No. 60 - FOR MY NAME’S SAKE By: John J. Blanchard Saturday, February 19, 2005 The title for today’s sermon is “For My Name’s Sake”. We will start reading the commandment in Exodus 20:7 regarding God’s name. Exodus 20, verse 7: “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.’” That commandment seems very straight forward and very plain to most of us who have understood that God does not want us to take His name in a fit of anger or rage or to use it uselessly. But if that is all we think that commandment means, it is a gross over simplification, for God’s name is extremely precious to Him. In the scriptures He calls Himself by a variety of names that are adjectives and points to the kind of God He is and the character He possesses. A few would be: Adonai, which means Lord; Adonai Shalom, the Lord of Peace; Yahweh Raphah, or healing God; and El Shaddai meaning God Almighty, all-powerful one. These are just a few of the adjectives that God uses to portray His character in scriptures. It is so important to Him that He never wants us to take His name in vain. He never wants us to use it in a blasphemous or degrading way is what God is getting at here. That is what we want to look at today, because there is another being out there (God’s arch enemy, Satan) who has a name that reflects his character. That is the arch enemy of God, the accuser, the slanderer and the destroyer. These are some of the adjectives that God uses in the scripture to name Satan the name he deserves. The qualifications that he has to deserve that name are his character traits. His character is 180 degrees opposite of God, so we must never confuse the two types of beings and their qualities. GOD IS A FAMILY We know that God is a family composed of God the Father and Jesus Christ, but we also understand from the scriptures that God wants to enlarge His family. That means that family is going to take on His name, the name of God. Let’s look at a few scriptures along these lines. If you would, turn to Romans chapter 8. Read Romans 8:12-14. To be a son of God, He must be our Father. That is, indeed, what we are told as we keep reading here. Read Romans 8:15-17. There is no doubt that the scriptures tells us God is a family and He wants children whom He calls the sons of God. We have studied this in depth in the past. It is the Church of God, the Church of the firstfruits and the brethren of Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, if you would drop down in Romans 8 to verse 28 you will see that. Read Romans 8:28-29. CHURCH IS NAMED AFTER GOD Jesus Christ is the first resurrected, the first born into a spiritual existence after being a man. He is the first of the firstfruits, but He wants many brethren. The Father wants many brethren along with Him to form an enlarged family of God. This is part of God’s awesome plan for mankind. The point I am trying to make today is that as in human existence the children take on the name of the father, here again the children of God take on His name. That is why they are called His children. It is very important to realize the Church is named after Him as brethren with Jesus Christ. BLASPHEMING BY OUR SINS God’s name should never be blasphemed because of our sins. We need to learn some lessons from the Old Testament, because blaspheming God’s name or harming His name goes far beyond just taking His name in a fit of anger. It goes far beyond that. I would like to look at the story of King David, because it illustrates this very clearly. If you would, please turn to II Samuel chapter 11. We will start reading the story of David after his incident with Bathsheba. Let’s read II Samuel 11:15-16. So he put Uriah, the Hittite, in front of some of the enemy’s fiercest fighters. Read II Samuel 11:17-27. Of course, it is a very dark spot in the scriptures. It is something that makes us even cringe today that a servant of God could do such a thing. But I want to show you how God viewed this, and we will continue in chapter 12:1. II Samuel 12, verse 1: “Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, and said to him: ‘There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.’” This is the prophet of God, Samuel, talking to King David. Continue reading verses 2-6. When Samuel was portraying this story to David, David could see that this was a great evil. Continue reading II Samuel 12:7-15. Nathan, the prophet, was speaking here to David about this sin that he had done (which is now recorded in the annals of the Bible). He said he put a black mark on God’s name. He said because you were anointed (you had the Holy Spirit and knew better) and because you did this, there is great occasion from God’s enemies to blaspheme God’s name. This would be physical enemies of God (human beings), but also, of course, Satan the devil and his cronies, the demons. They could now say, look, we managed to get King David to fall and sin, and they could laugh at God! You think the anointed and Your people with the Holy Spirit are so wonderful! Look how they fall and how they sin! So this was a mark against God’s name, even though it was a sin committed by a human being. The problem was that human being had the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it was a great letdown for God. We can see that our sin can give occasion for God’s name to be blasphemed. Do people who know us, who know the Church, see that God’s name is exemplified by the way we live? Do they see His name exemplified when they meet us, get to know us, when they deal with us, when they work with us, when they have us work for them? Or by our example is God’s name harmed? Is God’s name belittled