Please help us to draw something from its truth tonight as well. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Now in verse number four, in chapter number four verse one
the final chapter in the book of Malachi and really
a very significant chapter since it is the final chapter in the Old Testament as well.
We saw of course in Malachi chapter one
God's anger toward his people that had turned away from the truth
their destitute spiritual condition. In chapter two we saw
God blame it upon their leadership, their preachers, their religious leaders
who had turned aside from the right way and were preaching
false doctrine and heresy. In chapter number three we saw the prophecy of
John the Baptist coming
and Jesus Christ coming to the temple, overturning the tables.
We saw Jesus point out several of their different sins that they had
departed of him, the tithes and offerings, the
offerings of what was not their best and what was blind and lame and sick and
things that were wrong and they were speaking against God, they were very proud and boasting.
And they had a problem that was brought up many different times throughout this book
and look at verse number 18 of chapter number three
he says, Then shall ye return and discern
between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God
and him that serveth him not. And then look back if you would to the last
verse of chapter two as well, the Bible says, You've wearied the Lord
with your words, yet ye say wherein have we wearied him?
When you say everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord
and he delighteth in them. For where is the God of judgment? So at the very end of chapter two
and at the very end of chapter three
he explains that these people had a total lack of discernment, they couldn't tell
whether somebody was preaching to them the truth or not
or whether somebody was serving God or not. A total lack of discernment
and we see of course in our day preachers and leaders that are lifted up
who are not serving God. They serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but their own
bellies
is what the Bible says. We see them roll up in their Mercedes Benz or their Lexus
or their Jaguar
and they pull in and they get out with their fancy clothes and their fancy
out
and the golden rings and all the diamonds
but they don't serve God, they serve money, they teach things which they ought not
for filthy, lucre's sake. This is your TV preacher
this is your televangelist, this is your faith healer
this is put your hand on the screen and you know what's amazing about all this
is that if I were to bring a television into the
church here which I would never do of course but let's say I rolled a television
I wouldn't bring it into my own house let alone the house of God
okay but let's say I roll the television in here and I were to turn on
you know Benny Hinn. I mean
you'd fall out of your chair laughing literally. I mean you would just
fall out of your seat, your side would be hurting, you'd be laughing so hard
when you see him slapping people on the forehead and they're falling over
and while he's preaching somebody's playing an organ you know
and he's you know
preaching, I mean it's ridiculous and you'd laugh, you'd say
goodnight and you know I watched it when I was a teenager, I turned it on a couple times
and I said to myself who in the world
you know believes this, this is
this is ridiculous, you know I mean I kind of thought it was a joke at first but it's not
and the sad thing is that if Benny Hinn came to Phoenix Arizona, you mark my words
I promise you if Benny Hinn came to Phoenix Arizona he could pack out
an amphitheater and that is no joke everywhere he goes he preaches to tens
of thousands
literally, why?
because we live in a wicked day and
one of the signs of you being wicked is when
you lift up somebody who's wicked and you exalt somebody who's wicked
and you speak well of someone and say that they are good
in the sight of the Lord, you know these crooked phony politicians of our day
you go to church and they'll tell you they're good in the sight of the Lord
you know, this may make you mad
that's never stopped me before okay, you know
George W. Bush is good in the sight of the Lord, no he's not
okay and you go to church and he's lifted up as some kind of a hero of the faith
George W. Bush says that Muslim is a wonderful peaceful religion
George W. Bush has hired more homosexuals to his staff
than any president in the history of the United States including
Bill Clinton, he has more of them okay
and George W. Bush is a socialist, George W. Bush blah blah blah
you say whatever you want, he's not a conservative okay and I don't mind saying that, I don't mind telling you that
but I've gone to church and had him lifted up like he was the second coming
or something, you know, have him lifted up like he's just
so wonderful and he's our hero, he's not good in the sight of the Lord
he goes, look, let me just, I'm sorry, am I bothering you right now
let me just bring it right down on your level, do you know where George W. Bush goes to church
he goes to church at an Episcopalian church where the
the pastor is a woman and the deacon is a lesbian
okay, does that bring it on your level, he can go to church wherever he wants
I told that to somebody and I showed them the proof of it and they said
well maybe he just has to go there because he's the president
I said no, the president can go to whatever church he wants
when Bill Clinton was in office, and good night
talk about somebody who's wicked in the sight of the Lord, Bill Clinton
but when Bill Clinton was in office, you know, he went to a Southern Baptist church
in Washington D.C. when
when George W. Bush was the governor in Texas
he went to a United Methodist church
which is about as weirdo liberal as you can possibly get
and then when he went to the Washington D.C. he goes to an Episcopalian church
that promotes homosexuality, okay
go ahead, look it up, see if I'm not telling you the truth, okay
go look it up on any source you want, it's no secret where he goes to church
now if somebody goes to a church where the pastor is probably a lesbian too
a woman pastor, the deacons are lesbians
is that person good in the sight of the Lord
if so, then your idea of what's good in the sight of the Lord
you need to just sit down and just read Malachi like 500 times
all four chapters, okay, honestly I mean that
and so we see the wickedness of a church
when they lift up people who are wicked and exalt them as heroes
okay, when they lift up someone who's ungodly
and tell us how great they are, that says something about their heart
okay, the Bible says they that forsake the law
praise the wicked, but such as keep the law, contend with them
but look at verse number one of chapter four
where God puts in his final word here
a very short and succinct chapter
he's explained to us all the problem in chapters one through three
and he definitely leaves us with a cliffhanger ending here
not like at all the end of the New Testament
which is just very conclusive and a finality
of the end, I mean when you read those last couple chapters of Revelation
you know it's over, it's done, okay
but here he leaves us with a cliffhanger
because of what's coming which is the New Testament
which is the first coming of Jesus Christ
but look at verse one
here we see God's judgment on the proud
God's judgment on the wicked
the day that cometh that's going to burn as an oven
when all the proud, now picture what he means by stubble
you know stubble is, it's little bits of branches and grass
and it's something that's very easy to light on fire
I mean it goes up like that
if you were starting a fire
you would take big logs of wood and underneath them
you'd put stubble to get that fire going because it would ignite so quickly
he said the day is going to be burning like an oven
and the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble
and the day that cometh shall burn them up, sayeth the Lord of hosts
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch
but unto you that fear my name
shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings
and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the stall
and ye shall tread down the wicked
for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
and the day that I shall do this, sayeth the Lord of hosts
now what day is he talking about here?
