Strong Delusions — Paris Reidhead

Revelation 7–8: The Lamb, the Seals, and the Trumpets

Now briefly to Revelation chapter 8. I begin reading, however, with the fifteenth verse of the seventh chapter. The connection is terribly important. I shall read the entire portion, chapter 7, verse 15, right through verse 13, chapter 8.

Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.

For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in the heaven about the space of half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer. And there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angels' hands. And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth.

And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. The first angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth.

And the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood.

And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of the waters.

And the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became Wormwood. And many men died of the waters because they were made bitter. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, the third part of the moon, the third part of the stars.

So as the third part of them was darkened, the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound.

The Sixth Seal and Christ’s Prophecy in Matthew 24

Now the sixth seal that we have seen here in this previous portion has to do with Matthew chapter 24, verse 29. I suggest that you return to it in order that our Lord can establish in your mind the sequence of unfolding here, for I believe that our Lord is far better able to establish for us the chronology of this matter than commentators are.

And immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he shall send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Our Lord now has established here in Matthew 24 that there is in the eternal mind of the Father an unfolding and a development.

I suggest to you that this sixth seal that we have seen here in the previous chapter has to do with that. We're now in the unfolding of John's vision between the sixth seal and the unfolding of the seventh seal.

Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls

Now may I suggest to you the simplest way to approach this is this. Seals hide. Well, that's not hard, is it? That's why they're sealed, to hide. And trumpets signal. That's not too difficult, and it's quite plain, quite apparent that the purpose of the trumpet is to call attention to something that's happened.

And then we have here the bowls, the vials, and vials contain. That's why they're called bowls. That's why they're vials. They contain something. And so if we just accept this, that seals hide and cover, and the trumpets signal and the bowls contain, then we're not going to have a great deal of difficulty in trying to explain everything that's here in this vision.

Great trouble has come to men and preachers, teachers, because they've had to understand and they've had to spiritualize everything they've seen. And I'm not approaching the book of Revelation from that point of view, as you know full well.

We're not trying to see what the Antichrist is doing as much as we are to see what the living Christ is doing. We want to see him. And whenever I get behind the desk, I remember the words that I saw imprinted at Pacific Garden Mission on a little piece of brass, Sirs, we would see Jesus.

And this, I believe, is what we should do in the book of Revelation, seek to see our Lord Jesus Christ. Now back to the first verse of the eighth chapter. We saw the believers gathered in the throne of God, tears wiped away from their eyes, the Lamb in the midst of the throne feeding them, leading them to the fountain of living waters.

This is what John saw was going to happen to the lords. This sovereign God that sits upon the throne was going to gather to himself his own. What about the rest? What about the others? What's going to happen to them?

And by the way, when did this process of gathering his own begin? Is it sometime in the future? I think not. I think he's been gathering them ever since the time he gathered Stephen. Stephen saw him at the right hand of the throne.

And James, beheaded by Herod, and all that great company of the martyrs, they've been gathered down across the generations. They've come to ripeness by martyrdom, or by death, or by whatever means he chose.

The Father has been gathering them to himself. Oh my, the glory of this, that nothing can hurt the child of God. This is what John sees. So they do pin you to the wall with a spear through your heart.

All they've damaged is a bit of clay, and when they've done it, they haven't hurt you, because they've sent you by way of the express right into the presence of God. Isn't it marvelous to realize that what John saw was the invulnerability of the child of God, and the folly of wicked man, seeking to hurt the Christian.

But it can't be impossible to hurt him. Oh, for a little time, for a little time, God, in his sovereign love, gathering to himself, to the throne, to the Lamb, all that were his. But what about the rest?

And that's what you see here in this interim. As these seals unfold, not a progression in time that we date with the third century and the fifth century, but processes that have been going on continuously through all centuries and are going on today.

So I think that Revelation 8 doesn't follow historically or chronologically what's happened here, but this is something that's been happening since the very time, perhaps we should say, the very time that John saw it.