because people would say you deal with so and so and you work with so and so or that person is your friend! What kind of Church is that? What kind of Church would tolerate that kind of person? Our conduct, and by extension our sins, can hurt the name of God. God calls this in the scriptures a form of blasphemy. To tell the world we have the Holy Spirit and we are part of God’s Church, and turn around and live in such a way that God’s name is belittled or harmed is a very dangerous place to be as a Christian. Our conduct must not harm God’s name. I would like to look at a couple of scriptures along those lines. If you would, please turn to Titus 2. We will read this whole chapter, but as we read through here particularly notice verse 5. Read Titus 2:1-10. That is not stealing or shoplifting or taking what does not belong to them. Continue reading verses 11-15. That is quite a list. From husbands to wives to children to workers to masters and to servants we are told the same thing. Our example should be so clearly a good example of God’s way of life that God’s name is not blasphemed. God is saying here through Paul that if we do not live a life like that, God’s name can be harmed. So this is a very sobering and important admonition to take hold of. We need to realize that our daily lives are being watched by many people. Of course, we are being watched by God as well. Let’s continue in chapter 3. Read Titus 3:1-11. There is a lot in those few verses. We are told to obey rulers and authorities. Speak well of them. In other words, in our country are we law abiding? Do we pay our taxes? Do we pay what the work force is supposed to receive? Do we give our employer a full day’s work for the pay he gives us? Everyone that has contact with us, can they see that we have been bought and redeemed by Christ’s blood? Can they see Jesus Christ when they see part of His body? If not, we are in danger of blaspheming or harming God’s name. God’s word is the truth. It must be taught. Turn, if you would, to I Timothy 1. God’s word is taught primarily by our example. Read I Timothy 1:1-4. Once again he is talking about arguing uselessly over scriptures. We should never cause division, to the very best of our ability, by arguing, harming or offending a brother in the faith. Continue reading in I Timothy 1:5-10. All of these behaviors, obviously, are contrary to sound doctrine. Continue reading I Timothy 1:11-13. Paul knew that at one point in his life before his calling, he was a blasphemer and a persecutor by his actions. He put people to death. He harmed people and accused people using Satan’s qualities and characteristics in his dealings with God’s brethren (Jesus Christ’s brothers and sisters). Read I Timothy 1:14-17. He says here that he at one time was a persecutor and a blasphemer because he had no tolerance for people who did not agree with him. He had no tolerance whatsoever. But he says now I know a better way, it is the way of Jesus Christ. It is a forgiving way. It is a merciful way. When people disagree with me now, he says, I do not get out the sword. I do not kill them. I forgive. I use God’s methods of dealing because our weapons are spiritual and our enemy is spiritual. That is Satan the devil. Our enemies are not human beings unless they knew the truth and turned against it. He mentions that as we continue here. ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH Read I Timothy 1:18-20. The true enemies of the Church are the people who had the truth, understood the truth and no longer preach the truth. They go even further and preach error! They become the enemies of the Church. They are much more dangerous enemies than people who try to kill the Church physically! Satan killed Jesus Christ, and it did not stop the truth. He killed most of the apostles, and it did not stop the truth. He has killed thousands of God’s faithful servants down through time. That did not stop the truth! But if you could get them to sin and preach false doctrine, that hurts the name of God! That is what hurts God personally because He does not want to see the brethren divided and fighting one another. He does not want to see them destroying the body of Christ and His name at the same time. That is what really hurts God. EXAMPLES OF THE TRUTH God’s word is truth, and it must be taught correctly and respectfully. Once a person takes on the job of preaching the truth and being part of the truth (in other words accepting a covenant with God) and having the Holy Spirit, one must be very careful to set a good example and to preach the truth. If one does not, one can be going in opposition to the Great God and His wonderful name. Turn now, if you would, to John chapter 17:17. “‘Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.’” Jesus Christ is speaking to the Father here. Read verses 18-19. We have been sanctified by the truth, brethren, as all of Jesus Christ’s followers since He died and was resurrected. From that point forward, we must be examples of that same truth and being very careful to always exemplify it in our lives. Turn, if you would, to II Timothy chapter 3. This is an often quoted scripture proving God’s word is the truth and God-breathed. II Timothy 3, verse 16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” These verses tell us that God’s word is God-breathed! It is that much a part of the truth. It is as if He uttered it into our ear when we read it, which is why often the words in the Bible are spoken, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” If we have heard that and we have understood the truth, it is then our responsibility to live it and