"IF" Statements of the Bible #8

"IF" Clauses in John #4

Fred Coulter—November 20, 2010

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I have to straighten out a nationwide heresy or misinterpretation or broad definition, which went out to fifteen million people on Glenn Beck's afternoon program. Dolores and I sat there and watched and he had a rabbi in to explain Genesis 11. It was very interesting what he gave, did talk about Nimrod, but didn't bring it up to today and what's going to happen. Let's read it and I'll tell you what he said, because he's liking it to a civilization and also giving a different interpretation for bricks and mortar vs stone. I'll see if I can remember it here.

Genesis 11:1: "And the whole earth was of one language and one speech.... [That's what they spoke before the Flood.] ...And it came to pass, as they were migrating toward 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" (vs 1-3).

So the interpretation was this: Since Nimrod was a dictator—that's correct—but he was setting up a substitute civilization rather than giving people independence. As likened to stones, which God created, he likened the people to bricks where they're all the same, like in a socialist society. And then he said the mortar was likened to materialism and that you kept all the bricks in order and alignment and control because you gave them a certain amount of materialism.

That took away the freedom that God had given them. Well, the start was just fine. The conclusion concerning the freedom that God has given was just fine, but Glenn Beck interjected and said, 'Well, God wasn't angry at them when He scattered them. That was for their good.' So that's what we see today. The government's oppressing us so we need to get a form where we can be released from it by being individuals. And part of that is turning to God.

I thought about that quite a bit and I thought, well, why don't you just read it for what it says. So let's come over here to Genesis 10 and let's see about Nimrod. He didn't read these verses, but just alluded to them. He talked about hunters. Glenn Beck said, 'Well, everyone hunted then.' Not necessarily. But his kind of hunting was said he hunted people. Well, he was a mighty hunter to hunt the wild animals to gather the people together in the cities so that he could control them in the cities.

When you get half of the story and half of the facts, then you're not going to come up with the correct conclusion. So if you really want to know the truth about Nimrod and his wife Semiramis—which he didn't mention much; and his son Tammuz, which he didn't mention at all—you get the book, The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop. We have it on our website; you can download it and read it. I'll tell you this: more than 50-years ago that was the first book that I read, because in the magazine that was published called The Plain Truth, they had a series, Satan's Great Deception. It was going back explaining about Nimrod, Semiramis, and Tammuz and how those three represent the gods of all the religions, because when the languages were confounded, everybody called them by the new language that they had. So he didn't bring that out.

So let's pick it up here in Genesis 10:7: "And the sons of Cush: Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the earth…. [Didn't bring that out, how forceful and how strong that he was.] …He was a mighty hunter against the LORD...." (vs 7-9). Or as we have in the margin, 'in place of' the Lord. So he was setting himself up as the representative of God. And they were worshiping him as the sun. The sun represented him, so when they worshiped the sun, they were worshiping Nimrod. The moon then was his wife and I forget which one was for Tammuz.

"...a mighty hunter against the LORD. Therefore it is said, 'Like Nimrod—the mighty hunter against the LORD.'…. [or in place of the Lord] …And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land he went forth to Assyria, and he built Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth Ir, and Calah, And Resen between Nineveh and Calah, which is a great city" (vs 9-12).

So it shows what they did, they settled all what is called today Iraq. Then they had the great plans. So Gen. 11 brings out how they were carrying out these plans in building a tower. I think it was very interesting that they showed—which was deliberate, too, by the way—with the builders of the parliament building of the European Union, they built it just like a picture of the destroyed tower of Babel. They showed a picture like that one time and IBM said, 'What they started, we will finish.'

• So what was it that they started?
• Why did this incident come about?
• Why did God do what He actually did?

Let's come down here to Genesis 11:4 and let's see what they did. "And they said, 'Come, let us build us a city and a tower... [And I think it's very interesting that not too far from ancient Babylon in Dubai they have the tallest building in the world, 2500 feet. And they say it's real exciting being a window washer for that building. I guess it would be.] ...with its top reaching into the heavens….'"

Now, some have read this also to imply that they had the technology to go to outer space. In a book called, Secrets of Lost Races, by Rene Noorbergen, he showed they had jet planes, they had atomic bombs, carry over from the Flood. You can find certain places like in the Gobi Desert that they had to be an atomic bomb to do it, because the sand was fused into glass, large areas of it.

"'…And let us establish a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole earth'" (v 4). So what actually took place was, God was going to send them to their inheritances in the earth because God planned where they would go. So this was actually a rebellion.

• We're not going to go
• We're going to stay here
• We're going to build a city
• We're going to reach into heavens
• Nimrod is our god
• He's our hero

Verse 5: "And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built.... [God lets the wicked prosper for a time to see what they're going to do, see how they do it.] ...And the LORD said, 'Behold the people are one and they all have one language.... [This is the key that was missed by the rabbi and by Glenn Beck, right here. Why did He confuse the languages?] ...And this is only the beginning of what they will do—now nothing which they have imagined to do will be restrained from them'" (vs 5-6).

