"Good God, Bad World" - Foundations of Faith - Pastor Doug Batchelor

glad to see each of you here on a drizzly night in the Silver Spring area thank you for coming to our foundation of faith program want to welcome those who may be watching on television we know a number also watching around the world on the Internet just reading some emails from Perth Australia I've been there that's like if you drill through the earth from where we are now that's where you probably come out and so we know that people around the world are participating and we're glad to hear that we are talking during this series about some of the very important foundational teachings in Scripture and tonight's presentation is one that I it's really new I am condensing two very important subjects that deal with good god bad world people often ask a question and they say that if God is love if God is all-powerful if God is good then why is there so much suffering why would God make a devil and I think it's interesting in the context of today's program that even as we speak some of you have already seen the news and know that there has been today this is Sunday as of this recording a tragic shooting some said it may be with the largest church related shooting in American history a little town in Texas I actually used to go to a little Baptist Church in a little town in Texas and I just know the people there are gonna be absolutely devastated because everybody knows or is related to everybody and it's just so senseless in a church you know God is good and you tell people God is love and then what do a theists in agnostics say at a time like this if God is so good then why does he allow stuff like this to happen well we're gonna do our best to address some of these big questions tonight from the Word of God and I do believe God is good and I do believe that God is love and hopefully you'll understand that the reasons why some of these things happen well you know in in our presentation people want to know why why are there so many problems in the world if God is good if God is loving and you can go to the scriptures and you read in the beginning in Genesis when God made everything it says that God saw God saw that everything that he made was indeed very good you read through the various days of creation and God says it was good it was good it was very good so what is God's will for us he wants it to be good he wants us to be happy don't you want your children to be happy matter of fact some of you probably spoiled him because you so much want to please them and make them happy but God said that their happiness would be conditional on trusting him and not eating one tree that was forbidden one tree where an enemy was apt to meet and tempt them and you know the story the Bible says that even went to that tree it says the woman saw he knows we started out it says God so then it says here the woman saw that the tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise and so she took the fruit and she ate and then she Kors gave to her husband and he ate and as a result of that disobedience Romans chapter 6 tells us whoever you obey that's whose servants you are God initially gave the Dominion of this world to Adam and Eve and when they chose to listen to the Word of the devil when God said now don't believe what God the devil said don't believe what God said listen to what I say instead of the Word of God they surrendered they relinquished their Dominion to the devil even Jesus calls the devil the Prince of this world and so then all kinds of problems came into the world at that point you can read here now it tells us in Genesis chapter 6 then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth so you get God's everything was good the woman saw the fruit disobeyed God saw that every thing was wicked the earth was filled with violence there are all kinds of problems and from that point at this point there's been a great controversy going on in the world that's really the theme tonight we're talking about the essence of what this great controversy is several years ago amazing facts did a DVD called the cosmic conflict everything you've ever seen it it just basically it's something that any Christian should understand but a lot of Christians don't understand you ask a Christian of God's good why is there so much suffering they don't understand the story of the devil some Christians even think God made a devil and that's good serious theological problems connected with it and so once they understand that truth everything comes together how do you love a god that would deliberately make a devil to torment us how can you see him as a just God and so this is a very important subject you know a few years ago I was at a National Religious broadcasters meeting in thinker was in Nashville Tennessee we had a booth amazing facts we meet with other Christian broadcasters and by our booth came three priests and five nuns and they were speaking each other in French and I was wondering what they were saying because you know I'm I'm pretty well known as a Protestant preacher they were talking a little about the Reformation during this series and there's actually even a Catholic lay website that talks about my sermons so I had no idea what they're saying finally one of them came over to us and spoke in English and said you know we're from a parish I think they said Chicago and they said we want to tell you we really enjoy your cosmic conflict DVD they said it explains so beautifully why there is evil in the world and how people can love God I said really I said well let me give you another one and so I said can I get a picture with you so I took this picture with the Monsignor the Messiah