South Shore Pentecostal Church

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Apostolic Truth Radio Program with Pastor Craig Ouellette, a radio ministry of South Shore Pentecostal Church, located in Whitman, Massachusetts. At a time when many Christians do not know what to believe, South Shore Pentecostal is honored to bring you clear biblical teaching on which you can confidently build your faith. Thank you for joining us.

J. Craig Ouellette: Let's look at this lesson here this morning, "The Keys to Understanding the News." Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 through 5. It's good to feel the presence of the Lord here. It was good to see all that came to the altar to get something from God, and you could feel the presence of God doing something there. Again, we don't know what God always does in each person, but the reason to come to church is to worship together, to get renewed, and to touch God.

I don't want to just come here and spend time, but when I leave, I want to have been in the presence of God. I want to be changed. I want to have my desire to live for God refueled. I want to see somebody else get something from God. Praise God.

Genesis 1:1-5: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." Those are 24-hour days, in case you have a doubt in your mind. God intended those to be 24-hour days.

In Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 and 27, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

Now skipping all the way to the end of the Bible, Revelation 13:1-10: "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast."

"And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months or three and a half years. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations."

"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints."

Verse 8, I'll just comment before we go to chapter 21. "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." So we want to get our names in the book. How do I do that? I obey the plan of salvation. I repent. I get baptized in Jesus' name. I get the Holy Ghost. That puts us in the Book of Life. If we're living in the day when the Antichrist is in power, the Bible says if you're not in the book, you're going to worship the Antichrist. You're going to need power to resist the Antichrist. It's going to be a time of seduction and a time of oppression.

Revelation 21:1-7: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

"And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."

Who's Alpha and Omega? Jesus. Jesus is saying, "I'm going to be your father." Are there two fathers? No, there's only one father. Jesus is the God of creation, manifest in flesh. Hallelujah. Understanding the news today, probably a lot in here have a better understanding because the Spirit of God helps us. When we read, hear, and watch the news today, it can be very difficult to understand what's really true and what's going on.

If you listen closely, it seems that there are two polarized opinions or ways being presented. Both opinions are reaching for the undecided mass of people. This is what's going on. Is it possible to determine what is true and right? The Bible reveals what is truth when it comes to God, when it comes to morality, when it comes to eternity, when it comes to our purpose, and when it comes to the future. The Bible is the guide and comes from God.

I would even say that in some cases, you need to go to the Bible to figure out some things that science is saying. There are some things that science is saying is true, but the Bible says something else, and the scientists are actually wrong. They're acting like they know, but they're presenting something that they believe that they can't prove. The reason they're promoting it is because they are anti-God for many reasons.

Additionally, when you get born again and you get the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost is the spirit of truth. It will help a person discern the truth of what is being said in the news media. You can hear them say some things. You can hear people say there's no God, and you say, "I've got the Holy Ghost. I know there is a God." You can discern. You can hear people say it's okay for these people to do this and do that, but you know what the Bible says about certain things.

God wants a distinction between men and women. Men and women is God's idea. It's not humanity's or evolution's idea. If you start to understand that, you start to understand that some of the things they are championing as rights are actually going over against the Word of God. Let's read these two scriptures, John 15:26. This is why the Holy Ghost is so important in a person's life.

It's good to believe. You've got to believe. But I've got to have the Holy Ghost because the Holy Ghost is going to guide me into truth. In John 15:26, on the night of the Last Supper, Jesus is speaking. He says, "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."

Skip over to the next chapter, John 16:13. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." Now, it's not another spirit, but Jesus is trying to let us understand that when you get the Holy Ghost, it's going to agree with what God said. He's not going to say something else or guide you in a way that's a different opinion than God because it is the Spirit of God.

We need the Holy Ghost to discern, and we can get dull in our discernment if we don't stay in that relationship. Just like a relationship with a person, you can get to know them and not see them for a while and forget some things about them. You can even start to wonder if some of the things that you had are true or not with them. But if you keep a regular relationship, you understand. Same with God.

If I keep my relationship, I touch the Spirit of God. I reach for the Spirit of God. Again, it's God's grace. God by His grace makes it available, but I still need to reach. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God." I've got to reach for God. God doesn't just lay it on me. "He that is hungry after righteousness shall be filled." That's talking about getting the Holy Ghost. As I'm renewed in the Spirit of God, I can see things and understand things from God's point of view.

