WHERE IS THE RAIN?

Bro. Nader Mansour


I have a few things I want to show you in the word of God so we will read together in Galatians 1, Paul gives them the warning from verse 6, he says,

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”

Paul’s warning to the Galatians was that there was another gospel, and that gospel is deceptive.  Today we are going to examine some of these things, and we will see what is it that is deceiving God’s people today that is preventing them from having, and enjoying the blessings that God wants them to have.

We will come to Revelation to the commission that is given to the last generation of people who would be alive on the earth, the last message of mercy to go to the world.  It is Revelation chapter 14.  We read it this morning but I want to read it again and we will see, what is it that the angel, the messengers will give to the world in the very last message of mercy.

Now before we read, I'm really very glad how the Spirit moves, how Brother Igor was impressed to share some of the things that, exactly are the same things that I was impressed with.  So, you know, the Father wants us to know something.  He is repeating it.  So, pay careful attention because you might see some new things.   Revelation 14, reading from verse 6, the word of God says,

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice,  Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgement is come;  and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

In Revelation 14 we have a startling message that is proclaimed with a loud voice to startle the whole world, and it is, 'Fear God.'  Now we looked at the fear of God this morning we saw some beautiful things, and what the fear of God is all about.  It is about the love of God, and about the keeping of the commandments.

Let’s have a look at the good news.  Now, before we go there, we found that the gospel, the everlasting gospel is good news, and we found that the everlasting good news that comes to us from heaven, is what?  Is that we can have deliverance.  Remember, what we read in Romans 1?  If you were here this morning, we read Romans 1, it said,

“The power of the gospel gives us salvation.”

Salvation is also deliverance, it is also freedom.  So, salvation and deliverance, and freedom, from what?  From sin.  So what the gospel is, the everlasting gospel, in other words,
is everlasting victory over sin.  That is the good news of the gospel.  Now it is for you and me to believe that news.

Now, some people, when they hear this, they say, ‘Hold on a minute.  Are you trying to tell me that I can stop sinning and not have to commit one more sin till Jesus comes?’

No, I am not telling you that, the word of God tells you that.  And that’s good news.  So, keep that in mind because we are going to examine today, why is it that some people are not having that experience.  Some people who believe in this experience, why are they not experiencing that good news in their lives.

In Ecclesiastes we are told very plainly what the fear of God is. Let’s come to the writings of the wise man.  Ecclesiastes chapter 12, in the Old Testament. Ecclesiastes chapter 12 and we will look at verse 13. The word of God says,

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

Here we are given a Bible definition, by the wisest man, about what the fear of God is.  The fear of God is keeping His commandments.  The fear of God has to do with the Ten Commandments.  That is a very, very important principle to keep in mind as we see through this study today what will develop.  The fear of God is keeping His commandments.

The Commandments give us a definition of what sin is.  You know what the Bible definition for sin?  

“Sin is the transgression of the law.”

So through the Ten Commandments we know what sin is.  So in order for you to have victory over sin, and to fear God, you must have a knowledge and a keeping of the Ten Commandments.  So this is the relationship that we want to develop on.

Now, I want to draw your attention to a number of similarities between the first angel's message and the Ten Commandments to confirm that.  In order to do this, we’ll just come to Exodus chapter 20 where we have the Ten Commandments recorded.  In the beginning of your Bible, Exodus chapter 20, the Ten Commandments, they are written in the Bible.  Are they written in your heart?

You know, one day we will have to testify to the Ten Commandments and we won’t have the privilege of having a Bible to turn to.  The Commandments are to be in our hearts and in our minds.  Exodus chapter 20.  

Now we just found that the angel flying in the midst of heaven has the everlasting gospel.  We found that this everlasting gospel is victory over sin.  No more sin.  That’s the good news.  

What did God expect from the people after He gave them the Ten Commandments?  Exodus 20:20   Now let’s read it together.

“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not:  for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”

So why were the Ten Commandments given?   To sin not.  The angel comes at the end of the Bible, in Revelation, with a message from heaven, it is the everlasting gospel, victory over sin, that we might sin not.

O.K.  The angel comes and he proclaims his message with a loud voice.  Now, what happened when the Commandments were given?  Come to chapter 19 in Exodus, the previous chapter and we will look at verses 18 and 19, it says,

“And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire:  and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.”

So the Commandments were also given with a very distinct loud voice, just like an angel speaks his message with a very loud voice.  The angel speaks his message to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.  The Ten Commandments were given to Israel to be given to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.  Israel was placed in the centre of the world so that their influence would affect the entire globe.

The first angel says, ‘Fear God.’  We just read earlier in verse 20, Moses told the people, ‘Fear not, for’ Let’s read it again.  Verse 20.

“And Moses said unto the people, Fear not:  for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces.”

So, are you seeing the similarities develop between the first angel’s message, ‘Fear God’ and the Ten commandments?  And there is another one.  The angel also says, in that first message, that we are to worship who?  Worship God.

Do the Commandments tell us anything about worship?  The very first Commandment tells us,

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

The second Commandment prohibits worship to any other God.  So the two messages, the Ten Commandments and the first angel’s message, are the same.

So in order for us to have this victory over sin all we have to do is just keep the Commandments, and that will solve the problem.  But here is what we were talking about this morning.  People think that keeping the Commandments means exerting an effort on their behalf.  But the word ‘keep’ also has another meaning.  

