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History and Prophecy of Terrorism: Knowledge Builds Faith

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History and Prophecy of Terrorism

Knowledge Builds Faith

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History and Prophecy of Terrorism: Knowledge Builds Faith

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This sermon explores the history and prophecy of terrorism and how knowledge of God's Word builds faith that can overcome the fear associated with terrorism.

Transcript

[Jerold Aust] What feelings, brethren, did you have when you learned about the heinous acts of ISIS or ISIL – your choice – toward their captives? I hate using that word that we all know about, because I think it is extremely disgusting, I was shocked. I was disgusted. I was angry that anyone would not only do such dastardly deeds, but that they would upload it on social media. And then, of all things, arrogantly brag about it. It was at that time that I began thinking about the stories of what God did in the Old Testament – especially those nations who turned against God's people – His model nation, Israel – and didn't want them to come into the promised land – of course, obvious reasons for them, but God says, “You're coming.” And then, later on He paid them back. And that's how God works. He does not forget. If somebody attacks His people, then they are attacking Him. I'm sure you know that.

Terrorism – and that's what that was – is dangerous, because it's designed to strike fear into the hearts of innocent people. It can cripple, of course as you know, entire infrastructures of great nations. And I've been hearing recently – my wife and I listen to the news a lot – we listen and watch FOX News a great deal. We listen to CNN and a few of the, what I call alphabet channels – ABC, NBC, and CBS – on occasion. I'm not leaning toward them as much, but I do to get a little bit different perspective. I will watch them, as well relative to the news. And the news, of course, is a business and they are selling things. You know that, I'm sure.

God is vehemently opposed to terrorism. The operative word here is vehemently. He hates it. Yet terrorist attacks have raged from time immemorial.

Let me ask you a question here at the outset. How many terrorist attacks have taken place in this world over the last 44 years? What would you say that number might be? Five hundred? Five thousand? Well it actually, according to the Global Terrorism Data Base – and I haven't double checked to see if that was primary research – they say there have been 140,000 terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2014.

Now more recently, the New York Times – and I looked up newyorktimes.com as of December 7, 2015 – they wrote a piece on the recent terrorist attacks, of course, that happened in San Bernardino, California – an area that I used to serve now and then – and also in Paris before that, as you would well know, and the incident – well, it was more than an incident – it was a terrible thing – where the Russian plane went down over Egypt. A lot of people died.

It is incredible how God allows the human mind to work – where we tend to forget these catastrophic events. And to prove that, let me ask you, “How many of you remember exactly what you felt like on 9/11? That's something. I thought about that as I was thinking about what happened recently in San Bernardino and in Paris and in Egypt.

Let me read from the New York Times - and I edited a little bit of it, but I think the essence of it is still important to us. Quote: The Islamic State has been expanding beyond its base in Iraq and Syria since it declared a caliphate or Islamic state in June 2014. The group is focused on three parallel tracks – I added a little letter a – inciting regional conflict with attacks in Iraq and Syria of course – little letter b - building relationships with Jihadist groups that can carry out military operations across the Middle East and North America, and – the letter c – inspiring, and sometimes, helping ISIS sympathizers to conduct attacks in the west. So in some way, as you well know, that's what happened in San Bernardino. The goal is that through these regional affiliates, and through efforts to create chaos in the wider world, the organization will be able to expand and – I like this – I made it bold and I underscored it – and perhaps incite a global apocalyptic war. I wrote next: shades of Daniel 11:40. Keep that thought in mind, brethren. We're going to get back to that a little bit later on.

How long has terrorism gone on and how long will it last? My thesis, specifically, is that today we are going to briefly explore the beginning and ending, or the history and prophecy of terrorism, and –of all things, something that seems contradictory in that context – how it builds our faith. We're going to take a look from the negative to the positive. We're going to leave you, hopefully, with a positive outlook and that's why, a little earlier here, I heard Dr. Fouch talk about fear and so on, and I thought, “That fits perfectly.” So I think I'll take all of those scriptures and insert them in mine. Wrong. You already took care of that and I appreciate that very much. It fits in here beautifully.

God allows evil in this world, as you know – if you've been in the church any time at all, studying God's word over a period of time and experiencing – of course, how God's Spirit works through you. God allows evil in the world for divine reasons – reasons that, of course, include you and me.

Now let's start out here before time – eternal peace existed. I think you're aware of the scripture in Genesis 1:1 – and I will just touch on it and move on, because, I think, for the most part, most of us know this scripture – In the beginning God created – and I think that implies created perfectly – the heaven and the earth. And for that statement to be there, suggests to me, and indicates very strongly, that there had to be peace and no terroristic activities. No terrorism. No evil.

So we find that before time, eternal peace existed. But at some point God's peace was interrupted by terrorism. So how can the subject of terrorism build faith? Well, I've given you my SPS here already. We're going to explore the history and prophecy – the beginning and ending of terrorism – and how it builds our faith. So, in order to support this, I have three warrants to back my claim.

