1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,080 There are some new folks, but remember if you bring somebody, then both you and the 2 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:15,080 other person will get a prize, will get an award for that. 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,040 And we said we were going to do something else. 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:18,400 Do you remember? 5 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:25,560 If you turned in your response card at the end, we were going to do two things with that. 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:26,880 Well, three things actually. 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:31,520 On the back, there were some prayer requests, and so those prayer requests have been prayed 8 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,960 for and will continue to be prayed for. 9 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:41,960 And in just a moment, if anybody had any questions, we're going to respond to a question. 10 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,680 And Jason's going to pass out tonight's response cards. 11 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,880 So you can just have that, but that will be for at the very end. 12 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:55,520 And if you have any questions or prayer requests, you can write those on the back. 13 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:03,320 And then as we get to the end and a song is played, you can respond to that. 14 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:08,720 And so before we have prayer and get going, there was a question that was turned in, and 15 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:14,680 the question says, is the pact for the future significant? 16 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:15,880 That's what the question was. 17 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,880 Is the pact for the future significant? 18 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:22,620 So first of all, we've got to figure out what the pact for the future is. 19 00:01:22,620 --> 00:01:31,240 The pact for the future is a document, an agreement that's recently been agreed to by 20 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,400 the majority of the United Nations. 21 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:34,760 You can look this up online. 22 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:42,080 It's about a 42, 48-page document, and I think about 150 of the nations of the United Nations 23 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,800 have agreed that this is what they want to do. 24 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,600 Now in this pact for the future, there's a bunch of different things. 25 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:54,000 It talks about peace in our world. 26 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:55,000 That's a good thing. 27 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:56,240 We want to have peace. 28 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:01,120 And it talks about human rights for different individuals and different groups. 29 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,680 So that's a positive thing. 30 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:08,560 And then it talks about pollution and the environment and climate change and different 31 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,040 things like that. 32 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:16,440 And it's tackling, this document is about tackling a lot of these different issues, 33 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:21,080 these global issues that impact different nations. 34 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,200 And so is that significant? 35 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:30,960 So if you were just to read this document, if I'm just reading it from an unknowing perspective, 36 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:32,600 I would say this is a great document. 37 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:34,360 Yes, we want peace. 38 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,400 Yes, people need to have human rights. 39 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,560 Yes, there should be less pollution in the world. 40 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:44,040 And it seems like a really good thing. 41 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:50,800 And even within this pact for the future, it makes comments and says this is in part 42 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,680 of the United Nations 75th anniversary. 43 00:02:54,680 --> 00:03:00,600 So that means the United Nations have been around for at least 75 years. 44 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:07,640 And so while those things seem good as they're written down, they haven't been accomplished 45 00:03:07,640 --> 00:03:09,400 yet. 46 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,200 There's still war in the world. 47 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:17,800 There's still nations that don't give human rights to different groups of individuals. 48 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,000 There's still too much pollution in the world and different things like that. 49 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,280 And so yes, those are good things. 50 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,160 But is it accomplishable politically? 51 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,340 I would have my doubts just from that. 52 00:03:31,340 --> 00:03:33,280 But what about biblically? 53 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:37,320 Is it significant biblically or prophetically? 54 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:48,120 There's a verse in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 that says, I 55 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:54,240 got to find it here now, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 56 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,480 Where is this verse that I was going to read? 57 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,160 It says, and I'm not finding the verse still. 58 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,080 I'm going to have to look it up. 59 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,520 It's the one that says when people say peace and safety. 60 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:13,240 Am I just missing that one? 61 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:18,040 Okay, 1 Thessalonians, I'm in the wrong one. 62 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,680 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, that's where it is. 63 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,200 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 3. 64 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,960 I was thinking it was 3 verse 5 and I said 2. 65 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,000 But 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 3. 66 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,640 It says, we'll go back to verse 1. 67 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,560 It says, but concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I 68 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:40,200 should write to you. 69 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:45,360 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the 70 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:46,360 night. 71 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,720 We're going to talk about the second coming of Jesus tomorrow night. 72 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:51,320 We're going to talk about that. 73 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:57,760 And then it says in verse 3, for when they say peace and safety, that's kind of what 74 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:03,360 that pact for the future is talking about, peace and safety and human rights and all 75 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:04,920 these different things. 76 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:12,360 When they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains 77 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:17,000 upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape. 78 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:22,600 But you, brethren, are not in darkness so that this day, the day of Christ's coming, 79 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,080 should not overtake you as a thief. 80 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:33,000 Therefore, verse 6, let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 81 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:38,480 Just like we talked about last night, there's a lot of different signs of the times and 82 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:46,800 they're becoming more intense and more frequent as we come down to the end of the prophecy. 83 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,920 We are getting closer and closer to that day when Jesus comes. 84 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:58,280 And we are reminded that as that happens, it's not about a government that's going to protect 85 00:05:58,280 --> 00:05:59,760 us, that's going to keep us safe. 86 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:02,040 It's not about the United Nations. 87 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:07,400 Our hope is in Jesus, that new kingdom that's going to be set up. 88 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:13,400 And so that pact for the future, it sounds like a really good thing. 89 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,560 It could be a good thing. 90 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:21,640 But like those that wanted to combine the nations, when we looked last night and it 91 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:29,560 said they shall not cleave one to another, it sounds pretty, but it's not going to impact. 92 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:34,600 It's not going to make a difference the way that the second coming of Jesus will make 93 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:35,600 an impact. 94 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:40,320 And so if you have any questions, write those on the back of that card that was just handed 95 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:47,360 out and we'll try to answer them tomorrow. 96 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:53,800 And I always say that a legitimate answer is, I don't know, but that's a great question. 97 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:57,920 I'll find out the answer for that as I investigate and study. 98 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:02,920 But let's bow our heads for a prayer and then we'll dive into tonight's topic. 99 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:07,160 Dear God, we thank you so much for bringing us here tonight. 100 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:14,480 Lord, we thank you just for the hope that we can have in Bible prophecy, that we can 101 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:20,960 look to you even when our world seems to be falling apart, even when it seems like it's 102 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:26,200 not going the way that it should, we can keep our faith and our trust in you. 103 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,120 Just guide and bless us tonight. 