 Today we're in Micah. We're going to continue our study in chapter 5 by looking at verses 3 through 15. What I'll do is I'll read to you verse 3, and then I'm going to give you a bit of a reminder of where we've been. Then I'll move on and complete the chapter this evening. So Micah chapter 5 will read verse 3 and begin there. Micah 5.3 reads, Now when we are last together, we close by looking at the prophecy related to Messiah that Micah had given to us that is found in verse 2. Remember how he had said, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old from everlasting. And so the last time we were together, I mentioned to you that this is one of those prophecies that relate to Messiah. I also mentioned that the Bible is unique in that it contains prophecy. You can look at other so-called religious books. You don't find prophecy in those books. But you do find prophecy in your Bibles. The Bible tells us in Isaiah chapter 42 verse 9, See the former things have taken place and new things I declare. Before they spring into being, I announce them to you. So this is speaking to us concerning God's omniscience. He knows all things and thus because he is omniscient, because he knows all things, he would communicate to those who are referred to as prophets things that were to take place. In Isaiah 46 in verses 9 and 10, it reads remember the former things those of long ago. I am God, there is no other. I am God, there's none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say my purpose will stand and I will do all that I please. So God declares that he gives to us knowledge of future events and thus we know the scriptures are filled with prophecies. Micah chapter 5 verse 2 contained one of those, a prophecy related to Messiah. Now there are differing numbers that relate to the amount of prophetic verses that refer to Christ in the Old Testament and all that he that he fulfilled, but a conservative number is over 300. I've seen the number 353 all the way up to over 400. Prophecies found in the Old Testament that are referring to Jesus Christ, but you can you can settle to know that there are at least at least 300 scriptures in the Old Testament that speak prophetically concerning Christ. Again Micah chapter 5 verse 2 being one of them. So I've mentioned to you before and this is one of my favorite things to remind you about that the mathematical probability of Jesus fulfilling prophecies is astronomical and I cut and I paste this and I'm just going to read it to you just to illustrate this in order to demonstrate to you how Jesus's fulfilling of prophecies like Micah 5 2 really points to the reality of God being omniscient and Jesus being the fulfillment of those things that God has stated. Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College Peter Stoner has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning Messiah. The estimates were worked out by 12 different classes representing some 600 students. The students weighed all the factors discussed each prophecy and examined the circumstances which might indicate that men had conspired together to fulfill a particular prophecy. Professor Stoner then took their estimates and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other scientists including skeptics to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented. Concerning Micah 5 verse 2 where it states the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem if Rata Stoner and his students determined the average population of Bethlehem from the time of Micah to the present. Then they divided it by the average population of the earth during the same period. They concluded that the chance of one man being born in Bethlehem was one in 300,000. After examining only eight different prophecies they estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was one in 10 to the 17th power. 10 to the 17th power is a figure with 17 zeros. Stoner said if you mark one of 10 tickets and place all the tickets in a hat, thoroughly stir them and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in 10. Suppose that we take 10 to the 17th power in silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly all over the state. Blindfold a man tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man from their day to the present time providing they wrote them in their own wisdom. It is impossible that one man could have fulfilled eight. Jesus fulfilled over 300 some estimating over 400 and so that's why I was saying to you last week, last time we were together that you can trust the word of God because God knows all things. He is omniscient and thus when you read these prophecies you're so used to him because even if a person's not a Christian they've heard this scripture before. You can ask somebody who doesn't know God where was the Messiah born? Where was Jesus born? And if they know any of their Christmas songs or seasonal songs they'll say well wasn't he born in old little town of Bethlehem or something like that? Because they know that because that's part of American religious history and all. But the fact is the idea that he actually was born in Bethlehem is something that we ought to understand in relation to the other prophecies that Jesus Christ fulfilled and so when we're reading through Micah and we see this prophecy concerning him is something that's supposed to stir our hearts. Now as Micah is speaking Micah is now giving to us some insight concerning the years that are following the giving of Messiah and that's what you see in verse three. Verse two spoke concerning Messiah but verse three speaks of the years that are following and so in verse three it says he shall give them up until the time that she who is in labor has given birth then the remnant of his brother and shall return to the children of Israel. So when Jesus was given to the people their immediate response was rejection. Remember that with me as you've studied through the gospel if you read through the gospels you know that Jesus was rejected by the people. That was prophesied once again by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah in chapter 53 verse three said he was speaking of Messiah he was despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows familiar with suffering like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not. So