In this sermon, the preacher discusses the issue of violence in American society and how it is highly esteemed. He emphasizes that violence is a demonic influence and warns against indulging in violent entertainment, such as martial arts and excessive television watching. The preacher also highlights the importance of being truthful and straightforward in our words, just like Jesus, who spoke with simplicity and without spin. He encourages believers to avoid being deceived by the spin of the world and instead focus on speaking the truth.

For those in Tape Land, what we have up is Revelation chapter 2, beginning with verse 12, the church in Pergamos. We talked about several things. It will be on Sunday night's tape last. Today is the 20th, so it will be the 18th of February 1996. As far as any that are here or were here Sunday night, is there any question about this before we go on? Anything that was raised that you don't understand? Don't hesitate to ask questions. You don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. I'm here to explain if we can. Any problem with that one? Is it clear? Can you see it? Can you read it okay? There's a little type there, a 16 point type. I hope that'll be large enough. Alright, let's go on to the next one then if there are no questions. For those in Tape Land, we're continuing on now with Revelation 2.16. Repent therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. Now, them is referring to God's people. It's referring to the church. We need to understand that Jesus is not some nice little teacher up there. He's fierce, and when we do right, he comes and makes war against us with the word of God. That's a new concept. I want you to get it. So we have a more balanced view of Christ. Christ comes and fights against his own church. When they don't do what he wants, he does it with the word of God. Any question about that? You end up doing some of the things mentioned on the previous page, into some kind of immorality as a Christian. The Lord's going to come and bring his word against that. Then you have a choice. Either you straighten up or come unto the chastening hand of God. There's a lot of chastening going on today. He who has an ear, if you want an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying, you've got to behave righteously, live in holiness as God leads and gives you help, and you've got to obey the Lord. That gives you spiritual sight and spiritual hearing. A lot of people today can hear God, what the Spirit is saying. A lot of Christian people have no idea what the Spirit is saying. Oblivious to it. If you want to be able to hear, you've got to do God's will. Mean business with God. This is no day to fool around. You've got to do righteously, quit sinning, do what the word says. Then with the Spirit you'll hear what God is saying to his churches. To him who overcomes, we went into that a lot Sunday night, what it means to overcome. It means to do what you know you're supposed to do today. It's not some standard out there that you reach someday. It's a day-by-day thing, overcoming is. How many had challenges today? Okay. That only gives you so much trouble in one day. And you went one of two ways. You went one of three ways. You either overcame it by prayer, by obeying God, doing what was right. Or you said, I don't have to put up with that, it's somebody else's fault. Or you shelved it, ignored it, and buried it with a lot of busy work. I see some grinning, that's what they did. They buried it under a lot of, forget it. Well, you missed a good chance to grow if you did. When you feel something come near you, the Spirit is challenging you. There's unrest there, maybe a temptation, maybe anger comes up, irritation, unbelief, fear, dread. Whatever it is, it touches your spirit. You want to deal with it. That's your business. You deal with your business right then. You get the job done right then. You don't let it hang. You deal with your business right then and take care of it. Go to the Lord and say, what is this? Why is it troubling me? If it's something that is not right, then get your business done with God. Get up there and do it. Keep short accounts with God. Don't let them hang on. Because this is a real race today. There's a lot of heavy, dark, demonic things going on. If you're going to make it in the last part of this century, you've got to mean business with God. A lot of people are floating around and they're not getting anywhere with God. To Him I will give some of the hidden manna. That sounds far out. Nothing in the Bible is far out. Everything is practical. It has some meaning to you and to me. You ever hear people talk about burning out? You ever hear that? Preachers burn out. Teachers burn out. You ever hear that? Burnout. People burn out because they're not getting the hidden manna. Because they're doing stuff in their own strength. They're not dancing with the Lord. When you dance with the Lord, there's no burnout. You can go and go and go like Moses Bush. You don't burn out. We burn out when we're going in our own strength. We're not getting the hidden manna. The hidden manna comes to those who are doing God's will. I gave you a verse there. John 4.32 They said it's time for lunch. Jesus said, I have food that you do not know about. That's hidden. It's hidden to you. You don't know about it. My food is to do God's will. That's my food. When you do God's will, He feeds you. Why is it hidden? What is the food? The food is the body and blood of Jesus. That's the food. I'll come in to Him. We'll dine with Him. It comes in the spirit realm. It comes to those who are fighting God's battles. The rest of the people that are not doing God's will are careless. Attending church maybe sometimes when it's handy or whatever they're doing. They're not praying. They're not seeking God. They're living in the world. They don't get any hidden manna. They burn out. People that are doing God's will, they get this hidden from other people. Divine strength and wisdom comes to them periodically. Two or three times a week. And it keeps them going. They don't have nervous breakdowns. I'm not saying if you have a nervous breakdown that you're sinning. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that there is a hidden manna that comes to God's people as they live victoriously. Christians get tired like everybody else. Christians get weak like everybody else. Christians get discouraged like everybody else. But if they keep doing God's will, strength comes out of left field and they find themselves renewed and strengthened if they're doing God's will. It's a good idea when things get real black to just ask the Lord. Am I doing something wrong? Don't assume that you are. Just say, Lord, am I doing something wrong? Check it out. I need a report card. Why am I like this? Sometimes it's something we're doing. Sometimes we're pushing to do something that we think is God's will and we hope is God's will and the doors aren't opening and we're batting against the doors and we're mad at people because they're frustrating us. And when we go to God, He shows us another door. He tells you that that door is closed to you. You're not supposed to go that way. Brother Dow used to say, if you can't get God to go your way, why don't you try going God's way? I mean, it's simple. But you'd be surprised how many times that we violate that. This is God's will, I know