The Signs of the Times

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

pray and we're gonna get started we got a lot of ground that we're gonna cover we have some pretty challenging questions great questions by the way

00:06

I came in on the on the chat so let's a let's pray and then we will get started

00:11

Lord Jesus as we again open up your word we recognize that apart from you we we cannot do anything so we cannot rightly understand your word apart from the spirit so we ask that you would send the spirit so that we may rightly believe confess and walk according to what you've revealed there we ask in the name of Jesus Amen.

00:30

Let's try that again. Try what again? I don't know I don't have to pray over you know sometimes like herding cats the people here at Kongsvinger are very happy to be able to see each other in person and I'm not about to be a total killjoy so just a partial one.

00:46

Slipsy doopsies. It's a slipsy doopsy. Okay so here was one of the questions that came in and I do not know who galaxy

00:59

A715G is but wow what a name you're an entire galaxy congratulations I you know

01:04

I can't even be a small planet but that's a different story altogether but the question was how do you interpret the verse that we know in part and we prophesy in part but that which is perfect comes and the partial will be set aside.

01:19

Fantastic question. So here's how here I will walk you through the exegetical conflict in this one and show you that there is a another way of understanding this text and I think that is actually the right one and we'll take a look at it in context.

01:38

So when we read 1st Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14 there's a discussion of the gifts of the

01:44

Spirit. Little historical note here 1st

01:49

Corinthians is one of the first books of the New Testament written is one of the very first.

01:55

It's written in 58 so less than 20 years from the time of Christ's death, burial, resurrection, and ascension less than 20 years and as far as the

02:08

Pauline epistles go we know it's his absolute first one and here's the issue is that I'm gonna ask kind of a like a procedure question and as a pastor

02:19

I'm keenly aware of this issue. If I were a pastor in a congregation during the year 50

02:28

AD what Bible do I have? I have only the

02:33

Old Testament, period. I only have the Old Testament but here's the thing is the

02:38

Old Testament sufficient to teach to a New Testament congregation? No, because in the

02:44

Old Testament we have the types and shadows and so we see a phenomenon in the book of Acts and that is that the apostles have the authority given to them by Christ that they can impart spiritual gifts to people via the laying on of hands and one of the gifts that was in play in what we're gonna basically say this in -between period from the time of Christ's ascension until the completion in the

03:10

New Testament one of the things that was in play was the idea that there were gifts of prophecy given and the prophets then were the ones who gave how should we say it?

03:21

New Covenant sermons in a time when the New Testament wasn't finished and with the death of the apostles we see the disappearing of the prophetic gifts and there's a very simple reason for that and that is because with the completed

03:37

New Testament we have the full counsel of the Word of God from Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation we have everything that we need for life and godliness in Christ.

03:48

That being the case you'll note that historically the ancient church recognized that the gift of prophecy as they see in the book of Acts disappeared really with the final of the disciples of the apostles.

04:03

I'll give you an example so there's a fellow by the name of Polycarp he was martyred in his eighties and he was a disciple of the apostle

04:11

John and from Polycarp's writing there's a very strong case that can be made that Polycarp was probably baptized as a child by the

04:22

Apostle John and so he was taught and catechized in the city of Ephesus by the

04:28

Apostle John and had received really a prophetic gift given to him by the laying on of hands of the

04:36

Apostle John who after Paul had left doing his missionary work and establishing the congregations in the city of Ephesus it was the

04:44

Apostle John who took Jesus's mother Mary and the two of them moved to Ephesus her tomb is not that far from the city of Ephesus.

04:53

They've actually found it in the last couple of decades but all that being said you know what's going on here is that they are being taught and Polycarp near the end of his life he had a legitimate prophetic vision basically warning him of how he was going to be martyred he had a vision of his pillow catching on fire and knew from that point that he was going to be arrested and that he would be martyred by being burnt at the stake he was going to be immolated.

05:21

So it's a fascinating thing that's recorded here but really with the death with Polycarp having received that gift directly from the

05:29

Apostle John through the laying on of hands on Polycarp totally to be expected but with the death of Polycarp we really see a complete diminishing of the prophetic operation in the sense of people receiving direct revelation from God in the second century you see the rise of what's called the montanist which

05:47

I think are a prototype of today's Pentecostals but montanism was eventually deemed to be a heresy.

05:54

That being the case all of the charismatics and I've noted this in the writings of the people who were present at Azusa Street all of the charismatics at the time of the early 20th century who talk about God's renewal of the

06:09

Pentecostal gifts they do not talk about them in continuationist terms they always talk about them in terms of those gifts being restored and those people historically who were present and part of the leadership and participated in at the

06:23

Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles in the early 20th century they all in their in their writings of the events that they witnessed write about it as God restoring these things which begs the question if they were necessary for the church to be operating in why did they disappear for 19 centuries it makes no sense so that being the case when we consider this passage in 1st

06:49

Corinthians 13 which is always cracks me up when a couple getting married says we'd like this to be one of the passages read in our wedding and it's like alright we'll just ignore the context and we'll focus on the love part but wow okay so as a pastor

07:05

I'm always cracking that thing you know cracking up about that you girls over here when you're getting married we'll have to talk about the passages you pick for your but all that being said let's take a look at it in context if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels and I have not love

