Angels, Dreams and Visions- (Doug Batchelor) AmazingFacts ©

[Music] [Music] granell through exploring how the human ear worked developed the speaker system that would convert those electrical impulses into voices could be reproduced transmitted over electric lines and reproduced and then that was phenomenal it's interesting that uh International Telegraph said there was no practical use for the telephone and they wouldn't buy his patent you know I heard this week on the news that approximately one 1 billion people in the world now have cell phones that means of the adults that are eligible about one and a qu people in the world have cell phones many of them have no shoes I've seen India and Africa people walking around Barefoot with cell phones and then Along Came radio the idea Marone communicating Voice through the air without the wires that just blew people away and then they were able to not only do that where you know the any of you remember the crystal sets my dad used to make these Crystal sets you'd turn it you'd be able to pick it up you need no electricity for that and then the idea of reproducing voice and picture through the air now suppose that tomorrow Sacramento had no radio no telephone no television no Telegraph not that any of you even know what that is anymore it's gone the way of the eight track and there was one telephone booth those are obsolete now aren't they with cell phones One telephone booth in Sacramento to get out of town if you wanted to get out of town how long would the line be in front of that telephone booth we couldn't imagine living without it or if there was one television set would everyone want to be in that living room not fortunately not everyone here but a lot of other people people would now why do I say this I want you to think about what it was like for Adam and Eve who were originally created living in four dimensions to be able to talk to God face to face the way I'm talking to you to not be quarantined from Angels but to be able to talk to angels the way I'm talking to you a matter of fact I don't believe Adam and Eve were restricted to this planet I believe the same way job says that the sons of God went to some Heavenly meeting before the Lord that Adam who was the son of God Luke says could leave the planet at will he wasn't imprisoned here I've got a lot of other theories I think that Adam maybe could communicate with animals not I'm not talking about Dr doitt but a level that that we don't have now cuz he was to care for them I even think he could probably go underwater hold his breath and look at the sea life I mean there's all that beauty would he have never known it was there without scuba gear I mean the whole world was so different but because of sin Adam and Eve when it says they were without clothes and they were not ashamed it doesn't mean they were streaking around the garden oblivious they had these garments of light they had another whole dimension a spirit realm that they lived and moved and breathed in that we don't see anymore and then after sin slowly things got dark and the veil that separates the dimensions we live in from the spirit world was closed Adam and Eve could not see God anymore their sins had separated them from God they could not see angels and it happened slowly you remember for a while there they could see an angel a seraphim with a flaming sword guarding the way to the tree of life and they were evicted from the garden and things got darker and darker and until pretty soon it seemed like all heaven was cut off it's like the lines had been cut but God wants to be restored to you and me the Lord wants to be with us you know one of the central themes of the Bible God wants to be with us God with us Emmanuel is God With Us the Bible ends with the thought God will be with them and be their God and Jesus prayed Lord father I I pray that I might be with them that they might be with me he loves you and don't you want to be with the one you love but sin separated us from God and so the purpose of the Plan of Salvation was to restore that separation and Jesus is the primary medium through which communication between Heaven and Earth is restored you know the Bible tells that Jesus is compared to a ladder that reaches from Heaven to Earth now God is still wanting to communicate with us so we can be with him you know if you're getting ready to meet your beloved and they don't know exactly when you're coming you try to call on Advance or communicate in advance to let them know and the Lord is trying to tell us his will and how to be ready for his coming so we can be with him Christ is the ladder that reaches from Heaven to Earth he is the conduit he is the cable so to speak Jacob remember dreamed of angels ascending and descending on this ladder Angels coming back and forth on this ladder this vehicle this escalator up and down two-way and then Jesus when he saw Daniel he said are you surprised that I saw you under the Fig treater you'll see greater things than these in John chapter 1 Hereafter Jesus said to Nathaniel Hereafter you will see angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man Jesus is the latter he is the vehicle of communication between Heaven and Earth all the Angels dreams and visions of God come via Christ Incorporated Christ telecommunications whatever you want to to say he is the vehicle that brings that to us he purchased the right for it to come to us when you read Revelation and we're going to talk about Revelation not the book but what divine revelation is when you read the book of Revelation you'll notice it starts the revelation of who you know if you read actually the first uh the title in most Bibles it says the revelation of St John have you noticed that but you read the book and it says the revelation of Jesus Christ it's never really the revelation of St John the re ation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place and he sent in signified it he sinified it he you know what fiber optics do is they take a digital signal and information is then descrambled at the destination and the message of God was sent through Christ via these angels prophets visions and dreams and the Holy Spirit then Des scrambles them for us and the whole book is a revelation of Christ but that's not just the Book of Revelation all prophecy