1 00:00:04,780 --> 00:00:10,380 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a 2 00:00:10,380 --> 00:00:15,279 moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of faith. 3 00:00:15,519 --> 00:00:22,399 And today, I want to challenge you with the issue for life and faith of a pagan impulse for prophets. 4 00:00:23,460 --> 00:00:31,059 A pagan impulse for prophets. And that's P-R-O-P-H-E-T-S, the biblical idea of prophet, 5 00:00:31,059 --> 00:00:36,179 not prophets in terms of Wall Street, although there's a pagan impulse for that kind of prophet, 6 00:00:36,359 --> 00:00:44,219 too. But today, being a pastor and being a minister of the Word of God, I certainly want to 7 00:00:44,219 --> 00:00:52,500 warn you and caution you against what beats in the breast of every fallen man, and that is a pagan 8 00:00:52,500 --> 00:00:58,079 impulse prophecy, too, for prophets and prophecy. And it doesn't escape the Christian either, 9 00:00:58,079 --> 00:01:04,680 because we still have those tendencies. And I see it all the time. I'm going to be taking up and 10 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:12,000 preaching the book of Revelation here in the new year, beginning in January, midst of Advent now. 11 00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:20,260 But I will be taking up the preaching of the book of Revelation. And prior to that, I want to also 12 00:01:20,260 --> 00:01:27,739 address a couple of issues that plague us, especially in this modern day and time, with the Revelation 13 00:01:27,739 --> 00:01:36,359 Red Heifer Rapture ruses that are all around us, and the Revelation Red Heifer Rapture rants that we 14 00:01:36,359 --> 00:01:43,060 hear constantly from radio and television and megachurch preachers. So we need to be cautious 15 00:01:43,060 --> 00:01:50,519 when we are drawn to them, because there is, as I maintain, as the Scripture holds out for us, 16 00:01:51,299 --> 00:02:00,719 there is, beating within the breast of every man, a pagan impulse for prophecy. We are drawn to it. 17 00:02:00,939 --> 00:02:06,760 We are drawn to it because we want to know the future. We think that maybe perhaps a little wiser, 18 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:12,360 we're a little smarter than the next guy. We are perhaps in more control of our future because 19 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:18,020 we know the future. We know when the rapture's coming. We know who the Antichrist might be. 20 00:02:18,439 --> 00:02:24,039 We know how long the great tribulation, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum, 21 00:02:24,479 --> 00:02:31,400 a pagan impulse for prophets and for prophecy. Well, let me tell you a little bit about a man 22 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:37,500 who was perhaps one of the greatest geniuses that the human race has ever produced. 23 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:43,180 But few people know that not only was he a mathematical and scientific genius, 24 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:50,379 but he was also a man who was drawn to Revelation, the book of Revelation, the book of Daniel, 25 00:02:50,539 --> 00:02:57,960 and he was drawn to end times prophecy. And he was drawn, he had a pagan impulse for prophecy. 26 00:02:58,379 --> 00:03:02,300 Who was that man? It may surprise you. It was indeed Sir Isaac Newton, 27 00:03:02,300 --> 00:03:11,139 who was born in the 17th century in December of 1642. And of course, Sir Isaac Newton was an English 28 00:03:11,139 --> 00:03:18,539 physicist and mathematician. And he was a man who not only developed and formulated 29 00:03:18,539 --> 00:03:24,780 the law of universal gravitation, but also in mathematics, he helped to develop the essential 30 00:03:24,780 --> 00:03:32,599 theories of calculus. Along with von Leibniz, Gottfried von Leibniz, and Newton's Principia 31 00:03:32,599 --> 00:03:39,000 Mathematica was one of the most important single works in the history of modern science. Sir Isaac 32 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:45,680 Newton. Now, every high school student learns these basic facts about Newton as they learn these various 33 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:52,360 disciplines. But how many also that Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with biblical prophecy? Yes, 34 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:58,259 Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest geniuses in history, was obsessed with biblical prophecy. 