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Living Today

Eric Walsh

Mainstream Spiritualism: The Rise of the Occult

Over the next 50 minutes or so, deal with 1 of the most pressing subjects and topics of end time events and prophecy.

If you're not aware of this, you are in trouble.

I was actually in Pastor Sweeney's territory several years ago doing something for Pastor Vaughn, you know Pastor Vaughn, and he took me to the conference offices and places to do morning devotion And 1 of the pastors in London said to me that in London for every Christian pastor they've counted that there are 30 witches.

And he said in 1 of the things that he read, this pastor told me, he said, and every weekend, these witches pray for the destruction of the Christian churches.

He said they pray all night for the destruction of our churches.

And I thought in my mind, how interesting is that?

Because we can't sometimes get our folk to pray for 5 minutes.

Our church is packed on Sabbath and on Wednesday night.

Sometimes there's just 2 families of us there at prayer meeting.

This is 1 of the most important subjects and it's not from a perspective of fear but it is from a perspective of awareness so that we are not allowing the enemy in where he does not belong.

Our scripture reading comes from 1st John chapter 4.

Beloved believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

John says try every the spirits because false spirits have gone out.

Our message for this second session today is mainstream spiritualism, the rise of spiritualism and the occult.

Father God we thank you for this opportunity to study a word.

Once again, Lord, I ask that you make me just a nail on the wall, a rusty, sorry nail, Lord, but upon that nail, Lord, I ask that you hang a portrait of Jesus Christ.

Let our walls not be seen or heard now, Lord.

Let us hear a word from the throne room of grace.

We're gonna go to Genesis chapter 3 starting at verse 1.

The Bible says this, now the serpent was more subtle than any of beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said unto the woman yea hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden and a woman said unto the serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God has said you shall not eat of it neither shall you touch it lest ye die and the serpent said unto the woman ye shall not surely die because God knows that in the day you eat of it then your eyes will be opened and you will be as gods knowing good and evil and a woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make 1 wise she took the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat and the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves apron.

This story is 1 of the most important stories in Scripture from a perspective that it explains to us the fall of man.

It was the serpent and I don't have time to get into the kind of the theology of this thing but the serpent was a creature poised for the devil to be able to use, manipulate, and work through to speak to Eve.

The Spirit of prophecy tells us that when Eve went up to that tree and a serpent was perched there, it wasn't like serpents now.

This was a beautiful winged creature who could fly.

Light would come off of this thing when it did.

And when Eve saw that it could speak, The only other person she had heard speak on earth or that was of earth was her husband Adam and she probably by now heard the voice of God but this animal begins to speak and she is captivated.

We're told that she had drifted away from Adam and went up near this tree.

Satan used this opportunity to teach several lies that persist with us until this day.

The SDA Bible commentary says the same word translated in the King James Version, gods, Elohim, look at this, is rendered God in verse 1, 3, and 5.

The translators of the King James Version here followed the Septuagint and the Vulgate the correct rendering is ye shall be as God What the serpent told Eve when she came to the tree is, if you eat of this fruit you will be God because that's what Satan wanted for himself according to Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.

He wanted to be God and that's what he told us she would get.

It says this reveals most sharply the blasphemous nature of Satan's word and the full gravity of his deception.

Let me tell you something, spiritualism even to today promises people that they will be divine.

And if you understand that, you understand the danger of it.

Spiritual gifts volume 4, B page 102, Ellen White says this, the great original lie which he told to even Eden, thou shall not surely die, was the first sermon ever preached on the immortality of the soul.

This sermon was crowned with success and terrible results followed.

He has brought minds to receive that sermon as truth and ministers preach it sing it and pray it.

No literal devil and probation after the coming of Christ are fast becoming popular fables.

The sermon Satan preached to Eve upon the immortality of the soul.

They have reiterated from the pulpit and the people receive it as pure Bible truth.

The Word of God nowhere teaches the soul of man immortal.

Immortality is an attribute of God alone.

Who only hath immortality, speaking of God, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto.

Great lies the serpent told Eve that day that are the hallmark of spiritualism to this day.

World to gain advantage be as gods spiritualism their cult all of these things to this day all function around these things.

Jesus warns in Matthew 24 and verse 11, and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many and except those days should be shortened he says in verse 22 there should no flesh be saved but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened verse 24 he says for there shall arise false Christs the false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect.

The verse that's critical besides the warnings here is verse 25.

Jesus pauses to say these words, behold I have told you before.