is a revelation of Jesus Christ but it's only the Book of Revelation that's really titled that way now we're going to talk about you notice it says God sent this message gave it to Jesus who sent and signified it by his Angel to John angels are one of the primary vehicles through which God communicates important messages to you and me angels usually don't show up to guide gu us about what toothpaste to buy they usually don't show up for you know insignificant things God actually breaks through the veil on special occasions and though so I want to talk to you a little bit about angels dreams and visions and they're all interrelated how about some amazing facts regarding Angels first of all just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not here matter of fact I will guarantee you that if the veil could be pulled aside if God should give you spiritual insight now you would see this place is full of angels most of them I hope good angels I know sometimes the others come as well you can almost count on it I mean even Jesus had a Judas among the apostles right and Satan sends his Representatives angels are mentioned over 300 times in the Bible sometimes they're called cherubim saram sometimes they are creatures that are described that there's no real title for but they've got different features and look like kinds of animals with multiple wings and wheels within wheels and there are things about God's servants we're going to learn when we get to heaven we don't understand now sometimes it's called angulos in the uh Greek version meaning messenger the Hebrew Malak means a deputy or messenger seraphim means burning ones those who are on the right and the left of God's throne with six wings were called the seraphim that Isaiah saw there are good angels and there are bad Angels Revelation 12:7 War breaks out in heaven Michael and his Angel fights against the dragon and his angels and I can assure you the dragon's Angels aren't good and the Bible seems to indicate that onethird of the original composition of God's angels followed Lucifer now I don't know if he's got a factory and he replaced some of them but um that's a lot of angels and again Jes Jesus said in Matthew 25 Everlasting fire is prepared for the devil and his angels the devil has angels and if we could see right now I think it terrifies us Ephesians Paul says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual hosts of wickedness in Heavenly places even though you and I can't see the spiritual realm you're dealing with it all the time you can't see the spiritual realm but how many of you have felt it and every time you're tempted you're involved in the spiritual Realm and we're wrestling with it and so just because you can't see it doesn't mean that we're not affected by it we're affected by it constantly the impressions of God and his Spirit his angels the devil and his Temptations his angels these things are raging around us all the time and it's very real so we need to think about this that God wouldn't put it in the Bible so often if he didn't want us to consider it the good angels of course uh they obey God they're his servants Psalms 103:20 oh by the way this is one of those Byron spe sermons where I've got about 50 scriptures so you might have a pencil out Psalms 103:20 bless the Lord you his angels who excel in strength who do his word heeding the voice of his word Angels obey the good Angels obey the word of God they're innumerable there's many many good Angels Matthew 26:53 when Christ was betrayed he said don't you know I can pray to my father now and he'll provide more than 12 Legions of angels for me Roman Legion could have upward of 6,212 times that 78,000 Angels probably that would be one for Jesus and the other 11 Apostles Judas at that point had grieved away the Holy Spirit a legion for each one he said I could pray in God will send 78,000 Angels one Angel The Power of One Angel 100 Roman soldiers fell down and shook as though they were dead from the influence and the Charisma of one angel can you imagine 78,000 angels can you imagine what it will be like when the Lord comes with all of the Angels how many of those are there it says in Revelation 5 I looked and I heard a voice of many angels round about The Throne the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was 10,000 time 10,000 and thousands of thousands that's the highest number ever mentioned in the bible so you ought to know there's a lot of angels and that's good to know cuz we're going to need a lot of help angels are powerful beings they're also created beings beings they they were not born the Bible says they do not marry Matthew 22:30 for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are they given in marriage but they're like the Angels Nehemiah says in 9:6 you've made Heaven the heavens of Heavens with all their host that's a word the heavenly host of the Angels you've sung that in Christmas songs before the host of Heaven Worship You psalm 8:5 for you've made man a little lower than the Angels 2 Peter 2:11 where as Angels who are greater in power and might than you and I do not bring a railing accusation against the devil they just say the Lord rebuke thee so that gives us a little more insight we're not to worship Angels even though they're powerful revelation 22 John falls down to worship an angel I John saw and heard these things and when I heard and saw I fell down to worship before the feet of the Angel who showed me these things and he said see that you do not do that for I'm your fellow servant angel say that we work with them we serve god with them they are ministering servants they're servants we are to be servants we all worship the master which is God we're not to worship Angels uh there's a whole study of theology called angelology and um there's a whole any of you ever seen you can even go to some malls I've been in some cities and they've got these little curio stores that are dedicated to angels and they got a little angel paraphernalia angels have feelings the Bible says in Luke 15:10 likewise I say to you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents I believe Angels weep when Christ was on the cross they were weeping they were silent on their Harps Harps they're ministering Spirits they guard and protect us now I believe that we have guarding