Sheep and Goats: Which One Will You Be?

Let John Meckley announce men’s Bible study!

Petition everyone to who is not volunteering right now in the church, to begin doing so. There are those who are volunteering in multiple areas and who need some relief! If we all step up and serve together, we can do some amazing things as one body, AMEN??!!!! “Many hands make light work.”

TAKE A MOMENT TO PRAY OVER THIS NATION AND THAT OF THE PRESIDENCY AND THE INAUGURATION THIS WEEK!

For those of you who were here last Sunday, you’ll remember that I gave a message entitled, “Spiritual Hypoxemia”. And for those of you who were not here, I will briefly tell you what it was about, so that we are all on the same page going forward this morning. OK?

So, in that message, I spoke of how, in the natural, if we are not taking in enough oxygen into our lungs, (and ultimately into our bloodstream), then we develop a condition known as hypoxemia, which refers to the low blood oxygen levels in a person’s blood.

And in that message, I used the analogy of how the COVID-19 virus is affecting this nation as well as the entire world and producing hypoxemia people and of how there was a spiritual version of this same scenario.

I mentioned of how God breathed the true breath of life into mankind, as He created us in His glorious image and we became living beings. And from there, I spoke of how the Word of God is God breathed life to every believer, because every word written in the Word of God is “god breathed”, according to II Timothy 3:16.

And just like there is an invisible (natural) enemy right now that is infecting people (COVID-19) and it is producing hypoxemia in the natural state, there is also an invisible spiritual enemy who is doing the same thing.

The enemy of every true Christian is the devil and he is an invisible (spiritual) enemy of ours who is moving silently behind the scenes and trying to infect our lives and keep us away from breathing in the true breath of life, God’s Word. And whenever you or I do not spend time in the Word and breathe in the living Word, our spirits became “hypoxic” (they suffer from spiritual oxygen) and we become weakened and ineffective in our serving the Lord in this life!

We must devote daily time to reading in and meditating upon the Word of God and in doing so, we will be supplying spiritual oxygen to our spiritual bodies and growing in strength and power!

The Psalmist said in Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” I can say the same thing in the spiritual state of affairs. I have been young and now am “OLDER”, (not old, but working slowly towards it), yet I have not seen those who are feeding themselves the living, breathing Word each and every day of his/her life, every being being found forsaken, or begging for spiritual bread in their daily walk with the Lord! Because when we spend time breathing in the Word of God and exhaling praise to His name, our spirit man is well nourished and loaded with plenty of spiritual oxygen to sustain us and keep us going! AMEN?!!!!

And so, this morning, I want to kind of spin off of the subject of breathing in (DAILY), the life giving Word of God into our lives and talk more about one aspect of doing this and of how, as we read in the Word of God daily, it will guide us and protect us from something that has been going on for centuries, but is escalating in these last days.

This morning, I want to speak briefly about the very first warning that Jesus issued in His Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 24 and also of different aspects of this warning and of how this can play out in our spiritual lives.

So, if you have your Bibles this morning, would you please turn with me, to the gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, and we will begin reading with verse 3-5 and then pick up in 9-14.

Matthew 24:3-5, 9-14, 23-26

Matthew 24:3–5 ESV

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

Matthew 24:9–14 ESV

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Matthew 24:23–26 ESV

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

Of all of the things that Jesus could have opened up with in this teaching to His disciples, look at the very first thing that He warned them about.

“See that no one leads you astray.”

Or as the AMP version of this reads, “Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error].”

The whole point of the Olivet Discourse was to warn and to prepare the disciples and other followers of being ready for the destruction of Jerusalem that was coming in their lifetime, but also there were warnings for future generations dealing with the end of the ages and the things to look for that would signal that the return of the Lord Jesus was close!!

And from the very first words out of the mouth of Messiah and then throughout, the warnings of being deceived are clearly seen!

