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Hi again, my name is Marty Cattuzzo.
Welcome to 2011studies.
We are looking today at the phrase the "first shall be last;
and the last shall be first."
This verse is kind of a mystery
how Christ repeated this a few times
in a similar context, yet different.
The verse found in Matthew 19
is the one I want to start with first.
Matthew 19:27: "Then answered Peter and said unto him,
Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee;
what shall we have therefore?
That is kind of a curious question.
Peter was saying we left everything
now what is for us, what is coming in our future?
What I like about the Lord,
even in Matthew 24 when the disciples asked what is "the sign of thy coming,
and of the end of the world?"
He did not shirk from answering any of these things.
He gave a lot of detailed information.
There are a lot of people today
who will just hide behind "no man knoweth the day or the hour."
It is an excuse not to study God's Word.
Because if you look in Matthew 24,
Mark 13, or Luke 21,
there are extreme amounts of information given there
speaking of the coming of Christ and the return of Christ on the last day.
In fact, He even gives us more information to study further in the Book of Daniel.
So there is just a lot of information there,
and it is not something that we should stand behind one verse
and say we cannot know anything about the coming of Christ.
It is very similar here.
It might seem like sort of a selfish thing
because "Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee;
what shall we have therefore?"
almost sounds greedy in a way.
Any believer in Christ
realizes that the gift of Christ is eternal life.
That cannot be matched by anything else anyway.
Just to be able to be forgiven of sins and live forever
is the greatest thing ever.
But Christ answered them here again in verse 28:
"And Jesus said unto them,
Verily I say unto you
That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
Verse 29: "And every one that hath forsaken houses,
or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake,
shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall inherit everlasting life."
Here is this key verse that we are studying today.
Verse 30: "But many [that are] first shall be last;
and the last [shall be] first."
I want to touch on the word "regeneration."
The Greek word is "paliggenesia."
It is derived from two Greek words:
"palin" which means anew and "genesis"
from Greek #1078:
a new nature, a new generation.
It could apply to both phrases there
or terms.
The washing of God's Spirit makes a person new.
They have a new nature.
When Christ comes sitting at the throne of his glory,
that whole idea there is that this sin cursed world will be done away with.
It will be a new genesis.
In other words, it will be the way it was initially intended to be
without sin.
That is going to be a really exciting time.
So that is the Greek word "paliggenesia."
It is Greek #3825.
I am sorry, it is Greek #3824,
and then that word breaks down to Greek #3825 and Greek #1078.
Now, "the throne of His glory"
has a verse that relates to that.
It is used actually twice
in the New Testament.
The time of Christ coming in "power and great glory" is coming quickly.
It is not a fleshly coming
like the first time He came.
He is coming in "power and great glory."
The other place in the Bible where "regeneration" is used
in relationship to salvation, is Titus 3:3:
"For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish,
disobedient, deceived, serving divers . . ." (many) ". . . lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy,
hateful, [and] hating one another."
Verse 4: "But after that the kindness and love of God
our Saviour toward man appeared,
Verse 5: "Not by works of righteousness
which we have done,
but according to his mercy he saved us,
by the washing of regeneration,
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost;"
Verse 6: "Which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Saviour;"
Verse 7: "That being justified by his grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
Verse 5 can read:
"by the washing" (or cleansing) "of regeneration"
(a new genesis)
"and renewing" (the renovation)
"of the Holy Ghost,"
the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
When you think about renovation,
you think sometimes it could be like an old house that is beat up.
Somebody goes in and renovates the house,
fixes it up and makes it new.
That is really not the greatest illustration
because houses are temporal.
But what Christ gave to us
is this renewing of the Holy Spirit,
the washing of God's Spirit on us.
Making us new is eternal.
That is something that is not like a house that is going to deteriorate again.
That whole renovation of our lives
by the Holy Spirit is what is in view here.
Now, when Christ comes in His glory in the regeneration,
I believe this will be the end of this wicked
and adulterous generation which Christ spoke of.
Now, this generation which Christ spoke of,
I believe I am going to cover in the next study.
I have looked at this language, and it is fairly interesting
how the wicked generation that Christ spoke of back then
of those who sought after a sign
is very similar to today and what is going on in the fallen houses of God.
