Use your word dear God in peace to every single person here and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Now in verse number 1 of Psalm 17 the Bible reads,
Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry.
Give ear unto my prayer that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Let my sentence come forth from my presence.
Let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.
Now here again David is praying and a lot of the book of Psalms is basically David praying.
That's more often than not the way that the book of Psalms is written.
It's from the perspective of David speaking to God.
Usually asking God to step in and help him in some way.
Last week remember it started out the first words of Psalm 16, preserve me.
And so many times David's crying out to God he's in a bad situation and he needs help.
And here he's begging God to hear his prayer which is often in the Bible you'll see people asking God to hear them.
Now a lot of people just take for granted that well if you pray God's listening.
You know I mean that's what most people think.
I've even heard people say to an unbeliever, you know, just keep praying.
You know and they knew that they weren't saved.
Well God hears you, God's hearing your prayer just keep...
No! You see God does not hear the prayer of the unbeliever.
You see your prayers if you're not even saved your prayer is going about as far as the ceiling and that's about it.
Because your spirit is dead, okay.
You cannot please God, you cannot speak to God.
The Bible says that a person who ignores God's law, who turns away their hearing from hearing God's word.
He said their prayer is an abomination.
But those who are unsaved, well their prayer may not be an abomination.
You know maybe they're sincerely praying to God.
The only prayer that God will hear from that person is when they call out for Jesus Christ as their savior.
And you can look through the Bible and see that.
You know I don't have time to go through and show all the times in Proverbs and Psalms elsewhere.
That God describes the fact that he does not hear the prayer of those that are not saved.
And not only that but the worldly ungodly Christian he doesn't even hear their prayer.
David said this, if I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me.
So if he had a sin that he was harboring in his heart that he was unrepentant of in his heart as a Christian.
He said God won't hear me.
Now the Bible talks about in the New Testament that you know if we whatsoever we ask we receive of him.
Because we do those things that are pleasing in his sight says in 1 John 3.
And so we want to make sure that God is even listening when we're praying.
Because God does not just automatically just listen to every prayer that everybody offers him.
First of all you got to be saved but when you're saved you got to do the things that please God.
That's why David is kind of pleading his case here saying, look God I'm living the right life.
If you would look down at verse number 3.
Because in verses 1 and 2 he's asking God to listen to him.
God hear my prayer.
So he says in verse 3, thou hast proved mine heart, thou hast visited me in the night, thou hast tried me and shalt find nothing.
I am purpose that my mouth shall not transgress.
See David knew that God answering his prayer was directly related to his own life and walk with God.
He knew that if he was obeying God, he knew that if he was doing right and not sinning with his lips, not living a wicked life.
That's when God's going to hear his prayer.
And that's something that we need to learn too instead of just automatically assuming that God is just up in heaven like Santa Claus.
He knows whether you've been good or bad but he's going to give you the presence anyway type of thing.
No.
God is looking for obedience and the path to God's blessing is through the door of obedience.
God will bless you when you obey and he'll punish you when you disobey.
Just like I punish my children, he will punish his children.
Okay, they won't lose their salvation but they will be punished and chastened in this life.
And so don't just take for granted that God's listening.
Live a righteous and godly life to where you can actually look at God and say,
God, you've tried me, thou hast tried me and shall find nothing.
You know, I have a clean conscience before God and man and that's why I'm asking you to hear me, O God.
And that's the way our prayer life should be.
We should first confess sin to God, get all that cleared up, confess and forsake sin in prayer, then ask God for what we want.
And once we have a heart that's right with God and we have fellowship with God because we're walking in the light as he is in the light,
that's where we're going to get our prayers answered.
Living a wicked and ungodly sinful life and then all of a sudden you need something.
O God, help me out.
You know, that's not an effective way to pray and that's what David's trying to teach us here.
That's what God's trying to teach us where we see David's prayer.
Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry.
Give ear unto my prayer that goeth not out of feigned lips.
He's saying, listen to my prayer because I'm sincere.
He's saying, my prayer is not going out of fainthems.
I'm not fake. I'm not a phony.
I am sincere. I'm doing the right things.
You've tried me and shall find nothing.
I'm purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Therefore, hear my prayer.
Now is that our attitude with God?
We need to humble ourselves and not just think that God just owes us something.
He doesn't owe us anything.