to exemplify it in our lives. It is that important to God. It is a way of giving praise to God’s name, His characteristics and His qualities. THE CHURCH IN OUR TIME Back up now to verse 1 of II Timothy chapter 3. We are going to see just the opposite. We are going to see what God does not want. We will see what defames Him and harms His name. He speaks particularly of our time today. Read II Timothy 3:1-5. In the latter days there is a whole list of descriptions for God’s people. This is speaking of the Church. He calls them brutal, lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, blasphemers. In other words, all of these things when associated with God’s people harm God’s name. Continue in II Timothy 3, verse 6: “For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women…” (meaning Church people, and we are considered Jesus Christ’s bride) “…loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.” As in times past in the Old Testament, eventually the conduct of those who are going against God’s name and against God’s truth will become apparent. God says please don’t allow this to happen because you are harming My name. Continue reading verses 10-11. Paul here is telling Timothy you have followed the doctrine I have taught and you have watched my way of living God’s way. You saw how I suffered long and was persecuted and how I took it as part of the body of Christ, not lashing back at others or accusing and defaming others. I did not get into vain disputations, as was mentioned in other places that we have read. Being a part of God’s Church brings all of these responsibilities with it, but in the last days we are told here that many will not adhere to these responsibilities. They will actually be harming God’s name. These are the perilous days. If you would look up perilous in the Greek it comes from the Greek word chalepos which means reducing the strength, difficult, dangerous. It comes from the word chalao, to lower into a void. In other words, these mannerisms and characteristics that the Church would have in the last days reduce the strength of the Church and make it weak. It is actually like dropping the Church into a void and dropping the Church off the radar screen, making it indiscernible to the world. It makes it very difficult for the Church to get anything done of a spiritual nature. THE FIRST WAVE OF DECEIT Go to I Timothy chapter 4 where some more strong admonitions are given here regarding the last days. Read I Timothy 4:1-5. In the latter days some in the Church will turn to doctrines of demons which, of course, would be contrary to the truth of God. This happens in a variety of ways. I think today many, who have held on to the truth by keeping the Sabbath in their lives over this apostasy that has occurred in the last 18 or so years, have looked at other people. They have noticed that others have gone by following doctrines of demons. There are very plain things to see when we look for that. We can see people going back to Christmas and pagan holidays. We can see people going back to Sunday worship. We can see people believing in the doctrine of the trinity. All these are heretical things. Often times those who have stayed with the truth, kept the Sabbath, kept tithing and kept the obvious truths of God look at them and sneer at them. They do not realize that was just the first wave of deceit. That was just the very first wave of deceit. In the last days, people would also be brutal, lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters and blasphemers. It goes beyond just keeping Sunday and just putting up a Christmas tree. THE SECOND WAVE There was another wave of heresy that came into the Church after that initial wave, and that was also doctrines of demons. We will see that as we continue through the sermon. Christ tells us to avoid these things and be careful, for the destroyer is behind all of these doctrines of demons, for they are his. Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter 9 for Christ’s explanation to a couple of apostles who were with him on a trip. Luke 9:51-56. Christ had to rebuke two of the apostles (one even being the apostle of love), because of their harsh condemnation of people who did not know and understand the truth. God said I did not come here for that. Christ said I came here to save men’s lives and not to destroy them. Now we are beginning to see that He said these are doctrines of demons. He said you do not know what spirit you are of when you say that. You are certainly not of My spirit when you say that. You are of another spirit. That is what Christ was getting at. Turn now to Matthew chapter 15:1. Christ explains how true defilement occurs in a human being. Read Matthew 15:1-9. The Pharisees were teaching for doctrines highfalutin ideas of giving when they were turning on their own parents. Christ saw that. He said this is wrong. You are nullifying the commandment to love and honor your parents when you do such a thing. He was using that as an example of a broader statement He was making here that we will see by continuing in verse 10. Read Matthew 15:10-20. The broader statement that Jesus Christ was trying to make here is what comes out of our mouth and what flows out of our example is what defiles us. It is not what we eat per se and it is not what we do with dirty hands per se. It is what comes out of our heart that can defile us. He calls this a type of blasphemy. This is why we have to be very careful about what proceeds out of us, because it can be an example of Satan’s doctrines if we are not careful. These are the doctrines of demons. In Luke 9 we saw Jesus Christ rebuke