Paradigm Shift (Part 1)

Thank you very much to the quartet and the beautiful words of that music. I always appreciated Mr. Komodris' songs. I love the harmonies that he writes into them, as well as the lyrics, and very clearly out of Isaiah 9. So appropriate for the time that we are coming into as we come into this fall Holy Day season. So thank you all very much for the beautiful offering to God of music.

Brethren, for the last 6,000 years of human history, we have experienced a world in which Satan has had dominion. After the events that took place in the book of Genesis during the time in the Garden of Eden when Eve was deceived and Adam sinned and partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and their eyes were opened, man has suffered the consequences of his actions. Deception entered the world. Deception entered the world. And truth, that which was real, that which was factual, that which was verifiable, became manipulated and it became distorted. It didn't take long as we see the story progress for conflict and violence, for oppression, injustice, broken relationships and confusion, to become the norms by which society found itself operating. When God looked down on his creation, roughly 1,600 years after Adam, he finds a creation in which every intent of the thoughts of man's heart was upon evil continually. Scripture records that God regretted his creation. He regretted his creation. The Hebrew word is yinachem, which translates as regretful, sorrowful or sorry. God purposed that he would destroy man and beast, he would destroy all creeping things and bird, for he deeply regretted his efforts in bringing them into existence. By that point in human history, the entire world had bought what Satan was selling. The entire world had bought what Satan was selling, save Noah, who found grace in the eyes of God. But that framework, that way of thinking, that thought process, that expression of those thoughts had become mankind's paradigm. They had become the paradigm with which society operated, the model, the pattern by which the society functioned. It became a way of thought and a way of expression that mankind accepted. It had become normalized. As we understand from Scripture, it was not God's design. The concept of a paradigm, at least conceptually, has been around far longer than the modern definition. It was a term, actually, that was defined in the early 1960s by an American historian and philosopher named Thomas Kuhn. Thomas Kuhn used the term to define a fundamental framework, a certain specific way of thinking that served as a standard or a model for understanding the world or a particular field. In that sense, think of a paradigm as like our default setting, so to speak. I told Matt earlier today that fly was going to find its way up here and it was going to bug me all services long. I knew it. I told Matt what was going to happen was it was going to land right on the end of my nose and that big screen that's up there is going to get me going, hmm, like this. Somebody is going to get a picture of it.

I knew that's what's going to happen. This concept of a paradigm, it's been around for a long time. It's like a default setting, so to speak, when it comes to our societal norms, when it comes to our worldview. For example, Thomas Kuhn used it in the lens of scientific progress, scientific change. Prior to the 1540s, for example, so prior to the 1540s, we understood as a society, as a people, as mankind, the Earth and the Sun to interact geocentrically, with the Earth at the center of the universe, all the known planets, moons, the Sun revolving then around that. That was the model that was put forth at that point in time by Ptolemy, known as the Ptolemaic model, and it was the model that was accepted by virtually all of science at that point in time. That Ptolemaic model was our paradigm.

That was how we understood the world. That was the system of thought and expression, and it was entrenched in the scientific community at the time. But that model represented the fundamental framework or way of thinking that served as our standard model for understanding the world around us. It was at the time backed by the Catholic Church. It was accepted as objective truth. And it wasn't until Copernicus and Galileo introduced an alternative model of understanding, and more and more empirical evidence began to be heaped up that illustrated the inaccuracies of that model that the paradigm shifted. It wasn't until those things took place that the paradigm began to shift. And interestingly, you probably know this story from your time in science classes, but Copernicus recognized that that model was so entrenched that he published his work essentially on his deathbed because he knew the firestorm that was going to come from the information that he put forth. Galileo was actually forced to recant his beliefs under inquisition. He was forced to recant his beliefs that the sun, that the earth rather, rotated around this or revolved rather around the sun. But he was forced to recant those beliefs under inquisition. He was confined to house arrest by expressing his conclusions or as a result of expressing his conclusions. According to Kuhn, for the paradigm to shift, for that underlying framework to shift, it requires anomalies to be discovered that are in opposition to the existing paradigm. Things come up that contradict the existing paradigm, kind of contradict the status quo, and then that begins to be questioned. Alternate theories emerge that challenge that dominant paradigm, and eventually one of those new theories is accepted as the new paradigm. We go back into the story of mankind. Unfortunately, Noah's protection and deliverance, the deliverance of those on the Ark from the fate of the rest of creation, did not result in a new paradigm in human society. The same issues, the same problems which God observed in man during the life of Noah—this time God having entered into covenant with his creation to never again destroy it in a flood—these things did not stop the brokenness of human relationships.