what day is he referring to?
well I would say personally that the day that he's referring to
is the day that he sets up his earthly kingdom on this earth
the battle of Armageddon
when he destroys the wicked, when he physically destroys them
now don't be confused by this
there's a lot of depth to the Bible
when you're studying prophecy, when you're studying the end times
nothing too complicated but it's just something that requires
diligent study of the Word of God to see this
now there's something called the day of the Lord
okay, who's ever heard that phrase? the day of the Lord
okay there's something called the day of Christ
and then there's something called the day of God
okay
and then there's this day that's coming
now let me read some scriptures for you and show you how consistent the Bible is
on this
look at you at Isaiah chapter number two, turn back in your mind with Isaiah chapter number two
now what I want to show you right now
is God's judgment on the proud
I want to give you a little bit of the information about you know the end times
and the prophecy
but really what God's trying to say here and what he's trying to point out
the pride and the arrogance of the people who have
who have refused to obey him in chapters one through three
he's describing his judgment on the pride, you know the Bible says of the devil
that he's a king over all the children of pride
you know the Bible says only by pride cometh contention
you can trace a lot of the sin
and a lot of the problems back to one thing in your life
pride
it's the one thing that you don't want to have in your life
pride
did you know that pride is why many people will go to hell?
because they'll refuse to admit that they're a sinner
because they're too proud to admit that
not only that
those who admit that they're a sinner will refuse to admit that salvation is a
free gift from God
they're going to try to earn it themselves because of pride
why is it that they want to earn their salvation and work their way to heaven? Pride!
they don't want to just take a gift and say Jesus paid it all
all to him I owe
sin had left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow
you see it's pride
pride that wants to get up and say oh I was living such a wicked life before I
got saved and I
turned away from it all so that I could be saved
that's pride
a salvation message that centers on man
and not on Jesus Christ
is based on pride
you see salvation is all about Jesus
the gospel is the death
burial and resurrection of Jesus
the gospel is not
that you turn from your wicked ways
the gospel is not
the change in your life
you know we want to go soul winning
and emphasize
oh what God did in our life
and the changes that we've made
you know what you ought to emphasize when you go soul winning?
the blood of Jesus you know what you ought to emphasize?
the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ because Paul said
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ
for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek
the power of salvation
is the gospel
the gospel is defined in first Corinthians 15 one and two that Jesus died
and was buried and rose again in the first four verses of first Corinthians 15
that's the power my friend
that's what you ought to emphasize when you're out soul winning emphasize the cost
the death, the burial, the resurrection that's salvation what Jesus did
you know going I've heard people say oh it's too bad you know
I just got saved when I was a little kid
so I don't have one of these testimonies of
the dramatic change in my life
you know I got saved when I was six years old
oh what a change it's been
my room was dirty
I didn't obey my mom
I used to
you know my mom would put vegetables on my plate that I had to eat and you know what I used to do
I'd fill my mouth full of vegetables
pretend I had to go use the bathroom
and uh...
spit them all out and you know where I spit them out and flushed them down
and so that's how wicked I was before I got saved
boy before I got saved
if I had on my plate meat and mashed potatoes and
and some vegetable I didn't want to eat
I would sometimes bury the vegetable under the mashed potatoes
and build like a facade
of mashed potato
and say mom I'm too full to eat my potatoes all
you know
isn't that ridiculous
but I gave it all up
so I could come
to Jesus
you know what
I thank God
I remember I was in a liberal church and they were teaching I was so much better people that had this
testimony where they'd gone out and
been on dope and
slept around and why in the world would you want to carry that kind of baggage with you
and they said would you rather have that or would you rather
uh... get saved as a kid and and and grow up in church
I was like the only person that said I'd rather grow I'd rather grow up in church
I'd rather know the bible
I said look
I want to know the bible by the time I'm eighteen I should already know the bible
from learning it my whole teenage years
and they said well it's not all about knowing the bible
well you know what you ought to know a little more than you know is what I'd like to say to them right now
because it is about knowing the bible
yes it is about keeping yourself pure
yes it is about living a clean life that's a good thing
and so I thank God that I was never
that I don't know what beer tastes like
I've never been drunk I'm so glad that I didn't go out and live in a bunch of sin
why so I could brag about it you know if you used to live in sin like that
confess it to God and forget about it
you know y'all not go around bragging about it
don't brag about your sinful past
there's no glory in that you ought to just get over it and move on
and so I thank God that I that I grew up in a Christian home and you know what
you know what you know what I talk about when I talk about salvation to people
I talk about Jesus and the death, burial, and resurrection believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and that's what you want to talk about by the way
that's where the power is not in your
gut-wrenching story okay
your tearjerker
is not what's going to get people saved
the Word of God and the power of the gospel will get people saved
but look at Isaiah chapter 2 we're talking about pride
look what the Bible says about the day of the Lord it says
enter into the rock
and hide thee in the dust
for fear of the Lord
and for the glory of his majesty in Isaiah 2 10
uh... the lofty looks of man shall be humbled
and the haughtiness that's pride, arrogance, the haughtiness of man
shall be bowed down
and the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day
for the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty
and upon everyone that is lifted up
and he shall be brought low
and upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and upon all the
oaks of Bashan and upon all the high mountains and upon all the hills that are lifted up
and upon every high tower and upon every fence and wall and upon all the ships of Tarshish
and upon all the pleasant pictures
and the loftiness of man
shall be bowed down
and the haughtiness of man shall be made low
and the Lord alone
shall be exalted
in that day and the idols he shall utterly abolish
and they shall go into the holes of the rocks
and into the caves of the earth
for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty when he ariseth to shake
terribly
the earth
in that day
a man shall cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold which they made each one for
himself to worship
to the moles and to the bats
to go into the clefts of the rocks
and into the tops of the ragged rocks
for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty when he ariseth to shake
terribly the earth
see she from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein he see to be
accounted of
now turn over if you would
did you notice how many times he mentioned pride
haughtiness
arrogance you know
uh... the high looks of the proudness of man
that's what angers God
God's angered by pride, you ever heard of this? Gay pride?
you ever heard of that?