Following the President’s address to the crowds that had gathered together in Washington D.C. On January 6, to hear him speak, the news headlines boomed with the incident that ensued. Crowds of people stormed the capital building and broke in, with rioting looting and damaging government property and trying to hinder the progress of the joint session of Congress that was under way.

The news reports that followed, told the story of how the President, Donald Trump, had instilled rage and incited violence into the hearts of the crowd and prompted the people to storm the capital and violently protest his loss of the presidency.

The bi-product of this event, was that the House of Representatives voted this past Wednesday to once again, impeach the president of the United States of America.

I mention this to you this morning, to make a point.

I sat and listened to the president's speech that he gave that day, while he was giving it live. I neither heard, nor sensed anything of rage and violence in the message.

After everything had happened and with all of the impeachment news, I went back and listened to his speech again, thinking that maybe I had missed some details of what he had said.

Different men and women stood in the impeachment trial and stated about how the president had abused his power and given a speech that incited the crowds into a fit of rage and thus, the violent rioting took place thereafter.

After listening to the speech again, I came to one simple conclusion. There was nothing in that speech that should have or would have ever incited any sane American citizen to perform any violent acts!

If you have ever sat and listened to President Trump speak, then what he said on that day, was just another typical President Donald Trump speech!

Saying to the people, and I quote, “I know that everyone here will soon be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard”, would never insite violence and rage into law abiding citizens.

And then, when you begin to see the photos of the antifa and BLM members in the crowd doing what they do best, violence and destruction, you can begin to stitch together what truly happened that day at the capital building.

There was an alterior motive and design going on behind the scenes, working to create chaos and confusion.

There were those present that day, who had already designed in their hearts what they were going to do and how they were going to go about it before the crowds ever assembled and before the president ever spoke.

But still there were others, and this is just as unfortunate, who were present at the capital building that day, who were following along with the crowd and joining in on what was going on, simply because they were deceived and thinking that the majority that they witnessed was the right thing to do!

They were deceived!

I sat yesterday and watched a news interview with a young woman who owns a real-estate business, who had went to Washington to be a part of the whole rally. She stated that she felt like she had done what she was supposed to do in joining in with the capital building riots.

She went on to say that since she only did what everyone else was doing and that since it was for supporting the president, she should receive a full pardon from the president, as she had been arrested by the FBI and was now facing time in prison!

She stated that her business was now suffering due to her joining in with the rioting in the capital building and that she didn't feel that it was right, since she was only doing what everyone was doing at the time and because if that, the president should pardon her and those like her!!

How could someone become so deceived as to believe that you can break into a federal government building and not face charges?!!

You see, when you don’t know the truth, or you suppress the truth, because it goes at against what you want, then you can be convinced to do just about anything!

Deception comes when there's a lack of the knowledge of the truth!

And with deception, comes destruction!

A prime example of this would back in 1978 and the tragic events that led up to Jim Jones and mass suicide in Guyana. 918 people committed suicide, because they had allowed themselves to be deceived!!

Deception can come in different forms and at different levels. It may be a radical departure from the truth of something, or it may be a subtle and simple deviation, but one that has lasting impacts upon people.

Let me give you a real world application of one form of deception that people use on a regular basis. There is a technique that people employ to deceive others, but it isn't necessarily achieved through lying, rather it is involves making true and accurate statements, but just not the whole truth, at the right time. This technique is called paltering and it is deception through truth.

So, for example, suppose that you own a large business and at the years end, you take your paperwork to your CPA to begin preparing your tax filings for the next spring.

As you hand your accountant your paperwork, he/she asks you, “So, is this everything that you earned this year?”

And you answer, “Everything that our business made this year is present and accounted for, right here in these papers.”

Now, what you said was true, all of your businesses earnings are present and accounted for, however, what you failed to leave out, was that you earned a lot of extra income from side projects that were separate from your business!

Your accountant is being deceived, because they only have the truth that you gave, but they do not have the entire truth.

And this will eventually cause financial destruction for you, as your sins always find you out.