It didn't stop the conflict, the violence, the oppression, the injustice, or the confusion which has continued from that time down through human history to us today. Mankind has been living under the same paradigm for the past 6,000 years of human history. And it is a paradigm which has brought horrific violence, injustice, hatred, division into human society.

It is a paradigm which must fall. It is a paradigm which must fall and must be replaced with a new paradigm. We're going to spend some time in the next few sermons looking at this concept of a paradigm. We're going to look at the current paradigm. We're going to look at the coming shift that is coming, and ultimately the new paradigm, in order to be able to understand the necessity for these holy days, these upcoming holy days, for mankind. For those of you that appreciate titles, the title of the sermon today is Paradigm Shift, and we're defining today the paradigm. So Paradigm Shift, the paradigm. And this message will serve as a part one. Let's begin today by turning over to the book of 2 Corinthians.

The book of 2 Corinthians. This paradigm has continued throughout human history because the fundamental root of this brokenness, this conflict, this violence, this oppression, and this injustice, this distortion and the manipulation of the truth, has remained in dominion and authority over this earth. 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4. We're going to go ahead and pick it up in verse 1. Here is the Apostle Paul is writing in this follow-up epistle to the people of Corinth as he describes the root issue of mankind's paradigm. How we got here, essentially. Why we are in the place that we are in today. Why this confusion and hatred and division is so prevalent in the world around us today. 2 Corinthians 4, and we'll pick it up in verse 1. We're going to break into the Apostle Paul's thoughts here. He says, Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But even, he says, if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. So Paul here describes a spiritual battle. He describes a battle between deception and between truth. A battle that has been going on since the beginning.

A battle between deception and the truth. And he states that those who have received this ministry, and in this case, the ministry of the Spirit that he's referencing in 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 8, so this ministry of the Spirit in 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 8, he says that they have received mercy. In fact, they've not lost heart. He says, Despite the opposition of the world around them to the word of Christ, those who received that ministry collectively renounced the hidden things of shame. They weren't walking in craftiness.

They weren't walking and handling the word of God deceitfully. Instead, Paul says, they were walking by manifestation of the truth. Notice the words that Paul uses here. Notice the way that he crafts this. He says, hidden. He says, craftiness. He says, deceitfully.

These are things that by nature are obscured. These are words that by nature describe an obscuring, a hiding, a covering over. Things that are twisted, perhaps. Things that are purposefully concealed. The Greek word that Paul uses here for manifestation is from the root fanarou. It's from fanarou and it means to make known. It means to make plain. It means to reveal and to bring to light. We might say, bring the truth to bear. So what Paul is saying is these who have received this ministry, these bondservants of Christ, they underwent this battle in the first century against the darkness of that existing paradigm at the time to bring the truth of God to light, to reveal the truth which was hidden, which was concealed, which was deceitfully covered up.

As he describes this challenge, Paul acknowledges there were those who would not hear. He acknowledges that there were individuals to whom that gospel was veiled. That gospel was covered up. It was hidden. It was concealed. And he explains that it is because the God of this age, Satan the devil, has obscured, has hidden, or has ultimately concealed that gospel by blinding their minds to the truth of God, by blinding their minds to the truth, that as a result of Satan's deception, because of that blindness, because of their inability to see, they were incapable of seeing the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They were blinded. Brethren, there is a lot more to deception than just telling a lie. There's a lot more to deception than just telling a lie. Satan doesn't just tell lies to create this paradigm that we've experienced for the past 6,000 years. He also creates the environment in which the lie becomes normal, in which the lie becomes accepted, in which the lie becomes the truth, in which the lie becomes normal, in which the lie becomes something that we don't at times in society even recognize as a lie anymore.

