Prophecy and Attitude

Fred R. Coulter—January 28, 2006

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Every time they think there's going to be peace in the Middle East, it's turned upside down. I remember when Bill Clinton was President he had Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat over here all but hugging and kissing. He had them to Camp David and 'peace in our time'; big pictures, hand shakes, and 'everything is going to work out.'

Well, Barak was killed and Ariel Sharon takes over Israel, a hardliner! They started building a fence, and everyone was against the fence except for the Jews, because they understood what the problem was.

Now we come to the time when Sharon has passed from the scene, Arafat is dead and the new Prime Minister for the Palestinians is worthless. Hamas won an election, and now the whole Middle East is upside down again.

The only stability in there amounts to the American forces in Iraq. Then you look across the border into Iran and you have a new rising Hitler. When we understand that Iran is really Persia in the Bible, and he says that there was no Holocaust, that the Europeans deliberately started the Jewish State to get rid of the Jews out of Europe. He says that they are going to build atomic bombs so they can annihilate the Jews off the face of the earth.

So, the whole world is completely upside down again. That is why we need to look at prophecy in the way that things are really going to be. I think we need to understand that it's going to be bigger and greater and far more all-encompassing than we have understood. All the way through the 70s and 80s we've had people saying that 'Jesus' return is imminent,' and it hasn't happened. Let's add a little more to this.

Popular Science Magazine: Star Wars: Battlefield Space by Dawn Stover; October 28, 2005 (https://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2005-10/battlefield-space)

Space is different than the Earth. If you riding along in orbit in a space machine, and if you could you throw your aluminum soda can out the window, it would be in orbit forever. On the Earth, you throw it out the window and sooner or later it's absorbed into the earth, one way or another. Space is an entirely different situation.

Military hardware has orbited Earth for decades, but no actual weapons have been deployed in space.

That we know of! Let's also understand that the United States is so far advanced technology that it puts the Russians, the Chinese and all other nations 50-years behind. The Chinese just sent a man in orbit, a short Earth orbit, and came back. That's 50-year-old technology. Then it talks about the things that they have.

So this is how the war in space might begin: not with a bang but a clank.

They have made satellites that they can negotiate in space, from the Earth with a joystick and command it to go here and there. They had this one that the called the DART, and it was to go up and work on a NASA satellite that up there, because what they want to do is have automatic satellite repair by having these new space machines.

What happened when it came up to the satellite, it bumped it and knocked it out of orbit. They thought, 'Oh, a great disaster.' Someone else said, 'No! Great new weapon!' America has the technology and they know where every satellite that has been launched by the United States and any nation in the world is all the time. They could send up these little space machines and they could just bump it and they won't work.

They're also working on electromagnetic pulses (EMP) that they could have a little satellite—and they're also working on micro satellites that could be very, very small—and they could go up and have an electromagnetic power pulse go against a satellite and render it worthless.

All of these things are there. Part of the Star Wars thing that they have is that the anti-defense missile, the anti-missile missile. What they want to do is have those in space, so if someone shoots a missile at it, they can go right from space and knock it out. They won't have to do it from the Earth. That has the Chinese, Russians and all the other nations in great fear. They know that the one who has space superiority rules the world! If they have weapons up there, they can hit any place on Earth within two hours.

They also have designed the Boeing Space Shuttle, an elongated shuttle with very little wings in the back. It can blast off all remote, no pilots, all done by computer and go 9,000 miles up in space and then they can cut off the engine and let it come down. When it hits the top of the atmosphere it skips up and they give it a little more energy and it goes up a little higher and they cut it off and it drops down and hits the atmosphere and then skips up again. They can send bombs within two hours anyplace on Earth. They've developed what are called "…the rods from God…" that are powerful bombs that come out of this machine.

All of this is a take-off—believe it or not—of German technology before the end of WWII. They were developing a big rocket that would take off on a sled like a plane that would be guided into the air. It could take a 2,000-pound bomb! But this bomb would not carry explosives. They were going to have it carry radioactive particles. So, when the bomb was dropped over New York City, it would explode in the air and all this radiation would go everywhere, and people would die of radiation sickness!

In 2007 they are going to have space spy satellite. It's going to be up in space and what they're going to do is they're going to be able to examine every single satellite and spy on it all the time. This is going to make the rest of the world go absolutely crazy!

We need to understand how these things are going to happen. The place to begin is not in Revelation or Matthew 24. Where is the place to begin? Not Daniel, not Ezekiel! But in the beginning! The Tower or Babel. Remember, as I pointed out in the sermon Judgment of Babylon, I think we're going to see a complete restoration of a modern version of ancient Babylon and the things that they were doing at the Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11:1: "And the whole earth was of one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar. And they settled there. And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, 'Come, let us build us a city and a tower, with its top reaching into the heavens….'" (vs 1-4). That's where man always wants to go. He wants to go into space!

"'…And let us establish a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole earth'" (v 4). Of course, they were going against the will of God in every instance with this.