First of all, we're going to address briefly the history of terrorism, and then we're going to continue on with the prophecy of terrorism – more of a thought – leans toward the ending of terrorism. And then we're going to see how this knowledge builds our faith.

Let's take a look first at our first supporting point here – the history of terrorism. You're probably aware of this – I'm going back to Ezekiel 28 – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel 28. Years ago when I began, I discovered Ezekiel 28. I had a little help – I read our booklets, I read our material – the old correspondence course that used to be 58 lessons long, so to speak. And I still have all of those lessons. Of course they're outdated – a lot of material in them. But some of the basic fundamentals are still good and still ring true today. And so, I was trying to figure out how I could remember the two major chapters that dealt with Lucifer who became Satan…I came across Ezekiel 28 and I discovered the other one was Isaiah 14. So the way that I remembered it was…. You remember the sort of caricature, if I can say this now, about Satan the devil, who is dressed in a red suit and he's got a pitchfork, and he's got a tail with a point at the end, and of course, the horns. And so the way I remember it is, I call Isaiah not fourteen, but fork-teen, and that and a dollar won't get you a Frappuccino at McDonald's, but it's something to use if you want to. And so I then figured, hey, fourteen – double that, you've got twenty-eight – all you have to do is remember Ezekiel. So Isaiah 14 – I won't use that again and bore you to death – Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28. We're going to address those two chapters and a number of the verses – not all of them – but I think those things that are salient and fit with the history of terrorism and the prophecy of terrorism as well.
Okay, Ezekiel 28:12.

Ezekiel 28:12 – Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus. So here we have the king of Tyrus. And we find out later that he is representative of Lucifer, who became Satan the devil. The process from Lucifer to Satan, you'll find here. God also addresses it in Isaiah. And say unto him, thus saith the Lord God, “You seal up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. We know that Lucifer was created – as were all of the angels. They were created by God. There are scriptures that cover that. I won't have the time to go into that. But it does say that he, Lucifer, summed up the wisdom – God's wisdom – and he was perfect in beauty. So, if he had a mirror, he'd be able to take a good, long look at himself and say – like Fonzarelli did many years ago with a comb. And he'd go into the restroom – you guys may not remember this, right? – maybe a few of you do, so I'll identify with the few. He'd look in the mirror, and he's getting ready to take this comb, and he's going to go through his hair, and he looks – “Whoa, I don't need to touch this” – and he'd walk out. Now that's really slight and very light humor. But if Lucifer was able to see himself, and he weren't able to see himself in a mirror, certainly other angels could tell him how handsome or beautiful that he was. You have been in Eden – he tells us the location – in Eden – the garden of God – of course this is the very throne of God. I won't go through all of the stones here.

V-13The workmanship – latter part of verse 13 – of your tabrets – o tab-rays – and of your pipes was prepared in you in the day that you were created. So God made this mighty archangel – one that could deliver some very beautiful music. Ezekiel 28:14:

V-14 – We have no doubt now of whom he's speaking: “You are the anointed cherub” – so if somebody is anointed, they are set aside for a special purpose – “that covers. And if you see the throne of God pictured in a book or somewhere, you would see this angel covering the very throne of God. God placed him there. The two Gods, before they became the Father and the Son. “And I have set you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God.” We know that mountain has to do with government. “You have walked up and down. You've had this opportunity. I gave it to you in the middle of the stones of fire that surrounded the throne of God. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created until iniquity was found in you” – until that time. “By the multitude of your merchandise…” Now we're going to see how Lucifer became Satan the devil and this all applies to modern day terrorism. It has to do with human beings who are influenced to think that they need to take care of infidels – anyone who doesn't believe the way they think – and they are extremists. They've gone beyond the pail, and they hope to eradicate any western thinking – any type of religious concept or thought or practice. And so this fits with the original terrorist. “By the multitude of your merchandise they have filled you, filled the midst of you, with violence and you have sinned. Therefore, I will cast you as profane out of the mountain of God and I will destroy you. We're going to see these things come to fruition a little later on. “Oh covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You have corrupted your wisdom by the reason of your brightness” – or splendor. That might have some play as well into the great wisdom of Almighty God because God uses interchangeably illumination, light with His holy wisdom. “I will cast you to the ground. I will lay you before kings, that they may behold you. You have defiled your sanctuaries by the multitude of your iniquities by the iniquity of your traffic. Now, if you do any study on any of these words – like for example, merchandise – there is another word here. Traffic is one of them. And I don't see the other one, but if you were to do that, you would find that they render it basically as peddling – selling – peddling. And so here he was peddling. What was he peddling? Well, there were no Targets – that's a store. There were no Walmarts. So what was he peddling? Was he peddling cars? No. He was peddling ideas – thoughts. And he succeeded, as you well know. And in that process, his ideas, his thoughts, he thought, were greater than God's.