And we'll look at it in that point. Not so much as what's going to happen tomorrow, that's included, because it isn't finished yet. But what has been happening? If it is true that God has been sovereignly gathering to himself his own, well, what else has been happening?

Is this all that's been going on? No. And we find here in this eighth chapter what's taking place in the hearts and minds and lives of those that refuse the grace of God. Now hear it. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of a half an hour.

Hushed expectation, just in striking contrast to what we've just seen, where they've gathered around the throne of the Lamb and everyone is singing, upraised hands and turned up faces, rejoicing in Christ.

Now the opening of the seventh seal is silence. All of the angels are silent. The beasts, the living creatures are silent. Everyone that's there is silent as they realize what is taking place here, what is disclosed by this seventh seal.

The Prayers of the Saints and the Justice of God

Now will you look with me. And in verse three, another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer. And there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

The prayers of all saints were offered. Someone, one of the psalmists said that the tears of the saints are gathered in the bottle of God's remembrance. These that have wept because of their sin, these that have mourned because of their grieving God, these that have suffered for his namesake, their tears are remembered.

But also we find here that their prayers are remembered. And isn't it wonderful to realize that you do not pray in vain? I think that we should remind our hearts of that again. Here is a sovereign God upon the throne that's caused the angel to gather together the prayers of the saints.

They're offered on the altar before the Lord. Have you prayed? You said, oh, the prayer wasn't answered. Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean it wasn't answered? I believe that dear Cameron Thompson, this man, oh how I wanted him to come and for you to meet him.

This dear man of God, he too, God must be picking the best of our family and taking them to himself, because this man not old, Cameron Thompson, just last Saturday, a week ago past Saturday, went to be with the Lord.

And I remember in Minneapolis together at Bethany Fellowship when Cameron was there teaching how he said, every prayer that's prayed in the name of Jesus is answered. And he gave testimony after testimony, reams of testimony of answered prayer.

No prayer that's prayed in childlike faith is unanswered. And he believed that prayer was simply going into the presence of God, presenting what the Lord had given you to present, and going home with it.

He couldn't see any other thing about prayer than that it was answered. Well, he had reason for it to feel that way. Here are the prayers of the saints who gather. Well, now I'm not talking about that celestial shopping list that some of us would let be a substitute for prayers, you know.

We sometimes go into the presence of God with kind of an extended shopping list, a Santa Claus list. Just, Lord, give me this, give me that, give me the other, give me list, if you please. Now that's not the kind of praying, I'm sure, that anyone wants to treasure.

I'm sure it's not even the kind of praying that you ought to remember, much less to have God remember. There's some praying that we've asked and we haven't received because we've asked amiss that we might heap it on his desires.

But I think there comes a time in your experience when you're prepared to say, Lord, I want you to be glorified more than I want to have this particular item supplied. I want you to glorify. And whenever our prayers are brought into relation with God's purpose to glorify his Son, that prayer is answered.

It's always answered. I believe that with all my heart. I do not believe that we are to beat heaven praying the same thing time and time again because, well, let me explain to you what I mean. Here we're praying for God to be glorified in your life, in some situation, in some need.

What do you do? There has to come a time when that prayer is registered and you get the receipt number. Now look, if you say to the Lord, Lord, do this for me today, then you go home and what happens?

Tomorrow you come back and say, Lord, do this for me today. What have you done? You've canceled yesterday's prayer. So the next day you say, Lord, do this for me today. You cancel the day before. And each day you cancel the previous prayer.

Sometime there has to come a time when you pray the prayer of faith. Personally I think we ought to pray around things. Here it is, here's a need, a problem, a difficulty in your life. As a saint, as a child of God, here's some issue that's rising.

I think we ought to pray around things. Some years ago we had someone here that spoke to us about praying in faith-sized steps. For instance, if you want to get from the main auditorium here to the balcony, I don't suggest you jump.

