The War for Worship Pt.4
II THESSALONIANS 2:1-4
1 ¶ Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, (This gathering unto Christ is what has taken place in this hour by the first stage of the rapture of the “shout” of the message sounding forth. This end time message has gathered the elect of this last age unto the Lord Himself, and this is the first part of the rapture cycle. We are not waiting for the rapture to start, because it has already begun, and we have already been caught up into the first part of it, and this has been the great supernatural thing that has been taking place since the prophet left the scene, and yet it has been so humble that most people haven’t recognize it.)
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 ¶ Let no man deceive you by any means: (Deception comes by man’s reasoning that opposes the word of God. All these pod casts and talks shows of the opinions of man - they all sound so reasonable and make so much sense to the human way of thinking so that the people’s faith becomes established by the reasoning of man which is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of by the word of God) for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 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.
II CORINTHIANS 4:3-4
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 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 (Light is truth – “thy word is truth”, and so anything that opposes the word of God is a lie, and of what death will follow), who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The War for Worship Pt.4
**Last week we spoke about how that in this great war for worship between God and Lucifer, that it has been Lucifer that has always seemed to have had the upper hand and to have succeeded of what would seem like great victories over God since the time that he first deceived Eve in the garden of Eden right up until this very last age of where he would finally become the god of the entire world by being worship by the entire world.
SATAN'S.EDEN_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-20 SUNDAY_ 65-0829
65 Now, he said he would exalt himself above the most High; he would ascend above the clouds and the stars, and he would sit there like God, and be above the most High. And he has succeeded in carrying out his threats. He has certainly had a marvelous success in carrying out his threats, by the people letting him explain away, in every age, the value of God's promised Word to that age. That's exactly how he's done it. In every age, he explained It away.
*And this is why we spoke last week about how that if we were to judge who is the winner of this war for worship by simply looking at the “numbers” and looking at the facts in the light of what we would call success as human beings, then we would have to conclude that Satan is the winner of the war that he started against God for worship – but the actual reality and fact is that the total opposite is the truth, in that Satan is the complete loser and God is by far the clear winner – and so we will have to explain how this is so.
**There is no denying that all that Satan has done has concluded toward Him being worship for a small season of time in this last age of where he has finally realize his great dream of being worship by the entire world, but the redemptive character of God that has been revealed to us because of this event of the fall of man – it has revealed to us the very nature of God’s great redemptive love, and it is this revelation of the character of God that has been made known to us, and that will cause God to be worshiped by man for the rest of eternity, not only as the Great Creator, but also as the Great Redeemer.
***If Satan hadn’t done all the evil that he has done since Eden until now, then God would never have been able to show forth the true nature of Himself as a Redeemer. **In other words - because of the fall of man in Eden, God has been able to display and make plain to us the real character of His great redemptive attributes.
**This is why that when the seals were opened, it revealed the entire plan of the redemptive love of God of what has been in His mind from the beginning. The fall of man made a way for God to be able to reveal His great character of redemptive love, of which he could not have done unless Satan had done all that he had done.
**The real one that was deceived was Satan himself, because Satan had been so blinded by his own desire to be worshiped by man, that it drove him to do all the evil things of what he did in order to try to become the one who would be worshiped, yet by all of his evil doings, he was only a tool in the hand of God that allowed God to display the character of what He truly was, and by the revealing of His character, it is that that would cause God to be worshiped throughout eternity, not only as the Great Creator, but also as the Great Redeemer – and rightly so, because that is who He really is.
**Throughout eternity, we would never know how that God was a redeemer unless there had been a fall in Eden.
**So from Eden, right until this last age of when the whole world would be worshiping Satan by their false creeds and intellectual and scientific reasonings, it looked like Satan had won a great victory over God and His family – but in fact, all that Satan did was to triggered off a series of events that would reveal the great redeeming nature and character of God, and the result of this is that God will be established in His rightful position and be truly worship throughout eternity.
*So Satan has totally lost this war for worship - this great deceiver that has deceived the whole world was in fact all along deceived himself- he didn’t see the checkmate coming.
REVELATION 5:9
9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
JOHN 4:23
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
**True worship can only be pulled out of the heart of a man when the true nature of God is revealed to him, because God designed man to respond to, and to be impressed by great character, and there is no greater character then the character of God. But Satan’s idea was to get man to worship human knowledge, and to worship human beauty, and to worship human ability.
Why do you think that great sports people are worshiped – it is because people are impressed with their human ability.
