The Middle East at the Crossroads: The Final Solution - CBF2608

Thank you for joining countdown. Back to the future. We're going to take an amazing look through time in this presentation. The Middle east at the crossroads, the final solution. You know, back in the year 2000, Ariel Sharon decided to go up onto the Temple Mount, a very sacred place for the Muslims and of course, the Jews as well. But because he went up here, he caused what is called the second Intifada, The, a big fight, if you would, between the Palestinian Arabs and the Israelis. Tragically, at that time, some 3,000 Palestinians died and another 1,000 Israelis were killed. A tragic thing. The question is, why did Ariel Sharon come up here? What possessed him to go up there? And why did it actually upset the Muslims, the Palestinian Arabs? Well, we'll come back to answer that question as we move through our presentation. I want us to come back and think where we are in this series. We've noticed that there are three beasts. A dragon, a sea beast and a land beast called, if you would, the global world order. These three powers seek global worship, global allegiance, yours and mine. Let's notice again what Revelation says. The Bible says and all the world marveled and followed the beast. And so they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, to the sea beast. You see, to worship or to follow the beast is actually to worship or follow the dragon. And of course, if we do that, that Satan, what happens? We actually cannot be part of the last empire. We will be excluded from that empire. Now, what are the tactics that these three powers use to secure global worship? There are actually three of them. I want you to notice. Number one, John tells us there's going to be miracles, signs and wonders to deceive people, to follow these three beasts. The Bible says he, that's the land beast. Now he performs great signs, that's miracles in the Bible, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast. So if you worship the image, you really worship the beast. And if you worship the beast, you really worship the dragon. Do you see miracles? Signs and wonders will be one of the tactics that he uses to sweep people along his way to take global control. Because many people think miracles are all coming from God. But that's not the case. We just read he uses miracles to deceive people. He does these miracles, this power that's allied with the dragon, there's a second way that or a second tactic that will be used to get you and I on side and that is economic and financial control. We saw that in a previous presentation. But I would remind you, John says 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. Do you see this one? Economics. Trying to get us to follow along after the dragon by means of financial constraints. The third tactic that will be used is physical coercion. We also talked about this. What happens notice the Land Beast. Again he the Land Beast was granted power to cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. That's physical coercion in anybody's language. So in summary, here are the tactics used to secure global worship by these three powers. Number one, deception through miracles, signs and wonders. Number two, financial pressure. Can't buy or can't sell. Number three, physical force, death threats. Now here's my question as we move into this presentation. How can we withstand this? Because most people are going to follow the dragon. They're going to follow the beast, which means to follow the dragon. So how can we go against the crowd? Because most are going to go that way. How can we overcome these three powers? Well, enter that beast that we talked about in the previous presentation. It's through Jesus the Lamb beast that people will be able to overcome these three powers and their endeavors. How is it that Jesus the Lamb can give us victory over these three powers? How is it that he can help us overcome what they throw at us? Well, here's the reason, because you see of why Jesus is called the Lamb. We've just noticed that he's called the Lamb. But why is he called the Lamb? The fact that he's called the Lamb actually is why people can overcome these three powers. Why they don't really have to follow the dragon or the beast. Why they can actually follow in God's way. But we need to go back in time now. We need to go back to 2000 BC. Want to come back here to Ur of the Chaldees. This is in what we call Iraq today, the southern part, near the Gulf of Persia. You will notice here that Abraham lived in this place called Ur. But God made a special call to Abraham. Abraham of course, is very important to not only the Jews, but to the Muslim people as well, to the Arabs in particular. But notice what happens now. The Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country. That's out of Ur to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. You notice three things are promised to Abraham right here in this passage. We're looking at number one, a special place, a land, a piece of real estate, if you would. A special piece of property. Now that land eventually which we call Palestine, also became known as the land of Israel in ancient Bible times. Now why this land? How come this piece of real estate? Well, notice this map of the Middle east for just a moment. You will notice Abraham comes from way over here on the right near the Persian Gulf at Ur. He's that's down in that area. Abraham's called from that place to go up here down into what we ancient times called Canaan to where Jerusalem was. This gave him or Israel global reach, you see, because Mesopotamia, where he came from was a great