Wednesday Bible Study, February 25, 2009

 

Heritage & Hope

“Why I Believe the Times are Urgent”

 

Introduction: I have tried to lay the ground work for our new series “Heritage and Hope.” Tonight I would like to explain why I believe the times are urgent. You have all heard that churches and other organizations waste a lot of time doing what is not really important. It is likened to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. I don’t believe we have time to waste!

 

I.       Two videos

A.    The Church of Oprah exposed

B.    The VeriChip-  “Welcome to the future”

 

II.    Do you know this man?

A.    King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

B.    Here is what he did: In July 2008 he convened in Madrid, Spain, a conference of religious leaders. There were 300, including a Jewish rabbi, Hindus, Buddhists, and leaders from the World Council of Churches.

C.    Here is what he said: We all believe in one God, who sent messengers for the good of humanity in this world and the hereafter. (Israel My Glory, Jan/Feb 2009)

D.    Possibly, this statement from King Abdullah, a Muslim, rich in oil from a religiously intolerant nation, would not have meant much several years ago. But in a global economic crisis, in an oil-desperate world, in a world where Europe is coming together and Russia and the Muslim world is coming together, we now have a call saying “We all believe in one God, who sent messengers for the good of humanity in this world and the hereafter.” Who will confront such a message?

1.     6% of Americans hold a favorable view of Wicca (Barna, Jan.26, 09)

2.     8% of Americans are atheist or agnostic (Barna, Jan.2002)

3.     8% of Americans are evangelical Christians (Barna, 2007)

4.     Status of World Evangelization – IMB 2007 Annual report:

a.      11,573 people groups worldwide (6.6 billion people)

b.      6,508 unreached people groups (3.8 billion people). Of this group, less than 2% are evangelical Christians.

c.      5,903 last frontier people groups (1.6 billion people). Of this group less than 2% are evangelical Christians and there is no active church planting.

E.     In light of this vacuum of evangelical Christian belief who or what do you think will fill the void?

 

III.       The Second Beast (Rev.13:11-18)

A.    The Bible teaches us (evangelical Christians) that God is One but in three dimensions: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

B.    Satan has his counterfeit of the Holy Trinity (Rev.16:13)

1.     The Dragon (the devil) = the anti-Father

2.     The Beast = the anti-Christ

3.     The Second Beast (the false prophet) = the anti-Holy Spirit

C.    “Just as the Holy Spirit causes us to worship the Lord Jesus and give glory to God the Father, the unholy spirit causes people to worship the antichrist and give glory to the devil” (Rogers, Unveiling End Times, pg.162).

D.    Dr. Adrian Rogers listed four attributes of the Second Beast. Notice carefully these four attributes in light of the great spiritual vacuum that exists in the world today. In fact, in the book Megatrends 2000 by John Naisbitt and Patricia Aburdene the authors write: “Religious belief is intensifying worldwide under the gravitational pull of the year 2000, the millennium” (pg.271).

1.     He will be a servant of Satan (13:11-12), “The beast is not a harmless lamb. His lamb disguise is just a camouflage of deception, because his horns are sticking out and his dragon breath gives him away” (Rogers, pg.162).

a.      The devil is a liar (John 8:44).

b.      The devil’s anti-Holy Spirit will be a liar.

2.     He will be a worker of worship (13:12).

a.      The devil wants to be worshipped (Is.14:14).

b.      The devil’s anti-Holy Spirit will compel the world to worship the antichrist. He will unify world religions. Just as the Holy Spirit has one main purpose: to glorify Jesus- the anti-Holy Spirit has one main purpose: to glorify the anti-Jesus!

3.     He will be a master of miracles (13:13-15).

a.      The devil can do miracles (II Thess.2:9).

b.      The devil’s anti-Holy Spirit will be a miracle worker.

4.     He will be a controller of commerce (13:16-18).

a.      The devil will control commerce through the mark of the beast.

b.      The mark will be located on the right hand or forehead.

c.      “No mark, no merchandise. No seal, no sale. It is just that simple” (Rogers, pg.168)

1.      Remember the VeriChip?

2.      Look up “Digital Angel”. They too market “implantable identification microchips the size of a grain of rice for use in humans…” (Rogers, 169).

E.     Remember the words of King Abdullah? “We all believe in one God…”

F.     Today we are warned against “the fundamentalists”. The “fundamentalists” of Islam are terrorists! The “fundamentalists” of Christianity are the evangelicals! Do you believe in the fundamentals?

1.     There is one way to heaven- Jesus Christ!

2.     The Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God! (Therefore, it is truth, to be applied to our lives).

3.     Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, rose from the dead and is coming back!

4.     Heaven and Hell are both real!

5.     Satan is real!

G.    I am a fundamentalist. Therefore, I am an extremist. Therefore, I am like “the terrorist”. I must be marginalized.

H.    The false prophet, anti-Holy Spirit, will bring religions together on these issues:

1.     Women’s rights (the right to murder the unborn)

2.     Sexual rights (the right of homosexuality and perversion)

3.     Death rights (the right to die with dignity: euthanasia)

4.     Religious rights (the right to believe “We believe in one God, who sent messengers…” Who might the messengers be? Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Krisha; after all God sent messengers.

5.     If you have access to the internet, notice: Benjamin Crème, Share International and Maitreya, “The Teacher”.

I.       “Religion without Jesus is the tool of Satan to draw people into his realm” (Jeremiah, pg.180).

 

Are the times urgent? If the above doesn’t give you a sense of urgency consider the words of Mikhail Gorbachev…

“The victims of the September 11 attack on the United States will not have died in vain if world leaders use the crisis to create a new world order. These victims will not have died in vain if the world reflects and looks at itself in the mirror… If we act as we did after September 11 united efforts of fighting against terrorism, if we maintain the coalition, we will not only prevent a new cold war, but we could get a new world order that is so desirable for all of us.”