When you start to get God's point of view, you start to understand the Bible better too. You realize it looks like they're saying this, but the Bible says something else over here, and here, and here, and here, so it can't mean that. We're talking about keys to understanding the news. Remember again, primarily there are two points of views being promoted out there. There might be different groups, but when you analyze them, it really kind of boils down to two points of view.

The Bible declares there's two points of view or two forces contending for our hearts: the Spirit of God and the spirit of Satan, the devil. The devil is contending for our hearts. God wants our heart. The devil wants our heart because he does not want God to have our heart. He doesn't really care what happens to us. He just doesn't want God to have it. Amen.

The Bible declares that there's a spiritual war. Ephesians 6:12: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We need to understand that a lot of times in our own humanity, we might not feel like doing something God's way, but there are also spiritual powers that are trying to entice us not to do it God's way.

When we don't feel like doing the right thing, that voice of that devil or the spirits that work for him is right there to say, "You don't need to really do that. Does God really mean that? Does God expect you to live for Him every day? Do you really need church? Do you really need to pray? Do you really need to draw boundaries in your life? Do you really need to change some things? He's a loving God. He's not going to really put you through that." We are fighting spiritual warfare.

In the world, there is spiritual warfare: God reaching for people and the devil reaching. A lot of times when you feel like giving up, it's not just your flesh. Most of the time, there's a spiritual component to that that is coming against you. When you feel like it's not going to make any difference to pray a prayer, oftentimes there's a spiritual component of the enemy coming against you.

As the scripture said, we're wrestling not with flesh and blood. It's not just our humanity. Yeah, we do wrestle with that, but we're wrestling against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. "In high places" means in the heavenlies. So they're down here on earth, they're in governments, and they're in the heavenlies.

The Spirit that's contending for our soul, Jesus, is God manifest in a human body. Jesus says this, God is contending for us. He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

I've got to reach for Jesus. He says, "Take his yoke." Now, a yoke is a connection. If I put the yoke on, I've got to go where Jesus goes. When two animals are yoked together, they are now bound and they've got to go together. The stronger one is going to dictate where you go. That's why they say don't yoke an ox with a donkey. The ox will drag the donkey till it dies. They're unequally yoked.

As a side note, that's why you've got to be careful as a Christian who you marry. Because now if you're yoked to an unbeliever, you're going in different directions. You want to go to church, they want to stay home. You want to live right, they don't want to live right. Only the stronger one is going to win. Jesus says, "Come unto me, take my yoke." I've got to go and get involved with Jesus. I can't just have a Sunday connection.

I've got to get yoked up with Him and go where He wants to go when He wants to go. He says, "My yoke's easy, my burden's light." In other words, He knows who I am. He knows who you are. Even though He's the stronger one, He's not going to drag me into the ground because He knows who I am and who you are. "My yoke is easy, my burden is light, but ye shall find rest unto your souls."

This is why some people can come to church, have an experience with God, and they don't really have rest in their life. They're not yoked up to the Lord. Being yoked up to God doesn't mean I've got to run off to the seminary and become a preacher. It means you committing yourself to God and making yourself available in whatever way God wants you to be and living for the Lord the way you need to live day by day.

The first thing is there should be a commitment to worship Him and a commitment to be a witness. God has also provided the sacrifice for our sins. The familiar scripture, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Doesn't say "will not perish," says "should not perish." So I've got to start believing, but I've got to start following the Lord.

God is reaching for humanity by providing things for us to come to Him. The Spirit calls us to be born again so we can see the kingdom and enter the kingdom. We'll read those scriptures. We've read them a lot, but John 3:3-5. You get people trying to explain them away so they don't have to obey them, but it's what the Bible says. John 3:3, Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus. Nicodemus is trying to figure out who Jesus is. He understands Jesus is not the normal person.

But he's afraid to really make a commitment. He comes at night to find him. But Jesus doesn't talk about who he is. Jesus tells him, "You need to get born again." He says to him in verse 3, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." When you don't have the Spirit of God, you don't understand the church. You can't see what God's doing in the world.

But you get the Spirit of God and you start to follow God, and all of a sudden, you find God here, God there, God was there yesterday. You can even find God in your past when you weren't serving God. You find out that God was merciful and didn't let you go out when you were way back there years ago doing your own thing, and in your heart you kind of knew it wasn't right. But you couldn't see it because you weren't born again.

