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SATAN'S LAST DAY THEOLOGY
Bro. Nader Mansour
Grace and peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. that's the greeting that the apostles used to greet the members, the body of Christ, and that's the greeting that brothers and sisters greet each other with.
Today our study is entitled Satan's last day theology, and before we begin I just want to make a few comments about some of the things we just heard in the segment earlier.
Our Father in heaven is not happy to see this suffering and misery in the world, is He? The person who is happy for this condition of things to continue on and on is the devil and it is part of our job to help heaven bring about an end to the condition of suffering and misery that the world is in. God has entrusted us with a measure of responsibility to bring that to an end.
He has told us in the Bible that that cannot come to an end except God's people have truth. And so it is Satan's decided attack against God's people to have them confused, especially about God's truth because when God's people are confused about His truth, the condition that we are in continues to go on and on and get worse and worse. So this is one of the reasons why we are looking at some of these things, practically, not only so we can get the head knowledge, but also apply these things in helping fulfil our mission in bringing an end to what is happening in the world of misery and sin and sickness.
Our title is Satan's last day theology. And when we talk about Satan's last day theology, we are not talking about a new theology that is just going to happen in the last days. This is Satan's theology since day one, and it is especially in action and in activity in the last days.
So today we are going to focus at what Satan is doing on one specific aspect in the last days, that is causing God's people to be confused about certain things. And hopefully by the end of the study we will be able to appreciate a little more the situation that we are in.
So, if we have our Bibles ready. Now, what I'll do, because ... How many people are sleepy? No hands. That's O.K. We are going to start to try and stay awake together so throughout the study we will just ask you some questions and we'll have some interaction together. That way I can make sure you are awake and that you are actually understanding what we are talking about. O.K? So, if you have some questions and comments, if I ask you something, don't hesitate to respond.
Do we have our Bibles ready? O.K. We'll go to the Bible, and we'll go to a text that we are all familiar with in Romans 6. Now the texts are in your Bible, not on the screen, so if you have your Bible let's open them and see what the word of God says for us personally.
Romans 6:23 is a text that is familiar to many people. In Romans 6:23, the Bible tells us,
'For the wages of sin is death; but (in contrast to that) the gift of God is eternal life (and it also tells us how we have this eternal life) through Jesus Christ our Lord.'
It's very important. This text tells us something very important. We only have eternal life through who? Jesus Christ our Lord. That means our eternal is not dependent on us belonging to a certain group, does it? It doesn't depend on our membership in any organisation, or in any church. It doesn't depend on us being on some ship that is not supposed to sink. It doesn't depend on any of these things. Our eternal life is only how? Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Very important. Never forget that because many people today have linked other things, besides Jesus Christ, on whom their eternal life depends. So their eternal life depends on Jesus Christ but they must belong to a group, they must be members of some structure. It's very important, the Bible says only through Jesus do we have eternal life.
Now, what is this eternal life that we have through Jesus? Is it just to live without dying? If I were to ask you, What is the definition of eternal life, you could say, 'It means we don't die. We just live forever.' But let's see how Jesus Himself defines it. Since eternal life is only through Jesus. How does Christ describe or define eternal life for us? He does that in John 17:3 This is a very beautiful text. John 17:3 and he tells us, he gives us a definition of this eternal life that we only have through Jesus Christ our Lord. John 17:3. Jesus speaking, praying actually to His Father, and He says,
'And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.'
So what is eternal life now according to Jesus? It is knowing two individual people. It's knowing the Father, the only true God, and knowing Jesus. Now today we will focus on Christ, we will focus on knowing Christ because our eternal life depends on that.
So, eternal life, according to Jesus, is not just living forever, it is actually knowing someone. It is knowing the Father and the Son. We only live forever as a by-product of that knowledge. That's an automatic reaction.
So, that's very important to understand. Our eternal life is based on knowledge and knowing someone, and Christ came from heaven to give us that correct knowledge, especially about Christ. So, would a wrong knowledge of Christ affect your eternal life? O. k, A few people said Yes. Others? What do you think? If our eternal life is only through Jesus, and He said eternal life is to know Him, and the Father, so if we have an incorrect knowledge, that endangers our eternal life.
Now, if the devil wants to rob us of our eternal life, what do you think he will attack? He will present a counterfeit knowledge, he will present an error regarding the Father and His Son. This is why we talk about some of these things because the devil knows that your eternal life and my eternal life is not because we are members of any organisation, or of any group, he knows it's only through Jesus and he knows that the knowledge of Jesus, the correct knowledge of Jesus is our key to eternal life.
So before we see the devil's attack we must first study the truth. The Bible tells us what the correct knowledge of Jesus is. If you, perhaps some of you know this, you know the people who work in banks, who are expert at detecting fraud money. They spend all their time studying what? The real currency. They spend their time familiarising themselves with the true currency so that as soon as they see a fraud, they can detect it very easily, because they are so familiar with the true, the genuine.
So this is what we will do first. We must familiarise ourselves with the true and correct knowledge that the Bible gives us regarding Jesus Christ, and as soon as we do that , when we see the devil's attack we will be able to detect it easily, just like an expert can pick a counterfeit note.
So, we must have the truth in order to detect the error. A lot of people today are confused because they are just fighting over ideas but we need to see what does the Bible say, especially regarding Jesus because our eternal life depends on this.
Some of this information might be brand new to you, and some of it might be a repetition to you, but either case, this information is what our eternal life is dependent on. So we will have a look at what the Bible says about Jesus.
Who was Jesus? If I were to ask you, who was Jesus, what would your answer be? The Son of God. And if you ask a lot of Christians today, who was Jesus, they will answer and say, The Son of God. But today, we want to go beyond just lip service. Today we want to see how does the Bible describe Jesus? How does it tell us about Him as a Son? And is there a deception involved? Is everyone who says Jesus is the Son of God, really believe it? Because we are told in the Bible there is a group of people in the end who will come to Jesus, very surprised, and will tell Him, 'Lord, Lord. Didn't we do all these things in Your name? ' And then Jesus will tell them that He never knew them.
So today we want to go a little deeper than just that. Now, Jesus said that Himself. John 10. Turn a few pages back to John 10 and we will look at verse 36, and see what Jesus said regarding who He was. And he answered them, everyone gave the correct answer, but we will go a little deeper than just that. In John 10:36 the Pharisees wanted to stone Christ, and He answered them and said,
'Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?'
So from Christ's own lips we know He is the Son of God. Let's look at John 5:18 And if you have a Bible, and your neighbour doesn't have a Bible, what are you going to do? Share with your neighbour, that's good. John 5:18 tells us,
'Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.'