That tells you they had an understanding of technology, which came through the Flood, and they could repeat this very quickly. Stop and think: How soon would the end have come if that would have happened? Well, about like what we're dealing with, because the world was the same—until when? Beginning of 1800 our time and that's when they had the steam engine invention, 1804. After that, and look what we have now. We've sent men to the moon, we have rovers up on Mars. I think all the greenie-weenies ought to have a riot, because they're polluting that place up there with those two rovers. Now they're talking about going into space, going to Mars.

"'...now nothing which they have imagined to do will be restrained from them'" (v 6). God had to intervene and stop them from developing and advancing, and He scattered them. It was punishment and it was that God was angry with them. It wasn't that He did this as a blessing so they could go out and be independent and live in their countries. No, they were supposed to go there anyway. The moral of the story, if you ask the rabbi, what is it that this means, listen carefully because the allegorical interpretation may make sense, but that may not be the truth of what it's saying. It may have parts of it which work in there.

Verse 7: "Come, Let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they cannot understand one another's speech.' So the LORD scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of all the earth. And they quit building the city. Therefore the name of it is called Babel, because the LORD confused the language of all the earth there. And from there the LORD scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth" (vs 6-9).

They were scattered—not as a blessing, but they were to go to their inheritance anyway—but now they had a curse upon them which then is no one could understand one another. So you couldn't build some intricate building unless you had good communication—what's going on and how to do it. So that became a symbol of Nimrod's empire.

And another thing that was not brought out in the program, which would be interesting if he would, what is the modern-day Nimrod going to do? It's going to happen! It's prophesied there will be a world government and Glenn Beck is doing all he can to keep there from there being a world government. But the only problem is he doesn't realize it's prophesied in the Bible. Let's go to Revelation, and let's see at the end it's going to be repeated in a grandiose way, and it's going to be something.

Revelation 13, we've gone over this before. So if they're going to finish the Tower of Babel and dominate the people, what it really is showing when they finish it they are going to bring man's civilization to the highest degree of technology and education and intelligence and power and all of these things together, and they will be able to do with one language through computers.

Today you don't even need interpreters any more. Just speak into a computer and it'll—which language would you like this in? Chinese, Russian, German, Spanish, and it'll translate it right there, fairly decent translation. So, we will be of one language by time we get around to it. And there's a lot that has to be done and that's why next week I'm going to bring the sermon more about what China is doing and how that's going to fit in with Afghanistan.

Revelation 13, here's the beast seven heads and ten horns. Now just like the civilization did back there with the exception of Noah and Shem, they all worshiped Nimrod as god. That was one of the requirements so that you could get the benefits of his protection and live in his cities. And where did he get his power?

Revelation 13:2: "And the beast that I saw was like a leopard... [A lot of these things you're going to find right there in Dan. 7, the first half of it. Rev. 13 gives the last half of it.] ...and his feet like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion; and the dragon... [Who over here in Rev. 12:9, 'that old serpent, the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan.' So this identifies who it is.] ...the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority."

Who do you think was against God? Just Nimrod as a man? No! Who do you think was in place of God? Just Nimrod? No! Nimrod was the one that they saw. It was Satan the devil behind him, the power behind him! If you watch the History Channel or look at what they present, every once in awhile they will have The Occult and the Third Reich and showing all the technology that they had from the occult, which means they got it from Satan the devil. So here is a repeat of it, right here in the end time.

"...and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne and great authority" (v 2). What did Satan the devil tell Jesus when he was tempting Him? 'If you bow down and worship me, I'll give you all these nations right now, because it's given to me and I give it to whomsoever I will.' It was given to Satan because men rejected God. And when men reject God, they're turned over to the god of this world, Satan the devil.

So here we have it now repeated on a worldwide basis. And we will see that they are going to have a world government and we are going to see that the only way they're going to get it in is with a world monetary system. As soon as they get a nation all set up and ready to go just like this one, even the magazines were congratulating each other, 'Oh, we're socialists now.' Then the election of 2010 came and all the work that had been done was almost all undone in one election.

Now how far they'll go ???—so there are not enough, how shall we say, loyal elitists in every nation to take over nations and subvert them so they can bring them into a one world government. So what they're going to have to do is bring in a world currency and that will come with a worldwide economic collapse. Then everybody starts out the same—one currency. I'm getting ahead of myself here, but that's how I see it's going to happen and many experts say the same thing and I've preached that for a long, long time.

Verse 3: "And I saw one of his heads as if it were slain to death, but his deadly wound was healed... [Resurrection! Now I don't know what happened; deadly wound; was slain. I have speculated with that that perhaps that may take place when he stops the sacrifices at the coming temple in Jerusalem and the Jews send out a hit squad to get him.] ...but his deadly wound was healed; and the whole earth was amazed and followed the beast…. [So now here we have for the first time a complete worldwide deception.] …And they worshiped the dragon... [And I've got another article at home: The Muslims are calling all people to get together for a day of world prayer for peace. I was amazed!] ...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?' (vs 3-4).