it is, and this is what I want, and I've got to have this to be happy, and I deserve this, etc. and so on. And the door doesn't open and we smash at it and then we begin to blame people. If it wasn't for her, I could serve God. If it wasn't for him, I'd be fine, etc. None of that is God. You pray until God shows you the direction you're supposed to go. And then it's wonderful. I don't say the doors fly open, but it becomes possible, whereas the other is not possible and doesn't work. And anytime you find yourself mad at people, that's a big red flag. Whenever you find yourself angry with people, I don't care if it's your husband or wife, your children or who it is, when you find yourself steamed, okay? That's a big red flag. God does not want you steamed at anybody. Go back, say to the Lord what is going on here. The wrath of man works, not the righteousness of God. And usually you'll find out, the Lord will show you, give you wisdom, shows you that you're cooking on something. You're trying to work the moves. And you've got yourself all in a frenzy about something that there's no need for. And so, when God gets all the fears out of you and the lust and the fires and the other things, you calm down and all that rage and anger goes out of you. God does not want you all steamed up. He doesn't care if it's about Clinton or who it's about. He doesn't want us living that way, fretting, angry. It doesn't work God's righteousness. How many know that? How many ever found a great blessing of the Lord when you were really mad at people? He doesn't want us that way. If it's their fault, et cetera and so on. Well, you know, you go to God. He works it out. Any question about that? Hidden manna. And then he said, and I will give him a white stone. Now, that also seems weird and far out. It's not. It's extremely practical. And you'll notice the verse I put down there that Matthew 22, 14. You see that at the very bottom? Many are called, but few are chosen. What do you think that means? Yeah, that's what it means. Many are called, but few are chosen. Called to do what? It couldn't be said better than that. That is precisely the case. That the gospel call goes out to people and it brings in of all kinds, like a net that's let out into the water. It brings up everything. And then everybody's on his metal. What you do with Jesus is up to you. You know, what you do with Jesus is up to you. You can make him some kind of a badge that you put on you. Hey, I'm a Christian. What does that mean? I don't know. I guess I'm one. I used to think before I was converted, I thought if you were born in America, you were automatically a Christian. I really did. I didn't know Christ in the Easter Bunny. And that's a fact. How so ignorant I was. Some of you were raised in a Christian home. You never experienced that. But I didn't know anything about the Lord. Whatsoever. And so the gospel call goes out as it did to me when I was in the Marine Corps when I was 19. I heard the gospel for the first time in my life. But what I did with it, that was up to me. And there comes a time if you really serve God, if you make up your mind that Jesus is the only show in town. I mean, no more hedging your bets. Is Jesus on the nose to win or nothing? Now, we see that in the 6th chapter of John. Jesus fed the multitudes by a miracle. Multiplied the bread, multiplied the fish. Consequently, thousands of people gathered. Now, if you can go downtown and multiply food and start handing it out, people are going to come by the thousands. They're going to come by the thousands. I mean, face it. The miracle, but more especially, they get free food. They get free food. People around them are just free food. Alright, then Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee and a few hours had passed, time had passed, and here they all came in boats, thousands of them across the Sea of Galilee. And when Jesus saw them there coming up on the beach, he said, You didn't follow me because you saw the miracle. You followed me because you ate food and it filled your stomach. And now it's getting time to eat again. And they said, Oh, you know, whatever they called him, Teacher Moses fed them with man in the wilderness. What are you going to feed us with? Mine was on their stomach, food. Thousands of people, picture it. And so, Jesus knew it was testing time. It was testing time. Time for a little running stuff through the scepter. And so he began to talk about things that he knew would turn them off. And I mean, it turned them off big time. He said, unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you have no life in you. You have no life in you. Nothing to do with it. Well, they'd been taught all their life that you don't drink blood. That's against the Levitical law. You do not drink blood. So here, the Lord's deliberately telling them something that would test their hearts to see where they were. And so, they began to argue as Jews will. And they argued among themselves and they grumbled and complained and they said, this is a loser. There's no way of relating to a thing like that. It's lunch munch, you know. It's better to put out a few shekelim and buy a falafel or two than to listen to this garbage. And so, they turned around and they went back across the Sea of Galilee. No more free lunch. No more falafel without paying for it. And so, how many people were left? Twelve. Twelve. Twelve people were left. You know what the Lord said? Yes, that's the first thing he said. You go away too. You know, the door swings both ways. You're going to leave too. He didn't plead with them to stay. You know, he didn't say, man, you know, my reputation is hardly anybody here. And then, what did he say? Have not I chosen you twelve. But before he said that, Peter answered. When he said, will you go away? How many remember what Peter said? Exactly. What he was saying to them was, whether we understand you or not, whether you command us to eat your body and drink your blood, or whatever else you come up with, you know, it doesn't matter we're here for the duration. We've made up our mind. You're it. There's nothing else. So, here we are. So, lay it on us, boss. And that's why Jesus said, I have chosen you. It's because they came to the place that there was nothing else but Jesus that mattered. And no matter what he brought into their life, it made no difference. We got a phone call from someone today and a man had been injured in an accident and he was a Christian and he was doing swell. Doing along great. And it was healing and it was going along and all of a sudden something happened. Infection set in or something. Now he's, you know, God, how could this happen? Jesus will test you and you gotta get to the place. You know, if he slays me, I'm, it makes no difference. Every human being that's ever gonna get anywhere has to make up his mind about something. Because no matter what it is that you're after, you're gonna be tested. And if you're gonna, if you're gonna be a person, you've got to come to the place where no matter what happens, this is who I am and this is where I'm going. Period. And if the world comes to an end, it comes to an end and if everybody forsakes me, they forsake me but that has nothing to do with it. I've thought about it. I've made up my mind and this is what I am. That's what you call conversion. When we first receive Jesus, there's a kind of a mental persuasion