So now we have a new piece of information in the equation. When Jesus said He was the Son of God, what did that make Him? Equal with His Father. In other words, Christ's equality with the Father is based on His Sonship. Very important. So, if the devil wants to attack the equality of Christ to the Father, what would he attack? His Sonship. It is very important to keep in mind as we progress.
Jesus is the Son of God. Is He the only One? In other words, are there other son's of God? Let's have a look. Luke 3, there definitely are other sons of God, like who? Like us. All right. As we are all ex-sinners, by God's grace. Let's look at another group of people. Luke 3:38. Luke 3 gives us a genealogy, and at the end of the genealogy it says in verse 38, speaking of Cainan,
'Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.'
So Adam, when he was created perfect, he was called the son of God. And that was through the process of creation as Genesis 5 tells us. And in Job also, we don't have to go there, we know how the text that tells us that when God created, the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy. And we know that the sons of God there is referring to the angels. And angels were also created.
So when God created intelligent moral beings the Bible calls them 'sons of God.' Now we also have another text that is very important for us today in 1 John 3. We are talking about beings that are created perfect here. But let's see what 1 John 3 tells us in verse 1, and it says there,
'Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should called (what?) the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us now, because it knew him not.
So that's every one here. When John says 'us' it's talking about us, after the fall. So, we can be sons of God as well. By what process? By redemption or the Bible calls is as well 'adoption.'
So here we have two different ways that God can have sons. Either by creation, as in Adam and the angels, they are called the sons of God by creation, and also people who have fallen into sin like us when we are redeemed and adopted into the family of God are also called 'sons of God.' So we can be sons of God by adoption.
Now, is there a distinction regarding Christ? How is Christ a son? Is He a son by creation or is He a son by adoption, or what does the Bible say? O.K. Let's see what the Bible says. Here is a text that we are familiar with, perhaps we can say it together rather than go there. John 3:16 says what?
'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.'
O.K. That's good. We know the text very well. Now the text tells us something about Jesus there, it says that He is the only begotten Son. So it places Christ in clasp of a category all by Himself, so immediately we know that He cannot be a Son by creation because there are many angels and He cannot be a Son by adoption because there are many people redeemed. Christ is the only One that the Bible says He's begotten so we are going to look at that a little more.
Who is He begotten of? The Bible tells us in John 1. Now the reason why we are looking at the Bible is because we need to find out the truth first because as soon as we turn to the counterfeit we will be able to immediately detect it. John 1:14 is a beautiful verse. It talks about the Word, Christ, and it says there in John 1:14,
'And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.'
So the Bible tells us Christ is the only begotten Son, it tells us He was begotten of who? The Father. He's the only one begotten of the Father. So that places Him in a category and a class all by Himself. Christ was begotten.
Now, the word 'begotten' is English means what? 'To be born, to proceed, to come out of.' Does that mean that Christ actually came out from His Father, was He actually begotten? Let's ask Christ Himself. Let's hear what He says. John 16:27 and then we will see why Christ is so unique and why the devil hates that fact. John 16:27, Jesus speaking to His disciples. This is just before He went into the Garden of Gethsemane. In verse 27 He tells them,
'For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.'
Now the disciples believed that Jesus was the Son of God. Here Christ clarifies that their belief was that He came out from God. In other words, He was begotten. And we just read that He was begotten of the Father. He's the only One begotten of the Father.
So now we have three ways, or three categories. We found that there are some sons of God by what? First of all creation, and then by adoption, but Christ, the Bible says, is the only One who is begotten, or as the Bible says, He came out from the Father.
Well, if Christ was begotten, when was He begotten? Does the Bible tell us? Let's have a look. Micah 5:2 What we are doing today is just looking at the correct knowledge of who Jesus is because our eternal life depends only on Christ, our eternal life is through Christ, which is what we are looking at. Micah 5. Micah is in the Old Testament, chapter 5, verse 2.
In Micah we have a prophecy about Christ and it tells us there,
'But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.'
So here we have a prophecy about Jesus Christ and we are told that when Christ will be born in Bethlehem, He will be a ruler. But it tells us, when He is born in Bethlehem, that is not actually when His existence begins because ‘His goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
So that gives us an idea. Christ was begotten some time in the everlasting of the past. Does the Bible give us more information about that or not? Let's continue. In the Old Testament, Proverbs 8. Now Proverbs 8 is one of those chapters in the Bible that people either love or hate. Proverbs 8. I've had one Brother tell me his honest opinion that he did not think Proverbs 8 should be in the Bible, and I was quite surprised.
I told him, 'Brother, why would you say that?'
He said, 'Well, I don't like what it says.'
And I told him, 'Perhaps this is a good time to let go of what you would like to think and start believing what the Word says.'
So the devil is active in these last days. At least he was honest enough to admit that to me. Let's have a read of Proverbs 8 and see what verses 22-30 tell us, they can shed some more light as to when Christ was begotten or came out of the Father. Verse 22, it says,
'The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth;
While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth.
When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundations of the earth;
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him.'
Here we have a passage of someone who is speaking about an event that is described as being 'brought forth' before the creation of all things. Now, if you look at the context of the chapter, the chapter is talking about wisdom. Just leave your finger there for a minute, in Proverbs 8, and we'll just jump over to 1 Corinthians and we will see what the Bible says about wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:24 because we need to just see, we need the Bible to tell us who is speaking, who is the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:24 the Bible tells us,
'But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.'
So Christ is known as the 'wisdom of God.' And the wisdom of God is speaking in Proverbs 8. So in other words, who is speaking? Christ is speaking. So Christ is speaking, and He tells us here about an event that took place before the creation of anything. Notice verse 24, it says, (we are back to Proverbs 8), it says,
'When there were no depths, I was brought forth: when there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth.'
So here we have a little more insight as to when Christ was brought forth, or when He was begotten. It is before the creation of anything. So by the time that creation took place, if Christ was begotten of His Father, how many should there be? Two, There's the Father and His Son was begotten before creation, by the time creation takes place there should be two.
Let's have a look at Proverbs 30 and see if the wise man confirms this information for us, or if our conclusions are incorrect. Proverbs 30:4. In Proverbs 30:4 the Bible tells us,
'Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?'
Now here we are reading about an event that the wise man says, 'gathering the wind in his fists, binding the waters in a garment, establishing all the ends of the earth'. What event would that be? Creation. So who does the wise man give credit for creation to? To a Father and a Son.
It is interesting that he does not identify them by name but he identifies them by relationship, teaching us that the relationship is a real one. So by the time creation took place there was a Father and there was a Son. Now we can tell what their names are, can't we? Do we know? What is the Father's name? Yahweh. What's the Son's name? Michael, who became Jesus. That's right. By the time creation, it was Yahweh and Michael, as we know it in English.