Are they going against God? Not His will in this case, because it's His will that it happens! Yes, they are going against God in every instance in this.

Verse 5: "And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower…"—an alien from outer space. What do they say about aliens from outer space today? Truly, Jesus Christ and the angels would be considered by the world aliens from outer space! As well: the demons!

"…which the children of men had built. And the LORD said, 'Behold, the people are one and they all have one language. And this is only the beginning of what they will do…'" (vs 5-6).

There's a starting point when all of this stuff starts! Where do you suppose, in modern time it's going to happen, that this really began? Where in history, philosophy and science? It began with Galileo and Copernicus in understanding about the solar system! Then you can add to them Newton and the laws of physics. They're even planning to build some great tower that will be like an elevator to reach way up into space so they can get things up into space.

When it says here that "…now nothing, which they have imagined to do, will be restrained from them" (v 6).

When it really started coming to the fore was the invention of the steam engine. That's when they began to mechanize, and then things began from there. Then you have electricity. They have found that in ancient Syria and other ancient places batteries and they actually made duplicates of these batteries, exactly as they found them, and there were able to get enough voltage out of them to plate silver coins with gold. You take the gold powder and mix it into the solution and then you put your electrode wires in there—probably made out of copper—and they were able plate silver coins with gold. And they found those in the ancient world.

And they knew from other past things, that the Greeks had a mechanized calendar. It had gears on it, and it had selection. This one had about six gears in it and it was quite reliable.

Now they have found one that they don't know what it really is, but it has 23 gears in it. They found it in a wreck of an ancient vessel on one of the Greek Islands near Asia Minor. They don't know what it is except it may be some sort of navigation thing. There may be some sort of calendar navigation thing. Men have had great abilities.

Let's understand: take away television, all the things that we have today, and men are able to sit around and plan, think and do. Once they reach certain points they can do a lot.

When we come to our age. There was a little article that said, 'all these things have happened and I'm only 58-years-old.' Look what has happened in the last 60 years, what man has been able to do. Look where we are and what we're talking about here; actually contemplating war in space and superiority in space. That's exactly what happened in WWII as far as airspace is concerned.

When the allied forces had air superiority there was nothing the Germans could do; that was the end of the war. The Battle of the Bulge was the last great thrust of the Nazis. When the weather broke, all the allied planes came and they wiped everything out, and that was the last of it. When they went ahead, they found that the Germans were also using horses and wagons to pull their supplies, because they didn't have enough mechanization to do it, or fuel to make them run.

Now then, we are talking about eh advance today of space wars. Note: Matt. 24 where it says, 'As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man.' So, we don't know exactly how developed the civilization was before the Flood, nor do we know exactly how developed it was right after the Flood, but there is a book out by Rene Noorbergen called Secrets of the Lost Races.

They can go back and have found replicas that look like jet planes. They have found also areas on the earth where there were atomic weapons that had been used because when an atomic weapon goes off, the heat is so intense that it fuses the sand in a way that only an atomic blast could do. Nothing else can do it, and they found that glass.

They know that these have been in the past, so what we are seeing is a repeat with another step forward. The step forward that God has not allowed if for man to rule the earth from near space. That's what God has not allowed up to this point.

I went through Rev. 12 in the Introduction to the Revelation Series. It cannot be understood unless you understand the history of the rest of the Bible in a major way. A fatal error for people in studying is to go to the difficult Scriptures and think that you can interpret them. You have to begin with the simple, because the book of Revelation is the final capstone of the whole Bible. All the Bible must be included when you get into any of these things. You can't understand Rev. 12 without it.

Revelation 12:1: "Then there appeared a great wonder in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars…. [God's plan as pictured by the wife of Christ] …And being with child, she cried in travail, and was in pain to deliver" (vs 1-2). This is a projection forward of the coming of Christ.

Verse 3: "And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns on his heads." So, it comes back to the same place, another sign.

Verses 1 & 2 bring us to a certain point; v 3 takes us back and here's another sign and we have Satan that devil.

Verse 4: "And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth…." This is the first war in space. This is Satan's rebellion, because the rebellion of Satan and the angels had to occur before the creation of Adam and Eve. Satan appears in the garden as the fallen cherubim; he does not come as Lucifer the light bringer.

Then it jumps ahead to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ to show the battle between Christ and Satan and the demons, which goes back to Gen. 3:15.

Verse 5: "And she gave birth to a man Child, Who was to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron… [Christ! You have to know a lot in the Old Testament concerning that] …and her Child was caught up to God and His throne"—that's the resurrection and the final ascension of Jesus Christ to God the Father.

Now then, it leaps ahead again; v 6: "And the woman escaped into the wilderness… [here it goes from the plan of God next to Mary and then to the Church] …where she had a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days. And there was war in heaven…"  (vs 6-7). Then it leaps ahead again; v 7 has not yet occurred, and that's why this article Star Wars: Battlefield in Space becomes so important.

  • How is that going to be?
  • What is going to happen?