we love this DVD because once people understand why there is sin in the world and how a loving God could still be a loving God and not just destroy the devil it all begins to come together so with that in mind we're gonna go to our presentations start with question number one who tempted Eve through the Serpent and where did he come from now it says in the Bible that the Serpent's spoke but do you think serpents normally speak no a donkey spoke to Balaam but donkeys don't normally speak either do they and you can read in the Bible in Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 that Great Dragon was cast out that serpent of old called the devil and Satan so who who was this serpent it was really the devil using a serpent poor thing as a medium and ever since that day to this day the serpent is sort of become a type or a symbol of the devil and they're sort of cold blooded animals aren't they when you think about it serpent well you know sometimes devour their own young and they don't really like nurse them and take care of him as some other creatures do and then where did he come from you can read in Isaiah 14 verse 12 how thou art fallen from heaven o whatsit Lucifer son of the morning the devil came from heaven you usually don't think about the devil in heaven in the same context you think about the devil down yonder somewhere a later presentation this week we're going to talk about you know where is the devil and where he's not so you'll want to keep coming for that there was a dispute in heaven you might say did God make a defective angel when he created Lucifer now isn't God perfect is God all-knowing so if God was at all involved with any creature you would think well then he must have made Lucifer and some argue that he did make Lucifer but Lucifer wasn't Satan Satan means adversary he became the devil when God originally made him the Bible says that he was a beautiful angel he was perfect Ezekiel 28:15 that was perfect in my ways from the day that that was created until iniquity was found in me he started out perfect and you can read on for you set in your heart why was he cast out I will be like the Most High he wanted God's position now if you think about it and it's hard to comprehend how the creature could say I want to be God but he was the highest of God's created beings the only one the higher would be God the divine the Father Son and spirit and he thought well there's not very much that separates me a creature from God the eternal he could make me like him how come I don't have the power and he saw the other beings worshiping God and he thought I should get a promotion I mean this is a dead-end job I'm never gonna get promoted beyond being the top angel and you know if if I could explain to you what the excuse was for his attitude then it really wouldn't be sin but there was no excuse God made him with a free will and he began to have foul delos thoughts and he won in God's position it tells us more about it Ezekiel 28 17 mine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of the brightness he was the most beautiful of the angels and he would get the adoration of the angel other angels and he saw himself and he he began to be just very full of himself and now beauty is a good thing but it can be a curse if you become preoccupied with being blessed with attractive appearance it can be your downfall you've read the story in the Bible about Absalom that beautiful prince who he also wanted the Kings position and he rebelled against his father I heard a pastor say one time there's four kinds of people you got people who are called beautiful beautiful you got beautiful ugly you got ugly beautiful he got ugly ugly beautiful beautiful are people who are beautiful on the outside but they're also beautiful on the inside then you got the people who are beautiful ugly they're people who may be ugly on the outside but they're beautiful on the inside and then you get people who are ugly beautiful I'm getting mixed up but you know what I mean and of course the worst of all is ugly ugly nobody needs that you know the Bible says that a beautiful woman without discretion is like a jewel of gold in a pig's nose so it's not just beauty for women it would be also being handsome or strong for men but when you become preoccupied with your appearance and wanting the adoration and the worship of others it's self-destructive worship should be going away from you but something happened where Lucifer turned the compass needle around what he wanted to be the center of everything so your heart was lifted up because of your beauty and so he began to sow discord in heaven talks about that in Proverbs 619 one of the things that God hates is a false witness who speaks lies and one who sews discord among the Brethren Lucifer began to go out among the other unfallen angels and say you know God's restricted our freedom we're just his servants all the time how come we can't grow and sort of be gods of our own worlds and how come we can't be worshipped and he had every clever argument you could think of to help sow discord and distrust and dissatisfaction and he's very effective jesus said in the last days his deceptions will be so acute that if it were possible even the very elect would be deceived he persuaded one third of these very bright unfallen angels to believe him until it turned into an open rebellion in heaven and he can read about this the Bible tells us that finally this is what happened it says there was a war in heaven you don't usually think of war in heaven Michael and his angels fought and they fought with a dragon in his angels that's by the way Revelation 12:17 and I don't know what kind of weapons they used in this