#3 Did you see CBS television’s Andy Rooney on “60 Minutes” recently? He did a piece on lawsuits and said, “Americans are suing everybody these days. It’s big business. Sue McDonalds if your coffee is too hot. Sue the tobacco companies because you never had a clue that cigarettes might cause cancer. Sue. Sue. Sue.” A man sued his insurance company when he was shocked by high-power electrical lines. The insurance company refused to pay for injuries on the grounds that the accident was, in legal terms, an Act of God. Hmph! “Well!” the man decided, “If it’s an Act of God, I’ll file suit against God and Company. He went on to name 55 Christian churches in his city! Believe it or not, it went to trial. Until finally on the witness stand, one minister testified: “Your Honor, listen! I believe the expression, ‘an Act of God,’ is a misnomer. It’s wrongly used. God wasn’t responsible for the accident. It should be called an ‘Act of the Devil.’ He’s responsible for all the accidents and problems that confront mankind.” The clergyman was correct. This was not an Act of God. But God still gets the blame. Tornadoes. Hurricanes. Floods. Fires. Terrorist attacks. They’re “Acts of God.” It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude there’s an “evil force” in this old world. Everywhere you look, you see evidence of terrible tragedies taking place every day! Who’s responsible for sniper attacks? Who brings sorrow and suffering? Many people complain, “Why did God do this to me?” Where was God September 11 in New York City? Where’s God in Iraq? Tonight we’re going to uncover a big “cover up” in the Bible. An expose of the most puzzling mystery of all time. Where did evil originate? Why the great controversy battle headlines every day between the forces of good and evil, right and wrong? Who’s responsible? As we begin, the Bible pulls no punches. It puts the finger on the guilty party! One day Jesus told a story about a farmer who planted good seed in his garden, but when the plants sprang up, there were noxious weeds in the field. Growing up on the farm, I know the frustration: “Hey! I didn’t plant weeds! I planted wheat!” So the disciples asked, “Lord, if the farmer planted good seed, where did the weeds come from?” <Matthew
13:37-39> God is loving and good to everyone! But there’s an enemy in the camp! Another power bringing disaster, tragedy, death. The last book of Bible prophecy, Revelation, Chapter 12, unveils how it all started. The mystery of iniquity. Fasten your seatbelt, because a Cosmic Watergate with subversive supernatural forces duking it out actually began in heaven! Then spread to Earth. And THIS is precisely what’s causing so much trouble on our Planet tonight. Let’s pull back the curtain and look behind-the-scenes at this original “Star Wars” in heaven. Verses 7-9: “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon, that serpent of old, called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Now, notice how this dragon-devil is introduced in Revelation 12:3, 4: “And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” Can you imagine? One-third of the angels of heaven followed this deceiver in his rebellion against God. But there’s more. This fallen angel (called Lucifer in the Old Testament) is described metaphorically as the King of Tyre. It says this about him: <Ezekiel
28:12-14> Lucifer, originally a perfect angel in heaven. Beautiful in every way. The angel who stood next to God’s throne as “covering cherub.” He held the top position in heaven. On either side of God’s throne: two angels – one on the right and one on the left. One of these was Lucifer. But something happened to this beautiful being, so richly blessed by God. He began to harbor some rather strange feelings about himself. “I’m good! I am invincible! Maybe I’m as good as...God!” And he allowed these questions to grow until they affected his close relationship with God. <Ezekiel
28:15, 17> Somehow incredibly, this glorious, exalted angel became lost on an ego trip. He coveted the splendor and majesty and prestige and homage due God alone. He became power hungry. To the point this creat-ed angelic being had the audacity to challenge his Creat-or for the rulership of the universe! Listen carefully: <Isaiah 14:12-14> Arrogant thoughts! Until one day they began to spill from Lucifer’s lips! Quietly. Innocently. Sharing with other angels. “Pssst! Wanna talk?” Doubts and questions about God. Not openly. Innocuously. Subtly. Like a rotten apple in a box, his rebellion spread to more angels. Shattering the perfect love and harmony of heaven into a million selfish pieces. Discontent, like cancer, slowly infecting the other angels. Undermining God’s love and justice. But you say, “It’s so hard to believe anyone created perfect, with the power of choice, would deliberately choose evil. How could sin begin?” It is difficult to get our minds around