We ought to make supplication to him and say, look, I'm willing to clean up my life and do what's right.
Here's what I want you to do for me, God.
And that's what we can learn from these first three verses.
He says in verse number four, concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
Here, he's still pleading his own cause, explaining how because of God's word he stayed out of sin.
And by the way, this is just like what he said later on in the book when he says,
What did he say?
Not thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
That's the other famous verse.
What is it?
Thy word have I hid in my heart.
That's what I was thinking of.
It was one of these really famous Hallmark greeting card verses.
Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.
Same idea here.
He says, concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips,
I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
So God's word is what's going to keep you from sin.
If you hide God's word in your heart, that you might not sin against him.
He says in verse number six, I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God.
So you know God's going to hear him because he knows that he's doing the right things.
He says, incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech.
Show thy marvelous love and kindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand,
which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
Now go back to verse two.
Look what he says in verse two.
Let my sentence come forth from thy presence.
Let thine eyes behold the things that are evil.
Now what does he mean by sentence?
Basically, sentence there is just like the judge pronounces a sentence.
Like, for example, let's say I went out and committed a crime
and let's say I robbed a store and I was in the courtroom
and they said, I sentence you to five years in jail or I sentence you to a $25,000 fine.
That's what sentence is.
Basically, this is saying God's the judge.
God's up in heaven. He's the judge.
And David is saying, let my sentence come forth from thy presence.
He's basically saying, judge me.
He's looking up to God and he said this many times throughout the book of Psalms.
Judge me.
Let your sentence come forth.
I'm willing to place myself in your hands
and you do what you think is fair, God.
Whatever you think is right
and I believe that since I've done the right thing
you're going to step in and help me and bless me
and protect me from these people is what he's saying.
So look at verse number seven.
It says, show thy marvelous lovingkindness so thou that savest by thy right hand
them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
Keep me as the apple of the eye.
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings from the wicked that oppress me,
my deadly enemies who compass me about.
Now, David, just as we will in 2009,
had enemies that were basically trying to kill him,
trying to attack him, trying to harm him, persecuting him.
We will always have enemies because the Bible says,
ye and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
And so just as David was constantly persecuted
and praying all these prayers to God saying,
God, deliver me from my deadly enemies.
Deliver me from all these people who compass me about.
Deliver me from these evil doers who want to harm me.
These prayers apply to us today because if you're living for God,
you're going to be under attack.
And so these prayers are something that we should be praying,
basically asking God to protect us from persecution.
Now, we live in a time where Christians think
and most independent fundamental Baptists
think that persecution is not a part of our life.
And in fact, they think that they will never go through persecution
because they expect Jesus to come back at any moment.
So they literally think that we in America
are just going to be living our happy lives
and driving our fancy cars, living in peace and prosperity
and everything going our way and then all of a sudden,
boom, we're just going to disappear and be gone.
Now look, that's not the way the Bible reads
and that's not the way it's ever been.
Every Christian throughout history has gone through persecution
and tribulation and trials and affliction
and we will be no different.
Now, the truth of the matter is if these preachers
would really be preaching what they're supposed to be preaching,
they'd be going through it right now.
Okay, they'd be going through it right now.
But they think, well, I'm not going through it now
and I'm never going to go through it.
We're just going to just be totally spared from it
because, come on, God would not, you know,
pour out his wrath on his own people.
Now, the tribulation has nothing to do with God's wrath in the first place.
Not until after the tribulation
when the sun and moon are darkened
and listen, I may shock you with this,
the sun and moon are darkened only one time.
He doesn't turn it back on again.
You know, turn it back on, wait, shut it off again.
You know, if you're pre-trib,
it's like he's playing with the light switch or something
because it's being darkened, lit, darkened, lit, darkened, lit.
You know, no.
The sun and moon are darkened after the tribulation.
According to Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21.
It says immediately after the tribulation,
the sun and moon shall be darkened.
Okay, well, when the sun and moon are darkened in Revelation 6,
that's when the Bible says the great day of his wrath is come.
Not has come like the NIV says.
Not has come like modern Bible says.
No, the great day of his wrath is come.
Now that's a difference there
because has come could be sometime in the past.
Is come means it just came right now.
So God's wrath does not come until the sun and moon are darkened.
Okay, therefore, everything before that
is never referred to as God's wrath.