angels that watch over us the Bible doesn't really speak of guarding Angels per se but it does teach the principle Jesus said Matthew 18:10 take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones speaking of the children for I say to you that in heaven their Angels their angels of these little ones always see the face of my father you know the distance between their watching over the children and seeing the face of the father is very short for Angels even though Heaven might be millions of light years away when you live in the spiritual realm they travel at different speeds and it's no problem for them to see God's face but it appears there's Guardian Angels uh Psalm 34:7 the angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them I hope you've all memorized that one you'll need it someday trust me did you get that Psalm 34:7 the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him Angel of the Lord's mentioned almost 70 times in the Bible Psalm 91: 11 and 12 he'll give his angels charge over you guardian angels to keep you in all your ways one of the things the Angels do in guarding you is not just protecting you from a car accident they keep you in your ways what will hurt a Christian more physical catastrophe or spiritual betrayal betrayal the Lord is trying to keep us from betraying God sends his angels to keep us in our ways lest we deny the Lord by our behavior in their hands they'll bear you up lest you dash your foot against the stone also promising physical protection and I there's lots of stories how many of you believe that you have been protected and delivered by angels all of you should have raised your hand if you're a Christian cuz you have no idea how many perils they save you from that you don't even think about all the time and I could just name story after Story I had one accident one time when I was out in the woods with some friends and um I flipped one of these ATVs a four-wheel drive ATV flipped it completely over landed on top of me and went over and all my friends were watching and they expected to have to ride out and call a h helicopter because they saw it and they saw it land right on top of me but I got up and other than a little scratch on my back there was no harm and they were all like and they couldn't believe it and I said I know an angel just took care of me right then I got stuck this last year going across a mountain got stuck in the snow all by myself no one had crossed this mountain all winter and I thought if I get stuck here matter of fact I took my camera out and took a picture because I thought in case I die up here I want folks to have at least a record of what happened to me I got stuck in the snow way up on top of this mountain I was I was praying the Angels would pushes I managed to get out and finally went through one more time and I probably should have turned around but I figured the same angel that got me to back out could help me push all the way through so but there are all kinds of times when Angels Have Not only protecting us I remember praying our family lost the key we prayed we opened our eyes there it was when we right where we were kneeling I mean we'd be surprised how many times when we get to heaven one of the things we're going to get to do is ask our Angels were you the one and they'll go yes I was the one and all the time they're doing things now you should also keep in mind in connection with that that they're always watching they're witnesses to all that happens let me let me read some quotes to you this is one from spiritual gifts volume two uh a wonderful book by EG white God knows how Satan is working and sends his angels to watch over his children to protect them from the devil's power and the battle is constantly going on between the angels of God and the Devil's Angels the angels of God are clothed with complete armor the panoply of heaven and all though surrounded with deadly foes fear nothing for they are doing the will of their loved Commander even though the devil's trying to get to you constantly the angels of God are stronger they enter the darkest places to rescue the children of God from the snares of Satan just like they took Peter out of prison angels are def I'm sorry and their presence causes the evil angels to fall back I think we could pray and invite God every night we go to sleep at our home we pray that God's angels watch over us and he has and um as the evil angels are defeated they utter terrible imprecations against the Injustice of God and his angels this is Battle raging and I think it would probably make us tremble if all of a sudden you could see this spiritual Dimension where the battles are going on another one from the book faith and works page 69 we do not realize the Thousand dangers that our heavenly father has kept us from we do not realize the great blessing that he's bestowed upon us in giving us guarding angels to watch over us I remember reading a story years ago Queen Victoria not Queen Elizabeth going back some time they had trains back then traveling cross country in England somewhere with her royal Entourage at night and it was raining very hard and the conductor saw this lineman up there waving a signal light on the track which it was a red lamp which meant a danger head stop and so he brought the train to a halt and pretty soon the um the Queen's uh guards and so forth said what's the problem why' the train stop and he said I've been signaled to stop and in going out to look for this lineman who had signal him the conductor couldn't find anybody but he kept walking up the track looking for this person and the bridge had washed out and they certainly would have gone off the precipice and everyone of the train would have perished and there was no lineman there there was no one who was supposed to be there and everyone on the train records this uh there's many many stories like that of God's Deliverance you ought to read some of the missionary stories David Livingston he talks about a lion had a hold of him had David Livingston in his mouth biting down on his shoulder and he prayed that as God sent his angels to save Daniel he would save him the lion let go and left to his dying day they identified his body by the lion scars on his shoulders there's just many many stories of obvious deliverance from U dangers By Angels