the origin of evil. Because all sin is selfishness. Abnormally self-directed love. The origin of sin is: we make it. Satan made it. Not God. Here’s a match. Good or evil – which is it? No, it isn’t either! It’s just a match (neither good nor evil). Now the man who invented the match made it for “a good purpose.” Well, what do we mean by a good purpose? Good is what God is: that which supports life, health, happiness. The match isn’t supporting life, health, happiness – therefore it isn’t good. Unless you use it. If I take the match, light a fire, cook food for my family, light the furnace and heat the house...we’re healthy, we’re happy, we’re living: That’s “good.” A blessing. But if I take the same match, light the curtains, burn the house down (with wife and children) – now is that bad or good? It’s terrible! Because I love my wife and family. Why is it evil? Because it has destroyed life, health, happiness. The match has become a curse. But let’s get clear one very important point: Where does the use or abuse originate? In the match? No. Up here – in the mind. The match can’t use itself or abuse itself. Man, a thinking, rational being – a good being – has to take the match and use it or abuse it. Evil begins in the mind. Way back there, that’s what Lucifer, this perfect sinless angel did with God’s perfect love and freedom. He challenged it, abused it, misused it. He chose evil. He chose sin. He wasn’t created this way. Perhaps you are wondering why God didn’t destroy Satan at that time. Zap him out! God could have eliminated Lucifer and the angels who joined his “Star Wars” revolution – in one blinding flash from Luke Skywalker. But, had He done so, all God’s created intelligent beings would have served Him out of fear. “Yeah, right! Know what happens when you challenge God? ZAP!” They would obey and follow Him for the same reason most Germans followed Hitler during World War II. Or the Iraqis and Baath parties. You see, God is not only a God of love. He’s a God of freedom. He can only be happy in a love relationship with His creatures where they worship Him because they choose to love and trust Him. Satan had challenged this. Challenged God’s laws. Challenged His justice. Challenged God’s idea of freedom. Freedom ought to mean license to do as you please. But God didn’t place His laws in force to show who’s boss! He made universal laws to protect His creatures, to ensure their peace. Provide for happiness. And to guarantee freedom. His laws are like stop lights and speed limit signs. They’re planned for our safety and well-being. Our country’s laws are designed to protect and preserve our rights to freedom and liberty. Not restrict us. But this most honored angel in God’s heaven thought: “I can run the universe better than God. And I will, if it means all-out war!” That’s when Revelation 12 says “War broke out in heaven.” That’s when Satan became “the adversary of God,” made a devil out of himself! Twisted freedom into slavery. Liberty into license. Evil. God, out of fairness and love, continued to allow Satan to demonstrate to the universe the way he would run the world. I can’t get my mind around to grasp how this all happened. The Bible calls it “the mystery of iniquity.” A mystery only God in eternity will fully explain. Because the battle begun in heaven isn’t over. It’s just changed places! The Bible says Planet Earth has become the center stage of this Great Controversy between Christ and Satan. But why earth? Why let Satan into the Garden of Eden to act out in wicked Technicolor his kind of government and how he’d run a world? Why did our planet have to become... <1 Corinthians
4:9> Genesis 1 says in Eden when human life began, fresh from the hand of the Creator, it was beautiful beyond description. Satan thought so, too, and got an idea: this world was a prize worth capturing! Satan, the original Taliban terrorist, decided to hijack this world and seize control. It was a newborn planet, of fragile beauty. Satan announced: “Hey, God! These beings are innocent! Let’s have a contest. Adam and Eve will be our experiment. They’re the new father and mother of the human race – created perfect. Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Put them in an experimental laboratory – Eden. Total freedom. Except you can’t place them beyond the possibility of wrongdoing. They must be free to choose: either to love and follow You, God – and Your rules. Or, ignore Your instructions and choose my way. No rules! License! But let’s test their loyalty. And this survivors contest will focus on one single tree. So God warned the newlyweds, <Genesis
2:16, 17> Seemed like a reasonable request. Adam and Eve felt quite secure. (But we humans are most vulnerable when we’re caught completely off guard.) One day Eve
was walking through the garden alone. She was startled to hear her
name called, “Eve!” She stops. (I thought I heard...)