104 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,120 In your name we pray, amen. 105 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:38,920 So here on night two, our topic is Bible prophecies, greatest battle, or revelations, apocalyptic 106 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:40,460 battle. 107 00:07:40,460 --> 00:07:49,800 You can go back to 1994 and there was a small country in Africa called Rwanda and a great 108 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:55,360 controversy, a great battle was brewing in Rwanda. 109 00:07:55,360 --> 00:08:02,120 For decades and decades, two different groups of people, two different tribes, the Hutus 110 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:06,840 and the Tutsis had lived in Rwanda and they had gotten along. 111 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:09,880 They had learned to live with each other. 112 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:15,960 They had begun to go to school together, go to church together, go to the market together, 113 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:21,800 play soccer together and enjoy each other, to coexist peacefully. 114 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:30,000 But one terrible day in 1994, the president, who was a Hutu, got on his plane and the plane 115 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:35,640 took off and shortly after the plane took off, a missile came from the ground and shot 116 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:42,600 down the plane and it was destroyed and the president was killed, the president was assassinated 117 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,800 and no one knew who had done this. 118 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,080 No one knew what had happened. 119 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:56,360 But the government, the Hutu tribe, they immediately began to blame the Tutsis and so they wanted 120 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,820 to get revenge. 121 00:08:58,820 --> 00:09:04,260 They wanted to seek out and destroy their rivals. 122 00:09:04,260 --> 00:09:10,600 And so the government, the Hutus, began to call the rival tribe, they began to call them 123 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:12,760 enemies of the state. 124 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,520 They began to call them vermin. 125 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:21,600 They began to call them cockroaches and not just call them names, but they wanted those 126 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:24,400 cockroaches exterminated. 127 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:29,480 And so gangs of people, after the sun went down, would arm themselves with clubs or with 128 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:35,200 machetes and they would go from village to village, from house to house and they would 129 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:43,280 find those of the other tribe and they would kill the men, they would rape the women, they 130 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:49,000 would chop them to bits, chop them to pieces and wipe them out and to kill them and in 131 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:56,520 one hundred days, eight hundred thousand people in Rwanda died in one hundred days. 132 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,760 There was only eight million people in the country. 133 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:06,680 So almost one out of eight people were massacred, were killed. 134 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:13,320 And everywhere you turned, everywhere you looked, people's lives were lost. 135 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:19,820 It was one of the worst conflicts to ever hit the African soil. 136 00:10:19,820 --> 00:10:25,760 And while this was happening, the United Nations didn't do anything. 137 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:29,200 That's why these documents, it's like, well, they sound good, but are they going to be 138 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:30,840 accomplished or anything? 139 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,540 The United States didn't step in and do anything. 140 00:10:35,540 --> 00:10:40,640 This bloodshed, this tragedy was happening and no one seemed to care. 141 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:46,880 Just eight years later, in the year 2002, I happened to be in Rwanda. 142 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:52,800 That's a picture of me with a little bit more hair, a few less pounds there and I was doing 143 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:58,600 a seminar much like this, except it was a little bit different because it was outside, 144 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:04,920 it was in a soccer stadium and there was about three thousand people there hearing the gospel 145 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:06,920 preached each night. 146 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:13,680 But as I spent three or four weeks in Rwanda, people showed me around different parts of 147 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:20,360 the country and as we went around, they would point and say, okay, up on that hill, that's 148 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,440 where my father was massacred. 149 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:28,140 Or down this valley, you can see that little church, that's where my cousin is buried back 150 00:11:28,140 --> 00:11:29,780 behind there. 151 00:11:29,780 --> 00:11:35,080 Or this town, this is where my sister died. 152 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:41,400 And then you would meet many people who would be missing a hand or missing a limb as they 153 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:48,080 showed the scars and they showed the results of that genocide and those machete wounds. 154 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:54,120 And everyone that I met was... 155 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:59,840 But Revelation, Bible prophecy that we're going to dive into tonight talks about another 156 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:06,280 conflict, it talks about another controversy that everyone is affected by and it's far 157 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:15,520 worse than the Rwandan genocide and it surpasses any battle, any war that takes place on this 158 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:16,520 earth. 159 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:22,240 And so as we dive into this story, it's a controversy, it's a conflict that sometimes 160 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:29,320 people talk about the battle between good and evil, the battle between Christ and Satan. 161 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:33,480 Because we're going to see that the Bible tells us that it was Satan who first brought 162 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:41,960 sin onto our planet, into planet earth and that Satan has been working hard to pull people 163 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,560 away from Jesus. 164 00:12:44,560 --> 00:12:50,560 And Jesus has been doing everything he can to pull people away from Satan and so there's 165 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:56,880 this conflict, there's this battle that goes back and forth and we're going to see that 166 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:05,720 the battlefield is earth, is planet earth and not just planet earth but it is our hearts 167 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:12,400 and it is our minds as we are making a choice each and every day which side we are going 168 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:13,480 to be on. 169 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:19,380 And so as we look at this we're going to examine tonight how did this great controversy begin, 170 00:13:19,380 --> 00:13:26,720 how did sin come into our world that causes all this heartache and this pain, is there 171 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:30,900 a solution for this pain and this heartache? 172 00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:36,240 And we're going to see that Revelation gives us some answers but as we begin we're going 173 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,320 to look at Revelation chapter 1 and verse 1. 174 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,840 We're going to kind of do just a quick survey through Revelation and then we're going to 175 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:48,120 settle into Revelation 12 for a few minutes. 176 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:54,800 But Revelation 1, the very book begins with the theme of the book. 177 00:13:54,800 --> 00:14:03,660 It says the revelation of Jesus Christ and so this prophetic book is a book about Jesus 178 00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:09,600 Christ and you can go just a few verses later to verse 5 and it says about Jesus the faithful 179 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:16,560 witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. 180 00:14:16,560 --> 00:14:22,080 And then it goes on and says to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own 181 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:27,160 blood to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 182 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,500 This book is telling us about Jesus. 183 00:14:29,500 --> 00:14:33,800 In verse 8 Jesus is called the Alpha and the Omega. 184 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:39,200 Those are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, the A and the Z, the beginning 185 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:40,200 and the end. 186 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:47,440 In a chapter or two later we see Jesus walking in the candlesticks of the heavenly sanctuary. 187 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,720 In chapter 14 we see him on the throne. 188 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:57,560 It says I looked and behold a white cloud and on the cloud sat one like the son of man. 189 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:04,720 Revelation 14, 14 goes on and says having on his head a golden crown and in his hand 190 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,380 a sharp sickle. 191 00:15:06,380 --> 00:15:09,240 This is a picture of Jesus' second coming. 192 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,960 We're going quickly here through Revelation. 193 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:17,800 We see Jesus standing in the midst of the great multitude, those who are saved and welcomed 194 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:19,120 into heaven. 195 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:25,520 In chapter 19 we see Jesus riding on a white horse as a conquering king. 196 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:31,400 And then finally the last two chapters of the book give us a beautiful picture of the 197 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:33,440 glories of heaven. 198 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:38,560 If you want to be cheered up in this dark world just spend some time tonight and read 199 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,520 Revelation 21 and 22. 