So it is very interesting. Christ here has confirmed that by the time creation took place, He was already a Son, He was already begotten of His Father. And so by the time Bethlehem came along, God said that He loved us so much that He gave us His only begotten Son, the One who was with Him from the beginning.
So, this is the plain Bible teaching. Now let's continue. By his divine birth, what did Christ inherit, because this is very important point? We saw earlier that Christ was equal to the Father because He was His Son. His equality to the Father was based on His Sonship.
Now, what did He inherit? If Christ was born of the Father. In Hebrews 1, in the back of the New Testament, Hebrews 1:4 we are told what Christ inherited. One of the many things that Christ inherited. Hebrews 1:4. In Hebrews 1:4 it tells us, speaking of Christ,
'Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.'
So Christ, by inheritance, obtained what? A more excellent name. Whose name would that be? His Father's name. I think everybody in this room has a father, is that right? Say yes. We all do. What do we inherit from our fathers? His name. Christ inherited the name of His Father.
So when Christ came to earth He said, ' I am come in My Father's name.'
Now, what does the word 'name' in the Bible mean? It means character, it means authority as well. When a person's name is mentioned it also carries authority. So Christ inherited the character of His Father, He inherited the authority of His Father, let's see what else He inherited. Exodus 23:20, 21 says the same thing. We will look at John 5:26.
Now while I am turning in the Bible and while we are looking at these things, I don't want you to just sit there and nod your heads and say 'yes'. I actually want you to exercise this section of your body, your brain, and actually think. So don't just accept what I'm saying or what we are talking about, actually think about what is being said because these things are causing a lot of people today to stumble, so we should not even take for granted the truth that we have, not just the blessings of Providence but also the truth. I want you to think about what we are saying, especially if you are new, especially if some of these things you haven't heard before, or you have heard about them. If this is perhaps new to you, I want you to exercise your brain cells and think about what we are reading and finding, because in a minute things should start coming together. We are in John 5:26 and in John 5:26 it tells us there,
'For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.'
O.K. How did the Father give that to the Son? We found earlier. How did Christ obtain a better name than the angels? By inheritance. So here we understand also that Christ obtained the same life that the Father has by inheritance because He is the only One who is begotten. In other words, that makes Christ have in Himself eternal life.
The servant of the Lord calls it 'original, unborrowed, underived life.' Whose life is that originally? The Father's original life, and the Son has the Father's original , unborrowed, underived life in Him by virtue of being begotten of His Father, because His Father happens to be God and He was born of His Father, and therefore He is equal in nature to His Father. Let's have a look at it in Colossians 2, just a few books past John. Colossians 2 Now, this is a point that we need to clarify regarding the divinity of Christ. Colossians 2:9 and chapter 1:19. We will read them and then we will see what we can understand from them. Colossians 2:9 says, speaking of Christ,
'For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.'
Now the 'fullness of the Godhead bodily' we'll just put that in simple terms. That's the divine nature. The divine or divinity dwells in Christ fully -- in Christ. Let's look at chapter 1:19, just across the page perhaps. Let's see, who did it please that in Christ should all fullness dwell? Verse 19 it says,
'For it pleased the Father that in him (that's in Christ) should all fullness dwell.'
Now this 'all fullness' is the fullness of the Father. In other words, Christ is equal to the Father in that He has the same fullness that's in His Father. He's equal to His Father. In other words, He is divine. Why? Because He's a Son. Remember, His divinity and equality to His Father is based on His Sonship.
Are the angels divine? They are called sons of God. How come they are not divine? Because they are created. Are we divine? No, we are not because we are created and we are even fallen from that condition and we have to be re-created, and we have to be redeemed.
But Christ, remember the Bible says, is the only One who is begotten of the Father. He actually was brought forth from His Father, and that makes Him the only other Being in the whole universe who is fully equal to His Father in nature. So He is divine because He is a Son.
So, just to clarify, when we read the Bible, and see what the Bible teaches, we find that we are convinced that Christ is fully equal, fully divine with His Father. Because a lot of people misunderstand the truth and they think that some people are teaching Christ is not divine. The only problem you would have for Christ being not divine is if you start questioning His Sonship. If you start questioning the Sonship of Christ you are going to have a real problem trying to prove the divinity of Christ, because how can you have another divine being unless He was brought forth from the only divine being in the universe? That's God.
If you have another divine being, and he wasn't brought forth, all of a sudden you have created two Gods, and you have broken the first Commandment. The only way Christ can be divine is if He is a Son of the Father.
O.K. Now I want to come to the ultimate testimony and that's in Matthew 3. So, before we go to Matthew 3, just to summarize what we've found so far, Christ is a Son, and now we looked at the details of what the Bible tells us , how He is a Son, we find that He is not a Son by creation, as all other creatures, nor is He a Son by adoption, but He is actually begotten. We found that He was begotten of His Father, and also found when He was begotten. He was brought forth, or He came out of God before the creation of all things, so that by the time creation took place, there already was a Father and a Son.
Now we come to the ultimate testimony from the Father Himself, in Matthew 3. Now it is not very often in the Bible that it is recorded for us that the Father actually spoke with an audible voice. All the communication from heaven has been through Christ and through angels. So, if God, the Father Himself, would speak with a voice that humans would hear, without the agency of angels and without speaking through His Son, do you think He would have something important to say? Do you think we should stop and listen to what He has to say? We should. Especially if He says the same thing more than once.
At the baptism of Christ we have the voice from heaven speaking, in verse 17 of Matthew 3 and it says,
'And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'
So here the Father gave us the ultimate testimony that Jesus was His Son. We found how the Bible explains that to us. But the Father didn't say that only once. He said it twice. In Matthew 17:5 we have another testimony from the Father. Matthew 17:5, this is on the Mount of Transfiguration, with Peter, James and John, just waking up. Matthew 17:5 says,
'While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.'
O.K. So here the Father, took time and opportunity to actually speak with an audible voice from heaven, these two times that we looked at, the Father, as far as we know, spoke only three times in the New Testament. Two times of them He said exactly the same thing. He said, concerning Christ,
'This is my beloved Son.'
So of all the things that the Father could have told us from heaven, of all the revelations that He could have given, He chose to give us one piece of information and to repeat it. Do you think that's important? Of course. We read in Romans 6 that our eternal life is through Jesus Christ our Lord, that the correct knowledge of who Jesus Christ our Lord is, is what eternal life is all about.
And so the Father testifies to what will be our saving knowledge, that Christ is His Son. Interesting, that the Father here testified that Christ is His Son, twice. Now that we have looked at what the Bible says, let's see if we can detect the devil's counterfeit. Now that we have looked at the original, what the Bible says, as soon as we see any different to that we should be able to immediately detect that it is a counterfeit, it's a fraud.