His disciples for wanting to destroy a town who did not know who Jesus Christ was. Yes, what they did was not nice. They did not let Christ into their town. They were not hospitable. It was not nice, but they did not know any better. Having the hardness of heart to want to destroy them, Christ said comes from the devil. That is not from Me. If you act like that, you do not know what manner of spirit you are of. We are seeing two contrasting ways of life that are becoming very important here in the last days. It is very, very important, for we were told in the last days the people in the Church would actually become brutal and hard-hearted! SIGNS AND WONDERS We talked about some of the true signs and wonders in “Powers of Observation” and in Digest No. 8 “Signs and Wonders”. God’s signs and wonders are the opposite of what Satan tries to pass off as God’s signs and wonders. We need to briefly review today, because the signs and wonders that Satan tries to pass off as God’s doctrines are very brutal. They are very harsh. To portray a loving God as being behind them can be blasphemy! Spewing the doctrine of demons instead of God’s doctrines is a very dangerous trap to fall into. Let’s turn, if you would, to Matthew chapter 24 which we did talk about in the sermon “Powers of Observation”. Let’s review it briefly. First we will read Matthew 24:21-25. We were warned 2,000 years ago that in the last days these signs would occur. They are signs that you cannot see with physical eyesight, for the kingdom of God does not come by ocular evidence except the preaching of the gospel, as we explained clearly in the sermon “Powers of Observation”. But what are these false signs and wonders? Let’s go back to the beginning in Matthew 24:3. Read Matthew 24:3-8. All these are the beginnings of the birth pangs. So for the last 2,000 years since Christ uttered these words, we have had wars and rumors of wars, famine, pestilences and earthquakes. The earth has suffered tsunamis. Christ said do not be troubled by these. These are not the signs of My coming. These are not the signs. It is very dangerous to follow these signs and wonders. Signs and wonders as mentioned later on in verse 24 are false way markers and false omens to keep track of. There are those who keep saying this war or this event or this physical thing is a sign and a wonder, a marker of Christ’s return. It is a great deception that can be very harmful to God’s people, as we will see as we continue this sermon. Let’s drop down to Matthew 24:29 because Christ does mention here that, “‘Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear…’” which is like lightning flashing from east to west. KEY TO UNDERSTANDING Those stars, you will see as you study the scriptures, represent angels. Those would be the powers of the heavens. The powers that we have seen are the principalities and powers of the air. The powers of darkness will fall. The moon, which is picturing the Church (the body of Christ that reflects the sun) will not give its light in the last days. In other words, because men are brutal, lovers of themselves, lovers of money, divisive and hard hearted, they hide God’s love in the last days. The sun will be darkened because it cannot be reflected in the moon. Then it will withdraw itself as Jesus Christ stops using the Church for a time until it can get itself straightened out. These are the signs and the wonders that God says to watch for. These are the signs and the wonders that one cannot see by ocular evidence. That is why it is dangerous to look at wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilences and tsunamis. Some even go so far as to say stars will slam into the earth, not understanding the Book of Revelation. It would not take very many stars to slam into the earth to completely obliterate it and turn it to cosmic dust! One must look with spiritual powers of observation to understand what Jesus Christ is saying. This is very important because if we do not say what Christ wants, we can be preaching the doctrine of demons. That is the point that we are making here. Speaking those doctrines is blasphemy. It is harming God’s name. SATAN, THE SON OF PERDITION Now let us turn to II Thessalonians 2 and read verses 1-10. The lawless one works through some people who end up in the Church speaking false way markers to confuse and deceive people who do not have a love of the truth. It is Satan who is the ultimate son of perdition. He works through people, and he must work through people. He is the son of perdition sitting in God’s temple, just as Jesus Christ the Son of God who should be in that temple right now. As the sun has withdrawn its light and the moon has gone dark, Satan has had for a short time now the power in the Church to actually preach the doctrine of demons. He has actually turned the Church very hard-hearted and brutal towards the world and even toward themselves (the body of Christ). Let us continue reading in II Thessalonians 2:11-13. So the truth is the opposite of the strong delusion which is a lie. Continue with verse 14-17. We need to have the good word (the truth) of God be preached from our lips and our good works edify the name of God. That means preach the truth and give hope to the world. The gospel of the kingdom means good news of the kingdom of God. It gives hope to people. It should not discourage. It should not oppress. It should not frighten. That is what hard-hearted preaching does. Jesus Christ was compassionate to all of those who came to Him. We must disregard the fables of men, the fables of wars and rumors of wars and famines and earthquakes, and turn to the