Episode Transcript
We're so glad you've joined countdown. Back to the future. We have an amazing presentation, this one called Globalism Number Two, America, the Great Satan. Now, what's all that about, you may wonder? Well, you remember last time we looked at Globalism Number One and we were talking about the great Roman comeback this time. This is our first final part of this double series which looks at the importance of what's happening in America today. Is there anything that is fulfilled in America from Bible prophecy? We're going to see some very important things that are taking place in our world today. You know, we looking this time at the second beast that comes in Revelation 13. There are two one that comes up out of the sea and this one comes up out of the land. So we call it the land beast or the beast. From the Notice what John saw in Revelation chapter 13, verse 11, after he'd seen the sea beast. The Bible says, then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. Now, what's this beast talking about? Who is this beast? Well, let me tell you right up front. This is what we call Protestant usa. You say, how do you get that? Well, John gives us five identifying characteristics so we can know that. And we're going to go through those five characteristics so we can know. Yes, this is Protestant usa. Let's look at the first identifying characteristic, number one. This power arises in a relatively unpopulated region of the planet. Notice what John saw then. I saw another beast coming up out of the Earth, not coming up out of the sea like the previous beast. You remember, we saw that seas or waters represented large population regions. And we found that in the book of Revelation it interprets itself. John saw, I remind you, Revelation 17, a woman sitting on a beast and sitting on the waters. We notice this is Babylon, the great prostitute, which we're going to talk about in a presentation to come. Then he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits, they are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. In other words, an area of much population. That's the sea beast. But this beast comes up in the land, the contrast of the ocean. So a relatively unpopulated region of the planet is what John is telling us. Now let's have a little bit of a history lesson of United States of America. History 101. I love going to the United States of America. We studied there for some time. It's a beautiful country. It's a country that's welcomed many people from many Places, parts of the planet who have been refugees down through the last two or three hundred years or so. Now, you'll recall that in the Old World there was religious intolerance in that Old World. The Old World is what we call Europe. That's what historians call it, the Old World, the countries of Europe, a lot of religious intolerance. You know, people were being persecuted simply because they wanted to translate the Bible into the language of the people. People were persecuted because they simply wanted to gather to read the Bible. And amazing things were happening in Old World Europe. Well, no one likes to be persecuted, right? So people decided, we need to leave this place. Now, Christopher Columbus had discovered the New World back in the 1400s. And so people wanting to get away from the Old World religious intolerance decided to move to the New World. Many of them. And hence a migration began from the Old World to the New World. Some of the people who did that were known as the Pilgrim Fathers. They originally left Holland in around 1620, went over to England and there they left Plymouth eventually and came to the Americas or to the American continent, the North American continent, the New World, when they arrived there, in the time when they arrived, there was only about a million Native Americans in 1620 when they arrived. Now, that's not very many people compared to Europe. It's very sparsely popular. Just imagine 1 million Native American Indians running around all of that vast continent. That's all there was. When the United States War of Independence was fought, there was still only 3 million people in North America. Very sparsely populated. Hence it's called this beast comes up out of the land. Number two characteristic of this second beast is that it arose around 1798. How do we know that? Well, very simply, when we read the text of the Bible, notice what John saw then. I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. Now, it's important that we understand. Why does he say then? Well, we need to look at what he's been talking about. Just prior to that. He's been talking about the sea beast, the Church of Rome, that's going to be revived in the end of time. Notice what the Church of Rome has been doing. According to John in Revelation, he the sea beast who leads into captivity. He's been putting, sadly, many godly priests and bishops in dungeons. You can see that in Old Europe, what took place, he will go into captivity. He's been doing it now he's going to go into captivity, he who kills with the sword. Because sadly, the Church of Rome, through the governments of Europe, had been killing Many godly people in the Church of Rome. Three bishops on one occasion killed there in Oxford by the Church. He who kills with the sword, he must be killed with the sword. In other words, John is saying, this is the deadly wound that's coming to the dark age medieval church of Rome, which is to be revived in the end of time. So it's the deadly wound. So he says then at that time when the deadly wound is being inflicted. Now we're going to see another power come into being. Now, the colonies of the United States in North America, they started around 1620. For some of them, the United States War of Independence was won in 1783. They got their independence from the British. Then the United States Constitution was formed in 1789. Do you notice what's happening? We are steadily moving in time towards 1798. When a power in