THE.GOD.OF.THIS.EVIL.AGE_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-9 SUNDAY_ 65-0801M
86 And the world today is dedicating themselves to the knowledge which came by Satan. And man's day is glorified, not by the Word of God, but by the knowledge that he has. (People are so impressed with the knowledge that is being facilitated by the advancement of the technology of this age, and it’s pulling a perverted worship out of people that Satan is receiving unto himself vicariously)
Now think. Let that soak in. And when you play this tape back, on this point here, stop for a while and think.
His works are exalted above God's Word and manifested works; the wisdom of Satan, which he give to Eve at the beginning. Now listen; don't miss this. The wisdom of Satan is exalted to the throne of worship, in man, above the vindicated Word of God for the hour. Our churches proves that by their--their seminaries, schools of learning, that's learnt more than God's Word knows about It, they think. And there, Doctor So-and-so, and Teacher So-and-so, and Professor So-and-so has exalted their own knowledge, so-called (from Satan) truth, above the vindicated promise of God, made clear right before them. And man fall for it. See?
87 His scientific achievements, trying to prove God's Word wrong. Just think of that. He, his, that is, the man's theology, explains God's Word to the people, and makes It of no effect again, like he had it in the denominational age when Jesus appeared on the earth. Jesus said, "You hypocrites! You, by your tradition," that's their interpretation, "has took the Word of God and made It of no effect to the people." And that's the same thing they've done today. It doesn't have the effect.
88 Notice, "They," the people, "exalt him above all that's called God." Don't Second Thessalonians say they would do it? And the authority of a denominational church, the people believing that denomination more than they believe God. And God is the Word. They'll believe their denominational creed above the Word, which "exalts him above all that's called God." And there's only one God, and that's the Word.
THE.GOD.OF.THIS.EVIL.AGE_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-9 SUNDAY_ 65-0801M
131 This modern knowledge-loving age could have no better leader than the one they've got, Satan, a perverter of the Word of God, like he started off in the garden of Eden, but a religious person relying upon his own understanding.
As I've said before, Proverbs 3:5, that, "We're not to lean to our own understanding."
They must have a god, for they are human. Yet, he makes them what they want. As being a human being, always, all human beings... When we come here, we found the Indians even worshiping idols, and the sun, and everything. As a human being, they must have a god. So this great intellectual age must have a god, so it's become... The god of this world has become knowledge, denomination, science (Notice that he gives us 3 specific things of what the god is that people worship in this day – Knowledge, Denomination, and Science, The Intellectual realm, the Religious realm, and the Scientific realm, and Satan is the tree that this teaching fruit of these three realms is being taught from), "having a form of godliness, but denying the Power thereof."
…Let them live any way, as long as they come to worship him by their denomination and creed. There's a big black eye there, but look at it. (look at how the people of the churches live in this hour – just the same pattern and dress code and almost everything else as the world, and in some cases almost worse)
Laughs at God's Word, saying things contrary to the Word; and tries, by their knowledge, to prove scientifically that the Word isn't true. Oh, what a age we're living in! See the god of this age?
SATAN'S.EDEN_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-20 SUNDAY_ 65-0829
22 The god of this world today, the worshiped person of this world today, is Satan. And the people are ignorant of worshiping Satan, but it's Satan impersonating himself as the church, see, as the church. They worship Satan, thinking that they are worshiping God through the church, but it's the way Satan has done it.
25 People, ignorantly worshiping Satan, thinking they are worshiping God; as we are warned by prophecy, in Second Thessalonians.
SATAN'S.EDEN_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-20 SUNDAY_ 65-0829
27 That deceitfulness of the church of today! See, "the son of perdition," the devil. "The son of perdition," the devil. Then, people worshiping Satan in this day, thinking they're worshiping God. But they're worshiping him through a creed, a man-made denominations and creeds that's brought the people right down to the greatest deception that the world has ever knowed of.
No matter how much the Word of God promised for this day, is preached and vindicated, they still won't believe It. They won't believe It.
The word “Worship” can have a very wide scope of meaning. The act of worship is something that God has naturally placed in a man to perform – he can’t help it – it’s a spiritual thing. And so then we must realize that there are many different levels and forms of worship that are able to be pulled out from within a man’s heart when he is impressed by some great art or music or architecture or some great scenery or whatever else, but what makes the difference, is that the problem is not that he has the desire to worship, but it is to what or to whom is the one that is able to receive that worship, and that is based upon the heart condition of the belief of the person of what is in their heart.
**If they are in a condition of being under any form of deception by the devil, then by default, their worship will be directed and received by Satan himself regardless of what the intention of the person is. They may even be saying or singing the right words of worship toward God, but because of the fact that the truth of the word of God for their age is not a clear understanding in their hearts, then God cannot receive worship from a place of where a false word and concept of God dwells.