We know that Satan has to use men! There are going to be men in space; that's where it's headed. What do we have out there? A great space station! Given more time there will be more out there. How exactly that will happen, I don't' know! But I've speculated that I wondered that to prove that the beast is 'God in the flesh' that he goes in a space machine to one of the platforms in space to fight aliens, that is being the angels of God, then he is cast down. The beast is going to be possessed of Satan a great deal of the time! We're also going to see that the beast is not only a man, but it's also a system.

"…Michael and his angels warred against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels warred" (v 7). There are going to be men up in space, angels and demons and this is going to be quite a thing! Those on the earth are going to be able to see this going on. They're going to be prepared for aliens to come and all of this sort of thing.

Verse 8: "But they did not prevail, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (vs 8-9).

Verse 12: "… he knows that he has only a short time." He persecutes the Church first, and then he makes war with the rest of those that are taken to a place of safety.

Revelation 13:1: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea…" This is a governmental system, and it's also personified in the person of the leader. You can see that going back to the book of Daniel.

"…having seven heads and ten horns…" (v 1)—Satan's system. "…rising up out of the sea…" looks like it's a grassroots effort. But it doesn't matter if it's a grassroots effort of if it's a top down effort, it's still of Satan the devil. It defines it here, which shows that it's a combination of all the so-called great civilizations of the past.

Verse 2: "And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority."

Note Matt. 4 and Luke 4 that Satan gives the control of the world to whomsoever he wills. That's why Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world. That's why we are looking for the kingdom coming from God! The Church is not to establish the Kingdom of God on earth!

Verse 3: "And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast." We can look at this in two ways:

  • the system
  • the man

Verse 4: "And they worshiped the dragon who gave his authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, 'Who is like the beast? Who has the power to make war against him?'"

If you have space superiority you cannot make war against him. If the United States is 50 years ahead of everybody else in this, how is this going to be taken from the United States? If you read, know and understand the history of the ten tribes of Israel that we are Israel today; there's no question about it. How does the Beast Power, who is not of Israel, get it?

  • you have the system that is revived
  • you have the man who is revived

Both cases!

  • Economic Collapse:

When Israel falls—and it's going to fall in stages—it's going to be an economic fall first. They increased the national debt to $10-trillion in 2006. If we have to go war against Iran, because Iran is Persia, and through Haman the Agagite (book of Esther) when they threaten to exterminate all the Jews, God intervened and stopped it. So, you know that Iran is not going to succeed in exterminating the Jews; God will not allow it!

There's going to be something happen in Iran. What if America leads another coalition in a bombing run against them, which they're talking about? What if, in order to control against all of the terrorists, we keeping expanding by debt and all the rest of the nations of the world are stuck in buying the debt, because there's nothing else they can do. They hate it and don't want it, but they are stuck with it. Sooner or later they're going to pull the plug on us, and we will come down economically.

  • How far down?
  • How much of a recovery?
  • We don't know!

But you know one thing for sure, and I think this is how it's going to happen, in negotiating a settlement, they will transfer all the technology and the control of these things to a revived United Nations! That's how they will at least reduce the debt, or pay it back.

Then it will be controlled by the Babylonian Beast Power! They want a world army consisting of armies from many different nations. They want the UN to have a large army. For a while, because of the crisis of it, the nations of the world will come together—part iron and part clay, partly strong, partly weak (Dan. 2).

When Israel goes down… And the army is already here, all the aliens that have come into the land legal and illegal. They're only here to do cream off what they can do economically in most cases, not all! But those who are not that's a little different story, but it really won't matter because the ones who are here to destroy us are already here! It's just a matter of ifand when!

When we go down, that how I think it's going to happen! They will be able to use all of America's military equipment: bomber, satellites, and know all of their secrets. It will be controlled by the new world government!

Verse 5: "And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him; and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months… [3-1/2 years] …And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And he was given power to make war against the saints" (vs 5-7).

That ties right in with Revelation 12:17: "Then the dragon was furious with the woman and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Revelation 13:7: "And he was given power to make war against the saints… [expressed a little differently, but the same event] …and to overcome them; and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation."

In other words, the only way to control this is to have absolute authority over every person. How is that going to happen? Obviously, such a situation cannot last very long; that's why it says 42 months!

Verse 8: "And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear" (vs 8-9).

When you read that statement it means you've got to study, re-study and look at these things over and over again. You have to read these Scriptures over and over again. In talking about these things and thinking about these things, that's why it's speculation, but we're trying to think it through to get a little better understanding of what is happening today so that we can maybe anticipate what's going to happen in the future.

It may not happen exactly the way I've said, but I think if you think about the way that the world is, what would the world love more than anything else? To eliminate the power of America, to take over all of their assets and military hardware, and have everything that we have on a collective basis for the nations of the world!

Add that to what all of the other nations of the world are going to develop, then you have something!

  • The religious authority, the false prophet:

He is going to lead Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations (Rev. 17)!