that makes God angry
makes him sick
but look at you what Revelation chapter six
Revelation chapter six it just kind of jumped out at me as I read that how many times he mentions pride
in that chapter that we just read haughtiness
the high looks are going to be brought down he says you're not going to be so proud in the
day of the Lord
now look at chapter six we'll see a new testament
scripture regarding the day of the Lord
same thing the Bible says in verse twelve this describes the day of the Lord
says and I beheld when he opened the sixth seal and lo there was a great earthquake
remember we just read about God
shaking terribly the earth
there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair
and the moon became his blood
and the stars of heaven fell into the earth even as a fig tree
casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind
and the heaven departed as a scroll
when it is rolled together
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places
now watch this watch the proud brought low and the kings of the earth and the
great men and the rich men and the chief captains
and the mighty men and every bondman and every freeman hid themselves in the dens
and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks
fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath
that means anger from the wrath of the land
for the great day of his wrath is come
and who shall be able to stand
so here we see in the new testament the day of the lord the opening of the sixth seal
now turn back if you would to Isaiah
chapter thirteen
and so i just want to make very clear in your mind that you understand what the
bible is talking about whenever it talks about
the day of the lord
the day of the lord look at Isaiah thirteen verse four and you'll see how consistent this is
Isaiah thirteen verse number four the bible reads
the noise of a multitude in the mountains
like as of a great people a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered
together
the lord of hosts mustereth the host of the battle
they come from a far country
from the end of heaven even the lord
and the weapons of his indignation to destroy the whole land
howl ye
for the day of the lord is at hand
it shall come as a destruction from the almighty
therefore shall all hands be faint and every man's heart shall melt
and they shall be afraid
pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them
they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth they shall be amazed one another
their faces shall be as flames
behold the day of the lord cometh
cruel
both with wrath and fierce anger
to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it
for the stars of heaven and the consolations thereof shall not give their light
does that sound familiar
the sun shall be darkened
and is going forth and the moon shall not cause their light to shine
and I will punish the world for their evil
and the wicked for their iniquity
and I will cause the arrogancy
of the proud
to cease
and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible
I will make a man
more precious than fine gold even a man
more than the golden wedge of Ophir therefore I will shake the heavens
there's the earthquake again
and the earth shall remove out of her place
in the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day
of his fierce anger again that is referred to
in chapter thirteen as the day of the Lord look at Isaiah thirty four verse one
Isaiah chapter thirty four verse number one boy listen to the word of God
let the word of God speak to you as we read it
and let you know how he feels about pride
how he feels about people who
so what
it's a sin I'm doing it so what
this is the way he feels about it
these are like the people in Malachi
who say so what if I don't tithe
so what if I don't live right
so what if I
if I bring God something that's flawed and that
tell him it's my best
so what if I speak evil of the things of God
so what if I lift up the wicked evildoers so what
and he says you know what your pride there where you think you can do whatever you want
I'm going to bring that down a notch one day
someday
your pride is going to cease but look at Isaiah thirty four verse one
come near you nations to hear
and harken ye people
let the earth hear and all that is therein the world and all things that come forth of it
for the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations
and is fury
upon all their armies
he had utterly destroyed them he had delivered them to the slaughter
their slain also shall be cast out
now notice this
uh... in verse number three
their slain also shall be cast out and their stink shall come up out of their carcasses
and the mountains shall be melted with their blood
and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved
look at this
and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll does that sound familiar
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll
the trump shall resound
and the Lord shall descend
remember the song it is well with my soul this is where it comes from
the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll
and all their hosts shall fall down
as the leaf
falleth off from the vine and as a falling fig from the fig tree
now that's of course
described indeed that's talking about the stars falling out of the sky the host of heaven
it's talking about the stars there
and the host of heaven the bible says
the stars are going to fall down
like figs falling out of a fig tree it's described that way in matthew twenty four mark thirteen
luke twenty one
and also in revelation six
for my sword shall be bathed in heaven
behold it shall come down upon Idumea and upon the people of my curse to judgment
the sword of the Lord is filled with blood
it is made fat with fatness and with the blood of lambs and goats
with the fat of the kidneys of rams for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Basra
and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea
and the unicorns shall come down with them and the bullocks with the bulls
and their land shall be soaked with blood
and their dust made fat with fatness
for it is the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of recompenses
for the controversy of Zion
and the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch
and the dust thereof into brimstone
and the land thereof
shall become
burning pitch
it shall not be quenched night
nor day
the smoke thereof shall go up
forever
from generation to generation it shall lie waste
none
shall pass through it forever and ever just a few more if you please turn to Joel
chapter two verse thirty now we're in the minor prophets right at the end of the
Old Testament working our way forward to Malachi
look at Joel
Daniel Ezekiel Daniel Hosea Joel
Joel chapter two verse thirty
we'll read a few famous verses here
Joel two verse thirty the Bible reads and I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth blood and fire and pillars of smoke
the sun shall be turned into darkness
and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come
and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call in the name of the Lord
shall be delivered for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance
as the Lord hath said
and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call
turn just a few pages forward to Amos 5 18 just a few pages two pages probably
in your Bible
Amos 5 18
and the Bible reads in Amos 5 8 2 woe unto you that desire
the day of the Lord
to what end is it for you
the day of the Lord
is darkness
and not light
did you catch that
the day of the Lord is darkness
and not light
as if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him
or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him
shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light
even very dark
and no brightness in it
now this is why
let me just put in a note here
this is why in the New Testament because the day of the Lord is not something
that's
to be excited about for the unbeliever okay
for the ungodly the unbeliever
