Prophecy & Satan's Power

Overview of events before the G. T. begins,
how the world worships the god of this world because they didn't love the Truth of God

Fred R. Coulter—August 17, 2019

- Video |  - PDF | Audio [Up]

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!

I just talked to our webmaster and just on truthofGod.org—our main website—we're already past a million visitors to the site for the year. The average time is up to over 15 minutes. There are a lot of people looking for the Truth. Especially when you look at the world the way it is, you wonder: What on earth is going on? Everything is upside down and backward!

We have the final box for the whole Bible in Its Original Order on CD. It took us two and half years to read the entire Bible.

We had a smaller box, but it did not hold up well; just opening it up three or four times it came apart. So, what they did is make it a miniature of the box that the Bible comes in. Have to all on 10 CDs.

If you've been watching the new and you're wondering what's happening, did you believe that it was suicide (referring to the 'suicide' of Jeffery Epstein. If you believe that it was suicide, you don't understand how deep and think the 'deep state' is!

Chuck Schumer warned Pres. Trump that if you don't go along with the CIA and the intelligence service, they have 'six way to Sunday' to get you! I think that pretty well tells the story of what's going on.

*****

Why do we have so much evil today? There are two reasons:

• people who will not obey God
• Satan the devil, 'the god of this world'

Today we are going to examine both of those! Paul writes:

2-Timothy 3:1: "Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come." Does that describe what's going on the world today?

The Bible is the only book that gives us the history from creation to the return of Christ.

Verse 2: "For men will be lovers of self… [Isn't that true?] …lovers of money, braggarts, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection… [listing everything that you see going on in this society today] …implacable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, despisers of those who are good, betrayers, reckless, egotistical, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (vs 1-4).

It's ironic, there are over 2-billion supposed Christians in the world. Yet, they seem unable to stop the evil. Why? We'll answer that in a bit!

Verse 5: "Having an outward appearance of Godliness, but denying the power of true Godliness. But as for you, turn away from all these."

Matt. 24 is a prophecy from the time of Christ in various cycles down to today. It's happened time and time again, from the time of Christ, until now. We understand that the Bible is relevant today:

• in the world
• in the lives of people in the world
• in the lives of those who are Christ's

those who are Christ's:

• the called
• the chosen
• the faithful
• the few

not the many

Matthew 24:1: "And after going out, Jesus departed from the temple; and His disciples came to Him to point out the buildings of the temple."

It was massive as you look from the Mt. of Olives back to where the temple was. It was about 700-feet of a huge stone wall going up.

Verse 2: "But Jesus said to them, 'Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left here even a stone upon a stone that shall not be thrown down.'"

If you've seen the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem—on the news or in pictures—what is that Wailing Wall?  You see stone upon stone, and the Mosque of Omar is there, and the Muslims claim that and own it, and the Jews say that's where the temple should be, and 'we'll destroy it.'

How can that be where the temple was when Jesus said that there would not be one stone left upon another? Because that is not the true location of where the temple actually was! {We've got a DVD on that, which is very interesting.}

Verse 3: "And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, His disciples came to Him alone, saying, 'Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the completion of the age?'" Remember that is about 1900 years ago.
Verse 4: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Be on guard, so that no one deceives you.'"

We're going to see a little bit later the place that Satan likes to deceive most is where those who profess to be Christians! When you understand that, then you will understand why the confusion!

Verse 5: "For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ'; and they shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you do not let these things disturb you. For it is necessary that all these things take place, but the end is not yet" (vs 5-6).

Now, John Guenther has been doing the history of the Church going clear back to the early centuries, right after the apostles died and then on into 700-1100s when they had:

• the Crusades
• the armies going to Jerusalem
• the Muslims coming up into Europe

The Church was thinking that the end is near! These things come in cycles, but we'll see what the final key is so that we'll understand that we're getting closer than it was back then.

Verse 7: "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in different places." Sound like the evening news?

Here's another key: You go back centuries when communication was slow. Today, it's instant! Look at the final end-time, all of these things are happening, and it's happening so that everyone will know it! No one is going to be without excuse!

Verse 8: "Now, all these things are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to affliction, and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake" (vs 8-9). That has happened and repeated over and over again!