or a mental acceptance. Yeah, that sounds right. He shed his blood for our sins. He rose from the dead. I believe that. He's born a virgin. I believe that. I believe these things so I'm one of them. Well, that's a good start. It's a necessary start. But you haven't been converted yet. You're not converted until you've made up your mind no matter where this bus goes or who says what. In sickness and in health in good times and in poor it matters nothing. You have the words of life. There's nothing else I'm in it for keeps and as a human being you have the power to do that. Now you may not have the strength to do it but if you will say, Lord, I'm weak but this is what I want. So you have the power to make that decision. I'm weak, Lord and I wobble around like a leaf in the wind but I don't want it anymore. I have made up my mind that Jesus is it and that's what I want and that's the end of it. So, Lord, do something and change me from a jellyfish flopping around. How many ever saw a jellyfish swim upstream? You never did. You probably won't. They kind of wash in with the tide. You want to be something then make up your mind and if you do you're going to have to swim upstream but the Lord will be with you and then he says I'll give him a white stone. Now, I want to call your attention to some other thing. Many are called but few are chosen. Okay? Christianity is not a popularity contest. There's millions, millions probably pretty near a billion Christians in the world counting Catholics counting all that believe that Jesus is God's son. There's many people like that but out of that many there's a few that are chosen by the Lord to be part of him part of his body and I'm not preaching elitism. I'm telling you what the Bible says. I didn't make it up and I don't necessarily approve of the idea. It's not very democratic but it's a fact and it'll never change. Many are called but few are chosen. In Bible school we used to say many are cold but few are frozen. That shows you the kind of stuff that went on in Bible school. There were still some pretty serious kids there some of them are going to be with the Lord now. Many are called called to God called to receive the blood of the Lamb called to be a part of his church called to come out of the world but out of that multitude there's only a few that pass from the ranks of the called into the ranks of the chosen. I've been a Christian over 50 years and I've seen that. True Christians are not as common as one could wish. Church members are abundant. True Christians are not as are not as common. You'll find them in every church. Find them in the Catholic church find them in the Methodist find them in the mainline church find them in the charismatic church. You'll find true Christians all over the place but there are few in number compared with those who are called. Now I'll give you a white stone. Now that word for stone I forgot I knew the Greek term Tony, what is it? Sneppes? It's only used twice in the New Testament. It's only used twice. Once here and once in Acts 26 10 but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. Now the word vote is the same word for stone in Revelation. It's only used twice in the New Testament. And it's believed that like today when you go into some lodges vote membership by using little black and white balls. And they and everybody has a white ball and everybody has a black ball and so there's a new member who wants to join the lodge. They pass that box around and you put in that ball you put in a white one or a black one. And if you put in a black one that person is not admitted to membership which is called being blackballed. Well that's where we get the term. So it is believed that when they voted they had white pebbles and black pebbles. Yes. Siphon. Siphon. Siphon. Yeah. Because that's right. Well that that you could translate Revelation 2 there what it would be verse yeah whatever it is I will give him a white vote. And it means that in terms of black ball and white ball it means that Christ has put his approval on you. See. Have not I chosen you twelve. Now you see it's practical it's not some weird thing way out there. I mean it looks when you first look at it you see a white stone. Oh no. Oh no. That's passing that's the place where you serve Christ until he he counts you as chosen. You come out of the ranks the great massive Christianity and Christ says you're one of mine. You belong to me. You've shown yourself worthy of the kingdom. Okay. That's what it says. That's what it says. If you overcome. The stuff that was going on there in this church there in Pergamos. And a new name written on the stone now a new name. When do you receive a new name? When you're married. When you're married. That's when you receive a new name. Isn't that so? Yeah. There was a lady who used to tell me her name was June Reck but that was not her maiden name and her husband loved to tell her that I made a wreck out of my wife. But anyway when you go back in Isaiah 62 you find where the Lord is talking about marriage and a new name. See what we're talking about here is marriage. I've chosen you. You'll be a part of the bride. There's all these multitude of Christians. Believers. Those who were sent to the gospel. But you've got to show your stuff. You've got to overcome. You want to remember that the inference in all these promises to the overcomer are is the inference is that if you do not overcome you don't get it. I mean Christians need to face that. It's not enough just to say I believe. You've got to show your stuff. We're out of balance today in teaching in many cases. The white stone is a voting pebble signifying that the one receiving it has passed from the ranks of the call to the ranks of the chosen. And because he says new name the implication is that that Christ has . Chosen that one for marriage and has changed his name. Any questions so far? Anybody want to fight me on that? Okay. You all look stunned. Totally bemused. Alright so I guess we're ready for the next one. I think we're coming up to another church now. And to the angels and all those in Cape Land we've gone now to the church in Thyatira. Revelation 2 18 to the angel of the church in Thyatira. Notice that the Lord doesn't write to the church but to the angel of the church. Why is that? Why does he write to the angel of the church? Every church has an angel which is a sum total of what that church is, what it believes. The Lord doesn't waste time arguing with people or debating. He goes right to your spirit. He speaks right to your spirit, right to your angel. He doesn't go into your brain so you can come out with a whole bunch of words where you're trying to calm the situation. The Lord doesn't have time for that. Like Nicodemus said, you know, we know you're a teacher come from God. Jesus didn't say, well, I try to be good or anything like that. He said the man must be born again. It's so abrupt. He spoke right to his spirit. Don't shine me on, man. There's business to be done here. You've got to be born again, never mind about how great a teacher I am. You just do what you're supposed to. That's the way the Lord does it, spoke right to his spirit. The Son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire. What does that mean? It reminds you of spectroscopic analysis, doesn't it? When you want to, the Lord doesn't look at you with his baby blue eyes and 20-20 