And so the devil works subtly at times, and sometimes he works very openly, and we are going to see some examples of that. In Matthew 4 we see Satan's theology regarding the Son of God because this is the point we are looking at today. We saw what the Bible says; let's see what the devil's theology is regarding the Son of God. This is a fact that perhaps some people have never noticed.
Did you know that the devil is a theologian? He's a very good theologian. He has many students in many universities who also are theologians. I am not making a joke. That is very true. The devil knows the Bible very well, very much better than you and me. He's been looking at it for thousands of years. So here we are going to see, from the Bible, what is the devil's theology regarding the Son of God, because he has a theology that is different to the Bible. And we see it in Matthew 4:3.
This is in the wilderness of temptation. The devil comes to Christ and the Bible says:
'And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.'
He said that once, but then is verse 6 he said the same thing again. Verse 6
'And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.'
So here we see the devil is not only a theologian but he can also quote scripture. Notice. What was the devil's theology regarding the Son of God. Doubting. He questions that Jesus is the Son of God. So the devil said, ‘If you are the Son of God.' what is the implication? What is he really trying to say? You are not really the Son of God, because he is asking now for, proof.
It is very important, the devil's theology concerning the Son of God is to question it and to doubt it. The devil causes doubt by questioning. Now, notice he is questioning the claims of who? The Father.
We just saw, just previously, the Father twice from heaven said, 'This is My Son.' How many times did the devil ask Christ if He was the Son? Twice. So this is a direct contradiction to the plain utterance of the Father in heaven.
Here we see the great controversy being played out in the Bible over the issue of the Son of God.
Now, this is not the first time that the devil directly contradicted something that God said. Where else did he do that, using the same technique, questioning? Yes, we all know that, in Genesis, as the serpent in the tree. The devil, as the serpent in the tree, the first thing, he came to Eve, he asked her a question. Remember? What was the question? Did God really say don't eat from that tree? In other words, what was he implying? What was the thought he was trying to instil in her mind? Doubt - He really didn't mean that.
So the devil uses questioning to bring about doubt, or to cause doubt. And the questioning is, regarding the plain utterances of God. So the devil's theology is to question the Sonship of Christ, and we are going to see examples of that beginning from heaven and down through to our time. And hopefully, as we see the contrast, we will be able to understand the danger that many of God's people are in today regarding the devil's theology, regarding the Son of God.
So, the serpent's theology is to question the fact that Christ is the Son of God. Let's see an example of this. This is from the Spirit of Prophecy in the book This day with God. I want you to pay careful attention with me because what we are looking at now is , we are trying to trace the trail of the serpent regarding what we looked at. This is the devil's theology. We will read it together. It says,
'Angels were expelled from heaven because they would not work in harmony with God. They fell from their high estate because they wanted to be exalted. They had come to exalt themselves and they forgot that their beauty of person and of character came from the Lord Jesus. This fact the [fallen] angels would obscure, that Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and they came to consider that they were not to consult Christ.'
That's from the book This Day with God, page 128
Question. Who was leading these fallen angels in heaven? Lucifer. Not what is it that these fallen angels had gone about to try and do? It says here very plainly, there was a fact that they were trying to obscure, what is that fact? That Christ was the only begotten Son of God.
Did you know that this was one of the elements in the war in heaven? So from heaven the devil has started his theology, regarding the Son of God. His theology, and his object is to obscure - what does the word 'obscure' mean? To hide, to conceal. All these different meanings. So his theology , his purpose is to hide or to obscure the fact that Christ was the only begotten Son of God.
Now, this is even before the creation of mankind. A lot of people think that Christ became a Son when He was born in Bethlehem. Here we see that the angels were very familiar with the fact that Jesus was the Son of God, and those angels that fell were actually on a mission to try and obscure or hide that fact.
It is very important. The servant of the Lord here tells us that this, that Christ is the Son of God, is a fact. It is not a role play, it is not a theory, it is not a pretend, it is not any of these things, it is a fact. And we see that the devil's theology from heaven is to question, or try to hide, or obscure the fact that Jesus is the Son of God.
Very clearly, in the wilderness of temptation, did the devil use the same tactic? Yes, because the first thing that was on his mind--have you ever wondered about that? Have you ever asked yourself , Why would the devil ask that as the very first thing to Christ? There are a lot of other things he could have asked Him, but of all things he asked Him that first. Why? Because this was an issue with the devil in heaven, and at the first opportunity that he had, he immediately questioned the problem that he had in his mind. In other words, you can see what the devil has a problem with. He admitted that by asking about, or doubting, questioning the Sonship of Christ.
So, this is a fact that the fallen angels are trying to obscure. Now let's see some traces of the serpent. Now, if I were to ask you a question, is this Bible theology, or serpent theology? Trying to obscure...? It’s very plain because the servant of the Lord tells us that.
But now we are going to see if we can detect it elsewhere. This is a comment that perhaps some of you know, some of you might not know. What do the Muslims believe about God's only begotten Son? Yes, they believe His is a prophet, but regarding the fact that He's a Son. Let's have a look. We read the English not the Arabic. It says there, (this is just a translation.
“1 Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;
2 Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
3 He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
4 And there is none like unto Him.” Sura 112 Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity)
So what do the Muslims believe about the Son of God. Nothing. They don't believe it. Is that Bible theology, or serpent theology? Remember, who is interested in obscuring the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God?
Now, here we see an outright attack, he says God doesn't have a begotten, He doesn't beget anyone. Why? Because the Bible tells us Christ is the only begotten Son and therefore He is like His Father, as we saw in Hebrews. He is the express image of His Father.
Here we see an outright open attack by the devil through the different organisations that he's infiltrated. We see the trail of the serpent, the serpent theology that God has not a have Son at all, He doesn't beget anyone. Open attack.
Now, in Jerusalem, this is the dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem, most of you have seen pictures of this, I know. And just in the fore ground there is the remnant of the Wailing Wall, which is said to be the remnant of the Temple. They are in very close proximity to each other.
Now, this, supposedly, if this is correct. This would be where Jesus Christ walked and declared to the Jews that He was the Son of God. So not too far from that wailing wall of the dome of the Rock, we just focus in a little bit. This declaration at the bottom there is actually writing in Arabic. That's not just nice pictures, it is actually writing.
Now, if you actually read some of that, you will find that that writing in a part says, 'God has no Son.' I didn't make that up, that's an actual fact. If you go to Jerusalem and look at it, and you will find it written there. Because this is what the Koran teaches them.
So here we see a trail of the serpent in questioning and directly attacking the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, he out rightly says, 'No. God has no Son at all.'