civilization. Down here, south of Israel was Egypt, another great center of civilization. And then up there where the Hittites in the north and over into Anatolia, where we call Turkey today, you can see God has placed them right in the middle of the ancient world. Smack bang in the middle, in fact, that's what the Bible says. God says. Thus says the Lord God. This is Jerusalem. That's the capital of Israel. I have set her in the midst of the nations. I've set her right in the middle and the countries all around her. God wanted to place these people in a very strategic place so they would have access to the nations. People would come and go and pass through their land on their way from one civilization to another. That was God's plan, all right. Not only a special place, a piece of real estate, but they were to be a special people. John says, Moses says, a great nation. When God spoke to Abraham, that nation eventually became Israel. Now what was it? How would they be special? Well, by keeping God's commandments. You notice this was what would make them special. Because you see the ten Commandments as we often refer to them. They are about loving relationships, love to God and love to other people. If Israel would keep these, they would have loving relationships with God and loving relationships with the nations who came in contact with them. Notice what God says about this. Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be his special people, just as he promised you, so that you should keep all his commandments. Those commandments, as we said, they're about loving relationships, but they also a picture of what God is like. These are his values. What he cares about most are a picture of his character in actual fact. Well, he wanted his people to be like that. The Ten Commandments. Loving relationships with God and others. So notice what the Bible tells us here. Therefore be careful to observe them. He's talking about God's commandments to the Israelites. This is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, these laws and say, notice what they'll say. They, that is the non Jewish people. Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. That was God's original plan. But not just to be a special people. They were to have a special purpose. What was the purpose? God said to Abraham, it was to bless or help the rest of the world. Israel was never to exist for itself. God had this special people in a special place to help all of the nations of the world. The Bible puts it this way. He said to me, you are my servant, O Israel. I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, the non Jewish people, that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth. So this was God's plan to help the whole planet. A special land where a special people who were loving people for a special purpose, to help the whole world, to help everyone. In other words, to be part of God's last empire. That was God's plan. God is not only the God of the Israelites, God is the God of all people. God is the Creator of all and he wants all people to be part of this last empire where there's no tears, no pain, no sorrow and no death. And Israel was purpose. His purpose was to help everyone to be part of it. How would that happen? Well, number one, through these people would come the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the whole world. And also through these people, God gave them the temple. Now the purpose of the temple was to help people understand how Messiah would save the world. The temples were sort of like a drama of God's way of helping us with our sin problem as a human race. That was to show how the Messiah would save the world when he finally came. Well, you may recall the story if maybe you've seen the Ten Commandment film, Cecil B. DeMille's blockbuster movie many years ago, or the Prince of Egypt or whatever film Hollywood's put out, the same story is basically the same. Israel's in Egypt, they are slaves in Egypt. They're there for about 400 years. Then God calls Moses and they have the exodus or the exit from Egypt in 1450 BC. They leave Egypt on their way to what we would call Palestine. Today, on their way, they come through the Sinai Desert. And it's here where God gives Moses the temple. The plan of the sanctuaries or the temple. Notice what God said, why he gave this temple. The Bible says in Exodus, as they're coming through the Sinai Desert, let them make me a sanctuary, a temple. Why? So that I may dwell among them. You see, it's always been God's purpose to be close to his people, his children, all of us, no matter what race, what nation, high, low, rich, poor. He loves the lot of us and he wants to come near to us. So God gave them this temple. And the plan of the temple was basically the same for all the temples that Israel had. Whether it was the temple that was a movable one that he gave Moses, that they could pack it up and carry it, whether it was the permanent temple that Solomon built, the first one about 900 BC, or whether it was the one that Jesus came into when he was on earth. The temples all had the same basic plan. And there was something like this. There was an altar for burnt offerings. There was a wash basin in the courtyard. And then there was this tent with two rooms, the candlesticks in the first room, a table with bread on it in that first room, and then an altar of incense. And then in the back room, there was the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, or the box with the ten Commandments inside it. All the temples that the Israelites had with basically the same plan. It taught them many things. Now, Solomon's Temple, as we said, was