COMMITTED to train men and women
to have minds for the Lord Jesus,
hearts for the truth, and
hands that are skilled to the task.

"Noah" Tagged Sermons

THE GAME of KINGS AND THRONES

Let me remind you that the word of God has a historicity of conflict reflected in a constant struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness for the souls of all men and women on planet earth.
2013 Kaleb Nation has published the novel “Harken”
Drawing upon three years of research and real-life interviews, in his book he weaves fact with fiction and explores questions many are afraid to ask. Who really controls our world? Are disasters coincidental or planned?
How much of Harken is true? This is his conclusion:
“Coincidence is merely the puppeteer’s curtain, hiding the hands that pull the world’s strings.”
Journalist McLean Gordon wrote in 2012
“In a system like Nazi Germany, where social acceptance was the reward for evil, the socially normal individual sees evil as good. Doing evil becomes nothing more than healthy self-interest, and the horrifying irony is that the person committing unimaginable cruelty comes across in other social contexts as a perfectly “normal” uninteresting individual, no more conspicuous than the rumbled businessman sitting next to you in the train.”
“Adolph Eichmann, the Nazi bureaucrat who supposedly signed off on the Holocaust and helped organize Hitler’s death camps, was not necessarily a blood-hungry monster. To look at, he was an average looking guy with thinning hair, a pencil pusher.
“Except for the extraordinary diligence in looking out for his personal advancement, the had no motives at all,” Hannah Arendt, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, wrote in her searing account of Eichmann’s 1962 war crimes trials; Eichmann was, as he tried to explain at his trial, “just following orders.”
Journalist Yasha Levine in his book “Google’s for-profit surveillance problem”
“The Google services and apps that we interact with on a daily basis aren’t the company’s main product: They are the harvesting machines that dig up and process the stuff that Google really sells: for-profit intelligence.”
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt
“We know where you are. We know where you’ve been. We can more or less know what you’re thinking about.”
“It’s a future were you don’t forget anything…..In this new future you’re never lost…..We will know your position down to the foot and down to the inch over time… Your car will drive itself, it’s a bug that cars were invented before computers……you’re never lonely….you’re never board….you’re never out of ideas….we can suggest were you go next, who to meet, what to read….What’s interesting about this future is that it’s for the average person, not just the elites.”
Bruce Schneider “Don’t listen to Google and Facebook”
“With every smartphone we buy, every GPS device we install, every Twitter, Facebook, and Google account we open, every frequent buyer card we use for purchases – whether at the grocery, the yogurt shop, the airlines, or the department store – and every credit and debit card we use to pay for our transactions, we’re helping Corporate America build a dossier for its government counterparts on who we know, what we think, how we spend our money, and how we spend our time.
What’s worse, it’s not just the surveillance you CONSENT to that’s being shared with the government, however. It’s the very technology you happily and unquestionably use which is being hardwired to give the government easy access to your activities.
The government motives aren’t too difficult to understand, but what do corporate giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple stand to gain from colluding with Big Brother? Money, power and control.
The main focus of massive Internet companies and government agencies both still largely align: TO KEEP US ALL UNDER CONSTANT SURVEILLANCE.
When they bicker, it’s mostly role-playing designed to keep us blasé about what’s really going on.”
The Art of War is one of the most useful books regarding wisdom when confronted by an enemy.
The Chines warrior Sun Tzu wrote it about 500 B.C. It would be very beneficial every Soldier of Jesus Christ to read and re-read this book.
Let me give you a few quotes:
“The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.”
“Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in braking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
“We cannot enter into alliance until we are acquainted with the designs of our neighbors.”
“Rapidity is the essence of war.”
If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in.”

