Participants: Ivor Myers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Yvonne Lewis, Jason Bradley
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000059A
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00:30 Revelation chapter 13, The Mark of the Beast, 666...
00:34 we have covered most of this 00:37 but there are still a couple of points 00:39 that we need to sew up here, one of them is in verse 16 00:43 the forehead or the hand... 00:44 and the other one is... the timing. 00:46 In other words, 00:48 do people have the Mark of the Beast right now, 00:51 if not, when do they have the Mark of the Beast? 00:54 So I think it's really important 00:55 that we answer these two questions 00:57 before we finish this chapter and move into 14... 01:00 by-the-way, 14 is going to be really helpful 01:02 in relation to chapter 13 01:04 because it's going to help us to understand 01:06 what we need to do to get ready 01:07 to not be deceived and receive the Mark of the Beast, 01:10 so, 14 is kind of the answer to that. 01:12 Ivor: 14:1 through 5. 01:14 James: 1 through 5, yes. 01:16 Ivor: There's a strong connection between 01:17 last verses in chapter 13 and the first verses in chapter 14, 01:22 it forms a bridge, so, we'll see that... 01:25 James: And it leads us also to the everlasting gospel 01:28 in the Three Angels' messages... 01:29 it's going to be a whole 'nother session 01:31 so, exciting... let's just pray... 01:33 let's start with a word of prayer, 01:34 Yvonne, would you like to pray for us? 01:35 Yvonne: Sure, "Father thank you so much 01:37 for bringing us together to study your Word, 01:40 we pray for your Holy Spirit to guide us 01:43 and just leading us into all truth, Lord, 01:46 we just thank you so much for the promise of the Holy Spirit, 01:49 so be with us, guide us and direct us, 01:51 we pray in Jesus' name, amen. " 01:52 All: "Amen. " 01:54 So again, we're moving out, 01:56 I just want to give another shout-out 01:57 for the Historicals. com 01:58 these are models that you can use to help illustrate... 02:02 study, Bible Study, Evangelism, whatever you're doing, 02:05 you can get ahold of Brendan at Historicals. com 02:08 and use these... he's got... not just these... 02:10 we're using these for Revelation 12:13... 02:12 but he's also got them for Daniel... 02:14 and we're going to get into Daniel, right, 02:16 Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 8, 02:17 and you have the prophecies of Daniel, 02:19 the image and the different beasts, 02:21 in Daniel 7 et cetera, 02:23 all of those are available at Historicals. com 02:25 so, if people are interested in doing that... 02:27 that's how they get ahold of them. 02:28 I'm so thankful that we got to use them... 02:30 even this guy with a head that comes off, 02:33 removing... the head being wounded unto death 02:36 and then the wound being healed, 02:38 we've got to pass that on to Brendan 02:40 and make sure he... he works on that... 02:42 and figures out how to do that 02:44 so we can just take the head off, 02:46 okay, so, Revelation 14, 13... 02:48 there's a verse we want to look at here, 02:50 Jason, can you read it for us? It's Revelation 13 and verse 16. 02:53 Jason: Verse 16, okay, 02:55 "And he causeth all, both small and great, 02:57 rich and poor, free and bond, 02:59 to receive a mark in their right hand, 03:01 or in their foreheads... " 03:03 James: Now, this is in contrast in a sense... 03:07 this is in contrast to the "Seal of God" 03:10 we haven't talked about the Seal of God yet, 03:12 we're going to get into that when we get into 03:14 the Three Angels' Messages, 03:16 but the Mark of the Beast, in contrast with the Seal of God 03:19 can be received in the forehead or in the hand. 03:23 In Revelation 7, where the Seal of God is described 03:26 it talks about sealing God's people in their foreheads 03:30 but not in the hand. 03:31 So, what's the deal with the Seal of God 03:34 in the forehead or in the hand? 03:36 Ivor: I think, as we look at the... 03:40 the understanding of what the forehead represents, 03:45 and what the hand represents, 03:47 it will give us a better idea of what's going on here, 03:53 so, we... in the Bible the forehead is actually a symbol 03:58 for the mind, 04:00 that's what we're talking about here, 04:02 the Seal of God is received in the mind, 04:04 in fact, in the book of Hebrews, 04:07 when the Bible speaks about the New Covenant, 04:09 the New Covenant is said to be written in the mind. 04:14 This is where God places His law, 04:16 now, remember, the whole 04:18 center... the whole theme of this controversy 04:20 between the dragon and the woman 04:23 is that, he is going after her remnant 04:25 to make war with those who do what? 04:28 Keep the commandments of God 04:30 and have the testimony of Jesus. 