Now as the anointing cherub that covers the very throne of God, it would seem to me that he would be close enough to be able to hear what the two Gods were talking about when they drafted the master plan of Almighty God – to make future sons of God out of mere puny little human beings made of flesh, which is from the dust and the dirt of the ground. That's not very impressive – certainly not in the eyes of the great angel like Lucifer. And he began thinking about that, and then he also learned what these individuals would be doing – how long they would live, how weak they would be – and that the angels were given the responsibility to minister, or administer help, to us, even though we can't see them. You see that in the end of Hebrews 1.

Ezekiel 28:18 – You have defiled your sanctuaries” – I probably said this…I'm going over it again –  “by the many iniquities” – or lawlessness – “by the iniquity of your traffic” – to trade, to merchandise, to peddle. Therefore, will I bring forth a fire from the midst of you. It shall devour you, and I will bring you to ashes upon the earth on the side of all them that behold you.” Well, we know that the angels are not going to be destroyed, of course, but this is like a metaphor. And a metaphor, of course…we're able to take a metaphor and learn those things that we don't know about from things we do. So we can identify with the idea that a human being can be burned to ashes. So we'll see how that translates a little bit later on.

So Lucifer, the Light Bringer – that’s what his name was – became Satan, the Terrorist. He's the master terrorist. He's the great terrorist. And his notion, his idea, his thought, his entire being is dedicated to destroying all humankind. Because if he could get rid of humankind, he could point a finger to God and say, “I told you your idea and your thought was wrong. I've been telling you all along. You have the wrong one. The angels are the ones who could do what you want.” Of course in Hebrews 1, once again, it says that no angel was ever called a son of God.

So we find the history of terrorism – its beginnings – started with Satan Great Terrorist – the destroyer. Now let's go back to Isaiah 14. I'll try not to steal all my thunder a little bit later on, because I'm going to get into Isaiah 14 a little bit more later. Isaiah 14, brethren, and let's break into it this time. Satan the devil is identified, or symbolized, by the king of Babylon, as you see in Isaiah 14:4.

Isaiah 14:4 – That you shall take up this proverb against the king of Babylon.

And as you read on you find out in Isaiah 14:12, that is Lucifer, who became Satan. The time setting here from say verse 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 is pretty well depicted by our Day of Atonement – the Feast of Atonement – that God gives us, where it shows us that Satan is going to be removed, and humankind will have rest, and will have quiet as it says in Isaiah 14:7.

Isaiah 14:8 - Yes, the fir trees – once again, we see symbols here applying to human beings – rejoice at you and the cedars of Lebanon saying – and this is what I wanted to bring your attention to at the latter end of verse 8. Since you are laid down, no feller has come up against us – I'm reading from the Old King James translation. That word feller – I looked it up in times past – one of the nuances of meaning means bully. That's fitting. That's what we have out here in society today – that Islamic extremists, for example, are specifically attempting to strike fear in the lives of people, so that it stops us in our tracks and we don't move. We don't work. We're so afraid all of the time, wondering when they're going to strike next. But in the future that bullying is going to stop. So Satan is the bully that terrorizes angels and people.

Let's go back and see how – this is a little bit of a stretch – but in Revelation 12:3-4, brethren:

Revelation 12:3-4 – There appeared another wonder in heaven – this is going to deal with Satan the devil – and behold a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns – and so he represents himself and influences governments to do his bidding – and seven crowns upon his head. Verse 4 – the beginning part of it – and his tail, drew the third part of the stars of heaven – that word stars means, of course, angels – and he did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which is ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as it was born. My job isn't to get into all of the background here. I just want to point out that Satan actually bullied and manipulated those angels – those holy angels – and he sold them – he merchandised his thoughts and sold them and peddled his ideas and thoughts, which were wicked and evil.

Now let's move on to the prophecy of terrorism, which is to say, the end of terrorism. I said earlier, if I'm not mistaken – I will re-read my notes – we're looking from the negative to the positive. And we're going to end from a positive perspective. It strikes me that when I'm watching television, and watching the news, and seeing something like what happened in San Bernardino, and that which happened in Paris, it's pretty striking to see all of that and obviously we're not able to see everything that goes on, but we know what's taking place. And one of the thoughts that comes to my mind is, “Where are they going to strike next?” Now I don't live in Biloxi, Mississippi - that's part of my visiting area – but I live in Mobile, Alabama, and I'm thinking, “Where would they strike in Mobile?” Mobile is not Cincinnati, Ohio. As I understand it, you have something like one million three here, give or take. I'm not sure. But little Mobile is only 250,000. On a good day, if you brought all of the people in from the surrounding communities you'd have about 600,000. But that's a real good day, and I don't want to be there when that happens. So we have approximately 250,000 that fit within the confines and the parameters of Mobile. I'm thinking, “Where are the soft targets?” Well, they could be in Ladd Peebles Stadium when we host a couple of football games at the end of the year. They could be in Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama with thousands there. And they're just looking for soft targets.