You thought you were doing it all on your own, your own strength, your own ability, your own intelligence, your own smartness, your own connections. Then you come to God and you realize I'm only here because He made me. He only let me come. In verse 5, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Without being born again, I can't see it and I can't enter. The pastor can't put you in the kingdom. The bishop can't put you in the kingdom. The prophet can't put you in the kingdom. The apostle can't put you in the kingdom. You must be born again. Donald Trump can't put you in the kingdom. The UN can't put you in the kingdom. You must be born again. And you can't get born again unless you die first.

That's why a lot of people don't get born again, because they won't really die to themselves. They won't really give their life to God. See, there's a big difference between believing in God and submitting to God. There's a big difference in experiencing God and having God touch you and work in your life and obeying God.

The Bible lets us understand there's going to be people that did great works of God, and Jesus is going to say to them, "I don't know who you are." They didn't submit to God. So the Spirit calls us to be born again. God's reaching for us. The Spirit of God gives us power to live for God. Acts 1:8: "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me." Power to live for God.

No matter how disciplined a person is, they cannot live for God without the Spirit of God. That's right. So we need the Holy Ghost. The apostles, Jesus said, "Wait till you be endued with power from on high." They did not have power to live for God and to bring forward the message that had been delivered to them without the Holy Ghost, even though they personally had been with Jesus and seen Him die and resurrected and had worked miracles themselves and seen miracles. They needed the Holy Ghost.

God is reaching for us. The devil is reaching for us. The devil contends for the soul of people. The devil has done this. Second Corinthians 4:3-4, but if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. Understand the devil has power to blind people.

The devil's contending. One of the ways he blinds us is he gets us to look at something else than what God is trying to reveal to us. A lot of times when God is trying to do something in your life, the devil will make a big upheaval because he wants you to look at the negative or something else and not God. We think of blinding as being like a bright light so I can't see, but if my focus is changed, I still can't see.

The devil will work to try to get us off base or to try to get us to focus on ourselves, how hard it is or how difficult or something I don't like. But he's got power to cause people to not know the truth. A lot of people that even go to church are weak because he'll get people to not know the truth by false doctrine. There are churches that preach there's no baptism of the Holy Ghost today, but you can't find that in the Bible.

And all the scriptures they give to support that are not supportable if you actually look at the context. You've got people in First Corinthians 13 saying, "When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away with." They say, "Tongues are not perfect, so we don't have tongues today. We got the whole Bible." But it's not talking about having the Word of God. It's talking about the love of God. The whole chapter is love.

The whole subject is love of God. When the love of God comes. Who, what is love? Love is God. What he's really saying is until Jesus comes back, these gifts are going to be functioning. That's what the scripture is saying. If you go to the first chapter of First Corinthians 1:7, Paul's writing to the church at Corinth, and he says, "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Paul's assuming the gifts are functioning until the Lord comes back. They're misinterpreting. They're taking things out of context. And what happens is people are being robbed of a baptism of the Holy Ghost by preachers that say you can't have it. Somebody just recently visited this church. She got the Holy Ghost. She asked her pastor about it. Her pastor said, "It doesn't happen today." She got it. And if you can't see the kingdom of God without the Spirit of God, you got blind guides.

Satan has the power to appear good. This is where we stumble. We stumble because we think if somebody else does something good, they must be good. But bad people can do good things. So the devil is able to appear as a good spirit. That's why people are seduced by it. Second Corinthians 11:14-15, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."

Here's one of the ways you can test the spirit. If it's God, it's going to always exalt Jesus. If it's God, it's always going to exalt Jesus. If you got a spirit trying to lead you or give you a revelation and it's not exalting Jesus, it's not God. Didn't we read that back there in John? He said the spirit of truth will guide you and he shall testify of me. Why? Because Jesus is the answer. Jesus is the only salvation.

Jesus is God manifest in flesh. If you're going to be saved, you got to come to Jesus. So any spirit that is giving you a revelation or an understanding that doesn't exalt Jesus or demotes Him is not coming from God. "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness." What that's saying is you got people that are serving the devil and they're appearing like good people to others that don't know God.

Jesus warned about false prophets in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:15-16. "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Examine the fruit. Examine the fruit of people. Examining the fruit requires us to ask some questions about the people claiming to have answers.