In a sense, it's a paradigm that Satan has built is an illusion. It's a very complicated, very effective illusion, but it's an illusion. It's not reality. It's not the truth. It's not what God's plan is, but as a result of the incredible detail of the illusory environment that he has built, it has absolutely become the reality for the majority. It has become the reality for the majority. Satan is responsible for creating a society in which a mention of the truth, mere mention of something that might shatter the illusion brings mockery, brings vitriol, and sadly brings violence.

Satan created an environment where those lies are not just believable and accepted. Those lies make up the very fabric of the illusion. They are the threads that weave together the illusion that he's built. Let's turn to John 8. John 8. Jesus Christ addresses this idea of truth, and he does so through a conversation with a group of gathered Pharisees. So he goes through this process in a conversation with a group of gathered Pharisees in John 8.

And shortly before the exchange that we're going to read here in John 8, the Pharisees accused Christ of providing an untrue or an invalid witness of his identity. And that interaction comes after Christ's statement in John 8 and verse 12. So you can take a look at John 8 and verse 12 if you'd like to see the words that Christ stated. John 8 and verse 12, Christ makes the statement, I am the light of the world.

He says, He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Okay, the Pharisees took exception to that, as they often did when Christ said something. But they took exception to that. Christ is referring back to the prophecies that are outlined in Isaiah 9. He's referring back to the prophecies that those gathered listening at this time, these Pharisees, would have been very familiar with.

They would have known these prophecies. In fact, these prophecies are the reason that there were so many Pharisees in and around the area of Galilee, because they were there awaiting the coming of Messiah. When they came back from Babylon, they settled in this area because Isaiah 9 and other locations got at this idea that the Messiah would come to the lands of Zebulun and Naphthaliah, that He would come to Galilee of the Gentiles, where those who walked in darkness would see a great light. And Jesus Christ, in John 8 and verse 12, just told the Pharisees, I am that light.

I am that light. And those who follow Me will not walk in darkness, but they will have the light of life. And the Pharisees went, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what did you just say?

And they start grilling Him. And that's John 8. They start grilling Him. Who's your father?

Wait a minute. Go back. Who's your, what's your genealogy? Who are you? Where are you from? Down the line, they go here as they pepper Him with questions and accuse Him of making an invalid and an untrue witness and testimony. That claim was one that the Pharisees rejected. Ultimately, they accused Him again of this untrue witness. And He goes back and forth as they drill Him.

Why did they respond in such a way? Because in making the statement that Christ made in verse 12, and ultimately the statement that He would make more definitively in verse 58, He stated the truth.

Christ came out and said a truthful statement that He was the Messiah. He was the very being that the Jews were waiting for. He had come to exactly where He said He was going to come. He came to the lands of Zebulun and Naphthaliah. He came to Galilee of the Gentiles, and He brought a light that shone brightly in the darkness. Everything that Jesus Christ said was true. There wasn't a lie. There wasn't a deception in His words. He was the light of the world that the prophecies in Isaiah 9 spoke of. And the things that He was doing came from the Father. Let's grab it in verse 31 of John 8. We'll kind of pick up a little bit further down here with the with this specific section.

John 8 and verse 31. Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him. So there were some that were listening in this crowd who believed Him. He said, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And He says those who abide in His word, those who are His disciples, verse 32, will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. You will know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered, and we're Abraham's descendants. We've never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered them, most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

Therefore, if the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Verse 37, He says, I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Notice His words. But you seek to kill me. You seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have seen with your Father. They answered Him, and they said to Him, Abraham is our Father. They go back to genealogy. Abraham is our Father. And Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham didn't do that. He says, Abraham didn't do this. You do the deeds of your Father, He tells those Pharisees that are gathered. And then they said to Him, we were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God. You know, there's a lot in this interaction.

There's a lot in this interaction between these Pharisees and Christ. The word that He uses in Greek to describe truth in verse 31 is the Greek word aletheia. It's the Greek word aletheia. And it translates in English, in and to, true or truth. But in classical Greek, there's additional shades of meaning in this word. This word was used in Greek, classical Greek in particular, to describe reality. It was used to describe the opposite of an illusion. So if somebody were to, I don't know, play an illusion on you, a little sleight of hand or something along those lines, aletheia would be the reality behind that illusion. The illusion is the illusion, aletheia is the reality. It meant something that was real. It meant something that was objective fact, and it meant, in classical Greek, something that was revealed that was previously hidden.

