Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies VI

#6—This Life is Everything

Fred R. Coulter

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We'll just review where we are:

• Chapter One: "More Deadly than Witchcraft"—that is the lies of Satan the devil.
• First most believable lie: "God is a Cosmic Sadist"—in other words, God just put us here to torture us and torment us and cause us all kinds of problems and Satan comes along and says, 'You see, this is the way God is. How can you love Him?'
• Second most believable lie: "God is a Liar"—what liars always do; they accuse the other person of being the liar. He gives a very good account in the book showing exactly how this situation works and what can be started with it.
• Third most believable lie: "There is No Destiny"—there is no reason for being on the earth, which follows very closely with #6, which we will cover today.
• Fourth most believable lie: "God is not Worthy"—there are a lot of people who have this attitude, that God is not worthy; God then is deprecated to a very small secondary, tertiary situation.
• Fifth most believable lie: "Adversity Must Produce Apostasy"

This whole series is designed that you have the book Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies by Dave Breese. Let's continue with #6 now: "This Life is Everything"—which means there is no eternal life! This Life is Everything!

You will see this portrayed on television, on the news, in magazines, in books—everything is geared toward that. Everything is geared also to impugning and ridiculing God, religion, belief in life hereafter. There's one where they have two men that are supposed to be angels—Highway to Heaven—and what that does is—although they have all of these little episodes—everything they go through impugns God! I've watched it very little, but what I've seen comes down to that.

This Life is Everything! Therefore, you have to do everything in the world to preserve this life.

p 69—What is life all about? One of the most elaborate discussions in all of literature centered around this most relevant question is found in the book of Job. Like each of us today, Job, his wife and their philosopher friends were people looking for answers.

If this life were everything and that's all there was to it, then you have a situation where that maybe what was done to Job was not fair, because after all, look how 'good' he was.

Job 1—he lost everything! Job lost everything that he had; all of the physical goods. He lost his sons, his daughters, cattle, sheep, homes—everything! Of course, when he told his wife about that, she wasn't too pleased, I am sure. His final conclusion after all that was done there:

Job 1:21: "And he said, 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.' In all this Job did not sin, nor charge God foolishly" (vs 21-22). That takes an awful lot of character!

You think about that for a minute. If you would have suffered through everything that Job had suffered through. What if you had been in the Church of God as long as Job supposedly knew God and then you lost everything? Of course, none of us are as wealthy as he was.

Job 2:1: "And again it came to pass on a day that the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD. And Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it'" (vs 1-2). What is Satan doing while he's doing that? Seeking whom he may devour!

Verse 3: "And the LORD said unto Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and an upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil? And still he is holding fast to his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause.'" In this case 'destroy' means to destroy him financially and materially.

So, Satan has another answer, v 4: "And Satan answered the LORD and said, 'Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has he will give for his life.'" This sounds like the model of the AMA (American Medical Assoc.) But in this he's implying that a man will do anything for this life, to keep it going, to perpetuate it.

Verse 5: "'But indeed put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse You to Your face.' And the LORD said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.'" (vs 5-6). That's a terrible thing to allow to happen. Really! Think about it!

Verse 7: "And Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head." That must have been absolutely just so painful that it's unbelievable!

I don't know of anyone that I have known in my entire lifetime that could ever come close to this kind of situation of being sick. And to make it worse, he was sick but he couldn't die! He had to suffer all of that pain! I don't know how it was; he was sitting there one day and all of a sudden came all of these boils all over his body! If it were in modern day, they would run out and take blood samples, flesh samples and puss samples and all of this sort of stuff, and run down to the local whatever and hatch up some kind of batch of something that's going to cure it.

God has something for that. Every time man comes to the point of thinking that he had cured something incurable, what happens? A new disease! Here's Job, such a miserable thing:

Verse 8: "And he took a broken piece of pottery to scrape himself with. And he sat down among the ashes." The only thing that would bring him any relief would to be just take the ashes and scrape and put the ashes on, kind relieve the throbbing and let them bleed and the puss runs down.