A generation which seeks after a sign
like the Pharisees did.
Christ focused on the religious leaders of that day
who were seeking after a sign.
Many today are going after that, unfortunately.
You are just opening up a door.
I have heard pastors who are very subtly encouraging
their flock in the churches
to speak in tongues, to do these type of activities.
Yet they absolutely refuse
to quote tongues will cease.
Paul knew that.
He knew that there would be a time where God's Word would be complete,
and tongues would no longer be needed.
Yet, this activity of seeking miracles,
seeking to speak in tongues . . .
God knew this too when He put it in His Word.
In 2 Thessalonians Satan comes like an angel of light,
and he comes with signs and lying wonders.
Well, those signs and lying wonders are a mimicking
of the great power that Christ had
back 2,000 years ago.
The disciples were given that power too.
Satan does that.
He tries to mimic these things
to obtain worship of himself.
That is why you have got to be careful.
Churches are going after this kind of stuff.
You have pastors that are standing up and encouraging this kind of thing.
Be very wary of this.
I would go as far to say: get out!
Just leave!
Exit!
Because once that starts . . .
In the Book of Revelation
it speaks of fallen Babylon having become a habitation of devils.
You do not want to be in that environment.
They are opening up that type of activity
in the fallen houses of God.
If they are opening that up to their congregation,
get out!
That is what God's Word commands, anyway.
We have to be obeying what the Word of God says
and not what this evil generation is suggesting at this point.
I mentioned the habitation of devils.
Let me quote that here.
Revelation 18:2: "And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,
and is become the habitation of devils,
and the hold of every foul spirit,
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird."
That was Revelation 18:2.
The First and Last Laborers in the Vineyard
This is a very fascinating parable.
When I was starting to study the phrase,
he that shall be first shall be last
and the last shall be first,
I found this really is an important aspect of that.
This is Matthew 20 when Christ is relating the kingdom of heaven
like unto a man who is an householder
and he hired laborers for his vineyard.
Matthew 20:1: "For the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a man [that is] an householder,
which went out early in the morning
to hire labourers into his vineyard."
Verse 2: "And when he had agreed with the labourers
for a penny a day,
he sent them into his vineyard."
Verse 3: "And he went out about the third hour,
and saw others standing idle in the marketplace."
Verse 4: "And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right I will give you.
And they went their way."
Verse 5: "Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour,
and did likewise."
Verse 6: "And about the eleventh hour he went out,
and found others standing idle, and saith unto them,
Why stand ye here all the day idle?"
Verse 7: "They said unto him,
Because no man hath hired us.
He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard;
and whatsoever is right, [that] shall ye receive."
Verse 8: "So when even was come,
the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward,
Call the labourers, and give them [their] hire,
beginning from the last unto the first."
It is interesting; there you have a very interesting phrase.
The ones who are hired last
received their earned wages, which was equal to the ones which were hired first.
The ones who were hired first had a problem with that.
But there you go, beginning from the last they were to receive their wages.
The first shall be last; the last shall be first.
This is very related to that phrase,
so that is an interesting aspect of this.
Let us go on.
Verse 9: "And when they came
that [were hired] about the eleventh hour,
they received every man a penny."
Verse 10: "But when the first came . . ."
(those who were first hired)
". . . they supposed that they should have received more;
and they likewise received every man a penny."
So they witnessed what those who were hired last got.
They thought that they were going to receive more
since they worked earlier from the start of the day.
Verse 11: "And when they had received [it],
the murmured . . ." (That is grumbled.)
". . . against the goodman of the house."
Verse 12: "Saying, These last have wrought [but] one hour,
and thou hast made them equal unto us,
which have borne the burden and heat of the day."
Verse 13: "But he answered one of them,
and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong:
didst not thou agree with me for a penny?"
Verse 14: "Take [that] thine [is], and go thy way:
I will give unto this last, even as unto thee."
Verse 15: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?"
Is thine eye evil, because I am good?"
This word murmured
is really a fascinating word
because it is found replicated a couple times in God's Word.
It is almost like coming against Christ,
and it is almost like the spirit of anti-Christ is working through people.
When you see this word murmured it is Greek #1111.