Only after the tribulation, when the sun and moon are darkened,
he says the great day of his wrath is come,
if you're reading King James Version,
and then he begins to pour out his wrath.
Fire, brimstone, hail and fire mingled with blood
coming out of the sky,
turning the water into poison and wormwood.
People are dying from contaminated water
and all the different horrible plagues that we read about in Revelation 8 and 9.
But don't try to bring God's wrath before the sun and moon are darkened
because that's when the day of his wrath comes in Revelation 6.
And so we will go through tribulation.
Jesus said it this way in John 16 33.
In the world, ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer.
I've overcome the world.
Therefore, instead of saying,
Well, we're not going to be there for any persecution.
Nobody's ever going to attack us.
What we ought to do instead is just pray to God,
protect us, keep us safe, deliver us.
That's what he's praying.
He's not praying, Oh God, let me never go through any persecution.
He's just saying, God, deliver me from my enemies
because, of course, I have enemies.
Deliver me from those that persecute me
because I'm constantly being persecuted.
That's what he's saying.
God's not going to just remove us from the world before the tribulation.
It's after the tribulation.
We will be removed before his wrath is poured out.
We're not going to be removed before the tribulation
because we're going to go through the tribulation,
but he's going to be with us.
He will be with us to protect us.
And if we do end up going to prison, he said,
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried.
And ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown if that means it's part of his plan,
if we go to prison or if we're beheaded for the cause of Christ.
Remember what happened whenever the fifth seal is opened
and all the martyrs in Revelation 6 are saying,
Lord, how long does thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given unto every one of them,
and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season
till their fellow servants also and their brethren,
which should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
So God had a plan of people being martyred.
God had a plan of some people glorifying God by dying a martyr's death.
Remember what the Bible says in John chapter 21 about Peter?
And it says, this spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God?
So basically, Peter being martyred glorified God
because he stood up and was faithful unto death, and that brought glory to God.
So if somebody does go to prison or somebody is killed during the tribulation,
which will happen en masse, it's because it was in God's will.
And who are we to fight against God?
But God can also protect us during that time, and God can keep us safe.
Our life is in his hands, and that's what David's saying here.
Protect me from these people that are attacking me.
You know, this pre-tribulation rapture is garbage,
and not only that, it's satanic.
Because all your teaching when you say Jesus can come back at any moment,
we know that according to the Bible, the person who's really coming at any moment
is the antichrist.
He's the one that comes when that first seal is open on a white horse,
conquering and to conquer.
And when that antichrist comes, they're going to say, this is Jesus.
The Jews are going to say, this is our Messiah we've been waiting for.
They didn't believe on Jesus Christ, but when the antichrist comes,
Jesus said this, I've come on my Father's name and you receive me not.
He said, if another come in his own name, him you will receive.
And they will believe on the antichrist when he comes.
And we ought not be sucked into these fables and stories and fairy tales
and lies of all the Bible colleges and seminaries that have taught this big lie
of the pre-tribulation rapture, like we're never going to go through any tribulation.
It's a lie. It's garbage.
But it says in verse number 8, keep me as the apple of the eye.
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings from the wicked that oppress me,
from my deadly enemies who compass me about.
They are enclosed in their own fat.
Now why bring that up?
You know, they're enclosed in their own fat.
Well, look down if you would at verse 14 and I think you'll understand what he's saying.
He says, from men which are thy hand, O Lord,
from men of the world which have their portion in this life,
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure,
they are full of children and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
So basically he's just talking about their prosperity.
Because see, in the old days everybody wasn't trying to lose weight.
They were trying to gain weight.
Because most people have not lived in the kind of society that we live in.
And part of the reason why there's so much obesity and people who are overweight
is because of just a lot of the chemicals and junk in the food
that they didn't even have access to back then.
But also just throughout history most people have not just had the abundance of sugars and sweets
and candy bars and ice cream,
just at their fingertips that we have today in the United States of America.
And so therefore, somebody who was fat, basically that was a good thing,
to have a little bit of extra reserve.
It just meant that you were eating up, you're enjoying life,
you have plenty to eat, plenty of food.
And so basically when he said they're enclosed in their own fat,
he's referring to the fact that the wicked are prospering.
And many wicked people do prosper in this world.
He said they have their portion in this life, in verse 14,
whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure,
and full of children and leave the rest.