Verse 10: "And then shall many be led into sin…" Isn't that what's happening today? Beginning in our 'state' schools? Led into sin!

"…and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another; and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many" (vs 10-11). Why is that possible? We'll look into how to avoid that!

Verse 12: "And because lawlessness shall be multiplied…" Look at what is happening just in the last ten days:

• two mass shootings
• a shootout in Pennsylvania on drug deals

Lawlessness! Corruption at the highest level!

"…the love of many shall grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved" (vs 12-13).

Verse 14 & 15 are the keys to tell us where we are. We're certainly past the beginning of this. We're certainly past many cycles of it happening down through history.

Verse 14: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations…"

Today there is the means of doing that. For example, just the small part that we have, we have offices in:

• Canada
• the Netherlands
• So. Africa
• Australia
• America
• Malaysia

And who knows where it's going to go from there! God is the One Who opens the doors. There are other Churches of God doing things very similar to what we are doing. The Gospel is about:

• the Kingdom of God
• the return of Christ
• the setting up of the Government of God on this earth

With Christ as the King and the resurrected saints as those who are going to rule the world!

With all the technology that we have today, it can be done! Our websites go around the world 24/7! Different websites go around the world 24/7. There are now satellites—low orbit—for WiFi. What can you get on WiFi? Any disaster, if you have a phone, you can pick it up and watch it. Likewise the preaching of the Gospel.

It's not only the Churches but a little later, just before the end, the book of Revelation shows two witnesses. Power from God!

"…and then shall the end come" (v 14). What is the key to show the beginning of the end, the end, the end?

Verse 15: "Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy place.'…." The Holy place is in the temple!

The temple was destroyed in 70A.D. Rev. 11 shows that there is going to be a temple. We'll look at some other Scriptures in a bit that will show that that is going to happen. The Jews are preparing for the temple. When it's time for them to build the temple, they will know where the location is to build it. It won't be where the Mosque of Omar is.

When the temple is starting to be built, there are very few years left, of which the Tribulation will be three and a half years of those.

Notice this parenthetical statement: "…(The one who reads, let him understand.)" (v 15).

• Jesus did not say 'the one who sees it.'
• Jesus did not say 'the one who reads…'
• John who canonized the New Testament put that there.

Why? Because it was destroyed in 70A.D. and he had the prophecy of Rev. 11 that there would be a temple, so John did not know what it was. So, John said, "…(The one who reads, let him understand.)"

When the temple was destroyed in 70A.D. there was no abomination of desolation!

So, this is how the Bible in understood: a little here, a little there, and you put it together!

Verse 16: "Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; and let the one who is in the field not go back to take his garments. But woe to those women who are expecting a child, and to those who are nursing infants in those days! And pray that your flight be not in the winter… [Why? Because there will be false prophets!] …nor on the Sabbath" (vs 16-20). Even then God doesn't want the Sabbath broken!

What does this statement here tell us? That the Sabbath Day is still in force! That's one of the keys to understanding the Bible. Let's finish about the abomination of desolation:

Revelation 11:1: Then the angel gave me a measuring rod like a staff, saying, 'Arise and measure the temple of God…'" When this was given to John, the temple was long destroyed, well over 30 years!

"…and the altar, and those who worship in it. But leave out the court that is within the temple area, and do not measure it because it has been given up to the Gentiles; and they shall trample upon the Holy city for forty-two months" (vs 1-2)—three and a half years!

They have been trying to get a world-government and a world-leader for how long? Actually beginning with Woodrow Wilson and the League of Nations! Then Theodore Roosevelt and the United Nations. They're still pushing for it. We can be thankful that Pres. Trump is against world-government. But all that's going to do is cause those who want it, after he's out of office, to really push it. It's prophesied to happen! You can look out and see the scene!

Here is what is developing; Revelation 13:1: "And I stood on the sand of the sea; and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." This is the final world government!

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… [Satan the devil] …gave him his power, and his throne and great authority."

We're going to see why there is so much lawlessness, and why it's so hard to get rid of, because is the one who is behind it.

Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…"

Think about that! Would you say that the whole world is deceived with many deceptions? Reverse the question: How many believe and know the Truth of the Bible? Very few!

"…he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (v 9). That's the beginning of the Great Tribulation right there!