I think you could run and jump all evening and you'd never make it. It's quite a jump. But if you'll just go around here and go up one little step at a time, it isn't difficult at all. And many times we pray for something and it's too big, it's too grand a jump for us.

And we cry out, oh God, do this or do that, and we're praying in the wrong approach. If we can come to the Lord, how should I pray? What should I pray about first? And we pray around it more or less the same way they got the big blocks of stone up to the top of the pyramids, you know.

They just built an incline and they rolled them up on logs. Much of our praying ought to be that way. How will this be to the glory of Christ? How will this affect his purpose? And so the prayers of the saints are prayers which are in accord with the will of God and the purpose of God.

Well, what is God's primary purpose in this day, in this dispensation? I believe it is to glorify Jesus Christ. And every prayer that's prayed is that kind of prayer. When John and Betty Stamm were asked by the rebels in China to bow their heads, they didn't say, oh God, deliver us from martyrdom.

That wasn't their prayer. Oh God, let us die triumphantly. Let us die to the glory of Christ. I think there has to come to all of us a place where the glory of Christ, the honor of Christ through our lives, the praise of his name, the exaltation of him is more important than our comfort or our need.

And that's what you have here. The prayers of the saints, these that had an eye single to his glory as we saw this morning, whose one desire was that he be exalted and he be honored. And I believe every one of those prayers is honored.

You go to your office tomorrow and you say, oh God, stop so-and-so from making life miserable. I don't think God will answer that prayer. Oh Lord, give me grace to bear whatever so-and-so does. Do you want to glorify Christ in the midst of it?

If Christians were people that are always being insulated from pressures and difficulties and problems, it would be a complete misrepresentation of Christ. Christ didn't die to, I mean, Christ's purpose isn't just to make us comfortable, but it's to make us like himself.

And if they said, if they did it unto me, the master, they're going to do it unto you. If they've hated you, me, they're going to hate you. If they persecuted me, they're going to persecute you. Don't say, oh Lord, stop the persecution.

This isn't the prayer of the saint. The prayer of the saint is, Lord, give me thy grace and strength to bear and to endure. Sustain me. The prayers of the saints were treasured. They were brought and laid on the altar.

But now notice what happened. And the angel came and took the fire. He didn't take the incense. He took the fire. He took the fire. He took God's anger. He took God's wrath. He took God's justice. He took that which represents fire.

Fire as a testimony all the way through, from Abel's lamb laid upon the altar of fire, right on across the centuries. Fire has stood for the justice of God, the righteous indignation of God against sin.

And we find here that he took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar. And he cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. There was difficulty and trouble.

God's justice, God's wrath, God's righteous indignation and anger, seeing and treasuring and holding the prayers of the saints, brought problems and difficulties. Spoken of here by thunders and lightnings and earthquakes.

I do not want for a moment to think I'm spiritualizing this to the point that I'm making one to be one and one the other. It isn't that. But just as God brought their prayers before him and heard them and answered them and treasured them in his sovereignty, so in his justice.

You've heard it said, of course, that Israel, the nation Israel, is the apple of his eye. And I think history is replete with evidence that every nation that has ever lifted up its fist to exterminate God's ancient people, Israel, has been brought from the head to the tail of the nations.

Unquestionably, this is true. And history shows it. For God has not kept them from doing that, but he has brought to them thunders, lightnings, earthquakes, or he has dealt with them. This is the type of thing you're seeing now.

Treasures of the treasure that God holds close to him are the prayers of his saints, and then those that have been the instigators of the persecution and the suffering that moved the prayers are dealt with.

And he cast out, emptied out into the earth this fire. And immediately upon the emptying out of this fire of God's wrath and indignation, the seven angels, which had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound.