04:31 James: Faith of Jesus. 04:33 Ivor: Okay, or the faith of Jesus 04:34 so, what we're looking at here is an issue of... 04:37 it's not a... 04:39 a lot of people think that the Mark is something that you... 04:42 will be tattooed on your forehead, 04:44 or, that they can, like, implant in your hand, 04:48 I've always said, "You know what?" 04:49 I mean, think about it, someone holds you down 04:51 and you you're like, "No, let go of me... " 04:52 they're like, "We're not going to let go of you... " 04:54 "Please... let me go... " 04:55 and then they put this chip in your hand, 04:57 are you lost because you are physically overpowered, 04:59 you know what I'm saying? 05:01 And if so, "Hey, the Bible says, 05:03 if your right hand offend you, cut it off... " 05:05 "Do you know now if I have the Mark of the Beast?" 05:08 I know I think these things sometimes. 05:10 James: But no, a lot of people think, 05:11 I'm serious, we've had these conversations. 05:13 Ivor: Do you no longer have the Mark of the Beast 05:16 because you cut your hand off? 05:17 You know, so... so... 05:20 James: It's more than that. Ivor: Yeah. 05:22 James: The Bible verse in Hebrews is 05:23 Hebrews 10 and verse 16. 05:25 Ivor: Hebrews 10:16... 05:27 James: I'm going to... this is what it says... 05:30 it says, "This is the covenant that I will make with them 05:31 after those days, saith the Lord, 05:33 I will put my laws into their hearts, 05:35 and in their minds will I write them... " 05:37 so the forehead... 05:39 that's why some translations of the Bible say, 05:41 "on the forehead" 05:42 but it's actually "in the forehead" 05:44 the King James says, 05:45 "in the forehead" or "in the hand... " 05:46 so it's talking about something more than just the outward. 05:50 Ivor: So the Mark of the Beast received in the mind, 05:53 is something that you believe 05:55 and have genuinely... genuinely been deceived by, 05:59 okay, so, what about the hand? 06:01 In the book of Ecclesiastes, 06:03 I think, it's chapter 9 and verse 10, 06:06 the Bible says, 06:08 "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, 06:10 do it with all thy might... " 06:12 do it with all thy might... 06:14 so the hand symbolizes the actions, 06:17 so, for those who receive the Mark... 06:20 whatever it is... in their hand, symbolically in their hand, 06:24 they're going along with the action, 06:28 but they haven't been sold in the mind. 06:31 James: They don't believe it. 06:33 Ivor: They don't believe it and so there's going to be 06:35 two groups of people deceived at the end of time, 06:37 those who are truly deceived 06:39 however, think about this in the context of the 06:42 Great Deception, right, the overmastering delusion, 06:45 those who are truly deceived, 06:46 and then those who receive it in their hand 06:48 would be those who are simply going along to survive, 06:53 right, in fact, they may just be like, 06:55 "Hey, you know what? 06:56 That may be Christ... but I still don't believe... " 06:58 you know what I'm saying? I still don't... or 07:00 "Hey, if this is what we need to do to survive, 07:02 then, that's what we'll do to survive. " 07:04 Right... Yvonne: Ohhhh... okay... 07:06 Ivor: There will be others who are like, 07:08 "Well, I know from my Bible Study that 07:10 that is not Christ but guess what, 07:11 I need to go along with this anyway 07:13 because I want to survive... " 07:15 right, so, this mark between the forehead and the hand 07:19 covers everyone... whether they're mentally deceived 07:22 or they don't really believe 07:24 or they go along anyway to survive, 07:26 or they genuinely