That's why Nimrod was a mighty hunter in place of the Lord, or against the Lord. No one could make war against him, because he got all the best men. He had all the weapons; he had all the power; people were worshiping him as god. Now, at the end-time, we have the same thing on a grander scale.

"And a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies was given to him; and authority was given to him to continue for forty-two months" (v 5). After the deadly wound was healed.

Now notice, just like Nimrod, only here the whole world's going to be subject to it. When you look at it, going back to the tower of Babel, the majority of the world—what eventually became the world—was represented back there at the Tower of Babel. It's possible that this is talking about a system, but as we will see, it comes down to a single person when we get to 2-Thess. 2. There's only one chapter in the New Testament that interprets this, and yet it was written some 35-years before Rev. 13. That's how God puts things together—a little here, a little there.

Verse 7: "And he was given power to make war against the saints... [So this is a political system, but there is one leader—it's both.] ...and to overcome them; and he was given authority over every tribe and language and nation. And allwho 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 7-9). Pay attention to what God says. Then it talks about the mark of the beast.

Let's come here to 2-Thessalonians 2, and let's read the description of what this is. This is exactly the same system—Nimrod's system was what? A mystery system—right? And a mystery system of lawlessness against God! Now we're given this warning here, so let's see how we're doing on this. 2-Thessalonians 2:1: "Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gather together to Him, That you not be quickly shaken in mind, nor be troubled—neither by spirit... [There'll be a lot of demons going around saying hear this, hear that, hear the other thing.] ...nor by word... [a message or a book] ...nor by epistle as if from us... [There were some going around writing false Epistles of Paul.] ...saying that the day of Christ is present" (vs 1-2).

Now that's an interesting way to phrase it, because that's exactly what the New Agers are looking for the Christ—their Christ—and His presence in the world.

"Do not let anyone deceive you by any means because that day will not come unless the apostasy... [total rejection of God] ...shall come first..." (v 3).

Come back to Psalm 2, because this shows that it is a whole worldwide thing that is taking place. There are a lot of people think, 'If we do this or if we do that or if we vote here or vote there, we'll stop the world government from coming in.' No, you won't! The only way you would be able to stop them is that if one night and one day—because half the world is night and half the world is day—you could eliminate all of those in the international elite circle and extinguish their lives at the same time. Unless you could do that, doesn't make any difference, because there's another one to stand up and replace it. If one goes, another one comes in.

Psalm 2:1: "Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Christ, saying, 'Let us break Their bands asunder and cast away Their cords from us'" (vs 1-3). Isn't that interesting? This whole movement rejects God, believes in atheism! When you believe in atheism, you know you're lacking power. So when Satan comes along and gives you power you think, 'Oh, this is great!' That's exactly what's going to happen.

"He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD scoffs at them. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and in His fury He terrifies them.... [That's what's going to happen when the events as depicted in Revelation take place.] ...'Yea, I have set My king upon Zion, My Holy mountain'" (vs 4-6). That is the return of Christ. These events are those things, which take place before the return of Christ.

Now let's see how that ties in with 2-Thess. 2 and the fate that is going to happen to the one who is mentioned here. 2-Thessalonians 2:3: "...the apostasy shall come first... [total turning away from God] ...and the man of sin shall be revealed—the son of perdition, 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…. [Now that's greater than what Nimrod did. Nimrod said, 'Worship me for I represent God.' This one's going to say, 'I am God, worship me, because I am God.'] …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" (vs 3-6).

It's going to happen at the time that God has decreed.

• We're not going to rush it!
• We're not going to speed it up!
• We're not going to slow it down!

And I always get a kick out of it, people say, 'Prophecy's speeding up.' No, it's just right on time!. 'Oh, prophecy's slowing down, looks like there's more time.' No, it's right on time! Just like we're going to find out when we examine more how the whole Asian area has to develop in order to support the army of 200-million. And it's on its way.

Verse 7: "For the mystery of lawlessness... [Now the King James says 'iniquity,' but you missed the point with iniquity. Lawlessness means you replace all of God's laws! That's the ultimate of lawlessness. You replace all of God's laws with human and satanic laws.] ...the mystery of lawlessness is already working..."

Satan was trying to get into the Church. Listen, Satan has the whole world deceived—right? Who is he interested in getting now? Anyone who has the Spirit of God by any means that he can do it! That's why the Church being scattered is a good thing, because we all have to stand on our own two feet. And all the ministers better teach all the brethren to stand on their own two feet. It's not going to be like we thought years ago. When Dolores and I first got married, we looked at each other and said, 'My, it's nice, we're not going to get old.' But we look in the mirror today and what happened!

"...the mystery of lawlessness is already working... [Satan is behind the mystery of lawlessness.] ...only there is one Who is restraining at the present time until it arises out of the midst" (v 7)—of what? The mystery or system of lawlessness! Who is the one restraining it? Who is in charge of prophecy? Christ, under God the Father! So it's not going to come until it's ready. And when it does, poor old Glenn Beck's going to be disappointed he couldn't stop it.