07:20

I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but I have not love

07:32

I'm nothing if I give away all that I have if I deliver my body to be burned but I have not love

07:38

I gain nothing so note here combine this with the sermon that we heard today so 1st

07:45

John 4 warning us about antichrist and false prophets admonishes us to what love

07:51

Christ admonishing us to abide in his word and bear fruit we know from scripture that the fruit of the

07:57

Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness the purpose of the gifts is not to glorify you in the purpose of gifts is to glorify and exalt

08:05

Christ and to build up the body of Christ and and you'll note that those who are obsessed with surfing the latest wave the

08:12

Holy Spirit they're not operating in love I at their their it's more or less kinda you know an excitement lust

08:19

I don't know you've you've heard of like the people who have to travel the world they call it a wonder lust you know so modern -day charismatic and I was a charismatic

08:27

I was in the movement they're like the surfers that I would see in San Clemente where I raise my kids they would be up before the crack of dawn beyond their surfboards out there scanning the horizon looking for the next swell to come in and then they would catch it and go dude that was totally gnarly

08:42

I did to to caught a tubular wave man well and that was gnarly dude and that that that that charismatic are just like that they're absolutely like that they're out there scanning the horizon waiting for the next wave of the

08:55

Spirit to surf in so they can have some amazing experience but the thing is the gifts of the Spirit are designed for the edifying of the church and the whole point here is if you're not operating in them for the purpose of producing the fruit of the

09:08

Spirit which is love it's doo -doo I don't wanna hear about how you raise people from the dead or you interpreted someone's tattoo and gave him a prophetic reading and told him how awesome they were or you you went on some kind of a spirit quest nonsense what

09:25

I wanna see is what the Holy Spirit has said and that is that the Holy Spirit produces in us what?

09:32

love for God love for others love so love is patient love is kind it doesn't envy or boast it's not arrogant or rude does not insist on its own way it's not irritable or resentful it doesn't rejoice at wrongdoing it but rejoices with the truth love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things theme of the book of Revelation patient endurance how so love of God love for others love never ends and now here comes the part that that modern -day charismatics utterly biff and I'll explain how it from from from the

10:11

Greek itself as for prophecies they will pass away here we have a prophecy from the

10:19

Apostle Paul by the Holy Spirit the prophecy will end the church is historically understood this to be well prophecies ended with the completion the

10:27

New Testament and moving on from the second century forward the emphasis has always been on the preaching at the apostolic faith we believe in one holy

10:36

Catholic an apostolic church Catholic universal apostolic meaning it's built on the message of the

10:44

Apostles Christ himself has said in the in the Great Commission make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the

10:52

Father Son and Holy Spirit teaching all that I have commanded I'm with you always to the end of the age the church is authorized only to teach what

10:59

Christ has commanded period full stop game as for prophecies they will pass away as for tongues they will cease as for knowledge it will pass away here this is talking about prophetic knowledge for we know in part and we prophesy in part but when the perfect and here's where I'm gonna take issue with the

11:18

ESV in some of our modern English translations as somebody who reads Greek and also can also take a look at the cross reference that's one chapter over in its context

11:26

I would not translate teleos here as perfect I would translate it as mature and so let's take a look at this at this word but when the mature comes so the word is teleos in Greek and oh man that small text hang on a second here my eyes okay

11:46

I'm so here your options for how to translate this you know there's many and so your context is gonna dictate this it could mean perfect by the way a meeting of a highest standard pertaining to the meeting of a high things that are perfect I'm talking about goodness you know as at is the acme of badness of persons who are full are fully up to a standard in a certain respect and not satisfied with half measures complete the expert but here's the main second one the mature the fully grown the adult okay so let's take a look let's trip let's take teleos and plug in this different meaning and see how this works and see if it fits with the greater context alright so when

12:33

I was so I'm I'm in chapters so here we go we know in part we prophesy in part when the but when the teleos comes let's say the mature or the complete when the complete comes the partial will pass away when

12:50

I was a child I spoke like a child I thought like a child I reasoned like a child when

12:56

I became a man I gave up childish ways here in the media context I think you can argue wait a second he's saying he's arguing against childish thinking and talking about being mature teleos here if you translate it when the mature comes the partial will pass away this is talking about the immaturity that exists as a result of having only the

13:16

Old Testament and not the new now having the completed word of God so when

13:22

I became a man I gave up childish ways for now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face now

13:29

I know in part but then I shelf no fully even as I has been fully known and here what the charismatic argues is that this is talking about the perfect coming a talking about the return of Christ and they're saying the prophecy has to continue until Jesus returns it's already historical fact that it didn't and that tongues did not either continue in the church this is a historical fact so the idea here is is that they they've got the wrong antecedent they think that the perfect is referring to Jesus but it's referring to the mature in the complete which is what the finished word of God until the end of the writing of the

14:09

New Testament and that I think the correct way to understand this and then also in that context then

14:16

I would show that in chapter 14 and close that then chapter 14 we have the same talk about being mature being mature a first Corinthians 1420 brothers do not be children in your thinking be infants in evil but in your thinking be my tour and here we go what's the rear word tell us the same word as when the but you know when the perfect arrives it's it's when the telly out your beam tell us be mature in in the law it is written by people a strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners

14:50

I will speak to this people even then they will not listen to me says the Lord thus tongues are a sign not for believers for but for unbelievers while prophecy is a sign for not for unbelievers but for believers and so we're gonna note then something here that here it prophecy is said to be a sign this is one of the signs that the apostles were really sent by Christ when we talk about signs that's it that's language that comes out of the

15:19

Old Testament Moses says what sign shall I show the people that you've sent me God says

15:24

I want you to take your hand put it in your coat and pull it out it'll be leprous put it back in and leprosy will be gone and then

15:30

I want you to take your staff and throw it on the ground and it'll become a serpent these are the signs that God gave

15:37

Moses to give him the if you know that the idea here in the apostle Paul then talks about the fact that those we preach the gospel to he performed the signs of the apostles so you'll note signs then are a way validating the messenger the apostle

15:53

Paul perform the signs of an apostle and prophecy was a sign gift at the time of the apostles validating that they were sent by Christ so the long and the short of it is is that the person who takes first Corinthians 13 and says that that prophecy must continue until until the return of Christ is not only historically incorrect because it didn't and they're being duplicitous because everyone at the historical

16:22

Pentecostals claim that the gifts and prophecy were restored in fact I can speak to this historically myself my wife and I after getting married actually before we got married and then large part of the first year of our marriage we were in the latter rain and in the latter rain movement that's what that was the antecedent to today's new apostolic reformation and we were under a prophetess in our charismatic church and we were told with joy and glee of the good news that God had restored prophets to the church in our lifetime when in the late 1980s and then you'll note in the early 2000s that the

17:03

NAR claims that God not only restored prophets but they also God also restored apostles

17:09

I even have Patricia King and teachings of hers in the early 2000s where she talks about the restoration of prophets and the restoration of apostles but now the charismatic movement in the

17:20

NAR say oh no the five -fold ministry has continued throughout the entire history of the church well let me tell you about the shortest book

17:27

I ever read the shortest book I ever read is titled the great prophets of the 15th 16th and 17th centuries every page was blank okay and then and even shorter well it was just a little bit longer because it was more of a time frame all the great prophets from Augustine until Emperor Charlemagne name them who were the prophets of the fifth century the sixth century the seventh eighth ninth tenth there were no prophets until wingnut wackerdoodle showed up in Kansas right that's the truth

18:09

I seem a little impassioned about it but you know so somebody's gonna make it and send it to me and I it'll be a it yeah anyone wants to make that book and send me the blank pages

18:23

I can that'd be great we can use it for birdlining but anyways yeah if I was a prophet and then we're gonna note then here somebody had mentioned this

18:34

I believe that they're absolutely right when they do this and let me explain at the end of the book a revelation by the way do you think that God was surprised at the book revelation ends up as the last book of the

18:45

New Testament not only is the last book of the New Testament chronologically it is also the last book of the

18:52

New Testament canonically and God the Holy Spirit then basically gives an extreme warning alright and let's see here did you do there's there's one we find this real quick hang on I may be in the wrong chapter hang on a second here yeah there we go revolution 22

19:14

I warn everyone who hears the words the prophecy of this book which book which one the

19:24

Bible if anyone adds to them God will add to him the plagues described in this book if anyone takes away from the words of the book this prophecy

19:32

God will take away his share in the tree of life in the Holy City which are described in this book

19:38

I think God is very clear the scriptures are done and in the very last chapter of the very last book ever written in the

19:49

Bible the very words of God are if you add to this you well how do they say it you're in deep kimchi that's how this works out it's not gonna go well for you on the day of judgment and so I'm yeah

20:05

Victor says in the maligned NIV the NIV says when the complete comes at least the NIV what

20:11

I think has a better translation in the ESV there and this by the way is the reason why pastors need to read the bit original biblical languages your pastor could not doesn't know what the

20:21

Greek alphabet is and couldn't tell the difference between a yod and a yoda then you need to send back to seminary and make him study because we're required to bring

20:29

God's word forward accurately which means you have to be able to read it and catch these nuances because if you don't it's easy just to go along with the general consensus so okay so that's the answer to question number one hopefully you found that helpful so the answer is is that it's not referring to the return of Christ and it is actually prophesying that prophecies in tongues and words of knowledge would come to an end we know historically when that took place it happened to be when the completed

20:58

New Testament arrived that's just that's just the facts but here's the other bit and this is the part that a lot of people do not know and one that I think is worth at least an examination in this context and I have never heard a charismatic being able to overturn this one in the book of Daniel I think it's chapter 9 let's see here there's a prophecy regarding the 70 weeks and if you've ever heard of Daniel's prophecy regarding the 70 weeks this is the one that you really need to pay attention to all right let's see here beginning here we go alright so this is this is an interpretation of his vision that he had an interpretation given by an angel to Daniel and here's the thing this is a time prophecy regarding when the

21:51

Messiah would appear and the 70 weeks is a symbolic number of time and it describes exactly what's going to happen up to Christ's return to his death his resurrection and then a little bit past his ascension you can actually see it when you consider it so here's the interpretation