I listen, I don't know if you do, but I listen for the minutia to get into…like these journalists when they get into about what the FBI investigators find, and you keep waiting for the next shoe to drop. How extensive did this couple go in terms of getting other peoples to do their bidding? Did they teach others? Were they taught? By whom? How extensive is this? Where does this reach? So are you concerned at all? I just asked you – don't put up your hand – that they might be striking somewhere – maybe in a mall where you are shopping? And that can cause us to slow down and to think twice about just going through…going on with our everyday life. That's the way Satan works.  

So let's take a look now at the end of terrorism. I didn't go all the way through all the terroristic activities that have taken place down through history. I wouldn't have the time, probably not the inclination to go through all of them. But all of the wars that have happened over the years, and I think there's been approximately 60 or 70 years where there was no war on this earth. So that means most of the time for human beings to be on this earth we have been at war. And that is terror. Frightening times. So the prophecy of terrorism, the way I want to address it here, is the end of it.

Take a look at Revelation 11 – I was in 12 – boy that's just on the column preceding. Revelation 11:15 – here it shows…this is talking about the time of the end. We may not be as far from the time of the end…this is our day of salvation to be sure. But the urgency is also there – that, if things begin to speed up, we could have the end coming pretty rapidly. I know that you have the great tribulation – we do – that's 3 ½ years. I know there is a 30-day prophecy about preceding that Great Tribulation in Daniel 12. And then you have 1,335 days. I'm aware of all of that and I'm sure you are as well. Generally speaking, I'm talking about the time of the end. And things could accelerate very rapidly.

Revelation 11:15 – The seventh angel sounded there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.

Now this word here…and I've had people ask me about that – they'll say, “Now how are you going to juxtapose this here with the final trump and Jesus Christ coming through the clouds? They don't fit.” Well, if you know the scripture in Romans 4:17 – I want to address that momentarily in the event that you might not have gone over that – Romans 4:17. They call this a prolepsis. And here is a proleptic saying, which is calling something that has not happened as if it were. And that's what you have here in Revelation 11:15. Romans 4:17 – I'm going to read it as it is written:

Romans 4:17 – I have made you a father of many nations – referring of course to Abraham – before him whom he believed, even God, who – makes alive, or – quickens the dead and calls those things which be not as though they were.

Another good example, of course, you find in Ephesians, where it says that we are in Christ at the right hand of God's throne. We are not there. God looks at us differently from the way that you and I look at ourselves. And so He looks at us – as long as we remain faithful, we endure to the end – He views us as spirit beings. We don't…well, we do to a degree, but we're not God. We're not made of spirit. So we don't know what it feels like, but we do have the down payment of God's Spirit, so we have faith in that – that with that down payment, if we endure to the end, God is going to change us from that down payment to an entirety of a body of Holy Spirit or God's divine spirit.

So this thing is a good little tool that you need to remember whenever you come in conflict with a scripture – perhaps in Revelation or some other place that God often shows things as if they were already and they are not as yet. I think that's a very important point.

Let's drop down here to Revelation 11:17.

Revelation 11:17 – We give you thanks, Oh Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; and because you have taken to you through your great power and have reigned. So he's in the process of doing that and in verse 18:

V-18 – And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead – that should be rendered nations – that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great. Notice the latter part of verse 18 – and this is why there needs to be an end to wholesale terrorism – because with the beast and the false prophet, you are going to have terrorism – and the greatest – on the greatest and grandest scale. And you should destroy them which destroy or corrupt the earth. So here we find that God is going to step in.

Let's take a look in Revelation 19. Do you know about these scriptures at the Feast oftentimes? And we see the return of Jesus Christ. We see in Revelation 19:11:

Revelation 19:11 – The heaven opened and behold a white horse! The one that sat on him was faithful and true and with righteousness He does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire. On His head were many crowns – or diadems – and he had a name written that no man knew but he Himself and He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood – which symbolizes the shedding of Jesus' blood here on this earth – and his name is called the Word of God. Fit that together with John 1:1. The armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean. So, if you have never ridden a horse – and how this is going to work out – you're going to ride one, apparently. And you're going to go around the earth in this great, grand train, following Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation. Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword that with it He should smite the nations and He shall rule them with a rod of iron. And He treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

I want to go to a couple of verses in Revelation 14, but before I do that, I want to drop down here to verse 20, so that we can see these great terrorists – the beast and the false prophet – are going to be destroyed.

Revelation 19:20 – And the beast was taken, with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a – not the – a lake of fire burning with brimstone. An object lesson for all of us so that we know that sin is destroyed and God, of course, is a consuming fire. 