200 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:46,840 This beautiful picture of heaven illuminated the glory of God. 201 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:50,900 And the book ends almost the last verse with a promise. 202 00:15:50,900 --> 00:15:58,440 The Bible says in Revelation 22, 12, I am coming quickly, the words of Jesus. 203 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:05,080 And yet we see in this world, even with this beautiful picture of Jesus, we see a conflict. 204 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,460 We see a controversy taking place. 205 00:16:08,460 --> 00:16:12,320 So turn over to Revelation chapter 12 now. 206 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,340 We're going to look at several verses here in Revelation 12. 207 00:16:15,340 --> 00:16:21,040 And then we're going to go to the Old Testament and explore this same situation. 208 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:32,140 So in Revelation 12, starting in verse 7, the Bible says, Revelation 12 and verse 7, 209 00:16:32,140 --> 00:16:38,520 it says, And war broke out, where? 210 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,080 War broke out in heaven. 211 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,120 Imagine that, war is happening in heaven. 212 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:49,420 And it goes on, it says, Michael and his angels fought the dragon, and the dragon and his 213 00:16:49,420 --> 00:16:57,840 angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 214 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:04,920 So that great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old who is called the devil, and Satan, 215 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:10,040 who deceives the whole world, he was cast to where? 216 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:11,120 To the earth. 217 00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:17,160 And so this war begins in heaven, and then Satan is cast out, and he's cast to earth, 218 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,700 and his angels are cast out with him. 219 00:17:20,700 --> 00:17:26,300 And so we need to pause right here and figure out what is happening. 220 00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:34,080 As we see here in Revelation chapter 12, something that could be a bit surprising and fascinating, 221 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:40,760 that the devil was at one point was in the glories of heaven. 222 00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:45,560 Satan was once a faithful angel in the courts of heaven. 223 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:53,640 He was there with God, with Jesus, but somehow at some point, Satan lost his love for his 224 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:54,640 creator. 225 00:17:54,640 --> 00:18:02,400 He began to turn away from God, and he didn't do it alone, but he began to plant these ideas 226 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:11,000 of doubt, these thoughts of rebellion, plant them in the minds of other angels. 227 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:16,520 Maybe some things like, you know, is God really a God of love? 228 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:23,200 Maybe God's way is not the best way for us angels to be living. 229 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:27,580 Maybe there's something else that God is keeping back for us. 230 00:18:27,580 --> 00:18:31,520 Maybe we don't need to follow his laws and his principles. 231 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:38,680 And Satan began to plant these seeds of doubt into the minds of the angels until eventually 232 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:46,600 a full-scale rebellion, a war happened, and a portion of the angels sided with Satan and 233 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,720 tried to take over the throne of God. 234 00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:59,000 And Revelation, as we just saw, tells us that God had no choice but to expel, to throw out 235 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,040 Satan. 236 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:05,920 And so Satan, once an angel of glory, became a fallen angel. 237 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,400 And where did he fall to? 238 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:10,480 He fell to earth. 239 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:17,840 And so then we see that this fallen angel, believe it or not, wants to instill that same 240 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:27,720 idea of rebellion onto our planet here, that maybe God really isn't a God of love. 241 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:32,200 Maybe God is not really, you know, all-knowing. 242 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:37,860 Maybe God's ways, God's rules, God's laws, maybe they aren't the best. 243 00:19:37,860 --> 00:19:44,120 And so we see that our world, as we've fallen into this, we're full of, you know, tragedies 244 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:51,320 and heartache and so many different things that are part of this situation because of 245 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:53,680 this battle that started in heaven. 246 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,520 Now, how did this battle play out? 247 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,600 Well, Revelation is not the only book that talks about this. 248 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:07,480 There's at least two other prophets which give us some insight into this situation. 249 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,180 So we're going to go to the Old Testament now. 250 00:20:10,180 --> 00:20:13,640 We're going to go to the book of Isaiah, the book of Isaiah. 251 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,120 So kind of towards the end of the Old Testament. 252 00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:20,580 So it's after the book of Psalms, which is kind of right in the middle. 253 00:20:20,580 --> 00:20:27,320 And we're going to go to Isaiah chapter 14, Isaiah chapter 14, because God gave the prophet 254 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:32,520 Isaiah a window into this controversy. 255 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:41,200 So Isaiah chapter 14, and we're going to start in verse 12, Isaiah 14 and verse 12. 256 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:50,360 The Bible says, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. 257 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:55,920 Now what does Lucifer mean? 258 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:00,440 Lightbearer or my little footnote here says Daystar. 259 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,400 And so that is a name of Lucifer. 260 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:09,740 That is the name of Satan before he was cast out, that he was one of the glorious angels 261 00:21:09,740 --> 00:21:12,880 of heaven next to the throne of God. 262 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:14,760 He was a lightbearer. 263 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:21,360 And it says, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, O lightbearer, O Daystar, son of 264 00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:28,040 the morning, how you were cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations. 265 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:36,360 Unfortunately, this lightbearer began to have, some people refer to it as eye problems. 266 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:41,740 Now he didn't need glasses, he didn't need contacts as sometimes we do. 267 00:21:41,740 --> 00:21:47,760 But notice these next verses and how many times the pronoun I is used. 268 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:54,960 It goes on here and says, For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven. 269 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,240 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. 270 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:05,180 I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. 271 00:22:05,180 --> 00:22:08,360 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 272 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:11,880 I will be like the Most High. 273 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:19,160 Lucifer, Satan wanted to not just be close to God, he wanted to be God. 274 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,480 He wanted to be like the Most High. 275 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:24,320 He wanted to be in the throne of God. 276 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:32,360 This glorious, beautiful, mighty angel decided that the perfect love of God was not enough 277 00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:35,080 and he wanted something more. 278 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,960 He wanted to take the place of God. 279 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:47,040 And so Lucifer, this fallen being, begins to lead this rebellion against his creator. 280 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,720 He wanted to be God. 281 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:55,360 It's a very sad story when you think about it because when he rebelled, he was not alone. 282 00:22:55,360 --> 00:23:02,520 He was cast out of the perfect place of heaven along with all of the angels that decided 283 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:03,880 to follow him. 284 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,560 And he was cast out to where? 285 00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:07,880 To earth. 286 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:14,320 And so he brings that same attitude, that same rebellion to our planet because he wants 287 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:18,920 to convince us that we can be like God. 288 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:20,900 We can take the place of God. 289 00:23:20,900 --> 00:23:25,560 We don't need to follow God's principles or God's commandments. 290 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,680 And you might say, oh, I would never do that. 291 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,140 I would never do what Lucifer does. 292 00:23:31,140 --> 00:23:37,400 And we may not use those words, but have we ever used the same excuse to God? 293 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,000 God, I know what your word says. 294 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:45,480 I know what the Bible says, but I don't want to do that right now. 295 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:52,080 Or I know what your commandments say, but that's really not convenient for me to live 296 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:53,240 my life that way. 297 00:23:53,240 --> 00:24:00,240 Or I know what you ask of me, but I really just want to control my own life. 298 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:01,760 I want to make my own decisions. 299 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,280 I want to do my own thing. 300 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:11,320 And in a small way, when we do that, we're saying that, you know what, I know just as 301 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:18,560 much as God does, that I'm kind of a little God, that I don't need God's instruction. 