Who Is Your God?

Today's sermon is not politically correct. It's going to offend some. I may lose some friends over this. It's going to test you to your limits. It's going to be very difficult for some to hear this message. Why is that? Well, maybe it's because you haven't always listened that closely to what Jesus Christ says. You haven't paid attention to what all He says in the Bible. Many people are very comfortable with some of what He says, but not all.

And many discount or just don't pay attention to everything that Jesus Christ says. Or maybe it's going to be difficult because you don't want to be challenged. And this sermon will be very challenging. If any of those things are the case, you're going to be uncomfortable in the next 60 minutes. But then, you weren't called to be comfortable. Rather to fight, to wrestle, to go through the unpleasantness of seeing faults and sins. Putting that out of your life and to ultimately be an overcomer and one who wins the battle. A winner is one who knows what they stand for. A winner is one who will see it through to the end no matter what.

In today's sermon, I want to ask the big question. Not one of the many questions that goes along with Christian living, but that goes along with being Christ-like in our quest. But the elephant in the living room today, the big one. The issue behind who will be in the kingdom of God and who will not.

Those who will be first fruits in the kingdom and those who will be dismissed. Are you ready? The title of the sermon today is, Who is Your God? Who is Your God? Today we're going to take a look at the very foundation of your existence as a human being. In the years that you've lived on this earth so far, the comfortable place you have as a human being, what is the foundation of that existence you've had? And what is the foundation of the future which God makes available to those who are ultimately His? To begin with, we need to understand a fundamental teaching of the Bible.

And that is, there are only two gods in the universe. They are referred to as fathers. Two fathers. The Greek word for father is pater. P-A-T-E-R. And it's important to understand that. When Jesus Christ said, call no man your father, He's not talking about, don't call anybody the one, the physical progenitor of yourself.

He's saying, don't call anybody your pater. There's only two paters available, really. And certainly, no human is a pater. The Greek definition of pater includes the author of a family or society of persons intimated by the same spirit as himself. So there's two paters who animate their followers by a spirit. I think you can see where we're going with this one. Two who animate others by the same spirit. Another definition is, one who has infused his own spirit into others, who actuates and governs their minds.

So there are two paters, the Bible defines. There are two gods or two fathers available that can influence, that can guide, that can inhabit the minds or affect the minds of humans. These two are broadcasters of two different spirits. You're familiar with John 8 and verse 38.

John 8 verse 38, because I've used this scripture so many times and will continue to do so. Let's go to verse 42. Jesus said to them, If God were your father, the Greek word there is pater, if God were your pater, if he were your originator, if he were the one whose spirit is guiding and controlling you, controlling in the sense of encouraging you, eliciting a certain response from you, you would love me.

For I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come from myself, but he sent me. In verse 44, he said, You are of your pater, the devil. Who's he talking to? He's talking here to the most religious people in Jewish society, and he says the one who is influencing you, guiding you, and whose spirit is motivating you is the devil.

And he wasn't just talking to them. I mean, he was at the time, but that didn't just limit it to that group, as if somehow they were a special situation. But he's talking here to humanity, really. You are of your pater, your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. Why is that? Because it is his spirit. It is his broadcasting mentality and mind that permeates society and civilization, and it's his desires that humans want to do. We'll see this in the book of Ephesians in just a little while.

There's another pater, Matthew 5, verse 44. Jesus also defines this for us. And it's important to know that today I'm not bringing forth personal ideas, but rather I'm going to rely on what Christ the Word teaches us through his Bible. Even though it's uncomfortable, it's important for us to understand. Matthew 5, verse 44 says, But I say to you, love your enemies. Ooh, that's different. Here is a different spirit pushing individuals, encouraging them, inspiring them from a different pater, you see, to do something different.

Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your pater, with a capital P, in heaven. So here we have the two fathers, the two gods. They're defined with two spirits and two outcomes, two reactions. God requires each human to choose his or her pater, the one who influences the God, the one whose spirit motivates.

We are here on this earth knowing that a choice is not only expected, it's demanded by God. We have to choose. And really the sum of our life with the spirit of God's help is the choice that we ultimately make.