35 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:06,319 When he matriculated at the University of Cambridge, he wanted to take up mathematics to do what? Sir 36 00:04:06,319 --> 00:04:12,479 Isaac Newton wanted to take up mathematics to build bridges and buildings, maybe solve the naughtiest 37 00:04:12,479 --> 00:04:18,500 problems of the universe? No. Sir Isaac Newton wanted to take up mathematics because in his own words, 38 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:27,360 he says, I wish to test judicial astrology. Oh, my goodness, Sir Isaac Newton, you want to test 39 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:34,139 judicial astrology with mathematics? Now, judicial astrology in that day was another name for 40 00:04:34,139 --> 00:04:42,920 predicting the future, predicting the future by the stars. In his day, there was not a clear demarcation 41 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:51,899 between science and astrology. And these kinds of things. And almost all the great minds were dabblers 42 00:04:51,899 --> 00:04:58,660 in this. They called themselves natural philosophers rather than scientists, per se. Well, now Newton would 43 00:04:58,660 --> 00:05:05,899 bring his mathematical skills to bear on books of the Bible like Daniel or Ezekiel, and most especially 44 00:05:05,899 --> 00:05:14,459 revelation. Yes, Sir Isaac Newton had a pagan impulse for prophecy. And one of his modern biographers, 45 00:05:14,879 --> 00:05:21,000 in studying his works on biblical prophecy, which he thought were quite boring, and Newton called his 46 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:27,699 book on prophecy, Thoughts on the Apocalypse. This biographer says, and I quote, Newton devoted much of 47 00:05:27,699 --> 00:05:33,800 his life. Computations and histories and counts designed to correct contemporary understanding of 48 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:41,100 biblical chronology. Sir Isaac Newton himself tried to work out the time of the second coming. Oh, how many 49 00:05:41,100 --> 00:05:48,220 people in the past have done this? But one of the greatest minds of modern history, the 17th, 18th 50 00:05:48,220 --> 00:05:56,319 century history, a long sweep of things. He tried to work out the time of the second coming, which he felt 51 00:05:56,319 --> 00:06:02,899 could not be far away since, as he says, 1,200 of Daniel's 1,290 years had run out already. 52 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:12,639 Da-da-da! Unquote. That da-da-da was mine, not his, too. But Sir Isaac Newton fell prey, great mind in 53 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:19,220 history, great scientific mind fell prey to the pagan impulse for prophecy. Have you, dear listener, have 54 00:06:19,220 --> 00:06:26,100 you fallen prey to what beats in the heart of every lost man a pagan impulse for prophecy? 55 00:06:26,100 --> 00:06:36,079 Well, even though the greatest mind in recent history set his skills to trying to find out 56 00:06:36,079 --> 00:06:43,259 the date of Christ's return, all of his predictions, and he made many, many predictions, all of them were 57 00:06:43,259 --> 00:06:52,920 wrong. They were absolutely and fatalistically wrong. The mathematical skills of Sir Isaac Newton, 58 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:59,759 they were perfect. The prophetic calculations? Terribly flawed. Right, so his math calculus 59 00:06:59,759 --> 00:07:07,139 was perfect, but his prophetic calculations were flawed. His grasp of the onset of universal gravity? 60 00:07:07,759 --> 00:07:13,779 A universal hit for science, but his grasp of the end of human depravity? Oh, universally wrong. 61 00:07:13,779 --> 00:07:22,120 Yes, dear. Now, Newton's biographers estimate that Sir Isaac Newton wrote almost a million words on 62 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:27,660 prophecy, almost as much as he did on scientific matters. He was prolific, even as president of the 63 00:07:27,660 --> 00:07:35,060 Royal Society, that prestigious society of science. Newton fervently believed that history was drawing 64 00:07:35,060 --> 00:07:41,879 to a close, because men like himself were expounding and clarifying some prophetic revelations just prior 65 00:07:41,879 --> 00:07:49,660 to the impending apocalypse, when the contents of John's revelation would be unfolded before their 66 00:07:49,660 --> 00:07:55,920 very eyes. Wherever you heard that book, as many a tin-horned preacher