To show you how it's going to be when the beast takes over. It's going to start out as wonderful and great, and 'we're going to have world peace.' But it will turn into the greatest calamity that the world has ever experienced.

Revelation 13:3: "And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed; and the whole earth… [everybody on the earth] …was amazed and followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon…" (vs 3-4).

How is that going to be? It's going to be under the guise of all religions working together, and we're all going to the same place! The various ones—Catholics, Protestants, and even the LDS—are going to the pope! You just wait, it's coming!

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?'" Quite a thing! Then they're going to come after the true Christians!

Let's look at the abomination that makes desolate! When it comes everyone is going to think, 'yes, we're going to have peace; yes, we're all together.' But it's all going to backfire, because Satan is the one who is making this happen!

2-Thessalonians 2:1: "Now, we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him… [that's the resurrection] …that you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit… [because there are demon spirits out there] …nor by word… [whatever message is given] …nor by epistle, as if from us… [think about what the apostles had to fight against, false epistles] …saying that the day of Christ is present" (vs 1-2). That's the way they express it!

Verse 3: "Do not let anyone deceive you… [that's where we started in Matt. 24] …by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy shall come first…"—all religions gathering together, all governments submitting to the beast. The stage is being set bit by bit by bit!

"…and the man of sin… [the beast (Rev. 13)] …shall be revealed—the son of perdition" (v 3).

Now, notice how we're going to be able to know who it is. No false alarm. Jesus said that 'the abomination that makes desolate stand in the Holy place.' There must be the temple, and notice what the beast is going to do at that temple.

Verse 4: "The one who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is an object of worship; so that he comes into the temple of God and sits down as God, proclaiming that he himself is God."

That's quite a statement! But that's the abomination of desolation! Now you know why John wrote that parenthetical statement, 'The one who reads let him understand.' John helped compile all the books of the New Testament together. He knew what Jesus said in Matthew, Mark and Luke. He knew what Paul had written in 2-Thessalonians.

Verse 5: "Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you understand what is holding him back in order for him to be revealed in his own set time." That's will be the time that God determines!

• We don't know that!
• We don't understand that!
• But we know by the events!
• We know that by looking at world events!
• We know by the events in different nations what's going on that we're moving closer and closer to it!

Verse 7: "For the mystery of lawlessness… [What did we read in Matt. 24? Lawlessness shall be multiplied!] …is already working; only there is One Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst."

What did we see in Rev. 13; it rose out of the sea! There it is right there!

Verse 8: "And then the lawless one will be revealed… [the next statement tells us when this will be] …(whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth… [Rev. 19] …and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)." That's going to be a powerful thing that Christ is going to do!

Verse 9: "Even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan… [dwelling in him, possessing him] …with all power and signs and lying wonders."

Verse 10 tells us how believable this will be: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the Truth, so that they might be saved."

What is the Truth? Let's take a look and see what the Truth is! There are many versions of people's ideas and opinions that they say is Truth! For example: in Sunday-keeping churches they say that the Law is done away. Lie! Not true!

How can you have lawlessness if there is no law? You can't! Look at this society. Remember the fella they arrested in that shootout in Philadelphia? He had a rap sheet three pages long! Lawlessness! What did he do? He broke the law!

• lying
• cheating
• stealing
• drugs
• swearing/cursing

Against God! All rapped up in this one man's life! But because the authorities who are supposed to protect the innocent people, they have let men like this loose, because they think: let's be liberal and generous. But they're really being sinful.

Where it said in 2-Thess. 2 that they accepted this because they didn't love the Truth!

Psalm 119:141: "I am small and despised, yet, I do not forget Your precepts. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is the Truth" (vs 141-142). Think about that for a minute!

Think about the Ten Commandments; every one of the Ten Commandments is based on love:

• the first four to love God
• the last six—beginning with honor your father and mother—is loving your neighbor

You take the Ten Commandments and look at what is going on in the world, there your answer is lawlessness. If everyone kept the Laws of God, think of that!

• the right God
• no idols
• no taking God's name in vain and lying from the pulpit and saying that God said this when He didn't
• everyone keeping the Sabbath
• all children honoring father and mother
• no murder
• no adultery
• no stealing
• no lying
• no coveting

You won't need a jail! The best job in the world would be to be a policeman, because you'd have nothing to do. There would be very little crime if any. "…Your Law is the Truth"!