Isaiah being written over seven centuries before Christ prophesied that Messiah would be rejected. When you look in the gospel of John in chapter one verses 10 and 11 John writes although the world was made through him the world did not recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people he was not accepted and so Jesus Christ is rejected that is what is being spoken of here when it speaks and says he shall give them up. He gives them up because they rejected them. So in the rejection of Messiah difficult times are going to come to the nation. Now specifically Israel has had very tough times through its history but this also is speaking concerning the latter days. The latter days will be a time of great pain for the nation of Israel during a time that is called the tribulation and so when he speaks here and it says until the time that she who is in labor has given birth that gives us an insight into the pain that the nation goes through. Now I've got several women in here and many of you more than likely gave birth and you probably could very easily say if I said you know giving birth piece of cake no problem no pain you probably would beat me afterwards for saying that you want to know what pain is I'll show you pain. Now somebody once said that a birth pain is kind of like taking your bottom lip and pulling it over the top of your head I don't know whether that's true or not but I understand it as a very painful thing and that's a picture that's being given to us here when he speaks of labor when he speaks of travail it's a picture of a painful time and so Messiah will be rejected and the nation of Israel will go through a painful time it says until the time that she who is in labor has given birth then the remnant of his brother and shall return to the children of Israel so when it says the remnant of the brother and shall return ultimately this is again prophetic ultimately the Jews will be regathered and will come from the ends of the earth now I say this all the time some of you get bored and say oh can't you say something different and the answer to that is yes I can but no I won't because it's important to remember this it helps us to keep things in context in history in history I don't know of any record perhaps we have historians in the room right now who could differ but I don't know in history an ancient people like the Jews the Israelites being dispersed in the manner that Israel was dispersed taken from Israel in 80s 70 and all with the onslaught of the Roman Empire and and the dispersion you know the nation of Israel has gone through multiple dispersions you see them in scripture the the the Assyrians came and took them the Babylonians came and took them the Romans took them you see this nation that has been taken captive and yet the miracle of Israel is something that we Americans in this day have seen we seem to have forgotten the idea that people who were scattered throughout the planet would actually regather to a small portion of land in the Middle East and once again have a nation called Israel is unheard of that's one of the reasons why when you read commentators suppose for those of you who teach Bible studies and I'm sure I have some in this room who teach Bible studies that's one of the reasons why when you are studying some of the commentators from the 1800s and all they offer to you something called replacement theology how many of you have ever heard that term just just okay replacement theology they say that the church replaced the nation of Israel in prophecies in God's plan and why do they say that they say that because when they were writing there was no nation of Israel there there there was no recognized nation of Israel and so all these prophecies like Romans chapters 9 10 and 11 a variety of others Matthew 24 are so many prophecies that are related to Messiah and promises that God gives and all they would read those and they'd say but there's nothing there there is no nation of Israel this cannot be speaking literally it has to be speaking figuratively allegorically so you see different means in which they would interpret the scriptures because there was no nation of Israel and yet there were some in the later 1800s especially but there have been some throughout the history of the church who have said no God is going to do a miracle and regather the nation and so in 1948 when Israel once again was declared to be a nation that was unheard of and now you see that God's word was accurate when he made these promises for example Jeremiah 30 verse 3 the time is coming when I will restore the fortunes of my people of Israel and Judah I will bring them home to this land that I gave to their ancestors they will possess it and live here again I the Lord have spoken Ezekiel 36 24 I will take you out of the nations I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back to your land Zephaniah 3 20 at that time I will gather you at that time I will bring you home I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes says the Lord and then Jesus Luke 21 24 they speaking of the Jews will be brutally killed by the disorder sent away as captives to all the nations of the world Jerusalem will be conquered and trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end Jesus spoke concerning it Jesus and Ezekiel Jeremiah Zephaniah they all spoke concerning the fact that events would take place in the land of Israel and the nation of Israel and that the people would be regathered and God would do a fresh and new work and so here in verse 3 it says he shall give them up until the time that shoes in labor has given birth then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel this would be speaking prophetically and would be referring to the time that we refer to in the last days especially the tribulation it says in verse 4 and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God and they shall abide for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth and so he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord obviously that would be a picture of Messiah that would be speaking of Jesus and Jesus one of my favorite pictures of Christ that you find in scripture is he's a shepherd and that's a picture you have here he shall stand and feed his flock Jesus is called the good shepherd