know, "Yeah, that's a deception, 07:28 but guess what? I'm afraid to die. " 07:30 James: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Wow! 07:31 James: Let me give you a nominal illustration of this 07:33 because I've traveled to Pakistan several times 07:36 doing evangelism 07:38 and I remember the first time I went there 07:39 was with fear and trepidation, I mean, I was just like, 07:43 "Whoa" it's an Islamic country, Islam is law there, 07:46 so it's an Islamic State, 07:48 if you're a Muslim in Pakistan and you convert to Christianity, 07:53 the law says that you should die... 07:54 in fact, when I went there, a young girl had... 07:56 a Christian girl had witnessed to a Muslim friend at school 07:59 and the Muslim had become a Christian 08:01 and her parents... the parents of the Muslim girl killed her 08:03 because that's the law 08:04 and then they were taking the Christian girl to Court 08:07 accusing her of being responsible 08:09 because they had to kill their daughter 08:11 because she converted her to Christianity, 08:13 so that was the country I was going into 08:14 and I remember when I first got there, 08:16 I was awakened in the morning by the national alarm clock, 08:19 yeah, they have prayer every... "wrrrrr... rayyyy... " 08:22 and they have these prayers... 08:24 and they're on these big speakers 08:25 on the corners of the streets and everyone can hear it 08:27 and I was sleeping and then... "wah... " 08:29 I felt like someone was standing right over me 08:31 yelling into my ear... it was so loud, 08:33 so, five times a day, they have the prayer there 08:37 and I was really curious to see... 08:38 people are going to be up praying in the morning 08:41 and in the afternoon... no... they didn't... 08:44 everything didn't stop 08:45 and everyone stops and prays wherever... no... 08:47 they're just... people were in business, 08:49 driving... doing whatever... 08:50 and I thought, "Wow! this is an Islamic State, 08:52 I thought everyone would be praying" 08:53 and they said, "No, only the very devout 08:55 go to the mosque during prayer time" 08:56 and then Friday came out... 08:57 Friday is the day of prayer for the Muslim, 08:59 the Qur'an actually teaches 09:02 that the Sabbath day... the seventh day of the week 09:04 is the day that we should worship God, 09:06 that's what the Qur'an teaches, 09:07 because the Qur'an is based on the Torah... 09:09 the first five books of the Bible, 09:10 and the Psalms and the gospels, so it actually teaches that 09:14 but, the way that they practice and the tradition of Muslim 09:19 is that Friday is the day of prayer 09:20 and that's the day they choose to worship, 09:21 you know, they separate themselves 09:24 from Jewish practice and from Christian practice, 09:25 so... Friday... 09:27 so on Friday I was waiting for everyone to 09:28 be out of business clothes... everyone's in the mosque... 09:31 it was business as usual... 09:33 it's like, "Wow! this is strange, 09:35 this is an Islamic Country, 09:37 I thought they would be very rigid about religion, 09:38 no, most people were kind of secular... 09:40 they only do what they have to do 09:43 if they're forced to do it 09:44 so then, Sunday came... Sunday morning I wake up, 09:48 I open up my curtains and guess what I see? 09:51 Nothing... no cars... no business is open... 09:54 no people... everything is shut tight. 09:56 I'm like, "Wait a minute, I'm in an Islamic country, 09:58 why is everything closed on Sunday?" 10:00 So I asked, "Why is everything closed on Sunday?" 10:02 "It's a recent law... " 10:03 this was in the '90s, "it's a recent law... " 10:05 they have switched the day, 10:08 that they close businesses from Friday to Sunday... " 10:11 I said, "Why?" 10:12 They said, "Because of the economic pressure 10:15 everyone in the world is open on Fridays for business, 10:19 the Stock Markets... everything... 10:20 and closed on Sundays... 10:22 we as Muslims, we're closed on Fridays, 10:24 and open on Sundays... 10:25 we were falling behind the rest of the world... 10:27 two days a week... businesswise so we switched" 10:30 I said, "How do the fundamentalists Muslims 10:33 feel about this?" "Oh, they don't like this at all 10:35 they think it's a compromise but we have to do it, 10:37 economically, we have to go along with it... " 10:40 so this is a modern illustration of... "they don't believe it... 10:43 they're Muslims... they don't believe Sunday is sacred or... 10:46 but they're closed for business on that day 10:49 because of the economic pressure 10:50 coming from the rest of the world. " 10:52 So we're already set up for this. 10:54 If you go on the website and you google... 10:57 just search for "Muslim Countries" 11:00 and look up, "Business Hours" 11:02 you're going to find that almost every Muslim country 11:04 in the world is closed for business on Sunday 11:07 except for Saudi Arabia 11:08 because they're independently wealthy. 11:10 So they still close on Friday and open on Sunday 11:12 but the rest of the Muslim world... almost every country... 11:16 business hours... closed on Sundays... 11:17 so it's already there... 11:18 and notice, God is really smart about this, 11:21 it's centered in economics... He knows... 11:24 He sees that for most people... 11:27 see, money is not the root of all evil 11:32 but what is the root of all evil? 11:34 The love of money is the root of all evil 11:37 and the final evil that is going to overwhelm the world 11:40 is going to come through our love for money 11:42 that supersedes our love for God. 11:45 Ivor: Yeah, yeah, yeah, 11:46 one of the things that we wanted to touch on 11:49 and again, with this issue of the Mark of the Beast 11:52 and trying to nail it down to what it is, 11:54 I find it very, very interesting and I think it reveals a lot 11:58 everything Satan does 12:00 is a counterfeit of what God does 12:01 and so, it's interesting that in the book of Revelation 12:05 you have four things that you're warned about 12:07 regarding the beast, 12:09 there is the worship of the beast, 12:10 there's the image of the beast, 12:13 there's the name of the beast, 12:15 and there's the mark of the beast, 12:17 so I just want you to think about that, 12:19 four things, okay, you have the Ten Commandments 12:22 the first four deal with how we worship God 12:25 the first commandment is, 12:27 "Thou shalt not have any other gods before me" 12:28 you know, you worship God only, 12:30 the second commandment deals with worshiping images, 12:33 the third commandment is about His name, 12:36 so, wow! if these three things are actually counterfeits 12:42 of the first three commandments 12:43 then, Man! the Mark of the Beast... 12:46 Yvonne: Hmmm... wow! 12:48 Jason: I never heard it like that before... 12:50 Yvonne: I haven't either. 12:52 Ivor: Yeah the Mark of the Beast must be something 12:54 that counterfeits the Sabbath commandment, 12:57 so, now what we have... and it's really amazing because 13:03 what happens is... you look at the book of Daniel, for example, 13:09 first three chapters... Daniel chapter 1, 13:11 you have Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and Daniel, 13:15 they're not... they refuse to eat the kings meat, 13:19 right, and drink his wine... 13:21 so in Daniel chapter 1 you have a group of people 13:24 who refuse to drink the wine of Babylon, 13:28 that's the kingdom we're talking about, right, 13:30 as a result of that, in Daniel chapter 2, 13:32 they're given special understanding 13:35 of prophecies regarding Babylon 13:39 and so they preach a message to Nebuchadnezzar, 13:42 "Babylon is going to fall" 13:43 that's the message that they preach, right, 13:46 and as a result of this Nebuchadnezzar is like, 13:49 "No, Babylon is not going to fall... 13:52 what we're going to do is, we're going to set up an image" 13:53 so now you have this image set up, 13:56 and now, whosoever does not bow down to this image 13:59 will be what? Will be killed, right? 14:02 So, in a sense, we can look at this pattern and see, 14:05 "Okay, so, it's only when something is... 14:08 when this thing is set up that forces people... " right, 14:14 to do it... in direct contradiction to the law of God, 14:19 that's when we know 14:21 that the Mark of the Beast is here... is passed, right, 14:26 so it's not something like people say, 14:27 "Well, Pastor, you're saying if I don't keep the Sabbath now 14:30 or if I'm going to church 14:31 on the wrong day of the week, I have the Mark of the Beast?" 