A TITANIC STRUGGLE

Let’s make sure we all understand the most fundamental principal:
God placed his new creation, made in His image, in a special place called GARDEN OF EDEN, and gave them dominion over the entire earth to subdue it and to populate it. It went south right from the get-go.
But God still intended to dwell with humanity. However, there would be opposition. As Michael Heiser points out: “Divine beings in service to Yahweh could defect. Enemies of Yahweh and his rule, from the human to the divine to something in between, lurked over the horizon. Heaven and earth were destined to be reunited, but it would be a titanic struggle.
In the meantime, any effort to recapture God’s original intent apart from God’s own strategy and will for restoring Eden would end in disaster. There would be no Eden utopia revived by human beings or other gods. It would be a painful lesson.” Dr. Michael Heiser
Chuck Swindoll in one of his commentaries writes that Christians often talk about “walking with God”, so much so that these words can easily become cliché.
He gives this advice, which I pass on to all of you:
What happens when we walk with God?
1. The discipline of silence increases our sensitivity.
When I am always moving fast, always making noise, always being active, I become insensitive. But when I am quiet, the veneer is peeled away. I become more sensitive to God.
2. The reassurance of His will decreases our anxiety.
When I spend time with God, my anxiety is washed away.
3. The submission of obedience proves our humility.
When I do what God says, I prove to Him I am willing to submit to His will. I listen to Him and obey. This interaction solidifies our relationship and brings us into closer communion.

A GIGANTIC BATTLE

Most people in churches today are familiar with the story recorded in Genesis 1 -3 and some of them are going even further all the way to Genesis, chapter 12. But few understand that the recorded divine transgressions found in Genesis, chapter 3 and another described in Genesis, chapter 6 are part of a gigantic battle in the supernatural world that not only shapes human history, but has also been a major component of the ancient Israelites supernatural world view.
Without this supernatural world view, not much of the rest of the Bible makes sense. As a matter of fact, stripping the Bible of its supernatural world view leaves us to deal with spiritual bread crumbs. All we have left is a Bible from where we get some insight HOW TO LIVE A BETTER LIFE TODAY. HOW TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS OF TODAY AND HOW NOT TO BE LIVING LIKE OTHERS AROUND US DO. Such teaching can do a lot of good in the here and now, but misses the more important truth with eternity in mind.
Did you notice that the Gentile nations are not called GOD’S PEOPLE? Israel is the only nation that God calls HIS PEOPLE. WE will look at that a little later. This is important to understand. Why? Because the birth of Jesus Christ, God coming to this earth in human form, as a human being, is not just good news to individual people but also good news for individual nations.
During those 339 years, the people started to reject the God who created them and longed to communicate with other gods, spiritual beings God also created. Under the leadership of Nimrod, the name means REBELLION, the people started building a tower in the midst of a great city called Babylon, in defiance of God’s command to populate the earth. A gigantic battle took place in the spiritual realm against God’s purpose for the Adamic race.
The Apostle Paul is summarizing this battle in Romans, chapter One.
It is difficult to understand this battle between God Almighty and some of his spiritual beings which rebelled against him, until we read God’s response to the rebellion at Babel in Deuteronomy 32:8-9 (ESV) When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
Other translations say: When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.
Remember, all the other nations have been given over by God to lower spiritual beings to rule over them. These lover spiritual beings will rule the nations of the world with a corrupt administration and will wage war against God’s only nation on earth, ISRAEL. God started new with Abram. From now on He is known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob’s name will later the changed into ISRAEL.
The battle is intense, but the outcome is certain. Jesus came as a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel, was the great proclamation of Simeon as he was holding God’s son, Jesus Christ, in his arms.
The gigantic battle is still raging and will until Jesus will return the second time to this earth, this time not in the form of a Baby or a servant, but as the King of Kings and Lord or Lords to rule and reign in the spiritual as well as the physical world.

MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

I believe that the church in America as a whole is misunderstanding the importance of being witnesses of God’s faithfulness. We may be involved in evangelism, involved in church activities, involved in Bible studies, or involved in preaching and teaching. While all such activities are good in general, they are no prove that we are witnesses of God’s faithfulness.
We live in spiritual and physical dangerous times. This world is changing with lightning speed not to the better, but to the worse. Once again, the Lord “sees that wickedness of man is great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart is only evil all the day.” (Genesis 6:5)
So, how should we live as followers of Jesus Christ? Is there any hope? Can the church in America be turned around? Can the society in America be changed?
The answer to all these questions depends on THE WITNESSES OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS AND THE RESPONSE OF THE PEOPLE.
God spoke to those who are witnesses of His faithfulness through His Word, that was written down by men MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. Everything you and I need to know that pertains to life and godliness is revealed in His word. Notice that we are hearing what God speaks to us because WE KNOW HIM. And because we know Him, we take His word for what it says. We can hear God speak to us through His word.
Warning: A witness hears God speak and as accepted a FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH:
God’s way is better than my way;
God’s truth is better than my truth;
God’s promises are better than my promises;
God’s word is better than my ideas.
We have plenty of examples in the Bible alone of witnesses whose confidence in God and His promises was unshakable.
These witnesses:
• Refused to be deceived by their 5 senses. Their confidence was not in what they could see, taste, touch, hear or smell.
• Refused to put any confidence in the latest news reports.
• Refused to give up when the promises of God did not come to pass immediately for they knew God is faithful.
Moved by the Holy Spirit, they believed that God is 100% trustworthy. His timing is always perfect. In other words; seeing is not believing. This is a lie from the enemy of our soul.
During Noah’s time nearly all people were drugged one the fumes of their egos. Wickedness has become the number one, all-consuming human addiction. So, Noah was listening to God. Noah also had an unshakable confidence in what he heard from God. Noah’s faith in God was uncontaminated. But such faith needs to be tested. And surely, Noah’s faith, Noah’s confidence in God’s Promises would soon be challenged. By whom? By God!
Noah’s acceptance of this mission proved one thing beyond a shadow of doubt. This man had an unshakable confidence in God.
This was not a weekend project, or something he worked on in his spare time or in the evenings. No one to hire, no power tools, no chainsaws, no sawmills, no cranes, no Menard’s or Lowe’s. It took 120 YEARS to build. He did not give up. What a witness of God’s faithfulness.
Are you fully convinced of the faithfulness of the promises of God for your life? Remember, the promises of God are just as faithful, just as powerful, just as reliable and just as true as they were in the days of Noah or the days of Peter. If you have heard him speak to you today and have an unshakable confidence in God you are a witness of God’s faithfulness, moved by the Holy Spirit to bring glory and honor to God alone.

BABYLON – The Plans within Plans within Plans

The name Nimrod means: “rebellious, revolt, indignation or disgraceful”.
The word Babel or Babylon means: “confusion”.
Mystery Babylon shrouded her plans within plans within plans, while this intentional shrouding is a well-thought-out methodical art to lead people astray. In Ephesians, chapter six, the Apostle Paul is telling us that the “wiles of the devil” are carefully planned and implemented secrets, spiritual traps, that one day will entrap the entire world. Satan used Nimrod, the son of Cush and the grandson of Noah, to develop a system of religious practices that would replace man’s walk with God in every aspect of life. His goal was to entrap the people of Babylon by making them absolute dependent upon those religious systems. What Nimrod did was implementing a system of control where people replace RELATIONSHIP WITH A RELIGIOUS SYSTEM. In Revelation 17 we see how God Almighty will destroy that religious system. The people who relied on that system to sustain them will be left to themselves.
We rejected the offer to restore the RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD ALMIGHTY AND exchanged it with a religious system. THAT’S MYSTERY BABYLON. All man-made religious find their origin in MYSTERY BABYLON. There are many of them, plans within plans within plans. Nimrod was a genius. He was able to provide everything the people had need of, including their religious freedom: all roads lead to God. God is always the same for ALL religions in the world. He is just called by a different name. Right now, his name is NIMROD.
Remember, Abram had to leave behind the Nimrod System he was dependent on for all his life.
Abram was rich in earthly goods, but he had no relationship with God Almighty nor did he know HOW TO WALK WITH GOD LIKE ADAM DID IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
Now El Shaddai was the one who would multiply Abraham abundantly,
El Shaddai was to restore life to Abraham and Sarah who were as good as dead where offspring was concerned. Through El Shaddai would they have future offsprings as the dust, stars and sand in numbers. By God’s grace, Abraham would escape the religious trap Nimrod set for everyone. Listen, God called Abraham out of Babylon to WALK WITH HIM, much the same way that the Holy Spirit calls us to salvation through the preaching of the gospel. We must leave the religious system behind and learned to WALK WITH GOD ALMIGHTY.
The Apostle Paul reminds us about this truth regarding our relationship with God Almighty, El Shaddai.
Paul was writing to believers in Christ, and when he did so, he was not merely referring to marriage. This is a cry of the Holy Spirit to our generation as well. We need to learn to walk with El Shaddai, walk with God Almighty, the only source of our strength, the only source of our health, the only source of our supplies. We are talking here about spiritual survival.
Satan has done a great job with his earthly disciples to make sure that we cannot see what his plans within plans within plans are. But the Holy Spirit knows and reveals those truths to God’s children so they stop walking within the system but walking with God and Him alone.