It is pronounced: gon-gu-zo.
It means to grumble, to murmur.
A lot of times this word is related to
back in Christ's day with the religious leaders.
In the parable of the vineyard, I am going to point out a couple points here,
three or four of them which use this word murmured and grumbled.
The parable of the vineyard in Matthew 20, we just read that.
Those who were first and agreed for a penny
for a day's wages grumbled against the good man of the house
when they saw that those who were hired last in the 11th hour.
By the way, the 11th hour I think is related to
the nearness of Christ's coming
when you see that word eleven,
the Greek word representing the number 11.
We have had examples in the past of this.
We have seen this in previous studies
where 11 is related to Christ's first coming.
Eleven is also related to the 77 generations
which Christ summed up.
That is 7 X 11.
It also represents those who are complete in Christ.
The generational line stopped in Christ
because those who come into the kingdom, come in through Christ.
That is a fascinating study in itself how 11 is used.
But those who were hired in the 11th hour,
I believe can relate to the believers in Christ.
It could relate to the believers in Christ from the time Christ came
and they were hired.
Previously, the ones hired earlier could be
representing the nation of Israel.
You also have the aspect of this parable
of those who are hired in the 11th hour
near the timing of the nearness of Christ's coming.
So both are very good possibilities of that.
They grumbled against them
because they were complaining about the equal pay.
They did not think that that was fair.
The good man of the house is the one who hired them.
In Luke 5 (this is point 2)
the scribes and the Pharisees murmured or grumbled
that Christ sat and ate with publicans and sinners.
Luke 5:29: "And Levi made him a great feast in his own house:
and there was a great company of publicans
and of others that sat down with them.
Verse 30: "But their scribes and Pharisees
murmured against his disciples, saying,
Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?"
Verse 31: "And Jesus answering said unto them,
They that are whole need not a physician;
but they that are sick."
Verse 32: "I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance."
Verse 33: "And they said unto him,
Why do the disciples of John fast often,
and make prayers, and likewise [the disciples] of the Pharisees;
but thine eat and drink?"
The idea that they were just . . .
It almost seems like there was a jealousy there or something.
It says, "But their scribes and Pharisees murmured
against his disciples, saying,
Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?"
The self-righteousness of their words
just came forth,
which is a really sad thing
because it does relate to a lot of self-righteousness going on today.
I see it all the time.
This is point 3:
certain Jews of Christ murmured against the true bread of life.
This is John 6: the Pharisees' "self-righteousness" (I put that in quotes.)
The Pharisees murmured against Christ and His Words,
that He as the bread of life came down from heaven.
This is John 6:40:
"And this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one which seeth the Son,
and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:
and I will raise him up at the last day."
Verse 41: "The Jews then murmured at him . . ."
They grumbled.
". . . because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven."
Verse 42: "And they said, Is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
how is it then that he saith,
I came down from heaven?"
Verse 43: "Jesus therefore answered and said unto them,
Murmur not among yourselves."
Verse 44: "No man can come to me,
except the Father which hath sent me draw him:
and I will raise him up at the last day."
Verse 45: "It is written in the prophets,
And they shall be all taught of God.
Every man therefore that hath heard,
and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."
Verse 46: "Not that any man hath seen the Father,
save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father."
Verse 47: "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life."
Verse 48: "I am the bread of life."
This is John 6:56.
This is point 4:
certain disciples could not accept the teaching of Christ
and murmured and fell away.
When you first look at this,
you think it could be relating to the 12 disciples.
But it is not; we will see this as we go on further in these words.
These were people who started to follow Christ
but could not accept what He was saying.
There are a lot of parallels to what is going on today.
God's Word says, "Come out of her, my people."
How many people are like Lot's wife?
God relates fallen Babylon to *** and Egypt,
and Lot's wife looked back on ***.
She did not want to leave; she did not want to depart.
Judgment fell at that point.
There are very similar parallels going on there.
Certain disciples murmured and fell away.
This is John 6:56:
"He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Verse 57: "As the living Father hath sent me,
and I live by the Father:
so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me."
Verse 58: "This is that bread which came down from heaven:
not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead:
he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever."
Verse 59: "These things said he in the synagogue,
as he taught in Capernaum."