and the good shepherd goes before his sheep he says my sheep know me and I call them by name he said I go before them and so there are stories concerning shepherds in Israel and how that there is a bonding that takes place where where the shepherd would be there when when a lamb was born and would take that lamb as it was born and when the the lamb parted the womb the shepherd would take the lamb and hold it and speak to it from the very beginning and that's how the sheep learned the voice of the shepherd and that's why they would follow his voice and a stranger Jesus said they will not follow because he would bond with those little lambs so they knew his voice and he would call them and he even called them by name you know come on lamb chops you know whatever come on breakfast but they had a relationship with the shepherd and you know and Jesus said and the shepherd goes before them and I remember a story of an individual who was there in Israel for the first time and and they saw this this the sheep and this man with them but the the man was behind them not in front of them and had a stick and was driving them is driving them and so the tourist turns to his guide and says listen I've been reading the bible a long time and the bible says that the shepherd goes before the sheep and the sheep follow his voice but as I'm looking here I see this man here who's behind the sheep and he's driving him with a stick and I would like to know is has it changed over the last couple thousand years and the guide laughs and says oh no that's still true the shepherd still goes before the sheep and they follow him and follow his voice but that's not the shepherd that's the butcher a long time ago I was taught by my pastor you lead the sheep you don't beat the sheep Jesus is the good shepherd the sheep hear his voice a stranger's voice they will not follow they follow the true shepherd and so I love the picture of of the Lord as being our shepherd thus Psalm 23 has special meaning to me when it simply says the Lord is my shepherd and God's prophetic words in the nation of Israel when he says I will be your shepherd I will seek out my sheep and he speaks of the false teachers as being those who've enriching themselves off of them even eating them and taking their wool and making taking advantage of them and all Jesus is the good shepherd and Jesus cares for us in Ezekiel 34 verses 12 through 14 it reads as a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them so will I look after my sheep I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness I will bring them out from the nations gather them from the countries I will bring them into their own land I will pastor them on the mountains of Israel in the ravines and in the settlements in the land I will tend them in a good pasture and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land there they will lie down in good grazing land and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel so God was speaking concerning being their true shepherd Isaiah 40 verse 11 says he will feed his flock like a shepherd he will carry the lambs in his arms holding them close to his heart he will gently lead the mother sheep with their young and so that's the picture we have here in verse four of messiah he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the lord in the majesty of the name of the lord his god and they shall abide for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth messiah is going to be great and he is going to care for them in verse five and this one shall be peace when the assyrian comes into our land and when he treads in our palaces then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princely men it's an interesting interesting scripture when it speaks of the assyrian coming into the land the term the assyrian is a picture that speaks of the enemies of israel the assyrian comes into the land is another way of saying when the enemies of israel come against the nation in those last days and so we already know as we've been going through this book that there will be nations that will unite against israel we've even seen those configurations of those nations in our day now and so the bible specifically names a variety of nations that will come against the nation of israel and so god is giving to us a promise he's given a promise to the people really that when the enemy comes when the assyrian comes and treads in the palaces that they're going to have those who are going to be raised up by the lord who will be their defense it speaks of his providing protection for the nation through valiant as well as caring leaders that's what it means when it says uh we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princely men it's speaking of valiant men noble individuals that will be used at that time to bring protection to uh to the nation in verse six they shall waste with the sword the land of assyria and the land of nimrod at its entrances thus he shall deliver us from the assyrian when he comes into our land and when he treads within our borders this would be a prophetic picture of the tribulation again at the end of the tribulation uh israel will be strengthened by messiah by their shepherd the confederation of nations will come against israel she will be protected and delivered what's interesting one of the things that's interesting here is how the land of nimrod is mentioned isn't that that's an interesting the land of nimrod nimrod when you look at the bible in the book of genesis there's one who is mentioned by the name nimrod and the way he's referred to is nimrod a mighty hunter before the lord that's the phrase a mighty hunter before the lord and as i was doing a study on that man many years ago now i remember one of the commentators pointing out something that i'll share with you and the commentator said when it says nimrod was a mighty hunter before the lord you can get the impression by the word before that that's speaking of him being in front of god recognize a mighty hunter he said but the word before doesn't necessarily mean that it means against nimrod was a mighty hunter who was against the lord and not only that when it says nimrod was a mighty hunter he wasn't speaking of how he would go out and hunt wild animals he was a hunter of men and so nimrod in the