Participants: Pr. David Asscherick
Series Code: DP
Program Code: DP000019
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00:16 Open your Bibles to Revelation 14, and I want to
00:21 bring something to your attention right at 00:24 the outset that is very logical. Now we've made this point 00:28 before, but I want to make it again, Revelation 14, and in 00:32 Revelation 14 we find the most serious warning in all 00:35 of the Bible. In Revelation 14 we find the 00:38 most serious warning in all of the Bible, and it has to do with 00:40 the issue mark of the beast, so let's look at that. 00:43 Revelation 14:9: 00:47 "Then a third angel follow them, saying with a loud voice, " 00:50 "If anyone worships the beast or his image, or receives his" 00:54 "mark on his forehead or in his hand, he himself shall also" 00:57 "drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out" 00:59 "full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be" 01:02 "tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of" 01:06 "the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. And" 01:09 "the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, " 01:12 "and they have no rest, day or night, who worship the beast" 01:14 "and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. " 01:17 You cannot find a more serious, more austere, more amazing... 01:19 I don't know how to say it: significant, serious, serious, 01:22 serious warning in all of the Bible than that one right there. 01:25 Now I want you to think about this for just a moment. 01:28 God's basically saying "Don't get the mark of the beast", 01:34 Is it reasonable of God for Him to tell us "Don't get the mark" 01:37 "of the beast" and then not make it clear as to what the mark 01:40 of the beast is, does that make sense? 01:43 It'd be a little bit like God saying "Don't touch" 01:45 "the snicker doodle! Don't touch the snicker doodle", 01:49 and we say "God, what is the snicker doodle? ", and He says 01:52 "Well that's for Me to know and you to find out. " 01:54 Does that make any sense? No sense whatsoever. 01:57 So tonight we're going to proceed in a very logical, very 01:59 linear fashion, and we're going to ask ourselves from the Bible: 02:03 "What is this question, this idea of the mark of the beast? " 02:06 We're going to start right in our study guide, we're 02:08 beginning in the first little paragraph there. 02:11 The mark of the beast is one of the most serious and 02:14 misunderstood subjects in the Bible. Since we have already 02:17 identified the beast of Revelation 13, we need only 02:19 to discover what his mark is, after all, the mark of the beast 02:22 is just that: the mark of the beast; that is, it's the beast's 02:27 mark. Once the beast has been Biblically identified, 02:29 the matter of uncovering his mark becomes almost elementary 02:32 as we shall see. Sometimes we say the word 02:34 "markofthebeast" as though it's one word, 02:37 "You don't want to get themarkofthebeast", 02:38 we say "themarkofthebeast", but let's slow down, if that's 02:41 possible for me, and let's really discuss what is 02:45 "the mark of the beast". So then that tells me that 02:52 the mark of the beast would be "the" "mark" "of" "the" "beast". 03:00 So, instead of trying to figure out whats "themarkofthebeast", 03:02 whatever that might be, we say it all like it's one word, 03:05 let's figure out who the beast is, and then it's elementary 03:08 for us to say what's his mark, because the mark of the beast 03:12 would be the mark of the beast. So far so good. 03:18 So, don't forget the issue, we're right there in your study 03:20 guide: As we study the topic of the mark of the beast, we must 03:23 bear in mind what we have learned from our past studies 03:26 in Revelation. First we have learned that there is a great 03:29 conflict that surrounds God, His character, His law, 03:35 and His government. Satan has claimed that God is 03:38 unfair, unjust and self-serving. Satan has claimed that he could 03:42 run the universe essentially better than God. 03:45 This backdrop of the larger issue at steak, namely 03:47 God's own character, helps us to understand with clarity 03:51 the big picture issues in Revelation. Second, the central 03:54 issue at the end of time, according to the book of 03:57 Revelation is the issue of worship. Keeping these 2 04:02 Revelation essentials in mind will be exceedingly helpful 04:06 in understanding the mark of the beast issue. 04:08 Let us go to the screen: the mark of the beast is the mark 04:14 of the beast. Let's try it again, the mark of the beast is 04:17 the mark of the beast. So the first beast of 04:22 Revelation 13 we've already identified as the Roman 04:25 church-state, we've already identified, we know who 04:27 the beast is, we know who the Antichrist is, so what we're 04:30 looking for tonight is the mark of the beast. 04:36 If we know who the beast is we just have to figure out what 04:39 his mark is. The second beast 04:42 of Revelation 13 is the spokesman for the first beast 04:44 sometimes referred to as "the false prophet". 04:46 How many of you have heard that term before "the false prophet"? 04:48 You find that in Revelation, we'll be talking about the false 04:51 prophet tomorrow night. Now, the Bible predicts there 04:55 will be an erosion of freedom when church and state unite. 04:59 The Bible predicts that there will be an erosion of civil 05:02 liberties when church and state unite. In fact, let me just 05:07 show you that very quickly, you're still in Revelation, 05:09 look at Revelation 13. I want to show you one of 05:13 the most important words in Revelation 13:12. 05:21 It says: "He exercised all the authority of the first beast in" 05:24 "his presence, and causes the earth, and those who dwell" 05:30 "in it, to worship. " So let me summarize: 05:33 he causes the earth to worship in a certain way. 05:38 "Cause" means "to force". Now jump down to verse 15: 05:45 "he was granted power to give breath to the image of" 05:47 "the beast, that the image of the beast should both, speak" 05:50 "and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast" 05:55 "should be killed. " And look at verse 16: "he causes". 05:59 So the idea is that people are being forced to worship in 06:04 a certain way, it comes up several times in Revelation 13: 06:08 "causes", and the word means "being forced. " 06:14 Now think of it this way: does God ever force us to worship 06:17 Him in a certain way? Absolutely not. God says: 06:21 "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will" 06:23 "give you rest. " The Bible also says in 06:26 Jeremiah 33: "The Lord has appeared of old unto me, " 06:28 "saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, ", 06:31 listen carefully, "therefore with loving kindness I have" 06:34 "drawn thee. " So God says "come to Me, I want" 06:38 "to draw you, I want to woo you", that's the God of 06:41 the Bible, but the beast says "worship or else... ". 06:47 So that's really the mark of the beast, it's this idea of 06:50 the enforcement of worship, the enforcement of certain 06:54 religious values, and that's why we say the Bible predicts 06:57 an erosion of freedom. What is the mark of the beast? 