Verse 60: "Many therefore of his disciples,
when they had heard [this],
said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?"
Verse 61: "When Jesus knew in himself
that his disciples murmured at it . . ."
They grumbled about it.
". . . he said unto them, Doth this offend you?"
Verse 62: "[What] and if ye shall see the Son of man
ascend up where he was before?"
Verse 63: "It is the spirit that quickeneth;
the flesh profiteth nothing:
the words that I speak unto you,
[they] are spirit, and [they] are life."
Verse 64: "But there are some of you that believe not.
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were
that believed not,
and who should betray him."
Verse 65: "And he said, Therefore said I unto you,
that no man can come unto me,
except it were given unto him of my Father."
Now this is a key phrase
because you learn here that there were some who followed Him,
but then they decided not to follow Him.
They went back.
Verse 66: "From that [time] many of his disciples went back,
and walked no more with him."
Verse 67: "Then said Jesus unto the twelve,
Will ye also go away?"
Verse 68: "Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go?
thou hast the words of eternal life."
Verse 69: "And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ . . ."
(the Messiah, the Christos, the Elect)
". . . the Son of the living God."
Verse 70: "Jesus answered them,
Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?"
Verse 71: "He spake of Judas Iscariot [the son] of Simon:
for he it was that should betray him,
being one of the twelve."
It makes you really wonder who started the grumbling
with the other disciples
because Judas is called a devil.
"One of you is a devil."
That is pretty powerful
because of these words: murmuring and grudging against Christ.
This whole idea
is very much related to the spirit of anti-Christ
coming against Christ and His Words.
The believers know His Words, though.
That is what is so important; God gives us understanding
and opens our eyes to these things.
I have already mentioned that there are going to be many
who cannot accept the Words of Christ.
That really shows you where people put their trust.
Are they putting their trust in a social gathering of a church,
which is only a building
where there are unbelievers and believers who attend?
Or are they putting their trust in the very Words of Christ
in which He spoke?
Any believer who studies God's Word
knows that God's Word is inspired by God's Spirit.
It is Holy; it is pure.
It is truth.
When Christ commands something,
will people obey it?
Will they flee out?
Will they get out like He commanded to "Come out of her, my people"?
Will they not partake in the sins
and actually the plagues that come upon it?
I think those plagues are going to be coming in a couple short years.
Until we arrive at that time . . .
I do not know.
I do not know if that kind of judgment falling
upon the houses of God will cause more and more to exit.
Will they have to witness something like that
in order to finally realize that this is from God?
This is God's judgment.
That is very much a possibility,
but I say do not wait.
I say study God's Word.
Look at this language.
When Christ commands people to get out, to flee out,
flee to the mountains, flee to God's righteousness, He means it.
It is a grand warning.
It is a grand statement.
Now this is point 4.
This is very related to those who have come out of Egypt.
I am relating it to those who come out of *** and Egypt
in which the fallen houses of God will be judged eventually.
But the similarities are very true here,
for example, the idol worship that went on there.
This is 1 Corinthians 10.
The word we are focusing on is murmured.
They murmured; they grudged against
God in the wilderness and they fell.
1 Corinthians 10:5: "But with many of them God was not well pleased:
for they were overthrown in the wilderness."
Paul warns the Corinthians of a period of testing
like that of the Israelites wandering.
Verse 6: "Now these things were our examples,
to the intent we should not ***
after evil things, as they also lusted."
Verse 7: "Neither be ye idolaters,
as [were] some of them;
as it is written, The people sat down
to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
When it is speaking of the coming of Christ,
there is certain language.
I am going to cover this more in another study
which is directly related to those verses.
There is certain language of eating and drinking,
and given in marriage, given in marriage like the days of Noah.
A lot of this language,
when you see a phrase like that,
you can surface read it.
You can read it and say, oh eating and drinking; they are eating and drinking.
But a lot of this language has spiritual implications
in which we must understand.
Christ Words were referring to something much greater
then physical eating and drinking.
I think this is a good illustration of that.
". . . The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
They became involved in idol worship.
I think that is the nature of the days of Noah
before the flood.
When it talks about violence filling the land,
we know from studying that word violence
that it had to do with false worship.
It is not like our mind will switch on to violence like we think of violence.