old testament is portrayed to us demonstrated to us who've been a man in rebellion against god and a murderous man it's a picture of god's enemies and so when you see here in this scripture the land of nimrod at its entrance it's another picture of the enemies of god nimrod being the picture of that nimrod is also associated with a very famous tower the tower of babel and you remember the story of the tower of babel some of you don't so let me let me give it to you they wanted to build a tower that would reach unto the heavens one of the problems that we as americans especially here in the 21st century might have is we'll say to ourselves well how backwards were these people you know were they building a stairway to heaven you know inspiring leds never mind um were they building a tower to heaven did they really think that they could go out there with brick and mortar and build a tower that reached all the way to the throne room of god did they really believe that you see what are we what we have done is we have taken an evolutionary mindset towards things that happen in the older times so we look at them as being backwards and stupid when in fact biblical teachers will say to us we are not getting better if anything we're not evolving we're devolving because those who are closer to the beginning had more of the faculties of their own minds their brains were were in other words more of their brain was being used than today they weren't stupid and so they are stupid and the bible doesn't say that they were building some what it says is it was reaching into heaven and thus there are those who would say what that tower was was not a stairway where they thought that they could climb some stairs and see god it was a an astrological tower it's also referred to as a ziggurat where they would chart the movement of the stars and instead of worshiping the god of who created all things they began to worship the things created by that god and that's what paul is referring to in the book of romans when he says that they abandoned god and they worshiped creatures and the heavens that's the point he's making instead of worshiping god who made all things it was god blessed above all things man began to worship the creation rather than the creator which man still does idolatry isn't simply and we're going to see this in a minute idolatry isn't simply me going into the woods and cutting down a tree and and making a small image and then plating it with silver or gold and then placing it in front of me and saying you are my god it doesn't have to be a statue it can be anything that takes the place of god anything anything in my life that takes the place of god you know god says in his word in various places i am god and i am a jealous god he even goes so far as saying and jealous is my name the spirit that is within us james says long earnestly or long jealously what are you saying i made you you belong to me and i don't want you giving your heart and love to anything else you say oh god is insecure some do i say that to my precious my wife i didn't make you but you're mine and i don't want you giving your love to anyone else is it because i'm insecure no it's because i'm in love and the lord is in love with us and he says you belong to me i made you my pastor chuck there's an old story told the story once of the gingerbread man the man made the gingerbread man we all know the story and the gingerbread man came out of the oven and took off running down you know down the lane and here comes the old man looking for him he finally finds him because he's been captured in chuck's version of the story he was placed in the window out of bakery and here comes this man who had baked him and he walks in and he says i want that gingerbread man and baker says the the owner of the store says that's a very unusual unusual unusual gingerbread man he he walks and he talks he's going to cost you a lot and he says well i want him and so he pays all that he has to purchase the gingerbread man and he takes him out and he holds him in his hands and he looks at him and he says i made you and i bought you and now i'm going to eat you no he didn't say that i i get some coffee and say that's good stuff no that's not chuck's version that's mine he says i made you i bought you you belong to me and he was trying to illustrate to to us oh god created us and god paid for us that's what paul would be saying by the way not gingerbread man but that's what paul would be saying when he says you are bought at a price you are bought at the price what price the precious blood of jesus you were created you ran he followed he purchased he owns and so we belong to him he paid for us and that's why he says my name is jealous it's because you are mine and rather than giving your love to to foreign gods give your love to the one who loves you the most and so we belong to him and so his desire is for us to be with him now continuing in verse seven the remnant of jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples like do from the lord like showers on the grass that tarry for no man nor wait for the sons of men the remnant of jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many peoples like a lion among the beasts of the forest like a young lion among flocks of sheep who if he passes through both treads down and tears in pieces none can deliver interesting picture interesting picture in the future when israel returns to god in obedience once again the nation is going to be blessed the nation of israel as we see it at this moment is not what god intends for it in the future you see when god begins to move amongst them again when all of the works of the lord begin to find their fulfillment and god begins to be exalted in their midst they're going to be regarded highly regarded and they will be admired by all when you read the old testament book of deuteronomy you see in chapter 28 that god begins to give blessings to the nation and he also says if you don't do what i am commanding there are going to be repercussions and they're referred to as curses but when you read deuteronomy in 28 it says in verses 9 through 13 the lord will establish you as his holy people as he promised you on oath if you keep the commands of the lord your god and walk in his ways then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the