gospel of the kingdom (the good news). We must preach that gospel without failing and unceasingly to give hope to the world. These fables of wars and rumors of wars and all of these false signs (as well as the fables of the trinity, Christmas, Easter and those things) are the doctrines of demons. As we saw in I Timothy, they can sear our conscious and do tremendous damage. THE HARD-HEARTED CHURCH I would like to look at those words and turn back to I Timothy and carefully read those admonitions given. Let’s reread those and then look at all the key words very carefully. Read I Timothy 4:1-5. Many point to other religions and say it is they who are the hypocrites, it is they who forbid to marry and it is they who do not understand clean and unclean food. There again, that is so simplistic. We are talking about people in the latter days who depart from the truth, brethren. These other faiths never had the truth. We are talking about people who understood the knowledge of God and turned away. This is speaking of the Church, the same people who became hard-hearted and blasphemers and brutal in the last days. That is what we are talking about here. Let’s look at these key words here very carefully. You will see that the word “lies” here where it says “lies in hypocrisy” comes from the Greek word pseudologos. This means false words, mendacious (which means lying and deceitful), promulgating error. It comes from the word pseudes which means untrue and erroneous discourse, deceitful and wicked. The second part, the suffix, logos comes from the Greek meaning to relate in words of a set discourse. So let’s set that aside. False words that should have been true. They are from a set discourse and have turned false. The next word that is a key word is hypocrisy. It comes from the Greek hupokrisis which means a feigned part or faked, deceit. It comes from the word hupokrinomai to decide to speak under falsehood, figuratively to dissemble which means false knowledge. A dissembler gives false knowledge. Conscience comes from the Greek suneidesis, co-perception or moral consciousness. From the term suneido: to understand and become aware, conscious of and informed of. The word seared comes from kauteriazo which means to brand or to cauterize, to render insensitive. Forbidding (as in forbidding to marry) comes from koluo: prevent by word or act. Putting these words together means a lot more than telling people not to observe the right day of the week or to eat unclean food. We are talking about false doctrines of demons that turn us hard-hearted. They make us cold and selfish. They condemn the world in a self-righteous attitude. They are the opposite of Jesus Christ, and they make the Church unfit to marry! That term forbidding should have been better translated “prevent by word or act.” So the doctrines of demons prevent the Church from being ready to marry Jesus Christ, for they have turned the people of the Church hard hearted by searing their consciences. They have rendered them insensitive to a world that is in a state of chaos, hopelessness and despair under Satan and his demons. They turn the hope of the world into something to fear! Now, if you would, turn to some scriptures that will back this up. I would like to start with Matthew 20 because we want to see what Jesus Christ was like. The body of Christ should emulate Jesus Christ and edify His name and the name of the Father, too. Read Matthew 20:29-34. We are getting an example of how Jesus Christ lived and had compassion on people. He expects this from His body, the body of Christ, in the last days. Instead of a brutal heart, this is what He expects. Read Mark 1:40-42. Jesus Christ had mercy on the diseased and mercy on the blind. Turn to Mark 5:1. Read verses 1-5. Can you imagine the anguish that this person was feeling with demons in him? He was crying out in the mountains. You could go out at night and hear his voice echoing in the valley as he cried out in pains and anguish with these spirits that were tormenting him. Continue reading Mark 5:6-7. This was the demon speaking. Read verses 8-10. You are familiar with this story. Christ sent these demons into a herd of swine, and they ended up going over a cliff into the sea. This human being in this miserable state needed healing from Jesus Christ. We can see people today possessed of demons and having demon trouble. They act strange and perform music in the weirdest and most contorted way on stage. They perform and say horrible things, in a way crying out in despair as demons torment them in some cases. We can see people acting on behalf of demons. They blow their children up and kill other people thinking they are actually doing God a favor! Where do they get these doctrines that lead them to do that? They get them from demons. Do we sneer at people like that? Do we scorn them? Do we say they all deserve to die, and all of these people are horrible because they do not keep the Sabbath? They do not understand the way of God so kill them all, God! Or do we have pity like Jesus Christ did? Do we have compassion? The world has been so led astray by Satan the devil. Now drop to verse 18 of Mark 5, and we will see the conclusion of this episode. Read Mark 5:18-20. That is the kind of mercy that the Church of God should have on a tormented world. Turn, if you would, to Mark chapter 6:30. Read verses 30-31. So many were coming to Jesus Christ that they had no time to rest. Read verses 32-34. Did Christ say get away from Me you unclean people of the world? Leave Me alone with My disciples. No, He had mercy and compassion. He loved the world bereft of a shepherd. It was a