Now we come to the final weapon in this series, "The HOUR before the hour". In the last lessons we learned, there is an hour coming, a time of great trouble that the world has never seen before in its history. Diseases running wild with no cure. Famine in the earth with millions starving for food. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and other natural disasters on an unprecidented scale. We learned that this HOUR must come upon every human on this people planet, saved and unsaved. We also found out that in this time, which by now you know is not a literal "60 minute" period, but an undetermined amount of time of trial, persecution never before witnessed, that God will seem as though he is silent and far away.
But we also learned some good news. In the last lessons, we learned that our Lord, Jesus Christ, has left us weapons to stand in this evil day. We learned of the weapons of:
- PRAISE AND WORSHIP- Which brings down the presence of God
- PRAYER - Which builds the personal relationship with God that will must have
Look at our reference above. God was speaking to the prophet Hosea about the backslidden, rebellious condition the children of Isreal were in. No longer would they listen to the instruction of the word of God already given to them in the books of Moses and existing writings by other prophets. No longer would they listen to the words of prophets and priests that stood up right then with a word from God. They came to the place where "every one did that which was right in their OWN eyes". So God was giving Hosea this eternal truth, that his people were being destroyed by a lack of knowledge. This is not meaning there were not any smart people in Isreal, or any schools or books of knowledge. God was saying that the people were perishing in the sin of their disobedience and rebellion because they refused the knowledge of God.
They did not any longer wish to know what God thought about right or wrong. No longer cared what God said to do and not to do, but came to the place where they wanted only to do what they thought was ok and right. Beloved, this evil has never left us. Turn on your TV, read a newspaper or listen to the commentaries of our political and even church leaders today and you will find a hatred for this book called the Bible like has never been. Political leaders like President Obama, celebrites like Oprah Winfrey, and many others in power believe there is not only ONE truth. They all push an agenda in our society and schools that say there are many ways to God, truth is relative ( meaning depending on how you want to look at it). And they say that the Bible is a fallable book, containing no truth and written only by men who made mistakes.
I want to boldy stand and proclaim this TRUTH right now!
- THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY GOD AUTHORED, GOD INSPIRED, AND HOLY GHOST BREATHED BOOK ON THIS PLANET...PERIOD
- THE MEN WHO WROTE IN ITS PAGES WERE MOVED BY THE HOLY GHOST, TOLD WHAT TO WRITE BY THE HOLY GHOST. NO HUMAN AUTHORED OR WROTE THIS BOOK
- IT CONTAINS THE ONE, THE ONLY TRUTH IN THE UNIVERSE. ANY OTHER BOOK OR SOURCE IS A LIE.
Your Bible contains the only way to stand against Satan. Contained in this book is the truths that reveal how Satan works, the power we have to not only stand against him, but to cast him out in Jesus name. Without your bible, how would you know Jesus gave us power to cast out demons and devils in his name. Without your bible how would you know Jesus defeated Satan forever on the cross and destroyed his power to chain souls in their sin. Without your bible how would you know the traps he uses to destroy you, to stay away from hatred, anger, fornication, adultery, murder, backbiting, and know that Jesus has gave us power not to fulfill these lusts in our lives. My friend, you would be blind and easy pickings for the Devil to destroy without knowing these promises and wind up on a road to eternal Hell you never knew you were walking on.
That is point one, my final point is this. Without The WORD OF GOD, we would not know the promises of God to us from him. We would not know how much he loves us with an everlasting love, that he is and always will be faithful to us. That he is not an "Indian Giver", someone who promises something and never makes good or delivers. But we see time and time again, in the WORD, how God promised and whatever it took to make it come to pass, he did it. We see how he never failed Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, and all who put their trust in his promises. We see how he sent the greatest promise of his love and power, Jesus, to this earth to redeem us from Satan and a road to Hell. We see how God's love is so great that he sent his only Begotten (birthed by God himself) son into this world, than gave him to be tortured and killed, just for us! It reminds me of the words of the great song; "Because he loved me my saviour died......he suffered it all, because he loved me". My friend, you would have no knowledge of this, none. You would be left to your own devices and intellect to figure God out without your Bible. And know this, your devices, all your intellectual prowess, would never figure out the truths that a holy God knows. You would fall to every trap Satan would bring, you would not believe the faithfulness and power of God, and you would die in your sins.
I close with this. When all else fails, when the world crumbles, and when no one has any answers, only those who have got alone with God, know his voice now, know his word intimately, now, and know his promises by heart will be able to stand in this coming hour. Every preacher, pastor, world leader, every person will shake and quake and fall over in fear because they have no understanding, no knowledge of God and his word. Pick your Bible off of the table, pull it out of the nice little bookstore cover you have it in and begin reading and memorizing those precious promises. they will never fail you. Learn what God is, what he wants and demands, before it is to late. My friend, don't stand on judgement day and perish in Hell because you had no knowledge of God. Read his word, and live.
