Episode Transcript
Are you ready to experience the amazing love of God and his plan for your life? Are you curious about the fast fulfilling bible prophecies? Amidst the rapidly changing world, secrets of prophecy is your gateway to unlocking these exciting realities. Join pastor David Price on a journey of discovery that will not only transform your life, but will equip you with inner peace and an unshakable hope to face the future. It's my pleasure to welcome you to secrets of prophecy session number four.
In this exciting presentation, we're going to investigate why planet Earth is in such dire straits. In other words, why is it in such a mess? And to discover more, let's go straight into our discovery questions. Let's have a look at them now.
So firstly, we're going to ask the question, where did sin actually begin? Many people wrongly believe it began in the Garden of Eden. Secondly, can you list five biblical names for the devil? Number three, why didn't God immediately destroy Lucifer? Number four, will the devil ever be able to be destroyed? Many believe not. And number five, how can we resist and overcome Satan and all of his deceptions? So that's in our session number four, the war zone and the lesson guide is downloadable under the description bar under the title there.
If you are watching this online, thank you so much for joining us. It's important before we open God's word that we pray. Gracious heavenly father, we ask that you be with us to guide, bless and direct through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus name, amen. So once again, it's wonderful to welcome you to session number four of secrets of prophecy. Let's get straight into our study, the war zone.
The author, Howard Bloom, in the Lucifer principle, page two wrote, evil is a byproduct, a component of creation in a world evolving into ever higher forms. Hatred, violence, aggression, and war are a part of the evolutionary plan. So, friends, have you ever wondered why hatred, violence and evil actually exist? Have you ever asked who or what is responsible for it? Did God create a devil? Or is Howard Bloom correct when he argues that evil is just part of the evolutionary plan? If God is so good, then why does the world seem so bad? Good question.
And why do bad things actually happen to very good people? Finally, why is there any need for sin, pain and suffering at all? In fact, we have to acknowledge right now that this planet is right in the heart of a war zone. What on earth is going on? This place is a mess. The ancient nature religions saw their world in two halves, good and evil, light and dark, life and death, masculine and feminine.
Their gods and goddesses would maintain global harmony through keeping the balance of power between the two forces. The east has the yin and yang, two opposing but complementary and interdependent forces. According to the Bana research group, western society is also embracing the darkest side.
The practises of Wicca being magic, sorcery and spellcasting are growing quickly throughout the United States, particularly among younger people. The national census research data indicates that the nature religions, pagan druids, pantheists and Wiccans are among the fastest growing religions around the world. So we ask, is it safe to desire a balance between good and evil? Should our spirituality include some association with the darkness? And if the devil is real, and if so, is he dangerous? This study guide, secrets of prophecy number four, along with the companion study guide, secrets of prophecy number five, does God care? Which is part two, delves into this mysterious subject of good versus evil.
We're going to take a behind the scenes look into a cosmic conflict that's raged for thousands of years. But the focus of this study session will be to investigate the origin of evil. Let's get started straight into question number one.
Thank you so much for joining us. We're asking the seminal question, where did sin actually begin? In one, John three eight. The Bible tells us there.
And John the Revelator wrote this, he who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. This is a significant statement. Isn't this telling us that the devil was there when sin began? Let's understand a little bit more.
According to the scriptures, sin began with the devil. Evil is not just a force or a part of nature or an aspect of human consciousness. Evil emanates from the devil himself.
Many actually picture the devil as a mythical cartoon character with hoofs, horns and a pitchfork to turn over unfortunate souls roasting in hell. But, friends, I want you to know the devil is real. He is responsible for the evil, pain and suffering in our world today.
In fact, the devil is referred to on many occasions in the ancient biblical writings of the Bible. The name devil is mentioned over 60 times, while Satan, another name for the devil, is actually mentioned over 50 times. Let's go to question two.