07:00 Well, as we've already discussed, it's the mark of 07:04 the beast; and what is this mysterious number: 666. 07:09 You're still there in Revelation 13, let's take 07:11 a look at that, Revelation 13. It says there, right towards 07:16 the end of it, verse 16: "He causes all, both small and" 07:18 "great, rich and poor, free and slave to receive a mark" 07:22 "on their right hand or in their forehead, so that no one" 07:27 "might buy or sell", so there's economic sanctions involved, 07:30 "except the one who has the mark, or the name of" 07:34 "the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom, let him" 07:40 "who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it" 07:43 "is the number is of a man, and his number is 666. " 07:48 Tomorrow night I'm going to tell you exactly what 666 is. 07:51 I'll show you exactly what 666 is, I wish we could do it 07:54 tonight, but we just have time to cover the mark of the beast, 07:56 but these 2 ideas are intertwined. 08:01 So tonight we're going to answer the question and ask 08:03 the question: "What is the mark of the beast? " 08:06 There are many different ideas out there, and some of them, 08:09 frankly, are rubbish, I mean, they're just ideas that someone 08:11 got, they've heard about a computer in Switzerland, 08:14 and it's called "The beast", and it prints out little tags, 08:17 and etc, etc. All of these things, people have different 08:20 ideas and different conjectures, which is not based on the Bible. 08:24 Some people say "Oh, I've heard the mark of the beast is" 08:26 "a government identification number that's going to be" 08:29 "tattooed on your right hand, or on your forehead. " 08:31 Some say the mark of the beast is a bar code of some kind, 08:35 it's those UPC symbols in the Kroger Store, so watch out. 08:40 Others say the mark of the beast is a number on a credit card, 08:43 you've got to be very careful that you don't have 666 there, 08:45 but we have seen that the central issue regarding the mark 08:48 of the beast is not about computer chips and tattoos, 08:51 it's the issue of worship. And not just worship, but forced 08:56 worship. "You will worship in this certain way, or else... ", 09:02 he "causes". See beloved, think of it this 09:08 way, God is not going to say in Revelation over and over again: 09:11 "The issue is worship, the issue is worship, the issue is" 09:13 "worship", and then we get down to the end of the time, and it's 09:16 about a computer in Switzerland, does that make any sense 09:20 to anyone? Beloved, it doesn't make one 09:23 wink of sense, what we need to do instead of reading 09:26 the fantastic, sensational websites, and outlets, 09:29 and Christian magazines, far better to go to what the Bible 09:32 says, and see what the Bible says about the mark of 09:35 the beast issue. Powerful. Okay, so now we're back 09:37 to our study guide: God's seal versus the mark of the beast. 09:44 Our message tonight is entitled "How not to get the mark" 09:46 "of the beast". I mean, who cares if you know what it is, 09:49 this is how not to get it. That's like saying "would you" 09:53 "rather know what the flu is in a scientific way, or would you" 09:56 "rather know how not to get it? ", I'd rather know how not 10:00 to get it. So let's talk about how not 10:03 to get it: God's seal versus the mark of the beast. 10:05 In order to understand the mark of the beast, we must first 10:09 understand God's seal. These 2 are the opposite of one 10:15 another, if you have 1 you can't have the other, they're like 10:18 oil and water. The issue, then, for the believer, should 10:24 be about insuring that he or she does have the seal 10:28 of God. In short, the seal of God should be the primary focus, 10:33 not the mark of the beast. In obtaining the seal, one is 10:38 guaranteed that he/she cannot also receive the mark of 10:41 the beast, so let us first seek to understand the seal 10:43 of God. Think of it this way: 10:46 if you have seal of God, by definition you don't have 10:49 the mark of the beast. So, since these 2 things 10:53 are polar opposites and mutually exclusive. 10:56 Instead of wondering "Oh, I wonder what the mark of" 10:58 "the beast is, I hope I don't get it", and then there's 11:00 a whole nother group of people who say "Don't worry about it" 11:02 "at all, you're going to be raptured anyway. " 11:05 Beloved, think of it this way, instead of worrying what 11:08 the mark of the beast is, let's say "What do we have to do" 11:11 "in order to insure that we could never get it? " 11:15 So now it's not just an intellectual exercise, 11:18 curiosity: "Hmmm, I wonder what it is, I wonder what it could" 11:20 "be? ", no, now we're saying: "how do we ensure that we" 11:24 "don't end up with it, whatever it is. " 11:28 So the answer is you get the seal of God because if you 11:31 have the seal of God, you can't have the mark of the beast. 11:36 So it's more important for us to understand that than the mark 11:38 of the beast. And actually, what we're going 11:41 to discover is once we've got the seal of God's sign 11:43 sealed and delivered, then the mark of the beast becomes almost 11:45 elementary. So let's continue on, bottom 11:47 of the page: The seal and the 144,000. 11:51 Open your Bibles to Revelation 7. 12:02 I'm reading in my study guide: The 144,000, spoken of in 12:06 Revelation 7:1-4, and Revelation 14:1-5, all have 12:11 the seal of God in their forehead, let's take a look 12:14 at that. Revelation 7:1: "After these things I saw the 4 angels" 12:19 "standing on the 4 corners of the earth, holding the 4 winds" 12:22 "of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, " 12:25 "on the sea, nor on any tree. Then I saw another angel" 12:27 "ascending from the east, having the seal of the living" 12:30 "God, and he cried with a loud voice to the 4 angels to whom" 12:32 "it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, Do not" 12:35 "harm the earth, or the sea, or the trees until we have" 12:38 "sealed the servants of God on the forehead. And I heard" 12:41 "the number of those that were sealed, and the number was" 12:44 "144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. " 12:47 So those that are sealed are sealed where? 12:52 In their foreheads. Now let's remember something 12:54 that's absolutely critical: you can get the mark of the beast 12:57 in one of 2 places: you can get the mark on your right hand, 13:02 or in your forehead, but you can only get the seal in 13:07 the forehead. That'll become critical in just a moment. 13:10 Now, let's continue in our study guide, we're on the 2nd page. 13:13 Note that the mark of the beast can be received either in 13:17 the hand or in the forehead, but the seal of God can be received 13:22 only in the forehead. Now, according to Revelation 6:12-17, 13:28 let's look at those verses. Some people say "who are" 13:32 "the 144,000? I've heard that the 144,000" 13:36 "are a group of super-Jews at the end of time who go out" 13:40 "to convert all of the people who were left behind at" 13:42 "the rapture. " Well, that's very imaginative, and that's 13:45 very creative, but I want to know what the Bible says, 13:47 not just what the people think is creative. 