She looks up...and sees a serpent munching on some fruit. The serpent
says, “Hi, Eve!” And she stops dead. Never suspected
a talking snake. But the words came from the enemy. He knows he
can’t get our attention unless he provides curiosity, and
that he did. Notice: Satan used his supernatural, psychic power
to deceive her, trick her. “I couldn’t always talk.” “All right, then. How come you can talk now?” “Well one day I happened to be eating fruit...and happened to this tree and ate, and lo-and-behold! I can talk! By the way...(forget it!”) <Genesis
3:1-4> “...We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; [EXCEPT...!] but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” [MUNCH!] “Die? That’s a lie!” I’m not dead. <Genesis
3:5> [Now Satan’s trying to get Eve to commit the very same sin: to want to be like God!] “Eve, listen: Maybe God’s holding back something good, being unfair. If this fruit will make a serpent like me start talking like a man, just think what it will do for you? You’ll be like God. Here, Eve, try a piece!” Eve listened. It sounded good. It must have crossed her mind that he was saying something different than what God told them. But she was convinced. <Genesis
3:6> She gave some to her husband and he ate it, too. And suddenly there you have it. A big mess. They failed God’s test of love and loyalty. Humans were now sinners. Satan, the original Al Qaida terrorist, hijacked the newborn world! He had a whole planet in rebellion! From that moment, Satan claimed the title, “Prince of this World.” Can you imagine what this most tragic day was like as it drew to a close? God comes in the cool of the evening as usual, calling “Adam! Eve?” Until now, this had been the happiest time of the day – a chance to walk and talk directly with the God who had created them. But now they ran. Dove into the bushes! Hiding! Finally Adam slips slowly from behind some shrubs in the garden – where he and Eve covered with fig leaves – and confesses, <Genesis
3:10> Adam had never been afraid before. But that’s what sin does. Makes us afraid. God replies, <Genesis
3:11> Notice the old pass-the-buck routine – the blame game: <Genesis
3:12> A few hours before, Adam had been willing to die for Eve. Now he blames her for his problems – and God for creating her. That’s how sin shatters perfect love! Eve was no less accusing. <Genesis
3:13> Eve blames God too! As a result of sin Adam and Eve sold out. To another master, not God but Satan. They didn’t have to. But that very day by their own free choice they threw away everything: 1.) Face-to-face
communion They threw it all away. And besides, now they were doomed to die! The devil said, “You won’t die!” But the Bible says, <Genesis
5:5> Too late, they discovered that the devil was, <John 8:44> Now here’s the point: It’s so easy to blame God for today’s heartbreak and devastation. But Satan is really responsible. He’s the one who brought trouble to this planet and who causes sin and suffering, AIDS, cancer. When Jesus came 2000 years ago, He made a point to personally unmask the devil as the culprit who afflicts people. One day Jesus sat teaching in the synagogue. He noticed a woman bent over with a crippling deformity. Horrific to look at. Touched by her pathetic circumstances, Jesus healed her. The rulers instantly criticized Him because the healing took place on Sabbath – God’s holy day of worship. But notice how He defended His actions: <Luke 13:16>SErFi Jesus said, “Satan bound this woman for eighteen years. Satan’s the guilty one!” Now listen: I want to be very bold tonight. Most denominations don’t teach this. The many evangelical teaches a doctrine called the “Sovereignty of God.” They say what happened September 11 is part of the “Sovereignty of God.” God brings these tragic events. To teach us lessons, of course. But He “decreed” the events of September 11. Some denominations say, “It’s so He can work out His mysterious will.” Other denominations say, “God ‘permitted’ or ‘allowed’ the snipers in Washington for His glory! To serve a particular divine purpose,” you see. Friend, that’s simply contrary to Scripture. Let me prove it. Listen closely as the VOP SPEAKS! Nowhere in the Bible do we see Satan’s strategy more clearly exposed than in the book of Job, Chapter 1, in a conversation between the devil and God. It was some time after the fall of Satan that all the sons of God presented themselves before Him. Perhaps representatives and ambassadors from other worlds in a big summit conference. And Satan came too. Uninvited! <Job 1:7> Satan said, “I claim to represent planet Earth, thank you! I’ve taken over Adam’s dominion as a son of God (Lk. 3:38) and his position as representative of the human race.” (Well, God didn’t let that claim go unchallenged.) The Lord said to Satan: <Job 1:8,