you know also um you can pray that God's angels watch over your children even when they forget here's a from a signs of the Times article I lost the reference I'll have to find that parents can do much by Earnest prayer and Living Faith they may bind their children upon the altar the same way that uh Abra offered Isaac is the reference here and thus secure the watch care of guardian angels The Guiding hand of God will lead them through the Perils of the last days and bring them off Victorious over every foe we want to pray for that kind of protection right anyway more angels are big have you read in um First Kings 6:26 it tells us in the temple Solomon built where they weren't they didn't have to build a portable Tabernacle those angels were 10 cubits in length H that would be about 15 feet a friend of mine who's passed away says that he saw an angel one time and he filled the room and U easily it could have been 15 ft angels can be severe the even good angels are sometimes executing judgment 2 Kings 19:35 and it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out and killed in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 and when the people arose they were all dead I always thought that was an interesting verse they woke up dead but U one Angel of the Lord 185,000 were slain have you read about when the Angels pour out their vials in Revelation angels are very involved in What's Happening Here the Bible says Angels yearn they desire to look into the Plan of Salvation you and I are so Blas about the science of Salvation and Angels desire to look into these things we should have more interest but the Bible says so much about them they comfort you can read in Matthew 4:1 then the devil left Jesus and Angels Came and ministered to him when Jesus was tempted and then again Luke 22:43 an angel appeared to him from Heaven strengthening him in the Garden of Gethsemane Matthew 24:31 he'll send his angels with a sound of a great trumpet they will gather together his Electric the Four Winds of heaven and of course he's coming Angels record everything we're doing they see everything we're doing they confess our name before God job 1:8 the Lord said to Satan have you considered my servant job there's none like him on the earth these Angels were bringing before the Lord the Deeds of job of course God knows anyway and Jesus said in Luke 12:8 I say to you who can never confesses me before men the son of man will confess before the angels of God his name but whoever denies me before men he will deny them before the angels of God and so the angels of God the Lord and the angels are involved in cheering for what's happening on earth now what is the pr principle why is life going on on Earth right now why hasn't Jesus come what's happening here on Earth there is a big controversy there is a war raging uh maybe a sports event is not a good analogy unless you use football football is very warlike sport offense defense right and there's a war raging here on Earth for your soul they're raging for your mind for Your Allegiance and every day by our choosing to follow and obey God you can just hear the stadium of good Angels cheer when someone accepts the Lord when they change teams the Angels Sing Jesus said when P people turn away from Jesus the angels are grieved they weep and there's a whole universe this world is a spectacle to the universe they're Desiring to look into what's happening here because the battle between good and evil in the whole Cosmos is being acted out on the stage of not only our planet but your heart and your mind now you and I often forget that it's happening we are carnal we live in the fleshly world that we can see and touch and feel and we forget about the spiritual world you and I don't know what a terrible thing it was when Adam and Eve sinned because they sinned disobeying God still still being able to live in the spiritual World they were living in the spiritual World when they sinned you and I have been isolated from that I could say so much more who guards the way to the Tree of Life answer Angels who was The Chariot that took Elijah to Heaven I looked over Jordan and what did I see Band full of angels that's good theology what was the star the Magi Fallen Magi Angels who rolled away the stone stone and Joseph's tomb and then sat on it Angels come on help me don't be afraid to confess you believe say it who told the disciples he'll return again there were two men were they men it calls them men they're Angels who open the prison doors and let the apostles free three times Angel God sent his Angel who will be Witnesses in the Judgment Angels Angels they everything we done is recorded and who are the clouds on which Jesus rides when he comes it's not Vapor H2O he's coming surrounded by clouds of angels and so these angels are mediums through which the Lord is wanting he's yearning to communicate with you and me all right now I'm going to go back to the real sermon that was just a side trip that we took it was interesting though wasn't it all the Bible says about angels one of the things that Angels often do like I said they come for important occasions you find in the Bible that Angels often forell important births they're coming as Heralds to announce births Bible said to in Genesis 16 the angel of the Lord said to Hagar behold you are with child and you will bear a son you will call his name Ishmael because the Lord has heard your Affliction you can also read in Judges chapter 13:3 Samson his birth a great deliverer was being announced by an Angel third time in the Bible that an angel is announcing a birth is the prerequisite to Christ John the Baptist Luke 1: 11-13 an angel of the Lord appeared to him standing on the right side of the altar of incense I don't want to rush past this point um where did the angel appear to Zechariah in the temple do angels go to church so if you want to see one it's a good place to come and I always tell men if you're looking for a wife you find angels in church right not the singles bar you you go looking for your spouse in church anywhere else you're making a mistake no not necessarily you might find him at work but I hope they're Christians the angel of the Lord appeared to him at the right of the Altar and Zachariah saw him and he was troubled and fear fell upon him and the angel