302 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:24,860 I don't need God's guidance because I can make that decision for myself. 303 00:24:24,860 --> 00:24:33,040 And that's following this example that Lucifer convinced those other angels to do. 304 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:39,920 But Isaiah is not the only Old Testament prophet that gives us a glimpse into this picture. 305 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:43,680 If you go towards the back of the Bible, just three or four more books, you're going to 306 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:45,920 find the book of Ezekiel. 307 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:51,060 Isaiah, Jeremiah, and then there's a little book, and then Ezekiel. 308 00:24:51,060 --> 00:24:53,920 So we're going to go to Ezekiel chapter 28. 309 00:24:53,920 --> 00:25:05,480 And we're going to see another Old Testament prophet that is seeing this same incident 310 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:11,720 and it's going to help us to answer this question, how did Lucifer make this decision? 311 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,960 Ezekiel chapter 28. 312 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,920 We're going to pick up the story in verse 12. 313 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:29,680 It says verse 14 there, but in verse 12 it says, you were the seal of perfection, full 314 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:34,200 of wisdom and perfect and beauty. 315 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,820 Ezekiel 28 and verse 12. 316 00:25:36,820 --> 00:25:42,920 And then we skip down to verse 14 and it says, you were the anointed cherub who covers. 317 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,280 A cherub is a mighty angel in heaven. 318 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:49,380 So this Lucifer here, God is talking to Lucifer. 319 00:25:49,380 --> 00:25:51,480 You were a mighty angel. 320 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,440 And he goes on and says, I established you. 321 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:56,840 You were on the holy mountain of God. 322 00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,520 This is talking about heaven. 323 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:04,160 You walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. 324 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:11,220 You were perfect in all of your ways from the day you were created until iniquity was 325 00:26:11,220 --> 00:26:13,060 found in you. 326 00:26:13,060 --> 00:26:16,040 So how was Lucifer created? 327 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:17,280 Was he flawed? 328 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:26,120 No, he was perfect in all of his ways until suddenly somehow this sinfulness, this iniquity 329 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:27,900 was found in him. 330 00:26:27,900 --> 00:26:35,240 It goes on and says, by the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within 331 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,440 and you sinned. 332 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:43,120 Therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God. 333 00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:50,720 And so this Lucifer created perfect, created perfect in all of his ways until this iniquity 334 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,400 was found from within. 335 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,220 This is important for us to understand. 336 00:26:56,220 --> 00:27:02,120 We need to recognize that God did not create the devil. 337 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:09,680 God created an angel who was perfect, who was loyal, but this angel used his freedom 338 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:17,800 of choice to choose to go a different direction, that chose to do something else. 339 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:22,480 And this evil, this wickedness was found within him. 340 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:26,080 And so that leads us to another question about God. 341 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,960 Does God know the future? 342 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,200 You think God knows the future? 343 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:32,880 Does God know the end from the beginning? 344 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,800 I think the Bible tells us that he does. 345 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:44,440 And so that leads to the question, if God does know the future, then why did he create 346 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,920 Lucifer? 347 00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:53,320 If Lucifer was going to turn, he was going to become the rotten apple, why would God 348 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,280 create him to begin with? 349 00:27:56,280 --> 00:28:03,120 And I think the answer comes down to a concept that we can refer to as free will, free will, 350 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:08,680 the freedom to live our life, to make a choice. 351 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:14,680 You see, God did not create angels as robots. 352 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:16,660 God does not create us as humans. 353 00:28:16,660 --> 00:28:18,960 We are not robots. 354 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:24,000 You know, a robot, you program it and it does beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. 355 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,440 Sorry, that's not a good robot sound. 356 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,360 Jason's laughing at me over here. 357 00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:34,720 A robot just does what it is programmed to do. 358 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:37,600 Can a robot love? 359 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:43,320 No, you can only love by choice. 360 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:50,480 A love relationship requires you to choose to love someone. 361 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:56,760 And if you have the capability to choose to love someone, the flip side of that says you 362 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:02,300 have the capability to choose to not love someone. 363 00:29:02,300 --> 00:29:04,600 And that's how we fall in love. 364 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:10,720 That's what love is all about, when you can choose to love someone and sometimes you choose 365 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:11,960 not to love someone. 366 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,400 We are not robots. 367 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:19,120 Sometimes it might be nice if our kids were robots, you know. 368 00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:24,880 You could hit the button, plug a new chip in and hit the reboot button and suddenly 369 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:27,080 they're like, good morning, mother. 370 00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:28,160 My bed is made. 371 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,200 My homework is done. 372 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,940 Thank you for the perfect omelet that you have made for breakfast. 373 00:29:33,940 --> 00:29:36,920 And I'm ready for school. 374 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,280 That's a robot. 375 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,320 Having children, I see some children in here. 376 00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:44,040 Children are sometimes messy. 377 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,040 Sometimes they're forgetful. 378 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:49,740 Sometimes they're belligerent, just like we all are. 379 00:29:49,740 --> 00:29:56,880 But that's what makes us human, that we have the choice to love someone. 380 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:02,120 And that's a danger because there's also the choice to not love someone. 381 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,040 I have a little robot vacuum at home. 382 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:06,400 Maybe some of you have one too. 383 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:11,040 You hit the button and it vacuums the floor. 384 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,040 That vacuum does not love me. 385 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:18,220 I do not love that vacuum because often I find it somewhere stuck under the couch. 386 00:30:18,220 --> 00:30:20,800 It's got the phone charger dragging around. 387 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:25,120 It's stuck in the bathroom and the battery's died because it closed the door and it got 388 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:26,520 stuck there all day. 389 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,840 My dog certainly does not love that little robot vacuum. 390 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,840 It just does what it's programmed to do. 391 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,400 That's not a love relationship. 392 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:46,120 A love relationship requires that freedom to choose to love, but that also is the danger 393 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:50,200 of choosing not to love. 394 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:56,560 And so God created us with the innate ability to choose. 395 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:58,460 We call it liberty. 396 00:30:58,460 --> 00:31:04,320 There's citizens of this world and many different countries who would love to have the liberty 397 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,160 to make a choice to do something. 398 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:12,800 Our founding fathers of our country, they said that's an inalienable right that we 399 00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:20,320 have liberty to make choices, to choose to do something and then to choose to not do 400 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:21,320 something. 401 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:28,680 And so as God created us, he created us and he created Lucifer with free will. 402 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,720 So that could lead to another question. 403 00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:32,720 Okay, I understand that. 404 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:42,560 God gave everybody a choice, but why didn't he hit the backspace button, hit the delete 405 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,280 button when Lucifer messed up? 406 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:53,320 Why didn't he just, you know, that heavenly lightning bolt that wipe him out, erase him 407 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:55,320 from the universe? 408 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:58,360 Why didn't he just make that happen? 409 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:04,160 Why didn't he just make it so that he wouldn't be around anymore? 410 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,320 I think there's two reasons we can look at. 411 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,280 One is fear. 412 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,280 God does not want people to be afraid of him. 413 00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:17,360 To be in a loving relationship, it has to be a choice. 