ANCF-434-130105 - length: 75:06 - taught on Jan, 5 2013
Class Outline:
Good Morning!
Let’s Make a Mental Shift
In preparation for the study of the Word of God, your first shift is a mental shift. This is the time when you turn away from the cares and the thinking of the world, recognizing that you are in a place to renew your mind, to grow, to adopt new thinking, and to use this new learning to solve your problems. As you learn what God planned in eternity past for you to hear today, you can leave refreshed and confident, if you want to, able to tackle the world with a renewed mindset because you have put your faith in God and in His Word. In Matthew, Chapter 17, Verse 20, the Lord Jesus Christ says…
“…truly I say to you, if (3) you have faith the size of a mustard seed (maybe you will and maybe you won’t you have a choice), you will say to this mountain (any obstacle), ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
Welcome to a place to freely express a faith that moves mountains.
INVITATION TO RESTORATION
Make a Spiritual Shift
The second shift, before you study the Word of God, is a spiritual shift. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are dead to the sovereignty of the sin nature, and Christ has paid for your personal sins at the Cross. Your spiritual shift simply is a moment of remembrance, where you call to mind what the Lord Jesus Christ has already done for you.
…and having been freed from (the sovereignty of the) sin (nature at the Cross), you (believers in Christ) became slaves (servants) of (the absolute) righteousness (imputed to you at the moment of salvation).
Rather than recalling our personal sins as if we are somehow still accountable for them, we simply remember at this moment to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for handling the sin problem, once and for all time at the Cross, for our benefit…the chance to live the Zoe Life to the fullest.
SILENT REFLECTION
Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ
Please take a few moments to reflect in silence, letting the Lord Jesus Christ occupy your mind, as our God gets you ready to know His exact thinking.
OPENING SONG
I Will
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray...(0:30)
We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God...
Renew our minds through biblical study…help us to orient to your magnificent plan for our total victory in this life…deliver us to a moment-by-moment contentment in our souls that surpasses our comprehension…
We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name...
Amen.
WELCOME TO BARAH MINISTRIES
Pastor Rory Clark
My name is Pastor Rory Clark. You’re listening to lesson four hundred and eight of the Angelic Conflict series. Welcome to a ministry designed for serious students of the Word of God.
TODAY’S STUDY
The CREATOR’S Will is that You Thrive in the Angelic Conflict
Happy New Year!
In many ways, the Christmas and New Year holidays, as quiet as it is kept, represent a time when we become aware of the solitary nature of our earthly journey. Often, during this time, with others surrounding us, we can be quite alone in our thoughts. I have fun during holiday celebrations looking into the eyes of others, and often I can see a far off stare in their eyes as they wonder what exactly they are doing at this party, and as they assess whether they are really having any fun. During the holiday season just past, the words to a song from my youth kept replaying in my mind…
ALFIE
What’s it all about, Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live?
What’s it all about when you sort it out, Alfie?
Are we meant to take more than we give?
Or are we meant to be kind?
In the midst of our daily circumstances, we search constantly for the meaning in our existence. The bible makes it clear that there is a CONTEXT for your existence. You are not an accident. Your presence on planet earth is not a coincidence. You are here on earth to make a difference. You are here to be active participants, in fact to thrive in the midst of an Angelic Conflict. This time of year always gives us moments to assess if we are indeed making a difference in this life.
A man I met this week described himself as a “godless heathen.” Although he made the assessment with “tongue in cheek,” his assessment was accurate. A heathen is a person who has rejected a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Since the Lord Jesus Christ is God, a heathen can definitely be described as “godless,” as one who is without a relationship with the one and only Sovereign God. The man said to me, “There must be a higher power out there somewhere, but I certainly don’t know what it is or whom it is.” I asked, “Do you want to know whom it is?” He said, matter of factly, “You know…I just don’t care.” I told him, “If you did care, you’d know.”