said don't be afraid you know they say that a lot too fear not fear not how often did the angel say fear not men live in fear but the angel said to himo not be afraid Zachariah your prayer is heard your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you'll call his name John then also you can find them announcing of course the birth of Jesus Luke 1: 26 now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth and the angel of course comes to Mary sayso not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and call his name Jesus now I think it's interesting that the last birth announced by the Angels was Christ every other birth was a type of Christ so that when he did come they would recognize him Daniel 9:21 Gabriel also appears and U you notice that I think it's amazing he appears in Daniel 5 600 years later he appears to Mary same Angel he is not aged would it be nice to have more immortal glorified bodies that last forever you say Amen then again Angels now this is where it gets complex and you got to stay with me God speaks to us through angels and angels can speak to us through our dreams how that works I don't know because I don't know exactly how the Holy Spirit speaks to a brain the brain is a physical thing and yet it's a spiritual thing how do you hold a thought what does a thought look like in your brain can doctors go with an electron microscope and look at your brain and say I saw that thought how does it's a mystery how the brain holds thoughts how God communicates all these abstract thoughts to our minds is it's a miraculous thing animals can't think the way people can even though some are more clever than others and the Bible says when Joseph found out Mary was pregnant he was troubled and while he thought on these things Matthew 1:20 while he thought upon these things behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream was it a real angel yes but somehow it's happening in his dream saying Joseph there's a whole lot we're going to learn about this spiritual world that we can't enter into right now I mean even Paul and the prophets say says we've seen things that we can't explain they heard things they can't write or utter it's Jesus tells us that's actually Christ through Paul Eye Has Not Seen Ear Has Not Heard neither has even entered into the imagination of man the things that God has prepared for those that love him you and I can't imagine it this whole spiritual world is so different but somehow the angel speaks through a dream to Joseph saying don't be afraid take Mary this baby that is conceived is of the Holy Spirit and you're to name him Jesus not only tells the mother even though Joseph has no physical contribution to Christ oh let me just stop just to make you think there are some Scholars who say the way that the Holy Spirit conceived Mary was he somehow knew what the DNA of Joseph was and he inseminated Mary now I don't know what to do with that but you know why they say that is because the genealogy of Jesus Through Matthew follows Joseph the genealogy in Luke follows Mary through her father's called Joseph's father-in-law and the only reason that you would even Trail the genealogy of Joseph is if something of Joseph was in Jesus and when it says it was conceived of the Holy Spirit some have argued and I'm not saying I agree with this the jury's out that somehow it's no problem for the Holy Spirit to take the DNA of of uh Joseph and implant it in Mary before they ever came together I don't know how the Lord did it but just something to think about anyway you're still thinking about that aren't you one angel came to Mary one angel came to Joseph but when Jesus was born it was the greatest number of angels announcing anything two angels came to the tomb but many angels announced his birth and it happened in degrees so the Shepherds could adjust to the light you know how your eyes have to adjust when you go outside and behold an angel of the Lord one stood before the Shepherds and the glory of the Lord Shone around them the Brilliance and they were greatly afraid they're just about blinded by it and the angel saido not be afraid behold I bring you good news they always say that of great joy which shall be for all people for there is born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the lord and this will be the sign to you you will find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a Manger I always thought that it was interesting Christ is born in Bethlehem a manger is a stone box that holds grain bread Jesus is the bread of life the swaddling clothes you know what that was they used to tear up the Robes of the priests for newborn babies they used it as a wick in the temple of the Lord because they constantly were replacing the linen Robes of the priest had to stay clean they would replace them they would tear them up they would make Wick from it and this is in some Hebrew writings it's not in the Bible and they would also use it for wrapping newborns meaning they were consecrated to the Lord so here is Jesus you still with me he's wrapped in the garments of a priest strips of cloth he is the bread of life placed in a receptacle that holds grain born in a town called The House of Bread Jesus said I am the bread that came down from heaven isn't that beautiful when you think about it and so here they're telling the angels to go the shepherds are telling him to go and see this lying in a Manger what a strange Place lying in a horse trough is what it's saying and suddenly there was with that angel a multitude of the Heavenly hosts praising God it's as though they said we can't hide anymore we're going to open the curtain a little wider you know sometimes you might see the beginning of some performance on a stage where they'll crack the curtain and someone comes out and they introduce the performance and then they draw the curtain all the way out and this is what happens this Angel comes out and he's telling the Shepherds let me tell you about what's going to happen he gives them the information and then they pull the curtain back all of sudden the heavens peel back and they can see all of these angels singing can you imagine the look on those Shepherds face they were thrilled and terrified all wrapped up in one trembling and probably it was some time after the life faded before they were