Question: Okay, next one. This is just in order and I didn’t throw this one out. This is from Brandon. “Hey, Pastor Tim. Love you guys. Thank God for I’ll Be Honest’s ministry. My question is should Christians be concerned with all the talk of the Illuminati? It seems wherever there are Christians these days, there is conversation about a New World Order that is coming soon that will persecute Christians. I know we are to think of noble things and godly things, but are we supposed to discern the things going on in our world to guard each other? How should we view these topics?” Do you guys hear about Illuminati in Mexico?
(from the room): Not yet.
Tim: Not yet. Yeah, these circles where he hears all this talk, he says, “Wherever there are Christians these days, there are conversations about new world order.”
Discussion:
Tim: I don’t know. I mean, I gather together with Christians quite often and I don’t hear about the Illuminati or the New World Order. Do you guys?
James: He’s talking about YouTube.
Tim: YouTube? There’s a lot of talk about it? Okay, well, let’s just talk about it for a second. Because you know what? We should be able to examine everything through the lens of Scripture. We have the mind of Christ. We have the Word of God. And we can size things up in a spiritual way.
What is the Illuminati? What does that word sound like? Illumination. Illumination. Basically, the Illuminati – well, there really was a group. You can go back into the 1700’s, and there really was a group. The Illuminati. What happened is it seemed like they merged together with the FreeMasons. Sometimes you hear Masons and Illuminati put together. Basically, today when people talk about it it’s not likely that most of them even care about the roots and tracing it back into the 1700’s. Today when people talk about the Illuminati, it’s basically some secret group that supposedly runs the world. They control everything. They’re behind why prices are the way they are and who becomes famous. It’s all this huge conspiracy. You’ve got these people plotting and like this guy says, they’re trying to make this New World Order and there’s this conspiracy. Should we be concerned about those kind of things? And you’ll hear all sorts of things. This person is part of the Illuminati. And these people (are) and it’s Satanic and supposedly on our dollar bill you can find the Illuminati there. It’s like you’ve got people that believe there’s conspiracies and there’s all these plots all over the place.
(from the room) Hey brother, I think I heard John saying someone made a YouTube video saying you were in the Illuminati. Because you made your hand like this, and they paused it and circled your hand and put a red background behind it.
Tim: Well, that’s funny. Brethren, let’s think about this with regards to our Christianity. Let me ask you something. What’s a conspiracy? Conspiracy can be a crime. Do you know what that crime is?
(from the room) Speaking something that’s not true about somebody?
Tim: Conspiracy is when two or more people plot. So if you’re involved in a crime and it’s found out that you were plotting that crime ahead of time, you can be charged with not only that crime – whether it’s murder or bank robbery or whatever – you can be charged with conspiracy as well. So it’s basically this idea that you’re plotting. It’s like this collusion in some sort of plan. And I would just ask you guys this: Is there a conspiracy against us? Is there anybody out there who more than two or three are plotting together against us? Brethren, the Scripture speaks about a kingdom of darkness. You know what this world around us? Are there secret groups out there? Are there people out there who are controlled by the lusts of the flesh? Controlled by Satan? Are there people out there who are controlled by sin? People out there who know not the Lord? People out there who are in conspiracy to get rich? To get power? To take advantage of people? Absolutely. And beyond that, the very demons – the devil himself – are in collusion to damn men. Is there a conspiracy? Yeah. Are there people plotting against God? Against His anointed? Scripture says so. Of course there is.
Brethren, you know how Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, he says we don’t view people according to the flesh anymore. You know what? When we’re lost, we can get all hung up on these secret groups. Oooh, there’s a conspiracy out there. The Illuminati. Brethren, we don’t view things through the flesh anymore. You know how we view them? We view them spiritually. People are lost or saved. They’re under the control of God, or they’re under the control of the devil. (incomplete thought) Brethren, the Scripture says that this world is in his control. He’s the god of this world. He’s in control. He’s the prince of the power of the air. People are his pawns. They’re deceived. He deceives the nations. He deceives the nations and he, in their deception, moves them against God and against God’s people. Is there a conspiracy? Yeah, there’s a big conspiracy.
Do I need to sit and wring my hands and get worried? Oh, He that is with us is greater than he that’s in the world. And you know what? Our Father knows about every conspiracy and every plan – demonic and human and otherwise – that is being planned against God’s people. We go on with what we’re called to do. Do we believe that there are going to be sinister plots against us? Yes. Are there going to be schemes against us? Yes, but like Scripture says, like Paul says, we know the schemes of the devil. Are there schemes against us? Certainly. Are there plots to our downfall? Yes. Is Satan strategizing right now on how to destroy us as individuals? And in our churches corporately? Of course. We’re not ignorant of his designs.
Isn’t that what Scripture says? We’re not ignorant. We know what his designs are. Is he in collusion? Are the demons planning? Are wicked people moving in this world in opposition against God and against those who fear God? Against those who keep His commandments? Those who have faith in Christ? Yes, brethren. Yes. We view things through the biblical lens. And we see a great kingdom of darkness and a greater kingdom of light – the kingdom of His dear Son. Are they at odds? Are they at war? Yes. In war time, do the different sides plot and scheme against the other? Yes. And I’ll tell you this, as Christians, we plot and scheme too – how to rescue men; how to pluck them from the fire; how to go take from Satan what he thinks belongs to him, to be the active members of Christ’s kingdom that Christ might work through us and bind that strongman so that they might be plucked out of that kingdom. We don’t view things according to the flesh anymore.
So do we have to worry? Is there an Illuminati out there? Illuminati means like this secret group that has the illumination. Brethren, we are the people with the illumination. Not them. Whatever they may think that they’re illuminated about is darkness. We’re the illuminated ones and it’s not secret. We’re no secret group. We want to make it public. We’re not like the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses that want to play footloose and fancy with the Word of God and come with all our cloaked meanings and expressions and not say to people right off what we really believe. We want to be open. You’re dead in sin, world. You’re in trouble and there’s hell coming, but we’ve got a remedy and it’s Jesus Christ. And there’s one way. There’s one remedy. There’s one way to God. And if you come to God, if you come, He’ll save you to the uttermost – if you come to God by way of Jesus Christ. We’re not playing around. We’ve got the illumination, but we don’t want it secret. We want it to be well known. We want it to be broadcast and our Lord Himself said you go. Go and take the message. You be witnesses to Me. Don’t hide it. You don’t hide it under a bushel, right? None of that. You don’t light a candle and put it under a bushel. We shine it. We’re the lights of the world. That’s what we’re supposed to be – salt and light. Anyway, one more here…