war but he was eventually evicted from heaven now Satan really Lucifer really turned into Satan and we call him Satan we call him the devil and what happens to the word devil if you take D off you get evil now if you were to close your eyes and picture the devil wanting this to be a regular exercise but in your mental picture what do you see people often think of the devil what color are his leotards and he's like got goat feet he's got bat wings and he's got a tail what's on the end of his tail a point what's he carrying in his hand pitchfork how many prongs three they got that from Neptune you know by the way from mythology it's not in the Bible anywhere what's he use that for to help barbecue sinners I mean it does he Bale hey what does it devil need a pitchfork for and he does he have a goatee you know I used to have a goatee people said pastor Doug you look kind of evil you looked a little like the devil well how do you know he has a goatee where does it say that in the Bible does all the pictures that we have they said you look like a sinister minister so I shaved off my beard and you get the horns you get the bat wings and you know the Bible talks about when the devil came to tempt Jesus do you think he suddenly you know Jesus in the wilderness he's fast at 40 days and 40 nights and all of a sudden this creature plops down next to him he's got his waving pointed tail of his pitchfork and he says hey I've got a proposition would you listen to anybody that looked like that he comes like an angel of light says in first Corinthians chapter 11 do not marvel Satan himself can be transformed into an angel of light and will he reproduce an illusion in the last days to confuse people about Christ he's going to impersonate Jesus so what powerful beings work under the devil's command you can read in Revelation 12 verse 4 when he was this war finally erupted it says his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth and the stars you read in Revelation are actually the angels had followed them one third of the Angels I'm glad God has two thirds for every third the devil has amen and it says he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him now you might be thinking when the devil started to rebel why didn't God just snuff him out couldn't even done that can you imagine that all the angels are gathered together in Satan's there he's saying you know we can't trust God and God is not really fair and also the Lightning comes down and burns them up and there's just a smoldering spot on the ground where the Lucifer used to be and the other angels are gonna go why you don't better not say anything about God we better just do what God says because otherwise look what's gonna happen they would continue to obey and serve God but would it be now out of love or what do you want your children to obey you those of you that have them because you're gonna strike them if they don't or do you want them to obey you because you love them and they love you and they trust you God doesn't want to use fear and force you might be thinking well but current the Lord have programmed him differently I mean God does God know all things did God know what Lucifer was gonna do and yet he still made him may illustrate something now why does God make his creatures God loves he is love he wants to give love why do you have children retirement right so you can put him through medical school they can take care of you let me see if this works I've never done it quite this way before okay I I don't know I like to be liked if you say you don't really care what people think you're probably not telling the truth I want love don't you want love I think God mean it's the one love so I figured out a way to get love here good evening smartphone I'm doing very well how are you you know me yes smartphone so much better I can market this make a lot of money new app this is gonna add well whether that's people would buy that what are they and then what I do is I take my phone and I do selfies you wanna do a selfie no I just want myself let's get a selfie over here put you in it all right so do I really feel loved because my phone says it's got my pictures on it and because it says it loves me so I just feel so much better now I don't need you to love me I got my phone to love me why doesn't that work I programmed it it doesn't love me it's just a robot that says I love you you know they're talking now about artificial intelligence and creating robots that will be so close to human that they can actually love I don't think so because they can't give it a free will God made Lucifer with a free will he took a risk because real love cannot be forced is that right there's another word for forced love called rape you want it to be freely given how many of you when you decided to have children got a written guarantee that they would always obey and never give you a hard time you took a risk were you aware that they might not love you back or they might be selfish as some might be good in some might rebel even Adam and Eve had some very different children cuz they're free and God in order to really be loved by his creatures he gives them real freedom he wants us to trust him he'll give you evidence he'll show you what he's like but you need to choose to respond Lucifer chose to love himself first and I broke out into a rebellion and he brought that rebellion to our planet and this whole great controversy now is between two completely opposite motives it's the devil's love for power and Christ's power of love the devil is all about self but God is love they are polar opposites and there's only two masters and we've got to decide which one we choose I thought I'd drop in a little