the old world is going to go into captivity. It's going to be receive a deadly wound. As John saw in our previous presentation. As that one is going down, another one is coming up right on time. One power is going down. A deadly wound is about to be inflicted. At the same time, another power is starting to arise. It's going to be called the United States of America. Number three identifying characteristic is this is going to be a global political and economic superpower. How do we know that? Notice what the Bible says there. In Revelation 13. He causes all this land beast causes all to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. By the way, I want to just point out something that's rather interesting right here while we're on this text. Do you notice that the seal of God is only received in the forehead? We talked about the seal of God in a previous presentation. It's only in the forehead, it's not in the hand. But the mark of the beast can be received in the forehead or in the right hand. What does that mean? It means that in the forehead, this is the place where we do our decision making. The forehead, the forepart of the brain. People consciously decide, this is what I want. But in the right hand means I may not believe it up here, but I'll go along with it. We talk about the right hand of agreement. So the beast mark, it can be received two ways. I may not believe in the beast, I may not go along with everything, but I will go along with it in order that I can buy or sell. So I'LL take it in the hand. Others, I believe in the whole thing in the forehead. So let's read it again. He, the land beast causes all to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. And that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. How do you see? Here's a power that has global influence. It's an economic superpower as well. Cause you won't be able to buy or sell. Boy. We've seen the impact that this country can have on economics in recent times, right? Incredible. Remember the tariffs and so on. I tell you, a very powerful influence. Now this is this country, this country. The United States is indeed a superpower and it's an economic superpower. I like what was written in Time magazine on the eve of the new millennium that we're in. Notice what they wrote back then. No other nation has exercised such military, such economic, such diplomatic and cultural reach since Rome. That's pagan Rome, the Rome of the Caesars. America bestrides the world like a colossus. And it does. You think about it economically, no question about that. When America sneezed, remember, got that economic cold, the GFC took place. Everyone else got it. We had those bailout, those packages that we were given to, you know, prime the economy. Even our own country. What about its cultural reach? What way do lots of kids wear their caps? See them up the streets, you know, around back, the front. Where'd they get that idea from? This is for Hollywood thing and comes from America. It's imported, the three arches, you know, McDonald's and so on around the world, you name it. Cultural reach. Why is it that people in Africa wear jeans and the whole works, the western culture and it's pushed by the United States through movies and so on. Incredible cultural reach. You think I was in one of the countries of the Pacific and this dear doctor lady of education or something. It was a conference I was attending. She was bemoaning the fact that American culture is impacting her country in the South Pacific islands. And she said it needs to stop. And I thought, nice try, lady. It's not going to happen. Not with iPhones and iPads and TVs. And it's just not going to happen. Because people copy what's happening from Hollywood and from the United States of America. Incredible cultural reach, but also military reach, of course. It's amazing the influence of this country on the world today. Now you may be thinking, but couldn't it be another Country, I mean, what was the first one comes from a relatively unpopulated region. Well, that immediately disqualifies Russia, immediately disqualifies China or India. These are great powers emerged, of course, in our modern times, but all of those have been very populated regions for centuries. So it's not them. Could it be Australia? Well, there's a good go. Maybe the time is similar. But you wouldn't call us an economic superpower down under, would you? Not even anywhere, by any stretch of the imagination. There's only one nation that fits those first three criteria, but only one nation fits the next two criteria as well, and that's the United States, a Protestant country. That's how it began. Most Christians in that country are Protestants. Of course, they have other denominations. Number four. This power would join forces with the sea beast. They would combine together in the end of time, work together. The Bible says, and he, that's the land beast. Protestant America exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. Do you see what John is saying? He's saying that sea beast, that beast that represents the Dark Age church revived in the end of time, its deadly wound is healed and all the world's going to marvel after it. So this other power, Protestant America, is going to actually help people from around the world to worship that beast. Joining forces. You don't think that's the case? Think again. Look at this magazine here, Time magazine, front cover story. Some years ago now, the Holy alliance, they were talking about how East European Communism collapsed, how the Soviet Union collapsed its communism. It was because of, number one, the influence of the Vatican. Because at the time, the bishop of Rome was Polish and Poland was where things started. 