  • The Mark of the Beast:

That's going to be the key to control! The only problem is that in the Greek:

Verse 16: "And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, to receive a mark in their right hands, or in their foreheads so that no one may have the ability to buy and sell unless he has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (vs 16-17).

So, we have a whole economic system that is the backbone of this great Babylonian thing. It's not the false prophet that induces the mark, and this is where the Seventh Day Adventists have been totally wrong. They're going back the 1800s interpretation of Rev. 13. you cannot have that where both beasts refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Impossibility!

That's why I've said before that the mark of the beast cannot be Sunday-keeping. This is buying and selling and has to do with control. I've read the book Spy Chips by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre, which is now outdated and was outdated before it was printed.

Here's how the system is going to work, because they're already doing this. They are going to put RFID chips—Radio Identification—on everything that is made. They can make them so small that they can even just print them and they are readable. It will be in everything that you buy.

How they're going to be able to read them, what distance they'll be able to read them will depend upon the machines that do the reading. Everyone gets all excited at this. You can take a hammer and beat it, you can put it in a microwave and explode it, but nevertheless, it's going to be there.

What's going to happen is it's going to make everything in buying, selling, inventorying, reducing thievery and it's going to be the best thing that has ever come along. By having it in all products, it's going to become so commonplace that given 10 or 15 years, everyone is going to be used to it, just like we are today with credit cards.

To see how these things come along, they passed a law in California that if you write a check they can put it into a machine—a reader—and immediately it acts like a debit card and deducts the money out of your account. If you don't have money in your account, tough luck, you don't have two days to run over and get into the bank anymore. It deducts it right out, just like a debit card.

So, the whole economic and commercial system is going to change radically, and everything is going to be done that way. It's going to happen! If you don't like it and rebel against it, how are you going to eat?

Jim Hyles showed me a check that he used to purchase at a drugstore, and they scanned it right in and then gave him his receipt and his check back stamped void. You don't have to wait for your processed check, you've got it in your hand. Isn't that convenient?

In addition to that they are developing the implantable chips {note past sermon, including Mark of the Beast is Here with Digital Angel} There's going to be more and more of it. They can hardly wait to get everybody chipped! To get everybody identified.

You want to know why they're doing nothing about the immigration problem on the border. They want to get to a point of a magnitude so great that the only solution is 'chip identity.' The first step on that will be for everyone to have a national identification card. On that it will have everything that you are: When you're born, how old you are, how many times you went to the doctor, where your bank is, all of that sort of thing; no privacy! No trust! All control! That's why God doesn't want it.

They are also developing DARPA which is a super-secret defense organization in the United States government, which gets a lot of it's money from the 'black budget,' which is billions of dollars that on the budget that passes through Congress is listed in one thing, but it's really earmarked to go for doing super-secret projects.

DARPA is working on chips for the right hand and the forehead to control people from space with GPS control. They had on the news that they want to track all sex-offenders with GPS. You know what's going to happen. They're going to put them on their wrists or ankle and they'll be able to track them. Someone is going to figure out how to get it off without alerting the machine that is tracking them, and then he's going to go out and commit a crime. Then they're going to say that the only way to do it is to implant it.

Someone came on Fox News and said that all sex-predators should be executed. That's God's plan! Execute them so you don't have society plagued with people like that.

The whole way of buying and selling is in the process of changing right now. It's going to present more difficulties in the future and is eventually going to lead to the mark of the beast. All of this is done to condition everyone to accept it when it comes as the best solution to the problem.

Since you will have everything setup electronically to operate that way, unless you have it you can't buy or sell. So, it's going to come!

We're going to have to have faith in God and trust Him when that time comes, and then you will know that time is short!

The Mark of the Beast:

I've often wondered about the third angel. Revelation 14:9: "And a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives the mark in his forehead or in his hand, he shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God…'" (vs 9-10)—the seven last plagues, the first of which is against those who have the mark of the beast.

Revelation 16:2: "And the first angel went and poured out his vial onto the earth; and an evil and grievous sore fell upon the men who had the mark of the beast, and upon those who were worshiping his image."

Revelation 14:10: "…which is mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath; and he shall be tormented in fire and brimstone in the sight of the Holy angels, and of the Lamb"—the One Who sends the angles out to do it!

Verse 11:" And the smoke of their torment… [they will die when this happens] …ascends into the ages of eternity…" It's not that they are tormented forever; their smoke ascends! Once it gets up into space, it goes and goes, that's the nature of space.

"…and those who worship the beast and his image, and all who receive the mark of his name, have no rest day and night" (v 11). In other words, you are totally controlled. That's what it's talking about. That's what they are developing.

God never wants anyone to give up free choice to the control of other men! That's exactly what's being created in this world today, more and more! It will be more readily received by the general population when you have a lawless society that needs to be controlled. That's why they started by getting rid of the Ten Commandments and the teaching of the Bible in schools, so that you have a population that ends up being lawless and has no self-control!