it's a day of thick darkness
now God has a different name that he calls the same day by in the New
Testament
he uses this term seven times he calls it the day of Christ okay
the day of Jesus Christ because
the day of the Lord is always a negative connotation
God's judgment
God's wrath
now the day of Christ and the day of the Lord although they take place on the same day
although they take place in the same twenty four hour period they're still two
different things okay
because the day of Christ
is what we as believers look forward to Jesus Christ coming in the clouds
uh... what's commonly known as the rapture okay
that's the day of Christ
the day of the Lord although it happens at the same time is a different thing okay
because the day of the Lord is God's wrath and God's judgment
that he will pour out
immediately
after the rapture
the Bible makes it clear and this is what's so dumb about these Tim LaHage you know
left behind and
where is everybody you know
all of a sudden everybody's gone
you know nothing could be further from the truth
you know all of a sudden everybody's gone
the cars aren't driving you know blah blah blah
when the rapture takes place that's not how it's going to be at all
every eye shall see him the Bible says
they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds with great glory
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn
they're going to be scared to death as we just read in about
forty verses I hope you're listening
all their pride's going to be brought low when they see the son of man coming in the
clouds with great power and glory
you see nobody's going to be wondering
where everybody went
everybody's going to know what happened
and not only that
but the same day you know and I've never read the book left behind or watched
the movie thank God
you know somebody in my family when I was growing up brought it home and you
know I looked at it I took me about five minutes to tell that it was trash okay
but I leafed through it a little bit
and you know the thing is people are just kind of going about their lives for a little while there
you know it is my understanding
maybe you've read it you know or whatever
but you know my understanding is that in the book and in their in this uh... paradigm that they've
created that Tim LaHaye and other teachers like him
basically
everybody disappears everybody's just wondering why and they go about their little thing for
weeks and months and whatever
but you know the Bible makes it clear in Luke 17 if you want to study this later
in Luke 17 the Bible makes it clear
that in the exact same day
that Lot
left Sodom and Gomorrah
God rained fire and brimstone
down on that city
and also in the same day
the same day
that Noah entered into the ark
most people have a common misconception that he sat on the ark for seven days with the
door shut before it rained and that's not true
read the book of Genesis
chapter uh... chapter six seven eight you know read the story it's clear
and in Luke 17 it's clearer
that Noah entered into the ark the same day
that God began to pour out the rain
and judge the world destroy the world and so clearly
clearly from
reading both
Genesis chapter seven
from reading Luke 17
and from reading Revelation six seven and eight
it is clear that the same day that the rapture occurs
within twenty four hours the same exact day
God is going to rain
fire and brimstone
from heaven
you see
before the first trumpet of God's wrath is blown
before the first vial of God's wrath is poured out
before any of that
the first thing that happens
as you're reading when the seventh seal is open the sixth seal being the sun and moon
darkened the day of the Lord's wrath
the rapture takes place in Revelation chapter seven
you know what the same day
before any of those trumpets and vials and all that
the bible says that a great angel took
from the coals of the altar in heaven
burning coals in a golden censer
and poured them out on the earth
and when the seventh seal was opened God rains fire and brimstone on the earth
so the same day the rapture happens people aren't going to be saying where is everybody
they're going to be hiding themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains
from the falling
debris of fire and brimstone being poured out by God
and so that's reality that's the truth
and so uh... you better watch out who you're letting teach you
some weirdo like Tim LaHaye
and he's a real squirrely guy do a little research on him
he's a real squirrel
okay and so you better watch out who's teaching you let the Holy Spirit teach
let the bible
study to show thyself approved unto God
let yourself
be instructed in the bible
learn the bible yourself
don't even rely on me to teach you the bible
uh... you have no need that any man teach you but as the same anointing
teaches you of all things and is truth and is so lie and even if it is that taught you
you shall abide in him
okay you come to church I'll teach you more
but you ought to be teaching yourself on a daily basis
and let the Holy Spirit teach you
but quickly one more turn to Zephaniah
I'm sorry Zephaniah or Zechariah
let's try Zephaniah
chapter one just a few pages forward
they're pretty close together so it won't be a tragedy if we turn to the wrong one
uh... Zephaniah chapter one
verse fourteen
the great
day of the Lord is near
it is near
and hasteth greatly
even the voice of the day of the Lord the mighty man shall cry there bitterly
that day is a day of wrath
a day of trouble and distress
a day of waste-ness and desolation
a day of darkness and gloominess a day of clouds and thick darkness
a day of the
trumpet
doesn't that sound familiar? a day of the trumpet
and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers
and I will bring distress upon men that they shall walk like blind men because
they have sinned against the Lord and their blood shall be poured out as dust and their
flesh as the dung
neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the
Lord's wrath
but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy
for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all that dwell in the...
now God begins to judge
the earth on the day of the Lord
and that's when he pours out fire and brimstone, his great wrath
every high look is going to be brought down and so forth
the mountains are going to be removed out of their places, the Bible says
every mountain and every island
every mountain, every island is going to be removed out of its place, oh where is
everybody?
you think it's going to be what's on people's mind?
before that every mountain and every island is going to be moved out of its place the same day
did that happen in Tim LaHaye's book?
no it didn't
people are, you know, it's so dumb, I saw this thing when I was a...
it didn't take me long growing up
to figure out that all this stuff was bogus, like about the
the pre-tribulation rapture, ok?
like I sat there in a...
I remember I sat there in a school, I went to Victor and Christian school and they
brought in this videotape and
this guy
had recorded a cassette, and this was long before they left behind
this guy records this cassette tape
if you're listening to this that means that the rapture happened and I disappeared
and blah blah blah
you know what?
people are going to know what's going on, ok?
they're going to see Jesus
in the clouds
there's no secret rapture
ok? when Jesus comes
everybody's going to see him
I saw a statement of faith of a church the other day that said we believe in the
visible
pre-tribulational rapture, I'm thinking to myself, you don't even know what you believe
because everyone who's pre-tribulation
believes that it's invisible
that's what the pre-tribulation rapture, you know, where is everybody? we're all gone
you know, they're like mixing together two things, the visible was the part where they
were reading their bible
and the pre-tribulational was the part where they forgot to read
Matthew 24 verse 28 where
it says
immediately, and this is really hard to understand, isn't it?