Verse 9: "And his wife said to him…" Great encouragement (sarcastically)! This is not to pick on women or wives. Sometimes husbands are dastardly in what they say, very similar to this. So, it just shows human nature; in this case in the body of his wife.

"…'Do you still hold to your integrity? Curse God and die!'" (v 9). He had every cause to curse God and die! But he didn't do it.

p 70—Job's friends, when they heard of the great evil that had come upon Job, gathered to try and find a reason, an interpretation of the events of his life.

Now, you would think that if a minister knew something that he would have learned something from the book of Job. How many times have ministers come into brethren's homes—who have been sick—and have said, 'You are suffering from this because you have sinned somewhere.'

I've actually seen disfellowshipped sick people. So, we can't tell by the physical things whether there is sin or not—isn't that correct? Remember the case of the blind man. When there is sickness we know there is some kind of sin from the point of view that a law has been broken. Are we God that we can say what caused it?

Maybe in the small things of sickness we can understand that. If I shampoo my hair and go stand in a cold breeze and the next day I come down with a sore throat and a cold, I can say that I got this because I shampooed my hair and stood in the cold breeze when I shouldn't have, and I was stupid. That's the penalty for stupidity. Sometimes we do things and we get stuck with our own stupidity.

• We're not to blame God!
• We're not to blame some mysterious thing!
• It's just plain stupidity!

Lot's of times accidents will happen, just because they happen; because human beings are incomplete and different things will happen. You can't stop it!

John 9:1: "Now as Jesus was passing by, He saw a man who was blind from birth…. [In other words, born blind] …And His disciples asked Him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; rather, this blindness came so that the works of God might be manifested in him.'" (vs 1-3). That's quite a statement! Let's think on that statement for a little bit. God deliberately caused him to be born blind for this healing by Jesus Christ!

Verse 4: "'I must work the works of Him Who sent Me while it is still day. When the night comes, no one is able to work. As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.' After saying these things, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to the eyes of the blind man. And He said to him, 'Go and wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is, by interpretation, 'Sent'). Then he went and washed, and came from there seeing" (vs 4-7).

You can read the rest of the story as to what happened, which is one of the funniest stories in the New Testament. But nevertheless, he was healed! He wasn't healed by Jesus just saying, 'Your sight return to you.' It wasn't like it was another time that Jesus rubbed His hands over the eyes of a blind man and he saw. This time He did a very crude thing.

When you're sick and ask to be anointed, I come an anoint you, and it's a very simple drop of olive oil and that's it, or an anointed cloth, a very small one. We don't sell them, like Oral Roberts. He sells them so they can put them under their pillows. That's not what God wants with an anointed cloth. That's why we say that when you're done with it, burn it. It's not be kept around as an idol. That's what it becomes. If you put it under your pillow, it's an idol.

Jesus did, what some people would say is, a very crude and vulgar thing. He got some dirt, put it in His hands and spit in it and mixed up some clay, and then put it over the man's eyes and said, go wash in the pool of Siloam. He was healed!

You couldn't tell by the circumstances who sinned. Did God sin because He did that just for the purpose of this miracle? Of course not! Shall the thing say to him that makes it, "Master, what are you doing?' Of course not! The very reason he was blind was to show the glory of God!

This would have saved a lot of trouble in the Church if we would have been more kind and understanding with people who are sick and down and just try and help them; not come and condemn them.

There are some here who have received phone calls to say that they had been sinning and even the minister visited them and put them out of the Church because they didn't have the faith to be healed. Tell me, is that going to add to your faith by kicking you out of the Church because you don't have enough faith to be healed? Why not have you come to church more so you gain more faith? Whose fault is it that there's a lack of faith? The individual's fault? The minister's fault? Or maybe God has decided that it's a trial! Now what are you going to do? Maybe it wasn't a sin.

Another one asked to be anointed for some affliction that she was born with, and the minister asked her if she had repented of those sins. That doesn't make sense to me! But you see what happens when you get into a situation where then you start saying, 'Ah ha, you did something and that's why you're this way; tell us what you did.' So, this is what Job's friends did!

Job 2:9 "And his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold to your integrity? Curse God and die!'" I don't suppose she ever thought about what would happen to her if he died.