I read of a man this past year, who was charged with this very scenario, and who owed the federal government $2 billion in back taxes. The largest ever against an American citizen!

The point here is that if you only know, or understand part of the truth, then you can be deceived into believing or doing something rather easily.

Let me use a real Biblical example of something that is coming upon this world and of how some people may become deceived when the time arises. In the book of Revelation, chapter 13, John speaks to us about the false prophet who rises and testifies about the first beast and gets people of the world to worship this beast. Now, right out of the gait, John openly states that the false prophet will perform signs and wonders, such as calling down fire from heaven to the earth in front of people, in order to DECEIVE them and get them to worship the beast and ultimately, the devil.

As I have said before, signs and wonders are never to be what directs your worship. The truth of the gospel and the entire canon of the Bible is what we are to follow. Signs and wonders can be performed by the enemy and lead people astray! Remember Moses and Aaron and pharaoh’s magicians?

So, in Revelation 13, verses 16-18, John goes on to tell us the following, “Also it (talking about the false prophet) causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.”

As far back as I can remember the issue dealing with the “mark of the beast”, has been one great interest and great debate.

People have been speculating for centuries as to what it is, what it will be and what to look for, right?!

Books, like the “Left Behind” series in the late 90’s very much popularized this discussion and this topic.

And people have thought for centuries that they had cracked or figured out who and what the the beast of Revelation 13 was and what his mark was.

For instance, did any of you know that people thought that the late president, Ronald Reagan, was the beast of Revelation?

It’s true, because of how we have been programmed to think.

We have been wired to look for the number “666” and with it, comes the answer about who the beast is.

If you take Ronald Reagan’s full name, “Ronald Wilson Reagan” , and count the letters, this is what you will find.

Each word in his name contains six letters, thus forming, “666”!

Insane, right?

And now, more than ever with the whole COVID-19 vaccination taking place, people are becoming more and more leery about taking the vaccination due to its being “the mark”!

Let me give you my opinion about the vaccination right out of the gait.

Do I think that this vaccination, that just came out and that is being administered right now, is the “mark of the beast”?

No, not at all. That is my opinion!

Could the whole vaccination be a type of “Trojan Horse”, to bring in the real “mark”? I suppose its very possible indeed!

But there is a lot of speculation about the vaccination and its relationship to the mark and 666.

And I mention this to you to validate what I said earlier about not having all of the information and as to how this can lead to deception for people.

BEGIN TALKING ABOUT HOW THAT PHRASES AND EVENTS THAT WE READ OF IN THE BIBLE, ARE RELATIVE TO THE PEOPLE AND THE DAY AND AGE IN WHICH THOSE THINGS TOOK PLACE AND IN WHICH THEY WERE STATED. (EVERYTHING IN THE BIBLE IS STILL RELEVANT AND IMPORTANT FOR US TODAY, BUT KNOWING WHO WAS SPEAKING AND WHO THEY WERE SPEAKING TO AND WHAT THEY WERE SPEAKING ABOUT AND ITS CONTEXT, IS VERY IMPORTANT IN UNDERSTANDING EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT PASSAGE. (CONTEXT IS CRUCIAL!)

The church and the people who John was writing the letter of Revelation to in the first century would have most likely had a different understanding of what John was saying in Revelation 13, because of what was going on in their lives at that time!

At that time, the Roman Caesars were worshipped and made to be revered as gods, or deities.

For instance, Caesars such as Domitian, demanded to be addressed as both “lord” as well as “god”, according to Suetonius, the well-known ancient historian.

Both Domitian and the notorious Caesar, Nero, were revered this way!

And it was Nero, who fit the bill of being the beast. Historically, he was recorded as being a “beast” because of all of the vile and disgusting things that he did. But also, because of the alpha-numeric value of his name in Hebrew (a practice that is called “gematria”, which uses the alpha-numeric value of a word to give hidden meaning).

When you take Nero’s name (Neron Kaisar) and transliterate it into Hebrew, the result is the number of the beast: 666.