Verse 151: "You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are Truth."

Verse 160: "Your Word is true from the beginning, and every one of Your righteous ordinances endures forever."

Think of that when people claim that the Laws of God are done away. That's saying that they don't exist forever, and you're in lawlessness, going against God, which then in society multiplies and increases to what we see today.

Verse 163: "I hate and despise lying, but I love Your Law."

What did we just read in 2-Thess. 2? They didn't have the love of the Truth, so they were given over to a great deception!

Verse 172: "My tongue shall speak of Your Word, for all Your commandments are righteousness."

Those are just a few verses in the Bible that helps define what is the Truth. So, we see a world and society that has been given over to all kinds of sin, wretchedness and transgressing the Laws of God. No one can solve the problems!

Example: Everyone gets all upset over the fact of these mass shootings. We should, but there's something else going on that is greater than that: 3,000 murders a day of the unborn! Everyday, 3,000! Don't you think that God knows? In every conception:

• God is the One Who has given life!
• God is the One Who has given the spirit to that new life!

Without the spirit the body is dead! God knows! But look at the confusion going on trying to reduce it or stop it. All who participate in it, and all who support it, are actively murderers and accessories to the fact.

You can get all upset over the mass shooting that you want, but God sees the mass carnage of 3,000 everyday! To the tune of 66-million in America murdered!

God's judgment through the evil coming upon us is there!

(go to the next track)

Have you watched the TV program Ancient Aliens? Quite a show! They don't really understand what's going on. What they're describing what happened is true, but they don't realize that there is God, Christ, the Holy angels, Satan the devil and the demons. When they're talking about the ancient aliens, in most cases they're talking about demons.

It's also setting up the world to fight Christ when He returns, because He will be labeled an alien. You'll have to come back for the Feast of Trumpets to go through that. It's going to be an awesome thing!

• Who is Satan?
• How did he become Satan?
• How did he get so much power?

First of all, as we read, he's deceiving the whole world! The whole world is worshipping him.

Why? You either worship the true God—you may be on neutral ground for a little bit—or you're worshipping Satan the devil! If you're on the middle ground you're in the world, and we will see that Satan controls the world.

Always remember that to come to a Truth in the Scripture, you have to go a 'little here, a little there; a line here, a line there' and you put it together 'precept upon precept' and you get the whole picture.

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

If you want to know what that amounts to in theological terms, go to TBN and jet planes.

"…not walking in cunning craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully…" (v 2).

Can you make the Word of God say something that it doesn't say:

• if you don't know what it's talking about?
• if you read your interpretation into it?

And that's exactly what is happening in the 'Christian' world. It's all been replaced with the traditions of men, and in the case of the Catholics, all of the rituals are of Satan the devil! There is nothing Christian in Catholicism, except they use the name of Christ!

"…but by manifestation of the Truth, we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience before God. But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing; in whom the god of this age…" (vs 2-4)—Satan the devil; the god of this world!

God the Father and Jesus Christ are not the God of this world, yet! Men have wanted to have Satan run it rather than God. All you have to do is look a the Ten Commandments and that will give you a good understanding as to why.

"…has blinded the minds of those who do not believe…" (v 4).

• you must believe
• you must obey
• you must serve God as God says

• Can you believe a lie? We read that they're going to be a lie!
• Can you believe a lie with the same intensity as you believe the Truth? Yes!

Then you get to the point that you deceive yourself! You believe your own lies!

"…lest the Light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we do not preach our own selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" (vs 4-5).

Let's see how Satan works. He doesn't come to you and say, 'I'm Satan the devil and I'm going to kill you; I want to destroy you.' He comes to you and says, 'I have a benefit for you.' Remember what happened with Adam and Eve? He said:

I'll tell you a benefit that God hasn't told you. You eat of this fruit and you'll be like God; you decide for yourself what's good and evil.

He does it with everything! He's the father of lies, especially in 'religion.' If you go to some of these Sunday-keeping churches, you're going to be turned off, because it doesn't make any sense.

Sidebar: I spent quite a bit of time watching TBN when we did the series: The Mystery of Protestantism. It's pathetic!