vision. He puts the fire on you. And what you are then will come out in the fire. We people, the way we're made, most of the words we say are deceiving. We are trying to persuade people of our righteousness. It's one mammoth snow job. Most of what you read in the newspaper, here on the television, here on the radio is one mammoth snow job. It is people spinning and putting a spin on things so that you will view the world as they want you to view it. One of the things you learn when you become an experienced Christian is to have no time, no stuff for spin. Let your words be few and simple and to the point. Jesus' words were few and simple and to the point. There was no spin to it. This is the truth. I am the truth. This is the way it is. There's no spin here. His eyes, he doesn't see with 20-20 vision. When he wants to see you, he puts you in the heat. It's like if you're trying to find out the elements in a substance. You heat it until it incandesces and elements give off, each element gives off a peculiar and unique light when it's looked at in this way. You can say, oh, yeah, there's cobalt in here and there's lead in here. The heat does that. You may think that you're the finest pillar in the church, but when you get into enough trouble, what you are will come before you. Isn't that true? That's why his eyes are a flame of fire because he sees by means of fire. It isn't up there. Did you ever picture Jesus with eyes of fire? What color eyes do you think Jesus has? It could be. But see, this is symbolic. What he's telling you is when I look at this church in Thyatira, there's judgment that goes on here. His feet are like burnished bronze. Bronze, these things coming out from the horse of war here represent bronze. Bronze signifies that which can stand the fire. During World War II in England, they were having a lot of trouble because of the bombing by the Germans. Their houses were burning down. They found out they took a door to a house and would laminate it with bronze. It won't burn at all. It simply will not burn. Wood laminated with bronze will not burn at all. So, bronze in the Bible stands for that which can stand judgment, stand divine judgment. And Jesus' feet are like that. Wherever he walks, judgment follows. Judgment follows. I know your deeds, what does that tell us? That's the only phrase that's common to each of the seven churches. What does that tell us? I know your deeds. Yes, it tells us that the teaching of today is off balance. It's off balance. If these two chapters were to be written by a theologian of today, it would probably be altogether different. He would say, I know that you don't do everything perfect, but you're saved by grace. Remember that? Unconditional grace. And it really would be nice if you would show your love for me by trying to do good, but in the long haul, never forget that you are saved by unconditional grace. That's what would be preached today. And it's off balance. The Lord doesn't look at your belief. He looks at your deeds. We could wish it were different. And you know we play games with ourselves. How many drunks do you know that will say to you, I'm not a drunk? And if you call them a drunk, they get mad. They want to fight. I may have a beer once in a while, but I am not a drunk. Now, everybody knows they're a drunk. They drink way too much. They have 12-pack after work, and they come home, but I am not a drunk. Those are games we play with ourselves. I'm not a liar, and don't you call me a liar. Yes, but you have just told a lie. That has nothing to do with it. I am not a liar. We play these games with ourselves. know, steal something from the store. Somebody says you're a crook, or from work, and the boss isn't looking, and you go home with a ream of paper. I am not a thief. Yes, but you just stole something. That has nothing to do with it. I am not a thief. Now, these are the games we play with ourselves, and God does not play with those games. He doesn't judge you by your opinion of yourself. You may be the most abominable father towards your children, so that nothing they can do will ever please you. You molest your daughter, you're abusive towards your wife, and so on. So what kind of a person are you? I'm really a good person at heart. That's the way people are. I saw on television one time a guy who was in death row in Texas, and he said, how did I ever get here? As far as he was concerned, he hadn't done anything wrong. Now, you want to know, this is a human characteristic that we are unwilling to assess ourselves in terms of the way we behave, but rather what we feel are our intentions in our heart. Well, yes, I stole something, but I didn't mean to. I had a lady tell me that one time. She was supposed to be confessing her sins, and she had been a fornicator, and she says, I went to bed with this guy, but I didn't mean to. I could have answered that one good, but I got out of there. That was no place for me to be hanging around. I really didn't mean to. You know, that's what people do. Do you do that? I want to tell you something about God. He's not interested in your opinion of yourself, how wonderful you think you are, or how bad you think you are, either one. Sometimes people have the opposite problem. They think they're worthless, and other people say, well, that's really a very fine person. So that's a very genuine problem with people, is their opinion of themselves. Judge yourself by your actions. What do you do? Do you tell the truth? Are you sober? Are you gentle with your family? This is what counts, not what you think you are. Are you really a worthwhile person? Then don't run yourself down. Why do that? It doesn't please God. I know your deeds. God judges deeds. This all is addressed to Christians, to the church people. I know your deeds. That's what I'm concerned about. Not if you believe in the virgin birth, what you're doing, what you're thinking. A Christian thinks like a Christian, talks like a Christian, and acts like a Christian. That's what a Christian is. Your love and your faith, what you do, what you are, how you behave, your service, your perseverance. I know these things. I'm well aware of your actions. Any questions about that? Come down pretty heavy on 80% of the evangelical belief right there. It's wrong. Teaching today is out of balance. It's not scriptural. And that your deeds of late are greater than at first, as you're improving. He doesn't have much good to say to the churches, but here's one thing that he says is positive. Notice the accent on works, verse 20. But I have this against you, against his church. Now, what does that tell us? The common teaching is that God sees us through Jesus. Did you know that? How many knew that? God sees us through Jesus. We accepted the Lord, no problem with how you live. God sees you through Jesus. If that were true, then how could he have anything against us? If we believe in Jesus Christ, we're saved, we're born again, and we live by imputed righteousness, then how is it possible for the Lord to have anything against us? Yes, Paula? I was saying about just talking with her, and she said, oh, she said, my God is so forgiving, and he's not so hard on me, as long as I tried, and I didn't even bother to tell her, but I thought, whatever happened to the fear of God? The fear of God has gone because of bad teaching. Now probably you've seen the bumper sticker that says, I'm not