amazing fact here about black holes it's kind of fascinates me that they say a black hole would take an object in space ten times as dense as our Sun compress it into only 60 miles and the magnetic pole that object would be so powerful that even light could not escape and light travels 186,000 miles a second it would suck light in and they don't know what happens to something that would get pulled into a black hole because there's really no way to experiment with that I don't think I want to but the devil is a black hole in that he just takes everything is about himself everything he does is with them you've heard of Whitman before stands for what's in it for me a lot of people always asking they make all their decisions through the day based on whiffle what's in it for me how will this affect me where Jesus did everything based on love what methods the Satan use in his work well there's several things you could look at here first of all he's called a deceiver you read in Revelation chapter 12 verse 9 it says he deceives the whole world he's a deception he pretends to be one thing he Co mingles truth a lot of truth with a little bit of error furthermore you can read in this was a visa subcategories ABC it says that he was there in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan he's a tempter he does everything he can to try to entice people to disobey God and you know the devil will tempt you to do something and then he'll turn you in I've had a few friends that did that I was at school I said I dare you to do this that do and then they go tell the teacher and the devil will do that he's furthermore he has power to work miracles you read in Revelation 13 13 says they are the spirits of Devil's working miracles some of you know the story where Moses went before the Pharaoh and he threw down his serpent what did the Pharaoh's magicians do they threw down serpents there their rods Moses three on his rod it became a serpent sorry and they threw down their rods they became serpents were they able to counterfeit or imitate some of these miracles you can also read it tells us in Revelation 13 this beasts power is going to be able to at least create the illusion of bringing fire down from heaven the book of Job the devil brought fire down and so he's a powerful being remember he was just under God in power you don't need to know something about your enemy if you're going to effectively fight him furthermore he's an accuser you read there in Revelation 12:10 he's called the accuser of the Brethren you can read in Zechariah chapter 3 where the devil stood there to accuse the high priest and you see in the book of Job he stands before the Lord and he says all the only reason Jobe serves he was because you protect and bless him and he's always accusing the obedient don't you and I want to give the devil something to worry about and the way we live you know the devil doesn't know who most of us are devil works through he's not like God he's not all-knowing devil works through his minions his fallen angels they're sometimes called demons and evil spirits and goblins and ghosts and there's probably all kinds of different terms but there are spiritual wars he read in Ephesians chapter 6 we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers but the Bible tells us that the Apostle Paul was so close to God and so effective in his ministry that devil knew who he was the devil said to some young Exorcist they said we know Jesus and we know Paul but we don't even know who you are don't you want to live a life so the devil knows who you are you're not sure how to answer that are you because you're thinking I don't want any special attention from the devil I already feel like he knows too much about me he's also a murderer and he's a liar he's a father of a lie he's all about deception you can see where he inspired keen to murder his brother when is the devil the most dangerous it's when he assumes the garments of light and we just quoted this to you a moment ago 2nd Corinthians 11 verse 14 and 15 and no Marvel for Satan himself can be transformed into an angel of light so don't be away amazed when his ministers appear as ministers of righteousness what did Jesus say about his second coming when he gave the signs first he said be aware of false prophets there'll be many false prophets false Christ's and there'll be some who come they look like they're sheep but they're ravening wolves really and so the devil he gets in the religion business amen and he deceives a lot of people so we need to know what the Bible really says about the truth and this great controversy or we're at risk of being deceived all right we spent enough time talking about the problem now we're gonna talk about the answer there's an enemy out there Pete Peter says be sober be vigilant your enemy the devil your adversary goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour and we need to be praying always that we can escape the temptations to come Jesus had watch and pray lest you enter into temptation so we know what our tools are we told you the other day when Jesus was tempted how did he respond it is written it is written it is written it's through walking with God through prayer through the power of the word that's how we defeat the enemy Hebrews 2 verse 14 it tells us in as much then as he as a children have partaken of flesh and blood he Jesus himself likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death that is the devil so you see there's a battle between Christ and the devil that is raging through the Bible it's happening right here in Silver Spring it's happening around the world and I just know that there's a spiritual Wars that take place the