You impose the control! But then with these chips that they have coming, they're going to not only:

  • know who you are
  • know where you are
  • know what you buy

they're also going to be able to:

  • control your mood
  • put thoughts into your mind
  • take away your free choice

This is Satan's step-by-step plan through government and business to take control of every human being on earth!

That's how they're going to solve the terrorist problem! What if they ran a poll? What if we were able to corral all the terrorists and potential terrorists—just take Hamas: everyone who belongs to Hamas and supports Hamas run them through and put a chip in them and 'we can control them.' If they reach a point—because 'we can tell by the sensors that we put in them—that their tempers and emotions are getting up, 'we zap them from space and make them cool out.'

What would you think about that? Wonderful! I bet you would get 90% plus people to agree to that. Try that with sex-offenders when they're heart rate reaches a certain point, it automatically sends a signal from space and the 'cool out.' If that doesn't work, you send a knockout punch and it knocks them to the ground unconscious. 'Wonderful! We can stop all of these attacks!' It's called electronic neutering! That's why the warning are there for the mark of the beast!

It goes clear back to Cain. Remember when Cain brought his offering. God didn't accept it. God said, 'Sin lies at the door, but you shall rule over it.' God intended that all human beings rule over the downward pull of lust, either through the letter of the Law, and for those who are converted to have God's Spirit to control it even greater in the Spirit of God!

What is Our Attitude?

All of these things go absolutely counter to why God gave free moral agency in the first place. The secret in getting this all accepted is that you first make them slaves while they think they are free! Think on that! So, they make the choice to do it! Apparent volunteer slavery, but it's enforced. If you won't receive the mark of the beast you're history! You're dead!

Speaking of the dead, I'll just interject here: because all human beings have the law of sin and death in them, though they live in the flesh they are dead when compared to God Who lives forever! You're only a few breaths away from dying. This is why that no human being of him or herself can produce from their own works anything that is of eternal lasting value. That can only be accomplished with the Spirit of God! That's why you are saved by grace, not by works!

We are being funneled just like cattle into a certain direction because there are parameters on every side, and you can't break out of those parameters. Just like you have a large fence and the cattle come in there and it narrows down until that only one cow at a time can got through the shoot. The cattle coming in have no alternative. If they try to get out of it, they can't.

Back to the thing on death. That's why there is baptism, and you give up your life to Christ. Not to a Church and not to a man. Christ died for you, so you die for Christ, mercifully, in the watery grave of baptism. You are dead in Christ, dead to sin, so therefore, when it comes time…

People ask why God has people martyred. For a witness! It's going to bloody, messy, terrible and painful, but it will be over. You've already buried your life in death to Christ! He gave Himself for each one of us, and He died very ignominiously so that we could have our sins forgiven and that we can live forever through the resurrection.
When it comes down to the finality of the fait accompli of the mark of the beast and the world, we are set for the slaughter! That's the way it's going to be! Hopefully, for many of us senior citizens, maybe we have all passed from the scene and it will be for the next generation. But we don't know! That's why we have to set in our mind:

  • that we are Christ's
  • that we live because of Him
  • that we love God and obey Him
  • that there is nothing:
    • not the mark of the beast
    • not the persuasion that you have some food
    • not even the persuasion that you're going to save your family

Yes, it's going to be awful and miserable if your children are killed, but let's see what Jesus said right at the outset, right during the time when He was bringing the message of the Gospel during His ministry to set forth what we need to do. He made it clear, and  this is why there were so many baptisms, which were not valid in the past because those who were baptized did not understand what this says.

Luke 14:25: "And great multitudes were going with Him…"

  • a lot of people look to numbers
  • a lot of people look to organizations
  • a lot of people look to the ministers and follow a man

I'll tell you that any minister who does not teach people to follow Christ and believe Jesus Christ and God the Father is serving himself and not serving the people!

"…and He turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to Me…'" (vs 25-26). This is the covenant that we make with Jesus Christ when we are baptized and we have to reaffirm each Passover.

This is the kind of attitude of mind, heart and determination that we need to have, "…and does not hate… [love less in comparison to; that]: …his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers and sisters…" (v 26)—cannot persuade you against Christ! That' they cannot come to you and say, 'If you loved me you wouldn't do this.'

No, I'm going to do it. You don't love me. Yes, I do, but I love God more. You hate me. No, I don't hate you, but this is a calling to eternal life.

"…and, in addition, his own life also…" (v 26). We give up our lives to Christ, not to Church or a minister, but to Christ!

"…he cannot be My disciple" (v 26)—the Greek means impossible to be a disciple of Christ. That's why when you go back to Matt. 7 where it says, 'Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who are doing the will of My Father Who is in heaven.'

Though they do great works, though they prophesy in His name, and do miracles, unless it's Luke 14 it can't be.

Verse 27: "And whoever does not carry his cross…"—whatever the trouble and difficulty that's going to be.