If I were to tell you, to give to you something, I tell you, ‘Brother, I want you to keep that.’  This is what we do with the Commandments.  We keep them.  God gave us the Commandments complete in Christ, and He says, ‘Keep them.  Don’t lose them.’

We thought keeping them was, we try and work out some kind of effort, so that we can keep the Commandments by our own effort, not realising that God  has already done it in Christ.  And it is a little sad for the angels to watch our puny efforts, trying to keep the Commandments when we already have someone who said. ‘I've kept it, just keep it.  I am giving it to you, just keep it.  

Now the problem is, a lot of people don't realise this good news.  This is why we are sharing this with people.  But there is a deeper level on how we can keep these Commandments.  There is an intrinsic important step that must first be in our minds, in order for us to keep the Commandments.  Because, I am sure your experience, as well as mine, you have tried, and you have failed.  And it is not a very nice experience when we fail, when we try and keep the Commandments.

We know the standard needs to be up here, but our efforts are somewhere in the low.  So how is it that we can have this victory?  How is it that we can keep the Commandments?  What is needed in order for us to have that experience?

You see, what we talked about this morning was very important.  In order for us to know that, to understand that, this is based, solely and primarily, on who is God, and what God has done for us. When we realise who is God, and what He has done for us, we will live the gospel because it will be a natural reaction.  It will not be something that we are trying to conjure up or something that we are trying to break out, it will be a reaction, a response reaction.  Just like if your loved one loves you, your natural response should be to love them in return.  And we looked at that at the motive of love.   We love God because of one thing.  He first loved us.  You know, He was the initial mover.  

And this is what people need to understand, the love of God.  You know, when you are having difficulty having victory over sin, it is because there is something wrong with your conception of loving God, because you are not loving Him back enough to have that victory.

The devil’s greatest tactic is to dim in our reception how we perceive God’s love for us.  If we perceive God’s love as less, our reaction and response will be that much less.  And so we need to see, does the gospel give us exactly a manifestation, a demonstration of God’s love and what understanding is important for us to understand that, because your very presence here today tells me that you must desire some kind of victory over sin.  Everybody in this room wants to put away sin, whether they have or are on the way of doing. Isn’t that right?   Amen.

In order for us to do that, as a body of believers, we need to understand the basics of the plan of salvation.  It is not really that complex.  It is simple enough for someone like me to understand it, and someone like you too.  

So let’s see how is it that it is done.  We looked at Proverbs 9 this morning, but let’s look at it again because it is an important verse.  Proverbs 9, in the Old Testament.  Proverbs 9, and we will look at verse 10.  In Proverbs 9:10 we are told,

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:  and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.’

So tied with the fear of the Lord, the beginning of wisdom, is the knowledge of the holy.  Who is the holy?  Who do the angels cry and say ‘Holy, holy, holy.’  Who are they addressing?  They are addressing God the Father.  A knowledge of God is part of the fear of the Lord.

So when the angel is flying in the midst of heaven saying, ‘Fear God, have that victory over sin, keep the Commandments,’ and part of it is how we will do it.  It says you can only do that if you have a knowledge of God.  You cannot keep the Commandments if you do not have a correct knowledge of God.  And we will see that as we go on.

Now, that’s from the Old Testament.  Let’s look at the counterpart in the New Testament, in 2 Peter 1, we will see how is it, if you receive all these precious promises.  2 Peter 1:2,3,  The foundational pillar of our experience is a correct understanding and knowledge of the holy One.  In 2 Peter 1, we read verses 2 & 3, the Bible says,

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord. According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”

Twice, if you noticed, Peter is stressing something.  He says, ‘We have grace and peace through a knowledge of God, and Jesus, and it is through this knowledge we receive all the promises.  

So today we want to look at little bit about this knowledge of God.  What is the correct knowledge of God that the Bible seeks to give us in order for us to experience the correct fear of the Lord?

We have first to experience it in order to give it to the world.  There is a group of people who have been called in the last days, and their mission and their commission is to give the three angel’s messages to the world.  Now this group of people has been raised by God Himself.  We know this group of people as who?  Just a few people who know. Who is it? You don’t need to be ashamed about it, if you believe it.  Who is it?  O.K.  It is the Seventh-day Adventist church.   Amen.

Now, in order for you to give the message you must first understand it and receive it.  Now, we have been trying for over 160 years now to give the message.  The question we must ask ourselves is this.  The very fact that we are still here should indicate something to us, should indicate that something is wrong, something is wrong.  We need to look again at what is the message for us before we can give it to the world?  Because, the possibility is, the fact that we are still here means that we need to see, why is it that we are saying, ‘Jesus is coming soon’ for over 160 years?

Unbelief.  Yes.  Amen, that’s exactly right.  And we will see how that ties in as we go along.  Unbelief.  Sin is unbelief.  Amen.  Exactly.  It is really sin that is holding us back, and we will see exactly what sin, because sin is in the mind.

Now, we need to, we are looking at the Commandments.  Jesus was asked the very important question one day, in Mark 12.  We will just do a brief overview.  What is the most important Commandment of all?  What is the first of all the Commandments, if someone were to ask you on the street?  “You’re a Christian, tell me, what’s the most important thing?”  What would you answer them?  Love, very good.  That’s a good answer.  Let’s see how the Master answered this question when He was asked, in Mark 12.  We want to see the most important Commandment, according to Jesus.  