world out there at the mercy of Satan the devil, the accuser and tormentor. God had mercy on all of these poor people. We are told in other places Christ healed all who came to Him and were sick. All who had demons, He cast the demons out. Turn to Mark 9 and read verses14-15. Do people run up to the Church today and greet the Church? Or are they terrified by the message that the Church proclaims? Read verses 16-24. This poor man did not have the truth and the knowledge, but he knew Jesus Christ was a special man. He said help my unbelief for my son’s sake. Continue reading Mark 9:25-29. Do we pray and fast for a confused and deceived world so that our prayers can be answered for them? This is how the body of Christ can learn to emulate Jesus Christ, to actually praise His name and give Him honor and glory. Instead we often have very hard-hearted servants in the Church, and that is spoken of in Matthew 18. Please turn to Matthew 18 and read verses 21-22. That does not mean up to 490 times, by the way. Those are two numbers of perfection. That means as long as your brother asks for forgiveness you forgive him. As long as it takes! Read Matthew 18:23-27. That is, in essence, us. The wages of sin is death, and we ask for forgiveness. Then our Master forgives us. Read verses 28-35. If we do not forgive our trespasses and we are hard on our fellow servants (the body of Christ and I would extend this to the people of the world as well), we must be turned over to the arch enemy, Satan. He torments us to show us what it is like when we do not receive pity and mercy. Hopefully we learn the lesson that it is no fun to be treated harshly. Maybe by that we would learn to be kind and compassionate to other people. This is what has been happening to the Church now for the last 18 or so years. We have been rebuked and chastened by allowing Satan to have reign in the Church. He has been tearing us apart. In many cases wolves and violent people have been put over the Church, causing a famine of the word in the Church and a hard-hearted brutal spirit. There has been a self-righteous attitude, one of seeking personal protection and personal safety over sacrificing for the world. As this spirit is spread through the Church, devastation has touched the lives of almost everyone in the Church. Go around and ask your friends in the Church what has happened to their lives in the last twenty years, and you will see. God has removed His blessing because our conscience has been seared with a hot iron by the false doctrines that blaspheme and harm God’s name. That is what has led to the punishment on the Church. We will not read Revelation 3. We know it very well. In the last days the very last era gets spewed out of Jesus Christ’s mouth. It is vomited right out! This allows Satan to have free reign for a while in the Church to teach us mercy and compassion, and to separate those who would follow the ways of the doctrines of demons from those who want to turn back to Jesus Christ, His mercy and His compassion for all mankind. HOW CAN THAT BE GOD’S CHURCH? The Church has been smashed, and this has brought scorn from people in the world’s churches who can no longer find the true Church. How can that be the Church of God? Look at that! They had proclaimed themselves to be the Philadelphia era. They had said in eight million Plain Truths in circulation that they were the Church. Follow us, and we will teach you the ways of God. How can that be God’s Church, they sneer, because it is all torn apart? But this is going to be for the greater good, for God loves the body of Christ. He loves His Church. There was a former fulfillment of what has happened to the Church. It applies very well, and we can learn a lot from it for our situation today. Turn to Ezekiel chapter 36:16 and read to verse 19. We often point to ancient Israel and say God destroyed the temple. God led Israel and Judah into captivity. All this because of how they were. Weren’t they terrible! Instead we should be applying these lessons to the Church today and learning from them. Ezekiel 36, verse 20: “‘When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name when they said of them, “These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land.”’” The punishment on ancient Israel profaned God’s name. Because God had to punish that nation and disperse them in captivity, their captors said how can you be God’s special people? How can you be God’s nation? This wouldn’t happen if you were God’s nation! You see, the same is true today! That cannot be God’s Church! He would not allow all of this to happen to His Church if they were the body of Christ. We need to learn from this, brethren. Continue reading in verses 22-28. For us it would be the Millennium that is about to come and the rest that we should go into, if we would turn away from the brutal, hard-hearted example that we are giving the world. We need to stop profaning God’s name. God said I will clean you up if you allow Me to do so. Each of you who lets Me come in and sup with you I will put a soft heart in you. I will take out the heart of stone and put in a compassionate heart like My Son, Jesus Christ, had. I will put compassion in there and clean you up for My name’s sake. He is not going to do it because we are so wonderful. We are terrible! He is going to do it because of His great name and how much His name means. He has placed His name on His Church. At baptism we took on His name, and we said we were the Church of God. We covenanted with Him, and we said we will be like Jesus Christ. Now we need a lot of cleaning up. That is what is going on. God is allowing Satan