95% people in that country are people of the Church of Rome. And thanks to Pope John Paul ii, he was able to implement things that started to cause communism to collapse. Then Washington joined them. And so all of East European communism crumbled one by one. Time magazine spelled that out. Front cover story. A union of the Vatican and Washington together, working together. This is what happened. Now, this picture here is worth a thousand words. It's an amazing picture. Here is the body of John Paul II lying in state, but who is kneeling there in front of, just in front of his body, lying in state. There are three past and present presidents of a Protestant country, the United States of America. There they are, Bill Clinton, George Bush senior, George Bush Jr. Kneeling there in front of the body of John Paul, lying In state. Now, my point is this. How did this country begin, the Protestant America? It began as people wanted to escape the Old world persecution, coming to the New world. Most of them were Protestants. They wanted to get away from persecution. No one wants that, as we said. But now look what's happened down through time. Times have changed. So that now we see three leaders of a Protestant country kneeling in front of the body of John Paul lying in state. Amazing. That's what John indicated in the Revelation. These two powers would come together. And they are coming together in amazing ways today. As we can see, number five. This power would make an image of the beast, an image of the sea beast. Notice what the Bible says. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by these signs, which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. Now, there are two things here that we need to give attention to. John is saying he saw that this land beast would make an image of the sea beast. Now, what does that mean? Means that Protestant America would somehow act similar to the Dark Age Church of Rome revived in the end of time. It's going to be a replica of how it works. Well, that leads us to the question, how did the Dark Age Church of Rome work back in those 1260 years? Very simply, it was a union of church and state. The government and religion got together in the old world and that's how religious intolerance took place. Because the church used the secular arm to enforce its beliefs. The government also used the church to get its agendas done too. They worked together. For example, if you go to Europe, go to the basilica, John Peter's Basilica there in Rome, that great big cathedral. You will see great columns there. And they actually have some of the stories basically almost in stone. There are things on those columns of events that took place. You see the incredible power the Church of Rome wielded on one column alone. For example, here is one of the leaders of Europe. He's made to wait out in the snow, in the cold for three days until the Bishop of Rome is ready to see him. The Church of Rome exercised incredible power in the area of Bohemia, for example, you will notice there that what took place there in Bohemia, we call that Czechoslovakia or the Czech Republic. There in Prague, there was a godly priest in the Church of Rome by the name of Jan Hus. Jan husband was simply preaching about Jesus from the Bible, bringing the church people in that part of the World back to the Scriptures and sharing them, the things about God and his grace and his mercy, how things were free to us if we just come to Christ. He began to upset the church. And so the church put the city under interdict. What does that mean? It means that they decided to shut down all the services that the church could offer. Now you can imagine the people, because the people thought that unless I get buried in the church grounds, unless I get married by the church, unless I do all these things and the church does it, I can't have eternal life. The church was so involved in everything that the church had to be involved in everything. So they said, nothing's going to happen until the leader there in Czechoslovakia says to John Hus, you better stop what you're doing. Well, of course the people would get against the government leaders for not doing what the church was wanting them to do, because they wanted to make sure they had eternal life, which they thought came through following these different practices of what the church outlined. So the church put the city under interdict. Tremendous power. It reeled, wielded because of the people that they're under, the kings. And the church. And other things went the other way as well. Working together, government and religion. And you know, whenever you have government and religion working together, you will always have religious intolerance. It will always end up that way because minority groups who are not in the know, they will be persecuted with the arm of the state. And that's what, that's how Europe worked in that old world. Government and religion working together for those many centuries. So America's going to do the same thing. Protestant America is going to do the same thing one day. A church state alliance working together to forward the ambitions of the Church. Protestantism in that country now, the United States of America began with two great things that had not been seen in old world Europe. Two great strengths it had. And these are mentioned in the Bible prophecy that we're dealing with. Revelation 13. Notice what John saw. I saw another beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb. So it's sort of very lamb like at first, but what happens. It spoke like a dragon. Now, horns in the Bible represent strength, power. Sometimes a nation was represented by horns. We saw that in Daniel chapter 8. Four Horns came up out of the power of Greece. Greece was divided into four regions, four areas, four groups, four powers. The idea was because horns were on the ox and it was a powerful beast. And so the horns represented powers, could represent nations, could represent groups, could represent individuals. So Two great strengths. Two horns like a lamb. Two very good things because it's lamb like. What were those two things that the United States was different than any other country up to this point? Well, number one