immediately after the tribulation of those days
the sun shall be dark and the moon shall not give her light
and then shall they see
the son of man
coming in the clouds of power and great glory
oh, pretty hard to figure out that after the tribulation is when the trumpet's blown
and he gathers his elect from the four winds from one end to the other
God's wrath is poured out after the rapture
but the tribulation is not the outpouring of God's wrath
if I asked you, let me give you an example, if I said to you
if I said
Brother Wallace, I hear that
you've been suffering great tribulation in your life
I heard that you've been going through some, you know, trials and tribulations
does that mean that God is pouring out his wrath on him with fire and brimstone, no
does it mean that he turned on his faucet at home and blood came out instead of water, no
okay, I mean, come on
trials and tribulations
it's talking about people are persecuting you
you're enduring suffering mostly for the cause of Christ
people are persecuting you
that's called tribulation
Jesus said in the world you shall have tribulation
but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world
and so there's going to be a great time of persecution before the rapture
the anti-Christ is going to
cause people to receive the mark of the beast
there's going to be great pressure to bow down and worship
the idolatry of the anti-Christ and the false god
that's going to be set up
and so there's going to be great tribulation but God is going to
put an end to it with
the day of the Lord
the day of the Lord's wrath
and so we see that clearly in the Bible, I don't want to go on any more about that
turn back to Malachi chapter number four
now after all that's through
after the tribulation, after you know the persecution and people are
suffering for Jesus and
and on and on
all that's associated there with, after the rapture
after God's wrath is poured out in the
the seven trumpets and the seven bowels
after all that there's going to be what's called the battle of Armageddon
and at the battle of Armageddon
God is going to gather together all nations
and he's going to gather together their armies, not every single human being in the
world
but the armies of the nations are going to be gathered together in the valley of
Jezreel
and Jesus Christ is going to come on a white horse and destroy them all
with the sword that proceeds out of his mouth
and the
the Bible says that their bodies are going to waste, the flesh is going to waste
their carcasses are going to be burned up
and they're going to be
laying there, their carcasses are going to be laying in the valley of Jezreel
their burnt up consumed carcass
is going to be laying there
on that day
and that's when
the judgment seat of Christ occurs, he sits down on a throne
and he gives out the rewards and
puts people in places of authority
setting up his thousand year literal
physical millennial reign of Christ on this earth
now the Bible says, for behold
in light of all that, for behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven
and all the proud ye in all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch
now he changes subjects here, that's verse one
then he changes subjects and says
but unto you
that fear my name
shall the son of righteousness, now doesn't it strike you odd that
it's spelled S-U-N
but it's in capital letter there, isn't that odd?
the son of righteousness
arise with healing in his wings
and ye shall go forth and grow up as cats of the sun, now what is God showing us here
God's using here a metaphor
which is a comparison between two things
without coming out and telling you it's a comparison
that's what a metaphor is
and what he's saying here is that
just as the sun
rises, just as in the darkest hour of the night
you'll begin to see that glimmer and
the sun rises
he's basically prophesying here
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ok?
he's calling Jesus Christ the son of righteousness
and saying that he is going to arise
with healing in his wings
and he shall go forth and grow up as cats of the stall, that's what he's referring to
there, he's referring to the
the first advent of Jesus Christ, his death, his burial and here we're seeing
his resurrection
as the sun arises
Jesus is going to arise when he comes
and that's why it says sun, S-U-N, instead of sun, S-O-N
although he is the son of God, S-O-N
he's being compared here
to the sun's rising, that's why it's S-U-N, that's not a mistake in your Bible
because there is no
mistake in your Bible
if you have a King James Bible
and then in verse number three the Bible says, and ye shall go
ye shall, I'm sorry, and ye shall tread down the wicked
for they shall be ashes
under the soles of your feet
in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts
now turn over quickly if you would to Isaiah 66, we're seeing a lot of parallels here
with the book of Isaiah
well the book of Isaiah is a fantastic book in the Bible
look at Isaiah 66
and we'll see the same thought here
I gotta hurry, I don't want to, I want to show you things in chapter 66 but I'm going to skip
that for time but
just look at the, look at the verse 24 there
it says, and they shall go forth, and this is referring to that time
after the valley of the battle of Armageddon
and after all those armies are consumed and their carcasses are there
and the millennium begins
God describes some of the events of the millennium in chapter 66
he describes
many things that will be going on during the millennium
during that thousand year reign of Christ he says, and they shall go forth and look upon
the carcasses of the men
that have transgressed against me
their worms shall not die
neither shall their fire be quenched and they shall be an abhorring
unto all flesh, that
that phrase there, that quote is where Jesus was quoting from
in Mark chapter nine
when he said
then to be cast into hell fire
where their worm dieth not
and their fire
is a, now you say
you gotta, when you study the Bible
you gotta, you know
use your mind and think about other places that you know in the Bible
we know that Isaiah 66 is talking about the millennium for several reasons
number one
in order for someone to look at the carcass
of a dead body
of someone who sinned against the Lord and was proud against him
this is before
the old heaven and the old earth pass away
and hell is relocated to the lake of fire
their physical body is still laying there, the dead bodies in the valley of Jezreel
is still laying there
and their soul, the Bible's teaching, is in hell
where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched and so
their souls in hell, their bodies are there on the earth
but back to Malachi chapter number four it says
and ye shall tread down the wicked
for they shall be ashes unto the souls of your feet in the day that I shall do this
say it
the Lord oppose
now look at verse number four it says remember ye the law of Moses my servant
which I commanded unto him in Horeb
for all Israel
with the statutes
and judgments
now here's an admonition
to keep the law, to obey the Bible
now this is pre Jesus Christ of course
and he's saying here to these people
that the law of Moses
he commanded it to Moses
but was it just for Moses to obey? No, he says I commanded
unto him
in Horeb
for all Israel
with the statutes
and judgments
now
let me just briefly say this
in the old testament the children of Israel
had a nation
and their laws were governed literally by the first five books of the Bible
I mean they didn't have
uh... the laws on the books like we have
their legal system their law was Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
now let me ask you something
what do you think is better and I'm just trying to
get you to think straight when it comes to this issue
what do you think is better
the legal system that we have in the United States of America in 2007
or the legal system that God set up and instituted
in Genesis
through Deuteronomy, which one do you think is better?
probably the one that God made
than just what people made
pretty obvious right?
the Bible says the law of the Lord is perfect
now people get hung up on this thing of
you know we're not under law we're under grace
that's true, amen
amen brother
we're not under the law
but Jesus did say if you love me keep my commandments
now think about this
does God ever change?
so if God says
that something is morally wrong in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
does it really matter whether we're living under that legal system or not
whether that's wrong
oh you know I used to think that was wrong but now it's not wrong anymore
now the Bible says
that because the priesthood is changed
from Old Testament to New Testament
there is made of necessity a change also of the law
Hebrews chapter seven
now there are some changes that God made in the law
of necessity
not because he just changes all the time
he never changes
but he changed the law
out of a necessity because we're switching from the Old Testament
Levitical priesthood
to the New Testament
the priesthood of the believer
Jesus Christ being our high priest after the order of Melchizedek
now try and comprehend this
it's really very simple
if you put aside maybe preconceived ideas that you have
God's laws are only changed
where he said they're changed
pretty simple right?