414 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,680 We have to choose to love someone. 415 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:26,320 Imagine the scene where Lucifer is talking to the other heavenly angels and he's telling 416 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:30,320 them, oh, you know, I've got a better solution than God. 417 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,840 God's ways are not the best. 418 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:34,460 God is not fair. 419 00:32:34,460 --> 00:32:38,600 God is not loving and all those commandments, forget those. 420 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:43,280 And then the next day the angels are like, hey, have you seen Lucifer? 421 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,560 Oh, did you see that bright light yesterday? 422 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:50,600 Yeah, Lucifer's, he's not around anymore. 423 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,440 Those other angels would, whoa, okay. 424 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:59,960 Well, I don't know, maybe God's way is the best way, but I don't know. 425 00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:03,080 I'm not going to cross that line again. 426 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:07,080 And so there would be a fear that would be involved. 427 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:16,760 But in the New Testament, 1 John 4, 18, for instance, it says perfect love casts out fear. 428 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:21,440 If we're going to be loving God, it can't be about fear. 429 00:33:21,440 --> 00:33:25,600 A healthy relationship is not based on fear. 430 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:31,960 If there's a relationship on this earth and it's based on fear, at best we would call 431 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:34,960 that a dysfunctional relationship. 432 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:40,500 At worst we would call it an abusive relationship if it was based on fear. 433 00:33:40,500 --> 00:33:44,360 Love relationships cannot have fear based at all. 434 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,640 And so that's one reason why God couldn't do that. 435 00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:51,980 And the second is because God is fair. 436 00:33:51,980 --> 00:33:57,660 God doesn't want people to fear him, but also God is fair. 437 00:33:57,660 --> 00:34:03,840 If Satan is claiming that God's ways are not accurate, that God's ways are not loving, 438 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:08,800 that God's ways are not the best, how could anybody know that? 439 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:18,540 Those angels, that universe, they'd only experienced that perfect loving situation with God. 440 00:34:18,540 --> 00:34:21,640 They wouldn't have anything to compare that to. 441 00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:28,440 And so to be fair, God had to allow that to play out just a little bit. 442 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,000 Lucifer, I'm going to give you an opportunity. 443 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:32,680 I'm going to give you a chance. 444 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:36,240 I'm going to kick you out of heaven, but I'm going to send you somewhere. 445 00:34:36,240 --> 00:34:43,120 And if those people let you, I'm going to allow your program, your experiment to be 446 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:49,280 played out there so that all the angels, so that all the universe can know once and for 447 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:53,040 all which way is the best way. 448 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:57,840 And then when it's all said and done, the universe can say, okay, this is the way that 449 00:34:57,840 --> 00:34:59,320 I want to follow. 450 00:34:59,320 --> 00:35:05,080 And so Adam and Eve had a choice about who they wanted to follow, who they wanted to 451 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:06,880 listen to. 452 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:14,560 And unfortunately, they made the choice to listen to that voice of Lucifer instead of 453 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:16,780 the voice of God. 454 00:35:16,780 --> 00:35:23,120 And now several thousand years later here on this planet, I think that we can see as 455 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:28,120 we're in the midst of this experiment, and I guarantee the rest of the universe can see 456 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:36,360 that this is not the best way, that God has a better method, God has a better way of running 457 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:37,360 the government. 458 00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:44,720 And so this is the great controversy, this is the great battle that Revelation is all 459 00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:45,720 about. 460 00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:49,720 And sometimes we may think, you know, God is really just not fair. 461 00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:57,060 Have you ever seen someone and, you know, the good things happen to the bad people, 462 00:35:57,060 --> 00:36:03,240 but you know somebody who's such a sweet person, such a good person, and they're the ones that 463 00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:08,580 end up with cancer or the car accident or whatever it happens to be. 464 00:36:08,580 --> 00:36:16,120 And we would say, why, God, do you allow such bad things to happen to such good people? 465 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:23,100 And we can look back and say, well, if God stopped every evil thing in this planet from 466 00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:32,400 ever happening, we would never get a true picture of what that method of sin, that way 467 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:35,760 of sin is really all about. 468 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:43,840 And we would never see just how much we truly and desperately need Jesus in our life. 469 00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:49,120 And so even though there's so many tragedies and they break the heart of God, God does 470 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:50,880 not always stop them. 471 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:58,760 He allows them so that we can see how much we need Jesus in our life. 472 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,960 But he had given a safety switch. 473 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:11,520 Adam and Eve had to choose, they had to invite Satan to be with them, to allow his program 474 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:13,360 to take place. 475 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:15,580 And unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. 476 00:37:15,580 --> 00:37:18,120 And so that battlefield moved. 477 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:20,160 It moved from heaven. 478 00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:22,040 There was war in heaven. 479 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:28,240 And then that battlefield moved to this planet, moved to earth, starting with Adam and Eve 480 00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:35,980 and has since come down to each one of our own hearts and our own minds. 481 00:37:35,980 --> 00:37:39,180 We started in Revelation, the very last book. 482 00:37:39,180 --> 00:37:41,440 We looked at some Old Testament prophets. 483 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:47,440 But let's go now to Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, because we need to see 484 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:55,560 how this situation came from the glories of heaven, how it came to this earth. 485 00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:59,600 So we're going to go to Genesis chapter 3. 486 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:05,120 Chapters 1 and 2 talk about the creation of this world by God as he spoke things into 487 00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:06,120 existence. 488 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:13,960 But chapter 3 happens still in the Garden of Eden, but we see this controversy coming 489 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:14,960 to earth. 490 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:20,160 So we're going to pick up the story in Genesis 3 and verse 1. 491 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:24,840 It says, now the serpent, who's the serpent? 492 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:26,440 What do we see in Revelation 12? 493 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:33,220 There was a serpent, there was a dragon, also called Satan or Lucifer. 494 00:38:33,220 --> 00:38:35,080 So it's all tied in here. 495 00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:40,480 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had 496 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:41,480 made. 497 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:48,040 And he, the serpent, the talking serpent, said to the woman, has God indeed said, You 498 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:51,240 shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 499 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:56,200 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 500 00:38:56,200 --> 00:39:00,580 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall 501 00:39:00,580 --> 00:39:07,840 not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. 502 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:09,960 Now what's going on here? 503 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:11,440 Was God clear? 504 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:12,640 Was there any mistake? 505 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:14,600 He said it back in chapter 2. 506 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:20,480 There was one particular tree, Don't eat from it or you will die. 507 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:25,840 Now in verse 4 it goes on and says, Then the serpent said to the woman, the very first 508 00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:34,320 lie here, You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your 509 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:38,600 eyes will be opened and you will be like God. 510 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:44,560 And here's how they're like God, knowing good and evil. 511 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:50,440 They were created not to know evil, they were created to know only the goodness and the 512 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:52,080 love of God. 513 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:56,760 But Satan is telling them here, Oh, you're going to be like God. 514 00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:02,800 You're going to have that same lie from Isaiah, that same lie from Revelation. 