Everything goes their way.
They've got money, they have lots of kids, they're fat.
I mean, I'm not fat.
Here I am, I'm serving God, I'm doing the right things,
I'm going soul-winding and look at me.
And basically he's saying, look at them, they're fat, they've got everything.
Their bank account's fat, their wallet's fat, they've got everything going their way.
And here I am, you know, being attacked, and he's saying,
God, you know, preserve me, help me out.
He says in verse 10, they are enclosed in their own fat.
With their mouth they speak proudly.
So they're filled with pride because they have money, they have power,
they've got the body that they want, you know, of being very fat.
He says in verse 11, they have now compassed us in our steps.
They have set their eyes bowing down to the earth
like a lion that is greedy of his prey.
And as it were, a young lion lurking in secret places.
Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down,
deliver my soul from the wicked which is thy sword,
from men which are thy hand, O Lord,
from men of the world which have their portion in this life,
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure.
They are full of children and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
Now, this can be frustrating sometimes when you look at your own life
and sometimes things aren't going your way,
and then you look at the wicked and ungodly
and it seems like everything's going their way and they're prospering.
Now, basically, that's why David's praying in verse 13,
you know, disappoint him, cast him down,
deliver my soul from the wicked which is thy sword.
You see, I've come across some very wicked and ungodly people in my life.
And the natural reaction,
if somebody does wrong to you or someone that you love,
the natural tendency and reaction in the flesh
is going to be to want to do what?
Take revenge, right?
I mean, some pedophile, some pervert, you know,
you just want to go out and kill them, right?
I mean, you just want to just, you know,
the government's not going to do it, so bless God, you know,
I'm just going to go put a bullet through their head.
I mean, that's the natural reaction.
That's the natural fleshly tendency of that's what I want to do, okay?
But then God tells me vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the Lord,
I will recompense, okay?
Well, then I have to say, well, okay, I don't have to take revenge.
I don't have to take things into my own hands
because God will settle the score.
God will balance the scale.
God will bring out justice.
Now, that's comforting, okay?
Because then you can just let it go, and, you know,
you don't have to say, oh, man, I got to go, you know,
take care of that guy, or let's say you can't,
you're just mad, just eating you up, and how can you get away with this?
But the truth of the matter is no one ever gets away with anything.
No one ever gets away with anything,
and all the wicked evildoers of this world,
they think they're getting away with it,
and everybody else around them thinks that they're getting away with it,
and they think, you know, we've got everything going our way.
I'm going to live.
I'm going to eat and drink and be merry and prosper
at everybody else's expense.
I don't care who I hurt.
I'm going to be fat and flourishing and leave my substance to my children,
but they will burn in hell for all eternity for all of their sins,
and so they didn't get away with anything,
and so the Bible's clear that God will take vengeance upon the unbeliever
in the next life, not in this life many times.
Many times he might go to the grave,
and everything seemed like, you know, he got away with it, but no.
You think of Joseph Stalin.
I mean, look at it.
Here's a guy who lived a long life and went to the grave in peace.
After a long life, and he reigned,
and I mean the amount of murder and torture, and you stop and think,
how could God let him get away with it?
He didn't get away with it.
He's roasting in hell right now beneath my feet.
He didn't get away with anything.
He's going to be punished.
He will not come out thence until he's paid the uttermost farthing.
He will pay dearly for all of eternity.
Okay, and so that, you say, oh, I can't believe that you'd take pleasure in the fact.
No, it's taking comfort in the fact that justice is served,
and yes, I do take comfort in the fact that justice is served.
I would hate to think that a man like Joseph Stalin just gets away with it.
It isn't right.
That should go against the grain in a normal person's heart and mind and say,
no, you shouldn't get away with slaughtering millions of people, torturing people.
He needs to be tortured for all eternity in hell.
That's a normal person's thought process.
They want crime to be punished.
You know, people sit back and say, oh, you know, just let it all go.
No, when somebody kills your child or somebody kills someone that you love,
you want justice to be served, and the Bible teaches the death penalty,
and if the government won't do it, then God will do it,
and many times it'll be until the next life, but you know what?
That's okay, because it's coming just as surely as if it were coming tomorrow.
Sixty years from now, 50, it doesn't matter.
They're going to pay.
And so that's comforting.
But today's Christianity teaches no hell.
They teach no justice, no vengeance.
