Bob Yandian Ministries - Precepts
Bob Yandian Ministries - Precepts
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Precepts Radio Letter (September 2008) (pdf version)
The Challenge of Our Day


Exodus 12:12:

For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. (NKJV)

There is much fear today among Christians in our nation over the influx of religions from the East and Middle East. We seem to look at those different religions as competition for the hearts of unbelievers we are in contact with each day. Although I do not like to see the direction our country is taking, I know who holds the future not only for the United States of America, but for the whole world. My ultimate trust is not in our Congress, Senate, or even the President. My trust is in the Lord who has saved me and keeps me each day.

Christians surrounded by other religions is not new to history or to God and His people. The Israelites have been surrounded and even infiltrated by religions of surrounding nations throughout their history. We read constant warnings God has given to His people not to follow the idols and ways of the bordering nations. When the Jewish people followed God and His Word, they prospered in the face of heathenism and false religion. When the Jewish people did not follow God and instead ran after false religion, they lost their blessings, their freedom, and in some cases, ended up in captivity and slavery in foreign countries.

During the time of Elijah, the children of Israel were following after Baal. Even the leaders of Israel were promoting the false religion and encouraging worship of foreign idols. Elijah called for a contest between the priests of Baal and himself. The winner would see fire come down from heaven and burn up a sacrifice tied to an altar. The priests of Baal prayed all day long, cut themselves with knives, and screamed trying to get their God to answer by fire. This was fruitless. They stood at the end of the day humiliated before the multitude of people. Elijah had the priests pour water on the sacrifice before he began to make it more difficult for the sacrifice to burn. His prayer was short, yet filled with faith. The God of Israel answered by fire. The fire came down from heaven, burned up the water, and completely consumed the animal sacrifice. The people fell to their knees and declared the Lord was the true God.

GOD DOES NOT MIND A CHALLENGE

Our text from Exodus describes God’s view of His miracles over the nation of Egypt. To free the children of Israel from their slavery in this heathen nation, He will end the plagues with the death of every firstborn man and animal. He also explained to Moses that through this, the gods of Egypt would be exposed as false gods.

The Egyptians worshiped the Nile River, the sun, all forms of insects and animals. Even the symbol for their nation was a serpent. Before the plagues began, God demonstrated His faithfulness to Moses by turning his shepherd’s staff into a serpent and then back into a staff again. Later, God repeated this miracle and Moses’ serpent swallowed the serpents of the sorcerers. God was confirming to Moses he would be well able to handle this heathen nation. One by one, God’s plagues defeated the gods of Egypt. Before the eyes of the entire nation, God turned their god, the Nile River, to blood. He blocked the sun from shining and the nation was filled with darkness. The land was overrun with frogs and flies. Suddenly, their gods became their curse. What they once worshiped, now became despised. God challenged each of their gods and publicly defeated each one.

So strong was the power of God demonstrated in Egypt, many of the citizens turned from their false gods and trusted in the true God. A giant mixed multitude of all nationalities left Egypt with the Jews and integrated into the population of Israel. The good news is God has never changed!

THE KEY

The key to the challenge of false religion has always been the supernatural. The prophets of Baal could not cause fire to come down from heaven. The sorcerers of Egypt could only cause a few pseudo miracles to take place and gave up after awhile. They acknowledged to Pharaoh, plagues performed through Moses were truly from God and they could not compete against the true God!

The Great Commission given to the Church is not just the preaching of the Gospel, but includes laying on of hands to heal the sick and casting out demons. We have been given this authority through the name of Jesus. Many times in Jesus’ earthly ministry, people would believe on Him because of the miracles He performed. We need both the sharing of the gospel and the performing of supernatural signs and wonders.

If God is not afraid of a challenge, neither should we. We can confidently lay hands on the sick, no matter what religion they belong to. We can minister to demonically controlled people and know our God is greater! We have the authority, like Moses, to stomp on serpents and scorpions and have authority over all the power of the enemy.

God has a great future for our nation and the number of people praying for our nation is truly great. We have a challenging election ahead of us and the forces of terrorism are ever present. Yet, there is a revival among the people of God. We can still say with Elisha, those who are with us are greater than those who are with our enemies. If God be for us, who can be against us?

Precepts

With God on our side, we have nothing to fear. He has written the end of the Book and we win! Thank you for your generosity in giving into God’s kingdom and His people through Bob Yandian Ministries. Lives are being changed and hearts encouraged because of your faithfulness to give. Learn how a nation can avoid destruction and be a powerful influence in the earth by ordering this month’s single CD message by Bob Yandian, Symptoms of Disaster. (CDSG0301) To order, call 1-800-284-0595

Thank you for your faithful support,Bob YandianP.S. Learn about the signs of the times in which we are living and the great hope we have for our future by ordering this month’s exciting teaching, Signs of the Times. (CDCL18)