What symbols are used in the Bible to describe the devil? We go to revelation, chapter twelve and verse nine. It says, so the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old called the devil and SataN. So there are four names for the devil right there.
He's called the great dragon, he's called the ancient serpent, and he's known as the devil. And SAtan, we'll give you another name as we go further into our study. So, friends, the devil is called the great dragon.
He's dangerous, he's deadly and a formidable opponent. The devil is also a snake. And it's interesting here that winged serpents are known in ancient times.
That's why it refers to the old serpent in the Garden of Eden who had an encounter with Eve. So the devil is also a snake, clever and crafty. He sneaks up on you and his bite is venomous.
It's interesting, too, to note that in many pagan cultures, the dragon and the snake have been a key focus of worship. Their symbols can still be seen today. Question three.
What was the name for Satan when he was an angel in heaven? We go to revelation. Sorry. We go to Isaiah 1412.
How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? This is the only place in the entire Old Testament and New Testament, the ancient biblical writings in which this name is actually revealed. The name Lucifer is only ever mentioned once. What does it mean? The name Lucifer literally means light bearer.
Certainly a different name from what he's known as today as Satan, which means adversary, and devil, which means slanderer. Let's go into question number four and ask, did God actually create the devil in Ezekiel 20 815? There's a whole section on Satan and his origins and his destiny. Ezekiel wrote you, meaning Satan, were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity was found in you.
Did you notice there you were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till iniquity or sin was found within you. So, friends, Lucifer was created by God as a perfect angel. His hometown was heaven.
There doesn't get better than that. He was gifted in music and held a leadership position among the other angels. Lucifer was stunningly beautiful, bright, and had perfect wisdom.
See Ezekiel 20 812 15. Because God is love, the last thing he wants is to be worshipped and obeyed out of force, fear or coercion. He desires his beings to be motivated by love.
God could have created Lucifer as a robot, but robots cannot love or make moral decisions. So God gave Lucifer a free will to choose his own direction in life. God does the same for us today, for there's a great risk in love and loving.
Ask any parent. They are not certain if their children will grow up to obey them or disobey them, but they take the risk. Why? Because they want someone to love and to be loved.
Lucifer chose to rebel against God's love. He chose evil over good. As a result, an angel became a demon, so Lucifer became Satan, the actual adversary of the Lord God.
But be very clear that God did not create a devil. He created a perfect being who actually decided to make a devil out of himself. Question five, what was the original sin that Lucifer committed? We go to Ezekiel 28 and verse 17.
Ezekiel says, your heart, Lucifer, was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour. That gives us a clue as to where Lucifer might have gone off the rails in the kingdom of heaven.
More information is given on what was the original sin that Lucifer committed in Isaiah 1413 and 14. For you have said, in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars, and I will be like the most high God. The whole verse is the whole of those two verses, aren't there? But there are five eyes in those two verses.
For Lucifer actually had eye disease. Not that he needed glasses, but Lucifer was actually full of himself. We understand that Lucifer wanted to become a star, and so he became proud and selfish.
He saw his beauty and goodness as something to be worshipped, and he wanted to be just like God. He was jealous of God, and he wanted the other angels to worship and obey him instead of worshipping and obeying God. Even today, at the heart of virtually all evil is pride and selfishness.
It is interesting to note that the middle letter of sin, pride and Lucifer is I. It was Lucifer who began sin with a love of self. Let's go on to question number six.
And we're at the top of page six in our study guide, the war zone. Thank you so much for joining us. Hope you enjoy this deep dive on the ancient biblical writings.
Question six, what happened in heaven when Lucifer actually stepped out and opposed God? We go to revelation twelve seven nine, it says, and war broke out where? That's right. It broke out in heaven. It didn't break out on earth first, but it broke out in heaven first.
Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought. You know, friends, it's hard to imagine a war in heaven, but this is what happened when the devil fought against the loving God. This conflict is the central issue of the scriptures.