Let's go back to Revelation 14 and fit it in with Revelation 19:15, where it says he treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. It shows that:

Revelation 14:15 – Another angel – in Revelation 14:15 – came out of the temple, cried with a loud voice that sat on a cloud, “Thrust in your sickle” – so this is the first heaven he's talking about here – and reap your harvest – talking about “time is come for you to harvest” – for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” He that sat on the cloud thrust the sickle on the earth; and the earth was harvested. Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven. He also had a sharp sickle. Another angel came from the altar, which had power over fire; and he cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth for her grapes are fully ripe.” And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress – the very thing that we see in Revelation 19:15, I believe it is – this fits together like hand in glove. And the winepress was trodden down outside the city. And blood came out of the wine press even unto the horses bridle – soif you’ve got a tall horse, maybe five feet – even by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. I've tried to discover how far this is. Someone once said 180 miles. You can't get 180 miles immediately north and south of Jerusalem. My wife and I have been in Jerusalem, standing out overlooking the Kidron Valley. On the other side is the Valley of Hinnom. They both come together. If there is water in there, it would go all the way down to the Dead Sea. But if you look at Kidron it goes down. It's like a giant ravine, and then you go up to the Mount of Olives. And you can see the Mount of Olives very clearly. 

But here the blood of these terrorists are going to be shed to be as deep as a horse's bridle. I don't know how you do this for 180 miles, if indeed it is that long – might be shorter than that. But when you think about the kings of the north and the east, who have been invited by God at the Hill of Megiddo, which is Har Megiddo or Armageddon, that's where that comes from. And the armies of the north and east will have foot soldiers numbering 200 million men. That's a lot of people. And they have crossed, as you know, over the river Euphrates, which had been dried up so they could do that. And a little bit south and east and also south, will be the beast army who will have been there already. And they are going to meet, and God is going to bring them down to Jerusalem so that He has them all in one place and He can destroy all of the terrorists in one place and that is a great thing that God is going to do.

So we know that, though you and I are watching media today, and we're watching mostly about the fear that's involved with and part of terrorist activities. You notice that they talk very little about the victims. Why do they do that? Well I think it's pretty simple. Human nature gets all excited on evil things and desperate things and they are not too excited about people who just died. So they are going to be putting before you and me these graphics and these photos and the video chasing down these two people, husband and wife at the time, in their SUV and then shooting them. And that's pretty exciting. Why are they doing that? Because they're selling things. Do you remember merchandising back in Ezekiel 28? That's exactly what's going on. Am I linking media with Satan the devil directly? Of course not. I'm just talking about selling in this world and that's what they're doing today. That's how they go about it. That's how they make their money.

Now we're going to see two times when Satan and the demons, the great terrorists, are going to be removed. First one is in Revelation – and of course, I could go back and forth with Isaiah 14 and fit it in to Revelation 20:1-3, and then a verse a little bit later on in this same chapter.

But the first one after he had been judged – and of course, he was judged in Matthew 4 when Jesus Christ was able to not only endure, but rise above the temptations from Satan the devil who was trying to destroy Him and His great purpose here on this earth to be our Savior. He was judged at that point and Satan had to tuck in his tail and leave. But the sentencing hasn't come yet in the sense of the fulfillment of that sentencing. The first part is this one. At the beginning of the thousand-year-period or just shortly before it, Satan and the demons are going to be jailed. First they were judged. I like to use alliterations. Now they're jailed – or incarcerated, if you want a little longer word.

Revelation 20:1 – And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit – it's not bottomless, because if it were bottomless, he would come out the other end of the earth. There he'd be again. See, it's an abyss. It's a pit. It's a grave – a big one, but that's what it is. And a great chain in his hand, which of course represents that he is going to be restrained. And he laid hold on the dragon. I started chuckling one day when I read through this many years ago, and I thought, “God has a great sense of humor – and He's also a great teacher. He doesn't just say, “…dragon…” and that's it. He says dragon – not done – that old serpent – that's number two – and the devil – number three – and Satan. I can just see Him saying, “Are there any questions?” He wants to make sure we understand. “You want some of that?” It's simple. Well, think about it. God is pretty well down to earth, isn't He? If He wouldn't be down to earth, why in the world would He ever form and shape Adam, who is of the earth? And we're of the earth as well. God is very much down to earth. I'm mixing my metaphors there a little bit. He bound him a thousand years.

Isaiah 14 – watching that clock like a hawk. Isaiah 14 is very, very interesting. We have already addressed this just a little bit earlier. Let's go a little bit further – read through it, give it a little bit more imagery – connecting the dots here. So the imagery comes up in our minds and we can understand it just a little bit better.

Isaiah 14:5 – The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers – both spiritual and physical. He who smote – he who smote – that seems singular to me – the people in wrath – or anger – with a continual stroke – that word continual means unabated and unrestricted – he that ruled the nations in anger and he persecuted. I inserted that word he parenthetically – and none hinders. So this is what God is going to do. He's going to stop him in his tracks. He that ruled the nations in anger.