13:50 So let's see what the Bible says about the 144,000. 13:52 I'm in Revelation 6:12, this is the opening of the 6th seal 13:59 off of that scroll. John says "I looked and he" 14:02 "opened the 6th seal, and behold, there was a great" 14:05 "earthquake, the sun become sack as sackcloth of hair, " 14:08 "and the moon came become like blood, and the stars of heaven" 14:10 "fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is" 14:13 "shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded" 14:17 "as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain" 14:20 "and island was moved out of its place. " 14:23 Wow, this must be an amazing event, the mountains are 14:26 disappearing, the islands are disappearing, verse 15: 14:29 "And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, " 14:31 "the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man" 14:34 "hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of" 14:37 "the mountains and said to the rocks and mountains, " 14:40 "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on" 14:44 "the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. " 14:49 Remember we talked about that last night? It doesn't say 14:51 "the wrath of the lion", it doesn't say "the wrath" 14:54 "of the grizzly bear", it says "the wrath of the Lamb". 14:56 Now look at verse 17: "For the great day of His wrath is come" 14:59 "and who is able to stand? " So this is clearly depicting 15:04 the second coming of Jesus. The mountains are disappearing, 15:07 the islands are disappearing, and here comes Jesus, 15:11 the wrath of the Lamb, and as He's returning to come and take 15:14 His promised, precious people home, people are looking up, 15:18 and those that are not saved, those who have not put their 15:20 faith in Jesus are running to the rocks and saying 15:23 "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who sits" 15:26 "on the throne. " Notice how it ends there, verse 17, 15:29 it ends with a question. The question is this: 15:34 "The great day of His wrath has come, and who is able" 15:38 "to stand? " So look, Revelation 6 ends 15:41 with a question: "who will be able to endure this" 15:44 "catastrophic, cataclysmic, amazing event of the second" 15:47 "coming of Jesus? " And then the answer is 15:50 Revelation 7: the 144,000. See, remember that the chapters 15:58 and verses in your Bibles were added, that would have been 16:01 read, before the chapters, diversification and the various 16:05 chapters added, that would have just read "Who is able" 16:07 "to stand? After this I saw 4 angels standing" 16:10 "on the 4 corners of the earth, holding the 4 winds of" 16:12 "the earth, that the wind and sea, should not blow on" 16:15 "the earth, or any sea, and I saw another angel ascending" 16:17 "from the beast, having the seal of the living God, he cried" 16:20 "with a loud voice to the 4 angels to whom it was granted" 16:23 "to harm the earth and the sea, Do not harm the earth, or" 16:25 "the trees until we have sealed the servants of God" 16:27 "in their foreheads. " So the 144,000 are those 16:30 who are alive when Jesus returns. 16:34 The 144,000 is not a group of super-Jews at the end of time 16:38 that go out to evangelize, I don't know where people got 16:41 that idea, but you didn't get it from the Bible. 16:44 There are those people who are alive when Jesus returns, 16:48 John asked the question: "The great day of His wrath" 16:50 "has come, who can stand? ", and then he says "the 144,000". 16:55 Now look back at your study guide, this is absolutely 16:56 powerful, it says: The 144,000 are those who are alive when 17:02 Jesus Christ returns to the earth. They sing a song that 17:05 no one else can sing because they pass through an experience 17:08 that no other generation has known. The number does 17:11 not have to be a literal number, as everything in Revelation 17:14 is highly symbolic, and the number itself is quite obviously 17:18 steeped in theological significance, and by the way, 17:20 I don't make a big deal out of that either way, it may be 17:24 a literal number, and it may not be a literal number, it's 17:27 just one of those things that we'll find out when we get 17:29 to heaven, there's just certain things that you're not going 17:32 to know, that is not a hill worth dying on. 17:35 If you think it's a literal number, hey, knock yourselves 17:38 out, good for you, if I think it's a symbolic number, 17:40 hey, that's fine, not one of us in this room knows for certain 17:42 if it's literal or symbolic, but whether it's literal 17:45 or symbolic, "I want to be in that number, when the saints" 17:47 "go marching in". So don't get in fights over 17:49 these little non-issues. The 144,000 are undefiled by women, 17:54 that is, false churches. They have God's seal in their 17:59 foreheads, that is, in their hearts in and in their beliefs. 18:03 Now let's think about that for just a moment, they are sealed 18:11 in their foreheads. Now go to Revelation 14, this is 18:15 the other place that we see the 144,000. 18:18 Revelation 14:1, John says: "Then I looked, and behold, " 18:27 "a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000", 18:32 now watch this, "having His Father's name written in " 18:37 "their foreheads". Oh wow, what a discovery! We just learned 18:44 in Revelation 7 that they have the seal of God in their 18:46 foreheads, and here we learned that they have the name 18:49 of God in their foreheads, which must mean that the seal 18:53 is the name of God, pretty plain. Look at the rest 18:58 of the verse, verse 2: "And I heard a voice from heaven" 19:00 "like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of a loud" 19:03 "thunder, and I heard sound of harpists harping on their" 19:05 "harps", I like that so much, verse 3: "They sang, as it" 19:08 "were, a new song before the throne, before the 4 living" 19:11 "creatures, and the elders, and no one could learn that" 19:14 "song, except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. " 19:17 Hey, that agrees perfectly with what we just saw 19:20 in Revelation 6 and 7, these are those who are alive when Jesus 19:23 returns. Why can they sing a new song 19:26 that no one else can sing? Because they've passed through 19:29 an experience that no one else has passed through. 19:32 Maybe you've heard of the people that would sing the blues, 19:34 and a white guy would come along and try to sing the blues, 19:37 and they'd say "He can't sing the blues. " 19:39 Well why can't he sing the blues? Because he's not been 19:42 through the experience of those who first wrote the blues. 19:45 In other words, these people can sing a song that no one 19:49 else can sing because they have passed through an experience 19:53 that no one else has passed through. 