to thrash the Church, to torture it, so to speak, so that we will learn compassion. Those who care about God’s name are going to hear and allow Jesus Christ to clean them up so that they can gain compassion. Then they can show the world that great is our God and awesome is our Savior! Another way we can blaspheme God’s name is by limiting His power and saying He cannot do that. He could not possibly do that. Yes, He can. He can save the whole world. He promises to do so. All who will bow the knee to Him He shall save eventually. But in the last days, He is going to do it in a remarkable way to preserve this earth for a wonderful Millennium. It is very harmful to say God will save the earth by destroying it. God will save all you people by killing you and by allowing you to burn in the flames. He will save you by allowing nuclear devastation, famine, diseases, tsunamis and stars to slam into the earth. God is so loving He is going to destroy almost every one of you and give you horrible deaths! That is how loving God is. That is a horrible doctrine! That is what Satan wants for the world who is a poor, deceived world. We saw how Jesus Christ treated the people of His generation. The body of Christ should do no less. TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS We should ask two important questions. How would Christ come as a surprise if the world had suffered nuclear devastation, stars had slammed into it and the oceans had turned to blood? Would you be surprised if Christ came? I am going to tell you we do not understand those scriptures. I going to tell you our God says He is a merciful and loving God, and we will have a Millennium. It will be beautiful. I am saying we better ask God for the eye salve so that we can properly interpret His word before we run around preaching horror to people! The second question is what kind of a Millennium would we have if this earth was a pile of rubble or cosmic dust? Answer that question. Let us look at some back up scriptures so that we can see what God intends for the world. Turn to Isaiah chapter 45. Read verses 18-19. One of the right things that Christ proclaims is that the earth is to be inhabited for a thousand years in a beautiful Millennium. He did not create it in vain. That term “vain” there is tohu. If that sounds familiar it is because it is the same word used in Genesis 1:1-2 when the Spirit of God moved over the earth, and it was without form and void. That term “without form” means it was tohu. It was waste, which means a desolation of the surface. God said this happened once before and that is why I came and started a Garden of Eden. That is why He started a plan. He formulated a plan and created Adam. I want to have children. I want to make a beautiful Millennium and eventually a kingdom that will go through the whole universe! I did not create this in vain to be destroyed a second time. That is what My arch enemy wants to do. He did it once before. He wants to do it again, and I will not allow it. We can read about this futile thinking (vain thinking of destruction to come at the end) by turning to Ezekiel chapter 13. Read Ezekiel 13:1-7. God says they have seen a futile vision because they say this comes from God. God wants to destroy the world. God is behind all of this devastation. God says I did not send that message! I sent Herbert W. Armstrong as the second Elijah (as a type of John the Baptist) to bring a repentance. This would be a repentance in the Philadelphia era that would lead to a completion of the work to avoid a destruction of the world. Keep your finger there in Ezekiel 13. Let’s turn to Malachi chapter 4 and read about this. THE END TIME ELIJAH Utter destruction has been averted by a work that was done mightily by God through a man called Herbert Armstrong. Turn to Malachi 4 and read verses 4-6. That term “curse” there means utter destruction. But Elijah has come! In the phrase “turning the hearts of the fathers to the children” “father” is actually singular here: av or ab. It refers to turning the hearts of God the Father to His children, the Church, and turning the Church to God the Father. In a broader sense, it is turning a bit of ancient Israel with the Holy Spirit to God in a repentance that will avert utter destruction. This has happened, brethren! We have to stop denying it. Since Mr. Armstrong’s death physical nations of Israel have grown in power and security helping the world and blessing the world. They have not gone down. That is because a spiritual battle had been won. The war will ultimately be won because Jesus Christ had a way prepared by that messenger. He will come suddenly to the temple, to those who wake up and stop proclaiming the doctrine of demons of death and destruction. Let’s see what we are told in Malachi 3. Read Malachi 3:1. This is speaking of Jesus Christ coming to His temple, the Church. Continue reading Malachi 3:2-3. The Church will be cleaned up, brethren. It will finish getting ready as the bride by getting rid of every spot and blemish, preparing itself to be a holy temple. Jesus Christ will return suddenly and take the Church and the world by surprise. But utter destruction will be averted. It is in the bag! It is done! The Elijah has come, and God has kept His promise. Going back to Ezekiel chapter 13 we will start reading again in verses 7-10. God is telling the Church here that in the latter days the people of God (the Church) will be seduced with a message of peace when there is no peace. They will preach a place of safety when there is none! There is no physical place of safety! We want protection from false doctrine, brethren, and