We know in 1 Peter 5 verse 8 that Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And that's not a passive thing. Satan is not sort of a passive, well, here it is if you want it. No, he's out to get. He's out to win. He is out to control. Seeking whom he may devour. And that's everyone. That warning went to the church by Peter. That is a given for society, but he wants everyone. Even Jesus said that there will be false deceivers who will deceive possibly, if possible, even the very elect. So the agents of Satan are really going to put the pressure on everyone, including you and me. And it's a constant pressure. We might ask the question, well, where's the lion now?

Well, we think maybe he's in Afghanistan. Maybe he's visiting Turkey today. Could be in the Orient or the South Pacific. Maybe in Canada. Maybe he's just getting back from the North Pole. I don't know. Where could he be? I think the answer to that might just surprise us, because you won't believe where in the world Satan is right now. But we're going to see, because God is going to tell us from the Bible. I have seven points today. Each of these points is going to become more uncomfortable for you than the previous one. It's not going to be your most enjoyable sermon. Okay? But nevertheless, again, let's consider the source of these points and consider that God is true and every man is a liar.

Point number one. Satan is the God of this world.

We know that statement from the Bible. We read it in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 4.

Satan is the God of this world. The world is the Greek word kosmos, which means the society. This world's society has as their God Satan the devil.

To avoid that, to not recognize that, to dispute that, is to dispute the teaching of God. It's not by any private observation we come to this. We are told this from the Bible. In 1 John chapter 5 and verse 19, we are told here by the apostle John, we know that we are of God and the whole world, the cosmos, the entire world, the society, outside of what he's talking about, the firstfruits, the small group of saints, are of God, but the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

That's an amazing statement.

That's a statement that humanly we would get a lot of objections to. That's not politically correct. You know, we have now and then one politician or one religion will call the other something of Satan. But the Bible says the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

In 1 John chapter 3 and verse 8, He who sins is of the devil. You know anybody that sins?

He who sins is of the devil. You might say, well, I thought Christ did away with sin. I thought He died so that sin would be obliterated. And here we find that He who sins is of the devil.

For the devil has sinned from the beginning. So who's a sinner? Actually, all humanity. We can't just point the finger and say, well, it's them. It's those people. It's somebody else who's not in my church, not in my religion, not in my nation, whatever, whatever. All humanity sins, and sin is of the devil. Therefore, all humanity has followed the devil. Satan. And when Jesus said, you are of your father the devil, He spoke to you and to me and to every human being before we repented and changed our way from willing sin to fighting, wrestling sin, repenting of it, and daily being forgiven of it, as we repent and ask God's forgiveness of sin.

Otherwise, otherwise, we remain with Satan as our God. Let's notice Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1 in this context. Ephesians 2 and verse 1. If you like to think, oh, no, no, not me. I was a good person all my life, and I'm just a little more good now.

You know, I've always believed in Jesus, and therefore I'm pretty good to go. I'm just getting better at it. Well, let's see what Paul says in Ephesians 2, verse 1. For those who have repented and come not only the knowledge of God, but repented and are overcoming their sins with the help of God's Holy Spirit, he says, you, He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit which now works in the sons of disobedience. He's talking here to, before a person began a conversion process, we were, as others, walking according to the prince of the power of the air.

The spirit which now works in the son's notice of disobedience. What is disobedience? It's breaking of the law, the holy law of God, which Paul himself said is holy, just, and good.

It is a twisting and an excusing for breaking God's law.

And therefore, Satan is the God of society. You might know how many times in the Bible it says to come out of society, come out of the world, don't be part and parcel with the world, don't have deep relationships, don't be tied, don't be joined together.

Why? Satan is the God of the society. He was our pater. He is the pater of this world.

That brings us to point number two. And as I said, these points get a little more difficult as we go along. But reading right from the Bible, we find the second point.

Satan is the God of so-called Christianity. I told you they were going to get more difficult.

They appear to be churches of Jesus, yet is there any relationship? Let's let Jesus tell us. Matthew 24, verse 4, are the words of Christ where He says, "'Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many.'" Many sounds like more than some.

But when you look at the Greek word, many, here, polus, it also can mean most.

Many means a lot. Mr. Armstrong used to use the term, the many.

The many.

Or, as the Greek polus can mean, most. "'For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive most.'" Now, who could he be referring to? You know, Jesus is a very popular name today. It's not His English name, in fact. The disciples never called Him Jesus, but that's a whole other topic.