It's a battle between good and evil, truth versus lies, Christ versus Satan, and love versus hate. Even though Satan lost this war in heaven, the conflict continues, and unfortunately, we are now in the middle of it. This heart of this war was and still is the central issue of worship.
We are happiness when we worship only God, as in Exodus 23 when Jesus came to Earth, the devil failed in his attempt to get Jesus to worship him. See Matthew 4811. Now that Jesus has left, the devil turns his attention onto us.
The last great conflict on planet Earth will once again revolve around worship. God is calling the people to a loving worship of him as the creator God. Revelation 14 six seven.
While the devil's final attack will be to force people to worship him or even risk being killed. Have a look at revelation 1315. The devil is a killer.
Question seven. Who else does the devil have on his side? Well, he doesn't work alone. Revelation twelve nine.
So the great dragon was cast out and his angels were cast out with him. The devil was so clever in his deception that one third of the angels joined forces with the devil against God and were cast out of heaven with him. Revelation twelve four.
It is unknown how many there were, possibly billions. But these angels became demons or devils. These demons, devils or evil spirits still work as agents for the devil today.
See revelation 1416. So, friends, the bad news is that we still live on a planet in rebellion against God and the laws of the universe. We must ask this question.
How many angels joined Lucifer? Is there a more precise figure? In Hebrews, chapter twelve and verse 22? It says this, that there are an innumerable company of angels. That number of angels cannot be numbered. Question number eight, why didn't God destroy the devil? A very important question we go to first.
John, chapter four and verse eight. John writes, he who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Isn't that incredible? God is not described as having the characteristic of love.
He's described as being the heart of love itself. Because God is love, he wants us to worship him out of love. When Lucifer sinned, God could have destroyed him immediately.
That would have solved the problem for a little while. But the remaining angels, who knew nothing about the nature of sin, would start to serve God out of fear and not out of love. They would have always wondered if the devil's claims against their God were actually true.
So God chose another option. He put his character on trial before the whole universe. He's allowed the devil to demonstrate the results of sin so everyone could see that God is love and worthy of worship, while the only outcome for sin is pain, heartache and suffering.
This world, unfortunately, is now the centre stage for this great drama. See one corinthians four nine. And we can see all around us the terrible results of evil.
The major objective for God during this time is to save as many people as possible to eradicate sin from the planet and ensure sin will never rise a second time. As in Old Testament prophet Nahum, chapter one, verse nine. There's an interesting distinction here between God and Satan.
Have a look at the screen. God actually wants to save all the people on planet Earth and then rescue the planet by recreating it. Diametrically opposed to that is that Satan wants to actually save the planet, but actually kill all the people.
That's really something to think about. As I said, according to scripture, the devil is a killer. Question nine.
How did our planet get involved in Satan's rebellion? We go back and refer you to Genesis 3113. Let's pick it up in verse 13. And the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.
So when God confronted the pair in the garden, Adam and Eve, Adam blamed the woman, the woman blamed the snake. And as the old story goes, the snake didn't have a leg to stand on. Friends, the devil and his angels were cast to this earth.
We know that as a result, he focused his deceptions on human beings. God created Adam and Eve as perfect beings. In fact, they were a perfect couple in a perfect environment with a perfect God.
Like Lucifer, Adam and Eve were given a free choice to decide between good and evil. God gave Adam and Eve the most beautiful garden, plenty of friendly animals, and a personal friendship with each other and God himself. However, God asked them not to touch or eat from one of the trees in the garden.
That tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was actually a test of worship and obedience. The devil used the serpent as a medium to deceive Eve into disobeying God.
Eve chose to trust her feelings and the word of the serpent instead of obeying the word of God. So, friends, let's pause a moment and ask the question. The problem here was that Eve sinned and she actually broke the first commandment.
You shall have no other gods before me. So what's going on here? Very simply, Eve chose to trust her feelings and the word of the serpent instead of obeying the plain and comprehensive word of God. Let's go on to question number ten.