True prophets are led by the Spirit of God and the Bible. The job of a prophet is to bring God's word to people. If they're a true prophet, they're going to be anchored in this. God's Spirit is always for life and family. If you got some group, whether it's religious or not, and they're not helping the family, you better be careful. You got some group and they're promoting like "we're for you," but they're not concerned about life.

Be careful. Life comes from God. Family comes from God. It's not a social construct. It's not something that's evolved. God created family on the sixth day. It's God's idea. Why is that important, family? If family disintegrates, society disintegrates. And then you have to have a tyrant come in and enforce things to keep order. So those that want power, those that want dominion, are glad to see the family disintegrate because it makes people ask for laws that give them power to have dominion over people.

I recently read about some mayor joining a group of mayors, 500, and their motivation is "we're going to make sure that no child goes hungry." And that's a good motivation. But the problem is they're not addressing the problem. The question is why are kids going hungry? They're going hungry because the family's falling apart. If they were sincere about it, they would go fix the family.

Make sure men and women stay together. Men leaving the house, the family goes to poverty most of the time. So that person appears to be doing good, but it's really just propagating the problem. You examine the fruit. Definition of marriage comes from God. Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus is asked about marriage by some of the religious leaders.

He answered and said unto them, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female?" So they didn't evolve. God made them. God made them that way at the beginning. He made them male and female. Not male and male or female and female. Male and female. These are God's constructs. These are God's definitions.

"For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." So marriage is God's idea. Look at verse 4. Jesus thinks of God as a singular being. Not a trinity. God is not—Jesus did not think of God as a trinity, and he's supposed to be part of it.

That ought to tell you something about it. It doesn't exist. It's a made-up thing. It's a theological construct. There's a lot of different things that people will say about it, but God is one, and that one God came in the person of Jesus Christ to be our savior. But my point here is God made male and female. God determines whether I'm a man or a woman. Not me. Not you.

So these ideas that I can select what I want to be, it's rebellion against God. It's trying to make something that God did not make. You got people acting like they're doing good by supporting this. And they're anti-family because they don't want the school even report to the parents if their child is doing this. That is anti-God. That is anti-God.

We're talking about the spirit of the devil working and contending for hearts. The Bible says God's not the author of confusion. Have you ever seen more confusion than we've seen in the last four or five years? Rationality gone out the window. So testing the fruit of prophets and leaders. Questions you could ask: What type of lives do these people lead? Have they ever worked a regular job?

Listen, there's some prominent politicians out there, like the mayor of New York, like Bernie Sanders. They've never worked a regular job, and they're going to tell you and tell us how the economy ought to run. They've never done that. Who's voting for them? I don't know. But see, people are being deceived. Are they promising you something they don't have to pay for themselves?

It's real easy to say I'm going to give you this when they don't have to pay for it. Are they honest, speaking the truth or changing with the wind? In other words, if you follow what they said two years ago, are they saying the same thing that they're saying today? Now, if they've changed for the better and they can give a reason why, that's okay. What moral standard leads these people's decisions? That's a big one.

I think most of us understand this. Do you understand that the Constitution of this country was based on the Bible? It's based on the Bible. And if you have somebody that's got authority and power that does not believe the Bible, they will not follow the Constitution. That's what's going on. People are being voted because they're nice, they can talk, they've got a political action committee, they've got money funding them, they've got a good image, they're funny, got nice jokes, dress well, got good connections.

But they're anti-God. They're anti-God. And if a person doesn't believe in the Bible, what is their source for a moral standard? There is no religious document that compares to the Bible. And if you've got other religious documents that have good in them, the reason they do is it came from the God of the Bible because we're all made in His image and likeness. They didn't come up with it on their own.

Again, the devil is a liar and a murderer. John 8:44: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." This is why the Bible says all liars will find their place in the lake of fire. Not most liars, all liars.

We can lie without speaking a lie because if we present ourselves in a way we know is not us, you're lying. If you know somebody's asking something about you but you just give them a story to frame you and present yourself as a certain way, where if you gave them the whole story, they would think different, you're lying. That's right. God sees it. And the devil is a liar. He lied about God to Eve. He's a murderer. He slandered God's character. When you slander somebody's character, you're character assassination. That's murdering.