"And then the lawless one will be revealed... [The world will know! Notice how this ties in with Psa. 2:] ...(whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming)" (v 8). Now there's only one place in the Bible which shows the time setting that this will take place.

Revelation 19:19: "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth... [all of them together] ...and their armies, gathered together to make war with Him Who sits on the horse, and with His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked miracles in his presence, by which he had deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Those two were cast alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone" (vs 19-20).

Sharp two-edged sword goes out of the mouth of Christ, and the flesh falls off all the troops (Zech. 14). Here they are, they're all ready to go and then Christ gives the word, it all falls right off of them. We'll see the prophecy of it. How's that for a way to defeat an army. You don't have to fire a shot! Just command right out of His mouth, there it goes. Who's going to have any defense against that? Stop and think of it! How can you possible defend against your flesh falling off your bones?

Zechariah 14:12: "And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will smite all the people who have fought against Jerusalem. Their flesh shall consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets. And their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall be in that day that a great panic from the LORD shall be among them.... [I guess so!] (The ones who are not the soldiers fighting): ...And they shall each one lay hold of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the nations all around shall be gathered—gold, and silver, and clothing in great abundance. And likewise shall be the plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and of all the beasts which shall be in these camps—it shall be as this plague" (vs 12-15).

Then there's going to be a sudden conversion: 'Oh, I want to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.' Some won't! Verse 16: "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles…. [God's going to have a few friendly persuaders here]: …And it shall be, whoever will not come up from all the families of the earth to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.... [Run out of water, you're in bad shape.] ...And if the family of Egypt that has no rain, does not come up to present themselves, this shall be the plague with which the LORD shall strike the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be Egypt's punishment, and the punishment of all the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles" (vs 16-19).

Let's come back and finish up 2-Thess. 2. The rabbi that interprets the thing for Glenn Beck is a pretty good rabbi. He has some good common sense, but his allegorical interpretations don't fit. Since he doesn't use the New Testament, he doesn't know how to compare it.

2-Thessalonians 2:8: "…(whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming); even the one whose coming is according to the inner working of Satan... [possessed of Satan the devil] ...with all power and signs and lying wonders… [So if you think the world is deceived today—hold on! It's going to get worse.] …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" (vs 8-10).

What happens when you don't love the Truth? We need to think about this today, because there are always trials going on in the Churches of God somewhere where someone is leaving the Truth, becoming slack in it, giving up on it. You hear horror stories about people who've given up the Sabbath and given up the Holy Days and have gone back to Christmas and Easter and New Years and all of that. You have to ask the question: how converted really were they in the first place? And if they were, they're in bad shape, because they rejected the Truth, because they didn't love the Truth. You have to

• love the Truth
• hold to the Truth
• stick to the Truth

—in all circumstances regardless of what happens. Because if you don't

Verse 11: "And for this cause, God will send upon them a powerful deception that will cause them to believe the lie... [You don't believe the Truth, you want to reject it, stick around, it's going to get worse.] ...So that all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness" (vs 11-12). We see a little bit of this today in all of these things that we see in the far left. I think that Glenn Beck has done a marvelous job in exposing 'spooky-dude' George Soros.

Someone even sent me an email and said, 'Do you think George Soros is the antichrist?' I said, 'No, he's not that inspiring.' I said, 'But he may be an antichrist, which what he is doing by his actions.' But why is he there? Americans have turned their backs on God!
You go back and read what happened with Solomon when he started making offerings and sacrifices to other gods and he knew better because God appeared to him twice. He built the temple of God. What did God do? God raised up Hadad the Syrian against him. So they had terrorist incursions during Solomon's kingdom.

You can fight terrorists all you want, but unless you know that they are sent as punishment from God, all your protections, everything that you do sooner or later is going to be breached, because you haven't repented and haven't come back to God. That's the whole thing. You can't come back half-hearted to God, 'Oh, God, I love You, but let me keep this. Oh, God, I'll do what You say, all except this. Let's get all religions together and all the religions will be wonderful and good and nice and we'll save ourselves.'

Won't happen!, because you don't love the Truth! All the religions are filled with lies and errors. You need to stick with the Bible and what the truth is here. It may help to a certain extent. You may put it off for a while. Just like people have said, now they're touting George Bush, 'Well, under George Bush we didn't have another attack.' After that we had a couple. Well, sooner or later, they'll figure out a way.

The way you stop the enemy is you turn to God!

• Can God take care of the enemy? Yes, He can!
• Can He stop them? Yes, He can!

 He raised them up, so He can put them down—can He not? Yes, indeed. So that's really the interpretation that should be.

Verse 12: "So that all may be judged who did not believe the Truth, but who took pleasure in unrighteousness."

That's the true interpretation of Genesis 10, 11 and the other Scriptures that we added to it.