lord and they will fear you when it says they will fear you they will be in awe of you the lord will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your womb the young of your livestock the crops of your ground in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you the lord will open the heavens the storehouse of his bounty to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none the lord will make you the head not the tail if you pay attention to the commands of the lord your god that i give you this day and carefully follow them you will always be at the top never at the bottom and so that's what the lord promised the nation of israel and that's the picture that you have here as god is beginning to move amongst them they shall be in the midst of many people like dew from the lord like showers on the grass to tarry for no man nor wait for the sons of men the remnant of jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many peoples like a lion among the beasts of the force like a young lion among flocks of sheep who if he passes through both treads down and tears and pieces and none can deliver he says in verse nine your hands shall be lifted against your adversaries all your enemies shall be cut off no nation no enemy will prevail against you because god is amongst you and god is restoring and protecting you and then we get to something very interesting in verse 10 it shall be in that day says the lord that i will cut off your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots i will cut off the cities of your land throw down all your strongholds i will cut off sorceries from your hand you shall have no soothsayers your carved images i will also cut off your sacred pillars from your midst you shall have no more work you shall no more worship the work of your hands i will pluck your wooden images from your midst thus i will destroy your cities i will execute vengeance and anger and fury on the nations that have not hurt i want to spend some time looking at this is this is going to be a shorter study than you used to and some of you say oh my prayers have been answered amen amen amen in verses 10 and 11 that says basically that god will remove the things that israel has leaned on for support they're not going to rely on military might they're not going to be relying on fortified cities for protection they are going to learn that god has always been their protector and they are going to in that day learn to completely trust in him the bible is in psalm 20 verse 7 says some trust in chariots some in horses but we trust in the name of the lord our god proverbs 21 31 the horse is made ready for the day of battle but victory rests with the lord psalm 68 verse 20 our god is a god who saves from the sovereign lord comes escape from death okay i've been trying to think how i can share some things with you that that might help us in this season that we're in in our nation i was asked last night a question related to this upcoming election my immediate response and it was in a kind of a silly way please understand it in that light i said well we have over 300 million americans and it's hard to believe that the two running for president are the best that we have to offer i don't want to speak improperly of those who are running for the office of president i certainly don't want to come off as somebody who um is flippant and i also want to be very very careful to say that um the jesus died for both candidates he died for hillary and he died for donald and while i reserve the right to prefer one as a candidate over the other i don't want to denigrate the humanity or value of either one of those people so it becomes very difficult to to make decisions if all you have to go on is whether you like or don't like somebody in a personal way and what i've seen if you don't mind i'm going to share a little bit because there is a point to this you'll you'll say after i've made the point you'll say that was no point but there is a point on the one hand we live in a democracy where we're given the opportunity to make choices based on our our value system our morals and the things that pertain to how we view life i as a christian over 43 years of reading and studying the bible and teaching it i've actually been reading the bible longer than 43 years but teaching the bible learning the bible i haven't learned it yet learning the bible 43 years is pretty good investment of my life and thus because i've read things in scripture it's helped to formulate how i approach life in general in general it has informed me about raising kids it has informed me concerning my marriage it's informed me concerning obligations to the nation jesus said render unto Caesar the things that are caesar unto god the things that belong to god it was that scripture that jesus quoted that gave to me the ability to make a decision to serve in the u.s military so i did my time based on the fact that i have obligations to to the political system caesar and my obligation to god and so i believed at the age of 20 that going into the military was a proper thing to do while others may disagree i believed that that was my responsibility and thus i served i served with the attitude that that there are justifiable orders i learned i need to learn to follow them etc etc etc and that's how i went into the military and that's part of that's a huge part of the reason why i did my time and so over the years what has happened to me is i have been reading the bible and i have seen things that god says he will bless and i have seen things that god says he will not bless so when it comes to making decisions concerning the casting of a vote on the one hand i know that god raises up one and puts down the other i know that god places people into position and thus because he is sovereign and does so i'm aware of that i also know that he has given to me responsibility to exercise my free determination to make choices and very often the choices that i make are really reflecting the things that i believe most sincerely and so that's how i go about voting we live in a democracy i have one vote i have an opportunity to exercise it and thus i do i have already voted i already sent in our ballot i already made my choice as to what i believe is right and uh and and i voted my