22:09

Daniel 29 24 70 weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgression to put an end to sin and to atone for iniquity to bring in everlasting righteousness and watch this to seal both vision and profit to seal it and to anoint a most holy place know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build

22:40

Jerusalem to the coming up an anointed one a Messiah Mashiach in Hebrew a prince there shall be seven weeks then for 62 weeks it shall be built again with squares and a moat but in a troubled time and after 62 weeks an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing so 62 weeks into this what's gonna happen is is that the

23:03

Messiah will be cut off and then there's a little bit of time afterwards and then the prince who is to come shall destroy the city in the sanctuary that's fulfilled in 70

23:12

AD it and shall come with a flood and to the end shall be war desolations are decreed and shall make a strong covenant with many for one week and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering and on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator so here's what ends up if you basically take the 70 weeks you know in its fullness here it's talking about the time from when

23:40

Daniel heard this was gonna happen until Jesus returns that 62 weeks in the notice is a period of time and what's what's happened in between the temple is utterly destroyed the desolator comes and you'll note that after the fall of Jerusalem in 70

23:55

AD there was a period of time from 70 to about 120 when the

24:01

Jews were not totally kicked out of of Judea and there was a just a small period of time when things could they could still kind of sort of get along they were a conquered people but they started rising up again and revolting and so in the early part of the second century the

24:19

Roman Empire said enough is enough and they kicked all of the Jews out of Israel you are gone if you're a

24:26

Jew in Israel disperse them throughout the Roman Empire and they change the name of Israel to Syria Palestinia okay kind of an interesting thing and so all of the things that took place historically in the 70 weeks are completed within the 70 weeks which then means this this means that if Jesus isn't the

24:46

Messiah ain't nobody the Messiah the 70 weeks are fulfilled and you'll note that then part of the details here is not only the atoning for iniquity but in the 70 weeks themselves with at the very end both vision and prophecy are sealed the end kaput in other words if somebody comes to you and says

25:12

I'm a prophet of God say to that person be gone to the devil who you belong to I don't wanna hear a word that you have to say prophecy is sealed it's done we have everything we need and all that being said consider then the

25:30

Apostle Paul as he's getting ready to finish his course and finishing his course requires that his head be taken off his neck by a

25:39

Roman centurion so the Apostle Paul at the end of his life talks about what's coming in the future he says this in second

25:47

Timothy 3 understand this in the last days there will come times of difficulty people will be lovers of self oh before there was the term narcissism narcissists are prophesied as the first thing to look for in the immediate days before the return of Christ Is that a problem today?

26:04

yeah epidemic right they'll be lovers of money you know like Ken Copeland money come to me now

26:11

COVID 19 I blow the wind of God on you proud, arrogant, abusive disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless unappeasable, slanderous, without self -control, brutal, not loving good treacherous, reckless swollen with conceit, basically

26:28

TBN and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having an appearance of godliness, but denying its power, avoid such people.

26:36

Among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins, led astray by various passions.

26:42

You know, isn't it fascinating that some of the most notable people claiming to operate in the power of the

26:48

Holy Spirit, let's talk about a couple of them, shall we? You ever heard of Amy Semple McPherson? She's the creator of the four square gospel churches,

26:59

Amy Semple McPherson. Do you know that she disappeared for a bit of time because she was having an adulterous affair?

27:09

You aware of this? All right, and then let's talk about the other one, Catherine Kuhlman, one of the creepiest ladies who ever walked planet

27:17

Earth. She claimed that she can operate in healing gifts and signs and wonders, and she also, notoriously had, well, an adulterous sexual affair and never repented of it.

27:31

Never repented of it, ever, you know? Had an adulterous affair with a married fellow.

27:36

Then I think of Todd Bentley, okay? Of the so -called, you know, outpouring that happened in Lakewood, or Lakeland, Florida, right?

27:46

One of the most sexually perverse people I've ever heard of, right? And then you have

27:51

Benny Hinn. He had a tryst with Paula White, and it was made public, never acknowledged it, never repented of it, and Benny Hinn himself, famously, a couple years ago, said that when the anointing of God comes on people, it excites their sexual desires, and it's one of the effects of the anointing.

28:16

It's utter blasphemy, okay? Utter blasphemy.

28:22

And then, you know, and then you just look at guys like Ken Copeland. I mean, he's as greedy as greedy gets.

28:30

And yet, Dr. Michael Brown cannot bring himself to say that, well, Ken Copeland is an actual heretic and a teacher of the prosperity heirs.

28:37

He can't stomach the fact, and refuses to claim that he's a false prophet, right? So among them are those who creep into household, they capture weak women, burdened with sin, led astray by various passions, always learning, never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

28:53

Just as Janice and John Brees opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. And boy, do the charismatics oppose the truth.

29:00

Now, holy smokes. Yeah, Barb. So, this description. Yeah. By the way, this is a description of people in the church, in the visible church, not outside of it, okay?

29:15

Because you're gonna sit there and go, wait a second. Unbelievers have always opposed the word of God. Yeah, this is taking place in the church.

29:22

And by the way, we'll talk about this as we start to unpack the concept of Jezebel, and how she's a type and shadow of the whore of Babylon.