Scriptural References:

• Genesis 11:1-3
• Genesis 10:7-12
• Genesis 11:4-9
• Revelation 13:2-5, 7-9
• 2-Thessalonians 2:1-3
• Psalm 2:1-6
• 2-Thessalonians 2:3-8
• Revelation 19:19-20
• Zechariah 14:12-19
• 2-Thessalonians 2:8-12

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Daniel 7
• Revelation 12:9

Also referenced: Books:

• The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
• Secrets of Lost Races by Rene Noorbergen

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 11-30-10
Formatted: bo—12-1-10

"IF" Clauses in John #4 | - PDF

Track 2 or Download |

Let's continue on with the IF clauses in John 14. As I mentioned before, these are very essential because they are what? These are the words of the New Covenant. We send out every year four or five sermons on Passover preparation, but I think it's interesting that with the IF clauses we understand that it is for us. There are no IF clauses for God, it's for us. Because God is true and righteous and does not lie and will not lie, so there are no conditions that man can put upon Him.

But in order for us to receive eternal life there are conditions and it's not like we had with The Evangelical Bible: The Fast Track to Salvation. Two Scriptures, that's the fastest track you'll ever get, but they reject almost all the rest of the Bible. The IFs are with us and that's what's important to understand. Why do we have so many conditions and how can we handle those conditions?

As I pointed out, you 'seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness' everyday. You do it through prayer and you do it through study. When you pray you're talking to God; when you're reading the Scriptures, God is talking to you and telling you. We're the ones that have to be converted and conversion is a process. God doesn't have to be converted. There's no sin with Him, so the conditions are for us, but God gives us the strength so we can fulfill the IF clauses with our own desire and yieldedness and love to God. God does not give us something that is impossible to do.

So we have come down here to John 14:13: "And whatever you shall ask in My name, this will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. IF you ask anything in My name, I will do it" (vs 13-14). So there's the IF! You ask anything, whatever it may be. Now what are the things that are conditional to anything? First one: 'Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name, Your will be done on earth'—and that means in our lives and in prophecy if you want to take it out further than that—'as it is in heaven.' And we are to seek the Kingdom of God first and His righteousness and we are to become perfect, as the Father in heaven is perfect.

So this is a spiritual thing that cannot be done without the Spirit of God, total impossibility. Because if you could do it without the Spirit of God you could save yourself, and no one can save him or herself. So God is the One Who has to do it in us. He has to give us the strength and the power to do it. We receive the Spirit of God from God

• through prayer
• through study
• through living God's way

In answering the prayers:

• we have to have faith and belief
• we have to have obedience
• we have to have the love of God

so that we don't ask for things to fulfill our own lusts. That's why it's 'Your will,' and you need to look back and see how many times God has really answered your prayers over a period of time. I know there are prayers that I've prayed and prayed many times asking God for it and just when you think: well, no it's not going to happen, or you think: I've been praying this a long time, maybe this is getting kind of vain.

Well, understand this, all repetition is not vain. Things that are needful like, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' 'Forgive us our sins,' that's daily—right? That's needful, that's not a vain repetition, that's needful. So you keep praying for whatever it is that you're desiring until you know you have an answer from God. And His answer will come His way, and when you look back and see it, you will see that's the way that it should be.

Now He gives another condition, v 15: "IF you love Me... [Here it is. Do you love Christ? Do you really love Him, or is He just a convenient Savior for you that you can call upon in times of trouble?—like a lot of the Protestants.] ...IF you love Me, keep the commandments... [that's the way it is in the Greek] ...the commandments—namely, My commandments."

So if you want a real interesting study, maybe someone could do this for me like Harry Curley did to get the IF statements, the IF clauses for me in the Bible, go through and list out every single command that Jesus Christ has said out of the four Gospels. List them all out and I think you would be absolutely surprised. Add to that list everything in the Old Testament because He's the One Who was the Lord God of the Old Testament and gave all the laws and commandments and statutes and judgments to Israel.

So these two verses are the heart and core, very powerful, of our approach to God. Now notice what He promises here, v 16: "And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter..." God will send the Holy Spirit to you, because you cannot—it is impossible—to do what God expects of us in the New Covenant without the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit will comfort us even in times of desperate trouble. The comfort may not necessarily come that you just have a warm fuzzy feeling, but that you have strength, you have stability, that you are not rattled, that you are able to handle the situation. That's all part of the work of the Holy Spirit. Comforter is giving one of the main qualities of what the Holy Spirit does.

Just the other day I was talking with Bob Ellsworth because he's running some ads in some Baptist newspapers and he's getting a good response. Even one woman called and said, 'I want ten Bibles.' Whoa! And he said he is surprised that he hasn't had the kickback concerning the trinity. He said he's only had one or two. That's all we've had that we've sent out.

Now note this and I want you to study this very carefully: Appendix K in the back of the Bible. Now let's understand something, because I know how human beings are and I know how I am, which is this: When you have a lot to read, it appears overwhelming, but you have to take it one bite at a time and you can go through it. Please read all the commentaries and all the appendices and especially Appendix K which is on page 1,282 (The Holy Bible in Its Original Order). The first word is 'exegesis.' Now what is 'exegesis'? That means a study of the Greek, the words, the tenses of the verbs, how it's put together, 'exegesis' for the translation of the phrase the Holy Spirit as antecedent in John 14, 15, and 16. Read through it; you'll probably have to read it two or three times to really get it. But you will see that I refer to quotes from Daniel B. Wallace's book on Greek syntax—Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. He is the leading expert in Greek syntax, probably in the world.