It is violence against God's Word
and understand and having faith and persisting in God's Word,
not turning to something else, in other words.
People have done that historically.
This happened when they were waiting for Moses who seem to tarry on the mountain.
What happened to Moses?
Oh, let us eat and drink
and rise up and play and not serve God.
1 Corinthians 10:8: "Neither let us commit fornication,
as some of them committed,
and fell in one day three and twenty thousand."
That is 23,000 in one day.
That is how that number 23 is related to judgment,
and as seen in Daniel with the 2,300 evenings and mornings
and the 46,000 who went into captivity,
which is 2 X 2,300.
Verse 9: "Neither let us tempt Christ,
as some of them also tempted,
and were destroyed of serpents."
Verse 10: "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured,
and were destroyed of the destroyer."
Here you go, that murmuring again is brought up
and they were destroyed of the destroyer.
You can see the spirit of anti-Christ.
You see how this is a very interwoven idea
that those who are murmuring are working under the spirit of anti-Christ.
Verse 11: "Now all these things happened unto them for examples:
and they are written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the world are come."
Verse 12: "Wherefore let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall."
Verse 13: "There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man:
but God [is] faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way
to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]."
Verse 14: "Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry."
So we have learned here that the religious leaders murmured.
Some followers of Christ murmured
and fell away and could not accept His sayings.
Those who ate and drank and rose up to play
at the delay of Moses's coming down from the mountain,
they became involved in idol worship.
I really believe this relates to
when the Book of Revelation speaks of
the works of their hands and worshipping devils
and idols of gold and silver.
This is pointed out in Revelation 9:20:
"And the rest of the men which were not killed
by these plagues yet repented not
of the works of their hands,
that they should not worship devils,
and idols of gold, and silver, and brass,
and stone, and of wood:
which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:"
Verse 21: "Neither repented they of their murders,
nor of their sorceries,
nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."
We have studied this in other studies
how this is a representation of history repeating itself, basically.
It is pointing to the fallen houses of God today.
This is a very good aspect of this first and last.
There is an important message here.
He who desires to be first
must be last and servant of all.
This is very key.
Christ is our example of this,
even to the point that He laid down His life for His elect.
He became a servant for His people.
This verse in Mark 9:30
is after casting forth the deaf and dumb evil spirit
from the child.
In Mark 9:30 it reads:
"And they departed thence,
and passed through Galilee;
and he would not that any man should know [it].
Verse 31: "For he taught his disciples, and said unto them,
The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men,
and they shall kill him;
and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day."
Verse 32: "But they understood not that saying,
and were afraid to ask him."
Verse 33: "And he came to Capernaum:
and being in the house he asked them,
What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?"
Verse 34: "But they held their peace:
for by the way they had disputed among themselves,
who [should be] the greatest."
That is kind of funny
because they are talking amongst themselves
saying who is going to be greatest amongst us.
Then when Christ asked them, they held their peace.
But Christ knows everything,
like the women at the well.
He knew that she had previous husbands.
He knew all about her.
This is verse 35:
"And he sat down, and called the twelve,
and saith unto them,
If any man desire to be first,
[the same] shall be last of all, and servant of all."
Why were they asking that?
I really do not know.
It is one of those things where
you saw that with the sons of thunder.
I think they were asking who shall sit on the right and who shall sit on the left.
It is curious that this kind of questioning went on.
Like I said earlier,
Christ did not shrink back from answering them.
He gave some really good details.
Christ does speak also of the mustard seed,
which is so small, yet it becomes a great tree to provide shade.
I really believe that is a very good example of faith
and how our faith grows.
It can provide help to others,
shade to others
as God's Word has declared.
Christ spoke of John the Baptist
as the greatest prophet born of a woman.
Yet He declared that
he that is least in the kingdom is greater than he.
That is somewhat of a mystery
because John was called a messenger
sent to prepare the way of the Lord.
He is the greatest prophet.
When you look at his life,
he just did it straight; he proclaimed everything
up until his death.
That type of a spirit
resting upon somebody . . .
Even the Bible says that if you can accept it, this is Elijah come.
That is a supernatural type of event, anyway,
because Elijah had died hundreds of years earlier.