That is Jesus giving a very staunch warning to say listen you will not be able to use as an excuse later on that you weren't told.

And the occult really is by definition matters regarded as involving the action or influence of supernatural or supernormal powers or some secret knowledge of them.

But here's what the Bible says about secrets, what Jesus says.

The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples and of his doctrine.

Jesus answered him, I speak openly to the world.

I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple whether the Jews always resort.

When I was in college at Oakwood University, 1 of the semesters I lived in an apartment near a fraternity, the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the Q Dogs.

And I had this idea that I would go and pledge this fraternity.

And I quickly began to understand a lot of the symbolism they were using to describe things were very much spiritualistic, spiritualism-like connotations.

Fortunately, I was a student at the Seventh-day Adventist school, and Oakwood would not let me go to Alabama A&M to pledge Q.

Later on as I did my research I realized that you know talk to people who did cross as Qs that these fraternities were literally they call them junior achievement to get you into Masonics, into secret societies and secret orders.

And the reason that that's important is because we as Christians are not supposed to align ourselves with these forces.

Jesus said, I did nothing in secret, which means we aren't supposed to have pockets of our lives that are done in secret.

It's a social religious movement, primarily popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but still popular to this day, to which an individual's awareness persists after death and may be contacted by the living, the afterlife, or the spirit world, is seen by spiritualists not as a static place but as 1 in which spirits continue to evolve.

These 2 beliefs, the contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans, lead spiritualists to the belief that spirits are capable of providing useful insight regarding moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God.

Some spiritualists speak of a concept which they refer to as spirit guides, specific spirits often contacted who are relied upon for spiritual guidance.

And people even at work sometimes talk about their spirit guides.

This is 1 of the things that is even now becoming popular.

And Shirley Maclean, some of you may remember the actress, in 1 of the books I read about her many years ago, she talked about having this spirit guide.

She's very much into the New Age movement and into the Eastern religions and some of these other things.

And she said that her spirit guide, she asked her spirit guide once about where he came from and he was talking to her about this place that he came from.

And 1 of the things she said, is there anything you miss?

And the spirit guide said to her, and this is in 1 of her books, that the spirit guide misses being in the presence of God.

Because the spirit guide is actually what?

And the demon literally confessed to her that being trapped here on earth after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, it missed being in the presence of God.

We are warned that in the last days, it will be these apparitions, the presence of these that will come in and influence individuals.

1 of my professors, a great preacher named E.E.

Cleveland, I took his Dynamics of Christian Living class, the best class I ever took in my life.

And Elder Cleveland tells a story in his class 1 night where he says, 1 day in the class he said that after his father died, he was in Memphis, Tennessee about to do a crusade, evangelistic crusade.

Back then those crusades would last 6 weeks, 8 weeks.

And he was in his hotel room the night before it was to start and his dead father appeared to him at the foot of his bed.

He said, he explained to the class that his father looked, it looked exactly like his father, no way you wouldn't think of his father.

The way the sweat ran down his face, the intonations of his voice, the mannerisms of this being.

Understanding the War in the Middle East

All right, we're going to get right into this 1.

And it's 1 of the more in-depth ones we'll be doing.

And our scripture reading will come from Matthew chapter 23 verses 37 and 38 Matthew chapter 23 verses 37 and 38.

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee.

How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and you would not.

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Our message for the second session today is entitled Lessons for Understanding the War in the Middle East.

Lessons for understanding the war in the Middle East.

Father God, we thank you Lord for this opportunity to study your word.

I ask once again Lord that you just make me a nail on the wall and upon that nail Lord hang a portrait of Jesus Christ.

Father God, remove the distractions and help us to focus now on your word, for we need to hear a word from you.

This is our prayer in Jesus' precious and holy name.

Matthew chapter 24, Matthew chapter 23, verse 37 and 38.

Jesus had just finished driving the money changers out of the temple for the second and last time in his ministry.

He does this at the beginning of his ministry and at the end of his ministry.

As he is leaving he says these words, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gather their chickens under her wings and you would not behold your house is left unto you desolate the disciples when they heard this were in full-out shock this is the Jesus that is to be crowned king and here he has decried the temple that in fact the house of God has been left desolate as he leaves the temple Matthew 24 and verse 1 gives greater insight into what's happening and Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came for to show him the buildings of the temple Jesus said unto them see not all these things Verily I say unto you there shall not be left here 1 stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.