was religious freedom. The willingness to give their people the opportunity to choose according to their conscience, which how they would worship civil that religious freedom. We call that. You see, in the old world, if your king was, say, a Church of Rome king, then you had to belong to the Church of Rome. If he was an Anglican, you had to be Anglican. That's the way Europe worked. You had to have the same religion as your king. Well, the people of the United States, in their constitution, they said, no, no, we're not going to have that. If you want to be a Roman Catholic, you be a Roman Catholic and no one's going to bother you. Want to be a Baptist, you be a Baptist. Want to be a Jehovah's Witness, you be one, doesn't matter. We're not going to interfere with your conscience. We're not going to dictate your conscience. We're not going to go against your conscience. You have freedom of religion. That's a good thing, of course. But wherever you have government and religion working together, you will sooner or later have people trying to force you to have a certain belief. We see that happens in countries in the world today. You will notice what happens in some of the Islamic countries, for example, because the government and the religion work together, certain things are forced upon people. That takes place not only in Islamic countries, but it can take place in Hindu countries. We see some things happening there too, and it can take place in Christian countries. Whenever government and religion work together, there will be religious intolerance. Number two principle of this country was different was civil freedom. In other words, people choose their own political leaders. You see, in old World Europe, it was kings, they said to rule by divine right, and the king's son became the next king. If he was a fool, you got a fool. For the next few years, you couldn't choose your leaders. But America said, no, no, we're going to do things differently. We're going to let the people choose the leaders. We call it democracy, don't we? Where the people choose their leaders and the leaders have a certain time limit to them and then they can be chosen again or they can be dismissed and someone else come. Now, the United States Constitution had a very important thing in it, and that was they said, we want a wall between church and state. We do not want the government and religion to work together like that in the old world, religion has its part in the lives of people, the government has its part to do. But don't put them together because that spells disaster. That spells religious intolerance down the track. Even in the American Constitution, it says that. Notice what in the Bill of Rights, Congress, that's their governments. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. So let people worship how they want to worship, according to their conscience, so long as it's not impacting the lives of people. You know, they're going out killing people or something. The government has its place, but let's not put religion in there. Let's not tamper with that. No law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Now, that wall today, my friends, is beginning to crumble. You can see that very clearly by what has been happening in recent years. There has been since the 1950s, a growing, growing influence of what we call the moral right. It's really evangelical Protestantism in that country. In fact, a former chief justice on the Supreme Court had this to say, which shows these two powers are coming together, government and religion. He said the wall of separation between church and state, this idea of a war. He said this is a metaphor based on bad history. That's nonsense. A chief justice on the Supreme Court is saying that this man is no longer there. But the same idea. We see a growing influence in that country. We where religion and politics are coming together. A church, state, union is being formed today. You can even see that at the present time. You will notice that back in 2020, when they had this great big riot at the Congress, government buildings there. You remember if you saw some of the images, who were the people? Most of these people were Christian people. They were brandishing Bibles. This is for God and country sort of thing. And they just. Just about killed a few people outside. Some of the security people. Something's wrong. Something's going on in that country. There's a big movement. It's called. It's called National Christianity, in other words, Christian Coalition with the government, getting the backing of the government. Christian nationalism, we call it. It's growing. Today they are forming an image to the Church of Rome. The idea of bringing politics and religion together, that's how it worked in the old world, and that's starting to work in the new world. John said that one of the great influences to do that, to bring that together, we're not there yet, but we're moving there. John said one of the great influences is going to be Signs and wonders. Signs and wonders are going to be used by people in Protestant America to form this union between government and religion. You see, one of the reasons signs and wonders are going to be used is because most people think when you see a miracle must come from God. Not so said Jesus. Even the dragon can do miracles. Jesus said, beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing. Many people will say to me on that day, lord, haven't we cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name. He says, depart from me. I never knew you. Don't miss the presentation. When we talk about Babylon Rising, we talk about night cry, demonic dimensions. We're going to see how this thing is starting to move today so that an image of the beast is being formed thanks to signs and wonders. One of the biggest movements in the world today is the Protestant movement of signs and Wonders. We need to keep our eye on this. As far as John's concerned, there is a growing bond today between Rome and Protestant United States of America. Remember, it began way back with people wanting to escape religious intolerance, which was taking place mainly through the Church of Rome in Dark Age Europe. They came here to this country, mostly Protestants. But now these two are coming together. Evangelical Protestantism and the Church of Rome are starting to move ever closer together. This growing bond between Rome and Protestant USA is taking place. I would remind you of what took place back in September 2015. I'm sure you notice what happened. The first Bishop of Rome, the first Pope to address a joint meeting of Congress, both houses there in the United States government. The first Bishop to do that back in 2015, Pope Francis. Notice what the House speaker back in those days said. John Bonner. This man worked for 20 years to bring this event into being. 