Verse 10: "But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speak. What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?'…." There are times when God brings upon you things that are evil for the purpose of teaching you a lesson. I think we've all gone through that—right? It's really a trying situation.

"…In all this Job did not sin with his lips…. [It doesn't say what he did in his mind, but at least with his lips he didn't sin.] …Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, and they each one came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had met together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off… [when they were coming to see Job, they took a look at him from a distance] …and did not recognize him, they lifted up their voice and wept. And each one tore his robe, and they threw dust upon their heads toward heaven" (vs 10-12).

He was so bad, he was so ugly, it was so tragic, with him sitting there with these boils, potsherds, scraping, scabs and flies. Who knows, he probably had maggots in a few days crawling around in there. Ghastly! It was so bad that they ripped their clothes; tore them in two!

Verse 13: "And they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights. And no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great." They were all sitting there; what a fantastic thing that must have been. Painful! And, I imagine, every couple of hours he would get up and scrape and throw the ashes and just cry, moan, groan and not say a word to them.

When Job finally opened his mouth, Job 3:1: "After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke and said, 'Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night in which it was said, "A man child is brought forth." Let that day be darkness. Let not God look upon it from above, neither let the light shine upon it'" (vs 1-4). He's got to say something! This is nothing compared to what he said later.

p 70—One of the primary messages of this Old Testament masterpiece is the lesson that experiences by themselves teach us nothing.

That is a profound statement!

We can never be sure, merely from the knowledge that comes to us by experience, that at any given moment we are being blessed or cursed of God. There is no event in our lives and no related joy or sorrow that can tell us by itself whether there is any meaning to life or any reason for the concerns of this moment.

As we were walking in, there was a comment about the lottery, jokingly, and I joked back and said, 'Yes, when you lose it's the devil's playfield and when you win it's God's will. That's the way most people look at it. A couple months ago a minister back east stood up in the pulpit and condemned the lottery, and then his wife went out and won it and now it was God's will.
Can you tell just by experience alone what is the value in war? Has anything been learned? When you take it down to four people, and Cain killed Abel. There's no value in war. At any given moment we cannot tell whether we are being blessed or cursed of God, because a trial of your faith…

This becomes important because one of the things that we have learned concerning the faith of God or faith toward God is that we have faith in God regardless of the circumstances—period! God is love under every circumstance:

• whether we're happy
• whether we're sad
• whether we're suffering
• whether we have sinned
• whether we need forgiveness

God still is love because God cannot deny Himself—God is!

When you have the kind of faith that you need as a Christian this is how our attitude needs to be; and this is what we have to go through. I mean, look at the life of Jesus Christ. Just as an outside observer—as many of the Jews were—a lot of them didn't know that He was the Messiah because they were looking for the one to save them physically. This life is everything syndrome. They were looking to be saved physically from the Romans.

1-Peter 1—it talks about the salvation that God has given us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1-Peter 1:4: "Unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, reserved in heaven for us, who are being safeguarded by the power of God through faith, for salvation… [regardless of your circumstances]…that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you yourselves greatly rejoice; though for the present, if it is necessary,you are in distress for a little while by various trials" (vs 4-6).

I submit to you that 'good old' Job was in heaviness, and so was his wife. I imagine that it wasn't just 'curse God and die'—get it over with. I imagine she paced back and forth and said, 'You told me all these years that the reason that you have all of these things is because God blessed you.' You can almost write the script. 'Now they're all gone and you still say that you love God; you have nothing. Now you're smitten with this boils. Curse God and die! What's the use of living?'

So, he was in heaviness with manifold temptations, v 7: "In order that the proving of your faith…" That's the key right there. That is why in any given moment just based on experiences alone you cannot tell whether it is a blessing or a curse from God, because if it is a trial it is a blessing. Then you're going to learn something after the trial is over.

"…the proving of your faith, which is much more precious than gold that perishes… [How short-sighted are we as human beings?] …though it is being tested by fire, may be found unto praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (v 7). That's what Job was going through. It's a very profound thing for us to learn.