Explain of how people in that day would have to take pledges and announce their loyalty to the caesars and denounce their relationship and worship of Jesus. The Caesar’s “mark” was on everything from coins, to documents, to statues, etc. and this “mark” was simply an allusion to their claim to divinity!

So, if you accepted their claim to divinity and renounced any other, then you were accepting, or taking their mark.

The Bible uses references to the right hand to symbolize things such as accepting ones position of power and embracing them with your heart and that right hand is a symbol of power and authority.

In different passages in the Bible, we see the reference to people being marked, or sealed on their forehead, as in Ezekiel 9 and those who grieved over the sins of the nation of Judah, were commanded by God, to be “marked” on their foreheads, as an indicator of those who truly were following His laws. (This was a symbolic marking, as one that only God would see.)

And so, when you read of the writings of some like Pliny, you can see that Christians of that day and age, were forced to “worship the image of the Caesar” and renounce Christ, in order to be able to buy and sell and basically exist in that day and age.

To worship the image of Caesar, was the same as “taking the mark” of that Caesar, because their image and the worship of them was closely related, as we see in Revelation 20:4, which says, “Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.”

Here is thing guys, I am presenting you with this today, to make a point. Just because someone has said that taking the mark one day, will be a literal, physical mark, or injection, or implant, does not completely mean it has to be that way. To everyone who read John’s letter in that day and age, they would have understood it to refer to making a pledge or worshipping the image of a Caesar and thus receiving a mark, or paper showing that you could operate in society.

And so, remember this. If you and I do not study and know the Bible and have a firm understanding of what was being said and why it was being said, then we can become susceptible to someone deceiving us and leading us in the wrong direction.

In the case of the mark of Revelation 13, you may have the mindset that taking the mark is strictly a literal, physical marking, because someone told you that, and yet it could be referring to giving your pledge to a government or a certain leader, in exchange for you ability to buy food and supplies to live on. And so, in your mind, as long as you are not taking, or receiving a physical mark, then you haven't transgressed yet.

I am not saying that this is the way that it will and in fact, it could very well be a literal mark, or injection or implant or something like that. I am simply wanting everyone to begin to see that there is more to the Bible and the study of it than just reading is a casual read. Because there is so much more deep meaning in it, than you may think!

And because deception occurs much easier when you are not armed with the living, breathing Word of God, you can begin to see why Jesus made the bold, in your face, initial warnings for us in Matthew 24!

In fact, in reading and understanding about the things that Jesus said, consider the closing of His Olivet Discourse, in Matthew 25, verses 31-46, where Jesus is talking about in the end, where He will separate the sheep from the goats.

We always just associate that with believers from non-believers, right?

Take a closer look at why he used that analogy.

Jesus called Himself the good shepherd and made the analogy that we are His sheep, right?

Part of the shepherds job, was to be able to recognize the sheep in his flocks from the goats.

Because of breeding techniques and the abilities that we have developed throughout the ages today, we can easily spot a goat from a sheep. But back then, it wasn't that easy. (READ FROM SHEET IF NEEDED)

The determination of who the sheep are vs who the goats are, is not physical, but of what is truly inside.

You can be deceived into being one thing and thinking that you're another, based upon what you do and say, but in the end, He will know which ones are truly His!

Mark Twain once said, “It is easier to fool people than to convince them they have been fooled.”

Friends, do not think that because your religious, or because you attend church, that you are beyond being deceived. In fact Paul said this about the matter in II Corinthians 11:13-15, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”

You see, in the end, who we truly are, will be made visible, as all things are laid bare before the Christ! Just like the sheep and goats will be known apart, even though they may look the same.

The good news is this friends, today, right now in your life, you can begin to grow in your intimacy and knowledge and love for the Lord Jesus and His Father, through spending intimate time with Him, in His Word and allowing Holy Spirit to speak to you and continually transform you into the image of Jesus through that living, breathing Word!