19:56 But it gets even better, verse 4 "These are the ones" 19:59 "who are not defiled with women", a woman in Bible 20:01 prophecy is a church, "for they are virgins, these are the ones" 20:05 "who follow the Lamb wherever He goes, these were redeemed" 20:08 "from among men, being the firstfruits to God, and to" 20:11 "the Lamb, and in their mouth was found no deceit, for they" 20:14 "are without fault before the throne of God. " 20:17 So here are these 144,000, at the end of time those who 20:19 are alive when Jesus returns. Notice that it says they have 20:23 the seal of God in their forehead, that's Revelation 7, 20:26 then in Revelation 14 it says they have the name of God 20:28 in their forehead. So the seal must have to do with the name 20:34 of God. Now let's go to our study guide: 20:38 God's name, God's character, and God's law. 20:44 In the Bible name represents character - that's what 20:50 you'd write down, in the Bible name represents character. 20:53 This is demonstrated by the number of people, who, 20:56 following a transformative encounter with God, had their 20:58 names changed as a symbol of the larger character change. 21:02 For example: Saul became Paul, Jacob became Israel, 21:11 Abram became Abraham, Sarai became Sara, and Simon became 21:18 Peter. God's holy character and holy name are synonymous 21:22 with His law. I want to show you this, 21:25 go to Exodus 33, this is absolutely, profoundly amazing. 21:31 We're going to Exodus 33, second book of the Bible. 21:34 Exodus 33. Here we find Moses in a dialogue 21:41 with God atop of Mount Sinai's summit. 21:45 So here's God, here's Moses, and they're in a conversation. 21:50 I'm picking it up in verse 18, Moses speaking to God, 21:55 Exodus 33:18, and he said: "Please show me Your glory". 22:02 There's Moses standing on top of Mount Sinai, and there 22:04 were thick clouds, and there were lightnings, and there 22:07 were thunderings, and Moses began to realize "Hey, God can" 22:10 "see me, but I can't see God", so he says: "Hey, I beg of" 22:16 "You, show me Your glory. " In other words, "show me what" 22:20 "You're like. I want to see You. " Look at this, verse 19: 22:25 "Then He said, I will make all My goodness pass before" 22:28 "you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord. " 22:32 Make a note of that. Moses says "I want to see" 22:35 "what You're like", and God says "I'll show you My name". 22:41 "..the name of the Lord before you, I will be gracious to whom" 22:44 "I will be gracious, I will have compassion on whom I will" 22:46 "have compassion, but" He said, "you cannot see My face, for no" 22:49 "man shall see My face and live. And the Lord said, " 22:52 "here is a place by Me, you shall stand on the rock, " 22:54 "so it shall be when My glory passes by, that I will put you" 22:57 "in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand" 22:59 "while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you" 23:02 "shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen. " 23:05 Chapter 34:1: "And the Lord said to Moses, Cut 2 tablets" 23:07 "of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these" 23:10 "tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you" 23:12 "broke. So be ready in the morning and come up in" 23:15 "the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself to Me" 23:17 "there on the top of the mountain, and no man shall" 23:20 "come up with you, and let no man be seen throughout all" 23:22 "the mountain, neither let the flocks, nor the herds feed" 23:25 "before that mountain. So he cut two tables of stone, like" 23:27 "the first ones, then Moses rose up early in the morning" 23:30 "and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, " 23:32 "and he took in his hand 2 tablets of stone. " 23:35 "Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him" 23:38 "there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. " 23:40 So 2 times Moses says "Hey, I want to know what You look" 23:43 "like, I want to see what You're like God", and God says 23:45 "I'll show you My name", and then He says "Go get 2 tablets" 23:48 "of stone, I want to write My law on that, and I'm going" 23:50 "to show you My name. " And then watch what happens. 23:54 Verse 6: "And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, " 23:57 "Jehovah, Jehovah, the Lord, the Lord, God merciful" 24:00 "and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in the goodness" 24:02 "and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, " 24:04 "transgression and sin, and by no means clearing the guilty, " 24:07 "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children" 24:10 "and the children's children unto the 3rd and 4th" 24:12 "generation. So Moses made haste and bowed his head towards" 24:15 "the earth, and he worshiped. " Think about this for just 24:18 a moment, Moses says "I want to know what You're like, " 24:21 "I want to see Your glory, I want to see Your character", 24:23 and God says 2 things: "I'll show you My name, I'll show" 24:26 "you My Name. " So that must mean that God's name is 24:31 synonymous with His character. And it gets even better, 24:37 He says "Go get me 2 tablets of stone", so God wrote His 24:41 character, His holy character, on those tablets of stone with 24:45 His own finger, and then those tablets were taken 24:49 and placed in the ark. Now look at your study guide: 24:52 God's holy character and name are synonymous with His law. 24:57 God's seal, which is His name and character, are found to be 25:01 synonymous with His name. We're getting somewhere now, 25:04 aren't we? The 144,000 were sealed 25:07 in their foreheads, and then we found out that they had 25:10 the name of God in their foreheads. 25:15 Well, what's the name of God? It's His character, and where 25:18 do we find His character? In His law. 25:22 Now, you're still there in the Old Testament, go to 25:24 Deuteronomy 5, 5th book of the Bible. 25:34 By the way, are you noticing tonight that we're spending 25:37 a lot of time in the Bible? Are you noticing that? 25:41 Notice we didn't say: "What's the mark of the beast? " 25:44 and I didn't go "Look at all these pictures of computers" 25:46 "in Belgium". No, we're taking a look at what the Bible 25:49 has to say. Wouldn't you prefer that? 25:52 Look at Deuteronomy 5, we find the 10 Commandments. 25:57 Deuteronomy 5:5: "I stood between the Lord and you" 26:01 "at that time, to declare to you the Word of the Lord " 26:04 "for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up" 26:06 "to the mountain, and He said, I am the Lord your God, " 26:09 "who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house" 26:11 "of bondage", let's say it together: "you shall have no" 26:14 "other gods before Me. " First commandment, no other gods. 26:18 Don't render worship to any other Gods. 26:20 Second commandment, "you shall not make for yourself a carved" 26:23 "image". Don't bow down, nor worship any images. 26:28 Look at the third commandment, it's in verse 11: "You shall" 26:30 "not take the name of the Lord your God in vain", and look 26:35 at the 4th commandment, verse 12: "Observe the Sabbath" 26:39 "Day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. " 26:42 Absolutely amazing. First commandment: no other gods. 26:45 Second commandment: don't bow down to graven images or idols. 26:48 Third commandment: don't take the name of the Lord thy God 26:50 in vain. Fourth commandment: remember 26:52 God's Sabbath because it's a sign of His creation, and His 26:55 redemption. This is Deuteronomy 5. 26:58 Look at Deuteronomy 6, the very next chapter. 