When someone is sick, don't go say, 'Repent of your sins.' Don't you think that in their misery, in lying in bed or just moping around the house, that they aren't searching their own soul to repent of whatever they may have done? I know I do! So, encourage them. Tell them that in spite of all this 'God still loves you.' They need that! I need that! You need that! In spite of everything, God still loves you! Remember that!

pp 70-71—…There is no event in our lives and no related joy or sorrow that can tell us by itself whether there is any meaning to life or any reason for the concerns of this moment. Knowing this, Job and his friends talk together about that more important question. What is the meaning of life? Life is something deeper than experiences themselves. The physical event can only be understood when the spiritual event related to it becomes apparent.

This is also true in prophecy. This is why so many people fail in prophecy. Why? They go just by sight and not by faith.

This fact of life often escapes us. Too many people point to physical events in their lives and the experiences that they produce as proving something about God and spiritual reality. This is most dangerous thinking. All physical events, all emotions, all experiences are strictly limited to the human level. None of these events have meaning in themselves. They can become meaningful to us only if we have some kind of insight from God. they can be understood only when we are able to view the heavenly scene.

That is, as Job did in this particular case.

We could not have understood the reason for the experience of Job, were we not given the opportunity of looking into heaven and viewing the scene before the throne of his Father. We probably would have agreed that surely God had forsaken Job. Even the conversations of the book of Job itself answer few of the questions that are posted in this philosophic discussion….

Read the book of Job and just sort of blot out of your mind what the first two chapters tell us in the discussion between God and Satan, and read the rest of it and see if you can come up with any sense out of anything that they say. The only thing you can come up with is that human nature, by experiences alone, will devolve into self-justification of everything. And that's what happened to Job!

…The primary question in the book of Job really centers on the basic concern of all philosophy, namely: Do the events of life have a meaning that is larger than life itself?

How do the Buddhists answer this? Karma! You've probably heard that on television. Karma means it was decreed by fate. Not necessarily so! If you would have been just another foot over maybe the truck wouldn't have hit you.

Is there something more basic than what seems apparent and understandable to our finite minds? Does reality have a deeper nature than what we can see with our eyes? Is there a life that is more important than this physical existence?

The true answer is yes! This life is not everything. Of course not! Then he quotes again:

p 72—"…touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to Your face" (Job. 2:4-5).

What a statement! Here Satan is delivering his lowest, most demeaning insult to humanity, which was made in the image of God. he says that man has no Divine likeness and insists that he will esteem his physical life as the treasure most worth preserving. He suggests that man will give up his money…

Which they do!

…betray his friends…

Which they do! All those who believe this lie!

…sell his soul…

Which they do!

…and throw away his integrity if, in the process, he can preserve his life….

• How many movies are based upon this?
• How many television programs are based upon this?
• Is this not the whole thing concerning spying and counter spies?
• Isn't this the very thing it's made up for?

…Integrity is an important word. Job's wife understood some of the issues in speaking with him, saying, "Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die" (Job 2:9).

Let us consider this satanic doctrine that physical life is the highest good and that every moral and spiritual value is to be sacrificed for the preservation of human, animal existence.

This is happening in the 'Earth First' movement. No animal can be killed whatsoever. Do you know what they're trying to do with all of this ecology thing, and all the 'save the animals' things? I'm not against treating animals humanely; they need to be treated properly; but where every animal's life must be protected. Do you know what they found?

What did we say when the Valdez oil spill took place? What did we hear? We saw pictures of tarred sea otters, eagles, fish, birds, and it was a terrible scene! But do you know how many millions and millions of fish are in the sea? And did you know that that salmon harvest that they thought would be non-existent this year was the greatest one that they have had in recent years?

They are amazed at how the earth replenishes itself. They are amazed how clean it is up there. Granted there are a few places that need to be cleaned up. This earth has seen an awful lot of things, and God in His wisdom made sure that it can recuperate itself. God made trees for us to cut them down and build houses. Not run around and pick up dead branches and make teepees.