Something revealed that was previously hidden. And so Christ here is explaining to the Pharisees that the reality, the reality regarding who He was, the reality of what He was doing during His ministry, that reality would break the illusion. That reality would shatter the fabric of this illusion.

It would put a glitch in the matrix, so to speak, if we want to use that term from more modern references. It would put a glitch in the matrix.

The truth would be an anomaly that pushed back against that paradigm, and it broke down that illusion. But what Christ told them was they didn't actually have a place in them for the truth.

So they didn't have a place in them. In verse 37, He says, you seek to kill me because my word, the truth, He says, has no place in you. You chose the illusion, and you seek to kill the one who has the power to shatter it. The one who revealed that reality, the one who would bring freedom from sin and from bondage to that very illusion. Christ goes on the offensive in verse 42. Verse 42, He goes on the offensive. Jesus said to them, if God were your Father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of myself.

But He sent me. Verse 43, why do you not understand my speech? Because you're not able to listen to my word. He says, you are of your Father, the devil, and the desires of your Father you want to do.

He says, you're of your Father, the devil, and the desires of your Father, that's what you want to do.

He was a murderer from the beginning, and He does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in Him. There is no truth in Him. When He speaks a lie, He speaks from His own. You'll notice in your Bible the word resources is likely italicized. It's because it wasn't there in the original text. They're adding a word, in a sense, to try to clarify the statement.

But when He speaks a lie, He speaks from His own. We'll talk about that in just a minute.

For He is a liar, and He is a father of it. Verse 45, but because I tell the truth, He says, you don't believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? Verse 47, He says, He who is of God hears God's words.

Therefore, you do not hear, because you are not of God. He tells the Pharisees, if God were really your Father, as you've claimed, then you would love Me. But it's clear that God is not your Father.

He says, why can't you understand what I'm saying? Why can't you listen to My word? He says, if God were your Father, you would hear the things I'm saying. He says, but you don't hear them.

There's no room in them for you. And He says, because you were of your Father, the devil.

And it's ultimately His desires that you want to do. Now, what were those desires? What was it that the Pharisees wanted? They wanted Christ dead. They wanted Him dead, and they wanted Him out of the way.

Because He represented the ability to shatter their hold in that sense.

He says, why can't you hear Me? Why can't you listen to My word?

Satan's desires were to take Christ out, to silence His message, to stop the disciples and their mission as they spoke against the paradigm. Christ points out Satan was a murderer from the beginning. He doesn't stand in truth. He doesn't stand in reality, in the true reality, because there's no reality in Him. There's no truth in Him. He says, when He speaks lies, He speaks from His own. He speaks from His own nature, His own character, His own resources.

That's why they've used that word and added that word, because He is a liar, and He is the Father of it. The Pharisees couldn't hear because they were not of God. Their mind had been blinded by the God of this age. He'd been blinded by their Father, the creator of this existing paradigm.

And they were upholding the existing paradigm. You know, most of us have never experienced blindness, at least not physically. Some of us, maybe there was a time in our lives in which we experienced spiritual blindness before our calling, but most of us have not experienced physical blindness, had not experienced those things. Have you ever experienced, how many of you have ever experienced being blindfolded? Having like an actual dart, something tied around where you can't, okay, so you'll at least understand this basic analogy. There was a number of years ago, back when I was teaching, that I ran a STEM program at the school that I taught at, STEM, science, technology, engineering, and math. So it was an engineering-based program, essentially, at the school that I taught at that was affiliated with OIT in Portland State University. And each year, this group that ran this program, they would choose a specific real-world problem, and then they would pitch that real-world problem, real-world problem, to our group of engineering kids, basically, and say, look, engineer a solution for this problem. Here's this real-world thing. You guys figure out how you're going to come at this and solve this particular issue. We did one year, had to engineer a prosthetic arm that could go through a certain set of traits, or a certain set of trials, so to speak, and these kids engineered it, built it, programmed the Arduino, like the whole thing. The year that I'm referencing here, our issue was blindness. And they brought us to Portland State University at the beginning of the year to kind of, you know, kind of pitch the issue. And what they were looking for was ways to leverage technology to improve the daily life of someone who dealt with blindness.