BABYLON – The Symbol of Rebellion

The 7th and final bowl judgment is first mentioned here as a summary, the final judgment upon this earth before Jesus returns to set up His kingdom right here, head quartered in Jerusalem.
Before we get into the details of this text, I need to unpack for you a few details that pertain to this particular subject called “Babylon”
1. There are two distinct Babylon’s mentioned in Revelation. The first one is called “Mystery Babylon” and the description is found in the 17th chapter of Revelation. It deals with a spiritual entity. A counterfeit of the true spiritual worship.
2. The Second one is revealed in the next chapter, which is the 18th chapter of Revelation, and this one represents a Commercial Babylon, a counterfeit to the true riches found in Christ Jesus alone.
Notice the name written on the forehead of a WOMEN:
“Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.” It’s a mystery. It’s a hidden truth. The Bible is full of examples how God at the proper time reveals mysteries to His people. We call it progressive revelation. To the prophet Daniel, who by the way was living in Babylon when God sent His people into captivity because of rebellion against His law, God revealed many mysteries. Yet, God did not unpack every mystery to Daniel.
In other words, these words, these prophecies will be unsealed at some specific time, the time of the end, which always refers to the time when the Lord will judge the nations and set up His kingdom on this earth. Daniel did understand many things, but not all things. The Apostle John did understand many things, but the Lord did not unseal everything.
In other words, John saw everything, but he could not understand everything. Then an angel said to him: why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the women and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. John must have gotten excited to hear those words. The angel will explain everything to me. But not so; The angel simply says: I WILL TELL YOU THE MYSTERY OF THE WOMEN AND OF THE BEAST AND OF THE SEVEN HEADS AND TEN HORNS. Again, the angel goes on to tell the mystery, but as you can see, the mystery deepens with every word the angel says. We will unpack those words next week. For now, let’s go all the way back in the Bible, where the word Babylon is mentioned and see if we can connect the dots.
How did it all start? In heaven it started with Lucifer aka Satan. The conspirator is Satan himself. Why is Satan doing this? What’s his purpose? What is his goal?
There is an earthly conspiracy underway. The goal is to enthrone the Antichrist, the “child of the devil” as God of the earth. The spiritual conspiracy is that Satan wishes to enthrone himself above God in heaven. Satan wants to be the supreme ruler in the heavenlies, while the imitator of Christ wants to be enthroned on the earth as the supreme ruler. This conspiracy is called “THE PLAN” by those who are following the new age movement. The secret societies refer to it as ‘THE MYSTERY’. And the Bible calls it: Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.
Did you notice the phrase: AND THE BEGINNING OF HIS KINGDOM was Babel. A kingdom has a king, the first king on this earth was Nimrod.
The name Nimrod means: “rebellious, revolt, indignation or disgraceful”.
The word Babel or Babylon means: “confusion”.
In other words Nimrod (rebellion against God) is the founder of Babylon (confusion).
I want you to know that today, when we hear Babylon or the name of Nimrod, most people think that this man was of little intelligence, probably clumsy, and a red-neck at best. The only thing this man had going for him and his people is that he knew how to hunt game.
But that’s not the true picture. Nimrod was a mighty leader, the founder of the first great empire of post-flood civilization – the kingdom of Babylon.
In order to understand what is revealed in this 10th chapter of Genesis, we need to back up a little bit. The flood of Noah devastated the world Noah once lived in. After the waters receded, and Noah and his family left the Ark, God commanded the survivors to “Be fruitful and multiply, and FILL THE EARTH.” (Genesis 9:1) God repeated the same command in verse 7.How the reacted to this command is eye-opening. Nearly 200 years after the flood, the descendants of Noah began to multiply in great numbers. Noah’s close descendants became the patriarchs of a great number of families, who, eventually, had developed into nations. This disbursement would set the stage for the eventual Babylonian Empire, and the Babylonian Religion.
Noah’s grandson Cush was one of these early patriarchs; the one who became the leader of many. He decided not to follow God’s commandment to “fill the earth”, but instead, he wanted to bring all of the people together. It was Cush who started to unite everyone into one huge nation. With that, he started the unification movement and the center of it all was THE TOWER OF BABEL. We do not find much information about Cush or Nimrod or the Tower of Babel in the Bible. Genesis 10:8 simply states how it all began. However we can learn many details from other ancient texts that Cush and Nimrod would become legendary throughout the secular/religious world.