Who does the devil now attack and hate the most? We go to revelation twelve and verse 17. And the dragon was enraged with a woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Friends, the devil has now turned all his attacks onto the woman, a symbol for God's church.
See Jeremiah six two. You may have heard the phrase fights like the devil. While the devil is now fighting against God's last day church, this true church comprises those who keep all of God's commandments and believe completely in the testimony of Jesus, which is a phrase that includes the great prophecies of the scripture.
See revelation, 1910. Question eleven at the top of page ten. What is the major goal of the devil? I told you he was a killer.
Let's cheque it out. These are the words of Jesus in John 1010. The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy.
Jesus said, and he would know. But Jesus said, I have come, that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. Friends, the main aim of the devil is to rob you of your life.
He attempts to make you miserable, to inflict hurt and discouragement, and to get you to give up on life itself. And that's why there's so many suicides today. And he does this through breaking up our friendship with God.
Jesus, on the other hand, came to give us life, an abundant, overflowing life full of satisfaction and enjoyment. Question twelve. What is the devil's major weapon against God's people? We go to John, chapter eight and verse 44.
John wrote to the jewish leaders, you are of your father the devil. There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
So we there are told that Satan was the first liar. He birthed lying, and his children make great liars. The note says, the devil is a liar.
The great conflict between Christ and Satan is not a war of power. It is a war of truth versus lies. The slanderous Satan mixes truth with error so cleverly to deceive the masses.
If he was clever enough to deceive one third of the perfect angels who actually lived with God and then got cast out of heaven, how much more should we be alert to all of his deceptions today? This is an interesting question. Number 13. Can the devil actually be good? It sounds like an oxymoron.
Let's have a look at two corinthians 1114. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, and no wonder. In other words, he says, don't be surprised, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
Remember in John 812, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. So this tells us that Satan is actually wanting to come and act like Jesus Christ to come as an angel of light. Light is a symbol of the kingdom of heaven.
Darkness is a symbol of Satan's kingdom down here on earth. So, friends, this is quite curious. The devil is at his most dangerous.
When he is good, he becomes a christian double agent. To deceive christians, we need to be careful to trust only God's word, not just what we see, feel or experience. Let's go to question 14.
What are some of the key tactics used by the devil? Part he misquotes the Bible in order to deceive and the devil misquoted the Bible to Jesus in the temptations and twisted the scripture. Another tactic used by the devil in 14 B is that he persecutes God's church. He wants to discourage people to give up their faith in God.
14 C. He performs miracles to deceive people into false religions and joining false religions. 14 D he works through and even impersonates false pastors, false prophets and false ministers to lead many people astray even within the realms of organised religion.
Friends, we've got to test everything we hear by the word of God. 14 E. The devil, Satan, Lucifer, loves to bring pain and disease and to discourage people and get them to then turn around and blame God for what they're suffering.
Another tactic used by the devil is the obvious one of demon possession to take full control. But he's even more deceptive in that many people today who are demon possessed do not have their heads spin around and do not do backflips. They are under satanic control.
But the best ones, the servants of Satan, the agents of Satan, you will never pick them. 14 G. Satan loves to trap people into sin, especially christians, and lock them in to a life of despair and hopelessness.
But Jesus gives us power over that. The devil knows the value of effective communication. He attempts to wipe out a communication lines with God by influencing us to firstly neglect personal prayer, meditation and Bible study.
He then opens up his own communication lines through what we see, hear and feel, and it's primarily done through the media. In fact, many of the movies, television programmes, books, Internet sites and magazines do a great job in deceiving us into believing the devil's lies about God and the big issues of life. This is done so we'll be distracted from our prayers and from our Bible study time.
So the question might come, how do we overcome Satan's tricks? Let me give you an extra resource. The wonderful book steps to Christ by Ellen White. Page 94.
She said, the darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin, and it is all because they do not make use of the privileges that God has given them. In the divine appointment of prayer.