I build this context this background because what we're going to talk about now are some of the unfortunate false prophecies and prophets that have twisted the way people see the Middle East and particularly the role of the modern-day nation of Israel.

You go forward in this chapter Jesus goes on says this and now we are speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem in that time.

Matthew 24, 15 says, "'When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation "'spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.

"'Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains let them him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of the house Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes and woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days, but pray that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.

1, you know that Jesus didn't do away with the Sabbath because if you had done away with the Sabbath in 8070 when this catastrophe happens you would have been no worry about a Sabbath somebody else say amen but pray that your flight be not in the winter neither on the Sabbath day and of course Jerusalem falls in 8070 it is the Roman general Titus who pulls it off it is a terrible siege first and eventually the the rebellious Jews are overthrown and the temple is taken.

The irony is that Titus tried to save the temple.

He did not want them to deface or disrespect the temple but because of the resistance the Jews gave in the first, second, and third attempts in trying to take the city in the temple, by the fourth time the Romans just overpowered them and the Roman soldiers, they actually disobeyed the general and made sure to tear down every single stone and burn the place down.

The prophecy of Jesus was completely and accurately fulfilled at that time.

The Christians had listened to the warning of Christ and when they saw the abomination of desolation which was the mounting of pagan armies on a holy ground around the city the holy ground actually extended beyond just the grounds of the temple when they saw that and they knew what was coming the Christians fled the city before this last siege and it is said that not 1 Christian died in the destruction of Jerusalem in 80 70 watch this this is from the youth instructor November 13 sister white says this the horrible cruelties and acted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan's vindictive power over those who yield to his control.

God does not stand toward the sinner as an executor of the sentence against transgression but he leaves the rejecters of his mercy to themselves to reap that which they have sown.

The destruction of Jerusalem is a solemn warning to all who are trifling with the offers of divine grace and resisting the pleadings of divine mercy.

We'll come back to that but let me throw this in real quick because people say how could a loving God allow these things to happen?

He does not overstep his bounds and when you say you do not want him in your life as the Jews did in his time, God, he pulls back and removes himself but what we often don't realize is that there is another force at work and guess what happens the devil now has full sway to do what he wants this is what happened to Pharaoh of Egypt when the Bible says his heart was hardened God didn't reach it and harden Pharaoh's heart All God did was keep showing Pharaoh that he was actually the 1 that was God.

God showed Pharaoh that Jehovah God is the 1 who is divine and every time God showed it his wicked heart hardened.

When this war broke out, our realtor's a wonderful guy.

He's a former Orthodox Jew now, an atheist, very politically liberal guy.

And when the war broke out in Israel, after October 7th, he was in a panic and a flush and he called me, you know, and he doesn't really like to talk religion, obviously, and he called me and he said, you'll know, I need you to tell me what's actually going on in Israel right now Understanding prophecy is important because people around us will want answers as these events begin to unfold Now there are certain lessons that you need in order to understand what's happening in the Middle East, certain things that we have to understand.

Number 1, no promise is given, this is the first lesson, no promise is given that Jerusalem or Israel would be restored as the center of prophecy or spiritual teachings.

Jesus left the place and said I leave your house into your desolate.

Now let me show you some verses that will quantify this because this is the most important the first lesson and probably what I'm gonna go most in depth with because you have to understand this or you get swept into delusion here Matthew 21 and verse 43 says therefore say I unto you the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof this is what he told the nation of Israel before he even prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem he said the kingdom of God will be what taken from you and given to another nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." We're going to show you who that is in a minute.

Matthew 23 we read already, behold your house is left unto you what?

So then people asked the question, but aren't there Old Testament promises that Israel would be restored doesn't 1948 and the establishment of the modern nation of Israel fulfill these prophecies and this is where a lot of people get hung up they think that in 1948 Israel comes on the scene and many of the Old Testament prophecies are now fulfilled.

In Ezekiel chapter 36 verse 24 it says, for I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land.

And they say, 1948, after the Balfour Declaration, which is still a very heated thing that happened, the British, Balfour did this thing and set up the state.

It was supposed to be a 2, it was actually supposed to be a two-state solution from its inception.

But the Arab world decided they did not want that solution.

And basically every 10 years or so, or sometimes 5 years, there's another war.

If you just look, there's been war there constantly since.