He actually did not die; he had been taken up
in the whirlwind, in the chariot.
You just have this mystery with John,
the greatest prophet.
God has used an illustration like that,
and yet He declares that he who is least is greater than he.
This is Luke 7 and we are closing up here.
There is not going to be much left of this study.
It is just a fascinating study.
Christ does things so opposite
of what the world does.
He gives grace to the humble.
The world lifts themselves up.
We are great; we are self-righteous.
Yet, Christ does the opposite.
He chooses the small things.
He chooses the humble
and gives grace to those who humble themselves before Him.
This is Luke 7:23:
"And blessed is [he],
whosoever shall not be offended in me."
Verse 24: "And when the messengers of John were departed,
he began to speak unto the people concerning John,
What went ye out into the wilderness for to see?
A reed shaken with the wind?"
Verse 25: "But what went ye out for to see?
A man clothed in soft raiment?
Behold, they which are gorgeously appareled,
and live delicately, are in kings' courts."
Verse 26: "But what went ye out for to see? A Prophet?
Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet."
Verse 27: "This is [he], of whom it is written, Behold,
I send my messenger before thy face . . ."
That word "messenger" can be translated as "angel."
". . . Behold, I send my messenger before thy face . . ."
Actually too, believers who bring God's Word are called messengers also.
It is sort of an interchanging word
between heaven and earth,
so it is just a really curious thing here.
". . . Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee."
Verse 28: "For I say unto you,
Among those that are born of women
there is not a greater prophet . . ."
(one who declares God's Word)
". . . than John the Baptist:
but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
Verse 29: "And all the people that heard [him],
and the publicans, justified God,
being baptized with the baptism of John."
So that is the first and last.
Many that are first shall be last
and last shall be first.
That is a very curious phrase that Christ used.
In the parable of the vineyard
and the good man of the house, we see that the last
who were called in the 11th hour,
they became the first.
They received their reward first.
This whole idea
of grumbling and murmuring
against Christ and His Words, against God's Word,
I think it really relates to today.
I have seen it; I have seen it; I have seen it.
It is over and over again.
I think that is one of the reasons why
Christ said grudge not against one another
because that type of activity is from the spirit of anti-Christ.
It is dangerous,
and it can lead people down the wrong path when they begin to do it.
It sort of feeds on itself.
It is like the leaven in the bread.
It just rises and it keeps rising.
That is pretty much the study of
the first and last, the laborers in the vineyard.
I wanted to actually quote this
as an intro to the next study.
I am looking at this right now too,
and it is something that is very related to today.
Matthew 12 speaks about the unclean spirit.
This is Matthew 12:43:
"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man,
he walketh through dry places,
seeking rest, and findeth none."
Verse 44: "Then he saith, I will return into my house
from whence I came out; and when he is come,
he findeth [it] empty, swept, and garnished."
Verse 45: "Then goeth he, and taketh with himself
seven other spirits more wicked than himself,
and they enter in and dwell there:
and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first.
Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation."
Now, that is really fascinating
because in the regeneration,
the new genesis,
when Christ is sitting upon the throne of His glory and the twelve were judging,
that is a new beginning of God's kingdom.
It is being ushered in.
And this is saying:
"Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation."
It seems like there is an increase
of evil spirits and evil activity.
I have wanted to cover this
because we have read and studied God's Word
and have seen that the habitation of devils,
the resting place of the habitation of devils,
is in fact the houses of God.
As Satan wants to acquire worship,
it becomes a cage of hateful birds.
There is this activity that is going on in the houses of God
within the wicked generation who wants a sign.
They want to see a sign.
Opening that door up
is allowing Satan to walk right through and do what he does,
deception.
That kind of deception has been going on
for a good number of years now.
But I think as we get toward the end,
the last day, it will only increase.
Because it says here:
"Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation."
"The last [state] of that man is worse than the first."
This did sort of relate to the first and last, but it is different.
So we are going to look at some of this language
in the next study.
I might do a two-part study
because I can cover this and then another aspect of God's Word
as relating to today and what is going on in the fallen houses of God.
So that is Matthew 12:43
if you want to look at that before the next study.
We are going to eventually get back into 2018, 2014, and 2015.
We will slowly get into that.