14:33 No, there's coming a time... 14:35 as we've been kind of building to this 14:38 that this will be enforced by decree, 14:41 so the verse says, 14:44 "Whosoever does not do this should be killed. " 14:47 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 14:48 James: And you can't buy or sell... 14:50 and when it comes to that point of crisis, 14:52 that's when the Mark of the Beast 14:53 becomes a test for everyone, 14:55 not just for believers or Christians 14:58 but for everyone, 15:00 it becomes a test because it's more than just the day, 15:02 it's the principle behind it 15:04 and the principle behind it reveals 15:06 whether we have the spirit of Satan 15:08 or whether we have the spirit of Christ 15:10 which takes us into Revelation 14, 15:12 because Revelation 14 is in a sense the answer 15:16 to our crisis in Revelation 13 15:20 okay, let's start with Revelation 13, 15:22 actually go back to Revelation chapter 12, 15:24 Revelation 12 is not just a picture of prophecy, 15:29 it's a picture of character, 15:30 now Ivor talked about Hebrews 10:16 and 17... 15:35 the Law of God or the Covenant... 15:37 new Covenant... God's law in our hearts and in our minds, 15:39 so, the Law of God is a Law of love, 15:41 it's revealing the character of God 15:44 so you have the character of God 15:45 and you have the character of Satan, 15:47 now, from the beginning, 15:48 Revelation chapter 12 is revealing to us 15:50 not just history but the characteristics of Satan 15:53 for example, in Revelation 12 verse 3 it says 15:55 that he took a third of the stars of heaven with his tail 16:01 pause... 16:04 excuse me, that's verse 4, 16:05 "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, 16:07 and did cast them to the ground... " 16:09 in Isaiah 9:15 it says, "the tail... 16:11 the prophet that teaches lies, he is the tail. " 16:15 So the tail of the dragon symbolizes the deception 16:19 that he brought against the stars of heaven 16:20 which were the angels of heaven, 16:21 and the way he deceived them and cast them down with him, 16:24 he brought them down with him through deception 16:26 so, do we deceive people? 16:28 Are we being deceptive? 16:30 And then you have in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10, 16:34 you have this picture of how the accuser of our brethren 16:38 which accused them before God day and night, is cast out. 16:41 Are we judgmental and full of accusations? 16:45 Is this the kind of character that we have 16:48 and then you have in Revelation chapter 12 verse 17, 16:51 you have this picture of the dragon 16:53 who was wroth with the woman, 16:54 went to make war with the remnant of her seed, 16:56 he's angry, he's mad, he wants to fight, 16:58 so, are we developing the characteristics of anger 17:02 and are we wanting to fight in a negative sense 17:06 and then in Revelation chapter 13, 17:08 he's filled with blasphemy which is basically a pride 17:12 and he is controlling the economic system, 17:16 he's a control freak, so no man can buy or sell 17:20 and so he's forcing people 17:22 to go the way he wants them to go, 17:24 so are we controllers? 17:26 Are we forcing people? Are we angry with people? 17:29 Are we filled with pride? 17:31 Are we judgmental and critical of people? 17:33 Are we deceiving people and do we want to just kill people 17:38 which... another word for kill is hate. 17:40 Ivor: Yeah, and Revelation 13:4 the beast has a deadly wound 17:44 but the deadly wound is healed, 17:46 remember we talked about how it did not die, 17:49 right, it was wounded by the sword... 17:52 it was wounded by the sword so, do we... 17:56 James: Sword is the Word of God. 17:57 Ivor: That's right, 17:59 do we allow the Word of God to put us to death... 18:02 we die daily... or are we only wounded by the sword? 18:05 Or do we only... we go to church and the Pastor preaches 18:08 we're like... "Owh... oooh... ooh... that hurt, that hurt... " 18:11 but we don't allow it to actually take us out. 18:14 So we only get hurt... and Satan is all about healing. 