Guess where he still is a professor? So I told Bob this. I said, 'If some of the Baptists start getting upset, refer them to Appendix K and just tell them this, Dr. Daniel B. Wallace is one of the head professors in the Dallas Theological Seminary. Now that's important to understand because he does not believe in the personality and personhood of the Spirit. But he shows in his book in Greek syntax and I have the quotes of what he said here, that you cannot give personality to it because it is never in the masculine tense.

And even before I got his book, I got his book to double check what I translated, because I translated it long before his book was published in 1994-95. I did the first translation of John probably 1995, yeah, when we did the redoing the Harmony of the Gospels. I translated it exactly as it is here in the gospel of John. And he said that's the way that it should be translated. Furthermore, he was also on the committee of translation for the New English Translation Bible and for the English Standard Version and he was overruled in having it read like this in those translations, because of the theological interpretations of those on the committees.

Now here's something to remember concerning committees. You hear it quoted often: 'In a multitude of counsel there is wisdom.' You need to add this caveat: Only if the counselors are wise. So this is correct. I gave Bob Ellsworth a lot of ammunition to handle that and say, 'Well, this is translated just like Daniel B. Wallace of the Dallas Theological Seminary, the leading Greek expert they have down there in Baptist-land, in Bible country.'

Let's read it. John 14:16: "And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that it..." That's the correct translation, not he. The King James has 'he' and 'whom,' in every instance where it should be it and which. Why did they do that? Because they believed in the trinity! Because they were only 100 years removed from the Roman Catholic Church and didn't change that many doctrines from the way it was with the Catholics, though they were Protestants.

And a lot of people say, 'Oh, the King James Version, the best Bible there ever was.' No! Every major doctrine that causes problems concerning law, concerning grace, concerning the Truth is at the heart and core of a wrong translation by the King James translators. And they did not have the knowledge of Greek that we now have today with the Koine Greek. They had knowledge of Classical Greek and Attic Greek, but not Koine Greek, and that didn't occur until the end of the 19th Century. Now we know that Koine Greek was the common language and it was quite a bit removed from the Classical or Attic.

Just like today, I have a King James Version of the Bible in its original type, a big thick fat one there. And if I gave it to you to read, you would have to struggle to read it with those letters, because you wouldn't know what it was saying. Some of the words that they have really do not convey what it should be in English today. So everyone to say, 'Oh, yeah, you don't believe in the trinity—heretic, cult!' Nonsense! You don't believe in the Bible and the original Greek. And furthermore, write a nice letter to Daniel B. Wallace. Ask him what he thinks, he'll tell you. If you read carefully one of the footnotes that I have back there in Appendix K, you will see that Daniel B. Wallace was lamenting at the stupidity of those on the translating committees. He didn't put it that way, but he said there is no reason to give personality to the Holy Spirit unless it's a theological decision.

Verse 16: "...Comforter, that it may be with you throughout the age: even the Spirit of the Truth... [Now that is in neuter. The Spirit is in neuter and so is the Truth.] ...even the Spirit of the Truth... [This is why you need God's Spirit to really develop the character of God, because you're overcoming a deceitful human nature, which still tricks us up sometimes pretty desperately—right? Yes!] ...the Spirit of the Truth... [you need the Spirit of Truth and the 'washing of the water of the Word,' which will eliminate all the lies and things out of your mind through prayer and study and the Spirit of God. Now the subject is the Spirit of Truth. Comforter is a descriptive noun of a characteristic of the Spirit of Truth.] ...which the world cannot receive because... [Why can't it receive it?] (#1) it perceives it not; (#2) nor knows it…" (vs 16-17). And add (#3) the world can't receive it because it's deceived by Satan the devil and they love their lies.

You know that's true. All you have to do is look at the Christmas season. They love their lies. They've got to have them. You don't think that is true,

• look at the movies
• look at the entertainment
• look at the songs
• look at what they teach in school
• look at the fables that the children are taught
• look at the fables that people believe as adults.

You can't receive it—because as we read in 2-Thess.: 'because they did not receive the love of the Truth, they were given over to a great deception to believe the lie'—right?

Now God's Holy Spirit cannot dwell where a person's mind is filled with lies and not repenting and not overcoming those lies. You have the power to change! You have the power to overcome! But you've got to use it. Like anything else, you can have the best car in the world parked in your garage, bring everybody over, say, 'I've got the best car in the world, look at it here. Oh, it's a wonderful car, it really goes.' When was the last time you've driven it? 'Oh, I don't want to drive it, it's so good.' Well, then how do you know it does all these things? Same thing here.

"...but you know it because it dwells with you..." (v 17). And that's what it is in the Greek, exactly. So when God begins calling someone, you get the sermon that I did, which is The Holy Spirit, The Seven Spirits of God. God has seven spirits that go to and fro through the whole earth to see what's going on. Like we would say, satellites out there. Think of the satellites we have, they can zoom down and they can see you right on the spot. They can take pictures of your license plate from how many thousands of feet in the air, thousands of miles away in the air, yes.