So some people say in 1948, when the Ashkenazic Jews of Europe and the Sephardic views of some parts of the Middle East and North Africa kind of began to come together in Israel that this prophecy was fulfilled and hence we need to as Christians respect the nation of Israel in a very special way but let's read the rest of the prophecy verse 25 then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols and will I cleanse you so 1 of the conditions is if you're gonna come back together you will be cleansed of all of the idolatry paganism secularism all these things should go away look at what Ezekiel 36 26 says a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit what I put within you and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I'll give you a heart of flesh and I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgments and do them so what is the condition of the all of the nations coming back and doing and being set up this way back in the time of Ezekiel and Ezekiel is writing while they're still in Babylonian captivity amen this is the condition for them to get back their homeland but notice it is actually something that speaks to each 1 of us in Ezekiel it says that God will take out the stony heart from you Your heart is your mind and will give you a heart of flesh And he'll put his spirit within you and look at what look at the what happens when this happens What is the consequence the byproduct of this is that you will walk in my statutes and you shall do what?

Keep my judgments and do them And then the question is asked did they fulfill that condition?

Because if they did this is what they would get Ezekiel 36 28 and you shall dwell in the land that I will give that I gave to your fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be your God." So you say, well see that prophecy is fulfilled in 1948, we have to fight to keep Israel alive.

Here's what the Seventh-day Adventist Bible commentary says, ye shall be my people.

This promise was conditional on the realization of the spiritual purity described above.

Had the necessary revival been affected, their residence in the land would have been permanent.

From her would have gone out the dove of peace to bring the whole world under the influence of the true religion.

The words, you shall be my people and I will be your God, are descriptive of the covenant relationship within which Jehovah stood toward Israel.

The covenant included more than national independence and prosperity.

It comprehended, watch this church, it comprehended the whole plan to make Israel the spiritual nucleus of a worldwide missionary program the rejection of the covenant as you see in Matthew 21 43 resulted in the removal of the spiritual privilege.

It did not necessarily imply that the Jews would never establish an independent political state.

The present state of Israel is in no wise a fulfillment of these ancient forecasts nor would any mass return of the Jews to Palestine be a fulfillment of these predictions?

Jesus positively stated that the covenant promise now has been given to another nation, watch this church, namely the Christian church.

Through this body, God is now working to evangelize the world.

Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world.

Whatever people on earth are his people do not function to have a permanent earthly kingdom, they function to build the kingdom of God.

That's why the church is now modern, they is really, I should say, is spiritual Israel.

Because our role isn't to establish a kingdom on earth, our job is to build the kingdom of heaven this is the danger of a lot of the evangelicals in the United States they are seeking to establish a political order on earth and I'm gonna show you where they get it from here in a second that would actually set up a kingdom of God that would stay here.

Donald Trump just came out a few weeks ago with his own Bible.

This guy is really selling some stuff now.

He was selling some sneakers not too long ago, and he actually did pretty good.

And then he made a Bible and he put the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence in the Bible and sold that because people think that through these political means the church will win its victory and I showed you this earlier To do that is to commit spiritual fornication.

Because if the church says, I will rely on the state to gain victory, it means you're cheating on God because he is the 1 that must give victory here's what Romans 11 says in verse 18 boasts not against the branches but if thou boasts thou bearest not the root but the root thee thou will say then the branches were broken off that I might be grafted in well look at why the the nation of Israel was rejected here it is because of unbelief they were broken off and they stand and thou standest by faith be not high-minded don't get arrogant but fear For if God spared not the natural branches, the original nation of Israel, take heed lest he what?

Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God on them which dwell on them which fell severity but toward you goodness if you continue in his goodness otherwise Paul gives this warning you also shall be cut off why would he cut off was a 812 I have written to him the great things of my law but they were counted as a strange thing.

They were cut off because they rejected the law.

The Pharisees added to the law things that didn't belong And before that they rejected the law.

Look at it says in verse 14, for Israel have forgotten his maker and built temples and Judah has multiplied fenced cities but I will send a fire upon his cities and it shall devour the palaces thereof.

They forgot their God and rejected the commandments of God and I submit to you that the people who are pushing for modern-day Israel have also rejected the commandments of God because they refuse to accept the fourth commandment.

So lesson number 2, there's no need for a third temple to be built.

No third temple needs to be built at all.

In fact, After Donald Trump, you guys remember Donald Trump moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv, Israel, where I used to live, I used to live outside of Tel Aviv and Netanya in Israel, he moved the embassy from there and he moved it to Jerusalem.

And the evangelicals in our country, they were cheering, oh, we're gonna build a third temple.

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Living Today

Mainstream Spiritualism: The Rise of the Occult

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