The devil will tell you what you want to hear. That's why again you need this. When you hear voices saying "that's okay" or "this is okay" and that, I need to check. I need to check. If God says it's okay, I'm okay. But just because I hear a voice, and just because it would be the way I'd like it to be, or just because everybody else is doing it is acceptable, the devil is a liar and he's going to tell you what you want to hear.

In Genesis 3:4 and 5, "The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." So again, that's the devil. Oh, you don't really have to follow the Bible. Just believe in God. Just believe that Jesus is God and He died for your sins and admit you're a sinner and go on your way. You don't have to really believe in the Bible. Come on, it's all grace. God's love and grace. God's not going to send anybody to hell. That's not what the Bible says.

The serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." All those scriptures are just there to show you we are involved in a spiritual war. There's demonic spirits contending for our soul and God is contending for our soul. That's the whole point of what we've just covered up to that point.

The Bible lets us understand there's going to be a world government someday, and it's going to be under the power of Satan. You've got a lot of people talking about "oh, that's conspiracy theory." There are some. Some of those are true because the devil is conspiring against God to take the world over. He's not doing it out in the open because if he did, people would realize and they'd run to church and repent and do things. So he's not doing it in the open. He does it subtly.

Revelation 13:1-9, this beast rises up with seven heads and ten horns. That represents the world government. The dragon, which is Satan, gives the world government its power. You can go back and read Revelation 12:9, and it tells you that the dragon is Satan. So it's not my symbology, it's what the Bible says about it. There will be a ruler of this government who will also be the Antichrist. Again, it's the voice as given unto this government which has heads of blasphemy, which means it's a government that is openly anti-God of the Bible.

It's showing its disrespect open. Its heads got the names of blasphemy. It's not ashamed to say things or to debase God and His holiness and His righteousness. So there's going to be a voice given to it. It's going to be a man that's going to be possessed of the spirit of Satan just like Jesus was God in flesh. This Antichrist is going to oppose all that is called God and want to be worshipped.

This is Second Thessalonians chapter 2. We should go there because we got a few passages we're going to pull out of there. Now hold on, because it'll get better. It sounds pretty negative, but I'm just trying to lay the facts out. With God, when we're God's people, we've got God to show us, God to guide us, God to help us.

In Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and verses 3 and 4, it talks about this voice or mouth that's given to the beast. It's talking about the same person. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition," that's talking about what we typically call the Antichrist, "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

When that Antichrist comes to power—most likely he's going to show up on the political horizon and people are going to see him before he's in power, and he's going to look like a savior. That's why people will accept him. He'll fix a bunch of problems, political problems in the world. And the Bible tells us that when it says "peace, peace," then comes sudden destruction. So be careful. When they declare world peace, be ready.

This is the Bible now. It's not my thing, it's the Bible. So this Antichrist is going to come. There's going to be a world government. But the world government cannot come into play until God allows it. That's the key. The devil doesn't have the power to do it. If he did, he would have done it thousands of years ago. The devil can only do what God allows him to do. That's why it's good to get under the hand of God.

Because if I'm under the hand of God, the devil cannot do anything that God doesn't allow him to do. And if God is allowing it, he's got a reason why he's allowing it, and he'll bring me through, he'll bring you through. Amen. So in the same chapter, Second Thessalonians 2:6-8, it says, "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work."

In other words, the spirit of Antichrist was back in the early church. You can read about it in First John. "Only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." Verse 9: "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders."

The Spirit of God holds back the devil. The devil is not like almost as strong as God. He's created by God, and God could un-create him if he wanted. But the devil is ignorant. He's full of pride. Pride will blind you. You read this a lot of places in the Bible. Pride will blind a person that they think that they can get by even against God. So the devil's blinded by his pride. He actually thinks he can have a successful rebellion against God. Or it seems like he thinks that because he doesn't give up. Doesn't quit till God binds him and throws him in the lake of fire or the bottomless pit for a thousand years.

We need to understand that God is so smart that he's using the devil to fulfill his purpose. What's God doing? Two spirits contending for us. God's going to see what each person is going to choose. So God lets the devil work to draw us and see, "Am I going to yield and go that way or am I going to cry out and decide I want to do it God's way?"

This same scripture in Second Thessalonians 2:7, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let." Using the New Living Translation, it says this: "For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way." That's talking about God. God is still in control till the rapture comes. No matter how much evil's going on, God is taking control of everything and God is limiting what the devil can do.