devil does everything he can to prevent people from hearing the word I'm so thankful for you who came out on a Saturday night in the rain to hear the word of God bless your heart hope you come back tomorrow night to I came all the way from California so I hope you can come back I met people that came from New Jersey last night from Houston and and all kinds of places Canada wow you must have missed a turn bless your heart thank you it tells us that the purpose of the gospel you read in acts 26 this is a wonderful verse it says to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light from the power of Satan to God that they might receive forgiveness of sins that's good news friends and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me the devil tempts us the sin in our lives we have guilt and we have seen and we've got a record and we're heading for death but Christ came to turn us from darkness to light from the power of the devil to God that we might be sanctified through faith in him and live now that's good news amen and you know if more Christians would go around believing the good news and if we'd notify our faces about the good news we'd be bringing a lot more people so why was it necessary for Jesus to die well first of all because we've all sinned you read that there in Romans chapter 3:23 and we also talked already about what the penalty for sin is the wages for sin are as serious as it gets the penalty is death there's no escaping it somebody is going to die for your sins either you will accept Christ as your substitute and allow him to transform you and give you a new heart or you will die for your sins and we're not talking about the first death Christians don't really die they go to sleep we're talking about the second death from which there is no resurrection so what's the solution Christ died for our sins he wants to rescue us from that terrible fate because he desperately loves us and he wants us to be in the kingdom the Lord loves you more than you love anybody there's nothing that can separate you from the love of God you can't even comprehend the love of God think them the most powerful example of love that you've ever seen it's stronger than that in the Bible God fights to describe it he says can a woman forget her nursing child says I'll not forget you I've graving you on the palms of my hands said they might forget but I'll not forget you I read something from maritime British history there was a ship went down and they were trying to figure out how to divide in a state this family had drowned when the ship went down they needed to decide who died first the mother or the baby and everybody that was on the the board the committee making this decision said were quite certain the mother held the baby up until she drowned and the baby outlived the mother and so you think of the strongest love you know of God loves you more and the devil think about the love of God the devil is that bent on destroying you but why would people say I'm gonna listen to the devil instead of God there are people who consciously say you know I don't really want to live for God but you know to make that decision you're really saying I want to live with the devil there's a story one of my favorite stories in the Bible you find it in mark chapter five and two other Gospels - Luke and Matthew it's the story of the demoniac and in that story it tells about a man what's left of a man who had given himself over to temptation to the point where he got so good at saying yes to the devil he could not say no and finally when we find him he's living naked in a cemetery surrounded by pigs cutting himself with stones dragging around chains that he's broken filled with a legion of demons he's dirty his antisocial he's crying always out in the mountains that's what the Bible says full of rage and when the disciples find him they run for the boat Jesus doesn't run and the demoniac comes running up to Christ and he opens his mouth whatever was left of that man inside came to Jesus for help because he knew the demons were talking in his head he knew it was Jesus and he came just like he was poor wretched naked wounded helpless he couldn't even talk the devil's talked but he came and here on that beach by the Sea of Galilee you see two choices you've got exhibit a of what the devil wants to do with man he wants to destroy us he wants to erase the image of God and then you have exhibit a of God in a man his name is Jesus there are only two masters in this world every day we're making a decision which master we're gonna follow it's either we surrender to Christ or you're by default gonna remain a slave to the devil and if you think well I'm too sophisticated for that you're making your decision it may seem very simple to you but that's how simple it is it's either Christ or the enemy first John 3:8 he who sins is of the devil for the devil has sinned from the beginning whatever you're doing this kind of shows who you belong to now he's not saying that if you're Christian and you fall that means you're of the devil because the word he is really talking about living a life of sin if you are giving over to a life of sin you belong to the devil even Christians may stumble and fall amen that's why the Bible says if any man sins we have an advocate with the father and scriptures say you know we often offend and sin and many things we need to pray for one another that we might be healed of our sins and then in Hebrews 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin the Bible says the life is in the blood and when Christ died and he gave his blood basically he gave a blood transfusion to the human race you know I understand that during the Ebola crisis