And so they put us through cane training. I mean, they blindfolded us. They put us with these glasses that changed the way that we saw things, depth perception and macular degeneration, where you could only see through certain portions of things, or on the outside of things. We went through all these processes to understand these different aspects of blindness. If you've ever experienced being blindfolded, it's kind of a debilitating experience. It's kind of a debilitating experience. And for those of you that are like even a little bit claustrophobic, it was probably a little claustrophobic for you. Because as soon as that sense of vision, that sense of sight, which is one of our primary senses in humans, is gone, it makes it a real challenge to navigate your surroundings. Makes it a real challenge to navigate your surroundings. They blindfolded us and put us through cane training, you know, the long cane training, thankfully in a controlled environment, not on the streets of Portland, because it's harder than it looks. It's a lot harder than it looks to see elevated platforms, to see things that are going to catch your feet, or you're going to run your head into. You know, I was taller than most of the participants, so like I'm running into stuff all over the place. I remember having to very carefully walk and have my hands out in front of me, or the cane out in front of me as I was sweeping it back and forth, just trying to find things that were going to cause me harm. Every now and again, you kind of grope with your hands in front of you, trying to determine what it was you'd walked up to. You know, you'd think that your sense of touch is pretty advanced, and that you can tell what things are. Once you close your eyes, you'd be surprised. You know, you'd be very surprised how much your vision ultimately is involved with things. But try to kind of trace the door jam down to try to find the doorknob, and the doorknob's way further from the door jam than you would think it is. You're going, it should be like right there!

Oh, it's over here! You know, once that blindfold was removed, suddenly now everything's normal again.

But I know there were times they had us go through and pick things up out of this bin while we were blindfolded, and try to identify the object. You know how hard that is? You pick it up, and you can feel it in your hands, and it feels like something you think it is, and you think it's what you think it is, and then they take the blindfold off, and it's something totally different. You know, I wouldn't have known the truth of what was in my hands until they took the blindfold off. I would have continued to believe that what I thought that was was what it was. Until they took the blindfold off. Brethren, what if the blindfold was never removed? What if you thought that that thing that you had in your hand was the thing you thought it was, and it really wasn't? And you never had the opportunity to find out, because that blindfold's still on, and it's still present. How would you know? How would you understand that what you thought you held was what it was? Whether it's an illusion, so to speak, or whether it's reality. Whether it's the real thing that you think it is, or whether it's just what you perceive it to be. The only way to know is the removal of that blindfold, or for someone else to tell you that what you have in your hands is this thing. How do you know they're telling you the truth? No. God's calling has revealed truth to us. God has removed that blindfold, and we've been given the ability to see through the illusion to what is real, to the reality, to what God intended. And that revelation, brethren, is much bigger than just the Sabbath, and the Holy Days, and the food laws. Those are important. I don't want to minimize, but it's much bigger than that. That truth is much bigger than that. It is the ability to see and to understand God's very nature, to see and to understand God's very character, to see what the reality of this world was intended to be before mankind fell for the lie. It allows us to see the expectation that God has of us becoming like Him, operating in love and peace and kindness and gentleness. I was actually just talking with someone just yesterday about this concept of truth and how we tend to, when we talk about, quote-unquote, the truth, we tend to limit that definition. We limit it to a certain subsect of doctrine. We tend to look at these specific things, and that's, quote-unquote, the truth. And we determine that if we have the truth, quote-unquote, then we're absolved somehow of the rest of it. That if we have these small subsective things, it doesn't really matter how we treat other people. It doesn't really matter what we say to others. It doesn't really matter how we perceive those things, because we have, quote-unquote, the truth.

Brethren, the truth is a package deal. The truth, the truth of God is a package deal. We don't get to just check the box on a handful of revealed doctrines that we recognize as revealed and restored and expect somehow that we are golden. It requires a transformed heart. It requires a converted mind. It requires a reflection of godly character. The truth is a package deal, and it is the antithesis to the illusion. It is the antithesis to the illusion. Turn with me, please, to Ephesians 4 and verse 15. Ephesians 4 and verse 15. We're given an imperative in Ephesians 4.