And now the buildings departments in the cities can catch you adding onto your house, because every once in a while they have a clerk Google every one. 'Oh, look at that, wonder what that big digging is down there. Let's watch and see.' Then they come over and say, 'Sir, we understand you're building something here. Did you get a permit?' And if you're too long with it, like one man, he thought he could get away with no permit, they came back ten years later and his permit cost him $19,000. He said he'd never do that again. Jonathan knows about those things being in the building industry here.

"...it dwells with you, and shall be within you.... [That's what the begettal of the Holy Spirit is with the spirit of your mind, within you. Because that's where the overcoming needs to take place, not just the behavior that we have out here. But a conversion and change of heart and mind, has to be within us.] ...I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world shall see Me no longer; but you shall see Me. Because I live, you shall live also…. [A promise! While you're going through looking up all the commandments of Jesus, look up all the promises.] …In that day... [That's the day that they received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.] ...you shall know that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you…. [How? By the Spirit!] …The one who has My commandments and is keeping them, that is the one who loves Me...'" (vs 17-21).

How are we to keep them? We stand in grace! Just like we had the series on God's Grace and Commandment-Keeping (all on one CD); that is the most important series that we have done to find the Bible definition of what it is grace and commandment keeping. The long and short of it is, we are to have God's Spirit, because

• we stand in the grace
• we walk in the Truth
• we keep the commandments of God spiritually because of the Spirit of God

You understand that? That takes a time to grow into. Yes, people can be good on the outside and do good things, but God is working on the inside so the outside will be clean. What did He tell the scribes and Pharisees? He says, 'Whoa, to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the pot, but within you're full of wickedness and dead men's bones.' He said, 'Clean that which is within' and then you'll have the righteousness. Well, you have to have the Spirit of God to do it.

"'The one who has My commandments and is keeping them, that is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him'" (v 21). Now He just told them, 'I'm going away.' That's what He said here in vs 1-3. He said, 'I'm going away, but I'm coming again. I'll prepare a place for you and receive you where I am.'

So if he's going away, yet He says, "…[I] will manifest Myself to him. Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, 'Lord, what has happened that You are about to manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?'.... ['How are you going to show Yourself to us and the world can't see You?' So He answered the question. It is a spiritual thing that other people do not know that's going on. They may see the fruit of it in your actions.] (but here's how it's done): ...Jesus answered and said to him, 'IF... [There's that word again.] ...IF anyone loves Me, he will keep My word... [the whole message] ...and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him'" (vs 21-23). 'Our abode' is that you become a dwelling place for the Spirit of God the Father and Jesus Christ. That's why God doesn't need a temple. You are a temple of the living God! That's what it's all about.

What's going to happen when you study your Bible and really put it together, understand what God is going to do, you're going to understand so much more of the Bible. Never is there ever, ever a time that we can say, 'Oh, I know everything there is in the Bible to know.' It's inspired by the eternal mind of God and it's line upon line, and here a little, precept here, and so forth. Brethren, every time I study—and I study all the time—I learn all the time. Our minds with the Holy Spirit of God, but our minds are made to interconnect everything we learn together, so our minds have it all sorted out in categories, but it's all there. Now when you have the Holy Spirit united with your spirit, now God's Spirit is able to bring new things to you even from Scriptures you have understood in the past and add more to it. That's how we grow in grace and knowledge. This is not like a novel that you just pick up and read. You can pick up a book and say, 'Oh, well, I've read that, I know what's in it.' You can never say that of the Bible, because it's inspired by the mind of God and it's spiritually understood.

1-Corinthians 3:11: "For no one is able to lay any other foundation besides that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ." Think about that!

• What does that say about Joseph Smith?
• What does that say about William Miller?
• What does that say about Ellen G. White?
• What does that say about any minister named or unnamed?

You cannot build on the foundation of a man. That's what Paul was writing about. He said, 'Oh, you're all debating. I'm of Apollos, I'm of Christ.' He says, 'Who's Apollos? Who am I, but we're just ministers serving.' You can't lay any other foundation!

Verse 12: "Now IF anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble..." And those are degrees of character, gold being the best, silver the next, precious stones the next. Wood, hay and stubble are all inferior and if put to the torch—poof! Especially stubble. If it's hot enough and you get a little spark inside a silo—BOOM! the whole thing's going to blow up. Now notice why this is an individual thing. It's not the church you go to, but that's important. But the Catholics say if you're not in the Roman Catholic hierarchical Church you have no salvation.

And I'll have to say, Glenn Beck has one thing true. It's not community salvation; it's individual salvation. He understands that. He has some things that are true, but he's got a lot of error he's got to get rid of.

"The work of each one... [Why? God has given you His Spirit Himself!] ...The work of each one shall be manifested; for the day of trial will declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire... [the fiery trial.] ...and the fire shall prove what kind of work each one's is" (v 13). Now if it's gold, it's purified, gets better; likewise with silver; likewise with precious stones.