One day Jesus was asked this very question.  Mark 12:28,29 it says,

“And one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.’

I will stop there for a minute.  Jesus was asked to pick the most important scripture out of the whole Old Testament.  He picked one verse.  He picked Deut. 6:4  He said the most important thing is to know something. What is it?  To know that God is one.

Now, based on this knowledge, we will do the following, we read verses 30 and 31 .

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength:  this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love they neighbour as thyself.  There is none other commandment greater than these.”

So the most important Commandment that you will give as a Christian, the answer is to love God, but Jesus said before you do that, you must first know something.  You must first know that God is one.  This knowledge is a prerequisite to loving God.  As we saw already, you cannot love God until you first have an understanding of how much He loves you.   Because, we love Him in return.

And so in order for us to truly keep the Commandments we have to have a correct knowledge of who He is.  

Now, Jesus explained to us who this one God is, very, very plainly.  He told us in John 8, let’s go there because we need to quickly cover this, because we need to see why we are in trouble today.  Why are we still here?  Now, I will not go into much detail on this topic, I will just give a quick summary.  If you would like some more details, we have plenty of literature at the back that covers very much in detail this concept of ‘who is God’ and how many.  

We are going to John 8 and we will look at verse 54.  We will see, according to Jesus, did He explain who this God is.  

“Jesus said, (answering the Pharisees) If I honour myself, my honour is nothing; it is my Father that honoureth me:  of whom ye say, that he is your God.’

So, according to Jesus, the one God of the Bible is who?  His Father, that’s God the Father.  

Now, this principle of identifying who God is, before asking for the commandment to be kept, is very important.  That’s the same thing that God did before He gave the Ten Commandments.  There is, verse 2 in chapter 20 of Exodus, is also part of the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments don’t begin with

“Thou shalt have no other gods be fore me.’

Usually, that is where we begin.  But this morning we saw, there is something that is said before that is given and that is,

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage.’

What does God do here?  He identified Himself and then He gave the Commandments.  That’s the same principle that Christ used when He was asked about the most important Commandment.  He identified the true God and then the Commandments are based on that, which tells us that your and my effort, in trying to keep the Commandments without the correct knowledge of God, is totally unacceptable.

In order to just make sure that this is correct, let’s go back to Mark 12 and see how the conversation continued with Christ and the scribe.  We will see how the conversation continued with Christ and the scribe.  We will go back to Mark 12.  

Christ used that principle, He identified first the true God, you have a correct knowledge of Him , that’s the only way you can love Him.  Notice how the scribe answered.  Mark 12, we will read from verse 32.  

“And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth:  for there is one God:  and there is none other but he: And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

You see here, Jesus did a most wonderful thing.  I love reading these times when Christ is asked questions.  Christ gave the scribe the answer that the scribe had in his mind.  You see, the scribe came and asked Jesus a question, and he had an answer in his mind, and that was the test, to see if Christ was true or not.  And Jesus gave him the exact answer that that the scribe had in his mind, as we see from his agreement.  

Now you see the scribe had the right principle, he agreed that there is one God, and to understand that there is none other but He, and that to love Him and love the neighbour.  He went through the same sequence that we saw earlier.  

Now notice what Jesus tells them, in verse 34.  

“And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.  And no man after that durst ask him any questions.”

You see how the principle has developed here.  The scribe was not far from the kingdom of God.  Why?  Because he had a correct knowledge of who God is and he had a correct knowledge of the response that you will have when you have a correct knowledge of who God is.

Now some people ask the question, “In order to have a correct knowledge of God, is this a salvational issue for me?”  Now, in light of what we have found so far, you tell me.  Is it a salvation issue or not?  How many sins do you get to keep in order to get to heaven?  How many sins are allowed in?   You are allowed none.  And we found that the only way for you to have that victory over sin, to have the fear of God, is to have the knowledge of the Holy.  So, is knowing who God is an issue that is important to your salvation?  It surely is, it most certainly is.  And don’t believe anyone who tells you other wise.  You see, our eternal life depends on knowing who God is.  

Let’s look at John 17 very quickly.  John 17:3.  Our eternal life depends on knowing something.  Jesus said it very plainly in John 17:3, He said.  He gives us now a definition of eternal life.  Now, I want to tell you before we read the verse, eternal life is not just living forever.  Eternal life does not mean that God does this and then you continue to live forever, this is not eternal life.  We tend to think that way.  But here we have a definition from the Bible.  What is that eternal life?  Eternal life means something.  It says,

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

So eternal life really is knowing two beings.  Who are they?  The only true God which is who?  The Father, according to verse 1, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.  You end up living forever as a by-product of this knowledge.  That’s just the natural reaction of knowing God.  Eternal life really is to know the Father and His Son, the Father the only true God, and His Son.  And that’s all.  You don’t need to know anyone else.  Your eternal life is not dependent on knowing anyone other than the Father and the Son.  

Now the question is asked of us many times, what is it then about the Holy Spirit?  And we need to understand what the Holy Spirit is.   We have to have a correct knowledge of who the Father is.  We found from this verse that He is the only true God.  We have to have the correct knowledge of who Jesus is.  

Now , who is Jesus?  O.K.  The only begotten Son of God.  Very good.  Now there is plenty of material at the back to confirm this, but we will just look at one quick passage.  For those of you who are new, in Proverbs 8, just so you can understand what we are talking about as we look at the implications today.  Proverbs chapter 8, just quickly.  