predicts the unfolding of 67 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:01,420 revelation before our very eyes. Very soon, too, right? Revelation red heifer rapture rants, 68 00:08:01,420 --> 00:08:08,279 yes, they are. Sir Isaac Newton was, in many ways, the Hal Lindsey of his day, only Newton was a lot 69 00:08:08,279 --> 00:08:13,800 smarter than Lindsey. Lindsey might have calculated a generation from the founding of Israel in 1948 to 70 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:21,079 predict Christ's return in 1988, but the development of calculus was far beyond his calculations. Hal 71 00:08:21,079 --> 00:08:27,379 Lindsey could speculate that universal television would broadcast Christ's return, but the theory of 72 00:08:27,379 --> 00:08:36,220 universal gravitation was far beyond him. Nevertheless, both men, Lindsey and Newton, shared a common 73 00:08:36,220 --> 00:08:44,659 impulse, a pagan impulse for prophecy. Do you share that same pagan impulse for prophecy, dear listener? There is 74 00:08:44,659 --> 00:08:51,960 beats within the heart of every lost man, this impulse for prophecy, and it's pagan, and it has overtaken the 75 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:58,779 Christian church in many fields, many respects today. Dear listener, prophecy was given so that we might 76 00:08:58,779 --> 00:09:06,519 know the Lord of destiny, not that we might be lords of destiny. Let's look briefly at this a little 77 00:09:06,519 --> 00:09:12,159 closer today, because the Bible speaks of it. Many places it speaks of it, but I want to turn to Isaiah 78 00:09:12,159 --> 00:09:23,240 chapter 8, verses 19 and 20, because Isaiah, to the lost generation of his day, Judah, had a pagan 79 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:31,419 impulse. And about these Israelites who had a pagan impulse for prophecy, which many Christians today have 80 00:09:31,419 --> 00:09:38,740 the same kind of spirit, he says to them in Isaiah chapter 8, verses 19 and 20, he says, 81 00:09:38,740 --> 00:09:45,700 When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, should not a 82 00:09:45,700 --> 00:09:51,879 people inquire of their? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Consult God's instruction and 83 00:09:51,879 --> 00:09:59,419 the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 84 00:09:59,779 --> 00:10:06,919 Unquote. Prophet Isaiah was speaking to his own generation who had a pagan impulse for prophecy. 85 00:10:06,919 --> 00:10:13,879 Even as many Christians today go chasing their tails like a dog, looking for the time of the 86 00:10:13,879 --> 00:10:21,860 rapture, or exactly who the Antichrist may be, or when the seven-year Great Tribulation will begin, 87 00:10:22,039 --> 00:10:27,419 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, this pagan impulse for prophecy. Dear listener, first of all, 88 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:33,399 let's look at verse 19, where we see that, utterly oblivious to human nature's pagan impulse, 89 00:10:33,399 --> 00:10:39,299 prophets. Israel's generation, as well as many Christians today, chase after the next Revelation 90 00:10:39,299 --> 00:10:47,720 red hat for a rapture ruse, following this pagan impulse for prophecy. Yes. Verse 19. The context 91 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:54,940 for our text today, that is Isaiah chapter 8, verses 19 and 20. The context for these verses 92 00:10:54,940 --> 00:11:02,620 is the complete surrender of Israel's distinctiveness from the nations around her. Yes. Instead of the 93 00:11:02,620 --> 00:11:08,960 text of Scripture, people look to the pagan impulse for prophecy. Israel's holiness or separation from 94 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:14,919 unclean things was non-existent by this time, with the exception of Isaiah and his children. In fact, 95 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:19,899 the verses before he said, look, here am I with my children. Here am I in the children the Lord has 96 00:11:19,899 --> 00:11:26,460 given me, Isaiah says. We are signs and symbols from the Lord Almighty. In contrast to those who seek 97 00:11:26,460 --> 00:11:35,039 amongst the mediums and spiritists, prophecy and insight into the future, pagan impulse for prophecy. 