People have the assumption that this physical life is all important and they've got to save everything. Did you hear of one of the animal rights activists back in one of the Midwestern cities—there are coyotes that live in the area in-between the runways, and the airport officials would periodically hire hunters to shoot them to protect people, of course. The animal right's activists got all up in arms saying, 'You shouldn't do that.' Well, what should we do? 'Fence off all the area where the grass is to keep them alive.' So, they succeeded in getting them to quit shooting them for the time being and the next day a 747 came and landed and squished one of them.

If would have been a smaller plane and hit it, the plane could have turned over and killed the people inside. But when the physical life becomes everything, that's the kind of philosophy you get.

A moment's reflection will remind us of how much a modern world is built upon this satanic assumption of the all-importance of physical life and the things pertaining to it.

What is the focus of that? You don't have time to think about the spiritual things! Very important! Go here! God there! Myself, I cannot comprehend these tourists that go everywhere. You go to one city and you buy trinkets, you buy pictures, you see this, you see that, you see the other thing. I have yet to see a tourist situation that is not a place to rip you off and take your money that is overrun with a bunch of people. That's why I stay home!

Life must be preserved, indulged, made comfortable, exalted, and even worshiped!

That's what we do today—right?

This is the basic proposition that prevails as the under-girding of modern thought and action. Here is materialism at its fullest flower. Man is merely atoms and molecules; he has no continuing existence. The preservation of this life, therefore, even though it demands the sacrifice of all other values, is the only wise course for the individual to follow.

That's what we find. This is what people do. This is why there is so much emphasis in society concerning drugs. Enjoy the moment now! There are millions of people who have bought this.

Isaiah 22:12: "And on that day the LORD of hosts called for weeping and mourning, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth. Then, lo, joy and gladness…" (vs 12-13). In other words, God called them to repent; to weep and repent; to mourn, to shave your head and girding with sackcloth. This is a time where that ought to be. There ought to be that kind of thing in the land now. But no, what are they doing?

Joel 2:15: "Blow a ram's horn in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly…. [this is what people need to be doing] …Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her room. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, 'Spare Your people, O LORD, and give not Your inheritance to shame, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the people, "Where is their God?"'" (vs 15-17). This is what it's talking about in Isa. 22:12
Isaiah 22:12: "And on that day the LORD of hosts called for weeping and mourning, and for baldness, and for girding with sackcloth. Then, lo, joy and gladness… [live it up] …slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine, saying, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'" (vs 12-13)—because this life is everything; live it up and have a ball!

That's the philosophy of so much of this world today. Unfortunately, that's just the way it is in the world today, and we are just inundated with so much of it.

My wife doesn't like to watch television with me, because I have a nasty habit of switching channels. But one thing that does—besides keeping up with two ball games at one time—it gives you a preview of all the shows. And they are becoming so much alike with this philosophy. Everything is for this life now!

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Psalm 36: "The wicked utters transgression in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes." Because God doesn't come down and instantly stop someone from doing something, does not mean that God agrees.

There are a lot of people who sin, knowing that they are sinning, and say, 'If God doesn't want me to do this He will stop me.'

• Did God want Cain to murder Abel? No!
• Does God want any of the sins to go on? No!
• Does God reach down and stop it? No!

One time He did, with the Flood, because everything was so bad. Now He's shortened men's lives—and we can be thankful that He has—so the wicked won't be living so long. Aren't we glad that Hitler didn't live to be a hundred-years-old? Can you imagine a hundred years of Hitler? That would be unspeakable!

Speaking of unspeakable: Why did we go war against Hitler in Nazi Germany? We went against Hitler because he was such an evil man! Granted, he was; I'm not taking away from it, but I want to make a point. He experimented on the genes of human beings. He sterilized the incompetent. What else did he do? Oh, yes, abortions! To get rid of all those nasty people he didn't want. But pray tel, what are we doing today? The same thing! And the people who stood up and condemned those people for that sin, destroy that nation because they are so evil, are the very ones who are perpetuating the same sins on the American people today. Think about that! We have slaughtered, in the name of progress, 40-million unborn people!Because:
Verse 2: "…There is no fear of God before his eyes, for he flatters himself in his own eyes… [that sure is true] …until his iniquity is found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has stopped acting wise and doing good. He plots iniquity upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil" (vs 1-4). This is the world in which we have to live and protect our Christian values.