conscience which i encourage all to do with that said i look at what the people stand for and i try and get away from the mud slinging and the silliness of two juveniles playing and fighting on a junior high campus because that's what i think i was watching forgive me if this is seeming too political but that's what marie and i my wife and i began to say this reminds me of two 12 year olds throwing mud at each other that's what it reminded me of where are the issues where the substantive things that we need to be hearing about what are you really planning to do what is your record etc etc etc so i i try to take two or three steps back to hear what they're saying and then what i do is i look at the track record and as i look at the track record i begin to say there seems to be a pattern here over these years and that's what i did and that's what i was doing here was was uh donald trump for example would that be my first choice no no would hillary clinton be my first choice no say you can say that i can't i have to be so reminded so what has led to some of the decisions i've made some some are asking that's the reason i'm even bringing this up one of the things that has moved me and my wife the most is the supreme court nominations because as the courts go go the morals of this nation and so i know where one candidate says they're going to go they've already made it clear and i know where the other candidate says they're going to go they've made it clear i'm looking at the future for my children and grandchildren especially my grandchildren because any supreme court justice that's appointed can live 30 or 40 years a whole generation that can affect the entire moral fabric of this nation for the entire lifetime or almost the lifetime of my grandchild a good portion of it so i've been looking at that and i want people who are in favor of life i want people who who line up with the values that i see as scripture and that's how i voted i didn't i didn't vote based on personality i certainly couldn't do that i couldn't i i wade through issues of honesty and i i can i can show you i'm not wanting to go there but i can show you things that were said over the last many years even this last week that were fabrications i i can speak to you about saying things about a man and he said certain things 11 years ago and how bad that man is which i heard you all heard it if you follow the news at all and as i hear this outrage on behalf of women i wonder but wait a minute i'm old enough to remember when your husband was doing a whole lot of things to women and you see and that's how i think i i haven't taken my brain and put it on the side it's still here and i still now wait a minute i'm old but i'm not i'm i'm not that old and so i i see patterns even a child is known by his deeds whether he be good or evil and so i've seen these patterns and that's how i went about voting i went on i went about voting based on the fact that i am not voting for the pastor of the united states i'm voting for the president of the united states and to be honest with you and you all know who i voted for i'm not even telling you i like mike fence evangelical believer in jesus christ i do trust him and that's the direction no way did i bring that up to you because in the end there is a point i told you there's a point here we come to it i do my part because i have responsibilities but i don't trust in horses and i don't trust in chariots i trust in god that's how it works so i trust in the lord and so see okay i'll take you step two do you mind if i share with you my heart today i i don't i don't want to be offensive to you but i'm wanting to share some things that you know some of you can disagree and that's fine you're wrong but anyway see i got this ancient history i got saved in what was called a revival i'm not speaking about going to a small church in some small neighbor i'm talking about a a revival where god poured his spirit out and multitudes of youth i was the youth 20 years of age god saved i came out of a background that is not dissimilar to young people today we had concerned about climate change except they were saying that it was going to freeze it wasn't getting hot we got concerned about riots in the streets and civil rights black panthers brown berets various radical groups rose up that was part of the national dialogue dialogue the riots that took place as i've mentioned recently in newark and detroit in chicago in watts i grew up through that i saw the on television reports of the assassinations of john f kennedy of of martin luther king jr of of of bobby kennedy i saw those i lived through those my wife and i just today were remembering john john they used to call him john john john kennedy's son john john as he was saluting when his father's body was brought past him and i as a 13 year old young man cried as a 13 year old at the emotion that i felt in knowing that my president was killed so we went through crazy times we went through invasions not just of not just of radical um militant i hate vietnam sentiments we're always at war you hear that now too we heard it then i've gone through those things through the drugs that were introduced that tune in and turn on and drop out of timothy leary and others i lived through that i was one of the few people in my era because it wasn't rampant there were no laws saying we should be able to smoke i voted against the marijuana thing by the way duh but there were there you know in in the school i went to syria high school we were recognized in the wittier union school district in 1968 the president bob viera got up and spoke to us in assembly 2000 students and he said syria high school has just been recognized as the number one drug infected school in wittier union school district my friends and i started cheering yeah i was a pothead at 17 i was dropping acid at 17 see so i was already a drunk at at 16 see i was already in that scene that was me that's what i did that's how i thought that's what i believed so when i speak to you i'm speaking as a person who got saved radically saved from an environment that was crazy it was crazy and you go to a church and and they're singing songs about jesus and and and dopers like me are getting saved and then going out and planting churches calvary chapel has 1600 churches