I really, really want to do a good study on Job,
but that is going to take some time to present and put together.
Job became an illustration.
That is all I will say for now.
Anyway, my name is Marty Cattuzzo.
If you want to email me it is 2011studies@gmail.com.
Have a good day and continue to study God's Word.
God's Word gives us life.
God's Word is able to convict people
unto salvation,
and it is the most important thing.
I talk to people sometimes,
and I leave conversations wondering
is it possible God that you will open their eyes to your truth.
I think people understand
that they enjoy waking up looking at a good sunrise.
They enjoy going on a hike and enjoying God's creation.
If you enjoy that kind of stuff
because it represents life,
you will thoroughly be excited about the life that Christ gives
because it is more abundantly.
It is a greater aspect of this earthly life
because it goes on in the new creation.
God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth.
If you are one to enjoy life itself,
this is what it is all about.
People will sometimes rather choose death,
and that is just a mystery to me.
The greatness of life itself . . .
When I think about the future and what is coming,
we know the power of God's creativity.
Anybody who studies astronomy
or looks out into the expanse
can see what God has done.
You know that you get a glimpse
of the incredible power which God has
in order to recreate, the regeneration, the new genesis,
the new creation of His which is coming.
We are living in the final years of history.
It is not like something so far out that we cannot see it.
The more we study God's Word,
the more we understand.
We are getting to that last day.
That is exciting
because God is going to set things right.
He is going to set things true
for His people.
It is a time of judgment, yes.
That is why I am making a call
for people to open up God's Word
and start reading it.
Start slow.
You do not have to start so fast right away.
Just read some of the Psalms.
Read the proverbs.
Read the Gospels.
Just start slow,
and slowly on God will give you
more excitement to read it.
He will give you more faith.
At that point, you can pray for God to give you more understanding of His Word.
That is what He wants to do.
He wants to give us understanding,
so our faith can grow like the mustard seed.
You plant a mustard seed and it grows.
That is important
because once your faith gets to a certain level,
you do not have to question some of the hard sayings that Christ said.
You can know that at that time
it just takes a little bit of study
and asking God for wisdom.
So then you keep growing in faith
and you keep learning and learning more.
It is so exciting.
God's Word is the most fascinating thing
that we can concentrate on and look at
because there is power there.
It has the power to convict somebody.
It has the power to turn us to heaven
and we say praise you God
for giving us life.
This is something David did in his Psalms,
which I really admire.
He was a sinner, yes,
but he praised God in his songs.
There is something that I am recording,
currently, but I am also ready to upload
probably tonight.
I think I can get it done tonight.
It is an old 1859 hymn
called "Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us."
It is an incredible song.
It shows historically,
some 150 years ago,
where people's minds were.
This writer really focused in on Christ.
Like a shepherd lead us; we are to be led by Christ.
The lyrics are incredible in this song.
That is why I chose to record it.
It was a public domain hymn.
It is not something that too many people may be familiar with today.
I do not know.
I never really focused on hymns.
When I was growing up,
it was totally a different scene for me.
I am learning some of these hymns.
The lyrics themselves are so inspirational
that I can see them and start playing them.
I can sort of adapt them to my own style of music
and add to them.
You really cannot do that today
with today's music because there is copyright and all that on songs.
Back then, they were praising God.
I like taking a Psalm
or an old hymn from like the 1800s
and sort of resurrecting it
and refocusing on doing that.
It is really exciting to do.
It is really a lot of fun.
So that is coming.
I am going to try to upload that today
or tonight.
Then some music is going to be coming.
But we are focusing on these studies,
and that is the most important thing
because we are definitely living in the final years of history.
I believe that with all my heart.
We learned a lot as the great cry went out in 2011.
It is time to make straight
the way of God.
It is time to prepare the way of the Lord.
He is going to do some great reversals
coming up.
That is going to be another aspect of a study
that I am working on.
I am slowly assembling
the great reversals that God has performed in His Word.
When you see, not one, not two, not three,
not four, but over and over again how God reverses things,
He does allow testing.
He does allow affliction
and tribulation,
but then there is a reversal of all that.
That is the good news.
It is coming soon.
Anyway, God bless you and have a good day.
Have a good Labor Day weekend.