98 00:11:35,299 --> 00:11:42,840 Many of you out there have it as you chase your prophetic tales looking for, amongst the Tim LaHays 99 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:49,639 and the Hal Lindsey's of the earth, the next thread of prophecy that you think is going to come true 100 00:11:49,639 --> 00:11:55,740 and these magical insights, they're modern day prophets, are they not? I don't think so. In his own day, 101 00:11:55,740 --> 00:12:03,000 Isaiah lamented Israel's pursuit of paganism. He says, for you have rejected your people, God, 102 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:09,720 the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune tellers like the 103 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:16,960 Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners, the state indeed of Israel and America 104 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:23,259 for that matter in our own day as we embrace religions from the east. And because of Israel's complete 105 00:12:23,259 --> 00:12:29,240 reliance upon these kinds of things, God would confuse, confound, and remove the even these false 106 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:37,240 prophets. Isaiah mentions this in chapter 3. He says, for behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away 107 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:44,659 from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, all support of water, the mighty 108 00:12:44,659 --> 00:12:52,080 man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, captain of 50 and the man 109 00:12:52,080 --> 00:13:00,360 of rank, counselor and the skillful magician, the expert in charms. Unquote. All of these things, 110 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:08,759 Isaiah says, God is taking away from you. You, Israel, with that pagan impulse for prophecy. You, 111 00:13:08,759 --> 00:13:16,039 American, with your pagan impulse for prophecy, even though you consult the Bible and ostensibly 112 00:13:16,039 --> 00:13:25,360 baptize it and say it's holy, lurking underneath the thin surface of your supposed biblical pursuit 113 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:33,659 of Jesus and prophecy, you have a pagan impulse for prophecy with your obsession with it. The situation 114 00:13:33,659 --> 00:13:41,059 in Israel had become desperate by Isaiah's day. God had already begun to judge them with famine and 115 00:13:41,059 --> 00:13:47,700 pestilence war. The people of Israel were bewildered and they were frightened. They were desperate to know 116 00:13:47,700 --> 00:13:54,899 what was coming next. This is a pagan impulse for prophecy. Americans, many Americans are desperate for 117 00:13:54,899 --> 00:14:01,279 knowing what is coming next. It is a pagan impulse for prophecy like to that of Israel. In the very 118 00:14:01,279 --> 00:14:08,480 beginning of time, dear listener, the desire to know the future in order to be Lord of the future has 119 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:15,220 driven the fallen heart of man and it's driving the heart of many Christians today. And Isaiah laments 120 00:14:15,220 --> 00:14:23,159 nothing. This has been a pagan impulse from the beginning, a pagan impulse for prophecy. And some of 121 00:14:23,159 --> 00:14:29,159 you have been overcome by it. Nimrod, for example, the first of the mighty men, that is, he was a Nephilim, 122 00:14:29,159 --> 00:14:36,559 an offspring of the sons of God who made it men. Nimrod, this Nephilim was the reputed founder of the 123 00:14:36,559 --> 00:14:43,059 city of Babel, which would cast its shadow all the way into the book of Revelation. And the author, 124 00:14:43,299 --> 00:14:52,019 the historian Josephus, who recounted fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, this same historian, Jewish historian, 125 00:14:52,019 --> 00:14:59,120 Josephus reports, the understanding of the rabbis of his day, that Nimrod directed the building of the 126 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:06,759 Tower of Babel. And he did it, built the Tower of Babel, that is, in part, to both reach into the 127 00:15:06,759 --> 00:15:13,419 heavens to avenge himself on God for destroying his ancestors, the Nephilim, of which he was a survivor, 128 00:15:13,419 --> 00:15:22,679 but also Nimrod built the Tower of Babel to ensure that no future flood would destroy himself and his 129 00:15:22,679 --> 00:15:30,000 descendants ever again. Nimrod practiced divination, in part, to discern when God was going to send 130 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:37,919 another great flood. So Nimrod indeed provided this impulse for pagan, pagan impulse for prophecy, 131 00:15:37,919 --> 00:15:44,500 very early in man's history. Nimrod had succumbed completely to the pagan impulse for prophets. 