2-Corinthians 11:1: "I would that you might bear with me in a little nonsense; but indeed, do bear with me. For I am jealous over you with the jealousy of God because I have espoused you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (vs 1-3).

• repent
• believe
• be baptized
• love God
• love Christ
• keep the commandments of God

That is the simplicity of Christ!

• you don't need rituals
• you don't need 'hail Marys'
• you don't need 'our fathers'
• you don't need a hierarchy ruling over you

You need Christ and God the Father ruling over you, with His Spirit and with His Word!

Notice that even in the days of the apostles; just what Christ told them, where we began, 'Beware! Lest someone deceive you!' That's why we have the Word of God, so we won't be deceived!

Verse 4: "For indeed, if someone comes preaching another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive, or a different gospel, which you did not accept, you put up with it as something good."

What is the most sacred thing that people hold onto? Their own opinion! 'I believe… I think…' That's how they get themselves in trouble. That's why the Word of God is here, so that we have the Truth, and we know what God wants us to do. God has preserved it and when it's translated correctly you will know the Truth. Yes, there are some difficult Scriptures that Paul wrote, that are hard to understand.

Those are all understandable when you love God and keep the Truth and His commandments.

Verse 5: "But I consider myself in no way inferior to those highly exalted so-called apostles." Those are the false apostles coming along!

Verse 13: "For such are false apostles—deceitful workers who are transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is no marvel, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his servants also transform themselves as ministers of righteousness—whose end shall be according to their works" (vs 13-15).

Now let's see what power Satan has. He's got a lot. We'll get into the background of how he became Satan in a little bit. But he rebelled against God and wanted to become like God. After Jesus was baptized, He had to go and be tempted by Satan the devil for 40 days and 40 nights.

Matthew 4:1: "Then Jesus was led up into the wilderness by the Spirit in order to be tempted by the devil."
Why? Because Satan is 'the god of this world,' this age! In order for Christ to qualify as Savior, and to qualify to become the future King to rule over the world, He had to defeat the temptations of Satan the devil personally. He had to do not as God—He could have done it easily as God—not as an angel, because that still would be possible; but as a man, and as a man very, very weak by fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.

Verse 2: "And when He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, afterwards He was famished. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, 'If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread'" (vs 2-3). He probably added a few extra words:

Just think how nice it would smell! Think how nice it would taste! Look at You, You're so thin You've lost a lot of weight. You really need some food.

This reminds me of when I was delivering papers in the morning in Seattle. I always had to go by this donut shop. They were cooking these donuts and you go by and it smells really good.

You can imagine what Satan was tempting Him with. Satan was coming with a benefit.

Verse 4: "But He [Jesus] answered and said, 'It is written… [Christ is quoting was is written to all mankind applying to Himself] …"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."'" That's found in Deut. 8:3!

What we have in the Bible is every word of God that He would speak to us if He were here. But He came and had it recorded so that He wouldn't have to keep coming! We have to love God, keep His commandments, believe His Word, and that's what He's saying here.

Verse 5: "Then the devil took Him to the Holy city and set Him upon the edge of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down; for it is written, "He shall give His angels charge concerning You, and they shall bear You up in their hands, lest You strike Your foot against a stone"'" (vs 5-6). Look at what this tells us:

• Does Satan know how to quote Scripture? Yes!
• Does He quote it and misapply it? Yes!

You don't tempt God by misinterpreting the Scriptures. Another thing that's very important here: What if Christ would have obeyed Satan just once? Then Satan would have been elevated, and Christ would have been defeated! So, Satan comes along and says, 'Look, God will save You!'

Verse 7: "Jesus said to him, 'Again, it is written, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."'" That's every time you read the Scripture and misapply it, you're tempting God!

Here is the big one, v 8: "After that, the devil took Him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory"—in a moment of time (Luke 4). You can just imagine a great, huge screen like we have today!

Verse 9: "And [Satan] said to Him, 'All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me.'"—for it has been given to me (Luke 4).

How does Satan get possession or rulership of these things? By people believing him instead of God! "…all the kingdoms of the world…": Doesn't this tell you why all the kingdoms are messed up? War after war after war! Famine—everything that Christ talks about in Matt. 24—pestilence, earthquakes, all of these things. All of that is because Satan rules the world and people are following him! How are you going to discern the difference?