the first permanent building built around about 950 BC. And they illustrated how God solves our human sin problem. Now, let me say something before we go on. You can never understand properly the Book of Revelation unless we have a basic understanding of how these temples work in the Bible times. Because Revelation is full of temple pictures. You have the Ark of the Covenant. We'll see. As mentioned, in there, you have the seven branch candlestick, you have the altar of incense that's mentioned, and you have the lamb that's mentioned 28 times. These are all sanctuary animals or furniture. So we need to have a basic understanding. And then we're going to really understand what the Book of Revelation is all about and how we can understand the end time scenes. So they illustrated how God solves the sin problem. The most critical player in the temples, of course, was one player. Well, there were others, but the main player was this, the sacrificial lambs. Now, this brings us to the Dome of the Rock building. I'm sure on television. You've seen that golden domed building in Jerusalem there. What is it about the Dome of the Rock? Why is it called the Dome of the Rock? Well, underneath the dome is a rock. That makes sense, doesn't it? Now, you can't go inside this building today unless you're a Muslim. I was able to go inside it in my first trip to Israel in the Middle east, because it was. Anybody could go there back then. And I've been inside this and you can see this rock right here. What's the significance of this rock? Why is it so important? Well, this brings us to a story of Abraham. You see, God one night called Abraham, he was asleep and God woke him up. And this is what God said to Abraham. He said. Then he said, take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you now. He meant by the only son. It wasn't his only son. It meant the only son between you and Sarah, his wife. He had another son called Ishmael through Hagar, one of the servant girls of Sarah. But this was the only son. He's talking about Isaac now, you will notice. Take your son, your only son, whom you love. So Abraham woke up his boy and he said, son, we must go and offer sacrifice. So they went together. And on the way, the boy says, hey, dad, we've got the animal, we've got the sac, we've got the wood and we've got the fire. But where's the animal? We're not taking an animal with us. Well, Abraham didn't have the heart to tell him that he was to be the sacrifice. So they finally got up to the place where God said to go. And Abraham says to his boy, Isaac, son, and you are to be the sacrifice. Now, I'm sure Isaac couldn't understand that for a moment because I'm sure Abraham didn't. God had never asked for human sacrifice. God hated human sacrifice. Only one valid sacrifice. We'll see as we move in this series and in this presentation. But Abraham knew the voice of God. That's why he went ahead with this. But Abraham's son Isaac obviously was a very loyal son because he could have run from his dad. His dad was well over 100, an old man. But he said, must have said, well, dad, if that's what God says, let's get on with it. So he binds Isaac up, puts him on this altar that he made out of sticks and so on, and put him on top. He's about to plunge the knife into his chest when a voice calls out, no, Abraham, don't do it. Don't do it. I was just testing you to see whether you really trusted me. So look behind you and you'll see a ram that's caught in some of the thickets. Take the ram and offer it in place of your son. Now, the place where this occurred, scholars know, was Moriah, Mount Moriah. This is Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, where not only did Abraham was Abraham going to offer up his own son, he thought that's what was going to happen. But this is the site of the altar in Solomon's temple. This is Mount Moriah, the very place that this happened. Now, I think you may be able to understand this question. Why did Ariel Sharon come up here? Because this is the most sacred place to Jewish people today. The Temple Mount, where they had their temple. But why did it upset the Muslims? Because, you see, the Muslims believe that this is where Muhammad took a night journey to heaven on his horse. So this is a very sacred place to the Muslims. And now he was desecrating their place as well. And hence this intifada. Tragically. But this place was called by Abraham Jehovah Jireh, which means God provides God or Jehovah provides. The word Moriah means seen by the Lord. In other words, something would be seen that God would provide in this place. Now, Jesus talked about this story in the life of Abraham. Notice what Jesus said. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. Question how on earth did Abraham see Christ's Day 2000 years before Jesus came? Well, it was because of this event. Remember, when they're walking towards this place, Isaac said, dad, where's the fire? Where's the sacrifice? We've got the fire, we've got the sticks, but where's the animal? Remember what happened then? Well, notice what Abraham said. Abraham said, that is to Isaac, my son. God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went, both of them together, a father and a son went together up that mountain. That day, when all that thing had finished, Abraham realized what was one day going to happen. Abraham saw that day, that one day another father called God the father and another son called God the son. Jesus would go to another mountain, not far from this one. And there God would offer up his son, Jesus. But there would be no voice to call out, God, don't do it. Because the Bible says, for God so loved the