132 00:15:44,940 --> 00:15:51,519 Or we have the example of Balak, too, in the book of Numbers. Balak summoned Balaam to put a curse on 133 00:15:51,519 --> 00:15:59,519 Israel in order to forestall what he saw coming in the future. Indeed, he saw in the future Israel's 134 00:15:59,519 --> 00:16:04,620 conquering of him as he had the peoples around him, as they were coming out of the desert wilderness, 135 00:16:04,620 --> 00:16:11,320 right? And Balak was attempting to be a lord of the future, and he was attempting to turn the curse 136 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:16,919 that was on his seed of the serpent, that is, Moab, he was attempting to turn that curse back upon the 137 00:16:16,919 --> 00:16:23,019 seed of the woman, which was Israel. The promise was that the seed of the woman would crush the head 138 00:16:23,019 --> 00:16:29,960 of the serpent and the seed of the serpent. Balak had succumbed completely to the pagan impulse for 139 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:36,340 prophets in seeking Balaam. And then we have the example, too, of poor, pathetic Saul. All through 140 00:16:36,340 --> 00:16:42,720 biblical history, we have these examples of the pagan impulse for prophecy, don't we? We have it 141 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:49,840 in poor, pathetic Saul. Desperate to know his fate against the Philistines, as Saul drew up his army 142 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:58,759 of Israel against the Philistines, Saul consulted the witch of Endor because God no longer spoke to him, 143 00:16:59,159 --> 00:17:07,880 all right? The text tells us that God no longer spoke to Saul, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets, 144 00:17:08,099 --> 00:17:16,799 unquote. And so Saul sought the counsel of the witch of Endor. He had a pagan impulse for prophecy. 145 00:17:16,799 --> 00:17:24,099 Saul succumbed completely to the pagan impulse for prophecy. And so it was. Israel and the day of 146 00:17:24,099 --> 00:17:31,500 Isaiah had succumbed completely to the pagan impulse for prophecy. Even as many Americans and Christians 147 00:17:31,500 --> 00:17:39,279 have fallen prey to this pagan impulse for prophecy in our own day, we try and baptize it with the veneer 148 00:17:39,279 --> 00:17:46,940 of Christianity, but nevertheless lurking, beating under the heart, in the heart of that impulse for 149 00:17:46,940 --> 00:17:54,599 prophecy is a pagan impulse for it. Instead of the sober consultation of the will of God in the Urim 150 00:17:54,599 --> 00:18:02,619 or the Thummim or the prophets of God, instead we have this pagan impulse for prophecy. This would all 151 00:18:02,619 --> 00:18:09,759 be done, of course, was godly. It would have been done at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for example, 152 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:19,140 and presided over by a priest of God. Instead, they sought the pagan impulse for prophecy. They sought the 153 00:18:19,140 --> 00:18:27,740 witches and the mediums and the spiritists. And when you did, you sat at the mouth of a dark cave to hear a pale, 154 00:18:27,740 --> 00:18:35,400 haggard witch, chirp and mutter. And thus you have texts. Why consult mediums and spiritists who chirp 155 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:40,640 and mutter? But if you went to consult one of these in the days of Israel, as it is today for that matter, 156 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:47,279 when you go to consult mediums and spiritists, they sit in dark rooms. At the time, they sat in dark caves 157 00:18:47,279 --> 00:18:54,180 in Isaiah's day. And you would go to join this medium or spiritist, and you would sit at the mouth 158 00:18:54,180 --> 00:19:02,599 of this dark cave to hear a pale, haggard witch chirp and mutter. And these necromancers and soothsayers 159 00:19:02,599 --> 00:19:10,380 and mediums and spiritists would have the bones of the dead strewn around their caves. And they would imitate 160 00:19:10,380 --> 00:19:18,059 the voices of bats. Reputedly, these bats coming from the entrance of hell itself, fresh with knowledge of the 161 00:19:18,059 --> 00:19:23,819 future. And thus you have this chirping and muttering. That's the idea. Chirping and muttering. You were 162 00:19:23,819 --> 00:19:29,920 imitating the sound, the voice of a bat who had come from hell