• the Law and commandments of God
• the Truth of what Christ is teaching
• the Truth of what the apostles have written

This is for us!

Verse 9: "And said to Him, 'All these things will I give You, if You will fall down and worship me.'" Because Satan wants to be worshipped as God! Doesn't that conform with Rev. 13?

Verse 10: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "You…" That's not referring to Satan, because Satan is never going to worship God. That's referring to Himself [Jesus] as a man.

"'…shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve.' Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and ministered to Him" (vs 10-11)—because He was so weak!

Through false preachers, false doctrines, misinterpretations of the Scriptures, ministers come thinking they're serving God because they're deceived, but they are actually serving Satan the devil! If you confront them with it…

• How do you know they are deceived?
• How do you know they are serving Satan?

They don't have a sign out: The First Church of Satan. That's coming! Don't worry about that! Ask them about which day to worship on! Ask them: Which day is the Sabbath of the Lord today? They will say, 'The Sabbath is Saturday, but we keep Sunday because it was changed.' They lie! It was never changed!

• Guess Who was Lord of the Sabbath Day?
• Guess Who said that He was Lord of the Sabbath Day?

Jesus Christ! He said that the Sabbath was not made for man—mankind—but man for the Sabbath! The Sabbath was the first thing that God revealed to man.

Mark 2:27: "And He [Jesus] said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man… [mankind] …and not man for the Sabbath; therefore, the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath'" (vs 27-28).

Ephesians 6:11: Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil… [we just read how wiley he was] …because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickednessin high places" (vs 11-12). Stop and think!

• How come they never get convicted for gross and wretched sins that everybody knows is sin?
• Who controls the elite?
• Who controls the deep state in all governments? Satan does!

But woe to you if you miss a few dollars on your income tax!

Verse 12: "Because we are not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers, against the world rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual power of wickednessin high places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day… [any day that evil comes along] …and having worked out all things, to stand" (vs 12-13).

• stand for God
• stand for Christ
• stand for the Word of God
• stand for the Truth

Verse 14: "Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with Truth, and wearing the breastplate of righteousness, and having your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. Besides all these, take up the shield of the faith, with which you will have the power to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one" (vs 14-16).

Think about all of the venues that Satan has to get out all kinds of sin. Start analyzing some of the ads on TV. What does Satan always have? A nice looking man and woman, and this is a really good thing for you! It may or may not be. Look at some of the images of the instantaneous flashes of images that go into the mind that sit there and develops sin!

• think about that
• think about the movies
• think about the music
• think about the entertainment

All of that hasn't it been shown here who controls Hollywood? Yes, indeed! They even brag that they worship Satan. Finally, they're out in the open.

Verse 17: "And put on the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God; praying at all times with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and in this very thing being watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (vs 17-18).

Let's also see how Satan operates. 1-John 2 tells us how Satan works. What is in the world? He's the god of this world!

1-John 2:14: "I wrote to you, fathers, because you have known Him Who is from the beginning. I wrote to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God is dwelling in you, and you have overcome the wicked one." Overcoming is another description of being a Christian!

Verse 15: "Do not love the world, nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because everything that is in the world… [just think how this Scripture is magnified today] …the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pretentious pride of physical life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world and its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever" (vs 15-17).

Doesn't that describe a lot of things that we see everyday? That's why we need the Sabbath! We shut that all off, we come together, we study the Word of God, and we're refreshed spiritually every week!

Satan is out there operating all the time! In a way it's harder to be a Christian today than at any time in the history of the world, because we have so many other things out there that weren't there a couple of hundred years ago. Just think if you lived in one of the valleys of the Piedmonts, where nearly everyone there was in the Church of God. Everyone kept the Sabbath, everyone knew everyone. It was peaceful and quiet, and the children were growing up and as they entered adulthood they were baptized and so forth. They had evangelists going out into other parts of Europe and they were doing their part of evangelizing. Then here comes the Catholic Church to try and kill them!
Today it's different, we've got it right in our hand!

• How many do not have a cell phone?
• How many do not have a television?
• How many do not play the games on television or iPad?

Think about all those things!