9, 11> I challenge You, God, to another duel! The only reason Job is loyal to You is for the goodies. You’re Santa Claus to him. He’s not loyal because he loves and trusts You.” So the Lord said to Satan: “Okay! Test him!” <Job 1:12> Satan couldn’t wait to get his hands on Job’s possessions. Blow after blow began to fall: First: the “stock market” collapsed! The Sabeans stole Job’s cattle and murdered his workers. Second: Lightning struck the Pentagon, killing Job’s sheep and shepherds. Third: the Chaldeans plundered Job’s camels. Fourth: the most heartbreaking news: a tornado demolished the home of Job’s oldest son. A party was going on, and all ten of Job’s children were killed! Remember, God wasn’t causing this, but whom? Satan. Poor Job! He thought maybe God had caused all the heartache. He didn’t understand the devil had done it! And we still don’t understand it today either – what goes on behind the scenes. But notice: Although overcome with grief, Job’s loyalty to God was unchanged. He said, <Job 1:21> He couldn’t understand tragedy. Yet he trusted God’s goodness just the same. But Satan wasn’t through. He challenged God again, <Job 2:4-6> Now the real “SURVIVORS” test was on! Would Job remain loyal to God – or would he turn his back on God? <Job 2:7> Ever had a boil? You know how painful just one boil can be. Imagine being covered from head to toe! “If I can’t get him through his possessions and kids, I’ll attack his health.” Yet Job still remained loyal to God. An incredible man of faith! The Bible says, <Job 1:22> Answer out loud: Who hurt Job? Who was it that plagued Job? SATAN! Who stole his livestock and killed his servants? SATAN! Who brought the tornado that destroyed his sons and daughters? SATAN! Now listen,
friend: The Lord may permit difficulties to come and test our loyalty
and love, You and I are caught in the center of a bewildering cosmic drama. We’re the center of a conflict between Good and Evil, between authority and lawlessness, between the Creator and Satan, the original rebel. We’re not spectators. We’re involved, whether we want to be or not. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:9 that earth is the theater of the universe. We’re on stage. Set forth as a spectacle. As William Shakespeare
said: You and I have leading roles in this great cosmic drama. We’re on stage! Only life isn’t an act. This isn’t TV. This is the real thing! [ILLUST.] I’m reminded of a little boy in a cartoon: he’s in the backseat of his family’s car. Dad’s changing a flat tire. And the little boy is bored and fussing. Dad says, “Son, this isn’t TV. We can’t change channels. This is life.” The popular idea that Satan is only a myth or an influence leaves us totally unprepared to confront the intelligent being he actually is. Working through the Taliban and Osama bin Ladens and Saddam Husseins. And more. Much more we’ll discover as the VOP SPEAKS! The Book of Revelation says: <Revelation
12:12> “For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Peter warned, <1 Peter
5:8> But I’m happy tonight that the story doesn’t end here. Or, our future would be pretty dark and gloomy. The Bible tells us that’s why God sent Jesus down here. He didn’t have to. Then why did He come? Why did He go to such great lengths to save men? Ah! God had a plan! Even though Satan did his worst and ruined this world, God had a plan to destroy the devil – and in the process, save us, too! It wasn’t easy. The Bible says Satan comes as a roaring lion. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Satan worked through King Herod to destroy the Christ child! (He was defeated.) Satan came to Jesus in the wilderness, masquerading as an angel from heaven with three great temptations: Turn these stones to bread; jump off a cliff; bow down and worship me. (He was defeated there, too.) Satan worked the crowd to destroy Jesus at Calvary, “Crucify Him!” And he thought he finally had Him when he hung Him on a cross. (But he was defeated forever on Resurrection morning!) Praise God! And friend, right here’s the incredible answer to the problem of why so much suffering? God in Heaven, as our loving Heavenly parent who created us – that God was LONELY when we sinned. We cut ourselves off from Him by our rebellion. But He missed us. Couldn’t bear to be without us. With a loneliness that could never be healed