515 00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:08,000 You're going to be like God, you're going to know good and you're going to know evil. 516 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:13,080 And it goes on and says, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that 517 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:20,600 it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, that she took of its fruit 518 00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:21,600 and ate. 519 00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:26,600 And she also gave to her husband with her and he ate. 520 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:33,160 And so here we see a serpent here in the midst of the garden. 521 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:37,640 And he's here at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 522 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:45,080 This is the one tree that God had told Adam and Eve not to eat from. 523 00:40:45,080 --> 00:40:48,320 Was there anything different about this tree? 524 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:49,320 I don't think so. 525 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:50,680 I don't think it looked different. 526 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:52,160 I don't think it smelled different. 527 00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:57,960 I think the only thing that's different about it is God said, don't eat it. 528 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:01,400 And notice that that is where the serpent was. 529 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:07,400 The serpent was on the very tree that God had said to stay away from. 530 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:14,600 So if Adam and Eve had simply stayed away from that tree that God had said not to eat, 531 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:16,400 guess what? 532 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:21,600 That plan would not have worked out for Satan because they wouldn't have been there to be 533 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:22,600 tempted. 534 00:41:22,600 --> 00:41:27,000 They wouldn't have been able to be tempted to eat from this one tree that God said not 535 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:28,560 to eat from. 536 00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:30,760 All they had to do is stay away from it. 537 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:35,080 And yet they went right there where God had said not to go. 538 00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:38,720 And then we see Satan telling this lie. 539 00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:43,440 You will not surely die. 540 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:50,320 You see every time that God has something that is true, Satan has something that is 541 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:51,760 a lie. 542 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:58,380 For every truth that God has, the devil has an error, has a counterfeit. 543 00:41:58,380 --> 00:42:03,320 And we're going to see that as we go on from night to night as we continue studying Revelation 544 00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:08,320 that for every good thing that God has, Satan wants to take that away. 545 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:10,400 Satan wants to ruin that for us. 546 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:14,680 He wants to try to feed us a counterfeit. 547 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:16,620 And so Eve talks to this serpent. 548 00:42:16,620 --> 00:42:18,800 She makes that mistake. 549 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:23,320 And she listens to his words and she tries to argue with him. 550 00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:27,000 She tries to convince him to do something else. 551 00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:29,940 But she falls for this line. 552 00:42:29,940 --> 00:42:33,520 God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened. 553 00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:35,680 You're going to have special knowledge. 554 00:42:35,680 --> 00:42:38,120 You're going to be like God. 555 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:40,560 Look at me, I'm a talking snake. 556 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,420 You're going to have special powers. 557 00:42:43,420 --> 00:42:47,360 And it says that she saw that it was something good to eat. 558 00:42:47,360 --> 00:42:49,620 It was desirable. 559 00:42:49,620 --> 00:42:53,120 And she took that fruit and she ate it. 560 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:57,560 And then it says she went on and she took some to her husband. 561 00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,880 And her husband ate it as well. 562 00:42:59,880 --> 00:43:07,960 And that is how they gave Lucifer, they gave Satan permission to begin his reign of terror, 563 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:09,960 we could say, on this earth. 564 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:18,760 They gave him permission to come in and show the universe what his way of ruling was all 565 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:19,760 about. 566 00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:26,000 And that is what has led to heartache and what has led to so much suffering in our world 567 00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:33,600 today because since then we are all born with a tendency to sin. 568 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:42,200 We are more likely to do wrong than we are to do right in many days. 569 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:46,280 And it's like a cancer growing within us. 570 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:50,600 We have a tendency to follow after Satan. 571 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:58,240 You see it with, sorry, Caleb, with young people again sometimes. 572 00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:02,280 We don't have to teach children to be selfish. 573 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:04,160 I see several parents here. 574 00:44:04,160 --> 00:44:10,560 You didn't have to teach your child to be selfish, to want to hoard the toys. 575 00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:11,720 They do that naturally. 576 00:44:11,720 --> 00:44:15,080 You have to teach your child to share. 577 00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:20,920 I didn't have to teach my daughter Peyton to hold her little blue stuffed animal that 578 00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:25,640 was named Blue and punch her brother if he tried to take it. 579 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:30,240 I didn't have to tell Brandon to his little yellow bear that he would hold that and not 580 00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:32,600 share that with anybody. 581 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:34,960 That comes naturally. 582 00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:39,300 We have to teach them, no, these toys are for everybody. 583 00:44:39,300 --> 00:44:42,440 You can share your Legos with someone else. 584 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:43,500 It's okay. 585 00:44:43,500 --> 00:44:46,560 Your friend can play with your Legos too. 586 00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:50,080 We teach people not to fight. 587 00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:51,080 And it's not just kids. 588 00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:58,040 We have to teach our fellow employees, our neighbors how to get along, how not to fight 589 00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:01,560 because we have a tendency towards evil. 590 00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:07,560 And from this moment in the Garden of Eden, there's been two sides to this conflict. 591 00:45:07,560 --> 00:45:11,880 There's been a side that's following after the devil and Satan and the dragon. 592 00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:14,960 And then there's been a side that's following after Jesus. 593 00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:23,520 And the very first gospel promise is in Genesis 3.15, Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, the 594 00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:25,920 very first gospel promise here. 595 00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:32,360 It says, I will pit enmity, I will pit conflict between you, between the dragon, between the 596 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:39,800 serpent and the woman, and between your seed, between those that are following the serpent 597 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,560 and those that are following God. 598 00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:51,080 And then it says, he, the descendant of the woman, would bruise your head, snake, and 599 00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:54,680 snake, you're going to bruise his heel. 600 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:59,760 Now which is worse, a foot wound or a head wound? 601 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:00,760 A head wound. 602 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:05,420 You can, if you get a foot wound, you might limp around a little bit, but you can survive. 603 00:46:05,420 --> 00:46:08,880 But a head wound can lead to death. 604 00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:15,040 And so this is the story of the gospel right here, that when Jesus comes, this descendant 605 00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:23,200 of the woman is born, he's going to step on the head of the snake, Satan, and he's going 606 00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:27,040 to be wounded for it, but Satan is going to be wiped out. 607 00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:29,240 Satan is going to be defeated. 608 00:46:29,240 --> 00:46:36,560 And from this moment in the Garden of Eden, we see these two sides, because in that moment, 609 00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:42,380 God clothes Adam and Eve as they recognize that they're naked before each other. 610 00:46:42,380 --> 00:46:49,040 And so an animal dies, there's a sacrifice that takes place, the first of all of those 611 00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:53,080 sacrifices that point down towards Jesus. 612 00:46:53,080 --> 00:46:59,880 And just a few pages later in Scripture, you see these two sides coming at head with each 613 00:46:59,880 --> 00:47:01,200 other. 614 00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:07,880 And there's so many that are on the wicked side that God says, I've got to start over. 615 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:13,360 And so with Noah and others, they build a massive boat, an ark. 616 00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,280 And how many people get on that ark? 617 00:47:15,280 --> 00:47:17,960 Do you remember? 618 00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:21,780 There's only eight people that get on the ark. 619 00:47:21,780 --> 00:47:25,680 There was room for so many more, but only eight got on. 620 00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:34,520 But even after that flood kind of restarted things, immediately though, that sin continued 621 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:37,040 to rear up its head. 622 00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:42,900 And just a chapter or two later, the people are trying to protect themselves from God, 623 00:47:42,900 --> 00:47:48,720 and they're wanting to make sure that if God does anything like that again, that they can 624 00:47:48,720 --> 00:47:50,640 save themselves. 