Now let's see if we can come a little closer, the New Age. The New Age today is a lifestyle to many people. And the New Age today is infiltrating so many places and so many organisations that people are not aware at all that it is even New Age or New Age theology.
Have you ever wondered, What is the New Age theology regarding the Son of God? Yes, we'll see how in a minute. O.K. I just want to summarize and make sure you are all following. What we've done so far is we have looked what the Bible says regarding the Son of God , very plainly, and we looked at in detail. We didn't just look at it and say, 'Oh Yes, He's the Son of God.' we actually saw how He is a Son, in distinction and contrast to the other sons of God and we found very plainly that the Bible says He's begotten.
And then we went to look at the devil's theology regarding the Son of God and we found that there is a direct contrast and opposition to that fact, he questions the Son of God, using questioning, and we see the serpent trail through different places of directly attacking that, or trying to obscure it, beginning with heaven.
Now, the New Age, in one of their books, there's too many to quote them all, but we just quote a sample. It says there in one of these books, The Lost teachings of Jesus, informs the readers that
"Churches have changed it all around. They think of Jesus as the only begotten Son of God without understanding that this is the matrix from which we were all made." And the reference is there on Book 1, page 67.
So here we see that, according to the New Age, the churches are wrong in believing that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God but rather they should believe what? That we are all made of that. In other words we are all on the same level; we are all begotten sons of God. We found the Bible tells us very clearly there is a distinction between us and Christ. Christ is begotten but we are either created or adopted.
So, with Islam we found that the devil comes outright and says, 'No, God has no Son at all.' Here we have another attack that is a little more subtle. It actually says, 'No, If Jesus is begotten, that's fine, but He's actually not the only One who is begotten.'
Let's look at another one. This is another book that is very popular with the New Age. A Course In Miracles. This is text book that a lot of New Age organisations use because they believe it is inspired. Here's what it says regarding the Son of God. It says, ‘the Course … takes pains to emphasize that Jesus is not fundamentally different than the rest of us -- is not the unique Son of God. Jesus is not the only-begotten Son of God sent to earth to die for our sins.’
He’s not the only one. In other words, there are others, and the others are us, as we are going to see in a minute. It says, here's another reference.
'What is your qualification? You are the Holy Son of God Himself. You need only remember who you are.' http://www.themiracletimes.com/
So do you see here, is this Bible theology or serpent theology? Who is interested in attacking or obscuring the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God? The devil. So he did it earlier, in saying God has no Son at all, but here we have another approach. The devil says, 'O.K. He is not the only one. We all are’ as it says here. And all we have to do is to remember that.
Now this is Bible theology or serpent theology? Serpent theology. Very important. Here's another. This is a summary for the New Age. 'Jesus in New Age thinking is not the Son of God, He's only God in the same sense that you are God and I am God.'
What did the devil tell Eve in the garden? 'You shall be as gods.' So this is directly the theology of the serpent that was at the tree. So here we see a two pronged attack. The devil either attacks it outright by saying ' it actually is not so', or he says, if we can use this term, 'if you can't beat them, join them.'
So, if you can't deny that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, he says, 'All right, but we are all the same thing. We are all on the same level.'
Now let's see some examples that are a little closer to home. We might say, 'Well, that's Islam. I'm not a Muslim. That's New Age thinking. I'm not a New Ager.' Let's look at some examples in some churches regarding the theology of Satan, and let's see if we can still trace the serpent's trail regarding the Son of God. We should be able to do this easily because we just finished looking at the truth in the Bible, so the errors will just jump out at us and we should be able to understand it.
This is a book called 'Understanding the Trinity' and in that book we have a quote that says this.
“The Father–Son relationship in the Godhead should be understood in a metaphorical sense, not in a literal sense”. And that's from page 97 in that book.
Question. Is that Bible theology or serpent theology? Serpent theology. Why? The name of the book is Understanding the Trinity, by Max Hatton. Because, you notice, the devil is very clever, he's very subtle. He doesn't always come the same way but if you understand his theology, you will see a consistent thing that he is trying to push all the time. The devil here is trying to tell us that the Son of God, the Father/Son relationship, is a metaphor.
What does the word 'metaphor' mean? Not real, it says it right there, it’s not literal. Remember, who wanted to obscure the fact that Jesus was the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God? Would this be obscuring that fact? Yes, it makes it not real.
We saw earlier, the servant of the Lord said it is a fact. Here we are told it is a metaphor. So, here we see serpent theology. Interesting. We see the serpent theology in a book about which doctrine? The trinity. Are you trying to tell me that the trinity doctrine has serpent theology in it? Well, the Bible told us that didn't it? The devil told us that himself. It is the devil's work to question the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. And we see that, he does that through different places and organisations and groups that his theology has infiltrated.
Now it doesn't matter how much truth the devil surrounds his theology with. What we are doing is, we looking at the heart of the matter. What is his theology regarding the Son of God as taught by some people today? So here we are told it is a metaphor, it is not literal.
Now, the ABC that sells this book says, “All Hatton's arguments are grounded in the Word.” (http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/Detail.tpl?sku=1873796935) Now, that might help people buy the book. But we just finished looking at the Word, the Word told us that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, and the Father Himself spoke from heaven and told us that. And it is the devil's theology to question that.
But that's not the only example. Let's look at another example from the Adventist Review of Seventh-day Adventist church, October 31,1996 on page 12. This is a Week of Prayer reading article by Gordon Jenson and notice what it says as we try and see which side of the line this can stand on. Quote:
"A plan of salvation was encompassed in the covenant made by the Three Persons of the Godhead, who possessed the attributes of Deity equally. In order to eradicate sin and rebellion from the universe and to restore harmony and peace, one of the divine Beings accepted, and entered into the role of the Father, another the role of the Son. The remaining divine Being, the Holy Spirit, was also to participate in effecting the plan of salvation."
O.K. We want to focus on the Son of God. What is this saying about the Son of God? It says here it was a 'role' that was entered into. Is Bible theology or serpent theology? Why? Yes, because it obscures the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son. It says He is not really begotten, He's not a son who is begotten, actually He is only playing that role, or He is pretending to be a Son.
If you think that is a logical conclusion , in other words, Jesus is a liar. When He says ,'I'm the Son of God' He's not really a Son, He's just playing the role of a Son.
Who is interested in making out Jesus to be a liar? Satan. Now it is very interesting, we have serpent theology here, not in the far out places like New Age and Islam, it is actually in church publications, because the devil's last day theology is to attack God's people regarding their knowledge of God's Son. So, he's out there with the New Agers, and we feel very safe sometimes because we go to church, but remember, the serpent trail is now found in church, in specific doctrines regarding the Son of God.