Without unceasing prayer and diligent watching, we are in danger of growing careless and of deviating from the right path. The adversary seeks continually to obstruct the way to the mercy seat of God, that we may not, by earnest supplication or requests, and also faith, obtain grace and power to resist temptation. She writes, pray in your closet, meaning pray in a private place, and as you go about your daily labour, let your heart be often uplifted to God.
It was thus that Enoch walked with God. And remember, in the Old Testament, Enoch was taken to heaven, for he was not, for God took him. The scripture says, these silent prayers rise like precious incense before the throne of grace.
Satan cannot overcome him or her, whose heart is thus stayed upon God. And that's how we can overcome Satan. Let's learn a little bit more.
How can I resist and overcome Satan? In James four and verse seven, James told us to submit to God. Therefore, submit to God and resist the devil, and he will flee from you. My favourite author writes, satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge.
In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our lord and saviour, we're learning how we can resist and overcome Satan. In Ephesians 611 18, we're told to put on the armour of God. What is it? Put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Wiles is an old english word meaning to persuade, but moreover, it means to deceive and to trick people. You know, friends, it is vital that we overcome the devil by making the right choices and that we ask for God's power. Firstly, we need to submit or surrender our lives to God.
Then we need to say no to the devil. We need to face the devil head on. Notice that none of the armour mentioned in Ephesians is placed on our back.
It is all on the front of us. Jesus resisted the devil by facing the devil head on, using the power of God through quoting scripture, as in Matthew 410. You know, friends, we cannot overcome the devil in our strength.
In our own strength, we need to ask God for supernatural power to gain the victory. So, in terms of putting on the armour of God, let's have a look at Ephesians 614 17. Stand.
Therefore, Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. This is amazing armour, isn't it? Above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. We're asking how do we overcome Satan's tricks? You know, we cannot overcome the enemy of souls without something.
What is it? The only weapon, the only and main weapon in our spiritual armour is the sword of the spirit, which is actually the word of God. Friends, God's word is our sword. And I want to ask you now, is it your sword? Have you read the scriptures? Do you memorise the scriptures and use the two edged sword to combat the wiles and tricks and deceptions of the devil? Because that is our only defence.
Question 16 what will happen to the devil and his angels? Some say they will never be destroyed. What did Jesus say in Matthew 25 41? Then he will also say to those on the left hand, Jesus speaking here about the day of judgement, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire. Prepared for the devil and his angels.
Friends, that is a very clear destination of Satan and his evil angels. In fact, hellfire was always prepared for the devil and his angels. God never wanted any of his children to perish in there, unless they chose to not want to go to heaven and not obey the things that Jesus asked them to do.
He says in John 1415, if you love me. What did he say? If you love me, keep my commandments, friends. For those who want to mix the dark life with their everyday life, warning is given that the devil and all that's associated with him will be destroyed.
The mystery of the dark supernatural may appear attractive, but the destination for such an association is clear, and it is, according to God's word, hell fire. But how does God actually feel about this? Question 17 how does God feel about the destruction of the wicked? Is he happy? Is he relieved? Is he over the moon? Ezekiel 30 311 tells us he's not say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have what? No pleasure? He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Why is that? Jesus died to save everyone, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.
Turn. Turn from your evil ways, for why should you die, o house of Israel? He says that to everyone today, all of his lost children are called back to the kingdom. And he says, I don't want you to die.
Choose life. Choose me. You know the heart of God must have been wrenched when Lucifer rebelled.
God loved him and did all he could to influence him to turn from his evil ways. Today, God loves you no matter what choices you've made in life. He knows the end result of evil is destruction.
So he pleads with each of us to turn from our evil ways and to worship him. He knows that only then will we discover the road to true peace and happiness. I want to share with you three points to remember that.
Summarise our study in session number four. Number one, God is a God of love who created beings with the power of free choice. You know, many of us in democratic countries have taken the power of free choice for granted.