29:31

All right, these are men who are corrupted in mind, disqualified regarding the faith. They will not get very far. Their folly will be plain to all.

29:38

Isn't it sad that the unbelieving world sees the folly of these false prophets, but we don't?

29:46

It's unbelievable. But you, however, you have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and Lystra, which persecutions

29:58

I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters, and we have those aplenty, will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

30:10

But as for you, continue in what you have learned, and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the what?

30:20

Sacred writings. By the way, this is the last letter Paul writes, the very, very last one.

30:26

He's writing this from prison. He's writing it to a pastor, and he notes, where does he focus him?

30:33

Not on signs and wonders, not on direct revelation, not on receiving a prophetic gift, or operating in the prophetic.

30:40

He points him to the book, the Bible, that you may be acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ.

30:49

All scripture, graphe, writing, is breathed out by God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

31:06

And here, complete is a different word than teleos. All right, it's artios, and that's the

31:11

Greek word here. All right, so the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

31:16

In other words, there is nothing that God is gonna have you do in the good works that were prepared in advance for you to do that God's word will not actually outfit you for.

31:27

Full stop. And then you'll note, then, kind of the ominous next bit, is that I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ, who is the judge of the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word.

31:40

The word. Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

31:48

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

31:57

And as somebody who's listened to far too many modern sermons from evangelical stages,

32:04

I mean, are they even pulpits anymore? Over and again, the one thing that is common among them is almost a complete lack of the word of God.

32:13

You will get one to three, on a good sermon, four or five sentences from the

32:25

Bible taken out of context. Sentences taken out of context, and you will get a metric ton of stories about the pastor.

32:48

Yeah, see, I was at the grocery store the other day, and wouldn't you know it, I felt the Holy Spirit come upon me, and he asked me to prophetically interpret the vomit that was on the bib of the baby in her basket.

33:05

Here's the thing, I make fun of it now, but it's gonna happen next week, okay? Somebody on YouTube is gonna say that they were at the store, and they saw a pattern of vomit on a kid's clothing, and they knew that that was the voice of God speaking.

33:19

It's nuts, okay? And then you'll note then, Peter, in his last epistle, this is not a coincidence, in his last epistle, as he's getting ready to finish his course, and his course is a little more gruesome in the end than Paul's.

33:35

Paul, at least as a Roman citizen, had the ability to have a clean and quick death, had his head taken off.

33:45

But Peter, on the other hand, he didn't even consider himself worthy to be crucified, because that's the way

33:50

Christ died, and so when he threw a fit and said he wasn't worthy to die on the cross, the same way

33:56

Jesus did, the Roman soldiers obliged him, and they crucified him upside down, and it took him three days to die.

34:04

Just horrifying. But note what he says as he's getting ready to finish his course, last of the epistles from Peter.

34:10

We did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

34:16

We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. When he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved son in whom

34:25

I am well pleased. What's he referencing here? He's referencing the Mount of Transfiguration. And I'm absolutely of the belief that Patricia King and people in the

34:33

NAR are so lusting after signs and wonders and glory experiences like this, they'd be willing to sell their mothers into slavery just to spend five minutes on the

34:42

Mount of Transfiguration. But what does Peter point us to? Does he say, now, just like we had that experience, you go look for that?

34:49

He says, no. He says, we ourselves, we heard this very voice born from heaven, we were with him on the holy mountain, and we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to pay attention.

35:01

The prophetic word more fully confirmed than the voice he heard from the Father? As a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart.

35:13

Now, notice what he says here, that this lamp will be shining until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart.

35:24

That's referring to the end. The thing that Peter points the church to as the thing we should be looking for is not a prophetic word, but the prophetic word in the scriptures.

35:34

Knowing this, first of all, no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the

35:46

Holy Spirit. This is the prophetic word that we are to be listening to, and then he immediately launches into a warning about false prophets, but false prophets also arose among the people just as there will be false teachers among you.

35:57

Important to note, out of all of the books of the New Testament, only one, only one fails to warn us about false teachers and false prophets, and that's the

36:06

Epistle of Philemon. Every other book of the New Testament gives strong, stern, and very exacting warnings as it relates to false teachers and false prophets.

36:20

And yet, in today's charismatic movement, their so -called prophetic standard, there's no such thing as a false prophet.

36:27

As long as the person is sincere, they're true. Right. So, yeah, you get the idea here.

36:39

Yeah. Okay, so let's keep going with the questions. The NAR seems like the so -called prophets are willing to modify

36:47

God's word in order to explain why their prophetic messages did not happen as they proclaimed. Oops, my bad, good sermon.

36:55

Yeah, you're right. They've changed the standard. In fact, I'm gonna be putting out a video this week that basically argues that that prophetic standard that they've published proves that not only are they false prophets according to Deuteronomy 18, which warns us about people who prophesy and it doesn't come to pass, but they are false prophets now according to Deuteronomy 13, which says, even if what they say comes true and they say, let us go after other gods, you're not to listen to them because the

37:19

God they believe in speaks errantly. Does God lie?

37:25

Does God err? Does God speak lies or errors? That's a different God altogether.

37:31

So now Deuteronomy 13 is in play, okay? Yes, sir.