to tell you the future. This is what 163 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:37,400 Israel had sunk to. Instead of the clear word of God, Israel had descended to following, as one of the 164 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:46,720 study Bibles puts it, occult gibberish. Occult gibberish. And much so-called biblical prophecy today, 165 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:53,160 with all of its false claims, its false predictions has descended into occult gibberish. How do you 166 00:19:53,160 --> 00:20:02,380 recognize false prophets? By the way, whether it be John Hagee or Hal Lindsey or Tim LaHaye, 167 00:20:02,559 --> 00:20:07,839 how do you recognize false prophets? Because their prophecies do not come true. And that's precisely 168 00:20:07,839 --> 00:20:13,640 what happens with these men. Have you been following the pagan impulse for prophecy, dear listener? 169 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:21,319 Because it is extant today. It exists in the church. As it has been, so it will be, and so it is today. 170 00:20:21,660 --> 00:20:28,579 It is why today, in a so-called scientific age, we have astrologers that flourish. They make good 171 00:20:28,579 --> 00:20:34,420 livings. We have many of them where I live in the Teton Valley. We have mediums and witches in our 172 00:20:34,420 --> 00:20:41,180 valley, too, in Teton Valley. And they vie, they compete with each other to cast spells and to foretell the 173 00:20:41,180 --> 00:20:47,420 future and to contact the dead. Even Christians sometimes lapse into the whole ethos of a pagan 174 00:20:47,420 --> 00:20:54,460 impulse for prophecy. I can remember very early when I was a young man, we had Episcopal Bishop 175 00:20:54,460 --> 00:21:02,180 James Pike, who was famous in the 60s. Some of you gray hairs may remember him. Episcopal Bishop James 176 00:21:02,180 --> 00:21:08,400 Pike, famous in the 60s for consulting with mediums in a desperate effort to make contact with his deceased 177 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:15,220 son, whom he had lost in a tragic sudden death. Bishop Pike quickly lost his way. Christian ministry 178 00:21:15,220 --> 00:21:21,599 to a pagan impulse for prophecy and prophets. He was attempting to foresee the future in order to 179 00:21:21,599 --> 00:21:28,859 cure war and racism, which were all big themes of the 60s, too. Or, for example, in the life of the 180 00:21:28,859 --> 00:21:35,259 church, the World Council of Churches. The World Council of Churches has sunk today to embarrassing 181 00:21:35,259 --> 00:21:42,799 levels. World Council of Churches, in an effort to broaden their ecumenical spirit and base and be 182 00:21:42,799 --> 00:21:50,180 inclusive of all religions, the World Council of Churches has participated in things like tribal rituals 183 00:21:50,180 --> 00:21:59,200 with Australian Aborigines or Native American tribes and even Wiccans, that is, modern-day witches. And they 184 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:05,079 foresee, the World Council of Churches does, a day when all of us will live under one god of consensus. 185 00:22:05,079 --> 00:22:14,079 A god we can all agree upon and finally live under in peace, ostensibly. I think you can see where that 186 00:22:14,079 --> 00:22:21,579 will lead us. A pagan impulse for prophecy has not escaped the evangelical world either. Many of you 187 00:22:21,579 --> 00:22:28,880 are caught up in it. Unwittingly, naively, many well-meaning Christians have ended up following a pagan 188 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:37,599 impulse for prophecy in becoming obsessed with end times, with last things, with what I call 189 00:22:37,599 --> 00:22:45,140 Revelation red heifer rapture ruses. Entire churches and websites and ministries have been dedicated 190 00:22:45,140 --> 00:22:51,619 to sifting the minutiae of biblical prophecy to predict the rapture. Oh, the Antichrist. Who is it? 191 00:22:51,619 --> 00:22:58,740 Is it Hillary Clinton? Oh, and the Great Tribulation? Many have lost their way and no longer study prophecy 192 00:22:58,740 --> 00:23:05,160 to glorify the Lord of the future, but rather to be lords of the future, that is, their own future. 