Many come and use this name. When Jesus is saying that many will come, saying, I'm the Christ, who could He possibly be referring to? Let's go back to Revelation, chapter 17, because Revelation is His revelation. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ that the Apostle John penned.

Here we come down to the seventh trumpet. The seventh trumpet is the time of the return of Jesus Christ. It's the setting up of His government. It's when the saints are resurrected, and they come riding on white horses with Him. Then one of the seven angels, in verse 1 of Revelation 17, who had the seven bowls, came and talked with Me, saying to Me, now these are the seven angels. They have the seven last plagues. They're about to disperse on humanity as the day of the Lord kicks into high gear. Come, and I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So He carried Me in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads. These are the last seven resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire. And ten horns, which refer to the ten nations of the beast power, in which the woman is riding here. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She was really doing well in merchandising. She was doing really well in economics, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. That is sin. That is transgressing against the laws of God. And on her forehead a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots. So this woman, which is a church, is the mother of other women or other churches.

And of the abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

I'd like to quote from the book Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop. He says, The Church of Rome is in very deed the Babylon of the Book of Revelation. That essential character of her system, the grand objects of her worship, her festivals, her doctrine, her discipline, her rites and ceremonies, her priesthood, and their orders. They have all been derived from ancient Babylon. And finally, the Pope himself is truly and properly the lineal representative of Belshazzar. She is the mother and the mistress of all churches.

The one Church of whose pale there is no salvation.

That's strong language. It's very strong language.

And yet, that is the definition of Christendom today. You know, the Church, what was called the Holy Roman Church at one point back in the 15th century, became so evil that many of the leaders within the Church broke from the Church and tried to reform it.

A Protestant is a protesting Catholic. It's one who protests certain aspects of that universal or Catholic Church. And thus, it is one who is linked to it. The Protestant Reformation began with people like John Wycliffe, Calvin, Martin Luther, who attempted to reform the Holy Roman Church. And the Reformations that they wanted were to limit some of the abuses, the papal abuses that were coming out of Avignon, France. Some of the just depravity that was being unleashed on people to try to get them to convert, the torture, the killing that went on.

If you ever go to places like Carcassonne, down in southern France, northern Spain, you'll go and actually see the locations of some of the atrocities that were being carried out there. And also the purchasing of indulgences where a person could prepay to do some really major sinning. And so there was a Reformation or a Reforming that they wanted to do within the Church. And thus, a protester's Reforming is called the Protestant Reformation. If you wonder what that term means, it's a Reforming by protesters.

Rome borrowed some of the names and terms from Christianity that had existed from Babylon. You remember the image in Daniel, where Daniel, interpreting the dream, said, you, O Nebuchadnezzar, are the head of gold. You're the brains of this operation, both societally and also religiously. And after you will come several successors in the form of the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greeks, the Romans, and the 10 revivals of the Roman Empire. Which finally, those toes and feet of Myrichle would be dashed by Jesus Christ when He returns. You can see there from the image itself that Christ has nothing to do with that.

Now we find that one thing that takes place in the Reformations of Babylonia is the Medes and the Persians didn't really have any gods. The Jews were in Babylon and they retained their god. And their god continued on down through time, but Jesus Christ took exception to some of the practices that they had invented themselves and not keeping the law fully. However, the Babylonians had developed a religion based on a previous so-called god that was very ancient. And that would go from Babylon to Medo-Persia, who redressed the Babylonian gods. It then would go to the Greeks. You remember all the gods of the Greeks, Zeus and Thor and all the planetary gods, etc. When Rome conquered Greece, there were no Roman gods to speak of. The Romans weren't all that bright. You know, Rome in that image in Daniel is represented as iron, strong and mighty and powerful and would crush everything.

But Romans did not have the religion, nor did they have the arts, nor did they have many of the sciences, and they borrowed those from the Greeks.

And so the Romans redressed the gods and had a very polytheistic culture. By the time so-called Christianity came into play and became popular within the Roman, popularized within the Roman Empire, its tenets were not acceptable to Romans at large because the Romans were a polytheistic culture. They worshipped many gods. Constantine's favorite god was Apollo, which he worshipped to the day he died. And yet he had many other gods that he worshipped, including this one that his mother was trying to get him to convert to, called Christianity. What Rome did was it renamed and redressed the gods of Greece. And so instead of having this god of love, or that one of work, or this one of water, etc., etc., it sort of renamed him as saints and borrowed the name Jesus for their ultimate leader, which was a renaming in itself.