that was there in Sierra Leone there was a doctor his name was william pooley and he was exposed to the Ebola and he contracted it nearly died they flew him back to England he recovered and the before he went back to Sierra Leone there was another doctor in America that had Ebola and they said because you have been exposed and you recovered your blood has the antibodies provide a serum that may save others so he flew that even gave him an emergency passport that he flew as quickly as he could to America to donate his blood to save the others Jesus is the only one who has lived in this world without sin he's the only one whose blood can save us I was thought it was interesting the first miracle of Jesus he's at a wedding and he turns water into wine and then at the Last Supper he says as he gives him the grape juice he says take drink this is my blood and then the last thing that happens before Jesus dies on the cross they give him sour wine Jesus at the wedding made the best new wine he gives us his and then man the last thing they give him sour wine it's like he makes a trade he takes her sins and he gives us his life this is the gospel friends Jesus took what we deserved and he offers what he deserves he takes our weakness and he gives us his strength he takes our sin and he gives us his purity he makes a complete exchange with us and you see on the cross he's taking what we deserve because He loves you now how sad that he would do all that and you not accept it and then there's people who think well you know but I'm having such a hard time I don't know if I'm gonna make it if you were Jesus would you go through all that to save somebody that couldn't be saved of course you can be saved God wouldn't go through all that would you pay that much for something you couldn't buy no you did it because it is possible for you to be saved if you believe this was the whole message of the Reformation you've got to believe father brought his dying son to Jesus he was demon-possessed it said Lord if you can do anything help us the devil throws him in the fire and the devil throws him in the water devil doesn't care what extreme you go - what'll burn you one will drown you it's as if you can do anything and Jesus said if you believe and then father in desperation he said lord I believe help my unbelief some of us just have to come to that point and spray that princey lord I have some belief help my unbelief can you pray that / and you might say I want to follow the Lord but I'm not completely willing with intellibid say Lord I want to be more willing and you may not even want to pray that / say Lord I want to be willing to be me willing to be willing but you can start somewhere everybody can start somewhere right I had to do that up in the mountains I said well I'm praying and saying Lord I know I don't have much faith and I know my face weak and I've never believed this or but if you're there help my unbelief and he did you come just like you are that demoniac came to Jesus just like he was Jesus cleanse him from the devil Devils he clothed him and then he commissioned Yemi gave him a work to do and God needed it for me he'll do it for everybody that comes to him 1st Peter 3:18 for Christ has also once suffered for sins the just him for us the unjust why did God make such a fantastic sacrifice for us it says because you know that verse John 3:16 for God say it with me for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life who is it whosoever I'm a whosoever are you whosoever if whosoever believes in Him you may not perish but have everlasting life that's not such a wonderful verse that was one of Luther's favorite verses it just sort of summarized it God so loved you know that word so means a lot more and as a pastor I've done more than my share of funerals and I've had to do several funerals where children died sometimes little babies sudden infant death syndrome teenagers teenage suicides and you have to after the service you stand at the head of the coffin and the parents go by and you see the grief in the parents faces as they heave and sob and they're all twisted up with grief and we lost the son and you know that verse never meant so much to me as it did after you lose a child and then it says God so loved the world I had to ask myself did I love my son more than God loved his son God loves more and still he gave what does that say about how much he must love you and when someone loves you that much will you tell them no I don't want to be with you through eternity I don't want to be in a world that is good good very good what kind of insanity would that be it is insanity if a person says you know before Moses died his last sermon he said here o Israel I said before you this day two choices on one hand you got life and good and blessing on the other hand you've got death and evil and cursing choose life now wouldn't that be what you'd call a no-brainer no I thinks Moses I'd rather have the death evil and cursing but he actually had to ask him because you know what most of the world is choosing the death evil in cursing and God is offering us life good and blessing that's really those are the two choices in the great controversy two masters two destinies God's voted for you the devil has voted against you and you get the tie-breaking vote that's what it amounts to hate to use the political scenario but you understand that so how do i what do I do to benefit from Jesus sacrificial death well acts 16:31 it's pretty simple he said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved that doesn't just mean believe he exists James tells us the devil's believe in tremble it's not going to save then it's talking about a belief that