able to collect themselves and even speak and then of course they said well I guess we should go see what they're talking about but it probably took them a while and I could just hear him saying hey elaser are you still alive I'm alive hey Malachi are you still alive I'm alive did that really happen did you see that I saw it wow can you imagine those angels talking after they saw that and then they wanted to go see you know why do you think the Angels revealed themselves to those Shepherds you know the Bible tells us in the Book of Malachi that God draw near to those that speak and think on his name when the two disciples on the road to Emmas talked about Jesus Jesus Drew near and revealed himself the Bible says when We Gather in his name I am with them I believe the Lord reveals himself to those that think about him be it unto you according to your faith I think those Shepherds were out in the field and no it wasn't December 25th because they're not out in their fields time but this is as good a time as any to talk about it right I think that they were out in their fields and they were thinking you know the Messiah should be coming soon just because they're Shepherds doesn't mean that they weren't intelligent I mean Jesus chose Shepherds and fishermen as the apostles doesn't mean they were uneducated every Jewish boy had memorized Deuteronomy I mean they they knew the scriptures I think they were out there and they were thinking about the Messiah and talking about the Messiah and wondering when he would come and thinking about Luke 2:25 behold there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon this man was a just and devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him he was already Spirit-filled before he got this Revelation it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit he would not die till he had seen the Messiah the Lord's Christ wasn't a dream wasn't a vision wasn't an angel just a spiritual Revelation have you ever had the Holy Spirit reveal something to you I have I really have I I think that sometimes even while I'm standing before you preaching things that are not in my notes God wants to say that I haven't thought about and that's why he has to get the credit because it wasn't my he just says say this and he reveals something and I know right when it's happening that this isn't not for me and if it happens during this sermon I'll try and make a note and tell you but uh I hope the whole sermon is is something of a revelation but the Holy Spirit how did scripture come to us holy men spoke as they were moved by uh the Holy Spirit sometimes dreams are there dreams in the Bible sometimes Visions sometimes messages from Angels sometimes just the Holy Spirit moved them to speak that's how the Revelation came to uh Simeon in the temple and said he would see Jesus now when you talk about dreams and Visions a lot of people tighten up their belt a little bit because let's face it uh there's a lot of people out there that are having dreams and visions that are not from God and some people are having dreams and Visions they're saying you know I've seen my dead loved ones and I'm crossing over all people will agree you talk about a veil between us and the spiritual World almost everybody in every religion will agree with that am I right there's some kind of veil that separates us from the spiritual realm and we're going to cross over and they got programs about talking to the dead and crossing over and seances we're going to cross over and and you got to watch out for that because there are a lot of people that claim to have visions and dreams that claim to see angels and they may be seeing Angels but they're not the right ones and they may be having dreams and Visions but they're not all good one of the first things Jesus said that he warned us about in the last days was regarding the false variety Jesus said Matthew 24 many false prophets will rise and deceive many Christ in his Sermon on the Mount he did not want to miss the opportunity to warn us beware of false prophets that come to you in sheep's clothing so Christ always gave the warning about false prophecy and vision a priority and let's face it are there more true or false religions in the world today there's more false and that would make sense there's more false prophets did the Lord say there will be no Revelation in the last days he didn't say beware of any prophets he said watch out for the false ones what does that imply that there's probably going to be true now I don't know there you may have heard it on the radio on the TV I'd say probably 25% of Christians believe that from the time that Revelation was finished and John said even so Lord Jesus amen even so come Lord Jesus and he closed the book and you know it pronounces a curse on anyone who adds to the Prophecies of this book or anyone who takes away some people have taken that to mean from the time of John the first century in the death of the last Apostle there is no more divine revelation how many of you have heard this I can name names I mean there's a a lot of people out there that U are teaching that I think it's very sad especially when it says in the last days I'll pour out my spirit and they will see visions and they will dream dreams how sad to think that God would send these angels in dreams and visions and holy spirit Revelation to announce the first coming but before the second coming for the last 1900 years uh you're just going to have to try to stay moisturized by what we gave you 2,000 years ago no it's one of the gifts of the Spirit God still speaks to his people doesn't he he wants to get through to us and so he communicates the latter Between Heaven and Earth Jesus has not been severed it's still open but you got to watch out for the false ones Zechariah 10:2 for their Idols speak delusion the divers and vision lies Micah 3:11 her judges judge for bribe her priests teach for pay oh oh one of the ways you can tell a true and a false prophet Propet when they ask for your credit card number false prophet right away if they ask you to write a check for a prophecy false prophet if someone is giving the truth of God for a price what did Peter say your money perish with you and that you think the gift of God can be purchased you can't pay God's profits not to give the prophecy