We're given an imperative in Ephesians 4 that the truth with which we speak must also be accompanied by something critical. Ephesians 4 and verse 15. We'll grab it in... oh, fine. I guess we'll go back to 12, 11, 7, 1. Ephesians 4 verse 1. I'm kidding. I'm joking. We won't go that far back.

Let's go back to 11, though. Ephesians 4 verse 11. Just to get the context, he says, He himself gave some to the apostles, prophets, evangelists, some pastors, teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry and for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So all these things are designed to bring us to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That's development.

That's growth spiritually. That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery, the deceitfulness of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. But, verse 15, speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ, and then from whom the whole body joined in it together by whatever joint supplies according to the effect of working, by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Brethren, we're given an imperative. We must speak truth. Period. We must speak truth. But we must ensure that that truth, we can't just forget the last part and the latter part, latter part of that statement. We must speak that truth in love. Now, that does not mean we shy away from speaking truth. But it means that in the method by which we do so, we are doing it out of love for that individual, not out of our own, you know, desire to see someone get what's theirs or vice versa. But that we are doing that in order to ensure that that person is loved. Sometimes truth hurts. Sometimes truth is painful. Sometimes true things, even when spoken in love, feel like a slap in the face. Do you know why that is? Because it's true. And because the Word of God and the Spirit of God are two convicting agents in our lives. And so when we hear it, yeah, we go, oh, that hurt. That hurt a little. It doesn't mean it's not true. And it doesn't mean that it's not loving. Truth and love is critical combined together in that way.

But rather than that is why truth is so critical. It is the antithesis of this illusion. You know, we live in a world of AI. We live in a world of how do you even know what's true half the time?

You know, AI is reaching a point where it can almost approximate a photo to the point that the average person can't tell the difference. We're at the point now where some people can't tell the difference. But the reality is we're not there yet. You can still tell. Theirs tells. Always look at the hands, although they've fixed that. Used to be any AI-generated photo had six fingers or seven fingers. They could never figure out fingers on hands. They've trained it. Now they can figure out fingers and they look like our hands. So it's so unbelievably critical for us to be people of truth, to be manifestations of truth, as Paul wrote, right? That we reveal truth. And that means we don't get caught up in things that are not true, or that we can't verify, or that we're not certain of and decide we're going to say it or post it or do it anyway. Truth matters. It matters. We have to be known as manifestations of truth. Unfortunately, when you kind of consider where we are today, we're living in a society in which that paradigm, the same paradigm that's been around in human society for the last 6,000 years has continued. You know, you fast forward 6,000 years of human history, and we're in a place in which this paradigm is still here. Satan is still, for a time, the ruler of this world. He is still, for a time, the prince of the power of the air. He is still, again, for a time, the god of this age. And he does have temporary dominion and temporary authority over this earth. We live in a world in which the minds of many are blinded. They are blinded to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They cannot hear. They have not been called. Their eyes have not been opened, so to speak. They can't necessarily hear.

Turn with me, please, to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59. These words in Isaiah were written to the people of Israel in the 8th century BC, kind of amid this looming threat of Assyria, which would ultimately conquer the northern kingdom in 722, and then ultimately threaten the southern kingdom before Babylon would conquer them 136 years later. Isaiah 59, what we see enumerated for us in Scripture, is the consequence of unchecked sin. We see the consequence of a nation in which sin, godlessness, lawlessness, went unchecked. And it doesn't matter if that sin was intentional. It doesn't matter if it was unintentional. It's sin. It's transgression. But we see the consequence of this upon people. Isaiah 59 enumerates it, gives us an understanding here of what has happened.

Isaiah 59, verse 1, says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But, verse 2, your iniquities have separated you from your god. Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. Keep in mind, Isaiah speaking here to the nation of Israel and ultimately the nation of Judah. Right? The situation that they are experiencing as a result of the events taking place during Isaiah's time frame. But he says, your iniquities have separated you from your god. Your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. It says, verse 3, your hands are defiled with blood, your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies. Your tongue has muttered perversity.