means be live in him if you say Lord I believe you and you don't follow him you don't really believe him he's they believe me enough to do what I say and follow me trust me and you shall be saved and then he goes on he says in John 3 14 to 15 before you read John 3:16 here's what it says as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life people haven't wondered how would Jesus be compared with a serpent it's not really saying that if you know the story it tells us that the children of Israel going through the wilderness they began to grumble about the bread from heaven I said man a man a man a good man a cereal and manna sandwiches man no meat loaf and we're just hired a man that all day long every day manna a little quail and then manna manna and when they complained about the bread of God all of a sudden a plague of serpents broke out what was it that kills a serpent the bread of life the Word of God when you don't appreciate the bread the serpent comes in and these were fiery serpents it said the deadly venomous bites and the people were finding snakes in their tents and the snakes were in their clothes and in their boots and everywhere they had been a boots back or any of their sandals and there were just snakes everywhere and they went up to Moses and God said to Moses make a bronze serpent put it on a pole lift it up and whoever looks will be healed of the venom if they look the live Jesus uses that scenario says if the Son of Man has lifted up now I understand this because I lived in the mountains in the desert in a cave I saw rattlesnakes all the time I had a snake stick and if I saw I didn't bother him on the trail like it's avoided but if I saw one around the cave I killed it but you don't whack just a a snake with a stick or hit it with a rock and then go reach out and pick it up because it kind of tenacious and you think they're dead they're laying there their jaws looks like it's all broken you go to pick him up they spin around they'll bite you so Shepherds know they had a lot of snakes they would have a staff you got a dead snake you pick it up with your staff and you carry it off and so it was not an uncommon thing for the shepherds to see somebody carrying a snake on the end of a pole and what it meant was a dead snake going off for a funeral because you bury him because even the head of the snake can hurt you if you step on it and even after they're dead Jesus neutralized the venom of the serpent on the cross when we look in faith at Jesus dying for our sins the power of love through the gospel recreates us and it may not happen all at once but something changes and all of a sudden the things you once loved you hate and the things he wants he did you love and that's called conversion that's called Reformation that's called revival and and you begin to live a new life this is what the gospel does John 1:12 says to many of them as received him to them he gives power to become the sons of God if you make up your mind to follow Jesus is he gonna empower you to follow him and whose power is greater the power of Jesus of the power of the devil when you're tempted if you pray God will send every angel in heaven to your side before he abandons you to the enemy we just forget to ask if you ask you'll receive Holloman am i cleanse then forgiven you read in Acts chapter 319 Peter says repent therefore and be converted that your sins might be blotted out this is very important and I also want to read first John 1:9 if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from how much all unrighteousness and if you're cleansed from all unrighteousness that means that when God looks at you he sees a child that is bound for heaven you end up with the righteousness of Christ himself that's good news friends but what do you do to things I just said that we kind of looked like we skimmed over we repent and we confess now here's two things I just don't hear Christians say very much about these days repentance means a sorrow for sin and a willingness to turn from it it means that there's a you're grieved in your heart you know a lot of people say well you know we all sinned and look at David he sinned with Bathsheba and he murdered your eye and you know we all sin and they look at David's sin but they don't look at David's repentance David spent they want to sin like David but they don't want to repent like David David spent seven days on his face weeping and praying and repenting God told him he was forgiven but there was a sorrow and when you see Jesus hanging on the cross that oughta stir your heart and realize he's on your cross because he loves you and when you turn back to sin and you say this it hurts him the Bible talks about crucifying the Son of God afresh if you could really picture that would you do it I mean do we want to hurt the ones we love and so there's a sorrow for sin you know it's broken clouds that give us rain and it's broken grain that gives us bread and it's it's merry breaking her alabaster vial and pouring forth the ointment and we must come to the place where we're broken and emptied a lot of Christians don't hear a lot about repentance you know the first words Jesus spoke when he started preaching repent first word you know John the Baptist said first repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand when they said to Peter and the Apostles on the day of Pentecost men and brethren what shall we do what was the first thing he said repent that means realize you're a sinner and I believe that you can come to God in a moment I think you can make a decision and make a brief prayer and that could be a turning point but if you're really going to be filled with the spirit and have the fullness of