Now, sometimes, because God gives us authority over the devil—is that right? If you got the Holy Ghost, if you're born again, you got the name of Jesus, we got power over the devil. Sometimes the devil gets an upper hand because we don't use the authority God gives us. And that's another reason why it's good to live right and holy. Because when the devil comes and you go to confront him, if you're not living right, he's going to throw that in your face.

You're going to back up rather than standing your ground and pushing him back. But when you're living right and you're submitted to God, you can stand against the devil. You can bind the devil. You can rebuke the devil. Amen. And there's plenty of stories about people possessed by demons running at somebody else that had the Holy Ghost and they say "in the name of Jesus" and the person falls down the ground speaking in tongues, devil gone out of them. That's the God we serve.

God allows the devil to help fulfill his purpose. God makes his truth available to all people, but if people decide they don't want the truth, the Lord will allow them to be deceived by the devil. This again is in Second Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 10 through 12. "With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."

Why do I have to love truth? I have to love it enough because sometimes you've got to go through some rough things to obtain it. Sometimes you've got to go through some rough areas to hold on to what God has given you. So I've got to love it more than what I want. I've got to love it more than what the devil offers. Some people are going to be lost not because they didn't know the truth, but because they didn't love the truth enough to fight for it.

When Paul says contend for the faith, another way that could be stated is contend for the truth. He says, "For this cause God shall send them a strong delusion, that they should believe a lie." If a person consistently resists the truth, God will finally say to that person, "Okay, you don't want to know the truth. I'll let you believe a lie." Now, that's different for each one of us because God's not going to deal with me like sister Kim or somebody else.

He looks at each one of us and there's a line for each one of us that if we don't want truth, God will continue to try to pull us and show us and reveal "this is the way, this is truth," because He loves us. He's not willing that any should be lost. He wants all to come. But if we reach a point where we don't want the truth, God will let us believe a lie. And that lie will lead to damnation. Verse 12: "That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Again, the price of truth. A lot of times when you go for truth, you have friends that you lose. You got family members that won't talk to you. They think you went to a different planet. You got people whispering in groups behind your back when you come into a place and you know they're talking about you. So there's a price for truth. But when you got the truth, you get Jesus. You get the Spirit of God. Amen. You get a good shepherd. You get a door, you get a way. You get a God that will never forsake you. You get a God that will never let more come upon you than you're able to bear. You get a God that loves you.

The one-world government reveals that there are people who know the truth and suppress it. Look over in Romans 1:18. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness." And the "hold" there really means "suppress." The English Standard Version says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." There are people that know the truth and suppress it.

In Second Peter 3:5, "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water." Just talking about Noah's flood. But it says they're willingly ignorant. They don't want to know about the flood. They don't want to believe the flood. There are people that are willingly ignorant of the Word of God because it doesn't match their agenda.

When I come to God, my agenda's got to go away. When I come to the Lord, I've got to now find His agenda for me. That's serving God. The Lord is sovereign. And again, the Bible's got events that indicate that God is in control and that God has got a standard and that God does judge. The flood reveals to us that God's got a standard for all men. He came down and judged them, took them away because they were wicked, evil.

Everybody that was on the earth except for Noah and his family, right? They did not have the Ten Commandments. They did not have a Bible like we've got. Yet God judged them. Was God unrighteous? No. But God is in control. And it shows that when sin reaches a certain level in people's lives, God is going to judge it. Now, they weren't without a witness because the Psalms say in Psalm 19:1 that the heavens declare the glory of God.

You look at the heavens and you realize, you look at creation, you realize this could not happen by accident. You got a witness. The conscience, Romans 2:14: "When the Gentiles by nature do the things written in the law," the law of Moses is talking about. In other words, when people that are not Jewish in the Old Testament did by nature. What nature? The conscience that God put in them. And then Noah was a preacher.

So when that judgment comes, it's not that there's no witness. There is a witness. They had three witnesses. Probably a fourth one. Methuselah lived 969 and he dies the year of the flood. Methuselah goes back to Seth, Adam's third son. So Methuselah could talk to somebody that knew Adam and Eve. Witness. God puts witness in the world. Sodom and Gomorrah, again, as God reaching in, judging people because they're immoral.

Letting us understand that the standard comes from God and not society. And letting us understand that God will step into creation to judge at times. And the Bible tells us that the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah are examples to us that we need to be ready. As it was in Noah's day, they ate, they drank, they married, they bought, they planted, they built, and the flood came and took them away and they weren't ready.