Now, let's see what the Bible tells us. We just found in 1 Timothy 4, this was prophesied for us in the Bible. Just come back to the Bible, 1 Tim. 4, the Bible gave us a prophecy about these things before they happened because we found here the serpent's trail, is being traced through a specific point that the devil is pushing. 1 Timothy 4:1 This is a very important prophecy and it tells us, Paul speaking to young Timothy says,
'Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times (or in the last days) some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.'
Now, did we find any traces of the doctrine of the devil? Yes, we did. The serpent theology regarding the Son of God, the Bible calls it 'doctrines of devils.' We know what the devil's doctrine is regarding the Son of God. His doctrine is to question it, to obscure that fact, and to cause us in any way to disbelieve that Christ is really the only begotten Son.
Now, the Bible tells us here that those people that accept the doctrines of devils , what have they done to the faith? Look at the verse, it says,
'Some shall (do what?) depart from the faith.'
So when they accept the devil's doctrines we have what? Departed from the faith. So can we claim that we are in the faith, if we have departed from it? No. So if we claim that we are in the faith, while we actually have departed from it, we practise deception of the worst kind because we end up deceiving ourselves. We think we are right when we are actually wrong.
So, the apostle Paul here was inspired to tell us that when we start accepting doctrines of devils and seducing spirits, we are actually departing from the faith. That's why he tells us,
'Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.'
So a lot people who think they are standing, should take heed, lest they fall because the serpent is interested in our fall by attacking the correct knowledge, the Bible knowledge, of who Jesus is, and he does that by obscuring the fact that He is the begotten Son.
Now, if the Bible tells us some will depart from the faith, and we just looked at some examples in the church of the departure from the faith, what was the faith? The Bible said there will be a departure, can we actually see a change that has come about regarding this issue, before the devil made an attack?
Now, there is a book in the back on the table, if you haven't picked one up, please help yourself to one , it's called the Living Voice of the Lord's Witnesses. There is a documented evidence of what the faith regarding this point was before. But in order--we'll just quote a sample and see if the Bible says there will be a departure from the faith, we should be able to see a difference between then and now, if the Bible is true, the prophecy is true.
We will just quote a sample here. This is from E.J. Waggoner, in the book Christ and His Righteousness in 1890. We will just focus on Christ here. It says,
“The angels are sons of God, as was Adam…by creation;”
Did we find that in the Bible? Yes or No. We already found that, so, we know that's right.
“Christians are the sons of God by adoption (Rom. 8:14, 15),” We saw that as well.
“but Christ is the Son of God (how?) by birth. … and so Christ is the "express image" of the Father's person.” {E. J. Waggoner, Christ And His Righteousness, p. 12. 1890}
How many categories here did Waggoner say there are, on how we can become sons of God? Three. I shouldn't say we. But there are three. One is creation, we saw that in the Bible. One is adoption, we saw that as well. And another one, where only one person fits in, and that's Christ, and He says He is the Son of God by birth.
Now, we found that already in the Bible. Now this was the belief of the church, the pioneers of the church, the year there is 1890. We’ll just quote another pioneer and this should really settle the matter, just as a sample, but if you want more, just go and get the book.
This is from the servant of the Lord, herself, who was also a pioneer. E. G. White, in Signs of the Times, May 30, 1895. Now, notice very carefully what she says.
“"God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,"-- not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father's person…”
Question. Do you think that Bro. Waggoner and Sister White believed the same thing about Christ, from reading those two statements? Yes. What did they believe about Christ? That he was a Son by birth, that He is begotten. Is that in harmony with the Bible? So would we say this is Bible theology or serpent theology? Bible, because we just saw that in the Bible.
We just saw earlier examples that they rightly contradict this testimony.
Question. Has there been a departure from the faith regarding this point? Yes, because we saw the serpent trail now actually says that Christ is not really a Son, it's only a metaphor, or it is actually a role play.
Now, it's very interesting that Sr. White wrote that statement five years after Waggoner wrote his statement. As you compare the colours together, you will find that she pretty much says exactly the same thing in different words. She also mentions being sons by creation, and by adoption, but that Christ is the only One who is begotten. Here again we see.
So, all these people that make the false charge and claim that some, and sometimes they make the claim about us that we are teaching that Christ is created. Have you heard that before? Is that Bible theology or serpent theology? That's serpent theology, so you should make these people aware that they are actually repeating serpent theology and should correct them and tell them He is not created, He is actually begotten. And they are not perhaps aware of that fact, because they make that charge unknowingly.
Now, if there has been a departure from the faith is it so obvious that actually, it's been admitted? Let's have a look. Has there been an admission regarding the departure of the faith? This is from Adventist Review, Jan. 6, 1994, this is an article by William Johnson, the Editor of that paper. And it says here,
"Adventist beliefs have changed over the years under the impact of ‘present truth’. Most startling is the teaching regarding Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord...... Likewise, the Trinitarian understanding of God, now part of our fundamental beliefs, was not generally held by the early Adventists."
O.K. Now here we have a very frank and startling , as it says there, most startling, admission that actually a change has come about. And it specifically tells us, regarding what doctrine? Who is it regarding? It's regarding Jesus Christ our Lord, and we just compared the history, and we saw what the change was. What was the change from? From the fact that Christ is the begotten Son of God, a Son by birth, to now the teaching that He is a only Son as a role play, or that it is a metaphor.
Notice, very interesting. When he says that the church changed that understanding from what it was before to now, while they admit this change, is there a positive note to that change? Is he suggesting that this is a good thing in that statement? Yes, because he says “under the impact of ‘present truth’” we have moved along. Now we don't believe what we used to believe about Jesus Christ.
Now, the Bible tells us that when we do that, this is actually a departure from the faith. So we've come to a point where we've accepted devil theology, or serpent theology. Now, what other doctrine is associated here with the change regarding Jesus Christ? The doctrine of the trinity.
Now, this is interesting. This is an admission, when a change regarding who Jesus is, has taken place in the church, it is also associated with the doctrine of the Trinity. What book did we find earlier that had serpent theology in it regarding the Son of God? It was a book called, Understanding the Trinity. So here we have a very close connection between the doctrine of the Trinity and the serpent theology of questioning the Son of God. It is so close and obvious, that church theologians even admit it, and they say, 'We have changed about that. We have actually changed. We have now become Trinitarian.'
And we found earlier that the Trinity doctrine has in it the serpent's trail. Just like it does in the New Age.
Now, the reason why we are saying these things is not to upset anyone, but to actually hopefully wake people up, because people are today fallen into a sense of false security regarding these things. But admission goes on to say, but before we go there, let's have a look at another passage from the Spirit of Prophecy. Selected Messages, Book 1, page 197 It says there,
'Be not deceived, many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.'