Wikipedia states that all of the Protestant denominations were attached back through to the original Roman Church.

Protestantism often sounds similar to the true Church. Sometimes it might even have the right day. Certainly have a lot of the right terminology. Sometimes you might think, well, if they just changed this or that, if they just kept the Holy Days and the Sabbath, or if they just tweaked this a little bit or that, you know, we'd just about have it. But let's see what Jesus Christ says about this. In Revelation 17.5, on her forehead, a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth. That's how Jesus defines it. It's not close at all, is it? It's not close at all.

Adam Clark Commentary says, The inscription upon her forehead here in Revelation is exactly the portraiture of the Latin Church. This Church is, as Bishop Newton well expresses it, a mystery of iniquity. Notice that. Iniquity or, as the Greek would term it, lawlessness.

This woman is also called Babylon the Great. She is the exact anti-type of the ancient Babylon in her idolatry and cruelty. But the ancient city called Babylon is only a drawing of her in miniature. This is indeed Babylon the Great.

She affects the style and title of our holy Mother the Church, but she is in truth the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. Now, why did Jesus Christ define people like that? Why is the Bible so ugly in its definition?

And so absolute? It doesn't seem inclusive at all. Well, let's hear Jesus Christ define this in Matthew 7, verse 21. You know, if there's anything that you can know about Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, it was He who was about Allah.

You know, the attitudes begin the Sermon on the Mount, which is the expansion of the law. It's not only just the literal law and the Ten Commandments and the books of the law, but the expansion to the intent, the mental and spiritual intent of those commandments was ratcheted way up, far beyond what a human on his own strength could ever keep. And then the introduction of God's Spirit, God's directing mind, His assistance, His help, He as a pater, becoming a Father, as Christ revealed Him to us, as a pater, one who engenders from above, you can go a long way towards keeping the intent of God's law. But in Matthew 7, 21, He says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now, it's interesting to go to perhaps another service or a funeral or something, and here people talk about it, a parted one. And it's always in terms of they somehow know what's happened to the individual. They know where he's gone or she's gone. They know what they're doing at the very moment. I think I mentioned you at a recent funeral of the minister says, and I know that a part of the person is standing right here, right now.

But Jesus says, you know, all of this emotion and all these things and different things that you come up with, they don't cut it with me.

But he who does the will of my Father in heaven, and that will is defined in Peter as being, God does not want any to perish but to come to repentance and ultimately salvation.

Many will say to me, the many. Most, we can use the term here, most from the Greek. Most will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonders in your name, and I will declare to them, I never knew you.

These are Christians. When I use the term Christian a while ago, so-called Christians, you see it's Jesus Christ who's the one making that statement. Those who are using my name, coming in my name, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

There it is again. God, His Word is about law from the beginning to the end. From Adam and Cain all the way to the end of Revelation, it's about law. It's about the commandments.

It's not about skipping out on law. It's not replacing it with something called grace.

It is having a gracious God for those who are trying to keep the law.

It's interesting that the number one emphasis of Christianity, have you ever thought about this? The number one emphasis of Christianity is the abolishment of the law.

It's done in several forms. If you go back to the mother church, it's done because the law was abolished because the Pope has the right to make any decision he wants and therefore has abolished the entire instructions. The church has that right. The Pope is infallible. He is the vicar of Christ. He is the one in place of Christ. The Protestant Reformation of 1500s sought to say, that's not so.

We don't recognize that. And therefore, Protestant religions have come up with another different reason for abolishing the law. And that, as you probably know, is called grace.

Are you under the law or are you under grace?

And therefore, the law is done away with. And so we see that Christ is about law, and yet the emphasis of Christianity is freedom from the law. The law is abolished. It's an old covenant. Tear out the Old Testament. Get rid of it.

You know, there were 12 tribes, 13, if you count the division of Joseph, and all of them still fall under the covenant that God made with Israel.

That is their covenant. It's a good covenant. It's a pure covenant. It's a right covenant for those who made that covenant, and it needs to continue. There is another covenant that God made with other individuals.