625 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:58,760 And it says in Genesis 11 verse 9, therefore its name, this tower that they built, is called 626 00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:07,040 Babel or Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. 627 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:13,040 And it was from this location where they built this tower of Babel or Tower of Babel that 628 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:16,760 that kingdom became known as Babylon. 629 00:48:16,760 --> 00:48:24,160 And it became a kingdom that was steeped in man-made religion, people wanting to save 630 00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:27,960 themselves, just like that Tower of Babel. 631 00:48:27,960 --> 00:48:33,760 And last night, if you were here, we looked at this image and we saw all the different 632 00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:42,840 kingdoms and how that system of man-made religion went through not just Babylon, but it continued 633 00:48:42,840 --> 00:48:49,280 down through all of these political entities as well, through Persia and Greece and Rome. 634 00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:52,880 This idea that man could save themselves. 635 00:48:52,880 --> 00:49:01,240 And then as we come to the book of Revelation, we see this story being played out, because 636 00:49:01,240 --> 00:49:07,760 in Revelation 12, right back where we started, just a few verses before where we started, 637 00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:14,600 it's talking about a woman which represents God's people, and in this case, this is God's 638 00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:23,120 people down through the ages, and that promised Messiah is about to come, about to be born. 639 00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:30,680 And it says in Revelation 12, 4, the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give 640 00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:31,680 birth. 641 00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:35,280 This is, the Messiah is about to be born. 642 00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:41,960 And then notice what it says, to devour her child as soon as it was born. 643 00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:48,960 The Messiah had come to be born, but the dragon, Satan, wanted to wipe out the Messiah before 644 00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:52,220 he could complete his mission. 645 00:49:52,220 --> 00:49:57,560 As we've already seen, this dragon represents Satan. 646 00:49:57,560 --> 00:50:04,080 And in Revelation 12, Satan is working through one of these kingdoms, he's working through 647 00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:10,880 these legs of iron, he's working through pagan Rome to try to destroy Jesus. 648 00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:14,120 You remember the nativity story, right? 649 00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:21,000 When Jesus was born, what happened to the little children in Bethlehem? 650 00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:27,320 They were killed because they wanted to wipe out baby Jesus, they wanted to destroy baby 651 00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:32,400 Jesus and Mary and Joseph had to flee into exile to Egypt. 652 00:50:32,400 --> 00:50:37,720 And then as he returned later and grew up, it was the Roman soldiers who led him down 653 00:50:37,720 --> 00:50:43,800 the Via della Rosa, led him up to Golgotha as he laid down his life on the cross. 654 00:50:43,800 --> 00:50:50,160 The mission of the Messiah was to bring peace and to bring healing and to bless those who 655 00:50:50,160 --> 00:50:55,880 were sick, to bless the little children as he laid down his life on the cross. 656 00:50:55,880 --> 00:51:03,120 But the dragon wanted to wipe that out, wanted to destroy Jesus. 657 00:51:03,120 --> 00:51:11,000 And it says in Revelation 13, 2, the dragon gave him, gave this beast, this is the last 658 00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:16,240 day beast that we're going to talk about on a future night, the dragon gave him his power, 659 00:51:16,240 --> 00:51:19,520 his throne, and his great authority. 660 00:51:19,520 --> 00:51:23,840 And so we see that there's these two sides throughout Scripture. 661 00:51:23,840 --> 00:51:28,960 And we have to choose which side are we going to be on? 662 00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:34,480 Are we going to be on this side of God's people, this side of the woman? 663 00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:42,320 Because in Revelation 12 we see a situation here, Revelation 12 verse, excuse me, Revelation 664 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:43,680 14 verse 6. 665 00:51:43,680 --> 00:51:48,880 It says, Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting 666 00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:54,960 gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and 667 00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:56,040 people. 668 00:51:56,040 --> 00:52:03,720 It goes on saying, Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come. 669 00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:11,000 And then it says, Worship him, worship him, the creator, worship him who made the heavens 670 00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:15,100 and the earth and the seas and the springs of water. 671 00:52:15,100 --> 00:52:17,560 So we're supposed to worship God. 672 00:52:17,560 --> 00:52:22,080 We're called to worship God as our creator. 673 00:52:22,080 --> 00:52:27,680 But we're warned about something because there's two sides in this conflict. 674 00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:33,160 Verse 9, it says, The third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If anyone 675 00:52:33,160 --> 00:52:40,560 worships, this is the warning, if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark 676 00:52:40,560 --> 00:52:48,560 on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. 677 00:52:48,560 --> 00:52:50,760 So we have a choice to make. 678 00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:52,320 We have a dilemma. 679 00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:56,400 Are we going to worship God as our creator? 680 00:52:56,400 --> 00:53:05,560 Are we going to worship that beast power, worship that one who is, we're warned against? 681 00:53:05,560 --> 00:53:07,560 Well, we have an option. 682 00:53:07,560 --> 00:53:08,800 We have a choice. 683 00:53:08,800 --> 00:53:15,560 But let me show you real quick, what is the end result for the devil? 684 00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:17,880 What is the end result for Satan? 685 00:53:17,880 --> 00:53:20,400 He started with a war in heaven. 686 00:53:20,400 --> 00:53:24,680 But turn over to Revelation chapter 20 for just a moment. 687 00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:30,360 Revelation chapter 20, we're going to see what happens to this devil. 688 00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:32,680 He has an end result. 689 00:53:32,680 --> 00:53:41,720 It says the devil, Revelation 20 and verse 10, the devil who deceived them was cast into 690 00:53:41,720 --> 00:53:46,160 the lake of fire and brimstone. 691 00:53:46,160 --> 00:53:48,440 That's the end result for the devil. 692 00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:55,360 Or we could go back to Ezekiel 28 where we read about Lucifer created perfect until iniquity 693 00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:57,180 was found in him. 694 00:53:57,180 --> 00:54:03,920 Notice it goes on in Ezekiel 28, 8, 18 and it says, therefore I brought fire from your 695 00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:09,560 midst and it devoured you and I turned you to ashes upon the earth. 696 00:54:09,560 --> 00:54:15,280 You have become a horror and shall be no more forever. 697 00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:18,160 That's the end result for Satan. 698 00:54:18,160 --> 00:54:22,120 But we have an option to serve Jesus. 699 00:54:22,120 --> 00:54:26,960 We've been called to worship Jesus as our creator. 700 00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:33,480 And right back in Revelation 12 and verse 11, it says they, the people of God, they 701 00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:41,560 overcame him, they overcame the dragon, they overcame Satan by the blood of the lamb and 702 00:54:41,560 --> 00:54:44,680 by the word of their testimony. 703 00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:46,500 That's what we can choose. 704 00:54:46,500 --> 00:54:52,240 We can choose to follow Satan who's going to end in a lake of fire or we can overcome 705 00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:56,860 him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. 706 00:54:56,860 --> 00:55:02,000 So what does this lamb, what does this mean as we're coming down to our conclusion? 707 00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:11,340 Jesus in the book of Revelation 27 times is referred to as the lamb, 27 times in the book 708 00:55:11,340 --> 00:55:18,080 of Revelation because all through the Old Testament, those lambs from way back in the 709 00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:25,680 Garden of Eden to the sanctuary to the temple, each one of those sacrifices pointed forward 710 00:55:25,680 --> 00:55:31,320 to Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 711 00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:36,680 And so we are able to choose to be on the lamb's side. 712 00:55:36,680 --> 00:55:39,440 So how can we make that choice? 713 00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:41,960 Let's talk about this for just a second. 714 00:55:41,960 --> 00:55:48,680 Romans chapter 3 and verse 23, this is a very familiar passage. 715 00:55:48,680 --> 00:55:56,760 We've said that since Adam and Eve, we have all been, you know, our natural inclination is towards making mistakes. 716 00:55:56,760 --> 00:56:04,240 But Romans 3 23, it says, for the wages, excuse me, it says, for all have sinned and fall 717 00:56:04,240 --> 00:56:08,840 short of the glory of God. 718 00:56:08,840 --> 00:56:13,120 So according to this verse, how many people have sinned? 719 00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:14,120 All. 720 00:56:14,120 --> 00:56:16,880 So raise your hand if you've sinned. 721 00:56:16,880 --> 00:56:18,640 Notice my hand is up. 722 00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:24,720 The pastor's hand is up because it says all have sinned and are falling short of the glory 723 00:56:24,720 --> 00:56:26,080 of God. 724 00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:28,640 The next verse gives us even better news. 725 00:56:28,640 --> 00:56:32,280 It's just over a page or two, Romans 6 23. 726 00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:36,680 It says the wages of sin is death. 727 00:56:36,680 --> 00:56:43,720 So if we've all sinned and the wages of sin is death, that means how many people deserve 728 00:56:43,720 --> 00:56:45,920 to die? 729 00:56:45,920 --> 00:56:54,560 All of us, all have sinned, the wages of sin is death, we all deserve to die because sin 730 00:56:54,560 --> 00:56:59,840 separates us from Jesus and Jesus is the giver of life. 731 00:56:59,840 --> 00:57:05,120 And that's not a good situation, but that's the situation that we find ourselves in. 732 00:57:05,120 --> 00:57:11,360 Human beings have sinned and we've allowed Satan's program to come to this earth and 733 00:57:11,360 --> 00:57:14,400 God's law says the wages of sin is death. 