20 years so that the Bishop of Rome could have this opportunity. Notice what he said. What a day. What a moment for our country. I'm so proud that so many came to greet the Pope here at our Capitol, the world's greatest symbol of democracy. The Holy Father's visit is surely a blessing for all of us. Do you see? My friend John had predicted so long ago that these two powers would come together and work together in the end of time. And this is a classic example of it. As with some of the other examples you see, a global new World order is being formed. It's gradually coming into being with these two great powers working together. John says in the end of time, it's going to cause people to be worshiping the dragon. Sadly, what these Fulfillments of Bible prophecy tell us is this. The king is coming. We're almost home, my friend. The signs tell us that Jesus is going to come soon. That's what these things tell us. These prophecies are not given, as I said, to point fingers at people. Not at all. John predicted these things 2000 years ago. Not to do that, but so that when they happen, when these events begin to take place, we might realize, number one, there is a God. And we might be prepared for what these powers are actually going to do in the end of time. What are they going to do? Seek to bring worship of the beast, the image of the beast and the dragon. False worship. That's why God calls out through those three angels. The first angel says, no, don't do, don't do that. Don't worship the beast from the sea. Don't worship the dragon. Worship the creator God. That's God's call to help people in the end of time. You know what these prophecies tell me is this. As Paul wrote so long ago, the night is fast spent, the day is at hand. The coming of the Jesus is at hand. In other words, therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness. This is no time to drift from God. This is a time to get thick with God. That's what Paul is saying. Cast off the works of darkness. Let us put on the armor of light, God's armor. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness. There's no time for party on dude stuff. It's too late in the day for that, says Paul. The night is far spent. If Paul could say that back then, what would he say today when these prophecies are being fulfilled? That John spoke about in Paul's time, not, he says, in sexual immorality. Let's not do that sort of business. Not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the time, my friend, where we need to be serious because we're not living in ordinary time. We're living on the knife edge of eternity. Jesus is coming soon. Now there are serious implications for this growing bond between these two beasts. The beast from the land and the beast from the sea. Rome and Protestant USA are serious implications. John pointed it out. The Bible says all the world marveled and followed the beast, the sea beast. So they worshiped the dragon. That's Satan, remember, who gave authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast. He, the land beast, causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast. You see this is not just interesting prophecy. This is about who are we going to follow. This is not just being able to predict this, this and this event, but what are we going to do, who are we going to serve, who are we going to follow? That's what this is all about, you see, to worship the beast image which the Protestant USA will set up. It's a being starting to form to worship that is to worship the beast. Because it's the replica of the sea beast. It's the image of the sea beast. So if you worship the image, you really worship the beast. And then John just said, if you worship the beast, you worship Satan, you worship the dragon. That's why this is in the Bible. It's not here, my friends, because God wants to point fingers at people. It's there because the devil has an aim. And that aim is to take you and I out to eternal loss. Because if we worship the dragon, we lose eternal life. If we worship Satan, the question is, how can you and I go against the crowd? Because sadly, most people are going to go that way. We don't have to. So how can we not follow the crowd? How can we worship Christ and not Satan in the end of time? I like the way the Bible puts it, right there in the middle of this great prophecy in Revelation 13, pretty much in the middle is a very interesting verse, verse 8. The Bible says, all who dwell on the earth will worship him, the sea beast, whose names have not been written in the book of life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Do you see, my friend, the way not to worship the dragon is to have your name in the Lamb's Book of life. If our name is not in the Lamb's book of life, then we certainly will worship the dragon. We will worship Satan. We will worship these beasts. No question about it. No. God says, make sure your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life. The Lamb's Book of Life, the Book of life. That is a record, you see, of all those of God's children who have put their trust in Christ and his death, who've said, yes, Lord, I believe you died for me. That's the Lamb's Book of life. So the question is now, how do you get your name in this book? How do you get your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? So you won't worship the dragon ultimately? Cause if we don't, we will, as we just read. I'm glad you asked. I'm glad you're thinking about that question. John tells us how to do that? How can we have our name in the Lamb's Book of Life? It's very simple. John said, here's how you get your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. He who has the son Jesus has life. In other words, eternal life has their name in the Book of Life. Of course, he who does not have the Son of God does not have life, my friend. Do you have Jesus in your life? Have you invited him into your life? Have you said, lord, nothing? In my hand I bring simply to the old rugged cross I cling that's what it means to have your name. In the Lamb's Book of Life. We say, lord, I believe you died for me 2,000 years ago. I believe you took my sins there. I believe, Lord, you want to give me a new life. I want to have Christ in my life. That's how you get your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, my friend. You must say yes to Jesus. Don't put it off, my friend. You may be never this close to the kingdom of God again. When the Spirit of God is speaking to you, say, my son, my daughter, give me your heart. That's the time to do it. Jesus said, the wind blows where it wills. You hear the sound thereof, but you don't know where it comes from and where it's going. So when the Holy Spirit speaks to you, this is the time to say, yes, Lord, I believe. I accept what Jesus did for me. I want Christ. But, you know, the Bible tells us very clearly that names can be taken out of the Book of Life as well. We know how to get them in. But names can come out of the Book of Life. You say? Sure. Really? Yes, absolutely. John tells us that in Revelation, chapter 22 that names can be taken out. If anyone shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life. What does that mean? Does it mean, you know, you translate a word wrongly or something? No, no, no. Revelation starts this way. Blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy, those who read this prophecy and those who follow what it says. So when John says our names can be taken away because we take away the words, it means we don't follow what it says. What an amazing thing, my friend. So how do you keep your name in the Book of Life? How do you do that? How do you stay in the Lamb's Book of Life? Very simple. Jesus was the one who told us in a beautiful way, he said, here's how you keep your Name in the Lamb's book of life. Abide, remain in me. That means stay in me if you love me, if you keep my commandments, I should say, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and I abide in his love. Do you see how you keep your name in the book of life? Jesus says, you keep following me. You obey what I say, because if you love me, that's what you'll do anyway. And if you keep following what I say, that's how you stay with me. That's how you stay in my love. You imagine I tell my wife, sweetheart, Marilyn, you're the best. I love you, dear. She says, honey, I don't feel so well today. Can you put the garbage out? Well, I'm not into garbage. I say to her, it's not my thing. Next day she says to me, honey, I really need your help with the dishes. Nah, dishes is not my thing, sweetheart. Just not into it. If I say no to my wife every time she asks for some help, do I really love her? It's just a bunch of words, isn't it? That's all it is, just words. If I love her, I'm going to do what she asks me to do. And when I do what she asks me to do, I will draw closer to her. That's the way it works. And it's the same with God. He says, stay with me. Here's how you stay with me. You keep my commandments just as I keep my Father's commandments. That's how I stay in his love. You do the same with me. In other words, what is he saying? Follow Jesus and obey what he says. And that's exactly what God's people do in the end of time. That's exactly what God's people do. From all the different isms who are seeking to follow God, the Bible says these words, here is the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God. And they have what? They have the faith of Jesus. They have Christ in their heart. They've accepted him in their life. So now they follow what God says. They keep his commandments. They remain in his book. I want to share with you an amazing story of a man who did just that, who gives us a tremendous example of how you and I can abide and stay with Jesus. How we can have our names in the book of. His name was John Wesley. I love the story of John Wesley. John Wesley was an Anglican preacher. He went to Oxford University with his Brother Charles Wesley. And they had a friend there by the name of George Whitfield. These men became very close friends while they were at Oxford University studying to be ministers. The story goes that they used to have a method for everything. They had a method for praying, a method for helping needy people, a method for, you know, fasting method. And people made fun of them at the university, so they called them Methodists. That's how the name came to John Wesley and Charles Wesley. And the name stuck. And eventually from these two men came the Methodist Church. But they didn't know how to be right with God at first. Certainly John Wesley, he thought, it's what I do that makes me right with God. He went to America, he says, to convert the Indians. But he said when he'd finished there for his time, he came back to England and said, I failed. And who will convert Wesley? He didn't know God. He wanted to know God, but he didn't know him. He met, fortunately, some friends over there in America, in the Americas, where he was. Where he was doing his work in Savannah, it's called. One of them was a man by the