God loves everybody.
God's going to forgive everybody.
God's going to let everything go.
Well, they take away that promise.
They take away the comfort of knowing that vengeance belongs to God
and that He will repay.
And then what are we left with?
No one's getting what's coming to them.
And that just isn't right.
Now, many people who are Christians could commit sins and commit wrong.
Those are punished in this life.
You know, those that are committed by Christians.
If a Christian does wrong in this life,
he will be chastened and chastised in this life
because he's not going to hell,
because his sins are forgiven and forgotten as far as eternity is concerned.
In this life, he's going to be chastened and chastised
and brought in line in this life.
He'll reap what he's sown.
And so that's the key right there.
Don't get this idea that people are getting away with stuff
and it's just not fair.
No, it's fair, believe me.
Because God has set them in slippery places, the Bible says,
and one day they'll pay for everything.
And so just remember that.
And the Bible says in verse 14,
From men which are thy hand, O Lord,
from men of the world,
which have their portion in this life,
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure,
they are full of children and leave the rest of their substance
to their babes.
He says in verse 15,
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness.
I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.
Now, here's the contrast between David and these wicked evildoers.
When he talks about awaking,
basically he's talking about the resurrection.
He says, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness.
I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.
The Bible says in Philippians chapter 3,
Who shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 15,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15, which is pretty much the resurrection chapter.
And this is a chapter that's just all about the resurrection.
A lot of great doctrine on the second coming, on the rapture, on the resurrection, and so forth.
But remember what it said in Psalm 17, 15,
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness.
I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.
Okay, look if you would at verse number 47.
The first man is of the earth, earthy.
The second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy.
And as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy,
and if you get the context, let's talk about Adam.
The second Adam would be Jesus Christ.
It says, As we have borne the image of the earthy,
so we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Neither death, corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump,
for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality.
So the Bible says that we will be in the image of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says, flip over to Romans chapter 8,
just go back a few pages to Romans chapter number 8.
In Romans chapter 8, famous verse, the Bible reads in verse 28,
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He did foreknow,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called,
and whom He called, them He also justified,
and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
What shall we say then to these things,
if God be for us, who can be against us?
So the Bible is saying here that it is our destiny.
That's what predestination means.
It means that at a past period,
God decided what our destiny would be.
That's what predestination means.
Now the false doctrine that comes out of this verse,
and it's not in the verse, but it's when people twist the verse,
they try to say,
well God decides who goes to heaven and who goes to hell.
God predestines some for heaven,
and predestines some for hell.
Now that is a lie.
The Bible says God is not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.
The Bible says that He is the Savior of all men.
You say, well the all there,
that's just talking about Christians.
That's just talking about believers.
He said He's the Savior of all men,
especially of those that believe.
That means He's also the Savior of those who do not believe,
because He said He's the Savior of all men,
especially of those that believe.
Look over, keep your finger in Romans 8,
and go to Romans 5.
I thought this was pretty interesting in verse number 18,
Look at Romans 5.18,
because the Calvinist's biggest argument,
the predestination,
is that all doesn't really mean all.
Isn't that a great argument?
When it says all,
when it says the Savior of all men,
it doesn't really mean all.
When it says that He died once for all,
and He died for all men,
and that He's the Savior not of our sins only,
He didn't die just for our sins only,
but also for the sins of the whole world,
He was only talking about the elect,
just certain people,
and all doesn't really mean all.
Well, look at Romans 5.18,
and tell me if you think all really means all.
It says,
Therefore, as by the offense of one,
judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Now, here's what they'll say,
Well, all doesn't really mean all.
Okay, well, wait a minute.
What about in the first sentence?
Therefore, as by the offense of one,
judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
Now, are you saying that not all men are sinners?
Because that says right there
that by the offense of one,
judgment came upon all men to condemnation.
This is just like in Romans 5.12,
Wherefore, as by one man,
sin entered into the world,
and judgment came upon all men,
for that all have sinned.
So does all mean all?
Yeah, of course all means all.
All men have sinned.
Adam sinned, and therefore all men are sinners.
How about Romans 3.23,
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Well, if all means all,
then look at the second half of the verse.
Even so, by the righteousness of one,
that's Jesus Christ,
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Even in one verse,
I guess all changed meaning in the verse.
If you're a Calvinist, right?