27:03 Where did they get this idea of a mark in the head, 27:06 or a mark in the hand? I'll show you right here 27:09 in Deuteronomy 6:6. "And these words which I" 27:16 "command you today, shall be in your heart. " What words, 27:21 in context, is He talking about? The 10 Commandments, 27:24 that's what He just said in Deuteronomy 5, so in 27:27 Deuteronomy 6 he says "These words need to be in your heart". 27:31 Look at verse 7: "You shall teach them diligently to your" 27:34 "children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your" 27:37 "house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, " 27:39 "and when you rise up. " Now watch verse 8, phenomenal: 27:42 "you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they" 27:49 "shall be as frontlets between your eyes. " 27:52 Isn't this interesting? He say: "Take My law and put" 27:57 "it on your hand, take My law and put it between your eyes. " 28:00 What's between you eyes? Your forehead is between 28:03 your eyes. So where's this whole idea 28:08 of the seal in the forehead coming from? 28:10 Straight out of the Old Testament. 28:13 We've all been worried about a tattoo, that someone's going 28:16 to hold us down and tattoo the number 666 across 28:18 our forehead. Do you think the Devil's that stupid? 28:21 This is not about a tattoo, or a computer chip, or some 28:25 supercomputer in Belgium, or any other country, the issue 28:29 is worship, not technology. And here God says "Hey listen, " 28:35 "I need you to take My law and bind it on your hands", 28:38 now what does that mean? It meant in your daily works. 28:43 "Let your works show that you are My children". 28:46 What does it say there, we already read it in 28:50 Ecclesiastes 9, I'll just quote it for you, Solomon says: 28:53 "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. " 29:00 "Put My law in your hands, may your works show that you" 29:03 "are My people, may your works show that I am your God. " 29:07 "Bind My law in your hands. " But don't just bind it in 29:11 your hands, put it as frontlets, those were the little horns, 29:14 like a lamb would have, put it as a frontlet between your eyes. 29:17 In other words, put it in your forehead, put it in your mind. 29:20 Don't just live the life with you hands, but think 29:24 the thoughts in your heart and in your mind. 29:27 That's what it means to be a Christian. To be a Christian 29:31 is to have the law of God, the Spirit of God, in our minds, 29:34 and in our hands, so that others can look and say: "There's" 29:37 "something different about him, there's something different" 29:40 "about her, what is it? " She or he is a servant of 29:42 the Lord Jesus Christ. So the name of God is the same 29:47 as the law of God, is the seal of God. 29:52 When we find this idea of the seal of God being in 29:54 the foreheads, where did they come up with that idea? 29:57 Right out of Deuteronomy 6: "Take these great things" 30:01 "and bind them on your hands, and put them into your minds. " 30:05 Now, if we're making good progress I want you to say amen. 30:08 [Audience] Amen. 30:10 We're right back in the study guide: So God's seal, which is 30:13 His name and character, are found to be synonymous with 30:15 His law. Those people who receive God's seal at the end 30:18 of time will be those people who honor and keep God's holy law. 30:24 This is exactly how Revelation describes them in Revelation 12. 30:29 Go with my to Revelation. Look at this, this is so easy 30:35 to understand, anyone in this room can understand this, 30:39 even if you don't understand all of the language, and you can't 30:41 keep up, and you don't know even how to find the book 30:43 of Revelation in your Bible, I guarantee you can understand 30:46 this next point I'm about ready to make, and if you understand 30:48 that point, you can be guaranteed to not get the mark 30:51 of the beast. I'm in Revelation 12, and I'm 30:58 looking at the last verse. Revelation 12:17, 31:03 it says: "And the dragon", who's the dragon? 31:05 [Audience] The Devil. The Devil, "was enraged with" 31:08 "the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of" 31:10 "her offspring who keep the commandments of God, and have" 31:13 "the testimony of Jesus. " This is the last day church, 31:16 these are the last of the last of the last, the Bible calls 31:19 them "the remnant". Notice it says that they keep God's 31:26 commandments. The Devil, apparently, doesn't like that 31:30 very much. Now look at Revelation 14. 31:33 We've already read in Revelation 14 that most serious, 31:36 austere warning found in all of the Bible, we began in verse 31:40 9 and we read "don't worship the beast; don't receive" 31:42 "his mark", then we read in verse 10: "he himself shall" 31:45 "drink of the wine of the wrath of God", 31:47 I'm in Revelation 14:10, "which is poured out full strength" 31:50 "into the cup of His indignation; he shall be" 31:52 "tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of" 31:55 "the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb. " 31:57 "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, " 32:00 "and they have no rest, day or night, who worship the beast" 32:02 "and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name. " 32:05 So John, in vision, sees this group of people that are 32:06 receiving the mark of the beast, and the very next verse, 32:11 verse 12, look at it, it's as if God's saying "Here's those" 32:15 "that receive the mark of the beast", but look at verse 12, 32:17 "here is the patience of the saints". The word, literally, is 32:23 "here is the endurance of the saints", and then He tells us 32:26 who the saints are, He gives us 2 characteristics: 32:29 "here are those who keep the commandments of God, " 32:33 "and have the faith of Jesus. " So just by looking at 32:37 the context, keeping the commandments of God is 32:39 the opposite of having the mark of the beast. 32:44 Because look, in verses 8-10 you have those that get the mark 32:47 of the beast, that's verse 11 as well, but then in verse 12 32:49 you have those that keep the commandments of God. 32:51 So that tells me: if I'm keeping God's commandments, and I have 32:54 the faith of Jesus, it's impossible for me to get 32:56 the mark of the beast. Does that make sense everyone? 33:00 And that agrees perfectly with what we just saw in Exodus 33:02 and Deuteronomy The seal of God is the name 33:06 of God, which is the character of God, which is found in 33:08 the law of God, in the mind. How many people in here tonight 33:15 are New Testament Christians? Any new covenant Christians? 33:20 Raise your hand if you're a new covenant Christian. 33:23 Come on, beloved, be more Biblically literate than that. 33:25 You're a new covenant Christian if you're exercising faith 33:28 in the Lord Jesus Christ. Raise your hand! 33:30 [Audience laughs] Whoa, I didn't know what 33:33 happened, I thought I was maybe in an insurance seminar 33:35 or something. [Audience laughs] 33:38 I thought "Whoa, okay, everybody looks a little familiar. " 33:40 Okay, all of you new covenant Christians, look at Hebrews 8. 