 that we read about, who were carried off into captivity because of the sins.

God didn't send angels to pick them up and take them away. God sent men. Same way with King Nebuchadnezzar. What did God call him? King Nebuchadnezzar, My servant! Whoa! A pagan king, God's servant? Yes! As punishment against Judah for sinning!

Ezekiel 14:1: "And some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me…. [here they are in the exile camp, and here's Ezekiel there] …And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts'" (vs 1-3).

What is an idol in your heart? Anything that's against God! This had to happen within Worldwide, and why it went down.

Sidebar: I want everyone to understand. Many people in the Church of God limit themselves in their relationship with God and understanding the Bible, because they stop at the teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong! That is your idol!

Herbert W. Armstrong turned out to be a man of great ability, great preaching, did a lot of great things, but also, just like David, sinned greatly. He admitted the last two years of his life that all the trips overseas God never opened a single door! 'We kicked them in with cash.' I know from first-person testimony that that is true. He repented!

• Did Manasseh repent? Yes!
• Did Herbert Armstrong repent? Yes!
• What about the people who were left?
• What about the elders who were left?
• What about the terrorists who had come in within the Church?
• How they're going to sprout out
• What are they going to do?
• You know the history of it, right?

Verse 3: "'Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I at all be inquired of by them? Therefore, speak to them, and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD, 'Every man of the house of Israel… [Church of God, because we are spiritual Israel] …who sets up his idols in his heart..." (vs 3-4). Remember, God knows all the thoughts!

"…and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols, so that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they have deserted Me for their idols—all of them" (vs 4-5).

• Isn't that what has happened?
• What was the killer for Christianity out in the world today? COVID-19! 

That released all the homosexuals and all of the transvestites!

• How did all of those things suddenly come down upon us? The DEI—The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Huh?
• How did that come down? The teaching in the schools of all the deviant sex practices beginning right in elementary school, in books, published, ready to go!

Amazing!

• How did all that happen? That is right there, this phrase:

Verse 4: "…I the LORD will answer him according to the multitude of his idols…"

• How many people have these idols in their mind? The one for the people in the Church of God: you limit yourself if you just say that 'if Herbert didn't teach it, we don't believe it.'

You're saying that Herbert Armstrong equals someone better than Christ! That will catch up with you sooner or later!

Now, it may not be Herbert Armstrong. It may be something else. When I die, right there is an elder, and I'm going to tell you and all the other elders out there, after I die, I don't want it to be 'Fred said…'; because all we can do is provide you with what you need as elders so you teach the people the Word of God!

Whatever God wants to reveal to you above whatever we have at that point, He will reveal it. It doesn't stop with one human being because he dies. All the Apostles died!

• Do we know more than the Apostles today? Yes!
• Are we greater than they? No!
• Who gives the knowledge? God does!

He deals in our hearts and in our minds. That's the important thing! That's what this is all about. So here's what God says.

Verse 5: "So that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart because they have deserted Me for their idols—all of them. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Repent…" (vs 5-6). God always honors repentance!

IF He forgave Manasseh, the most horrible, evil king of Judah, He can forgive any one of our sins! But when He forgives, we have to have our mind set not to repeat.

Verse 6: "Repent and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger who lives in Israel..." (vs 6-7).

Don't we have a lot of strangers? Any other country in the world have 20-million more people come into the land that are here to take it over. That's 8% of the entire population of America.

"…or of the stranger who lives in Israel, who separates himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to a prophet to ask of him concerning Me; I the LORD will answer him Myself" (v 7).

If there isn't any repentance—and God will grant the repentance—notice what He says IF they don't do it:

Verse 8: "And I will set My face against that man, and I will make him for a sign and for a proverb. And I will cut him off from the midst of My people; and you shall know that I am the LORD. And the prophet… [that's the one who's teaching the Word of God] …if he is deceived, and he speaks a word, I the LORD have deceived that prophet. And I will stretch out My hand upon him and will destroy him from the midst of My people Israel." (vs 8-9).

Please understand this: the book of Ezekiel, all the prophecies, these are some of the harshest, most difficult, most trying to read. People who don't understand why these things come about say that 'God is a harsh God of the Old Testament.' NO!

God corrects at all times, Old Testament and New Testament IF there's sin! Does He not? Yes, He does! Quite a thing! If you think that it's harsh back here, read the book of Revelation. God is going to shake the heavens and shake the earth!

• Is Christ harsh?
• Is He going to destroy and kill?
• Is that harsh?

Well, that's punishment for all of the multiple sins and we know the Plan of God, He'll take care of it later. But this is why we have all of these things coming about. That's why we see:

• this group stirred up over here
• the satanists stirred up over there
• the feminists stirred up over here
• the Democrats stirred up over there

Because of our sins (as a nation), God stirs them up!

Now, the only way that that will go away is if the people will repent and start coming to God and keeping His commandments and then pushing these people away. It won't go away any other way!  God will stir them up; He always has.

So, all of us—all the brethren, all the elders—I don't know how long I'm going to live. I'm not teetering on the edge of collapsing, yet. There was a report before the Feast of Tabernacles that 'Fred Coulter died.' So, we had to put up a disclaimer. 'No, Fred Coulter's still alive.' But I'm 89, approaching 90, and there's one woman praying I'll live to be 120 because, well, I may out-live her.

However long God wants me to live, that's how long I'm going to live. I pray that I won't get caught entrapped in any of these kinds of things that we just read about here, because if I do, that's going to affect everybody. IF you do in your life, that's gonna affect everybody around you.  That's just the way that it works.

• God is with us
• God loves us
• God cares for us
• He's called us
• we're the called, the chosen, the faithful

So, we can read these things and we can understand them and we'll take the warnings, and that will give us wisdom and understanding to know what's taking place in the world and to realize that God's hand is in it!

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 16:15-17, 19, 18
• 1 Chronicles 28:2-9
• Jeremiah 17:9
• 1 Chronicles 28:9-10
• 1 Chronicles 5:23-26
• Deuteronomy 28:43
• Ezekiel 14:1-9

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Daniel 9; 10:21
• Matthew 28
• Luke 3
• Deuteronomy 17
• Psalm 139
• Revelation 2, 17

FRC:bo/po
Transcribed: 2/6/24

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