Christianity today claims that Jesus abolished the law of all things. Jesus himself abolished the law. Many times Colossians 3, 16, will be used. He nailed that thing which opposed us to the cross. Died for it. That thing which opposed us was not the law. It was the list of our sins which opposed us, because sinning requires our eternal death, and there is no salvation.

Yes, Jesus abolished the law, but which Jesus? Now that takes it up a notch. Let's go to 1 John 2 and verse 3, and I'll show you Jesus number 1.

Jesus Christ, or in the English Joshua, the anointed.

1 John chapter 2 and verse 3.

Now, by this we know that we know, we're talking about Him, the true Jesus. Here's how you know the true Jesus. If we keep His commandments. You see things are beginning to line up very clearly on two sides of a line. Very clearly in black and white, and light and dark.

This we know the true Jesus if we keep His commandments.

He who says, I know Him and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. Now, if you take verse 4, and you apply it to any religion, any set of covenants, any set of documents, any understanding, whatever, you have truth or error defined for you right there. And John is writing this at the end of his life. He's writing this at the close of the New Testament period, because as Peter said, so much of Paul's writings had been twisted and turned to do away with the law, and any keeping of it was somehow earning salvation.

Nuts to that. So John comes back, Peter comes back, Jude comes back, all saying, no, it is about the law. It is about obeying God. And whoever says, oh, I know the Lord and does not keep His commandments, He's a liar and the truth is not in Him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in Him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who said He abides in Him ought Himself also to walk just as He walked. Now insert a thousand arguments as to what the commandments were. Well, it wasn't the Old Testament, wasn't the law, wasn't legalism. These are some new little laws of love or whatever the Jesus came up with, or whatever the other 999 arguments will be. Well, John clarifies this in the next verse. Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning, from the very beginning.

It wasn't new to the Israelites. It wasn't new to Abraham. It wasn't new to Noah.

The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning. Now, Jesus number two. Who is this other Jesus? Well, you can look at many references, but let's go back to the two Babylons by Alexander Hislop. This individual that is commonly referred to as Jesus is none other than Nimrod. You can read of Nimrod in the Bible. A mighty hunter before the Lord, one who began to represent the people instead of the Lord. You'll see him in Egyptian culture as Isis and Ophir. You'll see him in Egyptian culture as Isis and Osiris, or his mother, Cimaramas, and him. You'll see him in various cultures around the world. The concept of mother and child, the Madonna and child, is ancient. It was very much involved in Christ's day.

He was the Savior from sin through a ceremony called Kana Be'el, from which we get the term cannibal today. Because Kana Be'el means eating the God. They used to take a round solar disk, a picture of the sun, and eat God, and believe that that actually turned into the God, that we would know as Nimrod, or they would know as Horus, or any other number of names.

This was a day of the sun event, or a Sunday event. And so Kana Be'el, or eating the God, later on, other cultures would say, these people are eating the God. They believe it actually changes into the flesh of their God. They're cannibals. And that's where we get the name cannibal. It comes from Kana Be'el.

Death was symbolized by the Yule Log in ancient times. The old tree fell. There's legend that says that Nimrod was killed by Seth, right to Seth. And when the old log fell, there was a ceremony that was burnt at night, and the next day he was reborn as the son of the Queen Mother of Heaven.

And a fir tree was shown to be the reborn. And that fir tree was symbolized by what was called the bringer of gifts, the enlightener of knowledge, and of good and evil. The revealer of your past and future actually mirrors Gnosticism. There's a modern so-called Protestant or Christian church that has a very similar form of Gnosticism that's very popular today. Supposedly, you have this soul that's immortal, it's always been, you used to be in heaven, you came down to earth for a while, and ultimately you're going back to heaven.

The reality is Satan and demons, Satan and his demons were once in heaven, they were cast down to the earth for a while. And ultimately they are going back to the darkness, the blankness of deep space, as Revelation 20, verse 1-3 would indicate, that was reserved for them, the darkness, for ever and ever. That's not humanity's past, present, or future. That's somebody else's from a wrong pater.

Jesus said in John 13-13, No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. 1 Corinthians 15, about verse 22, the Apostle Paul says that there will be a resurrection, but everyone in their order, Christ the firstfruits, then at his second coming, at the blowing of the seventh trumpet, those who are his.

There's nobody in heaven except God, God the Father and the angels.