Let My People GO

Last year we have studied the book of Revelation all the way up to the 16th chapter. So I will not repeat what I have shared with you then. However, to fully understand the 16th chapter before us, we need to read it in context of the previous chapter.
The question must be asked: WHY DOES GOD HIMSELF LET ALL THIS TROUBLE COME UPON THIS WORLD? What’s the purpose of all this? The Answer: Let My People Go. In other words, God’s judgment will always fall on those who tried to destroy everything God has created, especially His crown creation: THE HUMAN BEING made in God’s image.
He will come unexpectedly! The vast majority of people will still be eating and drinking, focusing on their everyday lives, unaware of the dangerous times they’re living in. Just as the people in Noah’s day, they will be ignoring the warning messages and rejecting God’s righteous ways Noah, the prophet of God, was very likely mocked and ridiculed for preaching “righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). The Bible reveals that in the end time, prior to Christ’s return, people will also ignore warnings to repent. As Peter notes, “Scoffers will come in the last days, … saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Noah preached for 120 years while he built the arch. Eventually only 8 people made it into the arch. THOSE WHO WERE IN THE ARCH WERE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD. This was not Noah’s idea. It was God’s master plan to destroy wickedness on this earth and to start over again. “I will destroy them with the earth”.
Egypt was the Empire that ruled the known world at this time. Egypt called the shots in this world. Without understanding what God did with Egypt, you will not understand the bowl judgments, the last 7 judgments that will come upon this whole earth, known as the wrath or judgments of God.
Like Egypt enslaved God’s covenant people, so has every world empire enslaved God’s people. The last Empire on God’s calendar was and is the Roman Empire. While today, this empire is fractured, it will COME BACK TO FULL POWER under ONE MIGHTY RULER, THE ANTICHRIST. By the time the bowl judgments will come upon this earth this REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE WILL BE IN FULL CONTROL OF ALL HUMANITY.
And Pharaoh said, “WHO IS THE LORD, THAT I SHOULD OBEY HIS VOICE TO LET ISRAEL GO? I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD, NOR WILL I LET ISRAEL GO.” Wrong thing to say to God Almighty who made the heavens and the earth and who is the owner of His own creation. But the rulers of this world have not learned anything yet. The final ruler of this world, before Jesus Christ will set up His kingdom here, will act exactly the same way. Look at the plagues God brought upon this nation Egypt. Four of the seven judgments of Revelation are copies of the plagues Egypt had to endure. They were literal plagues in Egypt and they will be literal judgments when God will pour his wrath upon this world.
LET MY PEOPLE GO. The final judgment upon this earth is carried out by God to set His people free, to set his entire creation free.
The first time he did use WATER.
The next time he will use FIRE.

The Battle of All Battles

Jerusalem was filled with people that came from all over the world to celebrate the Passover, the feast God commanded the Hebrews to keep every year as a reminder that it was He alone who brought them out of slavery, out of the Egyptian bondage.
They did not deserve to be delivered, and they certainly did not pay a ransom to the Egyptians to be delivered.
It was a picture of what God is doing for His people, because HE PROMISED LONG AGO, that the spiritual battle of the ages, a battle which started in heaven itself and eventually was introduced to God’s creation in this world, will be won by God Himself, Victory will be declared by God Himself, and the battle of all battles will be settled ones and for all.
That was Satan’s goal all along. TO BE LIKE GOD. That’s the goal of all those who run around the churches claiming to have the same power God has to command Satan and his fallen angels to do their bidding and to command God what to do. Well, all in THE NAME OF JESUS. It’s the battle of all battles.
God uses truth to conquer lies, Satan, the father of lies, uses deception to conceal the lies. Deception is the most powerful weapon Satan has in his arsenal.
When Jesus, willingly, went to the cross, to be crucified for our sins, He did what the Father long ago promised would happen:
The seed, which is Christ Jesus, will win the battle of all battles, not by conquering Satan, but by submitting to the Father’s will.