Did we just read that in the Bible? So what verse is she quoting? 1 Tim. 4:1, we should still be there. 1 Tim. 4:1 tells us, if we look at it,
'In the latter times, some shall depart from the faith.'
But over here we are told 'many will depart from the faith.' So in other words, the situation as time progresses is going to get worse, in other words, more people will be on the side of departing from the truth, and less people will be on the side of staying with the truth, or the faith. In other words, there will be more people who will accept doctrines of devils.
Today we are just looking at one of the doctrines of the devil, as regarding the Son of God. She continues.
'We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature.'
Now of course the context of this statement she's talking about the alpha and omega of apostasy, if you are not aware of that, pick up the book at the back called the Alpha and the Omega, and you can learn for yourself what that's talking about. But we understand that to mean the crisis that happened in the early 1900's regarding Kellogg who was trying to bring in pantheism and the Trinity doctrine into the church, and the servant of the Lord said, 'That's the alpha of apostasy , and the omega will be of a most startling nature.’
Now, it's very interesting. She says the omega will be of a most startling nature, and she says there will be a departure from the faith. We just read the admission earlier that the most startling change, we’ll just go back, was a change regarding who Jesus was. Isn't that interesting?
The prophet said the omega will be of a most startling nature and the admission is made that the most startling thing that happened in the church was the change regarding who Jesus was. If it is not obvious enough you wonder how much more obvious it needs to get before people start seeing.
But you can see, even though things are so obvious, yet the devil has got people so deceived today that some people actually don't believe that they have accepted serpent theology regarding the Son of God, and they are happy going along questioning the Son of God, not realising the dishonour that they are doing to the Son of God by denying His divine heritage.
O.K. We'll continue. Here's another admission from the Ministry magazine, October 1993
(COMMENT MADE FROM THE FLOOR.)
... Kellogg had just come to believe in the Trinity and the servant of the Lord said it would follow in a short while.
Let's see what admission is made here. It says, “Most of the founders of Seventh-day Adventism would not be able to join the church today if they had to subscribe to the denomination's fundamental beliefs.”
Now, why is that? “More specifically, most would not be able to agree to belief No. 2, which deals with the doctrine of the Trinity.”
Why? We already found that this doctrine has serpent theology all through regarding the Son of God. The pioneers did not believe that the Son of God was playing a role, they didn’t believe Christ was a Son as a metaphor, they actually believed He was a real Son.
Now, if you think on that for a while as you look at some of these pictures up there, people like Loughborough, Andrews, Uriah Smith, James and Ellen White and others, if they were alive today and came and applied for membership in the Seventh-day Adventist church, the Seventh-day Adventist leaders today are telling us that they would be denied membership, in a church that God used them to establish. That is shocking, if you just spend a few moments exercising your mind thinking about that. That the founders of the church, if they were alive today would not be able to come.
We are told the reason why. It is not a mystery, it is not a secret. The reason is because the church has actually accepted or adopted a certain belief that was not the belief of the body at the time.
Now, let's look at some examples a little closer to home so those of us who are in independent circles, so people don't say, (Before we read that, so nobody reads that anyway.) Before we say.... because some people say “ah, you are only just picking on the church,” or “you’re trying to attack” We are not picking on anyone, we are not attacking anyone, all we are doing is looking at the Bible theology regarding Jesus, and we are trying to see how far the devil has infiltrated and how we can trace this trail through the different organisations and churches that are especially relevant to us. The Seventh-day Adventist church happens to be relevant to most of us here, and we will look at some other examples that are perhaps also relevant if we are more involved in independent circles.
Now this is a book by Vance Ferrell, Vance Ferrell is a brother who’s doing a lot of good work, but we are going to look at this doctrine in this book. The book is entitled Defending the Godhead, and it says here,
“Christ has always been the Son of God; and there never was a time when He emerged from the Father. That statement appears to solve all the problems about Christ’s Sonship.”
That's from his book on page 17.
Question. It this Bible theology or serpent theology? Who is interested in obscuring the fact that Christ is the begotten Son? Satan. Satan is very clever. Many times he is so subtle. Now, when I say when I quote this book and I quote the brother's name, I have nothing against Bro. Vance Ferrell. I haven't met him, I don't even know who he is personally, but I have a problem when somebody publishes books that contain serpent theology, that God's people buy and share, and think they are doing a good work, not realising that they are aiding the devil in his work, which is why we’re looking at Satan's deception in the last days, it’s so deceptive that God's people are so involved in it, that you tell them and show them evidence to their face, and they don't see it.
So, the problem is, according to this statement, Christ never emerged from the Father. Now, Christ told us very plainly that He was brought forth from the Father. He came from God. He came out from God; He was begotten of His Father. He has the substance of His Father which is why He is divine.
Here we are told this never took place. We found that the devil is the one who is interested in pushing this theology. Now, notice, the author also says that that statement, when he makes that conclusion, he says that that statement appears to solve all the problems about Christ's Sonship.
Now, what's the problem he is trying to solve? That He is really a Son. That's the problem. And so by denying that fact it seems to solve all that proble--that Christ is actually the begotten Son.
If Christ is not a begotten Son, then how can He be a Son? He cannot be a Son. Now, let's see some comments regarding this book. This is a comment from the Remnant Herald , April 2006, page 1674. This--how many people get this, by the way, the Remnant Herald? A few people. Not many. The Remnant Herald is edited by Dr. Russell Standish, you might be familiar with the name. Now this is what Dr. Standish says.
'Our Bro. Ferrell's recent book upholding the three member Godhead, that book is unanswerable.'
We just found that that book contains what in it? Serpent theology, because it questions the fact that Jesus is really the Son of God. Now, it is amazing that great people, that the world thinks are great people, uphold and support certain doctrines that we found the Bible tells us very plainly are doctrines of devils.
This is the devil's theology in the last days, to question the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Yet this very fact, the Bible tells us, is the very pillar and foundation of the church. Let's look at it as we just bring this to a close, because our time is running out and we can't really spend too much time at this time.
Matthew 16 tells us a very important fact. And you’ll see why the devil is constantly attacking this truth, why he's infiltrating different organisations, different groups, different churches, and different, even independent groups to question that Jesus is the Son of God. Matthew 16:16, 18 In Matthew 16 Jesus asked His disciples a very important question, a question that you and I need to ask ourselves today. Christ asks us the very same question. We'll just read a little further up so we can get some context. Verse 15 says,
'He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
Christ is asking His disciples, Who do you say that I am? He just finished asking them, What do the people say about Me? And they told Him, 'Oh, some people say you might be Elijah, or you might be Moses, or you might be one of the prophets.'
And Jesus said, 'O.K. What do you, who claim to believe in Me, what do you say, or who do you say that I am?'