for example
there are Old Testament laws
about
sacrifices
that was the Levitical priesthood
that's gone
because the priesthood has been changed
it would be blasphemous
to offer a lamb sacrifice to sacrifice some kind of animal on an altar
to shed the blood of a goat or a bull
but when Jesus is the sacrifice once slain for all
it's finished Jesus said
and it would be blasphemous to offer that sacrifice once again
there's a pretty big change
because now all those laws dealing with any sac... any laws dealing with the Levites
and their function
those are not something that we're following
because the priesthood has been changed
okay? we don't follow those laws
we don't follow the rituals of the Levites
and the setting up of the tabernacle and the sacrifices
and the diverse washings
and the carnal ordinances
look at Hebrews 7 I must show you this
because there's so much false teaching in this area I want you to understand
the truth about this and I want you to see how simple this is it's not
it's not that complicated at all
I'm sorry Hebrews chapter 9
the Bible says this it says
the Holy Ghost this signifying in verse 8 of uh...
chapter number 9 he's talking about the blood sacrifice in the tabernacle
he says the Holy Ghost this signifying
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest
while as the first tabernacle was yet standing
which was a figure for the time then present
in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices
that could not make him that did the service perfect
as pertaining to the conscience
now look what this entails
which stood only in meats
foods
drinks
and divers washings and carnal
ordinances imposed on them
until when?
imposed on them until the time of reformation
so is that imposed on us today
after the coming because look what is the time of reformation
look at the next verse
but Christ being common high priest of good things to come by a greater and
more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this
building neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in
once into the holy place
having obtained eternal
redemption
for us now
what could be clearer
all of the laws in the old testament regarding
meats
divers washings
carnal ordinances
the levitical priesthood
sacrifices anything to do with the tabernacle
is done away
God tells us that clearly
he tells us in other places that we're allowed to eat any kind of meat
that we want
we're allowed to eat any kind of food that we want
in the book of Acts
in chapter ten
when uh...
God appears to Peter and says eat any animal that you want God has cleansed
uh... it says in first Timothy six that we can eat any kind of meat that we want
it's sanctified by the word of God and prayer you know I was in Mexico
on uh... Saturday night
went down to Mexico brother Jimenez and I
and uh...
you know I'm the kind of guy where I walk into this taco place I just say give me one of each
I like to try new things
but there was a certain word that I didn't understand right away
and uh... later on I thought about it and I remembered what this word means but it was too late
and uh... the word was tripas t-r-i-p-a-s and I remember
they said oh you know I saw that I know what that means steak you know
you know the tacos al pastor I know what that is that's my favorite one
then they said tripas I said give me one of each
you know so I'm eating this taco
and I'm eating it and you know it was okay
but it just wasn't as good as the other two
and so I'm eating it and I'm eating it
and I said to uh... brother Jimenez I said you know this one's just not as good
it's kind of slimy
it doesn't really have the texture of meat you know but I had a lot of salsa on and
everything you know so that still was okay you know I was probably just tasting the good
tortilla and the salsa
and I'm eating it and I got down to the very last bite I mean literally I ate the whole taco
just down to one bite
and I looked at that last bite I looked at it
and I said this is not meat
you know this doesn't even look like meat I mean because it was the color of meat
that's what threw me off at first
it was the same color as the asada
but when I looked down at it
I was like you know I saw this round like circle
okay like a cross-section of a circle
and I looked at it and it was about this big and I said you know this isn't even meat
and I you know
I just said you know I think I'll just eat that one last bite you know and so I finished the rest of my food
and we left
and I was thinking about it and I was thinking about it and you know it came to me
that it means
intestines is what it means you know the N words
and so that that came to me and then I realized that I've been eating you know intestines
my wife didn't want to kiss me when I got home and everything
it was really a bad situation
but what does that do with the sermon? Oh yeah I don't know
it's a good thing we prayed for our food you know because it's sanctified by the
word of God in prayer okay what's my point
I was not committing sin when I ate the intestines
now in the New Testament God specifically says you know what
you ought not eat blood
okay
yes it says that in the Old Testament but God says you know what in the New Testament also
he said and in the Old Testament it's clear don't eat blood forever okay God says
never write to eat blood I don't know what these Catholics are doing with the mass where they
supposedly are eating flesh and drinking blood of Jesus but you know
it sounds like that's a little bit sick
because eating blood is always a sin okay
so I didn't get the tacos morcillo is that right?
taco morcillo I didn't mess with those okay thank God okay
but anyway
no blood
but does that help you maybe understand a little bit
the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament okay
does that mean that we just throw out let's just tear out the whole
Old Testament
because we're under grace isn't that dumb
here let me break something to you
it's three quarters of the Bible
okay
I know
you'd probably like to just take this little sliver of the New Testament and just live
by this but you know
this is three quarters of the Bible this is the book of Psalms
this is Proverbs
this is things that you need in your life
these are commandments
that you need to be following
now do you need to follow the commandments in regard to food? no. Do you need to follow the commandments
in regard to washings?
no but it'd probably be a good idea for some of you
okay
do you need to follow the commandments
in regard to sacrifices and tabernacles and Levites and the priesthood?
no
but when God says thou shalt not kill do you need to obey that?
when God says thou shalt not steal thou shalt do no murder thou shalt not take the
name of the Lord thy God in vain thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
but it doesn't stop there
at the Ten Commandments
all the other commandments love thy neighbor as thyself
what about the commandment that talks about
you know not wearing as a woman what pertains to a man
and people will say that's Old Testament
does that have anything to do with meat?
does it have anything to do with washings? does it have anything to do with the priesthood?
no it's a moral right and wrong issue
and just to prove to you that God still feels that way
in First Corinthians chapter eleven
he goes into the length of a man's hair versus a woman's hair
and in Deuteronomy 22 5 he talks about
wearing men's clothing
if you're a man and wearing women's clothing if you're a woman
and so God doesn't change that
God doesn't just give you license to...or how about this, the death penalty
do you think God's against the death penalty?
no, God instituted the death penalty in Genesis chapter nine
and God's for the death penalty, God by the way decides in the Bible who gets the
death penalty for what
and I've shown people this and they said well no that's the Old Testament
that's the same chapter that says to stone a rebellious child
read the story, it's a child who will refuse to obey
he grows up, he goes out and he's a glutton, he's a drunk, he refuses to work
and God says take him out and stone him
God still feels that way
he said if a man won't work he shouldn't eat
you know what happens when you don't eat? you die
and so God still feels the same way, you know what God puts the death penalty on in the Old
Testament? murder
you know what else he puts the death penalty on?