33:48 I don't know what happened there, that was an unusual 33:50 experience, Hebrews 8, but the Lord delivered us out of it. 33:55 Hebrews 8, all of you new covenant Christians; there was 34:00 the old covenant, and then there's the new covenant. 34:04 You want to know what the new covenant is? 34:07 I'm going to show you in the Bible, that way we don't 34:09 have to say "Well, the new covenant is...fill in" 34:11 "the blank", I'll show you what the Bible says the new 34:14 covenant is. I'm reading in Hebrews 8:8: "behold, the days" 34:20 "are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant" 34:24 "with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, " 34:26 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers" 34:29 "on the day that I took them by the hand to lead them" 34:32 "out of the land of Egypt. Because they did not continue" 34:34 "in My covenant, I disregarded them, says the Lord. " 34:37 Verse 10: "For this is the covenant that I will make with" 34:39 "the house of Israel after those days, sayeth the Lord. " 34:42 Someone says "Oh, this is a covenant for Israel. " 34:44 "This isn't a covenant for the church, this is a covenant" 34:47 "for Israel", you've got to keep coming to the seminar, 34:49 and you've got to hear the message entitled "Who is real" 34:52 "Israel? " There is huge misunderstandings 34:54 about who Israel is. Beloved, look at this: 34:57 "This is the covenant that I will make with the house of" 35:00 "Israel", I'll give you the punchline right now, everybody 35:02 who has the faith of Abraham is a Jew. Everybody who has 35:04 the faith of Abraham is the son of Abraham. 35:07 Jesus, on one occasion said: "Hey listen, if you were" 35:09 "of your father, Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. " 35:13 If you do the works of Abraham, you've put your faith in 35:16 the Lord, Jesus Christ, you are now grafted in to that vine. 35:21 So this covenant is for you. Here we go, verse 10: 35:24 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house" 35:26 "of Israel after those days, says the Lord, I will put My" 35:31 "laws in their mind. " Where's the mind? 35:40 "I'll put My laws in their forehead. " 35:43 That's the new covenant promise, "I'll put My laws in their" 35:47 "forehead, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be" 35:52 "their God and they will be My people. " We're getting 35:57 somewhere now, let's get back to our study guide: 35:59 The Sabbath, and its uniqueness among the commandments. 36:06 Actually, let's look at the screen: to understand the mark 36:08 of the beast we must first understand God's seal. 36:13 Absolutely. God's law, God's name, and God's character 36:16 are one and the same, they are synonymous 36:21 Now look at Ezekiel 20:12: [text on screen] 36:29 A Sabbath is a sign. [continues to read text] 36:40 The word "sanctifies" means "to set aside for a holy purpose". 36:44 So far so good? "This is the sign that I'm" 36:46 "the one that sanctifies them. " So the Sabbath is a sign 36:49 that God alone can make us holy. Jesus rested on 36:53 the Sabbath in creation, Jesus rested on the Sabbath in 36:55 redemption, so the Sabbath is a sign that God alone can make 36:59 us holy, not one person in this room can do one thing 37:02 to make themselves one bit holier. We can only be holy 37:07 by putting our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and by submitting 37:10 ourselves to His righteousness, and accepting His death 37:13 and His life on our behalf. Okay, so the Sabbath as we've 37:17 already discussed, is a sign of creation and redemption. 37:21 [text on screen] 37:43 You should be able to fill a lot of this out in your study guide, 37:45 following right along. You're keeping up with me, 37:47 I know you're doing a great job. So, Jesus Christ, just 37:52 to quickly review the Sabbath so we can be clear on this. 37:55 Let's talk about the Sabbath because some people say 37:57 "Oh, the Sabbath is only for the Jews", beloved, 37:59 was Adam a Jew? No, Adam predated the Jews 38:02 by some 2000 years, and Adam had the Sabbath, Eve had 38:05 the Sabbath. Jesus Christ, in the beginning He created 38:09 it because Jesus is the Creator. At Mount Sinai, it was Jesus 38:14 Christ on Mount Sinai, remember He said "before Abraham was" 38:17 "I Am", "I'm the God of the Old Testament", Jesus was saying. 38:20 On Mount Sinai He commanded it. [text on screen] 38:26 He was crucified on Friday, he was in the tomb on the Sabbath 38:29 and He raised on Sunday. [text on screen] 38:33 Paul kept the Sabbath, Peter kept the Sabbath, every single 38:37 follower of Jesus from Adam to John in the Bible kept God's 38:40 7th day Sabbath, so if you choose to keep God's Sabbath, 38:43 you're lining up with Enoch, and Isaiah, and every single true 38:47 follower of the true God, I'd say that's pretty good company. 38:50 And most of all, you're lining up with the Lord Jesus Christ. 38:55 He says His last day people will keep it, and we've already 38:58 read that, it says His last day people will keep 39:00 the commandments. We've learned that the central 39:01 issue regarding the mark of the beast is the issue of worship. 39:06 So we're right on your study guide, under "The mark of" 39:09 "the beast". You're keeping up with me, you're doing a great 39:12 job. The mark of the beast is the opposite of the seal of God. 39:20 The beast's mark is his claim to ecclesiastical authority 39:24 and power. So, the mark of the beast is 39:29 the mark - let's say it together, of the beast. 39:36 The central issue is the issue of worship. [text on screen] 39:47 That is a simple childish, child-like, elementary 39:52 deduction. If the mark of the beast is the mark of the beast 39:57 then it must be the mark of the Roman church-state's authority. 40:01 Well, let's see what we discover when we go look at history. 40:04 Daniel tells us that the Antichrist power would arise 40:07 and would seek to change times and laws; the very laws of God. 40:13 Lucius Ferraris "Prompta Bibliotheca", we've looked at 40:16 this one before: [text on screen] 40:29 Now, I don't believe that. I believe God does have 40:32 a representative on earth, and that representative is the Holy 40:35 Spirit. [Audience] Amen. 40:37 Let's go on. This is from the reverend Peter Geierman's 40:40 "The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine": 40:43 [text on screen] 40:57 Who transfered the solemnity? The church transfered 41:00 the solemnity. [text on screen] 41:07 Because remember, the mark of the beast is the mark of 41:12 the beast, and we've already seen, the seal of God is His 41:20 commandments. Now look at Revelation 13, I want to show 41:23 you something absolutely, fantastically amazing. 41:25 Revelation 13. What are the first 4 commandments, let's 41:29 quickly review them. Number 1: Thou shalt have no other gods 41:32 before Me. Number 2: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 41:36 image. Number 3: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 41:40 God in vain. And the fourth commandment is: 41:43 Remember the Sabbath. So those are the first 41:45 4 commandments, those are the ones that have to do with God. 41:47 The rest of the commandments have to do with how you relate 41:50 to mankind: honor your father and your mother; don't steal; 41:52 don't kill; etc, etc. The first 4 is our vertical 41:54 relationship with God. All 4 of those commandments 41:57 come into play in Revelation 13. The first commandment says: 42:01 You shall have no other gods before Me. 42:04 Look at verse 8: "All who dwell on the earth will worship him", 42:09 that is, worshiping someone other than God, so that would 42:12 be a violation of the first commandment, is that true? 42:16 That would be a violation of the first commandment. 