an experience of conversion take some time with God let me see if I could I don't going to run out of time but this is an important point the degree of your offense determines the degree of the apology if after the program and I'm shaking your hand and I don't pay attention I step on your toe I will say excuse me and you'll probably see no problem unless you have like a corner on your foot ah you know I'm very very sorry but if I'm rushing out the door and I'm not paying attention and I knock you down and I send you sprawling and your things in your purse scatter on the ground I hear bones break as you go down and I look over my shoulder and say excuse me and I keep going would that be appropriate the degree of the offense the term ins the depths of the apology so what have your sins done to Jesus is it really enough to just say sorry Lord or should we pray and confess be serious with God empty yourself Martin Luther said God creates from nothing so until I become nothing he can make nothing of me we need to humble ourselves and he will lift you up he doesn't want you to grovel but we need to repent Peter went out and wept bitterly and he came from that experience of repentance and preaching with power the good news but I think people need to understand confess your sins how many remember all their sins nobody how can you confess them all what God wants you to start with the categories use the 10 commandments as a template have you lied I'm not asking you to tell me now I'm just you know just giving you an idea you don't need to raise your hands during this isn't that like that impure thoughts you know adultery is not just the action it can be the attitude murder can be an attitude some people have homicide in their heart right so there's a spiritual dimension of the law make a list and say Lord I've been a liar gossip you can all write that down huh using God's name in vain that doesn't mean just cursing it means saying you're Christian and not living like one you're taking his name in vain get by yourself get a piece of paper you can do it on your iPad just make sure you delete it when you're done and you make a list say Lord I'm a sinner and you might not remember everything say Lord search me and try me and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting get serious you want to revival get serious about really repenting of your sins confess your sins to God and if you've sinned against each other you say Lord I'm sorry I took my neighbor's chainsaw and I've had it three years I'm sorry now the Lord says you're forgiven but you have to take it back now you know there's some Reformation involved in they can't just say oh I just thought you just like to forgive me let me keep the chainsaw no you gave you really repenting you're gonna take it back amen get serious with God humble yourself he'll fill you we empty yourself he'll fill you with his spirit he'll know you really want him then when you get tired of yourself and the sins in your life what is this wonderful conversion experience called you must be what is it born again you become like a little baby the babies worry about growing no how does a baby grow it receives the food it gets occasional cleansing it gets some comfort and breathes and we know what happens when a baby stops breathing now they got baby breathing monitors because people are free the baby will stop breathing you will not grow unless you do these Christian things you need to eat you need the bread of life it may start with a milk of the word if you're a baby eventually you want to grow where you get meat amen you want to breathe that's prayer you need exercise you may need an occasional cleansing and have living water amen but if you do these things you will grow and you'll see that you become more and more like Jesus it's called the new birth old things are passed away all things are made new and when you do this and when you pray that prayer who then enters the heart of every born-again Christian the Bible says in John 14 17 even the Spirit of Truth you know him for he dwells with you and he be in you how many of you would like to have that experience of being filled with the Spirit of God and to have that new birth to have that revival jesus said I will never leave you and forsake you how can that be possible because God the Spirit will come into your life and wherever you go you'll not be alone he'll walk with you and he'll talk with you and he wants you to walk with him this is what it means to be a Christian to have God think about how awesome that is to have God with you all the time as your friend to abide with you you know we're getting too close to the end of the world friends all you've got to do is look at the headlines amen world is filled with violence and I heard that during this shooting in Las Vegas there was several stories where people were shot they didn't know where the bullets were coming from and a stranger saw someone injured and they threw themselves on top of a total stranger to protect them from further bullets Jesus has done that the devil wants to destroy you but he's laid his life down as an obstacle to your destruction but you need to ask him can you trust a god like that you who are watching would you like to pray and ask him now father this is just a preliminary prayer but we want to spend time with you surrender our lives to you and ask you to fill our hearts with your spirit bless these people bless your church with revival we ask in Jesus name Amen

Channel: Aaron

Views: 18,359

Rating: 4.7988825 out of 5

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Id: phmZijjhS3A

Length: 52min 32sec (3152 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 05 2017