adultery
wouldn't that
wouldn't that save a lot of children from having a broken heart
of their parents being divorced
the death penalty on adultery
you know what else he puts the death penalty on?
and by the way there's nothing sorrier
than a man who will go and cheat on his wife or a woman who will cheat on their husband
God help us
and you know what, I agree with God on that
you say well I've committed adultery, should I be taken out and killed?
no you shouldn't because that's not the law in America but you know what
ask yourself this question
if that would have been the law, let's say you've committed adultery
if that would have been the law in America
God's law
that said death penalty on adultery
would you have thought twice about it?
yeah
okay do you see what I'm saying?
so God put those laws there to protect you
and to protect your spouse and to protect your children and to protect our society
he put these laws in place, I'm not saying to take out and kill the adulterer
but you know what, if I were king I'd say from now on if anybody commits adultery
in America, in the United States
past this date when we're instituting this
death penalty and it would be amazing how it would drop
you say well I don't agree with that, well take it up with God because that's what
God had a nation called Israel, that was his laws when he was in charge
when he was, he's not in charge right now in America in case you didn't know that
he's not the one who made the laws that we have that are
that are crooked and perverse, that protect abortion and whatever, okay you think God
made that law? He didn't, God's laws are better, trust me
and so God put the death penalty on kidnapping, did you know that?
someone who would steal
break into my house and steal my children or steal an adult
and take them and abuse them or whatever
God put the death penalty on murder, adultery, kidnapping
homosexuality
death penalty
Leviticus chapter 20
and on and on, and God doesn't change, God still feels that way, God still hates adultery
he still hates murder, he still hates, and you know murder is a wicked sin in the eyes of God
many people in America commit murder
yes they do and God says it's wicked
and his judgment must come on the shedding of innocent blood
God hates kidnapping, God still hates people cross-dressing
oh that's Old Testament, well I'll just come and address tonight
okay is that alright if I come to church on Sunday morning and wear an address then
since you think that's the Old Testament
see you don't really think it's the Old Testament, okay
you know that God's laws are true
and so do a little studying and
and understand what
God has specifically changed in the New Testament
but don't throw out your whole Old Testament, you need it
believe me, you need those principles and those teachings and those stories
that's going to be your meat and potatoes of the Bible, you know
reading through that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, you need it
you know, yes we're not under the carnal ordinances, yes we're not under the
the meats and drinks and the washings
but we do ought to obey
God's laws
when he tells us what is right and what is wrong, obey it
believe it, study it, learn it, know it
but look down at your Bible, let me quickly hurry through this, we're almost out of time here
but look down at Malachi chapter 4
it says remember ye
and then that's why all because this one verse, this one profound statement that
God just interjects
in the middle of the chapter here, he just
he talks about something else and then he just brings up something new and he moves right on
but he just says remember ye
the law
of Moses my servant
whom I commanded, which I commanded him in Horeb
for all Israel with the statutes and judgments
then he says this, Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming
of the great
dreadful
day of the Lord. Now do we have any
trouble understanding what is the day of the Lord?
no because we saw it in Isaiah 2
Isaiah 13
Isaiah 34
Joel 2
Amos 5
Zephaniah 1 and really many other places as I was preparing my message site
I was asking myself you know should I include this one, should I include this one
because there are a lot of references to the day of the Lord and they're all very
consistent with what that is
and then we see here
Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
before
the coming
of the great and dreadful day of the Lord
and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children of their fathers
lest I come and smite the earth
with the curse. Now many people think this
many people think
that one day Elijah
okay he's going to come back
from the dead okay
and that is what they say. Now I'm not saying it's impossible but here's the thing
they believe that in Revelation where God has these two witnesses
the two olive branches standing before the God of the earth
and these two witnesses in the book of Revelation
that they will
be a reincarnation of Elijah and Moses
because Elijah never really died you know
he went up by a chariot
in a whirlwind, he was a fiery chariot came and he went up by a whirlwind into heaven
and then the Bible talks about the book of Jude
Moses' body
you know and in the Old Testament it says no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day
and the devil and Michael the archangel disputed about the body of Moses in the
book of Jude and all that
now let me give you the problem with that
the problem with that is that the two witnesses in the book of Revelation
well there's a lot of problems with that but number one the two witnesses in the book of Revelation come after the day of the Lord
what does this say
behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord
the two witnesses
will be after the rapture
okay they'll be
during God's pouring out of wrath during that phase if you know the chronology of the book of Revelation
they will not come before the day of the Lord they will come after the day of the Lord
okay so there's your first problem okay number one
number two turn if you would to Matthew chapter eleven
and we'll see what this really means
now who are these two witnesses well have you ever thought about this maybe the two
witnesses could just be two people that just have never lived before
who are they who are they well
you know they're just two guys that are going to come along and God's going to use them in this
way they don't necessarily have to be
anybody's reincarnation from the dead okay
now is it possible I mean is it possible that God could bring back
Moses and Elijah
because they did a lot of the same miracles you know
possibly
but
to say that Elijah never died is a fallacy okay look look if you would at
and Matthew eleven let's let Jesus Christ
interpret himself
the prophecy given in Malachi four
the Bible says in verse number eleven
verily I say unto you
among them that are born of women
there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist are you in Matthew eleven eleven
notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he
and from the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven suffered violence and the violent take it by force
for all the prophets in the law prophesied until John
and if
ye will receive it
this
is Elias
which was for to come
now what does he mean which was for
to come that means which was supposed to come
this is the Elijah
that was supposed to come
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord
what's it say for all the prophets of the and the law prophesied until John
and if you will receive it
this
is Elias which was for to come
he that hath
ears to hear let him hear now flip over to John chapter one
and I'm hurrying up because we're just about out of time but flip over to John one
and another place in another of the gospels
uh... and I'm paraphrasing this but he says
uh... the disciples came to him and said why say the scribes that Elias must first come
and he said why are they teaching that why are they saying that Elijah has to come first
and he explained to them
you know Elijah truly must first come
as it is written
but I say to you Elijah is come already
and then the bible says that then they understood
that he spake unto them of John the Baptist I believe it's in the book of Mark I'm just
giving you that off the top of my head
then they understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist
in Matthew eleven he comes right out and says this is Elias
Elis is Elijah by the way
that's the
in the new testament
Elijah is called Elias
and then Elisha
is called Elisius
referred to one time in the new testament as Elisius just like Noah is referred to as
Noe
Shealtiel, Israelite, Silathiel, you know they're just slight differences between the
Hebrew tongue and the Greek tongue
number one
because somebody showed me this one time to say well no he's not John the Baptist was
not Elijah well okay look Jesus just said he's Elijah
that might be the end of the story okay
but look what it says here
verse nineteen and this is the record of John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him who art thou and he confessed and denied
not but confessed I am not the Christ
and they asked him what then
art thou Elias
and he saith
I am not
now let me ask you something okay
Jesus Christ said this is Elias
John the Baptist said
I'm not Elias
who are we going to believe
Jesus okay you say the Bible contradicts itself
the Bible is not contradicting itself
John the Baptist is not God
okay I hate to break it to you
but John the Baptist is not God
and so
whether John the Baptist knew
that he was Elijah or not
that does not change the fact
that John the Baptist
was in fact Elijah
flip back if you would
to Luke chapter two just one book back in your Bible Luke chapter two I'll give you another
example of this
and uh...