world, he Gave. He sacrificed his only begotten son. That's because of you, my friend. That's because he loved you so much that God was willing to sacrifice his only son for us all. What amazing love. That's why Jesus is called the Lamb of God. God will provide himself a lamb. In other words, not only is God providing, but God is the lamb. God is the sacrifice. That's the amazing grace of God. That's why Jesus, God became God in human flesh. God the Father sent God the Son to take our place on the cross. He became the lamb. That's what it means. John the Baptist, looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, behold the Lamb of God. What an amazing thing we find here. Notice what the Bible also says, John. In Revelation, he picks up this idea of sacrifice. Now. And I looked, says John, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb. What does it say? A lamb. As though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes. You see, Jesus is not just he died, he's the sacrificial lamb. He's God's sacrifice to save the planet. God so loved us. He gave, he sacrificed his son. And all of this was set up at the crossroads of the world. Back in ancient times in the temple, it pointed to the fact that this would one day happen. You can imagine someone's coming from Egypt, they want to go over to Mesopotamia, they're going to come through Jerusalem and they're going to ask the question, what's this? What's this mean? What do these animal sacrifices mean? Well, they're pointing to the fact that God himself is going to one day become the Lamb to die for the sins of people. Just like these animals. This sort of like an illustration thing took place. This is pointing to a real greater reality. People coming from Anatolia, in Turkey, coming down to Egypt, they're going to come through here, they're going to go to the temple to see what's going on, and they're going to be told the story of a God who loves us so much that he's one day going to give his son. Now back to this question that we're trying to answer. How can Christ's death as the Lamb of God, how can it help us overcome these three beasts? How on earth can that possibly. How can that do that? Well, let's notice there's a number of reasons why some people will follow the lamb and not follow the beast. And the reason is, number one, you see his death, the Death of Jesus is the lamb, the sacrificial lamb. He has redeemed us as a human race. The Bible says, you, the lamb he's talking of, were slain, were sacrificed, and have redeemed us to God by your blood. Out of every tribe, every tongue and people and nation. God is a global lover. He has his children everywhere in this world, and he gave his son for every one of them. The Bible says in that amazing passage, he sacrificed. Now, redemption means this. It's a market term. It's a marketplace word that's used there. And it simply means someone is valued and wanted and so a price is paid to get that thing that someone wants. A marketplace term. Redeem, of course, means redeem, repossess at a price, in other words, or possess at a price. But redeem means repossess. Something's been lost somehow or gone astray, and someone's going to buy it back again. This is the idea. Redeemed, possessed, repossessed at a price. I love the words that we find here in First Peter, one of the followers of Jesus, knowing that you were redeemed, bought at a price, he said, with the precious blood of Christ as of the Lamb, without blemish and without spot. Jesus is God in human flesh. And this Jesus died, was sacrificed to redeem us. Firstly from Satan. You see, we were captives of Satan back in the Garden of Eden. Our first parents sold out on God and joined this dragon devil in his rebellion against God. But Jesus came to buy us back, so to speak. What does the Bible say? He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And this is the real enemy, the dragon devil. Notice what it says in the Book of Acts. Paul is called by God to help people who are deep in trouble in terms of sin stuff. God says, I'm calling you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God. Jesus died to take us out of the control of this dragon devil who we were captives of, so to speak, as a human race. I remember a story, beautiful little story of a young boy. He made a boat and he loved to sail this sailboat on the stream that flowed through his village. And he would hold it, a piece of string in one hand, and tie it to the boat. Nice sailboat. There was a fast flowing stream in this village and it would flow down the stream and he'd pull it back again. Well, one, a gust of wind caught the sail unexpectedly. He wasn't, you know, ready for it and it pulled the string out of his hand as the wind whammed into the sail and the boat started to, you know, travel down the river very quickly. He couldn't keep up with. It's a fast flowing stream. And eventually it vanished out of sight. Well, the little boy was devastated. I mean, he'd made this little boat himself. Well, a few days later, he's doing some window shopping in the village where he lived. And to his delight, there in one of the windows was his boat. So he goes inside the shop and he says, say, mister, that boat in the window there of yours, that's my boat. Can you please get it out for me? I want to take it home. Man says, whoa, hang on a bit here, Sonny. That's my boat. Someone bought it in here, and I paid for it, and it's my boat. If you want that boat, you're gonna have to buy it. So the little boy puts his hand in his pocket and finds a few coins, slams him down on the counter, says, is that enough, mister? For my boat? I paid a lot more than that. He