It changed meaning halfway through the verse.
It started out meaning everybody's a sinner,
but when it comes to salvation,
oh, it's just for certain people.
It's garbage.
Calvinism doesn't hold up.
Let's look at what Romans 8 is actually saying though.
Get the real meaning here.
He says in verse 29,
For whom he did foreknow,
that's the key.
God knew in advance who would be saved.
That's God's foreknowledge.
So he says,
For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate.
So who did he predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son?
Those whom he foreknew.
And those whom he foreknew,
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son.
So he didn't say it's your destiny to go to heaven
and your destiny to go to hell.
He said, no.
I foreknew the believer
and I decided to predestine him
to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
That was the destiny that he came up with.
Not a destiny of who would be saved and who would not be saved,
but the destiny of the believer
is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
That will take place at the resurrection.
What the Bible calls the first resurrection.
When you are resurrected from the dead,
the Bible says that in a moment,
in a twinkling of an eye will be changed.
And we will bear the image of the heavenly.
We will bear the image of Jesus Christ.
Our body, Philippians 3.21,
will be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
And so the Bible is clear here, it says,
whom we did foredo, he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son.
That he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
One time I was reading a magazine in Germany,
and I was practicing my German,
I was reading a magazine sitting on a train in Germany,
and it said that the Pope,
it was basically explaining how the whole Protestant Reformation
was just a big misunderstanding.
And how really the Protestants and the Catholics
all believed the same thing,
and how they were all getting back together.
And it was about like a joint service
that they did in Germany
between the Catholics and the Pope
and all the Protestant Lutheran hierarchy
getting together and joining up.
And that's what it was about.
And it was talking about some of the misunderstandings,
you know, over the years,
like people thinking that they worship the Pope
and that they worship idols
and that they think salvation is by works.
Of course they don't do any of those things,
according to that.
And here's what they said about the Pope.
They said, you know, the Pope,
you know, I know we call him Papa,
you know, we call him Father,
but you know, really, you know, God's the Father,
you know, we know that, we just call him Father,
you know, but really God's the Father.
This is what these Catholics are saying,
these lying Catholic archbishops or whatever.
And here's what they said.
The Pope is actually just the first among many brethren.
And I thought that when I read that,
it sounds good, right?
No, that's what Jesus is, okay?
So basically they say, well, he's not, you know, Father,
he's just the first among many.
No, Jesus is the first among many brethren.
Look what it says right here.
And they're just, you know, they don't know the Bible,
the Catholics that are following them.
Oh, that sounds good.
I read that and I said, that's blasphemy,
because Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called,
and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
But who did he predestinate?
Those that he foreknew.
So the people that he foreknew are the ones that he predestinated,
called, justified, and glorified.
So this isn't saying God decides who goes to heaven and hell.
He decided what he would do for those who would be saved,
that he already foreknew.
He already foreknew me before I was even thought of,
before the world even began.
He knew Steven Anderson.
And he knew that I was going to believe on Christ,
and he said, okay, Steven Anderson will be conformed to the image of my son.
Steven Anderson will be justified.
Steven Anderson will be glorified at the first resurrection.
He says, what shall we say to these sayings of God before us?
Who can be against us?
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all,
how shall he not with them also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
That's all the Jews, right?
No, it's all the people that he foreknew, who he justified, glorified, and so forth.
It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died, he rather than has risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God who also make an intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of God?
Shall tribulation?
Oh yeah, we don't have to worry about that, I forgot.
I forgot, John Nelson Darby told us
that we're going to be raptured before the tribulation.
And that guy was the biggest Satanist.
And you know what, I can't believe today
that the Baptists will call themselves a dispensationalist today,
when dispensationalism was started by the biggest Satanist,
John Nelson Darby, in the 1800s.
Who's ever heard of the Darby translation of the Bible?
Okay, I pulled it out last night, I looked at it,
just to do a little research on it.
I opened up the Darby translation,
you know what it said in 1 John 5-7?
Nothing, because it wasn't there.
You know what it said in Acts 8-37?
Nothing.
And this is before all the new versions came out,
this is back in the 1800s.
I flipped open to Luke 2-33 in the Darby translation.
It said,
His father and mother marbled,
speaking of Joseph as Jesus' father.
I flipped over to another scripture,
Colossians 1-14,
in whom we have redemption, through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins,
through His blood was removed from this translation.