I'm reading a book that you cannot read all at once. It is overwhelming. It's called The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion. It was first published in the Dearborn Michigan Independent by Henry Ford. The protocols lay out what the synagogue of Satan is doing to destroy the world, and it is absolutely unbelievable! If you have not read this, you need to read it. You have to take it a bit at a time, and there may be some things in here that you may not agree with when you're first reading it. However, you have to ask yourself: Are these things taking place today?

If they are and this was planned—nearly a hundred years ago—then you know that it's taking place. Does Satan have a kingdom? Yes, Satan has a kingdom! Jesus said, 'How shall his kingdom stand if Satan be casting out Satan?' He has shown in the book of Revelation to have seven heads and ten horns, as far as the people that he works through. If the whole world is deceived—which Rev. 12:9 says it is—and there's a Satan the devil who is doing it, and it is organized, then—as Christians—we ought to be able to see that it is happening.

But the thing that we don't understand, and we won't understand until you read this book, is that there are those who have given themselves over to Satan the devil to do his bidding, and to do his will, to bring the whole world into the deception that Satan is going to bring in at the end-time.

Some of these sayings here I could almost say are the direct words of Satan the devil, in this book. You've read the direct words of Satan the devil in the Bible. But it is so gruesome, it is so planned, it is so pre-meditated, and the things are on course. It is unbelievable!

It's like it says here: He desires mischief upon his bed!

pp 72-73—Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies:

Is this philosophy practiced in our day?

Not only is it practiced, it is repeated over and over again! You have to buy this to look younger, to live longer, be healthier—everything—everything is for this life!

Indeed it is! Many seemingly sincere people announce the first principle of their thinking that life must be preserved at all costs. By this, they mean that the physical existence is all there is, and therefore, obviously, the thing most worth saving. They become ecologists, politicians, demonstrators, naturalists, yogas, gurus, or simply preoccupied with this life as if there were no other. They lend their time and talent to this world's legitimate and illegitimate professions. Together, they have built this vast edifice called society, a remarkable organism that is beautiful to behold, externally attractive but internally corrupt. Its corruption is implicitly in its basic assumption, namely that final value is found in this human existence.

What is the greatest 'religion' in the world today? Humanism! And it's in all of the schools.

Almost all magazines, books, professions, institutions, and activities are dedicated to the principle that this life is the only life we know or can know. Materialism is the name for all of this, and materialism is the religion of this world. Another of its names is humanism. Satan is the founder of that faith.

Let's see what Jesus says about that. Very true! I think it's very interesting where this is placed:

Matthew 6:24: "No one is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." We know that verse, but it's very interesting where this is place. Let's read the verses that lead up to it.

Verse 21: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Whether it be in this world where life is everything or is on the Kingdom of God, that you're looking forward to eternal life and the return of Jesus Christ.

Verse 22: "The light of the body is the eye. Therefore, if your eye be sound, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. Therefore, if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (vs 22-23).

That's a tremendous Scripture! A tremendous statement! How many people are in darkness because of these philosophies: Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies?

The book talks about abortion, Communism, all of those things, let's come over to:

p 74—Millions of untutored followers of Jesus Christ have come to believe the philosophy, rejected by Job and all of his faithful heirs, that blessing always takes the form of good and pleasurable things and never things that are inconvenient or painful. Surely Job would have been sickened at the emphasis of some today who would have us believe that only good things happen to us because we are followers of God.

How many times did people say in the Church that we came from: 'I have faithfully tithed, and I haven't been blessed.' Because not necessarily are all good things going to happen in this life.

But then, on the other hand—because of not knowing that, the Church said, 'If you tithe you will receive the abundance of everything. 'Oh, by the way, when you die, will it to the Church.'

Let's see what happens to an entire society devoted to this; absolutely devoted! It is a 'religion' to destroy. Here we have six different things from different organizations going around trying to fight this total attack and assault on Christianity. The Scriptures don't say in vain that they are going to haul you up and you're going to be killed for what you believe (Matt. 10 & 24). No one has hauled us up yet, but that day is coming! Because we would dare to stand there and say 'How dare you sin against God.' But they're in such a situation that what they want to do—when they should be repenting, changing—'eat and drink and make merry,' for who knows, 'we may have an overdose and be dead in the morning.'