We'll continue here, but before we do let's drop down a little bit – verse 16. I love this verse. I love all the verses, but I especially love this one – in relation to what we are discussing here and exploring at this point.

V-16 – They that see you. What are we talking about? We're talking about Satan the devil is going to be incarcerated and, apparently, here on this earth – in a hole in the ground. I have my thoughts about where that's going to be, when you read the end of Revelation 17. I'm not going to address that, but it will be a significant place, and that's where they will be placed. They that see you – this is during the thousand-year-period it appears – shall narrowly – that word narrowly means cautiously with fear, trepidation – look upon you, and they will consider – and they will discuss this among themselves, saying – is this not the man – it's not a man; it's a being; it's an angel – that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms. Remember the middle part of verse 6 – he that ruled the nations in anger? He did it with a continual stroke. He never stopped. Nobody stopped him. God is not stopping him.

You remember when Jesus was – I want to insert this right here, if you don't mind – Jesus was being tempted in Matthew 4 – one of the accounts – and one of the things that Satan said to him: I will give you all of the kingdoms of the world – he's over them – if you will bow down and worship me. Did Jesus say, “Hold it! You are not over them!”? He never did say that. He knows. Because Lucifer and the angels were given responsibility on this earth, which is of course the orb – the globe – that would house all of human beings who are going to be future gods. 

So here we find in verse 16 a little bit more of the picture. Is this the one that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms. I'm not sure whether, more specifically, he made the earth to tremble has to do with earthquakes, because those are natural catastrophes, in the way that God has built this earth, with the upper crust – those things slip as well. So it could be, because Satan is the god or the prince of the power of the air, and so he walks to and fro on this earth. But we do know that he shook kingdoms….

V-17 – ...that made the world as a wilderness – verse 17. He made the world as a wilderness. I hate to think about this, but at the end of the great tribulation, this earth is going to be scorched. And approximately two or three billion people will have died. That's sad. There won't be people enough to bury everybody. So it says here, He made it as a wilderness, and He destroyed its cities, and did not open the house of His prisoners. The world is a prisoner to Satan the devil. Then it goes on to show the final sentence that we're going to look at here in a moment. All the kings of the nations – even all of them – lie in glory, every one of them, in his own house, but you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch. So stop there. You are cast out of your grave – I’ll repeat it – like an abominable branch.

Now let's go back to Revelation 20. We know that the beginning of the thousand-year-period, Satan is going to be incarcerated – he and the demons. And so there will be peace that breaks out on the face of this earth. Even the wild animals will no longer have wild spirits. They will be tame. Those who seek prey, the predators – lions, wolves – are going to be tame as well. And they are going to be eating what the docile animals will be eating.

Let's take a look here at Revelation 20:7.

Revelation 20:7 – When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison – just as he mentioned in the end of verse 3, he tells us ahead of time that he's going to be loosed. Here in verse 8 – or verse 7 – and when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, just like Christ said. Christ the Revelator. It's His book. He is the author of this book. And shall go out to deceive the nations which were in the four quarters of the earth – that would be north, south, east, and west – Gog and Magog – as a representative of nations that represent the terrible attitudes of individuals at the end of the thousand years – to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up – these individuals – who were at the end of the thousand years still alive – this is a little season between the end of the thousand-year-period and the beginning of the White Throne Judgment – in that period, Satan is loosed, and those people will still be alive – the rebels who think they can go to Jerusalem and take it over.

My thought immediately, when I first saw this – and I've never deterred from that at all – is that this might very well be during the Feast of Tabernacles in the city of Jerusalem. Can't prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt, but you can look to see what God shows both in the past and in the future, and that the holy days do depict certain things at the very end. It could have to do with the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, or the feast itself, or the Last Great Day. That's an aside. It's not important. It's not going to have anything to do with your salvation, but I think it's interesting.

V-9 – …and the camp of the saints – the beloved city – and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured those people. They will be arrogant. The word Laodicean and lukewarm, when you begin to look at the context in Revelation 3, brethren, it's not just passive attitude. It's an arrogant attitude. I know too much. I know enough. I don't need any help from anyone else. It's what these individuals are going to be like.

Verse 10 – here is the execution of the sentence of the judgment that God placed on Satan the devil.

V-10 – And the devil – verse 10 – that deceived them was cast into – not the, but a – lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet – not are – they are not burning alive – that would help with the heaven and hell notion – but they were cast a thousand years earlier. We already noticed that in Revelation 19, right? And shall be tormented day and night for ever. So, as an object lesson, as I mentioned a little earlier, God will somehow take Satan and the demons and pass them through a type of the lake of fire – they will not be harmed by that run through there – and placed into where? Well, they are going to be placed in outer darkness.