perfect, just forgiven. Yeah, Christians are not perfect, just forgiven. Now, this is a very widespread belief. It's not scriptural, you know, unless you want to run this chapter on the Bible, but it has had a very bad effect on the churches in America, and that bad effect is shown in the things that are done in our government. The things they do, but you see, the only moral light there is in America, the only moral light is the Christian church. Now, what Satan has done is he has twisted the gospel until it's out of balance, and the Christians are not showing forth righteous behavior. So, the lampstand is gone, so the government has no moral light. So the churches that are looking at the government and they're saying, well, you're a Christian, you know, you're not taking the right stand on abortion, you're not taking the right stand on homosexuality, et cetera, and so on, it's the government, it's the government, but the government is no source of morality. The government isn't the light of the world, it's the church that's the light of the world. But the light is good works, that men may see your good works and glorify your Father. Now, if Satan could find some way to stop the good works, then the light is gone. And that's what's happened in America. Would anyone like to respond to that at all? You're all listening to what I'm saying. If I was to preach a thing like that in the average evangelical church, they wouldn't even hear me. They wouldn't even hear me. I'd be out. Because they would say, you're going against the Protestant Reformation, you're trying to add to the grace of Christ, you're a legalist, you're a Pharisee. What people say and have said is that your message is too hard. And my answer is this, is it scriptural? If it's scriptural, then there's no statement about it's too hard. I mean, the Scripture is the Scripture. So you can't say, oh well, you're too hard, I'll go where it's easy, because what you're saying is, I'll go where they don't tell me the Scripture. Because the Scripture's hard. And it's tougher in some respects. I don't belabor the difficult parts of the New Testament, the things that it says. I don't belabor. I come up with them once in a while, in the outer darkness, if you don't spend your talent right, if you let your oil run out, the Lord doesn't let you go with them. But I don't harp on it. I don't harp on that. I do harp on righteousness and holiness because the Lord wants that. But I'm here to tell you that the statements in the New Testament are rough. For example, John 15 says that if any man, every branch in me, abide in me and I in you. He said every branch in me that bears fruit, God does what? He prunes it. And every branch in me that does not bear fruit, what? He cuts it off. Okay. Now, what does it mean to be cut off from the vine? What is the vine? Jesus. Well, what does it mean to be cut off of the vine? Well, separated from Christ. That passage alone. That passage alone. Alright, then the final question is, what is fruit? Well, the fruit of the Spirit is what? Love, joy, peace, the image of Christ's personality. What it's saying is, okay, you abide in me and I in you, so there's supposed to be a new creation. Now, if you go along and there's no new creation, there's no new love, there's no joy, there's no peace, there's nothing coming forth, then what does he say? Well, he'll block you off. Now, the Lord doesn't, you know, the first time you do wrong, cut you out of Christ, that isn't the way it works, but he's telling you something, a principle here, that God expects a transformed personality. And when he doesn't get a transformed personality, there's a problem here and it's a serious one. Now, this is, I have to use this parable because I had someone bring up to me Sunday, they said, yes, but God is a father and he loves his children even if they disobey, because he's a father. Okay, you know, it makes sense, but you want to remember, this is an allegory in which you're comparing, you're not saying that the Bible says that. See, the Bible doesn't say, God is your father, therefore if you sin he forgives you. The Bible doesn't say that. You're drawing an analogy. You're drawing an analogy. And people teach truth by analogy. Well, don't forget, the thing that is stronger than an analogy is the scripture itself. And the scripture itself does not say that because you're children of God, no matter what you do, he loves you and you can't be lost. See, the analogies may say that. And it isn't even true in the real world. If you have a son, he can behave in such a way that you finally cut him out of the family. Maybe you don't think that's possible, but it's possible. A boy can be so bad, doing nothing but lying and stealing from his own home and hurting people and going on and you correct him and there's no correcting and he finally says to his father, I hate you, I don't want anymore to do it. He can get himself a place and get kicked out of the house. But that's neither here nor there. The point is you can't teach the gospel. You can use analogies to help, but you can't use them as primary proof. Primary proof comes from the scripture and the scripture says, every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away and they're gathered in bundles and burned and that's not a type of salvation. See, that's the scripture. It's the Lord speaking in an analogy, but it's the Lord saying, what will happen? And so, an awful lot of teaching is done by analogies. For example, if you're born again, you become a son of God, well, and this is what people are arguing about once saved, always saved, and then they say, well, how could you ever be unborn? See, they take the analogy and say, therefore, you're eternally secure if you've ever been born again. But you see, then the scripture comes in, the parable of the sower, and he says that of the four kinds of seed, only one brought any kind of fruit at all, and two of them were choked out or had shallow roots, and they brought no fruit, and they perished. See, that's what the scripture said. So we have in our country a strong influence of humanism, and they've got the Bible changed to where God will not do evil and all the Christians are okay, and Satan's saying, thou shalt not surely die, and in our country, we're facing horrendous times in God's judgment because of the abortion and other things, and God's people are not prepared to stand because they've been taught that, you know, everything's going to be rosy, and it's going to be fine, and God loves me, and no matter what I do, it's okay, I'm saved by grace, and the Bible does not teach it. It does not teach it. Are you going to take that line down? Yes, Paula? And if you think that it's all different ways, when it said, as a beast, and one has to go, and it's choked by the pleasures of this world, and another one didn't let it come for a while, and they take it in, and then later, there's problems, and the world comes in, and then they fall, and there's so many different ways to go, so easily, that the seed's going to die, and there's only the one way that the seed can live, and that's if it's rooted in Christ. If it's rooted in an honest and good heart, straight is the gate, and narrow is the doorway that leads to life, and through there be the final. And so, accepting Christ is not the whole trip down there to life, it's the authority to enter in the race for life. Life