42:18 The second commandment is not to worship an image. 42:23 Look at verse 15: "he was granted power to give breath" 42:26 "to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should" 42:29 "both speak, and cause as many as would not worship the image" 42:31 "of the beast should be killed". So that would be a violation 42:34 of which commandment? The second commandment: 42:36 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any 42:40 likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, the earth 42:43 beneath or the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not bow 42:45 down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord thy God, 42:48 am a jealous God. The third commandment is you 42:50 don't take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 42:53 Now look at this, very interesting, even the name 42:55 thing comes up here, look at verse 17: "and that now one" 42:57 "might buy or sell, except he who has the mark of the beast, " 43:00 "or the number of his name. " So here they're actually 43:02 taking the name of another entity who claims to be God's 43:05 voice on earth. And then the 4th commandment is: Remember 43:10 the Sabbath day. You say: "Well where's the violation of" 43:14 "the Sabbath day here? " The violation of the Sabbath day 43:18 is in receiving Rome's mark of authority. 43:26 Because remember, let's review, the mark of the beast is 43:29 the mark of the beast. So we know who the beast is, 43:36 now let's ask them the question: "what's your mark? " 43:43 What do they claim is their mark? "Catholic Record", 43:46 September 1, 1923: [text on screen] 43:58 "We changed the day, and this proves that we are the true" 44:05 "church". Look at this one, from C.F. Thomas, a letter 44:08 dated October 20, 1895: [text on screen] 44:22 Oh, isn't that very interesting? So let's ask them: "Hey, what's" 44:25 "the mark of your authority? " "I'll tell you what the mark" 44:27 "of our authority is", they say, "we changed the Biblical day" 44:30 "of worship, that is our mark. " Wow, isn't that interesting? 44:35 We've looked at the first commandment, we've looked 44:37 at the second commandment, we've looked at the 3rd commandment, 44:40 the 4th commandment is: Remember the Sabbath day, which is sign 44:43 that God is creator and God is redeemer. 44:46 How many people in this room believe that Jesus Christ 44:48 is the Creator? How many people in this room 44:51 believe that Jesus Christ is the sole redeemer? 44:54 There is a symbol and a sign in the Bible that shows that 44:58 you're a worshiper or Jesus Christ as creator and redeemer, 45:01 do you know what the sign is? It's the Sabbath. 45:07 Think of it this way: a Buddhist could keep many of 45:11 the commandments, a Buddhist could abstain from killing. 45:14 Is that true? Does that make him a Christian? 45:17 A Muslim could abstain from stealing, does that make him 45:19 a Christian? Which is the commandment that 45:22 tells you: "This is the God that you're worshiping"? 45:25 It's the Sabbath commandment, because the Sabbath commandment 45:28 says that God created in 6 days, and rested on the 7th 45:33 day, so when you keep the Sabbath, you're worshiping 45:35 the Creator God, the Redeemer God, the God of Abraham 45:38 Isaac and Jacob. The Devil knows that that is the sign 45:42 between God as Creator, God as Redeemer, and His people, 45:46 so he wants to cut that sign off, and he supplants his own 45:50 sign, his own mark. What is that mark? 45:53 Of course, the church claims that the change was her act, 45:57 and the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical, that word means 46:02 "church power and authority in religious matters". 46:05 Now look at this one, Priest Thomas Enright, this is 46:08 "President of Redemptorist College": [text on screen] 46:30 Is that serious language? That's hugely serious! 46:33 [text on screen] 46:55 Beloved, are you beginning to see the significance of this? 46:58 Let's go to our study guide, absolutely incredible. 47:02 So we're down there on "more than just a day...". 47:05 Because someone's bound to say "Oh, it's just a day", 47:09 listen, if it was "just a day", God wouldn't have written 47:12 it with His own finger on tables of stone, and put it 47:15 in the ark. Look at this: This issue 47:18 is about more than just a day, imagine Adam saying: "It was" 47:21 "just an apple". God's word is important..."it was just" 47:29 "an apple". I guess it wasn't just an apple, was it? 47:33 It is about - notice this, underlined - Biblical fidelity 47:36 and faithfulness to Jesus Christ. In short, the issue 47:40 could be boiled down to the following sentence: who are 47:42 you taking orders from? The Roman church-state, 47:45 or Jesus Christ? This is an issue or loyalty 47:49 and authority, it is an issue of the commands of God 47:52 versus the traditions of man. The Sabbath is a sign of 47:56 Christ's creation and redemption. 48:04 Sunday is a sign of the church's authority and man's convenience. 48:11 What will you choose? Now, someone says: "Whoa! " 48:15 "Put the breaks on Pastor Asscherick, are you saying" 48:20 "that my aunt Bertha, who went all of her life to the humble" 48:23 "little Baptist church in Tuscaloosa, are you saying" 48:26 "she had the mark of the beast? " 48:28 Did I say that? I never said that, remember: 48:31 this has to be enforced because they "cause to worship". 48:38 Does anybody make you go to church on Sunday? 48:41 No, so we're not yet at the mark of the beast issue. 48:45 The mark of the beast is not being enforced today, 48:51 but what I'm telling you is that there is going to come a day 48:53 when worship will be enforced. And you think "No, impossible! " 49:02 Beloved, Daniel 3, there was Shadrach, Mishak and Abednego, 49:09 and there was a great big tall image, and Nebuchadnezzar said 49:13 "Everyone bow down and worship the image, or you'll be thrown" 49:18 "into the fiery furnace. " In other words: worship or else! 49:24 And everyone bows down, but here's Shadrach, and Mishak, 49:28 and Abednego, and they said: "We cannot worship this image" 49:32 "because we have to be faithful to the commandments of our" 49:35 "God, and not just to the commandments of our God, " 49:39 "but to God. " And everybody bows down, 49:42 all around, and there they stood, absolutely erect. 49:47 Powerful! So at the end of time we see 49:50 this same thing, there's going to be an image, and we're going 49:52 to be told: "worship", except this time it's not going to be 49:55 primarily a test of the first commandment or the second 49:58 commandment, it's going to be a test of the 4th commandment. 