We just found that the Father is the only true God and we naturally ask ourselves, how does Jesus fit into that picture?  Proverbs 8, we will just read a few verses, beginning from verse 22.  Now, Proverbs 8, Christ is speaking under the title of Wisdom.  We found out this morning that Christ is the power of God, and He is also the Wisdom of God.  So here Christ, the Wisdom of God speaks and He tells us about His origin.  He says, in verse 22,

“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. (that is before creation) 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.”

So twice here, Christ tells us that He was brought forth from the Father.  Another word for 'brought forth' is 'begotten', and Christ said that when He came to earth. On one night, one  church leader, one popular church leader was a little too ashamed to visit Him during the day so he wanted to visit with Him at night.  And the church leader was Nicodemus.  And Jesus told him that famous verse that we all know, John 3:16, he said,

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.”

Here we are reading about this process.  Jesus says that He was begotten, or He was brought forth.  When?  Before the foundation of the earth, before anything was created.  So from this we learn that Christ is literally and truly the Son of God.  That's why the Pharisees wanted to stone Him when He said, “Did I blaspheme because I said I am the Son of God?”

So here we learn that these two Beings that we must have a relationship with, that we must have a knowledge of, a knowledge which our eternal life depends on, are two.  God the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ His Son who was brought forth and begotten of the Father before all creation.

Now, this is not the only example in the Bible.  There is plenty of evidence but I'm just quickly doing a small summary because I want to lead into something.  Very quickly, we need to cover the Spirit.  What is the Spirit as defined by the Bible?  If you look up in your Lexicon, in your Concordance, and you look up for the definition of the Spirit, you will find that one of the definitions is 'mind.'  We found that this morning that the Spirit is the divine mind of God.  

Let's have a look, does the Bible say that or not?  Come to Isaiah chapter 40.  Very quickly, we need to understand what is the Spirit of God.  Isaiah 40.  In Isaiah chapter 40 we will look at verse 13.  Isaiah 40:13 says,

“Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?”

Now, here we have a question.  “Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord?”  How did the Bible writers understand the Spirit of the Lord?  Let's come to a parallel passage in Romans 11.  Paul is the author of Romans and most of the New Testament.  Do you think Paul had a good understanding of the Gospel?  We wouldn't have much of the New Testament gospel if it wasn't for Paul.    Paul was taught his gospel by who?  By Christ Himself.  

Now, notice how Paul understood the Spirit of God.  Romans chapter 11 and we will look at verse 34.  Now Paul is quoting  Isaiah chapter 40:13  Notice what he says.

'For who hath known the mind of the Lord?  or who hath been his counsellor?'

We read earlier Isaiah said, “Who hath known the Spirit of the Lord”   Paul says, “Who hath known the mind of the Lord?”  From this we know that 'spirit' and 'mind' mean the same thing.   Do you see that in the Bible, or not?  So the Spirit of God is His mind, it’s His personality, it’s His character, it's His own presence.  That's why our eternal life depends on knowing two Beings, not three, which tells us that the Spirit of God is not a different Being to God.  It's His own mind.  Just like your mind is not a different being to you, so God's Spirit is not a different Being to Him.  It's His mind.  Otherwise, as some people today believe, our salvation would depend on knowing three Beings.  But does the Bible say that?  Let's confirm it in another location. In 1 John.  John recorded the prayer of Christ in John 17 and he heard Christ pray that prayer.  Now in 1 John he gives us his understanding of that eternal life.  In 1 John 1:1,2 we read that eternal life which was manifested, we looked at that this morning.  Now notice the conclusion that he draws from this, in verse 3.

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us:  and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

So John understood the gospel will lead to fellowship, to a knowledge of only how many Beings.  Two Beings, the Father and His Son.  When we have the knowledge of the Father and His Son, we have their mind.  We have their Spirit.   That's how we have the relationship with them.  The Spirit is how we have that relationship.  We are one in the Spirit.

Now, the question is asked, if our eternal life depends on knowing only the Father and the Son, does our worship life, is it affected by this knowledge as well?  Because not only does the angel say, “Fear God”, but he also says, “worship Him that made heaven and earth.”

Who does the Bible tell us is worthy of worship?  God.  Now let's see, if our eternal life and salvation depends on knowing two Beings only, then where should all our worship go to?   To the Father through the Son.  Very good.  We will have a look at what Christ said in John 5.  

Now, I know this must be very basic for some you, but I want you to look at this because, as I share some things a little further, I want you to see the impact and the contrast that will develop, which will explain, hopefully, to you why we are in the dilemma we are in today.  

John 5, we are looking at who is it that Jesus says should receive honour.  The angel says that we are to worship God.   Let's look at verse 23.    John 5:23  it says,

“That all men”  (Now, 'men' is a supplied word so this is everybody.) “That all should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.  He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.”

So, what is the ultimate way of worshipping God the Father?  It is to honour who?  To honour His Son.  And all worship, and honour and glory, that goes to the Son, glorifies who?  The Father.  That's why at the end, Paul tells us that every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The only way you can keep the first Commandment is through Christ.  We worship the Father through His Son. Don't you remember Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No man cometh to the Father but by me.”

So in order for us to render worship, acceptable worship to the Father, we do that through His Son.  And in order for the Son to carry worship, that's why He is a recipient of worship.  That's why in honouring Him we honour the Father.