name of Peterbola. He was a Moravian. These were followers, descendants, if you like, of Jan Hus, that Roman Catholic priest there in the Czech Republic, way back in time, Bohemia, back in those days, in the 1400s. These were followers of Jan Husband. And they were on the ship with Wesley, and the ship hit a storm and Wesley was petrified. He's a minister of the gospel, he's an Anglican priest. He was petrified. He knew that if he drowns, he's not going to have eternal life. He wanted to have it, but he didn't know how to get it. But these people, these Moravians, they were singing. They were full of joy, singing there on the ship. Even the children were singing. They weren't distressed at all, weren't worried at all. And he thought, what have they got that I haven't got? And so Wesley got close to these people and became the friend of Peter Boehler, one of the leaders there. And Peter Bola tried to help Wesley to trust in Jesus, but Wesley couldn't get it. So he comes back, as I said, to England after his time there, and he says, I've been a failure. Went to America to convert the Indians. But who will convert Wesley? On one occasion, he's told to help a man who's going to go to the gallows. He's a thief, he's a crook, and he's going to be harmed. And Wesley is asked by Peter Boehler, you go and help the man. In fact, Boehler had told him, he said, you preach Jesus and you'll catch Jesus. That was the only way he could think of to help Wesley, who was so focused on what he was doing. So Wesley goes on this cart with this. With this convict, this criminal guy on the way to the gallows, and Wesley shares with him the love of God and how Jesus will accept him like the thief on the cross. And the man accepted Jesus just like the thief on the cross at the last moment and died in peace. And Wesley thought, wow, I want what he's got and I've helped him get it, but I don't have it myself. Lord, help me. I need Jesus. I need my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. But I haven't. I know it's not there. I know if I die, Lord, I'm not ready. So one night he went to the great St. Paul's Cathedral, big Anglican cathedral there in London. You can visit that church today. And he went there to try to find God, listen to the great choirs, but didn't come away with Jesus in his life. Went down the street, a little street there in London called Aldersgate street, where there was a little meeting going on, held by these Moravians. And Wesley slipped into the back of the hall there and sat down and listened to a man speaking, basically from that great priest of the Church of Rome, Martin Luther, who started the Protestant Reformation. He was reading some of his preface to the Book of Romans, Luther's commentary. And he said, as I listened to the words that Luther was sharing from the Gospels, from the writings of Paul, that by grace are we saved through faith. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Come as you are, Wesley said, as I listen to the words of the Bible, I listen to the words coming from Paul's Book of Rome. He said, my heart felt strangely warm within me and I knew that God had forgiven me even my sins. Wesley got up out of that church, you know what? He jumped on his horse and he rode over 200,000 miles to tell people about this Jesus, whom he loved and knew. Now, you see, that's the way we get our name in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's the way we keep it in, like the Virgin Mary said, the Virgin Mary said to the people who were helping at the wedding, she says, whatever he says to you, do it. And that's what Wesley did. He just kept following God. He accepted Jesus. He got his name in the book of life and he just kept following Jesus. He kept his name in the book. That's how it happens. We accept him and we just keep following him. What a tremendous example to us here. This man found Jesus through the pages of the Bible thanks to the writings of that man, Martin Luther. I think we should thank God that he not only shows us what's going to happen, but he shows us how we can be on the right side in the end of time. How we can stand for the Lamb, how we can stand to worship Jesus and not the beast and the dragon. Thank God that he gives us that right in the heart of that prophecy. Those who have their name in the Lamb's book of life, those are the ones who will not worship in this wrong way. Let's bow in prayer. Father, I want to thank you so much for this book that Lord, we're not on shaky ground here. We can see if we have eyes to see, ears to hear. We can see what John has predicted and what is taking place in our world today. It's as plain as the nose on our face. We are nearing the time when Jesus will come, Lord. We don't want to worship the dragon. We don't want to worship Satan. We want to worship Jesus, Lord. To do that we need our name in the Lamb's book of life. Help those who are watching listening right now. Help them to say Lord Jesus, like the thief on the cross. I come Lord Jesus, help me to just keep following you, to keep obeying whatever it is that you reveal to me because I want keep my name in that book. Thank you Lord that you accept us and you accept our commitment to you when we mean it and say Jesus, I need you come. Thank you for hearing our prayer in Jesus name. Amen. Well, so glad that you were able to be with us in this presentation. A vital one you can see. Whatever you do, don't miss our next presentation. In this COUNTDOWN Back to the Future series we we're going to be looking at a vital topic. We're going to be looking at 666 and the mark of the Beast. Now lots of people want to know about the Mark of the Beast. What is that? Well we're going to unpack that in our next presentation. So invite a friend, send them a link to watch the presentation as they go to 3 ABN. They'll be so glad that you invited them to watch this presentation. We really look forward to seeing you in our next presentation in Countdown Back to the future