Let's go back to Jude – one chapter here – Jude. First I want to touch on verse 6. Jude 6 – if you want to say Jude 1:6, that's fine – Jude verse 6.

Jude 1:6 – And the angels which did not keep their first estate. You may own some real estate here on this earth. Well, the great real estate that they had the privilege to take care of was this earth. They didn't keep it, but they left their own habitation. We see that in Isaiah 14, trying to throw God off His throne, and he has reserved in everlasting chain – or restraint – under darkness – away from light, unto the judgment of the great day. So this is going to take place immediately before the Great White Throne Judgment, when billions of people are going to be resurrected for their opportunity and for their day of salvation.

The verse I want to bring your attention to refers to, symbolically, Satan and the demons – in verse 13. He's mixing metaphors here.

V-13 – ...raging waves of the sea. So if you're at the Atlantic Ocean, or the more peaceful – that's what it means – Pacific Ocean, you might not see the raging waves of the sea, if you happen to be out at sea. When I was in the Navy we spent 44 days at one point out at sea. Now it seemed to be pretty calm out there, but once in a while, we would go on the edge of a typhoon and you could see raging waves of the sea. So it is symbolism here, having to do, almost, like a dog foaming at the mouth. I don't know if you've ever seen that, I'm sure a lot of you have. But this is the way that it is characterized. Next two words: wandering stars. So those are wandering former angels – Satan and the demons – to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

There is a curious place, back in Isaiah 50:3, which talks about that the earth, or rather the heavens, are wrapped into a sackcloth and there is darkness outside of that. Not going to go there, just some thoughts about this: The point is that Satan and the demons are not going to be around light. You can see the end of Revelation 22, that shows they are not going to be around light. They are not going to be around heavenly Jerusalem. They are not going to be around God's people, who have been made into spirit beings.

Now how can this knowledge about terrorism build our faith? Well, let's take a look at 2 Peter 3 – a scripture we're pretty familiar with. It says:

2 Peter 3:18 – But grow in grace – that is a state of being. This is 2 Peter 3:18. So God inspired Peter to write, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, that we should grow. So we have an opportunity to grow. We grow in a world that is evil. We are surrounded by evil. Evil pervades this earth. But within this context, you and I have the opportunity to grow in a state of grace – unmerited pardon that gives to us. Within that, we are going to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So this is part of what I wanted to address. And I am addressing, about how knowledge about terrorism and the end of terrorism can actually build our faith – just the knowledge of God. Let's take a look at Romans 10. Here God is showing us, through Paul, about the ministry – the called ministry. Their feet are beautiful, because they walked a lot in those days. And then inserted here, in verse 16, this idea that:

Romans 10:16 – But they have not all obeyed the gospel,even though they've had the gospel preached to them. For Isaiah said, “Lord, who has believed our report?” That's a pretty important question. And the answer for us is in the next verse. So then faith – your faith, my faith…. What is faith? Faith is what you know, not what you don't know. You cannot know certain things, of course, and you go forward, because you know enough about what God has promised you and me, and how faithful He is, and you can believe Him. That's faith in what God tells us. So then faith – we're doing it here today – this verse fits in this context as well as any other context possible – so then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So as we read the truth of God, the will of God, the way of God, His word, then our faith is increased. And this, through faith, is how we are able to overcome terrorism in the world today. We don't have to worry about what's going to take place.

Now of course, you can carry this all the way out. Let's take a look for example in Hebrews 11. Paul has enumerated a number of saints that preceded New Testament saints, and he mentions them everywhere, from Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham. He drops down to Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and so on. And he talks about their conduct, their character and their unwavering faith. Verse 33:

Hebrews 11:33 – …who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions – of course, you and I can immediately think of Daniel – quenched the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong. I think of…I've forgotten his name now – Gideon. Remember what Gideon was asked by God? I've appointed you and here's what you are going to do, so be strong. And Gideon is looking around saying, “Me?” Because he was hiding in the winepress – trying to take care of getting some grain – and he was hiding and God says, “You're going to be strong and very courageous.” …out of weakness were made strong – verse 34:
V-34 – waxed valiant in fight, turned the armies of the aliens.

V-35 – women received their dead raised to life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance – which fits in with Dr. Fouch's sermonette, because, if I'm not mistaken – I think I got this point – where we – these are my words – where, if you're close enough to God, and you understand what God is all about, you're not going to be so concerned about your physical life. You'll be very concerned about your spiritual, divine life. But that's where we're headed. You know that. You've got to be able to think about that.