you must be able to differentiate when you say the Bible between
the Holy Ghost God speaking
Jesus speaking
uh... the narrator of the Bible speaking
or just what someone said
sometimes God is just quoting what a person says telling us what did John say
he said I am not
for example the book of Job
a third of the book of Job
is people saying the wrong things
false things I've heard preachers get up and preach a sermon
based on what one of Job's three friends said
when God says at the end what they said is wrong okay and they'll get up and preach it
authoritatively as if it's
the word of God just because somebody in the Bible
you know the devil speaks in the Bible
there are quotes of the devil
and Jesus said of the devil there's no truth in him
so is the Bible telling us a lie no because the Bible is true
in telling us
this is what the devil said
that's true
but is what the devil said true? No
is what John said was it true when he said
I'm not Elias? No
when Jesus said Jesus is the truth and when Jesus said he's Elias
he's Elias okay
now look at Luke 2 33 let me give you a perfect example
in your King James Bible only
the Bible says and Joseph and his mother
marveled
at those things which were spoken of
now that's God speaking that's the narrator of the book of Luke
God himself the Holy Spirit telling us and Joseph and his mother
marveled
at those things which were spoken of
if you get a modern Bible like the NIV it says his father and his mother marveled
now that's blasphemous
to call Joseph Jesus' father
the Bible never would do such a thing
would never call Joseph it says very carefully in Matthew
in Luke chapter 3 that Joseph
be as supposed
the son of Joseph Jesus was
being supposed to be the son people thought he was
the son of Joseph
he's the son of God
he was not the son of Joseph whatsoever and so if you have a King James Bible
it's very careful to tell you
Joseph and his mother marveled
every other Bible version the NIV the HIV the NAS
the whatever
uh... they all say
his father and mother
blasphemy
false doctrine
now look down but look down if you would
and uh... let me
let me find this I wasn't prepared to say this just came to me but
look down if you would at uh... verse number
if anybody finds it first let me know
it looks like verse number
I win the prize
verse 48 it says
and when they saw him
meaning Joseph and his mother
and when they saw him they were amazed
and his mother said unto him
son
why hast thou thus dealt with us
behold thy father and I
have sought thee sorrowing now was he right was she right when she said that
thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing
no
God when God speaks
well he says it right
Joseph and his mother
when Mary speaks here
she's just
speaking you know humanly speaking you know she just says well your father and I have been looking for you
and look at this he even rebukes what she said just to prove to you because I've actually had people say like
I'll show them hey your NIV says Joseph is Jesus' father and they say oh yeah well right down here the King James Bible says
it's his father and I
and I said look
that's not God talking that's Mary
Mary can make a mistake I hate to break that to the Roman Catholics but Mary is not God
Mary can make mistakes let me prove to you that Mary makes a mistake it says when they saw him they were amazed
and his mother said unto him
son why hast thou thus dealt with us behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing watch how he turns it around on her
and he said unto them how is it that you sought me
wish ye not
that I must be about my
father's
business
see he turns it around and says look
this is not my father
I'm about my father's business right now
I get so sick of this sticker
my boss is a Jewish carpenter
you ever see that bumper sticker put it up your hand
you know what my boss isn't a Jewish carpenter
my boss is the living God okay the Lord Jesus Christ
no you'll not find a mention of Jesus being a carpenter in the Bible
and the only time he was ever referred to people said is not this the carpenter's son people who didn't believe in him
Jesus was not a carpenter
I hate to break it to you
and especially he is not a Jewish carpenter
Jesus Christ is
the son of the living God not the Jewish carpenter and so here
I mean can't you see how Jesus is rebuking that where she says your father and I have sought thee sorrowing
he says no no
how did you how why are you looking for how that you sought me
wish he not
that I must be about
my father's business very clear isn't it
and so remember that when you're studying the Bible
just because John the Baptist said I'm not Elias
he didn't know he's Elias
Jesus said after his death
this was Elias
actually I believe that wasn't even after his death it was when he was imprisoned
I believe in Matthew chapter eleven
yes he was just imprisoned he wasn't dead yet
but it was toward the end of his ministry
and so verse five will quickly finish in Malachi four behold I will send you Elijah the prophet
before
see how we must understand here that those two witnesses
whether they are Elijah and Moses or not which I highly doubt okay
probably just two people that are going to come around
whether or not they are
this Malachi four five
cannot be used as a proof text because
this Elijah is coming before the day of the Lord
the two witnesses come after
and guess what Elias has already come
eat of that the earth see you let him hear
pretty simple right pretty clear
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord
and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children
and the heart of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with the curse
here we see
God ending the Old Testament with that cliffhanger that I told you about
what are we looking for next if we're living in Malachi's day
the coming of John the Baptist
followed by the coming of Jesus Christ we saw it in chapter three verse one
John the Baptist verse two Jesus Christ right here we see
John the Baptist prophesied we flip over the page
we're into the New Testament the book of Matthew we see Matthew chapter three
Matthew one and two Jesus Christ being born and growing up
chapter three
John the Baptist
fulfilling the prophecy in Malachi chapter number four let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer
father thank you so much for the Bible and thank you for those that are here
because they love you nobody
is uh...
telling them that they must be here dear God but they're here because they love
the Bible and they love to hear these help us to
draw something from its truth tonight as well in Jesus' name I pray Amen
now in verse number four