Hosea 4:1: "Hear the Word of the LORD, children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land…" We might say the whole world. God says in another place that He has 'a controversy with the inhabitants of the world.'

"…'There is no Truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.'" (v 1). I know that we've read these Scriptures before, but I want us to think of the magnitude to which this has grown:

Verse 2: "By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and the committing of adultery they break out; and blood touches blood." Here's a nice Mormon family going back to New York and they go down in the subway and a gang comes up them and it's their job to be imitated in this gang to rob someone in the subway. So, the Mormons resist and stab the young boy and he dies. It's a big horrible mess in New York, and the mayor of New York, when asked about this, says: 'We need to confiscate all guns.' One of the reporters raised his hand and said, 'Mayor, he was stabbed!'

Verse 3: "Therefore, shall the land mourn, and everyone who dwells in it shall languish, with the beasts of the field and with the birds of the heavens. Yes, the fish of the sea shall also be taken away."

Verse 6: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you…" When people come to the point that this life is everything and reject God then God rejects them. So, people try and solve their problems themselves.

Verse 12: "My people seek advice from their wooden idols…" The wooden things that they have made. Or you might put in there: psychologists today.

"…and their rod declares to them, for the spirit of whoredoms has caused them to go astray…" (v 12). You can remove all of the pornography off of every the newsstand in the entire nation and they will go to the local video and buy it, watch it, and play it. It's in the mind! Granted, those things should be removed, but what I'm talking about it what God is talking about here, "…the spirit of whoredoms…" has so encompassed this nation that there is hardly anything that can be done without some kind of innuendo to sex. If you watch any of these 'humor' programs on TV, they are filthy-mouthed rotten sexually oriented things that ought to be absolutely exorcised from the face of the earth! But which won't until Christ returns. That's what the world is like.

"…and they have gone a whoring away from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills…" (vs 12-13). That's what they're doing over in the University of California at Santa Cruse. They have so much witchcraft there, brethren, that there are little sanctuaries where they have rocks and little crystals with a little sign: "Don't Trespass Here." In the dormitories are books opened, occult books where they have all of the stuff there.

The Bible is absolutely, literally, totally true; every word! It seems like an extreme. I look back when I first became a minister and I would have never envisioned the world this bad, as it is today, though I preached against it even back then. Hang on! It's going to get worse! That's terrible!

God says, "…under oaks and poplars and elms because its shade is good. So your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your brides shall commit adultery" (v 13). I would say over half the people have been divorced and re-married. I am amazed at the people I hear of that get divorced and remarried. I mean, absolutely flabbergasted, just people I know in the world. There's one man that all of a sudden one day decided 'I don't want to be married anymore' and just walked out on his wife. She was literally broken-hearted! She was one of the nicest, sweetest persons that I had ever met, including all in the Church—not saying anything against church people. But there are nice, sweet people in the world.

She was so despaired that three weeks ago she committed suicide, because he was so unloving and so unkind that he had absolutely no feelings for her at all. Even just as a human being! There may be other reason as to why he did what he did, which I won't get into, but it may fit right in here.

Verse 14: "Will I not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, or your wives when they commit adultery?" But the doctors are there to take away the disease and the unwanted child] …Even the men themselves go aside with whores, and they sacrifice with temple prostitutes. The people who do not understand shall fall." That's exactly what's going to happen

p 75—We may expect that this activity will increase. Since we have moved from the age of faith and the age of reason into the age of sight…

What is the famous saying? If you see it, believe it!

…we can expect that there will now break upon us the age of fantasy.

Which is total deception.

When we begin believing in the final truth of that which we can see with our eyes, we are preparing ourselves for the deceivers who are planning to enrich themselves by exploiting us. Since we have redefined faith as now meaning "that state of mind that always produces good things," we have laid ourselves open to the exploits of the religious magicians and charlatans.

Paving the way for the beast and the false prophet! Why do you think that the world is going to run to them?

p 76—…Saints down through history have proved by their faithfulness unto death that Satan is a liar.