said, you're going to have to pay for more than that. So the little boy goes out of the shop. He's devastated. He wants his boat back. And he's so determined, he decides, I know what I'm going to do. So he goes mow some lawns for some people, chop some firewoods for other people. And then after a few months, he comes back with a bag full of cash. And he looks in the window, there's his boat still there. Goes inside to the counter and slams the big bag down on the counter and says, say, mister, is that enough for my boat there? The man counts a few of the coins. Oh, yeah, that's enough, Sonny. That's okay. So the little boy goes to the window. He's heard to say as he picks up the little boat, hugging this little boat to his chest, little boat, little boat. Twice mine. First I made you, then I bought you. And, you know, that's a bit like it is with Jesus. He's the creator of the universe. He's the God who made everything, including you and I originally, when we went astray, when the devil took control of us as a human race, Jesus came to this world and died on the cross. The same hands that fashioned this world were nailed to an old rugged cross to buy us back, so to speak. Redeemed us to God. That's interesting. He didn't just redeem us. He redeemed us to God. He brought us back to God. That's the amazing thing that we Find next in the Bible about this story of why Jesus is called the Lamb. Notice you, the Lamb were slain, we read and have redeemed us to God. God wants us back. God loves the human race. He made us. He wants us back. So Jesus came to buy us back, but to God, to reconcile us to God, to bring us back to him. By your blood, by your death. Out of every tribe, tongue, people and nation. What an amazing God. You know, he's redeemed us from the guilt of sin. Not just redeemed us from the dragon to God, but he's redeemed us from guilt. We as a human race, we carry guilt. We know things we've done wrong we're not. We're ashamed of. We think God could never forgive us. But the Lamb did something more than just bring us to God. He redeemed us from the guilt of sin. The Bible puts it this way. In him, in Jesus, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. You know, it's a wonderful thing to be forgiven when you've done something wrong. And you know, God has forgiven me. This comes because Jesus died for us. I like the way Bible puts it. Here I have God says, past tense. Blotted out, wiped out. Like a thick cloud, your transgressions. And like a cloud, your sins, I blotted them out. Return to me, for I have. That's past tense. I have redeemed you. I've paid the price. I've already forgiven you. Why don't you accept it? Why don't you pick it up? That's the full meaning of that amazing text. I blotted it out because I redeemed you. Why don't you accept it? Why don't you put your life in my hands? Why don't you get rid of the guilt? Leave it with me. Redeemed us not only from the guilt of sin, but in actual from the condemnation of sin. It's amazing just how much Jesus has done for us as the Lamb of God. Notice what it says, Being justified. Now that's a fancy big word, isn't it? What it means is declared right. God counts us as if we're right in his sight. Being justified or declared righteous before God freely, it's a free thing by his grace through the redemption. When Jesus died to redeem us, it means he also justified. What does that mean? I want to pick that word up for just a moment or two. Paul writes it this way as he writes to his friends in Rome. Therefore it righteousness shall be imputed. That means Counted or credited to us who believe in him. Let me explain it this way. Just say you go to your bank account tomorrow morning and you look in your bank account and to your horror, you find there's only $1. There's. You're in trouble, right? Or I'm in trouble if I only see $1 in my bank account. But let's say two days later, you go to your same bank account and you look inside. $10,000 is there. Now, you know you didn't put it there. Your employer didn't put it there because it's not payday yet. Somebody credited your account with their money. They transferred their bucket of money to your account. Now that's a bit like what happens when. When we accept what Jesus did in dying on the cross to redeem us. God counts Christ, total goodness, because he never did anything wrong. He counts everything that's good about him. He puts it to our account, so to speak, in a ledger. Says, now this person, John, Sarah, Bill, whoever it is, you, you are counted as if you never sinned. Not just that you're forgiven, but you're treated as if you never did it. Because Christ, bucket of righteousness, goodness is credited to your account. That's amazing love. That's why there's no condemnation to those in Jesus who accept. Jesus, in other words, redeemed us from the power of sin. Not only does he forgive us, not only does God count us as if we never sin when we put our life and accept this Jesus who died for us, but we have a new power in our life. The Bible puts it this way. Knowing that you were redeemed, says Peter, from your aimless conduct, that means your sinful ways, your lifestyle. I don't know about you, but my lifestyle wasn't a good one before I met this Christ. You were redeemed from your aimless conduct with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. What an amazing thing. And not only that, notice what the Bible says. And from Jesus Christ, who loves us and has freed us, redeemed us, set us free from our sins by his blood. That's why the Bible says when Jesus was being born, he will save his people from their sins. Not in their sins, but from them. God not only forgives