Here's the answer. Verse 16
'And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'
Now Peter had said Jesus is the Son of the living God. When we asked the question earlier, Who is Jesus? everybody said Jesus is the Son of God. Now, how did Peter understand that Jesus was a Son? Literally, because further we read in John 16, Jesus said 'They have believed that I came out from Thee.' Speaking of His Father.
The disciples went on to teach the whole world at their time that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God. John the evangelist actually wrote that in his gospel. So, this is what we are looking at. Not everybody who believes, or says 'Yes, I believe Jesus is the Son of God,' actually knows what they are saying. In other words, if you were to ask a New Ager for example, just to summarize again what we were talking about, who he believes Jesus is, what will they answer? They will tell you He is the Son of God, won't they. But then, if you would ask them further, and who are you? 'Oh, I'm the son of God too. And so is everyone else in the earth.'
And so it's not just by asking what you believe about the Son of God and have people answer, because if you ask some of these people in church who wrote some of these books we looked at, what do you believe about Jesus, who is He, what would they answer? 'He's the Son of God.'
But if you would go on with your questioning and see: is their understanding the Biblical one, or is it a counterfeit, because we don't want to just give lip service to the truth because the devil wants to deceive us.
If you ask a Roman Catholic who keeps Sunday, if they’re keeping the fourth Commandment, what do they say? They say, 'Yes.' They say they keep the Sabbath. They keep it on Sunday. But you need to do some further questioning to actually realise that they are actually keeping the first day of the week, not the Sabbath.
So not everybody who says ‘I believe in the Son of God’, actually believes in the Biblical truth. This is why we looked at that truth in a little bit more detail so we can understand the counterfeit.
So here when Peter says, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God' he was talking about the Biblical understanding that Jesus is the only begotten. He was brought forth; He was born of His Father.
Now, look at verse 18 We will read verse 17 and 18,
'And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. '
Interesting. The Father was the source of that thought that Peter had.
'And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock (Now, what rock was this? The declaration that He just said.) I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'
Do you think this fact is important, that Jesus is the Son of God? It was so important that the Father Himself revealed it to Peter. The Father Himself spoke twice to humanity and said it. Christ Himself said to Peter. 'You know what Peter? This rock is what I will build My church on. And when I build My church on this rock, the gates of hell are not going to be able to prevail.'
So if the devil wants to have any chance of success, what will he attack? The foundation on which the church is built. Here we found that this foundation is the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. This is why we find the serpent's theology so prevalent today, which is a direct attack against the Sonship of Christ, because he knows that if he attacks the foundation, the structure will collapse.
But if we are standing on that foundation, we are told the gates of hell shall not be able to prevail against it.
In John 3:18 we have a warning that Christ gives us. John 3:18 because as we present the truth, we must also present the warnings the Scriptures give. When we present the truth we will also see what decisions we can make based on the evidence. John 3:18 Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus in that interview at night, and He says in verse 18
'He that believeth on him is not condemned (speaking of Himself) but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.'
Now that's a very solemn warning. Christ says, 'If you don't believe ' what have you done to yourself? You have condemned yourself because you haven't believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.
In other words, whom did you believe? The serpent who spoke to Eve is still speaking today, and it is not only just confined in the tree, he speaks through books, through publications, through even ministers who stand up the front.
The Bible tells us here, very plainly, that if you don't believe in the name of the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God, we are condemned already.
Now, we will look at a class of people who brought that condemnation on themselves. This is our last text and we will just see what we can ask, as people see this evidence what decisions they can make. Matthew 27:40 is an example of a group of people who did not heed the warning that Christ gave to Nicodemus and they ended up condemning themselves.
Notice what they said in Matthew 27:40, let’s read verse 39 and verse 40. This is Christ on the cross, speaking about the people who were gathered there and it says there,
'And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,
And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.'
Satan's last effort. So who did the leaders of the church at the time listen to? The serpent. They echoed the very words of the serpent in the wilderness. 'If you are really the Son of God.'
They fully believed that Jesus was not really the Son of God. It's sad, but there are many people today who don't really believe that Jesus is the Son of God, they just concede it by their lips, but if you actually ask them, they will tell you that Jesus is playing a role, or pretending, either this, that or the other, not realising that they are actually voicing the serpent's theology.
So, this is just one example, a very important example, of how the devil is out to endanger your eternal life and mine, and his effort is so that we can stay on this earth and Christ can stay in heaven , in the Most holy place, longer and longer and longer, to perpetrate misery and sin. He attacks the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.
Now that we have presented the evidence of the truth, and the counterfeit, now the time has come for a decision, because it would be very pointless to present the evidence and then close the book and go home--there is no point for preaching. The point of preaching is to present evidence to people, and decisions are to be made based on the evidence.
So, I want to ask now, an opportunity. If you have not known this, or if you are here with us for the first time and you have seen evidence, I don't say this for believers but for new people, that you perhaps were not aware prior to this presentation of the fact that Jesus is the Son of God is more important than you thought, not just by admitting it by your mouth, but actually believing the Bible explanation of it, and you have been giving in to some of the serpent's theology that we looked at some examples of, and you would like to actually make a stand, not like the Jews did at the cross, but you actually want to accept the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, if there is anyone like that here today, I want you to indicate that decision by putting your hand up.
Amen. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. I am specifically talking about new people, I know there are many believers and other brothers and sisters, but specifically new people who did not know about that before, if you would like to make decisions, the Lord has seen the hands that have been put up.
We will kneel together and ask for the Lord's blessing upon these decisions, and upon us who know these things, as we share them with others.
Closing prayer:
Abba, Father in heaven above, We come before Thee in the precious name of our dear Saviour, thine only Son, Jesus, who even now, Father, stands in Thy presence in the Most holy place, ministering on our behalf. We thank Thee Father for the many angels that Thou hast sent to minister to us today. We thank thee for the blessings that we have received. We thank Thee especially for the truths that we have learned from Thy word.
And Father, I'd like to offer up before Thee, especially, the people who have made decisions, perhaps for the first time, while they have been perhaps ignorant of some of these things that we have studied. We are thankful, Father, that the evidence is clear in Thy word, and we can see the contrast between the truth and the error.
I pray that Thine angels will attend them, and that thy spirits will drive the conviction that He has given in their hearts deeper and deeper, that not only may they accept the truth but others, through their influence, may come to accept and believe that Jesus is indeed the Son of the living God and that this is our eternal life.
We thank Thee, Father, so much for Thy blessing. We thank Thee above all for loving us so much that Thou hast given us Thy only begotten, and well beloved, Son through whom we have eternal life.
We ask these things in faith and with gratitude for hearing us, for we ask them in the only name that Thou hast given us to use, the name of Jesus, our Saviour. Amen.
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