In the Bible these are the only Beings that we are told to honour.  The Father and His Son.  Let's come to the last revelation in the Bible where we are told something very important.  Revelation 5, just to confirm this.  Revelation 5:13 now notice what happens.  Notice who is honoured in this verse.  

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”

How many are receiving blessing and glory and honour here?  “Him that sitteth upon the throne.”  Who is that?  The Father.  And the Lamb, the Son.  We read this morning, John  said,

“Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”  

So all creatures in the universe have an understanding of worship and honour and glory only goes to the Father, to Him that sitteth on the throne, through His Son, and the Lamb, for ever and ever.

Is there anybody else included in that prayer, in that worship?  Let's look at verse 14.

“And the four beasts said, Amen,”  

When do you say 'amen'?  At the end of the prayer.  There is no one else.  So when they said 'amen' that's it.  Prayer and worship and glory goes only to the Father through His Son.  There is no one else to be worshipped.  This is important as I will share with you some things so, keep in mind what we are talking about.  

Now why then do we not have victory over sin, in light of this?  It's very simple, it is because we don't believe it.  That's very true.  Because we don't believe, that this is what the Bible says.  We cannot have victory over sin unless you believe the truth.  Let's have a look at it.  1 John 5:4.  Why are we struggling with sin?  What is the reason?  1 John  5:4,  it tells us,

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”

So faith overcomes the world.  If we are not overcoming, then where is the problem?  In our faith, we don't have faith.  Now, faith is based on what?  'Hearing, and hearing is in the word of God.'  So in other words. if we don't have faith that the word of God means what it tells us.

Now, notice exactly what this faith deals with.  What is the topic that is really hindering people from having that victory?  Let's look at the next verse.

“Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Here is the reason why people are not truly hearing God.  They are not truly keeping the Commandments.  They are not truly having victory over sin because they don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Now, it's very plain in the Scriptures that Jesus is the Son of God.  We just read a few passages.  You see why it’s important to have first an understanding of who God is, who His Son is, in order to have that victory over sin.  (We will keep all questions to question time, if possible and then we will have a beautiful discussion together.  Just so we can keep on track.)

O.K.  Now we need to come to a very, very important thing.  In Zechariah chapter 10, we are living in the last generation on earth and as God's people we are expecting a special season of blessing.  But we have been waiting for more than 160 years.  We are going to Zechariah chapter 10.  Zechariah is just at the end of your Old Testament, just before Matthew, and before Malachi.  Zechariah chapter 10 and we will see here a very important principle.  Having established the correct knowledge in order to fear God, we will see how it is relevant for the last people who are living on earth, and why some things will not happen.  In Zechariah 10:1 we are told

“Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field.”

Here we are commanded to do something, to ask specifically for something.  You know, we are so blinded that the Father has to actually tell us what we are to ask for.  We don't know what to ask for, so He tells us, 'Listen, ask for the latter rain.  And when you ask for the latter rain, I will (what's He say?) I will give you showers, I won't sprinkle, I will give you showers.'

Now, we have been asking for the latter rain for 160 years.  Has the latter rain come, or not yet?  O.K.  We don't have any answers, or we are not sure.  It started, are the showers here, or not yet?  No, there is no latter rain.

Now, let's look at the reasons because we have been asking but there is no answer, and the Bible says that if we ask we will receive.  So here we have a bit of a contradiction.  What is happening, what is the reason?  Let's go and see the answer in James chapter 4.  Why is it that when we ask, we do not receive, especially something as important as the latter rain?  James chapter 4, we will hear what the reason is.  Verse 3, it says,

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.”   Are we there?  James 4:3 it says,
“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

So why are we not receiving the latter rain?  We are asking amiss.  Something is wrong.  We are not asking with a correct understanding, there is something wrong in our understanding, because we saw earlier, everything that will happen under the first angel, and all the angels,  is based on a knowledge of the holy.  

The first thing the angel said is 'Fear God.'  When we come to fear God, is knowing who God is.  Based on this knowledge you are to proceed in the messages.  When we are asking amiss for the latter rain, we have an incorrect knowledge of who God is.  We are not properly understanding the fear of God.  That's why we are asking and we are receiving not.

But some people are quite hopeful, and I will share a little story with you, perhaps you know.  Has anyone heard of what the red Indians do when there is a drought in the land, and they need to ask for rain, what do they do?   O.K. Everybody knows. They have a rain dance.  So what has happened with us, sadly is, we have had such a drought of rain that we have started rain dancing.

Now, as humorous as this may sound, I am actually very, very serious because I will tell you what this means.  We have started to try and conjure up the latter rain.  We said, “We will help God along.”  Just like Abraham, he said, “God said I will have a son, I'll help Him along.”

So we are trying to help God, we are trying to conjure up the latter rain.  It's almost like we are  trying to convince Him to give us the rain.  Now the problem we just found here, is asking amiss.  That's the problem.

Now, today the church is trying to conjure up the latter rain in a number of means and ways.  They say, “Look, there is no rain.  We think we should have more satellites in the sky, and have our TV station on every television.  That way the latter rain will come.”  And so at an expense that is quite great and an effort that is not very small, this happens.  But then there is no latter rain, so we continue dancing a little more.  We say, “O.K.  What we need to do is to encourage the members to have an evangelistic spirit, we need to have evangelism.  Actually we have a whole year of evangelism.  We will call it the year of evangelism.”