The Four Trumpets and Increasing Judgment

Now, I think these six trumpets that we're seeing here describe the supernatural judgment that descends with an increasing terribleness. The first four of these trumpets seem to set before us a gradation of darkness of horror, from bad to worse, to still worse, to worst of all.

Let's look at them. Let's read them. The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood. They were cast upon the earth, and the third part of the trees was burned up, and all the grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded, as it were a great mountain, burning with fire was cast into the sea, and the third part of the sea became blood. The third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the river, and upon the fountains of water. Verse 12,. And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, the third part of the moon, the stars.

This is an increasing terror, increasing ferocity of judgment, from bad to the worst of all. Now, judgment always depends upon the attitude and the actions of the people. And thus, these are not to be located with a given century in a sense in which the first trumpet was sounded in the fifth, the first century, and the second trumpet in the third, and the third trumpet in the seventh, and so on.

We're not thinking of it that way at all. This is too mechanical. This is, I believe, to limit the Scripture and its implications. What we are endeavoring to see, what these trumpets are, and what they signify, without spiritualizing each item in it, may I suggest to you that the four trumpet blasts are destructive religious delusions that are cast out upon the whole world.

The deceit of righteousness, of unrighteousness rather, that it's not so much God speaking in pictures. If it's a literal hail of fire, hail and fire mingled with blood, it's completely contradictory.

Here's hail, which is frozen water, and here is fire, which is the means of completely dissipating it. And what is hail and what is fire? Well, if it's literal hail, literal fire, in that sense, then the picture is not a picture, this is a description.

I personally feel that he's describing something that is as terrible as though you were to have cast from heaven hail stones the size of a man's head, and fire with them mingled with blood. Well, now, if we want to say that this is literal, I have no objection, and perhaps there are those who do, but I think that what he is saying is this, that as men have had the gospel, and as they've had the truth, and as the white horse has ridden, and they've closed their minds and their hearts to the word of God, God has sent them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, and that what we are having here is delusion, religious delusion, the deceit of unrighteousness that has come upon the world as it has increasingly heard and rejected the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.

After all, what is more destructive of human life than religious delusion? What is more capable of destroying, of damning, if you please, than satanically inspired religious delusion? And apparently what we find John saying here is that as God has preached the gospel, as the gospel has gone forth, God sent it forth, as we saw in the white horse riding, and as the truth has gone, there have been those that hearing it have steeled their minds against it.

After all, the gospel is a savor of life unto life, but it's also a savor of death unto death. What is the effect of this? Well, I think we can go back, for instance, to Islam, and I'm certainly not an authority on Islam, but I suggest to you that Islam has been instrumental in capturing more hearts than any other religion.

Nine people are being converted to Islam today, and for every one being converted to Christianity and to Christ. And here it is, a fanatical zeal, a great enterprise and energy and dedication and devotion, but if correctly we understand the word of God, because it has no proper place for the Lord Jesus Christ as the lamb that takes away the sin of the world, all that it has and all that it is, every one that it captures and it holds, would be brought into this kind of blindness.

These trumpet blasts, therefore, would be seen in that way. We come to the fact that there are today so many cults and so many groups and so many different concepts and so many different things that have grown up as strong, intense religious systems and have offered nothing, nothing but death.

And therefore, I'm suggesting to you tonight that what we have in these trumpets, this that is described here as destroying the third part of the earth, the living creatures, this that burns and sears and cuts and destroys, that whereas God in love has sent forth the testimony of his Son, God in love has given the testimony of his grace, that when men have closed their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ, they believe the lie.

Strong Delusion in Second Thessalonians

Second Thessalonians, the second chapter, has something to say about this that's most appropriate. I want you to see it because I feel that in seeing it you'll understand why. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now hindereth will hinder or whittle it until he be taken out of the way.

And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all powers and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be condemned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. And I believe that the scripture, what John saw, the thing that made all of the creatures take, have silence in heaven for half an hour, was this, that there's no vacuum in this thing of religion, that either Jesus Christ is given the place that he deserves, or there are those forces that are set in motion that God's allowed to come that will cause people to believe a lie.