us, God not only counts us as if we never did it, but he gives us a new power in our life. Now question, why did he die to redeem us and bring us those things we've talked about. Power taking us from Satan's kingdom, bringing us to God, giving us forgiveness, counting us as if we never sinned, giving us a new power. Why did he do this? I love the words of Isaiah. He says, in his love and in his pity, he redeemed us. You know why God did this for you, my friend? Because he loves you. He loves you. And because of what he did on Calvary, we know we are loved by God. We know it. If you don't think you're loved by God, that God doesn't care about you, go and go to read the story of the cross. The Bible puts it this way. Paul is writing to his friends in Rome. He says, but God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, when we were bad, in other words. In fact, another passage, he says, when we were his enemies, when we hated God, what did he do? Christ, God in human flesh, died for us, meaning died in our place. You see, the love of God is enormous. The Bible says the love of God is four dimensional. I want you to notice what it says here in the book of Ephesians. Paul is praying and notice what he prays about. I pray that you being rooted and established in love, that's in God's love for you, you may have power to grasp how wide, how long and how high and how deep is the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. Amazing. Do you know, my friend, God's love is so high that it reached right up into the throne room of the universe, Heaven itself. And God came off the throne in the form of his son Jesus. And God went further. He went to an old rugged cross. That's how high the love of God is for you and for me. But God's love is deep. The Bible says that when we were in sin up to our chin, God's grace abounded even more amazing love. I was on a train station on one occasion in Ostend in Belgium. I had just come across the channel and I was waiting for a train to come. And I was trying to sleep on a bench, a wooden bench, but I was too bony back then and couldn't sleep very well. So I thought, let's start the day. It's about 2 o' clock in the morning. So I bought out my little pocket Bible that I was carrying with me. And I was starting to read the Bible beginning the day there in the train station. And a couple came and sat alongside me. And after a while the guy says to me, says, hey, so you're a Christian, pal? Yeah, I am. Can see the Bible. He said, I Used to be a Christian once. I said, how come you're not one now? What happened? And he told me the story of how he said some Christians had done something wrong to him. He said that I'm not in for that anymore. And he. He left. And he said, I'm a lost person. God could never forgive me the stuff that I've done. It was quite obvious this wasn't his wife. These two living together like this. He said, I've done too much bad stuff. God would never forgive me. I said, you're dead wrong. You're dead wrong. I said, you know, where sin abounds, God's grace much more abounds. I told him the story of the prodigal son who ran away from his father, went away from home, wanted to get all his dad's inheritance now, wasted the whole lot. And then came back home. And the father was only too happy to have him back home. You know, a smile broke out on the face of that couple there. They realized that day that God's love was deep, deeper than their sin. And he's only too happy to welcome anybody home. The Bible puts it this way. When we were enemies, meaning when we hated God, when we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, God loves us. God's love is long, my friend. For us. He cares about us. You may run from God, but he'll run after you. He won't force you, but he'll run after you. Had a friend once he left God when he was a teenager. Didn't want to have anything to do with God. Went out and lived a life that was, you know, pretty out there. If it wasn't bolted to the ground, he would steal it. Almost more women than you could throw a stick at. Like Solomon, you know, he really lived it up. He gets to about 70 years of age after all these years. And God began to speak to him. Time is running out for your life. You're getting old. You're going to die soon. Won't you come home? I love you. A bit like God calling. Adam, where are you? Why don't you come home? That man wrestled with that for a few years. He couldn't think that God could forgive him what he'd done. We talked with him. Finally, he sank into the arms of God. He realized God had forgiven him as he asked him to do that. That man will be in the kingdom. God's love is long. It'll run after us. You see, I love the way the Bible says the Lord is long suffering. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to eternal life, to repentance. What an amazing God we have. But let me tell you, my friend, God's love is wide. Very wide indeed. There are many people who feel, well, God might do that for you, Webster, but he could never do this for me. I've been too bad. You're dead wrong if you think that way. God's love is wide. The Bible says these words, for God so loved the world that whoever, now whoever in the Greek language in which the New Testament was written, means nobody's excluded, nobody, whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Do you know, my friend, if you were the only person who was bad on this, in this whole universe, there's a bunch of galaxies out there, right? We saw the other presentation. One trillion galaxies with 200 billion stars and planets. Big universe. If only one person in all of this vast universe had gone astray, if only one of the 7 