And so we do that and then at the end of the year we have no rain.  And so we say, “You know what, we need to do some more dancing.  What we need, we have to have some theologians come to speak to our lay members because the Pastors are not doing the job.”

So we bring in the theologians to give the lay members some intellectual knowledge and at the end of that we find that there is no latter rain. And you could, of course, go through all the different scenarios that are happening, and it seems that we are trying everything to conjure up the latter rain, but there is no latter rain.  And the reason is very simple.  We are trying to bring in the rain by our works.  We are trying to do something to conjure up the latter rain.  But all we have to do is ask, we are to ask, not amiss, we are to ask correctly.  We are to have the right knowledge of what we are asking for.

Now we need to see, what is it about rain that God tells us?  Before we leave James, I just want to share something with you.  We will read verse 4 as well.  James 4:4.  We are still there.  It says, in verse 3,

“You ask amiss.”

Now, notice what it says in verse 4.

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?  whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

So the reason why we are asking and not receiving is because there is adultery going on, and that adultery is taking place with whom?  With the world.  Now we will see what that really means from the example that is given to us in the Old Testament.  Come to Deuteronomy chapter 11.  Why is there no latter rain?  You know, this is a most pressing need for God's people today.  We know that the Gospel is to go to the whole world, and we know that there is no power on earth that is going to do that.  I don't care how many satellites you have in the sky.  You might be on every television station on the planet, you will not finish the Gospel commission unless it is according to the Word.

You might have the best speakers on the planet, you might know the Bible back to front, even better than the Pharisees, and that's hard to beat, and you will not be able to finish it.  It has to be only done according to the Word.  You might be a ministry that is raking in so much money you need to make a trip to the bank daily - that will not finish the work.

You see, people are taking these as signs and evidences that “Huh, we are almost there.  Just a little more.”  And this is a fatal deception because we are ignoring the real reason, the real cause of all our troubles.

Why is there no latter rain?  Let's have a look at Deuteronomy chapter 11. (A comment is made from the audience.)   And we will see exactly, we need to be specific, that's very true.  

What exactly is the sin of God's people today that they need to be repentant of?  What is the problem that is hindering the latter rain?  Deuteronomy chapter 11 and let's see what the type is in Israel.  Verses 16 and 17.  Now let's read carefully, it says,

'Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit;  and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you.'

O.K.  In Israel, this is very plain, it doesn't need any comment.  God said, 'Be careful.  Don't serve other gods, (because if you serve other gods, what will happen?) there will be no rain.'

Is everyone following this?  Now this is talking about literal rain that comes down and waters the crops.  Now we know that this is a type for what we are  to do in the last days, and we will see that in a minute.  But I want you to look at the principle.  

Does God change?  No, never, so the principle is the same.  God says, 'If you worship other gods, there will be no rain on the land, and you will quickly perish from off the good land that  He has given us.'

Now what does the Bible refer to His people, when they worship other gods?  Let's look at Judges.  Now, before we go there I want to tell you something.  You see, this was written to His people while they had the truth, while they were worshipping the true God.  And He gave them a warning of something that would happen if they worshipped other gods.  Now let's see if the warning came true, or not.

In Judges chapter 2 we are given a very sad description of what happened in Israel, after they went into the Promised Land.  Where are we going?  Judges 2 and we will look at verse 12.  Now, notice what happened to the warning. In verse 12 we are told about the children of Israel, let's read verse 11 as well.  

“And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim. And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger.”   Verse 13.  “And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.”

So did the warning materialise?  Now, notice where the Israelites got their new gods from.  According to the verse, where did they get them from?  From the people round about them, from the different nations round about them.  Remember in James, he says,

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses”   The friendship of the world is enmity with God.  

The Israelites were beginning to be friends with the world.  They were getting so friendly that they decided, “You know, it's not such a bad idea, we'll serve the same gods you are serving, and we will worship them.”

They took the gods of the nations that were round about them.  Now, God gave them specific, explicit warning against this, and God calls it something.  We don't have to go there, but let's look at verse 17 of the same chapter.  Judges 2:17, notice what it is called.  In verse 17 it says,

“And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they went a whoring after other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the Lord:  but they did not so.”

What does the Bible call His people when they worship other gods?  They have gone a whoring.  Very important word, keep it in mind.  Keep it in mind as we proceed.  

Now God had warned them very explicitly that this would happen.  Let's look at it in Deuteronomy 31:16.  This exact thing was told to Moses before he died.  Going back to Deuteronomy chapter 31 and we will look at verse 16.  Deuteronomy 31:16 and we will just quickly wrap up as we look at this matter.   Deuteronomy 31:16 says,

'And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers;  and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.'

So this definition that His people are a whoring, they go after other gods, comes directly from the Lord Himself.  It comes directly from God.  This is a divine definition.  When His people worship the gods of the nations round about them, He said, this is going a whoring.  

What did He say would happen to the rain?  It will stop.  “If you serve other gods I will shut heaven that there will be no rain.”

Now, in your mind you should be putting one and one together in seeing why there is no rain today, but we will be very clear as we proceed.  

Now, why do God's people not have the latter rain?  Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 3.  We will get the Bible answer, because we are waiting for the latter rain.  And in Jeremiah it tells us the exact reason why these people don't have the latter rain.  Jeremiah 3:3, a very important verse.  Jeremiah 3:3 we are told,

'Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain:  and thou hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.'