So here's a guy who completely altered and chopped up
and messed up the Bible back in the 1800s.
So according to the Bible,
if you remove something from God's word in Revelation 22,
he says,
your part is blotted out of the book of life.
And he said,
if you add anything to these words,
he said, I'll add unto you the plagues that are written in this book.
And so, according to the Bible,
John Nelson Darby is in hell, okay?
He's a false teacher,
and that wasn't even all the false teaching he did,
but here's a guy who just attacked
and put out a phony Bible.
He attacked the true word of God
and tampered with it.
And then his disciple,
C.I. Scofield,
who says in the very front of the Scofield Bible,
right in the front of the introduction,
he says that the King James Bible
is filled with mistakes
and that the revised version is better.
He said, the only reason I'm using
the King James Version for this study Bible
is because it's the most popular.
And so that's why I've corrected it for you
in the column,
where I've changed what it says
and tell you what it really means.
Okay, these guys were evil men,
not...
Scofield was not a Baptist,
believed in this universal church doctrine,
so did Darby,
they're false teachers,
and yet they're the ones who gave us
all our modern dispensationalism,
Zionism,
pre-tribulation rapture,
all this false teaching.
We need to get back to the Bible
and get away from these theologians
who lied to us and deceived us
through the years.
Hey, the Bible teaches us
that all that live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
The Bible teaches us,
in the world you shall have tribulation.
1 Thessalonians chapter 3,
verily when we were with you,
we told you before
that we should suffer tribulation.
And on and on,
all you have to do is look up the word tribulation.
Over and over again,
God's people have been tried and tested
and gone through persecution, affliction, tribulation,
and it's no different today.
And so back in Psalm 17,
where we were,
we'll just finish up quickly,
but he said in Psalm 17, 15,
As for me,
I will behold thy face in righteousness.
I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness.
This is basically talking about
at the second coming of Christ,
at the resurrection,
at the rapture,
he says,
I'll be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness.
Now, the contrast here
was with all these other guys that he listed
because the first three words,
As for me,
that's a contrast
with the other people that he was speaking about.
The other people that he was speaking about
who today in this life had their portion.
Today they're the ones who are rich,
they're the ones who are succeeding,
they're the ones that are enclosed in their own fat,
as he described it,
that leave their substance to their children.
He said,
they one day will be cast into hell,
they're going to suffer,
they're going to get what's coming to them.
He says,
I'm not looking to be satisfied now.
I'm not trying to be satisfied in this life.
He said,
I'll be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.
You see,
there's two choices in this world.
There are those who get what's coming to them now,
and they have all the fun
and all the good things
that the world has to offer
and then suffer later.
And then as Christians,
if we're living for God
and doing the right things,
we're going to go through some suffering now.
The Bible says,
unto you it is given on the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on him,
but also to suffer for his sake.
Did you know that the first word
out of the mouth of Jesus Christ
as you read the New Testament,
if you start in Matthew chapter 1,
and you'll get to chapter 3,
the first red letter,
if you have a red letter Bible,
is suffer.
That's the first word that came out of Jesus' mouth
when you read the New Testament.
Suffer.
And so yes,
for the Christian,
there's suffering now.
But we're going to be rewarded later
for all eternity.
And let me just tell you something.
This world doesn't have that much to offer.
And so I'd hate to be one of these
wicked unbelievers
who just lives it up now,
enjoys all the pleasure now,
gets everything that's coming to them now,
which isn't even that great in the first place,
and then suffers for all eternity
for their sins in hell.
Hey, I'd rather be a Christian.
Suffer now.
Do the right things now.
Be poor now.
And be glorified with Jesus Christ for all eternity.
Think about it.
And that's something that really has something to offer.
The Bible says,
I have not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things that God has prepared for them that love him.
But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit.
And so let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we just thank you so much
for your word, dear God,
and the comfort of knowing that
you will balance the scale,
you will set things straight one day, dear God,
we thank you so much for heaven, dear God,
and we thank you that
one day we'll be glorified together with you,
and that we can take comfort in the fact that
those who persecute or attack us,
as we read in Psalm 17,
we'll get what's coming to them one day.
And Father, we love you,
and thank you for everything you do for us,
and bless our church in the new year, dear God,
and help us to have the greatest year
in the history of our church in 2010.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.