734 00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:16,560 But God loves us. 735 00:57:16,560 --> 00:57:18,020 God loves humankind. 736 00:57:18,020 --> 00:57:20,800 He created humankind. 737 00:57:20,800 --> 00:57:27,760 So the wages of sin is death, but notice what it goes on and says, but the gift of God is 738 00:57:27,760 --> 00:57:32,720 eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 739 00:57:32,720 --> 00:57:39,080 You go to work every day and once a week or every other week, you expect a paycheck. 740 00:57:39,080 --> 00:57:41,000 That is your wages. 741 00:57:41,000 --> 00:57:42,640 You've earned that. 742 00:57:42,640 --> 00:57:47,560 But if you don't get it, you're going to be in the boss's office and say, where's my paycheck? 743 00:57:47,560 --> 00:57:48,560 That's mine. 744 00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:50,400 I earned it. 745 00:57:50,400 --> 00:57:58,000 We've earned death, but Jesus gives us a free gift, a gift of salvation. 746 00:57:58,000 --> 00:57:59,240 How can we get that? 747 00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:04,800 Well, the most famous verse in the Bible, John chapter 3, we read it last night, John 748 00:58:04,800 --> 00:58:06,880 chapter 3 verse 16. 749 00:58:06,880 --> 00:58:15,120 Let's read this together, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son 750 00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:23,200 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but should have everlasting life. 751 00:58:23,200 --> 00:58:25,600 That's the plan of salvation right there. 752 00:58:25,600 --> 00:58:27,880 That is the gospel. 753 00:58:27,880 --> 00:58:37,800 That Jesus came, that Jesus lived, that Jesus died, and that whosoever believes in him will 754 00:58:37,800 --> 00:58:41,520 have that promise of eternal life. 755 00:58:41,520 --> 00:58:48,040 Jesus took the death penalty that you and I deserve so that we can have the eternal 756 00:58:48,040 --> 00:58:50,720 life that he deserves. 757 00:58:50,720 --> 00:58:53,980 Jesus is the answer to our situation. 758 00:58:53,980 --> 00:58:57,420 Jesus paid the death penalty for us. 759 00:58:57,420 --> 00:59:00,720 Jesus took the blame for my sins. 760 00:59:00,720 --> 00:59:05,520 Jesus offers forgiveness to the sinner, to me and to you. 761 00:59:05,520 --> 00:59:11,960 And Jesus lets his perfect life count in place of your life. 762 00:59:11,960 --> 00:59:14,700 Jesus took the blame. 763 00:59:14,700 --> 00:59:22,020 So in our last few minutes here, we have to ask the question, how do I accept Jesus as 764 00:59:22,020 --> 00:59:23,020 my Savior? 765 00:59:23,020 --> 00:59:25,740 And you might think, whoa, this is a prophecy seminar. 766 00:59:25,740 --> 00:59:28,040 Why are we talking about this? 767 00:59:28,040 --> 00:59:30,160 What was that first verse of Revelation? 768 00:59:30,160 --> 00:59:34,720 It said the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 769 00:59:34,720 --> 00:59:38,960 Because all prophecy is about pointing us to Jesus. 770 00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:45,440 It doesn't matter if we talk about Antichrist, if we don't know about Jesus Christ. 771 00:59:45,440 --> 00:59:49,480 So how can I accept Jesus as my Savior? 772 00:59:49,480 --> 00:59:55,720 It's amazing that even among a group of Christians, oftentimes people don't quite have the concept. 773 00:59:55,720 --> 00:59:58,840 But, there's three simple steps that we'll look at. 774 00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:01,840 And the first is repentance. 775 01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:04,200 We said we've all sinned. 776 01:00:04,200 --> 01:00:11,400 Repentance simply means to begin to feel sorry for my sin, to recognize that I am a sinner 777 01:00:11,400 --> 01:00:16,160 and to want to do something different. 778 01:00:16,160 --> 01:00:21,640 To recognize that God's principles are not being lived out in my life. 779 01:00:21,640 --> 01:00:26,560 And repentance says that I want to turn in a different direction. 780 01:00:26,560 --> 01:00:30,400 I want to live my life for God. 781 01:00:30,400 --> 01:00:40,680 John chapter 6 verse 44 says, No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws 782 01:00:40,680 --> 01:00:42,480 him. 783 01:00:42,480 --> 01:00:44,080 Jesus draws us. 784 01:00:44,080 --> 01:00:50,920 The fact that we're here tonight studying the Bible means that God has drawn you. 785 01:00:50,920 --> 01:00:54,520 And that you've sensed that you need to know something else about Jesus. 786 01:00:54,520 --> 01:01:00,160 And so God has drawn you to a place like this where we can spend an hour studying God's 787 01:01:00,160 --> 01:01:01,160 Word. 788 01:01:01,160 --> 01:01:03,000 Because I know you all have better things. 789 01:01:03,000 --> 01:01:04,680 I said that wrong. 790 01:01:04,680 --> 01:01:10,480 You have different things that you could be doing instead of spending an hour studying 791 01:01:10,480 --> 01:01:11,480 God's Word. 792 01:01:11,480 --> 01:01:14,960 But God has drawn you to this place. 793 01:01:14,960 --> 01:01:17,920 So the step two is about confession. 794 01:01:17,920 --> 01:01:23,000 It's about admitting that I have fallen short. 795 01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:25,160 Admitting that I am a Savior. 796 01:01:25,160 --> 01:01:31,840 And admitting I am a sinner and asking Jesus to be my Savior. 797 01:01:31,840 --> 01:01:39,680 First John 1, 9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us for 798 01:01:39,680 --> 01:01:44,560 our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 799 01:01:44,560 --> 01:01:46,600 This is a promise here. 800 01:01:46,600 --> 01:01:51,600 If we confess, we know what the answer is going to be. 801 01:01:51,600 --> 01:01:58,080 I imagine that some of you maybe were like me at one age where you saw the pretty girl 802 01:01:58,080 --> 01:02:01,320 at school and you wanted to ask her out. 803 01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:06,680 But when you went to do that, perhaps you were a little nervous. 804 01:02:06,680 --> 01:02:08,880 Why were you nervous? 805 01:02:08,880 --> 01:02:12,600 Because you weren't sure what the answer was going to be. 806 01:02:12,600 --> 01:02:16,680 But for this question, we know what the answer is going to be. 807 01:02:16,680 --> 01:02:23,480 If we confess our sins, Jesus says your sins are going to be forgiven. 808 01:02:23,480 --> 01:02:29,960 Not only that, but he's going to begin to cleanse you from unrighteousness. 809 01:02:29,960 --> 01:02:33,600 And that's step three here, the conversion. 810 01:02:33,600 --> 01:02:36,680 Letting God change. 811 01:02:36,680 --> 01:02:42,240 Now as soon as we accept Jesus as our Savior, we're saved immediately right then. 812 01:02:42,240 --> 01:02:50,480 But this step of conversion, of changing, that sometimes takes a little bit of time. 813 01:02:50,480 --> 01:02:58,160 They say if you want to start a new habit, it takes about 21 repetitions for that habit 814 01:02:58,160 --> 01:02:59,360 to get set in. 815 01:02:59,360 --> 01:03:03,600 So, if that's once a day, that's three weeks that you have to do that. 816 01:03:03,600 --> 01:03:10,520 But if you're having to stop doing a bad habit and replacing it with a good habit, well that's 817 01:03:10,520 --> 01:03:15,760 going to extend that because you've got to stop the one and start the other. 818 01:03:15,760 --> 01:03:19,780 But we know that God wants to do that for us. 819 01:03:19,780 --> 01:03:21,320 God can change us. 820 01:03:21,320 --> 01:03:23,600 God can transform us. 821 01:03:23,600 --> 01:03:32,880 In Matthew chapter 26 and verse 41, Jesus says, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. 822 01:03:32,880 --> 01:03:37,380 The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. 823 01:03:37,380 --> 01:03:38,380 What does that mean? 824 01:03:38,380 --> 01:03:40,560 To watch and pray? 825 01:03:40,560 --> 01:03:44,440 It means to pay attention a little bit. 826 01:03:44,440 --> 01:03:49,000 It means to want to spend some time in God's Word. 827 01:03:49,000 --> 01:03:54,360 Coming here for an hour is a great start, but what if you took some time when you're 828 01:03:54,360 --> 01:04:02,920 not at a place like this to open up the Bible and to read for 10 minutes, for 15 minutes. 829 01:04:02,920 --> 01:04:03,920 Where to do that? 830 01:04:03,920 --> 01:04:10,800 I would recommend reading in Matthew or John or the book of Psalms and just reading a couple 831 01:04:10,800 --> 01:04:17,000 chapters and saying, God, what do you want to say to me through your Word? 832 01:04:17,000 --> 01:04:22,280 So you're watching, you're praying, you're letting God's principles be immersed in your 833 01:04:22,280 --> 01:04:24,840 heart so that you can change. 834 01:04:24,840 --> 01:04:31,360 So those steps, repentance and confession and conversion. 835 01:04:31,360 --> 01:04:40,080 We read John 6, 37 where Jesus says, the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. 836 01:04:40,080 --> 01:04:41,080 That's what it's all about. 837 01:04:41,080 --> 01:04:43,440 That's what prophecy is all about. 838 01:04:43,440 --> 01:04:48,280 We've seen that there's a conflict between the devil and between Jesus. 839 01:04:48,280 --> 01:04:55,400 We've seen where Satan is headed and we've seen that Jesus is calling us to be with him. 840 01:04:55,400 --> 01:05:02,600 And we recognize that each one of us needs Jesus' perfect life to cover our sinful life. 841 01:05:02,600 --> 01:05:08,600 And there may be some here today who are like, I have never ever accepted Jesus before. 842 01:05:08,600 --> 01:05:10,860 Well, tonight's the night. 843 01:05:10,860 --> 01:05:16,560 And there may be some here like, I accept Jesus every day, but I always am in need of 844 01:05:16,560 --> 01:05:22,240 a renewal, of a revival, of a recommitment to him. 845 01:05:22,240 --> 01:05:25,920 You've got a card that you received earlier in the night. 846 01:05:25,920 --> 01:05:30,360 And I think there's something here that each one of us can fill out. 847 01:05:30,360 --> 01:05:33,400 Jenica is going to come and sing for us in just a moment. 848 01:05:33,400 --> 01:05:37,520 I'm just going to read through these different things because I believe that Jesus loves 849 01:05:37,520 --> 01:05:40,720 me and died on the cross for my sins. 850 01:05:40,720 --> 01:05:44,680 I think we can all, I hope that we can all say that. 851 01:05:44,680 --> 01:05:49,640 And then it says, today I am accepting Jesus as my personal savior for the first time. 852 01:05:49,640 --> 01:05:52,000 That may be, some of you may be doing that. 853 01:05:52,000 --> 01:05:53,000 Praise the Lord. 854 01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:58,480 Or perhaps, you'd like to rededicate your life for God. 855 01:05:58,480 --> 01:05:59,480 Look through that. 856 01:05:59,480 --> 01:06:04,800 If you have a question, if you have a prayer request, write those on the back of the card 857 01:06:04,800 --> 01:06:06,760 and prayerfully fill that out. 858 01:06:06,760 --> 01:06:14,540 Dear God, we thank you so much for this message that we are reminded that even though we live 859 01:06:14,540 --> 01:06:21,040 in a world that is troubled, that is following the ways of Satan so often, that we know that 860 01:06:21,040 --> 01:06:26,640 there is something better that is coming because Jesus wins this battle in the end. 861 01:06:26,640 --> 01:06:31,400 And Lord, we can choose each day to be on Jesus' side. 862 01:06:31,400 --> 01:06:35,200 And so Lord, thank you for your gift of salvation. 863 01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:41,560 Thank you that you've taken our sins away and that you renew us and make us clean. 864 01:06:41,560 --> 01:06:45,760 And Lord, I want to pray for each decision that was made tonight, for each person that's 865 01:06:45,760 --> 01:06:49,640 here, I pray that you give them safe journeys as they travel home. 866 01:06:49,640 --> 01:06:51,240 In your name we pray, amen.