According to Jeremiah, why is there no latter rain today?  Because God's people have the whore's forehead.  And what does the Bible define as whoredom?  Serving other gods.

Now, what does the forehead represent?  The mind, especially the fore head, the front part of the head is the decision.   This is where your decision making centre is, the front of your head.  The frontal lobe.

So when God's people have a whore's forehead, it means in their mind, in their understanding, what happened to the knowledge of the true God?  It's been corrupted.  So, now, I want to draw the parallel with you.  Israel would see other gods and would come and make an actual image and bow down before it, physically.  

Now, the spiritual application.  And then He said if you did that there would be no rain in the land.  Now the spiritual application to us today is, the latter rain, which is spiritual, and the way we commit whoredoms is, we don't bring an idol and put it in church and bow down, He says, “You have a whores (what?) forehead.”  

Where does this whoredom take place?  In the mind, so in the mind we have incorrect, corrupt concepts of the true God.  We are serving other gods where?  In our minds, in our foreheads.

God says that's why you don't have the latter rain.  So instead of putting more television stations on TV and instead of running all these Seminars, what should God's people be doing ?  Worshipping the true God.  

Now I want to clarify for you exactly how this is the case that God's people today are worshipping wrong gods, they are committing whoredom, they are worshipping wrong gods in the mind, they have the whores’ forehead, and that's the reason why there is no latter rain.

Before I do that, you remember the story of Elijah?  Elijah came to Ahab, Ahab was a leading figure in Israel, he was an evil king.  He misled the people.  They were worshipping false gods.  Elijah came and told him. “Ahab, there will be no rain until I say.” And he disappeared.

And for three and a half years there was no rain in the land, and the land was very dry.  And Israel went into this rain dance mentality, and they went looking for the rain everywhere, until, we know the showdown came on Mount Carmel, and they literally did a dance around the altar to try and bring the rain, but did the rain come?  No.
 
The rain only came when Elijah stepped forward and prayed to the true God.  You see, Israel was serving false gods, they were worshipping wrong gods.  God kept His promise.  He said, 'If you worship other gods, of the gods of the nations round about you, there will be no rain.'  And there was no rain.  

Now that story is a parallel for us today because we are told in the last days, the Bible says,

“Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”

So Elijah is coming in the last days, the same scenario is repeating on a spiritual level.  

Now, what is the problem with God's people today?  We’ve found, so far, that worship is rendered to who?  To the Father, through the Son only, the only Beings that receive, receiving worship and honour is the Father, and His Son.   Is there any one else?  No one else.

Now, we found that when we worship other gods, the Bible says, this is whoredom and that will prevent the coming of the rain.  

I just want to read to you a few things that should hopefully alert God's people today why there is no latter rain.  I will read from this book, this book is called 'The Trinity.'  Some of you have seen it, some not.    This book comes from Andrews University, written by three Drs. who are our top theologians, and this is what they write in this book.  I will read, quote to you, I will give you the page because I don't want you to say, this young man says this.  

Now on page 273, this is what is taught.  Now listen very carefully, it says,

“But what about direct prayer to the Holy Spirit?  It only seems logical that God's people can pray directly to, and worship the Holy Spirit.”

According to the theologians from Andrews University, God's people can pray directly to, and worship the Holy Spirit.  Now we found earlier that the Holy Spirit is the mind and the personal presence of God.

 Do we have anywhere in Scripture instruction to worship the Holy Spirit?  Now, not only the Holy Spirit, they say, I'll read something else in a minute.  We are to worship the Father. and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  We worship three Beings.  And they refer to this theology as the Trinity.

Now I will tell you now very plainly, because the messengers of truth have to be plain, the Trinity is sin, for the very reason that, it is the worship of other gods.  No where in the Bible are we instructed to worship a god called, God the Holy Spirit.  

You see, just like Israel would go to other nations around them, and borrow their gods, so God's people today, tragically, have gone to the other denomi-nations round about and have borrowed this god.  And based on this, we are instructed to worship this god.

We found in Revelation, worship and honour, and blessing, and glory, belongs only to two Beings, not three.  Now, you put one and one together, God says when you worship other gods, there will be no rain.  Here we are instructed to do that.

Now, this instruction is not taken idly, this instruction is actually followed.  Now this is from the Signs of the Times magazine, and I will read to you another quote from page 60. And in this magazine they follow the instruction of the leaders of the church.  This magazine is our outreach tool for the people, to tell them about the truth in the last days.  This is what it says.

“We worship and love you, heavenly Father, for who You are.'  (I am quoting, by the way) And Jesus, we worship and adore You for becoming our brother.  And Holy Spirit, we worship and love you too, for making all this real.”

It is indeed a sign of the times when we have to read this material in our church literature.  That is the biggest sign of the times.  

God says very plainly, let's go to Isaiah chapter 42.  What is God's response when His people worship other gods?  Isaiah 42:8.  God identifies Himself, He says,

“I am the Lord: that is my name;  and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.”

So God will keep His word.  He says, “I will not give My glory to another.  I will not honour false gods. “

You see, today, God's people have become confused over an issue that was not confusing to them for over 80 years at the beginning of their existence.  For the first 80 years the Seventh-day Adventist church had the truth on God, they worshipped the true God through His one and only Son.  They had the correct knowledge of the Spirit.  And for you to assert to this fact all you have to do is visit the book table at the back and just ask many questions as you like, we are more than happy to share this.  We are just a bit short on time to do all this from the front all at once.