No one calls for justice, nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words, and they speak lies. They conceive evil. They bring forth iniquity. They hatch viper eggs and weave the spider's web.

He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed, a viper breaks out. Their webs will not become garments, nor will they cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity. The act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil. They make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts or thoughts of iniquity, wasting and destruction, are in their paths. The way of peace, the way of peace they have not known. There is no justice in their ways.

They have made themselves crooked paths. It says, whoever takes that way shall not know peace.

Again, this is written to ancient Israel. It's written to ancient Judah. But these words are as applicable to us today as Satan has continued to drive a wedge into the relationship between the Creator and His creation. As we see a society around us that becomes increasingly agnostic, increasingly atheistic, willfully rejecting Christianity, turning towards, might even argue, various forms of modern paganism, this is the effect. This is what we see. We see a nation.

We see a people, a society, humanity that is separated from their God. As a result of their sins, as a result of their hands being defiled with blood and iniquity, the lips that have spoken lies, the tongues that have muttered perversity, calls for true justice, the truth they're not expressed. Instead, we see calls for justice that's perverted to their own gain.

Works for iniquity, violence in the hands. The list just goes on. He goes on in verse 9.

Says, therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us. We look for light, but there is darkness. We look for brightness, but we walk in blackness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noon day as in twilight. We are as dead men in desolate places. We all growl like bears and moan sadly like doves. We look for justice, but there is none, for salvation, but it's far from us. Our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are with us. As far as our iniquities, we know them in transgression and lying against the Lord and departing from our gods, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

Justice is turned back. Righteousness stands afar off, for truth is fallen in the street.

And an equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

Because of this, it says justice is far from us. We look for light, and there's darkness. We look for brightness, but we walk in blackness. We grope the wall like the blind as though we don't have eyes. Like we don't even have eyes. Not that we're blind. We don't have them. That's kind of what it's getting at. We stumble in noonday, just as it were twilight. Isaiah is speaking on behalf of the people of Israel. He's acknowledging their sins. He's acknowledging their transgression, their lies against God, their departure from him, the oppression, revolt, justice being turned back.

It says truth. The very reality of God is fallen in the street. Equity can't enter, and so truth fails. Notice the latter part of verse 15. He who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

Him who turns from evil, him who walks away from evil, makes himself prey. That they will seek that person out. You know, these words describe the world in which we live today, just as accurately as they describe the world in which Isaiah brought his prophecies to the Israelite nation 2,700 years ago. Brethren, the paradigm is the same. We live in a society in which deception is normal.

The lie is accepted as truth. The illusion has become the reality for so many. We live in a society in which oppression and injustice are all too common, where violence and war and the antithesis of peace has become commonplace. Somebody cuts you off in traffic? Fantastic.

Jam on your brakes? Jump out of your car? Scream? Yell? Break their window? Drag them out of their car and beat them senseless? Yes, that's the acceptable response in the paradigm.

Someone says something you disagree with. Release their address online. Go to their home. Vandalize it. Threaten their family. If you have an opportunity for violence, take it. That's the accepted response in the paradigm. Hold people responsible for the words that they've said forever.

That's an acceptable response in the paradigm. We've been called to something so much more, and this world has been called to so much more. They just don't realize it yet. In some ways, this violence, this hatred, this division, this anger, this vitriol, they're all acceptable responses in the paradigm. And in some ways, this becomes normal.

We hear reports of violence. We hear reports of war, injustice, evil, and the like on our evening news.

We see it happen in real time on social media platforms. We see the fallout. We see the arguments. We see the celebrations. It's just another day in the paradigm. Just another day in the paradigm. Pundits get on TV. They try to justify their position. They try with every fiber of their being to uphold the paradigm, to uphold the illusion in the face of truth.

Brethren, let's turn over to the beginning of the book of Isaiah, because we're seeing this passage happening in real time today. We're seeing this passage in real time today. Isaiah 5.