Read what Paul went through. And I dare say that all the troubles and difficulties in our lives have nothing compared to what that was, or what it was with Jesus. It says in another place, 'carry his cross daily,' and whatever the problem is daily. Jesus said in another place that we are to seek the Kingdom of God first, and His righteousness, because sufficient for every day thereof is the evil that you're confronted with in that day.

"…and come after Me cannot be My disciple" (v 27). Eternal life is not a 'feel-good' religion, where you emotionally get there.

I talked to a man who said that before he came into the Church of God he wouldn't want to go to those churches. He was embarrassed to go to those churches. They clap their hands, sway back and forth and read the ping-pong, bouncing ball hymns. What's happening? You're being hypnotized! He said that he couldn't stand it, but now with the Church of God, 'I can't wait for Sabbath services.' A totally different thing!

Verse 28: "For which one of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has sufficient for its completion; lest perhaps, after he has laid its foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, "This man began to build, and was not able to finish"? Or what king, when he goes out to engage another king in war, does not first sit down and take counsel, whether he will be able with ten thousand to meet him who is coming against him with twenty thousand? But if not, while his enemy is still far off, he sends ambassadors and desires the terms for peace. In the same way also, each one of you who does not forsake all that he possesses… [including his own life] …cannot be My disciple" (vs 28-33).

That's why it's so strong against the mark of the beast and all of these things!

Verse 34: "Salt is good… [we're to become the salt of the earth] …but if the salt becomes tasteless… [Laodicean attitude] …with what shall it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the land, nor for the manure; but they cast it out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear" (vs 34-35).

That's why God is so against the mark of the beast! It's something we really need to know, consider and understand. We also need to realize that:

  • God is there to help us
  • God is there to uplift us
  • God is there to guide us
  • God is there to lead us

This is what is important!

It doesn't matter what the situation and circumstances are in the world—except as it's fulfilling prophecy—it doesn't matter the problems and difficulties that we may be confronted with daily. What matters is that every day we are seeking God!

  • every day we let the Spirit of God lead us
  • every day we come to God and ask God for mercy and forgiveness in our lives

because

  • we have to fight human nature
  • we have to fight the world
  • we have to fight Satan the devil

A lot of us a very frustrated, but like Lot was when he looked out and saw Sodom and Gomorrah. A lot of it's hard to take, but unless we're fortified spiritually, internally with God's Spirit, it is going to be hard to handle. It's going to be hard, with all these prophecies that are coming along, because these are forces that have already been set in motion and it's only matter of how, when and where!

  • How long? We don't know!
  • When? We don't exactly know!

We know the events and what to look forward too!

Romans 6:1: "What then shall we say?…." God gives mercy and forgiveness, and God is willing in an instant to forgive, because He knows how hard it is:

  • to fight human nature
  • to fight the world
  • to fight Satan the devil

and there are going to be sins! When you sin don't get discouraged and down. Christ has already died for you and you've already died for Him in watery baptism, and every day is a new day. Realize that for whatever it is.

"…Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound?" (v 1). We're not to. We're not to say that after forgiveness that you're going to go ahead and do it and then I'll repent later. Of course not!

Verse 2: "MAY IT NEVER BE! We who died to sin…" You died to self, to sin, to Satan; that's what we need to understand and keep that in perspective when we are trying to anticipate and look at the things concerning prophecy.

  • prophecy is not primary
  • prophecy is not secondary
  • prophecy is tertiary, third place

"…how shall we live any longer therein?: (v 2).

That's why when you sin you feel miserable. God's Spirit is pricking your conscience so that you understand that it is sin, what you have done so that you can repent. That's why God is doing it with His Spirit in you!

Verse 3: "Or are you ignorant that we, as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?" God has taken the crucifixion of Christ and has superimposed that upon you for the forgiveness of your sins, baptized into His death!

Verse 4: "Therefore, we were buried with Him through the baptism into the death…"—the death of Christ!

This means that once we do that, we are pledging in covenant to God that we, through God's help and Spirit, be faithful to the end! That's what we are pledging; it is a covenant. This is a covenant pledge and a if broken requires your second death!

"…so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, in the same way, we also should walk in newness of life" (v 4). Led by God's Spirit:

  • with God's laws
  • with God's commandments
  • with the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Verse 5: "For if we have been conjoined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the likeness of His resurrection."

That is the thing to always have paramount in your mind! Because whenever we don't, we get down, discouraged and question God:

  • asking why
  • focusing in on our problems, faults and difficulties
  • focusing in on the faults of others

And we get overwhelmed!We can't let that happen, and here's how we do it: Keep your mind on your calling for the resurrection! That's why God has called us.

Verse 6: "Knowing this, that our old man was co-crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be destroyed…" This shows that it is a process! It's not something that's done instantaneously.

"…so that we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (v 6).

  • it doesn't mean that you don't have sin that you need to overcome
  • it doesn't mean that you're not going to have temptation or anything like that

It means that you are no longer going to be led around as a slave of sin, dragging you along because you have a ring in your nose and it's pulling you along. No! No more enslaved to sin!