50:01 You're saying "Wait a minute, are you saying that we're" 50:04 "going to be forced to dishonor the Sabbath? " 50:06 "Are you saying that we're going to be forced to dishonor" 50:09 "the sign of Jesus Christ as Redeemer and Creator, " 50:11 "and worship on the papal day, as an act of forced, compulsive" 50:14 "worship, are you saying that? " That's exactly what I'm saying. 50:20 "St. Catherine Sentinel", May 21, 1995, 50:23 this is the newsletter from a Catholic church, not from 50:26 my church; this is not from my church. [text on screen] 50:53 How many people believe that the Scriptures should be 50:56 the sole authority? I believe that too, I want 50:58 you to see what the Catholic priest says, this is not 51:02 a member of my church, I want you to see what the Catholic 51:04 priest says, the Catholic priest says: [continues to read] 51:13 "Well, what is a Seventh Day Adventist? I've never heard" 51:15 "of that before. " [continues to read] 51:18 Isn't that interesting? Isn't that amazing? 51:21 If you want to stand on what the Bible says, and not on what 51:24 tradition says, not what the church says, not what man says, 51:27 the priest says, then you need to do something. 51:32 You think that's amazing, look at this, Dr. E.T Hiscox, 51:34 this guy wrote the Baptist Manual; this guy's a Baptist, 51:38 and he's not just a Baptist, he was THE Baptist, one of them, 51:40 look at this, this is amazing, he says: "To me it seems" 51:42 "amazing", that's what this word means "unaccountable", 51:45 [text on screen] 52:03 "intimated" - He never mentioned anything about it, 52:05 [continues to read] 52:14 He's saying "Hey, well where did this thing come from? ", 52:17 says Mr. Hiscox, the author of "The Baptist Manual". 52:20 [text on screen] 52:39 Because it's "sun-day", the day that the Romans worshiped 52:45 the sun, we'll talk more about that in a future night. 52:48 [continues to read] 52:54 In other words, the church just took it from the Romans. 53:00 [continues to read] 53:04 Again, not a member of my church. Look at this, 53:07 "The Catholic Mirror", December 1893: [text on screen] 53:24 He says: "Hey listen, if you really are serious about" 53:27 "standing on what the Bible says, then you've got to stand" 53:31 "on what all of the Bible says, because the Bible's not" 53:33 "a salad bar. " You don't go and say: 53:36 "Well, I like the tomatoes, but I'm not a mushroom guy, " 53:38 "and I like the green peppers, but oh, I can't stand those" 53:41 "beets". No, you get it all, not just the parts that you 53:46 like, you get the whole Word. If you want to pick and choose, 53:51 you can pick and choose, but don't say that everything 53:54 you believe comes from the Bible. 53:58 So let's wrap this up, I'll come back to that tomorrow night. 54:04 Our presentation tomorrow night, I know, you saw that... 54:07 didn't you? [Audience] Yeah. 54:09 You're like "Ahh!..." [Audience laughs] 54:13 Our presentation tomorrow night is entitled 54:15 "The United States' Amazing role in Bible Prophecy". 54:18 I want to be crystal clear about what I'm saying and what I'm 54:20 not saying, number 1: if you keep God's commands, you can't 54:24 get the mark of the beast. Question: do we keep God's 54:30 commandments in order to be saved, or because we are saved? 54:33 Because we are saved. By the way, bring this back 54:35 tomorrow night, you've got to come back tomorrow night, 54:37 you've only got the first half, and plus, you have to learn 54:40 what 666 is. Second thing I'm saying, 54:42 follow this, the second thing is this: there's going to be 54:47 forced worship. You say "Impossible". 54:51 I say "Come back tomorrow night and I'll show you just" 54:54 "how possible it is". Are we all clear on that? 54:57 But let met tell you what I'm not saying: I'm not saying that 55:00 the good person who loves the Lord Jesus Christ with all 55:03 of her heart, all of his heart, all of their soul who happens 55:07 to go to church on Sunday, I'm not saying that that person 55:09 has the mark of the beast, am I crystal clear? 55:15 I don't want anyone going out of here saying "Oh, that guy" 55:17 "over there at the Macedonian Cultural Center, he said" 55:19 "all Sunday worshipers had the mark of the beast. " 55:22 Did I say that tonight? [Audience] No. 55:24 Didn't say it, wouldn't say it, but let me tell you what 55:27 I am saying that there is going to come a time when this issue 55:30 is going to be enforced, and God has His sign of creation, 55:38 God has His sign of redemption, it's the Sabbath, it's based 55:42 on the Scriptures, it's not more important than the other 55:44 commandments, but it's the commandment that's been 55:47 forgotten, that's why it begins with the word "remember". 55:53 It is going to happen, and we will have to make a stand for 55:56 the Lord, or against the Lord. As for me and my house, 56:03 I want to stand for the Lord. See beloved, the mark of 56:08 the beast is the mark of the beast. 56:14 And the seal of God is God's holy name, God's holy law, 56:19 God's Holy Spirit put into the lives of humble, faithful, 56:24 believers who say "Jesus, whatever You say, " 56:27 "I'll do it, I don't care if it's convenient, I don't" 56:29 "care if it goes against my tradition, I don't care if it's" 56:31 "not what I believed before, but if it's in the Bible, " 56:34 "I'm going to obey it. " Beloved, here's what we're going 56:40 to do, I've got ushers that are going to stand up and give 56:43 you a decision card, because I don't want to preach a message 56:45 like this, and not give you an opportunity to make 56:48 a decision. 56:51 You might be thinking to yourself: "wait a minute, " 56:54 "how is this possible? How could this possibly happen? " 56:56 I need those ushers to be moving like this, we need to be 56:59 pretending like we're in a race, boom, those ushers are 57:02 moving just like this: [makes action for them to hurry]. 57:05 Now, you're saying: "how could this possibly happen? " 57:09 Tomorrow night we're going to be looking at 57:12 "The United States' amazing role in Bible prophecy". 57:15 While they're passing this out open your Bibles with me 57:18 to Matthew 15. Look at this, look at verse 7, 57:30 Matthew 15:7, these aren't the words of David, so don't 57:33 say David doesn't understand grace, these are the words 57:35 of Jesus, did Jesus understand grace? 57:41 Jesus said: "Hypocrites, ", actors, "well did Isaiah" 57:45 "prophecy about you, saying, These people draw near to Me" 57:49 "with their mouth", do you know what that means? 57:51 It means they talk the talk. "They draw near to Me with" 57:56 "their mouths and they honor Me with their lips, " 57:59 "but their heart is far from them. " Look at verse 9: 58:04 "And in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines" 58:13 "the commandments of men. " You see, in the days of Jesus 58:16 they had set aside the commands of God for the traditions 58:19 and the commands of men. Now I'm telling you, the Devil, 58:23 he's not inventive, he's not creative, that's what he did 58:26 in the days of Jesus, that's what he's going to do at 58:28 the end of time, he's going to supplant the teachings 58:31 and the doctrines of God with the traditions and 58:33 the commandments of men. |
Revised 2014-12-17