and many of them planted by men just like me who were so lost were found and now talk about jesus see that's that's how it works understand me that's how it works and so the the the tears you see come in my my like even now is gratitude god save me i'm so grateful for what he's done i tear up i tear up i've never stopped being grateful to the work that god does but as i watched this in the 70s the movement began to grow and young people were writing songs churches are being birthed and and then the church started thinking that we were the moral majority and a great man jerry fallwell began to produce political kinds of situations for christians to get involved in so we could take over this country and we could elect righteous individuals and the spirit was lifted because we started thinking that government was going to be the savior of the people that's why you don't hear me preach about politics it isn't because i don't have political views i do and it isn't because i'm i'm ignorant of issues i'm not it's because the only thing that will change a human heart is not a law but it is grace and that comes to the gospel of jesus christ and that's why i preach the way i do not everybody likes that why don't you instruct the church about these issues because if i teach you to love jesus and you read your newspaper and you watch the news i bet you can make decisions for yourself that you can you don't need me standing up here and saying i vote for this and i vote for that i don't think you do do you i don't think you do i know this i know that the movement that i am a part of started losing its momentum when we started thinking that we should be involved as a movement in electing righteous leaders as far as i know there's only one righteous leader that's king jesus and the rest of us are sinners in need of god's grace now i don't want to quench the spirit of what god wants to do and that's why i present to you the studies that i do churches today are pastored by pastors who become performers worship teams have become entertainment congregations have become audiences and sanctuaries have become theaters and the spirit is outside the door because the pastor and his entertainment team has created an environment where people can feel good about themselves and know nothing about jesus that's a fact that's a fact i listen to some of the more popular teachers not with a heart to hate but with a heart to listen and i can name teachers that people think are very popular who i can tell you aren't teaching the word of god they're teaching their own experiences their own humorous stories their own victories but where's jesus in the midst and guess what the church doesn't care you know why because the church wants entertainment rather than exhortation because they want to be happy and they don't care about being holy because they can go out and do whatever they want on a saturday and serve in the sunday school on sunday and they don't realize that because they're not being fed the word of god and their eyes aren't being pointed to jesus christ that they're really losing out on the blessings that god wants to bring into their life and thus i know that i am viewed by some as just that that old man up there who and whatever i don't care what i do care about is you knowing the truth that sets you free and that's why we go through the bible that's why and by the way that's the scripture saying listen he's saying in that day and i'll close now it shall be in that day says the lord i will cut off your horses from your midst destroy your chairs i'll cut off the cities of your land throw down all your strongholds i will cut off sorceries from your hand shall have no you shall have no soothsayers carved images i will also cut off your sacred pillars from your midst you shall no more worship the work of your hands i will pluck your wooden images from your midst i am going to cleanse you from all idolatry i am going to keep you from the things that have harmed you and your messiah is the one you will look to because you have been cleansed of your occultism you've been cleansed of your idolatry all false religion will be done away with and you will finally worship god in spirit and in truth and he finally says at the end and i will execute vengeance in anger and fury on the nations that have not heard interestingly it says i will deal with the nations that have harmed my people messiah will bring peace during the tribulation i will bring vengeance and and anger on those who attacked israel their rejection will result in their judgment when it says on the nations that have not heard here's your last thought the word heard there is not a word that means just hearing words when he says who have not heard it is also translated who have not obeyed it is not enough to say i have heard i am blessed because i hear and obey and my obedience this is important my obedience demonstrates that i actually have heard and that's why the lord would say he who has ears let him hear what the spirit says it's not just oh yeah i heard a bible study once it's to hear and obey the doers of the word james says and not forgetful hearers deceiving yourselves you can think he was saying that because you heard a bible study that you know what it was if you know these things jesus said blessed are you if you what if you do them blessed are you if you do them it's not just me hearing and being able to repeat my favorite passages from somebody's cassette or video or dvd or you name it up and down the line of various means of communication today is that i've heard and i've done and that's you want to know the bible make up your mind to do what it says jesus said if you obey me my father and i will make our home in you he said we will manifest ourselves to you john 14 21 and 23 look it up you obey me we will abide with you and i will manifest myself to you do you want to know me jesus said you want to know me obey me why do you call me lord lord and do not the things which i say if you love me keep my commandments and john says and his commandments are not grievous they are not burdensome why because the truth sets you free and so it isn't a burden for me to say oh man i want to get drunk before i preach next sunday i want to smoke something you know it makes me see god more if you love me keep my word