From its first verse, without equivocation or explanation, the bible declares the existence of God…Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 1 begins…
GODHEAD TRIANGLE
In the beginning (not a beginning)…
The bible makes it clear that the “beginning” it reports on is not really the beginning. The Triune Godhead…one God, expressing Himself as three separate and distinct persons…existed before the bible begins. God is not bound by time, and our finite minds, as we seek to understand an infinite God, must lay aside the restrictions of time. Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 1 continues…
GODHEAD TRIANGLE
In the beginning (not a beginning)…God (Jehovah Elohim)
The Elohim part of Jehovah Elohim in the Hebrew of the Old Testament indicates that all three members of the Triune Godhead participated in creation…it features God the Father as the PROVIDER…who set the objectives and provides a plan for divine history…it features God the Son, as the PROVISION…God the Son, in His very Person, is the provision of a distinctive advantage to all creatures…it features God the Holy Spirit as the illuminator of the PATH provide by God the Father…God the Holy Spirit is the tactician who does the detail work of personalizing the plan of God for your life. The Lord Jesus Christ…the uniquely born One…PROTOTYPES the plan of God…His life proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the plan of God works regardless of circumstances to produce contentment in the face of tremendous adversity, or exceeding prosperity or impeding physical death. The Lord Jesus Christ is the physical manifestation of the Godhead and He lived a life of perfect obedience. He thrived in the Angelic Conflict.
GODHEAD TRIANGLE
In the beginning (not a beginning)…God (Jehovah Elohim)…created the heavens and the earth.
The Jehovah portion of Jehovah Elohim is the Lord…God the Son…and it references Him as the creator of the heavens and the earth. So God has always existed…there never was a time when God didn’t exist…there never will be a time when God does not exist. This is the truth, and it need not be defended. Those who choose to reject this truth need to defend themselves. They are free to reject the truth, but their rejection of the truth, their speaking against the truth with hostility, does not change or negate the truth.
Even the one whom the bible describes as a fool, the atheist, recognizes and then rejects God as the One not to believe in.
The fool has said in his heart (the right lobe of his soul),“There is no God.”
If the fool chooses to be objective, he can see, both with his reason and with his empirical senses. In his reason, he rejects Deity…in his senses he sees the existence of the earth and the universe, and he must acknowledge, if he is being fair, that a “design” as sophisticated as the earth and the universe suggests a “designer.” The “godless heathen” I met last week said, “I just can’t get my head around a ‘big bang’ bringing all that is in the universe into existence. It makes no sense to me.” It shouldn’t make sense to him. Yet he doesn’t care to know the One and only true God who did bring the earth and the universe into existence. In freedom, it is his God-given prerogative.
God the Son volunteered to be the CREATOR…John, Chapter 1, Verse 3 says…
All things came into being through Him (the Deity of God the Son…the Lord), and apart from Him (God the Son) nothing came into being that has come into being.
God the Son is the CREATOR of all creatures…Psalm, Chapter 148, Verses 2 to 5 say…
Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light!
Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord (Jesus Christ), For He commanded and they (all things) were created.
The Triune Godhead held a CONFERENCE before the creation of creatures…before the foundation of the world…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…
…just as He (God the Father) chose us (to be) in (union with) Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.
At this CONFERENCE, all members of the Godhead comprehended simultaneously, in omniscience, everything that ever was and everything that would ever be. Then in foreknowledge, they decided what to allow to happen, and by a single divine decree, set forth the certainty of the fruition of all happenings. Among their decisions at the conference?
CONFERENCE DECISIONS <REVEALING>
To create perfect creatures…angelic…and by necessity, human…
To give all creatures perfect provisions, including the creation of the heavens and the earth as a perfect place for them to live…
To allow every creature to reject a relationship with them.
To provide for every creature’s salvation.
To consequence acceptance and rejection of the salvation offer.
The details of this conference, and the details all of divine history, are chronicled, in writing, in the inerrant CANON of Scripture, which is also known as the bible…the Word of God. Second Timothy, Chapter 3, Verse 16 details that the bible is the exact thinking of God…
“All Scripture is inspired by God (theoneustos…God-breathed)…”
Second Peter, Chapter 1, Verses 20 and 21 say…
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own (private) interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved (carried along) by (God) the Holy Spirit spoke from (the exact thinking of THE) God (the Lord Jesus Christ).
BREAK
In Your Presence
When I Think About Home
Welcome back! At the conference, the Godhead set forth a CHRONOLOGY…a sequential order in which events would occur… Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, Verse 1 says…
“There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.”