But as we head more into a time of coercion and a loss of freedom of speech and freedom to choose, we will realise how wonderful God is to give us freedom of speech and freedom of choice and freedom of thought. The second theme of our study in this session was the reason we have suffering pain and death is due to the evil that was manufactured by Satan, who was a sinner and a murderer from the beginning. And number three, the devil will be destroyed and sin will never return again.
And that is the good news. Let's have a look at some relational questions. Why is it important that we understand the devil as a real being? Friends, we understand that the devil is a real being because he appeared physically before Jesus Christ in the temptation in the wilderness, and that took place in Matthew 4111 or is recorded there.
I'd like to just go through the three temptations that were put before Jesus, because from these three temptations we find out Satan's agenda. Number one, after Jesus had been starving, was famished and hungry for 40 days. Satan tries to get Jesus to turn the stones into bread.
That is where he overcame Eve through appetite. Jesus said, for man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Jesus said that God's word is more important and is more important to sustain us than even physical food.
Friends, how are you going on appetite? Do you give in to all the temptations to do with appetite, or are you resisting and trying fasting and making changes? God bless you if you are. The second temptation that Satan brought before Jesus was to take him to a high pinnacle of the earthly temple or the sanctuary and told him to jump off and that God would send angels to save him and protect him, and that would prove that he was the son of God. He said, if you are the son of God.
Friends, Satan tries to lead us to distrust the Lord God to engage in doubt and unbelief, so that Satan then has a legal right to deny us answers to our prayers. Friends, it's very important that we do not distrust God and that Satan doesn't break our lifeline to heaven. The third temptation was that Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and says, all these are yours if you will bow down and worship me.
Satan loves to be worshipped, and even today there are many people who are Luciferians and they worship him. Friends, if you're aware that Satan wants you to fail in the area of appetite, that he wants to destroy any relationship you might have with God, and if he wants you ultimately to end up worshipping him, whether you know it or you don't know it, then that tells us a lot about his character, and that is that he is a thief who comes to kill and destroy, exactly as Jesus said in John 1010. Relational question number two.
Why is it important that you understand the issues of the great conflict between Christ and Satan unless we understand that in the battle between good and evil, when Jesus died on the cross, the power of love stood out in contrast to Satan's problem, which is the love of power. Never get those two things mixed up. Jesus death on the cross shows the power of God's love for you, and Satan is only interested in the actual ability that he actually loves to have power.
Question number three. Have you found any effective ways to resist the devil, and what are they? In Matthew 4111, Jesus resisted Satan and was not overcome in any way by those three temptations. As he was starving to death because he quoted the word of God, David said, thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.
I want to remind you that as we read God's word, as we memorise God's word, God builds our strength in helping us to overcome temptation. Finally, are there any areas in your life where you feel the devil has had a power or hold over you? And we would like to give these areas over to Jesus for victory. The sad thing is that God is more willing to give us power and victory over sin than we are even willing to ask.
So if you're struggling, just tell the Lord God and his son Jesus Christ in a prayer. Look, I don't even know if you're there, but I'm willing to try. And if you give me power over these things, then I will give them up for you.
Finally, what is our response to learning out about the power of Satan? God loves you with an everlasting love and at a time when many in the world have fallen for the lies of the devil and have rejected the love of God, we're asking you in session number four here right now. Would you like to choose today to love, worship and obey him? And I'm hoping that your answer is yes. What were our discovery points that we started session four with? We asked, where did sin actually begin? No, it wasn't the Garden of Eden.
Where was it? That's right. You said rightly, sin began up in heaven, not on the earth. Can you list five biblical names for the devil? We went through four of them and then we added a fifth one.
They are in revelation twelve, 712 and verse seven. Dragon, Satan, serpent, accuser and lucifer. There are other names for him, but these are some of the main ones we also covered.