There won't be anybody in heaven. You can read in Revelation 21, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven to a new heavens and new earth, and God will be with them and be their God.

The truth is that Jesus Christ is the high priest of the covenant with Israel, the law. And all the tribes of Israel are subject to that covenant. It's a good covenant. Hasn't really been kept that much, historically. But I believe it one day will be, once Satan is removed.

He is also the high priest of another covenant that he has made, which is the law magnified.

The law magnified, and that is with the saints at this time. And ultimately, everyone will be invited into that covenant someday in the right time, in the right order. The festivals show us that. But there is also a false Jesus. He is an abolisher of the covenant with Israel. Goes around telling, oh no, there's no law. No, no, there's no nothing we have to keep. I find it interesting that most Protestant religions are in the countries where the descendants of Israel today dwell. The 12 tribes around the world. And they all promote, no, we don't have to keep the covenant. We don't have to keep the covenant.

And so the Bible forecasts a time of Jacob's trouble, because they have violated that covenant. And Ezekiel says, cry aloud, spare not, tell my people their sins.

They wouldn't have sin. They didn't have law. The law stands. They are also an abolisher of a covenant that God made with the saints. For those who were Jews, who were invited into a new covenant, and that was by invitation, Jesus said, none can come to me except the Father draw them. Some who were part of the covenant he made with Israel had an upgrade.

And that upgrade was then called a new covenant for them.

Didn't apply to that many.

But the false Jesus wants to do away with all the covenants, see? All the laws of those covenants.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9, there is one who is coming in the name of Christ. He is going to be the big leading Christian. He is going to be the great prophet with incredible signs, incredible wonders at the end time.

In verse 9 of 2 Thessalonians 2, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan. With all power, signs, and lying wonders. Verse 10, with all unrighteous deception.

See where this false Jesus will take you? And all of its celebrations and name calling and use of biblical phrases and terms. It's author is Satan, it says right here in verse 9. And its deeds are breaking of the holy law of God.

And for this reason, God will send them. Actually, that's a Hebrew phrase which means God will allow them. God doesn't do bad things, He doesn't deceive people. But God will allow them to be sent a strong delusion that they should believe the lie. That they may all be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. See what it comes down to every time? Law. Law.

It all lines up on one side of the other. You can use the terminology all day long, but if you're for breaking the law, the God is Satan. If you're for keeping the law, the God is the true God. The one we know as the Father and His Son, Jesus the Christ.

Okay, that's point two. You think that was difficult to swallow? Get ready for point three.

Point three. Satan is the God of the tears in this church.

Told you it was going to be uncomfortable. Satan is the God of the tears in this church.

I asked you, where do you think Satan is?

Matthew 13, verse 24. See, I'm not making this stuff up. Matthew 13 and verse 24. From the words of Jesus Christ Himself, another parable He put forth to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven, which is in heaven, it's not the destination for anybody, but it's currently in heaven, is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. Now that would be Jesus the Christ. He sowed good seed in his field. And you know the parable of the seed and the soil and how some grows and develops a crop? Well, verse 25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tears among the wheat and went its way.

Yeah, you know what? We all have been children of our Father the Devil. We all need to repent in our life. We all need to change course. All humans need a new pater. They need a new Father. They need a new inspirer, a new spirit, a new direction. But not all who come into this church have made that change, have internalized, have been really called of God, have had a conversion repentance, have really broken from lawlessness. Some will come in wanting the gift of salvation but not willing to pay the price.

And so while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tears. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia defines tears from the Greek word zazania. It's the name given to several varieties of darnal of which the bearded darnal is the one most resembling wheat. I was talking to a wheat farmer up in Canada last week and he was telling me, absolutely, that stuff is always there. How it gets in, you don't know. You sow wheat and you get wheat and tears. In modern Arabia today, the Encyclopedia says, on the narrow approach of harvest, these tears are carefully weeded out from among the wheat by the women and children. It's poisonous if eaten by humans, if it's infected with the mold ergo. The tears tend to have a seed that is dark or blackish in color.

And the wheat, of course, is a light green in color, but they look very much the same. Now let's drop to verse 26. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tears also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tears? And he said to them, An enemy has done this. An enemy put them there. Thus the point. Satan is the God of the tears in this church.

I know it seems like we're doing a lot of finger pointing here today, aren't we? At other people. Do you still feel safe? We're only on point three.