billion that are on the planet today had gone astray, Jesus Christ would still have died for that one person. That's how wide God's love is for you. And because of this, because of what God has done, because of his enormous love, therefore we love God. And that's why those people decide we're not going to follow the beast. We're going to follow the Lamb because he loves us. I love the way it puts it here. We love him because he first loved us. We love because God first loved us. We will therefore follow the Lamb. There's only two groups in the end of time, my friend, in this great cosmic battle that's warming up in our time. And that is those who follow the beast and the dragon and those who follow the lamb. But thank God, the Bible tells us how I look. John says, and behold a lamb standing on Mount Zion. And with him, the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These were redeemed. Now, when it says they haven't defiled themselves with women, it's a symbolic thing. He's talking about a prostitute that's sitting on a scarlet colored beast. Don't miss the presentation when I talk about night cry demonic dimension. And I'll talk about that prostitute lady on a beautiful beast. In the book of Revelation, these ones have been redeemed by the loving death of Jesus who died because he loves us. And so they follow him. Did you notice how the beast gets people to follow him? Physical coercion. You can't Buy or sell or you're going to die. Well, these supernatural signs and wonders. He uses deceptive tactics. He uses forceful tactics to get people follow Him. But God uses love. The death of the Lamb of God. That's why many people decide, we're not going to follow the beast, we're not going to follow the dragon, we're going to follow the Lamb. They follow him wherever he goes. These are the ones that Jesus will take with him when he comes the second time because he's coming again. We saw many signs indicate that he's soon to return. Now you can be one of those who follow the lamb. You really can. You and I both, all of us can follow the lamb. You and I can be one of those who go against the crowd. We can. We don't have to follow the crowd that follows the beast. You and I can be ones who overcome these beasts. We really can. Through the lamb when we say, oh God, I put my life into youo hands. Take control. I want Christ. You know, it happened in the southern states of the United States in the days of the slave slavery in that country. There was to be an auction. This by the way, is an auction block. The slave stood on this stone stool, if you like, here, and were auctioned off to the highest bidder. So there's Big Joel one day, he's on the auction block there, a Afro American and the various plantation owners are bidding for this guy. But one silvery haired gentleman, plantation owner kept bidding. And every time the bid went higher, Big Joel would turn to the man who put the bid and say, I won't work. I won't work. I'm not going to do it. And finally the silvery haired old plantation owner won the auction. And Big Joel looked in his face and he said, I won't work. And the plantation owner said, joel, I didn't buy you to be my slave today. I bought you to set you free. You can go. You're a free man. You're not my slave. That big man, Big Joel, he didn't know what to say. He looked at that silver haired plantation owner and he said, master, I'll work for you for the rest of my life. What made the difference? It was love that made the difference. You know, that's the reason why people follow Jesus and not the dragon, not the beast in the end of time, because of the love of God. He paid an enormous price for them, to set them free so that they could be free, indeed free from these powers that are actually going to take people to destruction so that they're not part of that last empire, that forever empire of life eternal. I think we should thank God for this lamb beast that overcomes these three beasts that we're going to see are starting to move in this world today. Let's bow together in prayer. Oh Father, we want to thank youk for the Bible. We want to thank youk, Lord, that in this book John pulls back the curtain so we can see what's going to happen in the end of time. But thank you that in this book of Revelation, there's a more important beast than any other beast, and that's the lamb. He's given everything so that we follow him and we don't follow the dragon to destruction. Father, maybe we've never heard about these things before, but you're speaking to us right now in our own home, wherever we're watching this. And you, you're saying to us, my son, my daughter, I love you. I gave everything for you. Lord, help those who are listening to say, lord Jesus, come into my life. Take control of my life. I need you. Thank you, God. The moment we do that, we begin the new life. We have the power of God to overcome these three beasts, these three powers which are going to sweep the world. Father, bless us now. Thank youk for your love in Jesus name. Amen. Well, I'm glad that you joined us in this presentation in our series of countdown Back to the Future. I sure don't want you to miss the next presentation in our series. Amazing presentation that we're going to have. We're going to be looking at the treasures of Tutankhamun. I have traveled to Egypt. We were there just recently looking at those great treasures there. But we're going to be looking in that program at the journey to eternity. You won't want to miss this. Invite a friend, send them a link to 3 ABN so that they can watch this as well. Because this is going to be a program of tremendous hope. Our next presentation. We'll see you then.