not from guns, bombs and bullets. We want protection from the doctrine of demons. We want our reward secure when Jesus Christ returns. These are spiritual things not physical. A FALSE MESSAGE OF NO HOPE It is a false message when we give the world no hope. If you were to look up this term “futile” in the King James it is “vain”. The term “a futile vision” is a vain vision. It is a vain vision because vain means destruction. It is the same as tohu and bohu in a sense. It is a slightly different word with the same meaning. It is to lie waste and to desolate, a destruction. It is the word shav: a desolating ruin. Figuratively it means idolatry and uselessness. When the Church preaches the doctrine of demons that is idolatry. When it preaches those things, it is useless to God. Look those terms up, and see for yourself. Let’s go back now to II Timothy chapter 3. We are going to reread this and get it emblazoned in our minds, brethren. Read II Timothy 3:1-5. Let us not deny God’s power. He is going to save this planet for a beautiful Millennium. He is going to convert the world and have an innumerable multitude, and He is going to do it in a remarkable way. We must never limit His power. He is almighty. That is one of His names. His gospel of the kingdom is good news for all the world and not just the Church or a special few at the end of time. Turn back, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 59. I would like to read the whole chapter and a little bit of the next chapter. Read Isaiah 59:1-7. Do you know how people (not just in God’s Church) in the churches that do not understand are jumping up and down waiting for a tribulation to destroy the world because they think they will be okay? Now that is a pandemic of false doctrine! It is everywhere. Continue reading Isaiah 59:8-15. This is exactly what has happened. The Church does not reflect the light of Jesus Christ in compassion. The truth has fallen in the street, brethren. Continue reading verses 16-19. The enemy has come into the Church like a flood, brethren. Read verses 20-21. Once the rising of Christ’s sun is here (once that sun light flashes from east to west as lightning) and He is back, then the truth will be known everywhere. Are we going to try and stand with the truth now? We need to. Get rid of the foolish talk for when we learn to do this, it is when the ten virgins wake up. And there is very little time before the bridegroom comes. Start reading in Isaiah 60:1-5. That is the innumerable multitude, the people who dwell in Satan’s sea. We should be fishers of men. Instead we have been repellers of mankind. We have repelled them by our teaching, by our hard-heartedness and by our lack of compassion. God is saying at the last minute to get rid of this foolishness. Wake up My Church, My bride! I am coming to deliver the world, and I will deliver those who get rid of foolish talk and the doctrines of demons! We can harm or blaspheme God’s name in several ways that we have seen today. Our sins that the world sees hurt the name of God. False doctrines that obscure God’s truth, are harmful to God, the Church and the world. The needed punishment and correction which have come on to the Church confused the world. That is the third way we have forced the name of God to be blasphemed because the world says that cannot be the body of Christ. Look how they treat one another! Look how they treat the world. Look at their hard-heartedness and their selfish doctrines. The last and the fourth way is that we can limit the power of God by denying hope to the world by saying there will only be a few people spared these catastrophes at the end! There are just a few of us and, of course, we are the main ones! It is a horrible doctrine. DELIVERANCE FROM SATAN’S ATTACK I would like to conclude by reading from Psalm 79. Please turn to Psalm 79:5. “How long, Lord? Will You be angry forever! Will Your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You, and on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.” If you look up that term “nations”, you are going to see that, yes, it can be as it was in the days of old (physical nations and ancient Israel); but today it is beasts and locusts from Satan’s pit that have attacked the Church. Continue in Psalm 79:8. “Oh, do not remember former iniquities against us! Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us, for we have been brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins, for Your name’s sake! Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Let there be known among the nations in our sight the avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed. Let the groaning of the prisoner come before You; according to the greatness of Your power preserve those who are appointed to die; and return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord. So we, Your people and sheep of Your pasture, will give You thanks forever; we will show forth Your praise to all generations.” The prisoners of this earth who are held captive by Satan the devil are going to be released. Read Romans 8. They are going to be released into the liberty of the sons of God. We are not to be another set of tyrants but loving, compassionate, God-fearing sons of God. They will feel comfortable coming to us. They will come as the sea turns and the innumerable multitude turns to God. They will be comforted by God and His bride, the Church. We need to ask that this will happen very soon so that the world’s pain and suffering will end. But the Church must also beg God for help at this last moment to turn away from the doctrines of demons and stop blaspheming God’s name.