The servant said, Do you want us to then gather them up? He said, No, lest while you gather up the tears, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let them grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I'll say to the reapers, First, gather the tears and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. In Arabia, the women and children are said to use those tears, the seed from the tears, to feed chickens, which evidently can't be killed by that deadly mold. You know, in Matthew 22, beginning in verse 8, Jesus talked about a wedding supper. And he said to go invite the guests. Well, the guests didn't come. So then he said, Go out into the highways and invite anybody. And so they went out and they gathered together all whom they found both bad and good. You know, that's what you have. And at the end of that parable, he says, Therefore many are called, few are chosen. So in any church era, in any time, in any congregation, you're going to have both those who are really inspired and led by God, and you're going to have those who really are inspired and led by another God. And that's the reality of it. What's the pastor's role? Well, 2 Timothy 2, verse 23 shows, just as Jesus himself said, Don't be pulling them up together. Even if you think you can interpret them, which I don't have any special insight to know who is and who doesn't, other than what Jesus said, by their fruits you will know them. But 2 Timothy 2, verse 23 says, You, Timothy, Paul's telling him in this pastoral epistle, Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach and patience. In humility, correcting those who are in opposition, so we will have those in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance. Repentance is a gift. It's something that comes from God. So that they may know the truth. Verse 26, That they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive of him by him to do his will. See? I'm not making this up. It's in the Bible. Fourth point. Satan is the God of the false ministers in this church. Whoa! Really? Second Peter, chapter 2, verse 1. Second Peter, chapter 2, verse 1. You see, there will always be those who come in to test, to push, to influence, to try to get people not to obey the law. There will always be those among the church who will never quite be willing to obey the law. They'll want the benefits. They'll want the association. They'll want the various blessings. But they'll be there for a different reason. Second Peter 2, verse 1. But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you. This has happened in our past. You know, our church got cleaned out about 85% of its members by people who came in teaching, the law is dead. It's done away with. It's been replaced by grace. You can't do anything on your own. Don't even try. Ignore what God says in the Bible.

85% fell for that. It's not over yet.

They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying the Lord who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. Verse 2. And many will follow their destructive ways. Again, that word many can mean most.

Because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemous. By covenants, they will exploit you with deceptive words. For a long time, their judgment has been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. Even Jude writes. His epistle of Jude is basically warning us about that very thing. The third verse of Jude, right before the book of Revelation. Dear friends, although I was very eager to write you about the salvation we share, I'm going to talk to you about salvation, but I felt something else was more important. But I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith which was once entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago, this was intended. You see, this was allowed. Intended to be allowed by God.

Have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality, for lawlessness. And there's the law again.

The false ministers will teach it. The false religions will teach it. The false members will teach it. Society will teach it. Satan will teach it.

Point number five. Satan is the God of all who sin willfully.

Satan is the God of all who sin willfully.

You know, Jesus includes those in his own church, in his condemnation. He writes to the seven churches in Asia Minor at the beginning of Revelation 2 and verse 12.

This is to the seven churches. His seven churches. Real churches. And he says, to the angel of the church of Pergamos, write, And these things says he who has the sharp and two-edged sword, I know your works, and where you dwell where Satan's throne is. I asked you before, do you know where Satan is?

Here he's saying where Satan's throne is, is where this church is. We're not exactly sure what that means, but he's going to say it twice.

And you hold fast to my name, and you do not deny my faith, even in the days when Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was killed among you where Satan dwells.

See, this is something that you will be tested on, and I will be tested on in our lifetimes, all of our lifetimes. Who is your God?

But I have a few things against you because you have those in the church who hold the doctrine of Balaam.

Talks about eating things sacrificed to idols and committing sexual immorality, lawlessness. Verse 15, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Nicolaitans were so much better than you and me. They went on to do great and wonderful, benevolent works. They would take in orphans. They would give to the poor. They would go... They were just wonderful people who didn't keep the laws of God. Instead, they went beyond that. They did better things than just the law, just the Pentateuch, just the writings of Jesus Christ, the expansion of that for the New Covenant. They did wonderful, benevolent, generous things and used His name. Notice which thing I hate. Repent, or else I will come against you quickly, and I will fight against them with the word of my mouth.