Closing the Mind to God’s Truth

Now, what does this mean? What does it mean to us? What does it mean to you? What does it mean to you? I think that the first thing I would point out to you is this, that you and I as pilgrims, as children of God, are walking a very narrow path.

I think there is something terrifyingly dangerous about people closing their minds to the truth of God. I have a dear friend that I love in the Lord, but he said to me some years ago in conversation, I don't even want to talk to you about the so-called deeper life, because I find out now that a lot of my people are opposed to it, and if I should study it I might be convinced that it's true, and if I'm convinced it's true I'll have to stand for it, and if I stand for it I'm going to pay too big a price.

I'm not willing to pay the price. He said, I don't even want to talk to you about it. I'm safer that way. He'd come up and said, thus far and no further. To me this is dangerous. As I know my heart and as I would long to know yours, I trust there will never come a time when you're going to close your mind to the Word of God, because I think that that becomes then a point where you can be veered off to the right hand or to the left, but as a child of God you're to keep a simple childlike delight in the Word of God.

Oh, there's a highway there and a way, and a wayfaring man though a fool need not err therein. This book isn't dangerous. There's nothing in it to be afraid of, but the only thing to be afraid of is this, that you go off to the right hand of excess and imbalance, and you go off into the ditch on the left hand of refusal and rejection.

If you stay in the Word, write in the Word, you don't need to be afraid of this book. God will only lead you in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. There's no dangerous doctrines or dangerous paths.

I think we should come to the Word saying, I don't want to ever close my mind to the Word of God. I want to be open to it, because these people that we find are the ones upon whom the fierce judgment of the trumpets come, are people that have had the Word, have rejected the Word, and have closed their minds to the truth of God.

I know of nothing more dangerous. Look what's happened. Look at the inroads that liberalism made. Look at this terrible delusion that began in these seminaries in Germany back a hundred years ago, and gradually crept like a fog across the Atlantic into our schools and into our seminaries, and then out into all of the churches and all of the little communities all across the nation, where the Word of God as the Word of God was ridiculed and mocked, and it wasn't anything more than a collection of religious fables and myths.

Jesus Christ was simply a man born as other men are born, and all of these things that tore at the foundation of our faith. Think of the multitudes of people that listened to it, opened their minds to it and their hearts to it, that believed a lie.

Why? Why? There's only one reason that I can think. If you don't believe the Word of God, and don't obey the Word of God, and don't walk in the truth of God, you're vulnerable, you're open, you're susceptible.

The only way to walk unscathed through this wicked world through which God has called us to go as pilgrims is with an eye single to his glory and a heart desiring everything he's given us. Then you can walk right through the den of lions.

But when you come up to the truth and there's a refusal to walk in the truth, a refusal to go on, I tell you this, if there's a point in your past when you refuse the truth, you are going continually further and further and further and further away from God.

It's always that way. It's dangerous. So that's the first thing I see here. The second thing I see here is this, that that one who loves the truth, that one who's committed to the truth, that one who sees God and his sovereignty manifesting his will and his word, and commits himself to the Word, that one has the promise that a wayfaring man there, a fool, he need not err therein.

And that's the one that can walk right through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil. And so the attitude, what do we learn from this? We learn that God treasures the prayers of his saints, those that love him and trust him and obey him, and he watches over them and protects them as we've seen, even though he allows them to come to his presence by way of martyrdom.

But those who close their minds and hearts to the truth are susceptible to being led aside, because God has allowed to be cast out upon the earth these strong religious delusions. And what did our Lord Jesus say?

He said, When the end come, will I find faith on the earth? Will I find any that truly believe? And I anticipate that as we draw near to the ends of the age, that these trumpets that we've seen and have been in operation across the centuries are going to be increasingly in operation, and religious delusions are going to become more subtle and more devious, and the consequence of it is going to be that more and more people are going to be drawn aside and siphoned off and pulled away.