193 00:23:05,380 --> 00:23:11,960 Many obsessed Christians have succumbed to the pagan impulse for prophecy. Many of the shills of prophetic 194 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:18,400 ministry as well may not chirp and mutter, but they certainly do bark and hawk their predictions, 195 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:25,259 their visions, and their books, and their videos, and their websites. Oh, one luminous example 196 00:23:25,259 --> 00:23:32,279 of this false prophet prophecy is John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church, which is a mega church 197 00:23:32,279 --> 00:23:39,519 in San Antonio, Texas. He's a well-known proponent of end times ministry, isn't he? For example, his book 198 00:23:39,519 --> 00:23:46,579 Four Blood Moons. How many of you suckers bought that? Four Blood Moons. Something is about to change. 199 00:23:46,579 --> 00:23:53,039 Oh, isn't that? Very specific in particular. Something is about to change. That leaves enough 200 00:23:53,039 --> 00:23:58,339 wiggle room and elbow room for just about anything, including a change in the weather. Well, in his 201 00:23:58,339 --> 00:24:06,339 book, Four Blood Moons, false prophet John Hagee asserted that the concurrence of four blood moons 202 00:24:06,339 --> 00:24:13,400 in one year, and I think that was 2016, was a prophetic portent, and that a significant fulfillment 203 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:19,880 of end times prophecy would occur, and it would be on a par with the formation of Israel, or the retaking 204 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:26,940 of Jerusalem by the Jews, for example. And then, all through 2016, when no such thing happened, 205 00:24:27,660 --> 00:24:34,180 nothing of the magnitude and scope of these things happened. When nothing like this happened, 206 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:42,339 his book went from 1995, a copy, to a dollar and a half. False prophet John Hagee, false prophet, 207 00:24:42,339 --> 00:24:47,859 you determine a false prophet by whether his prophecies come true or not. And none of John 208 00:24:47,859 --> 00:24:53,240 Hagee's prophecies have come true. And Hagee suddenly fell silent on his Four Blood Moons. 209 00:24:53,579 --> 00:24:59,299 He said nothing more about them. He didn't admit to their being wrong. And no one on his board 210 00:24:59,299 --> 00:25:06,660 challenged him. And no one has held him accountable for his false prophecies. Ah, to this day, church and 211 00:25:06,660 --> 00:25:13,019 ministry and website is humming along. John Hagee continues to bark and hawk his predictions, his 212 00:25:13,019 --> 00:25:18,140 visions, and his books and his videos. And people gobble it up. Have you gobbled it up, dear listener? 213 00:25:18,500 --> 00:25:25,400 There is indeed many a false prophet, many a false prophecy out there. Whether it's Tim LaHaye in his 214 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:30,740 Left So Blind book in his series, right? Or Hal Lindsey in the late Great Planet of the Apes, 215 00:25:30,740 --> 00:25:35,759 as I call it. I wouldn't recognize that planet that he describes. Dear listener, there is indeed 216 00:25:35,759 --> 00:25:42,019 a pagan impulse for prophecy. And I hope that you do not fall prey to it. Rather, do what Isaiah 217 00:25:42,019 --> 00:25:47,980 exhorts. That is, consult God's instruction and his testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak 218 00:25:47,980 --> 00:25:52,319 according to this word, they have no light of dawn. This is where we go, brothers and sisters, 219 00:25:52,319 --> 00:25:57,440 to the word of God, not to false prophets, not to obsessions with end times prophecy. 220 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:03,759 This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In Idaho Falls, 221 00:26:03,759 --> 00:26:07,980 we'll be beginning a series on Revelation once we address a couple of these issues. 222 00:26:08,460 --> 00:26:14,640 But I encourage you to consult the word of God, consult our website, come and join us for worship 223 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:23,180 for that matter. New Geneva worships on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th 224 00:26:23,180 --> 00:26:28,319 and Boulevard. Give me some feedback. Call me. I'm sure many of you would like to give me some 225 00:26:28,319 --> 00:26:38,240 feedback. Area code 208-523-0196. For further feedback, we worship on Sunday, 10 a.m., 101 4th Street 226 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:45,880 on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And call me for feedback and more information perhaps at area code 227 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,619 208-523-0196.