***God will only receive worship from where He has placed His name, and His name is placed in His word that He is bringing to pass for the age, and so if worship does not come from that place of where God is bringing His word to pass for the age, then by default it is Satan that will receive that worship.
SATAN'S.EDEN_ JEFF.IN V-2 N-20 SUNDAY_ 65-0829
123 I heard Brother Neville say, this morning; someone might have been asking him why didn't I preach on the Holy Ghost, why didn't I do this. Here it is. The Holy Ghost is the action in you. It's a Life, not an emotion; not some sort of a fleshly evidence. But It is a Person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God established in your heart, to quicken every Word of this age. Right. Watch the Holy Ghost in action, not so much in demonstrations; but, in action, what It does according to the Word.
THE.GOD.OF.THIS.EVIL.AGE_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-9 SUNDAY_ 65-0801M
74 ..Notice now. And when the church world would not have the Word of God to rule over them, they accepted a murderer, Barabbas. What did this do? It exalted Satan, the god of this evil age, to the place that he's always wanted.
Now listen. For, Satan is not spoke of as a god of any other age but this age. He wasn't spoke of the god of the age of Noah. He wasn't spoke of--of the god of the age of Moses, the god of the age of Elijah. But, this evil age, he is the... Oh, don't miss it! He is the god of this evil age, worshiped by millions and billions of people, and they don't know it (So you can be worshiping something or someone without knowing it – this is a great revelation that Brother Branham is teaching us by the Spirit of God in this message). But let's let the Scripture uncover him this morning, and let's see, then you'll know. Let the Scripture...
77 Notice, Satan not called the god of any other age but this age. It was his ambition to be like God, from the very beginning.
78 It was Satan's ambition to be worshiped like God.
…Sin never begin in the garden of Eden; it begin in Heaven, when Lucifer, the son of the morning, exalted himself in beauty, and wanted a more beautiful kingdom than that of Michael. And he thought that God dwelt in beauty.
81 And notice Cain. He didn't want no blood sacrifice. He come down and offered the fruit, or--or the fields of beauty upon his altar. Very religious, done everything, that, just exactly like Abel done; offered a sacrifice, fell down before God in worship, obedient in every way, but without the revelation of the Word.
… Notice what this fellow will do now. This fellow, "He will set in the temple of God," that is, the church, "revealing himself to be God." (Remember that Satan is able to do that because he is actually the tree (the person and source) of the knowledge of good and evil himself, he is that mixed tree – but the tree of life is strictly the truth and revelation of the word of God only. So two trees of two sources of teaching that people can eat fruit (teaching) from – the tree of life which was the knowledge and revelation of the word of God, or the other tree of that reasoning of the human mind of the knowledge of some that is good, but that is also a tree that is mixed with false teaching of false knowledge against the truth of the word of God)
83 The day we are living is called, in the Bible, "the day of man," man's day. This is not God's day. God is not the god of this earth; the Bible says He isn't. He's the God of Heaven. But this is not God's day.
This is choosing day. Either, live for today, and die; choose God, and live. And God is the Word, and the Word is the Word manifested for the hour and the day.
84 Notice, "the day of man." If you want to put that down, I was going to read it. But First Corinthians 5:1-5... First Corinthians 4:1-5, pardon me, First Corinthians 4:1 and 5, was Paul speaking of being judged by man, in man's day.
85 "The day, what do you call it the man's day for?" you would say. It's the day that the works by the knowledge of man is glorified.
THE.GOD.OF.THIS.EVIL.AGE_ JEFF.IN V-4 N-9 SUNDAY_ 65-0801M
86 And the world today is dedicating themselves to the knowledge which came by Satan. And man's day is glorified, not by the Word of God, but by the knowledge that he has.
Now think. Let that soak in. And when you play this tape back, on this point here, stop for a while and think.
His works are exalted above God's Word and manifested works; the wisdom of Satan, which he give to Eve at the beginning. Now listen; don't miss this. The wisdom of Satan is exalted to the throne of worship, in man, above the vindicated Word of God for the hour.
…They'll believe their denominational creed above the Word, which "exalts him above all that's called God." And there's only one God, and that's the Word.
… so he (Satan) as God sets in the church of the God, proving that he is God," because he's got the people worshiping him (they worship him by their agreement and exaltation of Satan’s perversion of the word of God by their reasoning). God is the Word. And he exalts himself above all that's called God. And there's only one God, and that God is the Word. See? "And all that's called God," is, the god of this age has exalted himself above the true, vindicated Word of God. That's Saint John 1.