37:48

Okay, so everybody who is speaking as a false prophet, who is truly bringing words to our ears that are not from God, they fit under what 1

38:22

John 4 is talking about. They are the false prophets and they are doing the work of the spirit of the

38:28

Antichrist and preparing the way for the ultimate manifestation of the Antichrist.

38:34

That's what they're doing. And so this is, and you'll note, remember the imperative command, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits.

38:44

God, the Holy Spirit has commanded us to test. And what do we have to test with? The Bible. Which part, the

38:52

Bible or what they say? Oh, they're always telling us stuff that's too good to be true.

39:18

Yeah. And that's the issue is that we as human beings, we want to be able to give the benefit of the doubt, but we're commanded not to.

39:28

And that applies to me. It applies to everybody who brings a word from you. The question is, is this from God?

39:34

Is this God's voice? Is this the Holy Spirit speaking or a different spirit? So when somebody tells you that God wants you to operate in miracles,

39:44

I just did a review of a very famous televangelist by the name of Andrew Womack.

39:50

He has a series of, this ginormous series of teaching in a workbook like this thick on how you can become a water walker, okay?

40:01

You know, because Peter walked on the water, that means you can operate in the miraculous too. And he takes

40:06

Matthew 14 and he finds in Matthew 14 steps that you need to go through that if you apply these steps to your life, then you too can operate in the miraculous, which kind of begs the question, where in scripture am

40:19

I commanded to operate in the miraculous? I'm commanded by Christ to bear the fruit of the

40:26

Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self -control.

40:31

If God wants to perform a miracle through me, he can do it anytime he wants, but that would be him doing it and I have nothing to say with that.

40:39

And I would note this, notably here at Kongsvinger, there have been people who've been deathly ill, members of Kongsvinger.

40:45

I've gone to visit them in the hospital, prayed with them, and they recovered quite spectacularly.

40:51

All right? I would point you to Julie Katzmatka from years ago when she went in for that, she almost died of sepsis and it wasn't looking good for her and I went and prayed with her and brought her the

41:03

Lord's Supper and she perked right up and was practically released from the hospital in just a few days.

41:10

To this day, she says, Lutheran prayers are the best ones ever. Okay? I didn't do nothing except for like standard prayer that I would pray for anybody who's sick and in the hospital and so the thing is is that God does operate miraculously.

41:29

He does answer our prayers. We're in no way denying the power of God. What we are saying is is that it's not my responsibility to make that happen, okay?

41:40

If God wants to perform a miracle, he's gonna perform a miracle and it's not based upon me stepping out in faith and then in that same doctrine that he was teaching, he literally taught that God wants to perform miracles but that he needs us,

41:56

God needs us to step out in faith before he can do that. Well, that's a different God altogether because that God's powerless.

42:05

God doesn't need me for nothing. God is not in need of anything. God wanted to use a rock to preach the word at Kongsvinger next week,

42:15

I'm sure it would do a better job than I do. He don't need nothing from me and so this is completely nonsense.

42:25

We've got to take what these people are saying and compare it to God's word. Mike. Angels visiting people throughout the centuries.

42:45

Angel Joseph Smith was visited by an angel. Is it in those contexts, is angel like the same as a prophet?

42:54

Okay, no, in that context, it's gonna be a little bit different. So the question is, okay, so Rome has a catalog of angelic visitations that they've identified and that they've found substantive reason to believe that they actually happened, okay?

43:10

And this would also include not only visitations of angels but actual Marian apparitions that are so -called validated by Rome, by the

43:19

Vatican. That's gonna be one category of thing and then you have the next question and you connect the two.

43:27

I think there is a connection, by the way, but you have the secondary connection then between the fact that both

43:33

Islam and Mormonism were, their origin stories involve angelic visitations and I will tell you what

43:43

I personally believe and that is that the same demon who appeared to Muhammad is the same demon that appeared to Joseph Smith.

43:51

When you compare Islam and Mormonism, Mormonism is

43:57

American Islam. It really is. It's a sex cult, too. You know, I mean, you ever watch that show

44:04

Sister Wives? You know, if you haven't, you know, you're gonna need some Pepto -Bismol to work through that but,

44:10

I mean, they literally teach that the whole purpose, you know, that, you know, the angel Moroni is the one who appeared to Joseph Smith, showed him where the

44:17

Book of Mormon and the golden tablets were and then that God the Father and Jesus then also appeared to Joseph Smith and then, you know, it was an angel who was responsible for the initial revelations to Muhammad and the helping of the creating of the

44:31

Quran and these are works -based religion that, I hate to say it, they seem to be obsessed with sex.

44:40

It really, they really do and they're very, very, very sinister, is the best way

44:47

I can put it. In fact, in its origin, if you look at the history of Islam historically, some have argued that Islam is a

44:57

Christian cult. That, yeah, for real. It's not, technically it's become a, quote, world religion but in its initial inception, it has kind of the hallmarks of something similar or akin to Mormonism and so, in all of these cases then, you're gonna note that scripture warns us and that's in Galatians, it says, even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel or contrary to the one already preached, let him be anathema and so you'll note that these angelic visitations, these

45:29

Marian apparitions, these supernatural experiences and things like this, these are all put forward as proof that the message being delivered in these different, in these different religions is really from God and so, and in the

45:45

Catholic mindset, they say to God, well, if this isn't from God, then why are we getting visits from angels and Marian apparitions and why do we have this statue of Jesus bleeding at different times throughout the year and then the stigmata and things like this?