But this is the problem today.  God's people today are not blessed by the latter rain because they are worshipping other gods.  It’s all very simple.

Now, we need to ask ourselves, when we worship other gods, who are we really worshipping?  Satan.  Everybody knows that.  How do you know that?  Where does it tell us?  Deuteronomy chapter 32.  You see, you perhaps may not be aware of this fact but the Bible nowhere speaks of a God the Holy Spirit, and the Bible nowhere says that you are to worship such a god.

We just read quotations that are rather alarming, to say the least, that God's people are instructed from the highest authority to worship God the Holy Spirit.  And this problem has resulted in our problem today.   That's why we don't have any rain.

Now, let's see Deuteronomy 32:17 is the text we are after.  And in Deuteronomy 32:17 we are told very plainly, speaking of the people of Israel in the wilderness.

“They sacrificed unto devils, not to God:  to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.”

This god is a god that our fathers feared not.  This god is a new god that has come newly up.  The Bible says when we worship new gods we are worshipping devils.  The Bible told you that, not me.  

Now you need to study and understand why this is so, because I am sure some of you are saying, 'This is quite a claim to make.'  This is a real claim to make.  I don't make this claim, the Bible makes it, as we have seen very clearly.  Worship and honour only goes to the Father through the Son, no one else.

If you worship anyone outside of that, who receives that worship?  Satan, devils.  That's what the Bible says.  And God says, 'When you worship other Gods, I will not give My glory to other gods, I will withhold the rain.'

So let's see now, what are God's people to do?  And by the way, before I go on, we have had talks with the brethren to make them aware of this fact, and they are refusing to listen.  Now, if any of you haven't picked one up, this is called 'The Full Story.'  This is an account of how we attempted to share with the leading brethren this great error of why there is no rain, it is because we have this problem, but God's people have a whore's forehead and they refuse to be ashamed, just like the Bible says.  They are refusing to be ashamed.

So, make sure you pick up one of that because, if this information is new for you, we don't want to startle you, and alarm you, so you can run out the door.  We want to share it with you, so you can see why we are saying this, and there is reason behind that, Biblical reason.  I am more than happy to discuss and examine these things, and if we be in error, let the word of God correct us.  But if God's people are in error, let the same word of God, correct us, because we need the latter rain.  

Do you want the latter rain to come?  If you want the latter rain to come,  Amen.  That's the majority.  That's good news.  So we will see what we can do to bring the latter rain.  Repentance.  Yes.  That's a good point.

Now, if worshipping false gods is a sin, what must we do.  We must repent.  And what is full repentance?  To turn away from.  Repentance means that I keep doing it over and over again.  Isn’t that right?  No.  You give up on doing it.  You stop sinning. And in order to do that, we are to repent.  That is true repentance.

O.K.  Worshipping false gods is breaking the first Commandment, which is a sin, just like breaking the fourth Commandment is a sin, and just like breaking any Commandment.  Let's come to Jeremiah again.  Let us see, how is it that God tells His people to remedy the problem.  Jeremiah chapter 3 again, the same chapter.  Jeremiah chapter 3  (We've gone over time, so we will quickly close.)  Jeremiah 3, we will see how we can solve the problem.  It says, verse 13,

“Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord.”

The only way this problem can be solved is to acknowledge the iniquity, not to cover it up, not to deliberately deny it, not to reject it.  You see, God is sending us this truth, not to prove us wrong, He is sending us truth to lead us closer to Him.  Don't you know that God raises up His hand, more than you and me, in wanting to pour out the latter rain?  

You know, if you ask if there is someone who wants the rain to come more than anyone, it is God the Father.  Do you think He is happy with this load of sin making its way to heaven every day?  Don't you know that it breaks His heart, while you are sleeping, and I am sleeping, oblivious to the world, He has to watch and see every single sin that is committed.  And God says, “I rejoice not in iniquity, but I rejoice in the truth.”

It is breaking our Father's heart, what's happening.  And so He is telling His people, 'Please ask for the rain properly.  I want to give it, but I cannot give it when you are in sin.'  And so He sends us a message of correction and instruction, and this is how we are to receive this message.  

As Bro. Igor said, when God shows us something, what are we to do?  We say, 'Praise the Lord.  Thank you for light.'

Now, what you do with light is you examine it, you see if it is Biblical, and you follow it if it is.  Last verse we will close with.  This is the promise that God gave to Solomon.  This is our last verse.  2 Chronicles chapter 7, in the Old Testament.   This is at the dedication of the Temple of Solomon.  It is not the Temple of Solomon really, it is the Temple of the Lord, but Solomon built it.  This is at the dedication of that temple, and in chapter 7:13,14 we are given the solution for our problem.  It says,   God speaking to Solomon, it says,

“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways:  then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

My prayer to you is that you will heed the counsel that the Father is giving us through His word.  Now, I realise that this might be new to some, so I am not going to ask you to make a decision now.  What I will ask you to do is this, if you would like to take seriously this matter to the Lord in prayer, if it is new to you, to seriously consider, are these things so, is this why there is no latter rain.   And if you would like to do that, I would like you to put your hand up.  If there is anyone here, who would seriously want, especially if you are new, if you will look, I don’t ask you to make a decision, just if you will look at it, you need to put your hand up. Amen, God bless you all.

Let us bow and kneel as we pray and dedicate this matter to the Lord.