Isaiah 5 in verse 20. We'll begin in verse 20. This was an issue in ancient Israel. It was something that they were judged and were taken captive for, and quite frankly, it's an issue today in our world as well. Isaiah 5 in verse 20. It says, Woe to those who call evil good and who call good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Societally, we continue to see those who defend evil, who claim that evil is good, and paint those who operate in accordance with truth of the Bible while they're evil. They're not enlightened. That's a medieval position.

How could they possibly say something like that? We're so much more advanced than we used to be.

How could they possibly say something like that? There are those who will call that which is light, darkness, and those who will call that which is darkness, light, who call bitter sweet and sweet bitter. There is a delusion present in this paradigm. There's a delusion. There's a deception that is present which changes the viewpoint of the individual to then align themselves with the illusion. Now, for a number of years here in the United States, and quite frankly across the world, the divisions have been growing. I was not alive in the mid to late 1960s. Many of you probably remember it well, the mid to late 60s. But I would venture a guess that we're living in a nation today that has not been as divided since. That we are living in a nation in which the divisions that we are experiencing now have not been as divided as they were up to the 1960s. And I think the events of this past couple of weeks have illustrated and highlighted that divide even more starkly. You know, this issue is not Democrat versus Republican. It's not liberal versus conservative. This battle is spiritual. This battle is spiritual. As politics have become less involved with roads and infrastructure and laws and implementation of laws, and have begun to try to legislate morality, in a sense. It's as though the government has come on over into the effects of the spiritual. And sometimes those lines blur. But the battle is between right and wrong. It's between deception and truth. It's between morality and immorality. It's between the illusion and reality.

It's between the paradigm that Satan has created and has upheld and has driven through his deception and the paradigm with which the world will experience when the truth is revealed and when the truth is poured out upon every corner of this earth. Brethren, this current paradigm is doomed.

The paradigm which we're experiencing now that we're seeing is doomed. As we get closer and closer to the time of this paradigm shift, the events on this earth are going to increase in intensity.

They're going to increase in frequency. And we will see more and more of these things taking place because Satan's time is short. Let's turn over to Revelation 12. You know, this may feel permanent.

You know, the society in which we're in now, it may feel like permanence. It may feel, in some ways, that it's become kind of normal. Which it's not. But it may feel that way because it's so ever present and it's so ubiquitous. It may feel like there's nothing that can be done to stop it, but brethren, its end has already been spelled out. It has already been spelled out. Revelation 12, and we'll pick it up in verse 10. Revelation 12 and verse 10, it says, Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. They did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea. For the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time. He knows that he has a short time. You know, as the coming events of these upcoming fall holy days begin to come to fruition, as we begin to see the time of God's timeline getting shorter and the time to Christ's return getting shorter, Satan's efforts will increase. He knows his time is short, his efforts will increase. And what we will see societally is that sweet will be called bitter with greater frequency and intensity. Good will be called evil and evil will be made to look good. Light will be called darkness and darkness will be called light. And the enlightened position will be brought out.

I've been very heartened in the past few weeks to see the pushback, to see the glitches in the matrix. As people have said, no, this is not okay. This is not acceptable. This is true. This is the truth. This is what it is. And to see the the cracks, so to speak, in that facade begin to kind of become more more present. It's been heartening to see that. But we will see increasing hatred, we'll see increasing violence, we'll begin to see more and more violence directed towards those who speak out for God and for his ways. And when it happens, again, that truth will be painted as the lie and the lie will continue to be painted as truth. There's time coming, however, when this paradigm, this illusion, which has held the world captive for the past 6,000 years, will crumble.

When the true reality of God, of his ways, of his nature, will be revealed not just to a select few, but to the entirety of humankind. And those who have been blinded by the God of this age, those who have not even been able to understand or accept the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will have their minds opened, and they will be receptive to the truth of God. There's a series of events that have to take place before that can happen. A time in which the people of this world will rebel against that change. They will push back against that change and against that truth until the dominion of Satan is rescinded and all authority in dominion are restored to their rightful place.

Rather than the second message in this series, we're going to explore those events. We're going to explore what that looks like and what that paradigm shift that will take place in this world will usher in and ultimately what that new paradigm is. Hope you have a wonderful Sabbath. Looking forward to spending some time with you here tonight, and we'll catch you next time.