  • that you live in sin
  • that you think in sin
  • that you act in sin

Verse 7: "Because the one who has died to sin… [by baptism] …has been justified from sin." Justified means that all of these things have been erased before God! And with repentance daily, continually erased.

Verse 8: "Now, if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him." [notice how Paul focuses in on this over and over again] …Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has any dominion over Him" (vs 8-9).

That's why Jesus said, when referring to Abraham, 'God is the God of the living, though Abraham has not yet been resurrected, because it is as good as done!' think of that in your life. It is as good as done, so if you do die in the flesh—which we're all going to—because in Adam we all die, even so we shall all be made alive. It has no dominion over you any longer.

Verse 10: "For when He died, He died unto sin once for all; but in that He lives, He lives unto God. In the same way also, you should indeed reckon yourselves to be dead to sin…" (vs 10-11).

  • overcoming of sin
  • repenting of sin
  • letting the laws and commandments of God be written in your heart and mind
  • letting the Spirit of God:
    • lead you
    • help you
    • guide you
    • convict you
      • letting the angels of God watch over you

"…but alive to God through Christ Jesus our Lord" (v 11). That's where it's all at, and this is what the world cannot understand. That's why they have got to have the mark of the beast.

Verse 12: "Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal body by obeying it in the lusts thereof." It's doesn't say you won't sin, it's saying not to let it rule! When you do sin—which every human being does—it's a process of overcoming. You don't let it rule!

How do you have it so that it doesn't rule? You repent and ask God to help cleanse your mind and heart! Repent of the foolishness of the thoughts of it, and God will take it away! That doesn't mean that something else will not come along later, because as long as we're in the flesh we're going to have to fight it. As long as we have the law of sin and death in us, which we do, we're going to have to keep working at it.

Verse 13: "Likewise, do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin; rather, yield yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God…. [when you do that]: …For sin shall not rule over you… [this is a greatly misunderstood verse by Protestants]: …because you are not under law, but under grace" (vs 13-14).

It does not do away with law, it merely means that you are not under law as with the Old Covenant for the justification of sin, where you had to by law offer a sacrifice. You are under grace, meaning that you have access to God through repentance and prayer to have your sins forgiven. That's what it means! It has no meaning whatsoever to do with the commandments should be kept. Completely misconstrued by Protestantism.

Verse 15: "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? MAY IT NEVER BE!"

This is how we fortify ourselves! This is how God strengthens us from within with His Spirit. This is our attitude and the operation that we have. This is all a part of loving God more than anything else.

Verse 16: "Don't you realize that to whom you yield yourselves as servants to obey, you are servants of the one you obey, whether it is of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you; and having been delivered from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. I speak from a human point of view because of the weakness of your flesh; for just as you once yielded your members in bondage to uncleanness, and to lawlessness unto lawlessness, so now yield your members in bondage to righteousness unto sanctification" (vs 16-19).

How is that done? This is what is important to realize, and how you can keep your attitude squared around everyday:

  • even though it's a fight
  • even though it's difficult

Romans 8:1: "Consequently, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus… [even though you have to fight against the law of sin and death, repent and overcome] …who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit; because the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus…" (vs 1-2).

  • repentance
  • baptism
  • receiving the Spirit of God
  • walking in the Truth of God
  • counting all the cost that we belong to God totally

that is all the "…the Law of the Spirit of Life…" then you add to that you receive:

  • the Spirit of God
  • the righteousness of God

That's all added to it, and because of that there is no condemnation. That's why God leads you to repentance. Some people linger in sin for a while with a guilty conscience, knowing they need to repent, but it takes them longer to repent and that's why God keeps the conscience pricking you so that you will repent. God's Spirit is leading you in that way, because He doesn't want you to walk in the flesh, but to walk in the Spirit.

Verse 3: "For what was impossible for the Law to do, in that it was weak through the flesh…" The Law is not the Spirit of God. The Law can never lead anyone to do something. It defines what ought to be done, but it doesn't lead you.

"…God having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; in order that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (vs 3-4). That's how lives need to be centered!

Verse 9: "However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you…. [that's what it means to walk in the Spirit] …But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him"—regardless of the pretense.

  • God is the One Who made the decision
  • God is the One Who is drawing the line

Verse 10: "But if Christ be within you, the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Now, if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead is dwelling within you…" (vs 10-11). There's the other aspect of the Spirit of God, which is of the Son first, and then of the Father.

"…He Who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit that dwells within you" (v 11). That's why there's nothing that can keep us from God. That's why!

Verse 12: "So then, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; because if you are living according to the flesh, you shall die… [the second death] …but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you shall live" (vs 12-13).

Notice the way that is worded: "…by the Spirit…" the power of God that is in you is "…putting to death…. [It is a process, an ongoing process!] …the deeds of the body, you shall live."  That one sentence is telling how to overcome!

Then v 14 shows how God is doing it: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God."