• What is setup in the world to destroy the family? The cost of things are so high that mothers must work!
• What does that do? That leaves the children to babysitters while the mother is working! Then they go to school and are taught by the 'state' school!
• What are they teaching now? A lot of evil!
• What days do they celebrate?
• Do they celebrate the days of God?

or

• Do they celebrate the days of the world?
• They celebrate the days of the world!
• What's the first thing they introduce them to?

I remember that as a kid growing up I looked forward to Halloween, because I'd come home with sacks full of candy and all sorts of stuff. I would fill myself full and come down with the flu. That's how flu starts. Halloween is introduction into Satan and death!

Then you have Christmas. What is Christmas? 'Oh, that's the birth of Christ'! NO! He wasn't born then; that 's the birth of a false Christ!

Then you have New Years, Lent and Easter. None of those are of God! Let's try what's in the Bible:

• Sabbath, not Sunday
• Passover, not communion
• Unleavened Bread, how to overcome sin in the world
• Pentecost, when we will be resurrected as the firstfruits
• Trumpets, when the saints and Christ return to the earth to take over; Christ was born on the Feast of Trumpets; He died on the Passover Day
• Atonement  What is God going to do about Satan the devil? Everything about the Day of Atonement tells us about that and how Satan is going to be put away forever!
• Feast of Tabernacles, How God is going to have a lot of people enter the Kingdom of God; Christ and the saints are going to rule for a thousand years
• The Last Great Day, the greatest secret of God of all. God is going to resurrect all of those who did not commit the unpardonable sin and give them an opportunity as a second life in the flesh to have salvation.

It's not like the Baptists say. I heard Jeffers—one of Trumps favorite ministers—on TBN, and he gave a sermon about if you are not in this church or a Baptist Church and you're out in the world and you die, you're going to hell and burn forever! That is a LIE!

• God is greater than all men
• God is greater than all their lies

God is going to resurrect them to a second physical life for an opportunity for salvation! How is that for justice? and mercy? and kindness? Those are the days of God!

Ephesians 2:1: "Now, you were dead in trespasses and sins."

Remember when the young man came to Jesus and said, 'I'll follow You, Lord, but let me go bury my father first.' Jesus didn't say, 'I'm glad you love your father, go ahead and come back.' Jesus said, 'Let the dead bury their dead.'

That's a very unkind statement to the politically correct. But that is a true theological statement, because IF you don't have the Spirit of God, you are the walking dead who are still living!

Verse 2: "In which you walked in times past according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air…"—another name of Satan[transcriber's correction]!

I remember when I was pastoring down in Los Angeles, I had the whole Watts area and the area going over to Santa Monica, which included Hollywood. I remember that I was driving along and BANG! this most evil thought came into my mind. I wasn't think about it; I had nothing like that on my mind. Then I realized that I was in an area where there are probably a lot of these signals going on.

"…the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (v 2). Who are the children of disobedience? Disobedient to what? To God! If you're disobedient to God, guess who is your ruler? People in the world never think of that, but this is what it's telling us.

Verse 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world. But God…" (vs 3-4).

Here Paul is talking about how God reaches down and convicts some people to want to follow Him.

"…Who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, has made us alive together with Christ. (For you have been saved by grace.)" (vs 4-5). That comes from God!

This is how you come out of the world and understand how it is, and come to the knowledge of God and then begin to have a relationship with Him through His Word.

There's a whole lot more to it, because there's the whole Bible. But this will give you kind of a good thumbnail sketch when you see all the evil happening in the world, know that it was prophesied! When you see those people doing the things that are not right, know that we're living in times that can be very difficult, indeed!

But you come to God through Christ, and you can have understanding and peace of mind!

Scriptural References:

• 2 Timothy 3:1-5
• Matthew 24:1-20
• Revelation 11:1-2
• Revelation 13:1-2
• Revelation 12:9
• Revelation 13:3-4
• 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10
• Psalm 119:141-142, 151, 160-, 163, 172
• 2 Corinthians 4:1-5
• 2 Corinthians 11:1-5, 13-15
• Matthew 4:1-11
• Mark 2:27-28
• Ephesians 6:11-18
• 1 John 2:14-17
• Ephesians 2:1-5

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 19
• Deuteronomy 8:3
• Luke 4

Also referenced: Sermon Series:
            The Mystery of Protestantism

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 8/21/19

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