if they're a real prophet of God say amen and also of course sometimes our dreams have nothing to do with the or evil just plain multitude of business it's what you had for dinner it's what you did during the day a dream comes through the multitude of business if you fill your mind with something if you solder transistors all day long at a factory guess what you're going to see in your sleep transistors it doesn't mean God is speaking to you a special message of transistors it just means that's what you filled your mind with interpreting now some dreams are from God some dreams are from the devil any of you had a nightmare and and um it could have been what you ate and it can be the devil but U you eat too much before you go to sleep you're bound to have dreams using drugs can give you dreams you got to watch out that um Freud said Sigman Frey dreams are disguise fulfillment of a suppressed wish he thought all dreams are just the subconscious giving suppressed wishes I don't agree with that dreams were so important in Bible times and before that Kings and Pharaohs had full time staff and their job was to understand the king's dreams because they figured the future of the nation was revealed through the dreams of the Kings so these interpretations remember the pharaoh's wise men couldn't tell them Nebuchadnezzar's wise men they couldn't figure it out they had people on staff and um oh I thought this was cute I saw a quote last night I got double rest because I dreamed I was sleeping some people the gift of interpretation Pharaoh said to Joseph I have heard it is said of you that you can understand a dream to interpret it Daniel 1:1 17 Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams well that other people told him he had some of his own that he couldn't understand but anyone who brought Daniel a vision he always interpreted it didn't he he he had that gift so God speaks to us through dreams is that still true I believe it is uh you need to measure if now you know sometimes God will speak to you through dreams and it's just between you and the Lord I know the Lord has given me dreams I've had dreams that are very exciting that I believe were from God I think I've had a dream of the second coming and going to heaven it was the most wonderful thing it's just for me I'm not going to tell you it's I mean this you're not supposed to interpret it it's just God told me very plainly uh then I've also had dreams where I was strain strain in my behavior and I had a dream where I woke up with Terror than that I was lost and I know God was trying to get my attention any if you I won't ask for a show of hands but sometimes God gets us through dreams that are very sobering and it's not a nightmare from the devil it's God's trying to arrest our attention because he loves us so God still speaks through dreams most of the time I pay no attention to my dreams and probably because they don't mean anything it's just the scramble your your your brain is defragmenting the computer of whatever you've been doing throughing the day right and the Very fact that you wake up and you can't remember it and God doesn't send an interpret ought to tell you don't worry about it if you got a dream that really means something God will provide a way for you to figure it out then Visions Visions are different from dreams in that uh Visions are almost you can be wide awake and have a vision uh you can also use drugs and have a vision uh you can drink and that's why they call it Spirits some people drink and have visions wine in spirits you ever go to that section of the store I hope you don't go frequently but you know what I'm talking about you know it's because Spirits begin to speak to him after they drink that stuff the wrong spirit I used to take I remember I deliberately took hallucinogenics when I was a teenager a lot of people did LSD and other herb peyote and and Jimson weed in order to have dreams because I believe the American Indians used to get guidance I was reading these things American Indians get guidance through these hallucinogenics and I boy I had some Visions I was wi awake that were extremely Vivid real three-dimensional matter of fact even after I came down it was days before I realized it it wasn't real I really believed it it happened bizarre things I won't tell you some of it's in the book not all of it trust me uh and it's very real so just because you have a vision doesn't mean it's from God some people have visions and they're struggling with chemical imbalance some people are demon-possessed and the same things sometimes it's psychological but God can give Visions we need the vision of God to guide us that's why he sends us prophets Proverbs 29:18 where there's no vision my people perish balam would have visions with his eyes open Daniel was given Supernatural strength as was John and the Bible tells us Peter had that three-dimensional Vision where a sheep came down and he was told to eat something he never did because you can't eat a vision of course John and Ezekiel they tried to eat a book and they said they tasted it but I doubt that they gained any weight from what they ate in Vision a lot of us would be better off to do our eating in Vision only right and so some of the Visions were evidently 3D because they they seem to move amongst the things they were seeing John in Revelation the angel gave him it wasn't a dream he was taken up and shown things in heaven sometimes they're taken forward in Vision God took some angels back in the past Revelation 12 that battle that was seen and the attempt to destroy the woman that's being taken backwards in time God has a perfect record of history that is just like the present ver for him and in these Visions um they are shown things but when these Visions are given not always but sometimes uh God gives the interpretation right there Ezekiel had a vision the wheel within the wheel three-dimensional and um uh you can send me your understanding of that I'm still studying Ezekiel I don't think I've got a handle on it what that means it's one of the mysteries of God people have the gift of understanding Visions 2 Chronicles 26 verse 5 he sought God in the day of Zachariah who had understanding in the visions of God some of the people who had Visions Isaiah Amos Hosea Micah Ezekiel Daniel John just to