46:00

Those things are used as signs that what they are believing and teaching is correct so you'll note that over and again that throughout human history and in the present, miraculous activity is always held forward and put forward as the sign of the truth of the person delivering the message and that's really kind of the function of them and so, even with today's false apostles and false prophets, that's exactly the case too.

46:26

These signs and wonders are touted, talked about and emphasized because that proves that we have the

46:33

Holy Spirit and those dead churches don't. They're always held up as signs so the message is never in the signs and wonders, the message is always in what's being preached and those signs and wonders are used to buttress and hold up those different messages so I don't look at the experiences in and of themselves,

46:51

I look at the message connected to it and this was one of the arguments that Rome put forward against Luther.

46:59

The Vatican basically said to Luther, what miraculous signs do you give us to validate the gospel that you are preaching?

47:09

And Luther said, well, they're found in the scriptures, Jesus rising bodily from the grave, the apostle

47:17

Peter giving that cripple the ability to walk and those ones, those are the miracles that prove our message because our message is in the scriptures.

47:27

Yeah, they're all there. So we have signs to validate the message.

47:33

They're in the scriptures, right? That's the idea. So whenever somebody comes with signs and wonders and encounters and they're foolishly talking about how they go on these spirit walks and all this kind of stuff and God's working through this,

47:51

I mean, even Andrew Womack, I didn't play this part but I watched his series on how to be a water walker, just was befuddled by the whole thing and like day three or four, he actually claimed that he raised somebody from the dead.

48:07

No proof given, no substantive proof given at all but he raised somebody from the dead.

48:14

And here's the thing, so you're gonna note then that Jesus warns us in Matthew 24 that in the last days immediately before his coming that the

48:27

Christ and false prophets would actually be able to perform signs and wonders. So listen to what

48:33

Christ says. So I'll kind of back up. It's in Matthew 24, in those days, if those days had not been cut short, no human would be saved but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

48:44

Then if anyone says to you, look, here is the Messiah or the Christ or let's kind of throw this into a different context, okay?

48:51

The word Messiah and Christ, if you were to take either of them and translate them into English directly, it would be anointed one.

49:02

How many people are out there running around claiming to have a special quote anointing? Anybody today claiming to have an anointing is claiming to be a

49:11

Christ. That is without exception. Anybody claiming to be an anointed one or have a special anointing is claiming to be a

49:24

Christ. Now this kind of tick makes this prophecy have a little bit of a bigger flavor.

49:30

So look, here's the Christ or there he is, don't believe it for false anointed ones and false prophets will arise and they will perform great signs and wonders.

49:45

Great. And the book of Revelation gives us an example of one of the signs and wonders that they will be able to perform.

49:51

Are you ready? In the last days, the false Christ and false prophets will be able to call down fire from heaven and it will fall.

50:06

And when that happens, what's gonna happen? TBN is gonna go wall to wall.

50:12

The Christian Post is gonna talk about, look, these people are really truly from God. Look at they're able to operate.

50:18

They're able to call down fire from heaven. And I'll sit there and go, yep, just like Jesus said. But what does

50:24

Jesus say? So as, they're gonna do these so as possible to lead astray the elect, even if that were possible.

50:31

And then he says, see, I've told you beforehand. So I really hope I'm not around when this starts happening because it's just not gonna be fun, okay?

50:40

I put a video up on YouTube. Yep, the fire fell, but that person's a false prophet. That's the one that Christ told us about beforehand.

50:47

Oh, the hate mail's gonna be just off the chain. You're such an idiot, Rosebud, you're a deceiver.

50:52

You're just a narcissist. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. How do I know that guy's a false prophet? Listen to his message.

50:59

He twists the word of God. He's not telling you the truth. And Jesus told us ahead of time. So, do

51:08

I seem annoyed? I feel annoyed. Yeah, I mean, I get, yeah, avoid the annoyed.

51:17

All right, let's see here. Okay, now, let's see here.

51:23

I think it's, okay, so, let's see. Elizabeth, so I think complete is better than the, and the verse is speaking of the written word, not

51:31

Christ. This makes sense, thanks. Okay, Mary says, appreciate your empathy and compassion for people who've been misled.

51:38

Been there, done that myself. I have the T -shirt and the scars to prove it, and it was no fun. Now, Askari argues,

51:44

I understand your argument, but is Revelation 22 talking about the book of Revelation? I would argue no.

51:51

And the reason why is because it uses the word biblios. So, the prophecy of this biblios, and normally epistles, when they are sent, they are not considered biblios.

52:04

And so, that would be my exegetical argument for that. Let me explain. So, let me pull that back up.

52:11

Let's see here. Revelation chapter 22. Yeah, because biblios is a different word altogether.

52:21

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this biblios. Biblios is a word for book, and that's usually understood as a compendium, as the gathering together of multiple works.