is a race, you have to run the race of faith, fight the good fight of faith. Okay, now, he says, your deeds are like, okay, but I have this against you, so here the Lord is challenging the church in terms of their works, in terms of their works. You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. Now, the Jezebel spirit is a spirit of demon worship. Jezebel was a great worshipper of Baal, and she was a daughter of the priest king of Tyre, I believe, a worshipper of Baal. She was not a worshipper of the Hebrew God, Yahweh. She worshipped Baal, married King Ahab of Israel, but what she stands for in the church is the partying spirit. Now, churches like ours start small, and they're oriented toward the word of God and toward Jesus Christ, and the people that come are usually very sincere people who come because of the word. But as the church gets larger, it becomes a social entity, and a social entity is attractive to people, particularly in an anonymous society like California. The church has a lot to offer in an anonymous society. Somebody knows you, somebody cares, the kids get together, and it's delicious. I mean, there's a good feeling that comes from being part of a community where people really care, and when the church gets enough people, 150 people or larger, it becomes a powerful social entity. And then, that's when Jezebel gets busy, and the people begin to have fun among themselves. Now, it's alright to have fun, and it's alright to have pleasure, and it's alright to have good social times, but it is very easy to get off balance with it. And so the minister, if he's worth his salt, and the elders, have to keep reminding the people that we're not here to have a good time socially. This is not a club where you come and every, not in a church or a Sunday school, and people sit around at tables and drink coffee and eat donuts. Well, you can attract people like that. But, you know, I'm not going to rage and snort around because people drink coffee and eat donuts. I mean, what if they're hungry? You know, they're hungry. Let them have their coffee and donuts. But, you begin to get where the importance and the thrust of the Word of God is marginal. People are sitting there all relaxed, fine, that's lovely, but, boy, it can sure, pretty soon, the partying spirit gets going. People are having a blast on Saturday night, the good time. They come in and Jezebel will always go for the juggler of the prophet. You want to know that. She's always trying to kill Elijah. And that spirit in the church, if it goes unchecked, will eventually get rid of a pastor who doesn't play the game. Because they're not there to hear about Jesus Christ as something against them. They're here to be told how wonderful they are, and to keep coming, and bring your neighbors, and isn't that wonderful, and the youth group is going great, and they're doing drugs, and nobody knows it. Believe me, it's all from experience. They have a Christian school, and in the locker room, everybody's using four letter words, in the Christian school, this is the way it goes, when the social get together is so rewarding, that it attracts people, and the young people are attracted by the family urge, because there's a lot of young people, and you lose the skill, you lose it, you forget who you are, and what you're doing. So you have to have a pastor and elders who are aware of this spirit, because it always ends up in adultery. The first thing you know, you've got a lot of problem in your church with adultery. The party spirit, always goes in. It's a Jezebel adulterous spirit, and she'll teach the people to commit fornication, and tell them it's alright. They'll be fornicating during the week, and come in and they prophesy and have words on Sunday. It's wonderful. The games we play. Am I disturbing your pure mind, Brian, with all this? Good. You tolerate the woman, they tolerate on her. And at church, we want to be kind, we want to be nice to people, but when things are wrong, somebody's got to say so. You can't be tolerating people, but I'll hurt her feelings if I say anything. You can't pussyfoot around in the church of God. When somebody's wrong, somebody in a kind and loving way has got to tell them, sister, this is wrong what you're doing. Well, she's offended and all her friends are offended. Well, they all leave the church. Well, they weren't doing any good while they were here, so what's the loss in the offering? That's about where it shows up. And if you trust God for the money, then that doesn't faze you too much. Nobody likes to see people go. Nobody likes to see that. But you cannot cling to people if their hearts are not right. They've got to be kept on the right way, and if not, then they have no business in the church. The church is not a social club to be kind and nice to everybody so they don't get their feelings hurt. Jesus hurt the feelings of a lot of people. Do you know that? He hurt the feelings of a lot of people, but never in an unloving way, and never in a coarse or insensitive way. He just told the truth. Oh, what are you saying about us, Master? You? Well, you are dogs in the manger. You don't go in yourself, and those that would go in you get in the way. Well, that's pretty hard to live with. Now, as he said that at lunchtime, so saying you're insulting us, too. Well, woe unto you! You're like graves with flowers on them, but underneath is all dead men's bones. Woo, what a preacher! And Pastor James, oh, what a lovely Sunday morning service. You adulterers and adulteresses, how can you escape the wrath of God? All right. And you lead my, she teaches, and she leads all the believers astray. How many see that? Well, you're not seeing it then, that's 18-point type. Who's she leading astray? Barn servants. Barn servants. Now, what's a barn servant? A barn servant is a servant of Jesus Christ. A true Christian is a barn slave of Jesus Christ. No bones about it. You've got to be in slavery to Jesus Christ to be a true Christian. And it's these, the barn slaves, that she's leading astray. Think of it, that's how invidious, it's how deceiving and deadly and effective the partying spirit is, because people can't perceive it. The minister may feel it coming on and see it, but all the people can see is they're Christians and they love one another, and Christian fellowship is a very delicious thing, and it can rapidly turn into a thing that is just delicious for its own sake, but then it just becomes a social gathering, and people can't see anything wrong with that, and doesn't the pastor want us to have fun and all that stuff. If it were drinking or drugs or something, people could see it readily, but they can't see that Jezebel thing coming in, and Jezebel is a prophet, don't forget that, Marshall, prophesy, and you've got to, one thing that every church needs is discernment, and it's not that common, spiritual discernment, to begin to tell, look how people went into the laughing revival, went into prosperity, what? Lacking discernment. Don't touch my anointed, and all this stuff goes on, and ministers do all kinds of crazy things, don't even make any sense sometimes, but people are afraid, and they don't judge it, and they don't stop and say, is this right, is this God, don't pray about it, or anything, and so they get what they deserve, is let her off the track, because God doesn't say, you had a Bible, you can pray, why didn't you