I don't know where they've been finding some of these big stones lately, but they've been finding these gigantic stones. I think one of them is an emerald—isn't it? Some great huge emerald that was just unreal. Those are all made by fire. I remember we went up to Birkhardt's ranch and he took us up on the hills out back and they were all formed by volcanoes. They had these little volcano eggs. Ever seen those? So we picked them up and we brought them back, then we took a hammer and cracked them. Open it up, beautiful crystals inside. What are they called? Geodes! Beautiful! You look on the outside, that rough old dirty rock, throw it away. But you crack it open, look at all the jewels.

Well, the same way with us. We're made of flesh, we're corrupt, but inside is the Spirit of God doing what? Creating God's character in us, which is likened to the jewels. So if we treat it lightly or don't use it properly, what happens? We end up with wood. We can make wood polish, look really good. If you have ironwood, hey, it'll stand in the furnace pretty good. It won't burn up too quick. But if you have balsa wood, it's gone! Hay. I remember there was one rancher going out of town here, he had all of his alfalfa stacked about 40-feet from the edge of the road, right up alongside the fence. Well, some smart-aleck kids got out there with Molotov cocktails and lit them up and threw them there and came by the next morning and POOF! all gone! Now he has them back about 500-yards.

So the fire's going to prove it. Now notice, here's another IF. "IF the work that anyone has built endures... [That's a spiritual work. Wonder why some people say we don't need work, when we're going to be judged according to our works. When Jesus said, 'I have not found your works complete.'] ...he shall receive a reward. IF the work of anyone is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet as through fire…. [Then he makes this statement, which is important to show the whole working of the system of conversion and God's Spirit.] …Don't you understand that you are God's temple, and that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you?" (vs 14-16).

The Spirit of Truth. Don't frustrate the Spirit of Truth. Why? The Spirit of Truth is what God works through to lead you! So what you're doing if you grieve the Holy Spirit—it's not that it is a person—you are grieving God, because if you continue in the way of working against the Holy Spirit, then God has to reach down and punish you to bring you back to your senses, to put you on the right track. It won't happen to people out in the world, but God hasn't called them. That's another whole story. That's why we shouldn't compare ourselves with people in the world, and even with each other.

"Don't you understand that you are God's temple, and that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you? IF..." (v 16). There's the IF. Look at the IFs we've covered here already, four of them.

• v 12—IF anyone builds
• v 14—IFthe work that anyone has built endures
• v 15—IFthe work of anyone is burned up
• v 17—"IF anyone defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him because the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."

Now notice the warning that comes after this: "Let no one deceive himself. IF anyone among you thinks himself to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, so that he may be wise in God's sight. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God for it is written, 'He entraps the wise in their own craftiness'" (vs 18-19).

Look at global warming. As soon as they got all excited and figured, 'Boy, we've got it; we're going to put this thing down and bring in world government.' God turns off the sunspots and it gets cold. He sends a three-foot snowstorm to Copenhagen where they were going to announce the world government is taking over, and they couldn't even get into the meetings, entrapped in their own thinking.

• Hasn't God entrapped all the lying scientists about it, that it's all coming out now?
• Hasn't God entrapped Al Gore in all of his lies and fantasies?
• How about all of the super elite of this world that they think they are so smart and they are so wise.
• What has God done?
• He's trapped them in their own thinking. God's Word always works.

This next verse is really a good one. Verse 20: "And again, 'The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain'.... [Especially when they say there is no God. (Read Rom. 1)—they are vain!] Therefore, do not let anyone boast in men; for all things are yours" (vs 20-21). That's how it's going to be! God manifests Himself to you because

• you keep His commandments
• you yield to His calling
• you have His Holy Spirit
• you love Him
• He loves you
• Christ loves you
• They're dwelling in you

Now you can't ask for anything greater in this physical life. There's nothing greater. You can't compare that to any wealth or any physical thing that there can be.

Now if you don't believe that, think about how you yourself can live forever without God. Not going to do it. Ray Kurzweil used to take, probably still does, 360 supplements, plus special shots and intravenous thing things so he won't get old. Guess what? He's going to die! Happens to everyone. God is offering us eternal life! God is saying, 'Here's how it's going to happen.' Not as anyone would think. God reveals it to us.

So we will make our abode with Him. Now John 14:24: "'The one who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word that you hear is not Mine, but the Father's Who sent Me.'" So there we go.

Scriptural References:

• John 14:13-23
• 1-Corinthians 3:11-16, 12, 14-15, 17-21
• John 14:24

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• John 14:1-3
• Romans 1

Also referenced:

Sermons:

• Evangelical Bible: Fast Track to Salvation
• The Holy Spirit, The Seven Spirits of God

Sermon Series:

• Passover Preparation
• God's Grace and Commandment Keeping

Books:

• The Basics of New Testament Syntax by Daniel B. Wallace
• Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics by Daniel B. Wallace
• The Harmony of the Gospelsby Fred Coulter

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 11-30-10
Formatted: bo—12-1-10