Why didn't God immediately destroy Lucifer? But friends, if God had just destroyed him before his regime, his government, had played out, then the angels would have served God from fear because they would have said, don't ask questions. Don't step out of line. Remember what happened to Lucifer? He questioned the government of God and God killed him.
Number four, will the devil ever be able to be destroyed? It's a good question, and the answer is absolutely. This nightmare is going to come to an end that, yes, the devil will perish in hell, otherwise known in revelation 20 as the lake of fire. And how can we resist and overcome Satan? By following the way Jesus overcame.
In Matthew 4111, Jesus claimed God's power by quoting scripture, the devil has no power against the sword of the spirit. What do you say? I'm going to say amen to that. In other words, so be it.
We have five quiz questions, which are multiple choice. Where did rebellion begin? A. On this earth, b.
In heaven, c. On another world. We're going to give you the answer immediately, so lock in your answer.
Where did rebellion begin? Earth, heaven, or somewhere else? And the answer is one. B. It began in heaven, revelation twelve and verse seven to nine.
Where was Satan banished after he lost the war? A, to purgatory, b. To hell, or c. To this earth? Lock it in.
The scripture was very clear, wasn't it? In revelation, chapter twelve, it said that Satan was banished to this earth. He was cast down to the earth and his angels were cast out with him. What was Lucifer so proud of? A.
His power, b. His beauty or c. His accomplishments? Probably all of those things.
But the scripture especially mentioned three b. And that was his beauty and pride began in the heart of Lucifer. Question four, why did God not immediately destroy Satan.
A. God was afraid of being seen by the universe as unloving. B.
God decided to let it just play out, to honour free choice and see. God wanted to be served out of love and not out of fear. And our answer is lock it in four c.
God wants us to serve him out of love and not out of fear, force or coercion. God doesn't work that way. That's the way that Satan works and that's the way his agents work.
What is the major goal of Satan for people on Earth? A. He wants to kill us. B.
He wants to deceive us. C. He wants to control us.
Probably all of those are true, but John 1010, Jesus said that Satan, the thief comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. He wants to kill us. He hates us, especially if we're following the Lord Jesus Christ in our secrets of prophecy.
Session one, it was entitled who will control the world? We found that God's kingdom soon will come and destroy and finish and end all earthly kingdoms. In session two, we asked, what are the signs of the times? And we found that when all the signs of the times in Matthew 24 and other places come together, then Jesus Christ will return to planet Earth. In our last session, number three, we asked, how will the world end? And we found out the world will end with the second coming of Jesus Christ.
We'll run through the signs of the second coming. In this session, we've looked at the war zone, the origin of evil, and learned that this war zone will soon end. Our next session is entitled does God really care? And that's going to be session number five.
It's actually part two of the study of the problem of evil. What are we going to learn in session number five? Who does God say he really is? Two, did God cause the problem of evil on planet Earth? And if he didn't, who did? Three, what was God's ultimate solution to the sin problem? Number four, can God ever really understand our pain and suffering? And number five, does God use our pain for our own good? His study guide is downloadable under the lesson title there online. And you can download that and study that up for session number five.
So I do welcome you and thank you that you've joined us. Let us just close with prayer. Gracious heavenly Father, how precious your word is, how satisfying, how simple and easy to understand.
We know that planet Earth is in a mess and this is not your plan for you love all of us, but you had to allow freedom of choice and allow Satan's end game to play out. We know that you are coming soon, and we pray that we will be ready. And we ask that you'll continue to bless us as we open and study your word and pray and follow the path.
And we ask it in Jesus prayer. Precious name. Amen.
I want to thank you so much for joining us for session number four, the war zone. And I hope that next time that you can join us as we come together for session number five as we look at does God care? And so I'll say goodbye for now, and God bless you all.
Secrets of Prophecy with Pastor David Price has been brought to you by 3ABN Australia radio. For more resource in this series you can visit the YouTube page trueblue SDA all one word that's trueblue SDA.