You have to be led by the Spirit of God, and lots of times you don't even know when the Spirit of God is leading you. It doesn't come along and say that the Spirit of God is leading you. It's the motivation that comes in your mind from the Spirit of God.

God will lead you to do things, and it will be almost as if you thought of it. But you look back on it and you see that God is the One Who caused the thought to be. God is the One Who has worked it out.

Verse 15: "Now, you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father'"—a close relationship with God.

That's why God wants you to forsake everything that's in this world, because if you do then you have God the Father and Jesus Christ. Isn't that worth more than everything in the world? Yes, indeed!

These are the kinds of attitudes that we need to have when we're coming down to the time when we see all of these things taking place. As I've mentioned before, this is the protection against:

  • being overwhelmed with problems; we're going to have lots of them
  • being overwhelmed with difficulties; there are going to be many of them
  • being overwhelmed with the world

This is your protection; this is your spiritual armor against all of that!

Philip. 3 is very, very important with the mindset that we need to have that comes with the Spirit of God, as the Apostle Paul points out.

The reason that God called the Apostle Paul—who was a sworn dedicated enemy of God and Christ—was to show that God can do the impossible. As far as our own lives are concerned, we're going to always come up with things that are impossible to handle and deal with unless God is there to help us. That's what's important.

Paul talks about all the things that he had a Jew and then he says:

Philippians 3:7: "Yet, the things that were gain to me… [of this world: power, prestige, authority] … these things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ." So, whatever we have to give up, whatever it is makes no difference!

Verse 8: "But then truly, I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as dung; that I may gain Christ." Doesn't that reflect exactly the attitude of Luke 14 that we covered? Exactly!

Verse 9: "And may be found in Him…" When it's all over and done with and the resurrection takes place, and you are changed from flesh to spirit, resurrected out of the grave, it is all new! Everything in the past is over!

"…not having my own righteousness, which is derived from law, but that righteousness, which is by the faith of Christ…" (v 9). Because if you love God, believe in His hope and walk in faith, that produces the righteousness from within!

"…the righteousness of God that is based on faith" (v 9). Notice how Paul again focuses on the resurrection and what the goal is. This is how we survive the times and troubles ahead of us, and the difficulties and problems that we are going to face.

Verse 10: "That I may know Him…" Isn't it going to be something to see Jesus and talk to Him face-to-face?

"…and the power of His resurrection…" (v 10). Isn't it going to be something to remember the last thing you remember when died? I wish it could be for everyone like it was ancient Israel when he got done blessing the two sons of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh—he said, 'I go the way of all flesh' and climbed in bed and died. That was it.

Unfortunately, some of us are going to die difficult and horrible deaths because of the way that the world is, because of the things that have polluted our bodies, the air, our minds and everything like that. There are going to be difficult things, as well as martyrdom ahead.

"…and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death" (v 10)—because you are co-crucified with Him.

Verse 11: "If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection of the dead; not as though I have already received, or have already been perfected… [it's a process] …but I am striving, so that I may also lay hold on that for which I also was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not count myself as having attained; but this one thing I do—forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth to the things that are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (vs 11-14).

That is the focal point! When we read of all of these things in the Bible that are going to take place, all of the prophecies that are going to happen; when we look at the news and see the helplessness of this world and the wretchedness, death and destruction, and political upheaval, war, sickness and disease, don't get overwhelmed with it!

Keep you mind on Christ! Let that spiritual shield protect you: your mind, emotions and feelings.

Then we have guarantee, and this is how the Spirit of God works to prick our conscience; v 15: "So then, let as many as be perfect be of this mind…. [it the attitude with the Spirit of God] …And if in anything you are otherwise minded, God will reveal even this to you." That's why God's Spirit in leading you pricks your conscience and heart because of sin, bad attitudes, and things like this that you need to overcome.

  • thank God
  • repent
  • go forward

As we look at some of these prophecies and the things that are going to take place, this is how we need to fortify ourselves so that we are not caught off guard!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

  • Genesis 11:1-6
  • Revelation 12:1-9, 12
  • Revelation 13:1-7
  • Revelation 12:17
  • Revelation 13:7-9, 16-17
  • Revelation 14:9-10
  • Revelation 16:2
  • Revelation 14:10-11
  • Luke 14:25-35
  • Romans 6:1-19
  • Romans 8:1-4, 9-15
  • Philippians 3:7-15

Scriptures quoted, not referenced:

  • Matthew 24
  • Genesis 3:15
  • Matthew 4
  • Luke 4
  • Daniel 2
  • Revelation 17
  • Matthew 7

Also referenced:

Popular Science Magazine: Star Wars: Battlefield Space by Dawn Stover; October 28, 2005 (https://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2005-10/battlefield-space)

Sermons

  • Judgment of Babylon
  • Mark of the Beast is Here with Digital Angel

Sermon Series: Daniel/Revelation

Books:

  • Secrets of the Lost Races by Rene Noorbergen
  • Spy Chips by Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 5/17/18

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