The chronology set every event in the lives of every creature, allowing for their free will choices, and then folded all events together magnificently based on a single, sovereign decision by the will of the Sovereign Godhead…Acts, Chapter 1, Verse 7 says…
He (the Lord Jesus Christ) said to them (the apostles), “It is not for (from) you to know times (chronos…chronology) or epochs (kairos…sections of time) which the Father has fixed by His own (sovereign) authority…”
In the conference, it was determined that CREATURES would exist. The first set of creatures that were created were called angels…and they witnessed the CREATION of the heavens and the earth…Job, Chapter 38, Verses 4 and 7 detail their witness…as God the Son takes Job to task…
“Where were you (Job) when I (God the Son) laid the foundation of the earth?”
When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God (beniha Elohim…the angelic creatures) shouted for joy?
Through a single act of CREATION at a single moment in time, the Lord Jesus Christ immediately spoke the universe into existence, faster than the snap of a finger. God is perfect…everything He creates is perfect… Deuteronomy, Chapter 32, Verse 4 says so…
The Rock! His work is perfect…
…and the creation of the heavens and the earth were no exceptions to His perfection…Jeremiah, as he described the day the earth stood still, called the earth perfect…
I looked, and behold, the fruitful land…
The greatest creature the Creator created was the angelic creature known as Satan…
‘Thus says the Lord God, “You (Satan) had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom (a genius) and perfect in beauty (gorgeous).”’
“You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; and the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you. On the day that you were created they were prepared.”
“You (Satan) were the anointed cherub (four winged angel) who covers (bodyguard to the Lord Jesus Christ), And I placed you there. You were onthe holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.”
“You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created…”
Satan became a CONSPIRATOR…Ezekiel, Chapter 28, Verse 16 says…
EZE 28:15b-16
...until unrighteousness was found in you.By the abundance of your trade (rekullah…the trafficking of slander against the Lord Jesus Christ) You (Satan) were internally filled with violence, and you sinned…”
Satan announced his perpetrated CONSPIRACY…with these words…in Isaiah, Chapter 14, Verses 13 and 14…
“But you (Satan) said in your heart (the right lobe of your soul), ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.’”
“ ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”
Satan’s conspiracy instigated a rebellion against God, causing the fall of ALL angelic creatures (not just one third of them). Romans Chapter 3 highlights this in two places…
…as it is written, “THERE IS NONE (no creature) RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE…”
…for all (creatures) have sinned and fall short of the glory (essence) of God…
Thus began the Angelic CONFLICT.
In the beginning (not a beginning)…God (Jehovah Elohim)…created the heavens and the earth.
This CATASTROPHE of rebellious thought made God render the earth formless and void…Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 2a…
(But)…the earth was (became) formless and void…
The result? CONDEMNATION for all creatures. Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 2b…
…and darkness was over the surface of the deep…
This act of betrayal and rebellion landed angelic creatures in the COURTROOM of the Supreme Court of Heaven.
Angels are creatures of light, with free roam of the universe, yet with darkness covering the earth they were confined to planet earth. The Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, who loved angelic creatures beyond measure, offered them reconciliation, a chance for a restored relationship with God that they could not accomplish on their own. A trial was held. It was an amnesty program, an unconditional pardon for the offense of rebellion. The offer of an unbreakable relationship with God was open to all angelic creatures. God in His grace would give His creatures a second chance. Jeremiah, Chapter 4, Verse 27 says…
For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation (formless and void), yet I will not execute a complete destruction.”
Two thirds of the angelic creatures accepted the reconciliation offer. One third of the angelic creatures, hereafter referred to as “fallen angels,” refused the salvation offer, continued in rebellion against God, and aligned with Satan, the enemy of God, as their leader. Revelation, Chapter 12, Verse 4 details this…
And his (Satan’s) tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven (angelic creatures) and threw them to the earth.