Wherever sin is willful, by whomever sin is willful, Satan is the God of that. In John 8, verse 44, which I referred to before, Jesus said, You are of your Father the devil, and the desires of your Father you want to do. This is aimed at me. You know, there are times when I have ideas that come to mind, like the Apostle Paul said, that which I don't want to do, that's which I preach against, that's what I end up doing. We're all subject to thoughts from the wrong side, from the wrong spirit, which we must fight.

But he says here, He was a murderer from the beginning, does not stand in the truth, because there's no truth in Him. And when He speaks a lie, He speaks from His own resources, for He is a liar and the Father of it. Now let's just stop and look at so-called Christian, so-called Christ-like religions. Number one holiday based on lies. All lies, not a shred of truth. Jesus wasn't born in December. Jesus was not worshiped in the sense that He was this little baby that everybody put on a pedestal and had everybody exchange gifts. There is no Santa Claus. He wasn't born in that time of the year. Everybody recognizes that, okay? There's no such thing as the Christmas tree or the bearer of good gifts, being the real Jesus Christ. That's a false guy. That's a Nimrod. That's a fake mother. It's all false. You want to go to Easter, the so-called big one? No, that's the fertility of the goddess Isis or Cyrus. It was known as Ishtar by the Egyptians. And that's the pronunciation of what we call Easter today. It's a worship service for the Queen Mother of Heaven, which was Cimaramus at the time. Tammuz down at other periods of time, and other gods that continually has been worshiped down through time.

Does anybody care? Doesn't matter. I'm just telling you that any kind of lies is not one shred of truth. And any kind of lies, it says here, comes from a certain father. Whoever hates his brother, we already read, I believe, 1 John 3.15. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer. Oh, if you don't take a gun and kill somebody or a knife, you're still defined as a murderer if you don't love your brother, if you hate your brother. And John says, And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Sinning willfully, you see.

1 John 3 verse 10, In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. I'm not making this up.

Children of the God or the children of the devil are defined as, whoever does not practice righteousness, that's keeping the law of God, whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.

Liars, haters, and willful sinners who are not repentant will not be in the kingdom of God. You know, Revelation chapter 21 in verse 8 is very clear on that. Sort of at the end of all things it says, The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

You know, it clearly lines up, brethren, that one whose God is sin is Satan. No matter how it's masked, no matter how it's described, no matter how it's defined, the goal of that God is to inspire and instill in people a breaking of God's holy righteous law.

Point 7 is a breath of fresh air.

God is the father of repentant overcomers. God is the pater, the father of repentant overcomers. In the previous verse, to the one I just read, Revelation 21 and verse 7, it simply says, He who overcomes all things, He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son.

That is what the true God is about. That is the influencer, that is the motivator, that is what the Spirit from the true God does. He motivates people to overcome sin, to overcome Satan, to overcome the whiles, the thoughts, the motivations of the devil. And so in conclusion, who is your God? That's a good question, isn't it? You might take exception to one of these points, but you have to recognize that the Bible comes down clearly on the fact that this current evil age, as it's called, is not the age of God.

Who is your God? It's not a small question. God puts you on this earth to find out, and I will say this, that the answer on any given day can vary, can't it? You're not always just assigned and slotted to be in one of those situations.

It's choice. We are put on this earth to choose.

Deuteronomy, as I said before of you today, blessing and cursing, good and evil, choose that you may have life. We have to choose, not only every day, every thought, every decision.

Who will be our God? Who will we follow? It's a big test. It's a reason why Jesus Christ put it in every prayer.

Do not lead us into temptation, or allow us to be led into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. God knows how prevalent Satan is, how strong his influence is, how he is seeking to devour us, and he wants us to be aware of that and prayerful about that in fighting that. So which Jesus are you following? You know, the real Jesus himself had to choose, believe it or not. It's not just you and I were cast on this earth, and now it's up to us. Jesus Christ came to this earth, and he had to choose. Which God? Which God? Matthew 4, verse 1, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted and tested by the devil. He got it too. And in doing so, he set you and I an example for that very thing which we are to do every day, to choose which is our God. It says in verse 10, Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan, for it is written, Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. He passed the test. He set the example. Now it's your turn, and my turn. And my turn. The Bible says our answers can change. We have choice. We make decisions every day, and so today ask yourself this question. And every day ask yourself this question. Who is my God?