except by the restoration of human-kind. He loved us so much. God gave His Son Jesus; and the Son gave Himself – to reverse your fate and mine. Calvary was the hour of victory! The day to free all the Devil’s prisoners on Death Row here on Planet Earth! Thanks to Calvary, Satan is a defeated foe! Christ by His death earned the right to destroy all death and evil and suffering. (And He will!) Paul wrote in Hebrews 2:14: “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.” For 6,000 years, Satan has been demonstrating in Technicolor before all the intelligentsia of the universe what kind of being he is. That he hasn’t changed today. Tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, crime, disease, heartache, and pain! Snipers. Standing unseen behind all evil is the supernatural working of Satan. Tragedies and carnage, Hitlers and Talibans, and terrorists. They’re not “acts of God.” Satan whispers, “Yeah, God did it!” They are “acts of the devil.” Satan is the destroyer. God is the restorer. Do you begin to see how cleverly Satan’s angels use the supernatural to deceive and destroy? But this is just the beginning. The VOP is about to speak! <2 Corinthians
11:14> Maybe it never occurred to you when you watch some faith healers on television that devils – demons – can work miracles, too. Miracles that deceive. Miracles in the church, accompanied by hymn-singing <Revelation
16:14> Satan works miracles, and his angels can work miracles. The devil gives humans power to work miracles whenever he chooses. Jesus said: Watch out! <Matthew
24:24> You say, “Well, how can we know the difference?” That’s why this seminar series, because the Voice of Prophecy SPEAKS! Warning us, the time has come when we can’t trust our senses – a time when we can’t trust what we see on television. A time when counterfeit miracles in church will resemble the genuine so closely that it is extremely difficult to distinguish between them except by God’s Word. The good news is our planet, hijacked by Satan, is soon to be rescued from spiritual terrorism. Prophecy gives us inside info that Jesus is going to win. He’s in control. No need to fear. No need to be nervous, anxious passengers on a planet gone wrong! God has a plan to destroy ol’ Splitfoot (that deceitful devil). And we’ll uncover more precisely what that plan is in future meetings. It’s shocking, some of the things Satan has pawned off on our Christian world! But let’s take a quick sneak peek to see what the Bible predicts God will one day say about Satan: <Ezekiel
28:16, 18> Gone forever! No more sin. No more suffering. Friend, that is why Jesus is coming again soon! Not as a lowly Galilean, not as one ridiculed, spat upon, and denied. Not as one hanging on a cross, kicked around by the devil, but as King of kings and Lord of lords with the right to reign! The right to finally put an end to suffering. We must be ready to meet Him, for if we miss that, we miss everything! The issue today is, who will we believe? Who will we follow? A loving God – or a fallen angel? The lines have been drawn; tonight the whole world is being divided into two sides. Where is your loyalty? Whose side do you choose to be on? It’s decision time, friend! Not to decide IS TO DECIDE! Tonight Jesus extends a personal invitation: To every restless, lonely heart, to every aching, guilty soul, to all His children on this planet in rebellion – banged up, bleeding, burned out, battered, broken – Jesus gives the loving invitation, <Matthew
11:28> <John 6:37> Isn’t that wonderful news? Anyone! You may wonder about tragedies that have struck your life. Where’s God today? In the midst of life’s sorrows, heartbreak, cancer, and disappointment – where is God today? Friend, Jesus is there. He understands. He cares about my melanoma. He cares about 100 GIs dead in Iraq. He knows pain. He experienced loneliness. God lost His only Son in battle, too. But... One of these days, Jesus promises to come back and settle the account. Put an end to all life’s sufferings. Satan will finally, fully and completely, be defeated. Tonight, Jesus reaches out with good news! He says, “Friend, I long to restore you to the family of God. To give you eternal life on a planet made new.” But the decision is up to you: Who will be your Lord and Master? It’s a matter of choice: eternal life and eternal death. Tonight let’s choose Jesus. Let’s choose Him right now. Will you let Christ be your King? He’s waiting! His arms are wide open. He says, “Come! Come! Come!” Won’t you just bow your head and say, “Yes, Jesus, I am coming,” as we pray?
|