Now I understand why, at the end-time, there are going to be more martyrs. Have you ever wondered why God is going to have martyrdom? So He can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, as a witness to this generation, that people will die for faith in Christ! and not follow the deception of Satan the devil!

• They will not give up their faith!
• They will not give up their love!
• They will not give up the Word of God!

That's something, and it's going to come down to that!

Ezekiel 11:2: "And He said to me, 'Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city; who say, "The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the flesh." Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, O son of man!' And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said to me, 'Speak, "Thus says the LORD, 'Thus you have said, O house of Israel, for I Myself know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.' Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, 'Your slain whom you have laid in her midst, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron. But I will bring you out of her midst. You have feared the sword, and I will bring a sword upon you,' says the Lord GOD. 'And I will bring you out of her midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you"'" (vs 2-9). Because they have gone after the way, or after the manner of the heathen.

Here is what a Christian will do in the midst of troubles like this, Psalm 77:1: "I cried to God with my voice, to God with my voice; and He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the LORD…" (vs 1-2). That's what it needs to be! Whatever the trouble is:

• in your own personal life
• where you may live
• with your relatives
• with your children
• with your job

Cry unto the Lord in the day of your troubles!

"…my hand was lifted up, and my tears ceased not in the night; my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled; I moaned, and my spirit fainted. Selah" (vs 2-3). Of course, that's what Job went through. His spirit was overwhelmed! He got so angry, so hostile, and so self-righteous. But he turned to God.

Verse 4: "You keep my eyes awake; I am too troubled and I cannot speak. I have pondered the days of old, the years of ages past. I remember my song in the night; I commune with my own heart, and my spirit made diligent search. Will the LORD cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? Is His mercy gone forever? Has His promise failed for all generations?" (vs 4-8).

This is what Job was thinking. These is some of the thoughts of Job, though it's phrased a little differently here.

Verse 9: "Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah. And I said, 'This is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High could change.' I will remember the works of the LORD; surely 'I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your doings. Your way, O God, is in Holiness; who is so great a God as our God?'" (vs 9-13). Regardless of what the troubles may be, always keep your eyes and mind on God.

1-Corinthians 15—here they had some in the Corinthian Church. I tell you, what pain Paul had with this Church at Corinth. I imagine if they would have Alka-Seltzer back then, he would have bought it by the caseload. This church was something else! Poor Apostle Paul! Just think of what the Apostle Paul had to put up with, just physically. Think of all the mental problems that he had to bear with these people. It was something else! I would not want to be the minister of Corinth.

We have a situation where there were some saying that the resurrection was already past. The thing that becomes important here, as Breese points out in the book, is that 'if Christ is not raise, then there's no hope.' But Christ is raised! That's why Satan does not want people to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, because it is a integral part of his doctrine that this life is everything.

1-Corinthians 15:30: "Why are we also in danger every hour? I die daily by our boasting which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought as a man with beasts in Ephesus, what did it profit me, if the dead are not raised? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." (vs 30-32).

That's exactly what Satan wants people to believe, so this life—in their life—will in fact be everything, and ultimately to have them cast into the Lake of Fire. That's Satan's ultimate goal in this life, so they won't turn to God, but rather they will turn to him, and then this life is everything, because there is nothing beyond for them. We can have hope and faith that God is faithful, that His Word is true, that God is always love under all circumstances! Then we won't believe this sixth lie of Satan the devil that this life is everything.

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in its Original Order, a Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• Job 1:21-22
• Job 2:1-9
• John 9:1-7
• Job 2:9-13
• Job 3:1-4
• 1 Peter 1:4-7
• Isaiah 22:12-13
• Joel 2:15-17
• Isaiah 22:12-13
• Psalm 36:1-4
• Matthew 6:24, 21-23
• Hosea 4:1-3, 6, 12-14
• Ezekiel 11:2-9
• Psalm 77:1-13
• 1 Corinthians 15:30-32

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 12:9
• Matthew 10; 24

Also referenced: Books:

• Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies by Dave Breese
• The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion by Victor Marsden

FRC: bo
Transcribed: 1-27-13