And the only ones that are going to pass unscathed are the ones who have an eye single to his glory and a heart firm in the purpose to walk in the light of his word. That people are the people that know that such a journey as this can never be successfully negotiated in their own feeble strength.

And that's the people that are going to say, I cannot rest, I will not cease until I am filled with the fullness of God. Because learning that God wants to fill with his fullness, they're going to take a hold of the promises of his word like the horns of the altar, and they're going to say, this must be real in my experience.

I'd like to take longer time to develop how these satanic delusions, these strong religious delusions, have corrupted. You can think of it, you can build your own message. I'd like to think how subtle it is to be drawn aside.

Walking in the Light and the Protection of God

But when I wouldn't leave you on that note, I wouldn't leave you on that note. I'd leave you on this note, that the moment that you commit yourself to the word of God and the truth of God and you walk in the light as he is in the light, you have on your, around you, that protection that nothing can violate.

Dear child of God, I say to you tonight on the authority of the word of God, that if you love his word and you love his will and you love his plan, you are invincible. As long as you stay in the center of his will.

Oh, you say they might pin me to the wall. All they've done is plunge you into the presence of your Lord. You're invincible as long as you stay in the word of God. This he has said, this he's committed, this he's given, the armor by which we are to stand.

But when you turn aside from the word of God, then you become susceptible to the powers of satanic religious delusion that God's allowed to be cast out upon the earth. And men should believe a lie. Oh, may I plead with you, walk in the light as he is in the light.

Prayer for Faithfulness and Deliverance from Delusion

Walk in the word. Let us set our hearts upon it and let nothing deter us from complete obedience to it. Though we walk alone. Shall we bow our hearts together? Father, as we see something of what John saw, the saints gathered in thy presence, their prayers remembered before they, and then see these vials cast out upon the earth, searing, destroying, burning.

Father, we know that nothing, all the wars of history have not damned as many souls as religious delusion. The millions haven't been destroyed by arrows and spears, or even by plagues and holocausts. They've been destroyed eternally by religions, by satanically inspired and motivated and centered religion.

They're abroad in the earth today, our Father. Oh, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, show us that the only way that we can be protected from these vials that are emptied upon the earth is to walk in the light as thou art in the light.

But in that directness of heart, in unity of purpose and simplicity of life, we're inviolate as thou art. Nothing can touch us unless it touches thee. And so, Lord, comfort our hearts tonight. Everyone here that's committed to the word, committed to thy will, loves the truth.

Oh, Father, let them know that regardless of what trumpet sounds or vial is emptied, it shall not fall upon them, for they're thine, and protected because they are in Christ. And so, put to us as a people tonight, as we see increasing on every hand, all of the delusions, religious delusions, that are capturing the multitude, put within our hearts tonight, Lord, a purpose to stand on the faith once delivered to the saints, to stand on the grounds of the victory of Calvary covered with the shed blood of thy dear Son, purposing to obey thy word in every demand it makes upon our moral, ethical life, and to appropriate every privilege that it affords us spiritually.

Oh, Father, we pray for the unsaved one that's here, that thou will break all the blinding darkness of the enemy. Tonight might be the night when they'd want the deliverance the Lord Jesus has so perfectly and wonderfully provided.

But especially do we pray for Christians, Lord, that their hearts may be committed to the truth. We hear it said that in men the day shall come when men shall not endure sound doctrine, but shall heap to themselves teachers because they have itching ears.

Lord, that can happen and does happen even today. And so we ask thee that we may not be victimized by the trumpets and the vials, but that we may stand on that only grounds that thou hast given thy word, the revelation that thou hast made in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In his name and for his sake we ask it. Amen. If you're here with spiritual need, do we ask you to make it known we want to talk with you and help you? Oh, we urge you and exhort you to stay so close to the center of his revealed will.