investigate the thing? Oh, I didn't know, I'm not a preacher, well, that won't cut any ice, alright, so that they commit acts of immorality immediately, you get that party spirit going, you're going to get immorality, there's such a loving, soft spirit in a Christian church, it's so loving, and it's so soft, that people fall into sin, it's a real trap, as far as child abuse, and other things like that, goes on in the Christian realms, because the Christian love, I know of a case we were told by a social worker, in Rochester, was telling us about how, and this was in an agency, it was adoption agency, and she said, a lot of the girls that come in here, are Pentecostal, and she wasn't even a Christian, but she knew my wife and I were, and she was a very skillful social worker, and she was just talking to us, you know, she made herself one with us, and she was explaining to us, that a lot of the girls that come in here are Christians, because the boys wait for them after church, and they know that when they come out of church, they're going to be very loving, because they feel that love, that presence of God, down they go. What do you think of that? That was told us by a social worker in Rochester, New York, wasn't even a Christian, he said, this is how we get customers, Pentecostal girls don't want to abort their children, so we take them in, and bring them to term, and let them go and adopt the child out. That's what Christian fellowship can produce, is a girl that's disoriented enough emotionally that she becomes a prey. So you see it has to be watched. Boy, I'm telling you, Christian love, your mind can get swayed on it, can you do and say things that you would never do, that an unsafe person wouldn't do, because you're so under this influence of Christian love and Christian joy. God's people are not sharp on those things, they're like sheep, and Satan tricks them with this, and flirtations go on, other things go on in churches, and that ought not to go, and pretty soon somebody goes across the line, and then everybody's horrified, but it was just one more step that began long ago, sin when it has conceit brings forth death, or something like that, or lust when it has conceit brings forth sin. These sins of immorality don't happen right away, they start in the mind, they work out into flirtations, and the first thing you know when it happens in the church, yes, Angelo? Religious and spiritual situation, rather than just fleshly immorality, because a lot of times Scripture talks about immorality and adultery away from the Lord, and it seems as though the context is possibly religious in that situation, where the sacrifice were led away, and things sacrificed to idols. Yes, when it says commit acts of immorality, Paul had a lot to say about adultery and fornication, you could spiritualize it, but I think it probably has a, when you go back and look at the life of Jezebel, it may have a physical component there, the thing that was to idols, what did we mention before, the five great idols of America, what are they? Remember them? Five great idols, you'll see them on television, every single channel, sit down and watch the American idols, just like I do. Worshipping as God, Americans sit down and worship the television, and there's five demon gods on there, what are they? Lust. Can you imagine a television watching very long without something inciting to lust? In the commercials, if not the stories, and Stan was telling us about the soap operas, you know, they go on, the things are getting worse and worse and worse, and they're worse in Europe than they are here. Europe, oh boy, we stayed overnight in Holland, oh man, you can't watch the commercials over there, I mean, it all hangs out, believe me, just no bounds in Holland. Alright, now, lust is a demon god in America, it's a demon god, when you partake of that thing with your eyes, you're eating something sacrificed to idols, and what else? Violence is an American god, and it even bothers Christian people, you know, the Christian men want their sons to learn karate and all this stuff, he's in the army, he'll take care of himself, what if he's in the army, and all this stuff and everything, and all that not withstanding, violence is not something that God approves of, and I talk Sunday night, can't you just imagine the Lord Jesus Christ says, well, if someone hits you on the left side of your face, turn to the right side, and if he hits you there, then you kick him in the solar plexus, can't you just imagine Jesus, I turn my cheek, and he hits me, and I give it to him in the solar plexus, he says, you sinner, enter the kingdom of God, I'll blow you away. Now, why did Jesus not resort to violence? Why didn't he? I mean, he was surrounded by people trying to kill him throughout most of his ministry, but he wasn't packing a police 38, or even a dirk, nothing. Why didn't he defend himself with violence? And Yeshua was not weak at all, it was all normal, he didn't have to resort to violence. Well, not because he was surrounded with angels of so much power that one of them could have wiped out the city of Jerusalem, he just didn't need it. I mean, all that power was there. Sometimes, when they tried to catch ahold of him, he just disappeared and walked through their midst, they couldn't even see him. Why do you say, yeah, that was him, but how about me? Well, since it works that I do, so you do also. If we refused to get into the violent scene, or refused to do that, and we could always pray, you know, one time he said, take a sword, and they said, we've got a half thousand, he said, that's enough. But then Peter cuts off the guy's ear, you know, I mean, you know what that symbolizes? Peter, here they come, here's the guards and everything, and old Peter gets all excited, whips out his sword, he's got a thing on the whole squad, and he, sure, what's he do? He cuts off a guy's ear. What does that symbolize? He's not listening to the Lord anymore. He used to to destroy people's ability to hear. No, violence is not the answer, and if you were in a dangerous situation, you should pray, say, Lord, should I carry a gun, should I do this? I asked the Lord about that, and he said, you know, because Escondido is getting so bad, and robbery and things, and I thought, Lord, say no, don't do it. I know how to use guns. He said, don't do it. So you have to find out for yourself, but don't forget, there is angelic help there, and it's help of such power, I mean, you're talking about power that moves the stars around. So, violence is highly esteemed in America, we are a violent society, we're known by the people in Asia as being a violent society, America is a violent, it's a demon god, it's a demon god, and all these things, and the Asian martial arts, and all these people sitting there staring at you, I'm going to tell you something, you sit and stare at that in the movies and the television, that spirit will enter you, it will enter you, that spirit of violence will enter you. Parents teach that to their little boys, you know, to make them, I want my boy to be a he-man, you know what they do, they go to school and they use it on their classmates, violence begets violence, and it's not the way of Jesus, he was not a violent man, and as he is so are we in this world, so it is a god that is worshipped in America, what's the third demon god? Money, the love of money, we Americans