When I was in the Navy – actually before I was baptized – I became a conscientious objector. And the US Navy and the government didn't like that at all. They said, “We own you.” I said, “You own me to a point.” And they said, “No, we own you entirely. You'll do everything I say – or that we say.” So I refused to break the Sabbath. And they said, “Oh, you're going to work on that day.” And I said, “I refuse to carry a rifle.” And they said, “Oh no, you'll go ahead and pick up one of those.” And I said, “No, I won't.” So I was interrogated, busted to captains mast. If any of you have been in the Navy, you know what that's all about. And they threatened to shoot me and kill me. That was almost a relief. And then they put me in jail, which is called a brig in the Navy. That probably doesn't mean a lot to a lot of us, because I believe the truth of God.

At that point we had no church in Hawaii. We had no minister in Hawaii. So my ministers were, who do you think they were? Two – God the Father and Christ. I spent a lot of time on my knees begging God. I had no one to turn to. And the attorney on the base said, “I hope war breaks out, because I personally want to be there when we shoot you as a traitor.” I said, “Well, thank you.” He said, “What do you think of that?” I said, “I don't think very much of it. I don't agree with you.”

We have got to come to a point in our lives – and we will, because Christ will work with us – where we are going to have the attitude that these people did. We're not going to be so concerned. It's not that we can't be concerned about our families, our wives, our husbands – taking care of them. That's all good, but push comes to shove and you get down to a point where God's going to allow you and me to have to face our mortality in the context of having eternal life. That's when we say, “We're going to do that.”

Latter part of verse 35:

Verse 35 – that they might obtain a better resurrection – that's what they were looking to – being raised from the dead. It depends on how we look at life. What's most important to us? Football? Basketball? Whatever it might be – and I like them both – entertainment out here in the world – whatever it might be, whatever thing that we like – cars, houses? And there is nothing wrong with those, but they can become greater than the resurrection to life eternal.

So God tells us that knowledge builds faith. The just shall live by faith. We find that in Hebrews 10:38-39. Without faith, we can't please God. So since I've run short of time, and I've taught a lot of people that when you run short of time, quit. I'm going to give you my conclusion. I'll keep it short. But I do want to give you these verses. Revelation 3. This is what you and I can look to – it's not the only place in the Bible where this comes about – where you can actually see this. I call this the Philadelphian attitude, which has to do with the brotherly love attitude, which is a fulfillment of the last six of the Ten Commandments. And if you have that attitude, you're automatically going to be putting God first, so that takes care of the top four. The first four address loving God with all your heart, your soul, and your mind, as Jesus said in Matthew 22, I believe it is. And the last six are like unto it. You love your neighbor as yourselves. So if you have this attitude, here's what God says you'll be doing – in Revelation 3:8.

Revelation 3:8 – I know your works. Behold, I've set before you an open door – that is Christ – no man – no human being – can shut it. You have a little strength – don't be worried about numbers. Part of the nuance of the meaning of the word strength has to do with numbers. It's not everything. It has to do with miracles. But if you have fewer people doing fewer miracles, that's contrasted against a lot of people doing a lot of miracles. A little strength – don't be bothered by that, few in number kept my word – which refers directly to the commandments of God – and you have not denied my name. We don't look to human beings. We look to God. Christ is the head of the church. He wants to know that and, because of that, verse 10 – don't have to worry about terrorism – just remember this – because you have kept the word of my patience. That phrase, word of my patience, also can be called the command that I have given you - My command for you to endure. What does it say in Matthew 24:13? He that endures to the end, the same shall be saved. This is what you see here. No matter what, the attitude of the Philadelphian is one that honors God, and knows that Christ is the head, and keeps the commandments of God. Because you have kept the word of my patience – the command to endure – I also will keep you from – I'll shorten it - the great tribulation. The hour, as God looks at it – short period of time in the way He looks at it – a trial, which shall come upon the whole world – on the world, which shows the scope – in order to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Okay. Now let's take a look at Psalm 91:7 and Proverbs 28:1 and I'll sit down. Now, let's take a look at Psalm 91. First of all, with the faith of Jesus Christ, we know that when Jesus Christ tells us He will preserve us and deliver a certain number of His people, He's going to do it. We can know that. That's strong in our thinking.

Let's go back to Psalms. I thought I had it here, I don't. Psalms…I believe it is 91, verse 7. I was speaking in Atlanta last week and an elder in the Atlanta church…I said, “You know, there's got to be a scripture about such and such,” and he hollered it out. Here it is – Psalm 91:7. Think about the future. Think about some terrible times that are going to come in the future, and you and I can protect ourselves. We can take care of our families – the closer we draw to God, and depend upon Him, and have faith in the promises that He has made.

Psalms 91:7 – A thousand – verse 7, Psalm 91 – shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. But it shall not come near to you.

One last verse – Proverbs 28:1.

Proverbs 28:1 – The wicked flee when no man pursues – notice the latter part of this verse – but the righteous are bold as a lion.

So, we've gone over the history and the prophecy of terrorism and how faith – how our faith – can be built. I hope that we will see the positive side and what God is going to do in the future what He'll do through you and me, so that we can help others escape those terrible things that are going to come.