52:38

And biblios, books were very, that was something different. In the ancient world, there were not a lot of those running around.

52:46

And so, it seems odd that if the reference is the book of Revelation, although we call it the book of Revelation, that's not how that would work out.

53:00

In fact, the book of Revelation itself has a different name than book that was originally given to it.

53:07

So, I would argue based on the word biblios there that it's referring to the actual Bible itself, and that the referent cannot merely be the book of Revelation.

53:16

And you'll note that throughout, by the way, this is not the only time scripture talks in this way. When the end of the

53:23

Torah is written, there's a warning at the end of the Torah saying if anyone adds to the Torah that he would invoke the curses of Deuteronomy on himself.

53:32

And yet, there's been additions to the Torah, to the Bible itself, but those are, only

53:40

God has the ability to add to the scriptures, only God. And this is why we're very careful regarding whose words come to us as we claim being from God, okay?

53:54

So, but I recognize the argument, but I would argue based on the word biblios that it has to be referring to something bigger than Revelation itself, okay?

54:02

All right, let's see here. All right, so of course the Bible's complete, but that verse seems to be talking about Revelation to me.

54:09

And now, I appreciate the question, by the way, I'm sorry, I really do. And I used to think that way, and then the more

54:15

I work with the text, the more I'm convinced it's more expansive based on the word biblios. All right, does this mean the

54:20

Bible was completed by 70 AD? So, Revelation is probably written a little bit later than 70

54:29

AD. The book of Revelation itself is. Maybe in the 90s, maybe in the 80s, it's a little bit up for grabs.

54:38

But let's just say that all of the New Testament, with the exception of Revelation, is definitely completed by 70.

54:46

And don't listen to the liberal scholars who would try to argue that Matthew was written in 80 or 90, the reason why they're doing that is because they deny that miracles take place.

54:55

And if Matthew were written prior to 70 AD, then Jesus legitimately prophesied the destruction of the temple.

55:01

And since they believe that miracles and prophecies aren't possible, that flies in the face of their false beliefs.

55:09

But Rice would like to know, Pastor, is the NLT a good translation? So, when

55:16

I was in high school, I had a copy of the Living Bible, and it was pretty bad.

55:25

That's the way I can put it. I would say this, the NLT is an improvement over the

55:30

Living. It's still not one that I would study from. Let's just say that it's a little bit more slipsy.

55:42

It's a little. It's a little. It has a random order.

55:47

Yeah, it has a tendency to be a very, yeah, it finds very creative ways of pulling

55:58

Greek into English. It's better. It's, yeah, it's better than the

56:05

Living, but it's still not one I recommend. Okay, in Revelation, Christ says, I am the Alpha and the

56:10

Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the fulfillment of all things. Connect it with Ephesians 2, 18 to 22, and Hebrews 1 to 4.

56:18

Okay, so in Revelation, Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. That's right. Okay, so let's take a look at the cross -references in question from Carlos and MJ.

56:30

Ephesians 2, let's see. I feel like we did a soapbox

56:35

Sunday school. Okay, all right. For through him we have both access in one spirit to the

56:41

Father, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens. You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,

56:51

Christ himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

56:56

In him also you are being built together into a dwelling place. Okay, so clearly the emphasis on Christ being all things, everything is in him, but I would note that Ephesians 2 specifically says that all of us being in Christ and being members of God's household, that God's household is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

57:24

Apostles and prophets are not the bricks, they're the foundation, and Christ is the cornerstone.

57:30

If Christ is the cornerstone, he's the pinnacle bit of the building, and everything then is connected and built on him, and the apostles and prophets, they're on the ground floor, literally.

57:41

Not even ground floor number one, they're the foundation. They're the very thing that everything else is built on.

57:49

You don't rebuild a foundation. So I got two stories in my house, a basement and an attic space that's been converted into an office, all right?

58:01

So the foundation is down in the bottom of the house, and there isn't a second foundation on floor three, thank

58:09

God. I mean, that doesn't make any sense, nobody builds that way. So you'll note then that that rules that out, and really the focus is then on Christ who is the cornerstone, and then

58:18

Hebrews one, which is a fantastic text, also kind of goes along with what we've been saying.

58:25

Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke, past tense, so here we've got, this is an aorist, aorist active participle.

58:36

God has spoken, the end, right? In many ways, God has spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world.

58:50

He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature. He upholds the universe by the word of his power after making purification for sins.

58:58

He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

59:05

You'll note God spoke by the prophets, past tense, but now he has already, he has now spoken to us by his son.

59:12

Well, let me ask you this, how many books did Jesus write while he was on earth? Letters?

59:18

None. We don't have the writings of Jesus, do we? So where can

59:24

I go to find the voice of Christ speaking to us? Only in the ones he sent, the apostles.

59:31

Every other voice that claims to be his that's outside of their writings, that's not the voice of Jesus. So, all right,

59:38

I'm gonna leave here because I've got a hard deadline. I've got another congregation that I serve.

59:43

So what I'm gonna do is I'm going to grab all the rest of the questions and see if we can come to some of these next week.

59:54

And let me see, I'm gonna copy these and I'm gonna put them in a notebook for myself and we'll pick through some of these next week also.