Satan and the reconciliation rejecting “fallen angels” were sentenced to the Lake of Fire for their sin of independence and betrayal in this formal trial of the Angelic Conflict. Matthew, Chapter 25, Verse 41 says…
“Then He (the Lord Jesus Christ) will also say to those on His left (Satan and the fallen angels), ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared (in the past) for the devil and his angels…’”
Satan and the fallen angels appealed their sentence by assailing God’s character. They claimed that God’s verdict in the formal trial was both unfair and unloving. You’ve undoubtedly heard this in your time on earth, “How can a loving God cast one of His creatures into the Lake of Fire?” Or you’ve heard, “God’s not fair!” Or you have heard accusations like this one, in the first chapter of Job, beginning at verse 8…
The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.”
Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear (respect) God for nothing?”
“Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
“But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.”
Satan contends that we worship God because He blesses us. Perfect God, in unconditional love toward the reconciliation rejecting “fallen angels,” and in absolute impartiality and fairness toward them, with His perfect righteousness in view, accepted their appeal, and ordered a (re)CONSTRUCTION of formless and void planet earth by God the Holy Spirit in Genesis, Chapter 1, Verse 2c…
…and the (Holy) Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
The Holy Spirit restored the planet for the habitation of a lower creature, homo sapiens, also known as mankind, who would help in the resolution of the appeal trial of the Angelic Conflict. You were invited to participate!
The salvation of condemned creatures could only be satisfactorily accomplished by a just, righteous, and loving Godhead, who sent the Lord Jesus CHRIST to earth as their physical manifestation…John, Chapter 1, Verse 14 says…
And the Word (God the Son…the Lord) became flesh (true humanity…Jesus Christ), and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, and we saw (beheld) His glory, glory as of the only begotten (uniquely born One) from the Father, full of grace and (full of) truth.
The Lord Jesus Christ went to the CROSS to pay the penalty for creature betrayal and rebellion. First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 24 says…
…and He Himself (the Lord Jesus Christ) bore our sins in His (own) body (His true humanity) on the Cross, so that we might die to (the sovereignty of the) sin (nature) and live to (absolute) righteousness; for by His wounds (stripes) you were healed.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s perfect and propitiatory sacrifice removed the barrier between the Creator and His Creatures, and made reconciliation a possibility for all. Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 10 says this…
For if (1) while we were enemies (unbelievers) we were reconciled to God (the Father) through the death of His Son (the Lord Jesus Christ, and we were), much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved (delivered) by His (Zoe) life.
In this (sending His Son to die for us) is (the demonstration of unconditional) love, not that (His response is because) we loved God (the Father), but that He loved us (unconditionally first) and sent His Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) to be the propitiation (perfectly satisfactory payment) for our sins.
Thus every creature has a CHOICE, by means of free will…
“He who believes in the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ) has (the) eternal (Zoe) life; but he who does not obey the (command to believe in the) Son will not see (the Zoe) life, but the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”
You are free to choose CHRISTIANITY, an unbreakable relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ…
“What do you think about the Christ (the Messiah), whose son is He?”
Or, you are free to choose COUNTERFEITS to Christianity like religion and Satan worship, which pervert, distort, and debase the reputation and the essence of God and His Plan, leading those who partake in these false systems to destruction. Second Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 3 says…
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
For if (1) one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached (and they do), or (if) you receive a different spirit which you have not received (and you do), or (if you receive) a different gospel which you have not accepted (from us…and you do).
With freedom of choice come the CONSEQUENCES of your choices.
Heaven…
…we (believers in Christ) are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home (face-to-face) with the Lord.
…or the Lake of Fire
“The Son of Man will send forth His (elect) angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks (unbelievers), and those who commit lawlessness (rebellion against reconciliation)…”
“…and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place (the Lake of Fire) there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The right choice, to be on God’s team and to learn the truth of His Word, is a cause of CELEBRATION for all eternity.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith…
…in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
Welcome to your next year of learning the Angelic Conflict!
CLOSING SONG
In the Beginning
CLOSING VERSES
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed
Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.
CLOSING PRAYER
Let us pray...
THANKS
INTERCESSION
PETITION
And we pray that you continue to shape the messages from this pulpit that are an accurate reflection of your person, your thinking, your work, your reputation and your essence...we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit, in Christ’s name, Amen.
Thanks for coming!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for listening!
www.barahministries.com
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