have supposed that all people at all times have always worshipped money, you know the American Indians did not worship money, did you know that? If you had an Indian and he had his whole tent full of wampum, they would have figured he was crazy and they would have let him keep it because the Indians were very good with drunks and crazy people, but they would figure what's this guy doing, he's collecting wampum for what? Well that's Indian money, I guess you didn't know that, but that's what Indians used for money, it was called wampum, sometimes it was made out of shells and other things like that, the Indians didn't go around seeing how much wampum they could stack up in their tent, you know, every culture has not worshiped money, our culture worships money, we worship money, face it, I can't picture a culture without money, well if you're saved, you're going to be in the Lord, you'll be in a culture without money, it's a God in this country, in fact, it is a substitute for God, it is the only God that Jesus mentioned, of all the Gods of the Greeks and Romans, and they had a handful of them, and they throw in the Egyptians and man, you got enough Gods for every day in a week, two Gods from Sunday, he only mentioned one God, what was it? Man, no man, that's a God of the Syrian, God of riches, no man can serve God and man, and the reason is because we look to God for security or we look to money for security, it's a choice that you make, I'm going to trust in God or I'm going to trust in money, and you can't do both, and that's why it's hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. We talked about lust, violence, money, what else? Entertainment, entertainment, we have, with the television, people are, you know, entertain hours a day, hours a day, it's having a bad effect on our culture, it's taking the iron out of our people, and the morality and everything, it's a stupid, silly culture that is drowning in entertainment, yes? I believe sort of like you're not really dreaming but you're waking up, and I realized that I was watching too much TV, and the Holy Spirit said, instead of watching TV, why don't you offer it up as a sacrifice and read the Bible instead, for God's, you know what I mean is, instead of doing that, you're offering it up as a sacrifice to God. They had a test that they did, I think it was in Connecticut, and they went into a town and they were going to give people so much money, it was an experiment, if they wouldn't watch television for a month, that actually happened, it was in the paper, and people began to act out in all kinds of mannerisms, and I think it was $300 or something they were going to get if they would go, it was a small town, if they would just go for a month without watching TV, and they couldn't do it, many of the people could not do it, they had all kinds of nervous system things that were working out in their personality, they just couldn't live without it, now you know that, that's bad, I mean, I go for days, weeks, sometimes months without even seeing the thing, you don't need it, there's nothing you need in that, you know, if you want to watch the news or something, I'm not going to stand up there and say don't watch the news, that's not my message, isn't to watch TV, but I'm just telling you, it's not something that you need to live with, my day is busy and full, and I enjoy my own thoughts, and I don't need the radio, and I don't need the television, I just enjoy the presence of the Lord. Okay, what's the last one? I don't know, maybe food is a God in America, maybe it is, I don't know, okay, well, I, well, yeah, okay, but this one here we haven't mentioned is called sorcery, and it's very common in our country, and we have to watch it, in Pentecost sometimes, it gets pretty close to superstition and witchcraft, and certainly when the charismatic move got into imaging, and speaking creative words and things, that comes out of the soul, and it's just too close to sorcery to fool with, so if you've ever been into that, or if you ever came out of, my background on my mother's side was phrenology, spiritism, unity, I don't know what all, and I've had to get that out of my system, tea leaves, Ouija boards, any device that you use to manipulate the spirit realm, other than through Jesus, is sorcery, and it's one of the hardest things in the world to get rid of. Some of the kids have gotten into drugs, and rock, begin to tap into that demon world, into the worship of Satan. Once you get into Satan worship, it is very, very difficult, and when you go to confess it as sin, and you try to get rid of it, you'll feel it right here trying to choke you. It'll come out, and you'll feel intense pride. When you try to get delivered from, if you've been into spiritualism, cards, tarot cards, or anything, any kind of thing that you were in, and you go to confess that and get rid of that demonic realm for help, it arouses this jealousy, and the Lord Jesus' attitude is then if you want to serve Satan, then serve Satan. That's your choice. There's a jealousy that works there, and after you've done that for a while, and you try to come back, it can be very difficult, and it may affect your mind for a long time, so it's a good idea never, never, never, never deal with the occult world. It's very real, there are dark angels, there is Satan, there's a lot of people in Europe and some in our country that believe that Satan and God are two opposite sides of the same person, and that the best side is Satan, that is taught, it's like a coin with two faces, and one is Jehovah, and the other one is Satan, and Jehovah's the mean one that doesn't want anybody to have fun, and Satan is the good one that wants people to enjoy themselves and all, that's taught in Europe, it's kind of a new age teaching, and I'm not talking about five or six people huddled away in a cave, I'm talking about thousands of people that believe that, that's a coming thing, that the God of the Hebrews is the bad God, Satan is the good God, Lucifer the light bearer, he wants you to have everything good, God wants you to be miserable all the time, that old God of the Hebrews, you can't sin, you can't have any fun, you can't do anything, Lucifer Satan is the good one, don't ever get near anything like that, because God's jealousy will be aroused, you'll be in the clutches of the devil and you're going to have a hard time getting out, don't ever touch sorcery, witchcraft, any kind, crystal balls, anything, any question about that? Lord we thank you for your goodness, for your love toward us Lord, and I pray Lord if any of us have dabbled in the occult, that in your mercy Lord you will forgive us, we did it out of ignorance, and I pray Lord that you will lift it out of our personalities so that we will worship Jesus and Jesus alone, I pray Lord that you will keep us far from fornication, adultery, immorality, the fraud of it, any kind of flirtation, anything like that that goes on when we're in the Christian fellowship, I pray that you'll get it out of our personality, I pray Lord that we will be people Lord that are not only called but that you have, we have decided that you're the only show in town Lord, you're the only one worth following, we're here for the duration, grant that to all of us Lord I pray, grant that we will have a safe trip home, and a good night's sleep in Jesus name, and everyone said Amen. That's it.