As it was in Sodom and Gomorrah, the fire and brimstone came down upon them, even though they had been visited by angels, even though Lot had been living there. And it took them all away. The Bible lets us understand that this is what's going to happen in the second coming of the Lord, that people are not going to be ready. They're going to think that life is just going on. So that's Luke chapter 17 if you want to look at that.

But the Lord is coming for His church and His people, and we need to be born again. If you want to be going with the Lord, you need to be born again. We must be born again. The new birth, being born again, requires repentance from sins, getting baptized in Jesus' name, receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I mentioned that there are people that know the truth and suppress it.

Back about 15, 20 years ago, a well-known preacher had a big following and he fell into sexual sin. The year before that, he sat down with people that talked to him about baptism in Jesus' name. I knew some of them personally that had sat and talked with them and said this. And he said this: "I see that. But if I preach that, I'll lose half my congregation." There are people out there that suppress the truth.

Being born again is the same as being saved. The coming of the Lord is going to be joyful for those that are looking. It's going to be joyful. Lord's going to come back, and after a thousand years, he's going to make a new heaven and a new earth. He's going to reign. What we're getting to here this morning, I'm trying to help you understand when you hear the news, when you read the news, when you see the news, what is going on is the result primarily of struggles between powers of good, between the devil and God.

If you understand what God is trying to get at and you understand what the devil's trying to get at, all of a sudden the news starts to make some sense. Since the Bible says there's going to be a world government someday, the devil is working behind the scenes to try to lay the groundwork for that government. Again, he can't go beyond what God allows.

But many of the things that are going on are trying to shift pieces like a chessboard to set things in place. Because the devil knows there's going to be a time where he'll have an opportunity. Now, as long as people are reaching for God, God is going to be concerned and moving. We need to make sure that we're living the way we need to be living. We also need to be making sure that you vote.

You vote and you pray and ask about those candidates. Don't let somebody else do it. A lot of times the wrong person gets voted in because the good people didn't vote. They said, "Well, I don't like any of them." Well, sometimes you need to make a choice. And it's not whether you like their personality, it's what do their policies lead to. Are their policies leading to family and life or against it?

Are their policies going to allow the church to worship, reach out, or suppress it? Amen. Wars are the result of sin, James says. And so the question to us this morning, I think most of us can answer yes, are you born again the Bible way? Are you yielding, am I yielding my conscience which tells me that I need the Lord Jesus? He said, "Come unto me." Would you stand here this morning?

And we're going to open up the altar just for a little bit. I know it's snowing, but God will give us a sled to get home. Praise God. Just let's pray and let's ask, "God, am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? God, am I allowing you to have your way in me?" Because Lord, you're not just trying to save me, but you're trying to save others through me.

Am I in a position where I'm using the authority that you've given me against the powers of darkness? Have I decided that I'm going to stand as you said with the armor of God, stand gird about, resisting powers of darkness? Lord, help us here this morning to understand this. Help us to understand, Lord God, that there is a great struggle.

It's not just political powers and ideologies, but there are spirits motivating ideologies. Some from God, some from hell. Help us to discern, Lord God. Help us to be lights. Help us to be able to understand how to pray and how to position ourselves, Lord God, that we can be a help to those that are looking for truth, that we can show them that the Bible shows these things that we're living.

And Lord, we thank you today as we get ready to leave this place. We ask you, Lord, to be with all of us as we travel. Get us safely home. Be with us through the next couple days. But help us to understand, Lord God, that what's going on in the world is the result of a spiritual contest between powers of evil, between powers of good, and that the struggles in governments and countries are being orchestrated by spiritual powers and that God is contending for hearts and souls in Jesus' name. Everyone say, "Amen."

Tina Ouellette: Thank you for joining us today as we have studied the word on Apostolic Truth Radio. My name is Tina Ouellette, wife of Pastor Craig Ouellette of South Shore Pentecostal Church, located at 58 West Street in Whitman, Massachusetts. If you love praise and worship, you will love services at South Shore Pentecostal Church, and we invite you to come and worship with us.

Sunday School for all ages begins at 10:00 AM, and our Sunday evening service begins at 6:00 PM. Adult Bible study and children's churches is held on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. You can learn more about our church on our website at southshorepentecostal.com, or you may call us at 781-447-1668.

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