name a few of the prophets who not only dreamed dreams but saw Visions in Acts there's an interesting Vision Acts chapter uh 16 Paul had a vision during the night now is that a dream probably threedimensional would be a vision a man of Macedonia stood pleading with him come over to Macedonia and help us after he had seen the vision immediately they sought to go to Macedonia now you know what's interesting when you read the book of Acts after this Vision I just read up to that point in Acts 16 the book of Acts is written by Luke it says they went here they went here they did this they did that after this vision of the man then the language changes and Luke says we went there we went here we did this we did that what can you conclude from that except that Luke joined them after that vision and many if the man that Paul saw in Vision was Luke who was a Godly Man in Macedonia looking for the truth and when Paul got to Macedonia he said that's the man I saw in Vision them and from the rest of Acts Paul is with uh Luke is with Paul isn't that interesting to think about but the the vision of the Macedonian man was the transition Point well there's a lot more to say about this the ultimate message is God wants to see us face to face in the meantime he's communicating to us through these mediums you know I was reading a little bit uh this week thinking about Communications and how God communicates with us in the spiritual realm and and I was reading about linemen you know I just came back this week I was in Florida and you could still see the devastation from this series of hurricanes from my I looked over in Daytona Beach and you could see the roof of many buildings were still covered with plastic and it's been months and a lot of signs still blown out and the the Havoc was great uh you know one of the unsung heroes from a lot of these storms that we don't know about they had linemen who repair the Communications telephone tele the U the cable the electric the power lines and during storms it's very dangerous a very dangerous job during Hurricane is a well four of the deaths were linemen that were repairing the lines that had come down all different times it's one of the most hazardous jobs and I started they have websites where they just they talk about some of the the linemen that have laid down their lives and some of them are on call 24 hours a day they're called The First Responders and even worse than the hurricanes are when they have ice storms CU what happens is the weight of the ice on the lines creates a lot of pressure and it it knocks them down and there have been linemen in the midwest in the midst of witer whole towns are cut off because these power lines you know the old lines like we have behind our house we have electric on that line fiber optics on that line TV cables on that line telephones on that line and there's some other things I don't know what they are those are the ones I can identify that pole goes down we're in trouble there are lines like that that go to remote communities and sometimes in the winter they realize that a line is down maybe they get a radio ham calls in and says we've lost all power in this town the people have no heat they have no Communications uh and it can just paralyze them especially if they're socked in with a blizzard these guys go out in the storm and sometimes they get as far as they can in the truck and the trucks get stuck in the storm and they pile all this very heavy equipment on them and they go up these power po with the blizzards blowing and U howling freezing fingers numb to try to restore Communications and power to these people that are cut off and you know it made me think of Jesus because a lot of these people die on those old poles that some of them look like crosses don't they and it's because they're trying to reconnect us with the power with the communications this is what Jesus did he's like the ultimate lineman he is the lad between heav and Earth he's reconnected us and it's through Christ that you and I have the right to communicate with Heaven you know I believe in the same way that the Lord used dreams the Holy Spirit Angels Visions to announce the first coming of Christ I believe he's going to pour out his spirit before Jesus comes back again I want to be someone he can communicate through he wants you to be someone it's not just pastors I will pour out my spirit on All Flesh doesn't say your priests he says your sons and your daughters your old men your young men your maidens he wants to pour out his Spirit on you and communicate to and through you I want to be one of those people amen and I want to be with Jesus I want to be in that world where the veil is gone and we see him face to face is that your prayer why don't we close by singing 130 It Came Upon a Midnight Clear speaking about the ways these angels communicate with [Music] [Music] us Angels near the Earth to touch their hearts the Earth of the world is still to the Angels Sing loving father in Heaven Lord we are so thankful that through the sacrifice of Jesus he has restored Communications He restored the power and Lord I pray that you will utilize these vehicles to speak to us help us to know your will first and foremost Lord I pray that we will Avail ourselves of the Holy Spirit given messages in your word and then Lord I pray that we will despise not prophesying but will be able to know how to distinguish the true from the false especially in these last days where undoubtedly you will continue to communicate I pray that we'll be guided by your spirit and most of all Lord help us to recognize that all around us are the messengers of Jesus who are guarding and protecting and I pray that we'll stay sensitive to this this heavenly audience that is present be with us now through this day I pray we'll never lose that sense of awareness we ask in Jesus name [Music] amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh e e

Channel: 11:11 Ministries

Views: 338,757

Keywords: jesus, pray, god, prayer, holy, spirit, bible, jerusalem, bethlehem, sda, seventh-day, adventist, doug, batchelor, amazing, facts, religion, religious, spirituality, christianity, inspirational, angels, dreams, visions, cherubim, serafin

Id: 7mjY4UcPbj0

Length: 59min 3sec (3543 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 17 2011