18:18 So, "Man! you're hurt, let me heal you up... 18:21 get you back to your old self again... " 18:24 All: Hmmm... hmmm... ah... ha... ha... ha... 18:26 yeah... you don't want to be your old self, 18:28 you know, you need to be a new man in Christ, so, 18:31 these characteristics, right, 18:34 lead us to the ultimate picture of... "these are the ones, 18:39 who will end up following... 18:41 these are the ones that end up 'wondering after the beast. '" 18:44 Why? Because like attracts like 18:47 even in Revelation 13 verse 11 18:51 where it talks about the beast having the horns of a lamb 18:54 but speaking as a dragon, 18:55 Man! when people look at you, do they see a lamb? 18:59 And then they try to talk to you and you're acting like a dragon. 19:02 These are the very ones, right, 19:05 that when this manifestation appears, 19:09 oh yeah, they're going to wonder 19:11 because the characters connect. 19:14 James: Ivor, I think this is really important 19:16 because we're talking here about prophecy 19:18 and a lot of times, we can get caught up in prophecy 19:21 from the perspective of, "Oh, that power over there 19:24 and that power over there 19:25 and that person over there 19:27 and that person over there... 19:28 we miss the personal, practical application. 19:31 The beast is a composite of us, 19:34 the reason why it becomes an earthly kingdom is because 19:38 it has subjects, it has people that support it 19:41 and the people that are supporting that beastly System 19:43 are people who are like that System, 19:45 who are taking on the characteristics of that System, 19:48 who are revealing anger and control 19:51 and all of the characteristics that we're seeing here 19:54 that are outlined in describing the dragon... 19:59 in describing the beast powers and in counter to that... 20:02 in contrast to that... we have these characteristics 20:04 that describe God's people in Revelation 14. 20:06 Ivor: Wait... before you go to Revelation 14, 20:10 wait... so... remember in Revelation 13, right... 20:13 James: Yes. 20:14 Ivor: We have this manifestation that we've been talking about 20:18 Satan appearing as Christ Himself, 20:20 this sets us up for the first verse in Revelation 14, 20:24 so let's just look at a couple of verses very quickly 20:27 let's go over to Isaiah chapter 4 verse 5 and 6 20:31 and if someone else can go to Isaiah 33 verse 20. 20:34 Pause... 20:36 I'm going to go to Psalm 48 verse 1 and 2, 20:42 so, Isaiah 4 verse 5 and 6... 20:46 Isaiah 33 verse 20... 20:51 and James, could you get Psalm 48 verse 1 and 2? 20:54 okay so, let's go with Psalm 48 verse 1 and 2 first. 21:00 James: Okay, Psalm 48 verses 1 and 2, 21:03 pause... 21:07 "Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised 21:10 in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 21:13 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, 21:15 is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, 21:17 the city of the great King. " 21:19 Ivor: Okay, when Satan comes again, right, 21:21 guess what he's going to try to fulfill? 21:23 James: Sides of the north... Yvonne: Hmmm... 21:24 Ivor: Sides of the north, 21:26 "Hey, I am the king, this is Mount Zion, 21:28 and beautiful for situation, 21:31 here we are on the sides of the north. " 21:34 James: And by-the-way, the Muslim world believes 21:36 that when Christ comes the second time, 21:37 He'll come to Jerusalem in the North Gate of the city 21:40 which they have blocked with a graveyard 21:42 and so they're looking for that to happen. 21:43 Ivor: And most of the world believes 21:45 He's coming to Jerusalem right, 21:46 so here we have, okay, wow! this is Biblical 21:49 but Satan is going to try to use this 21:51 to relate to himself, right, 21:53 all right, now, Isaiah 4:5 and 6. 21:55 Yvonne: "Then the LORD will create 21:57 above every dwelling place of mount Zion 22:00 and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, 22:03 and the shining of a flaming fire by night: 22:06 for over all the glory there will be a covering. 22:09 And there will be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime 22:12 from the heat, for a place of refuge 22:15 and for a shelter from storm and rain. " 22:17 Ivor: Okay, so, the Bible tells that God 22:19 is going to set up His tabernacle... 22:22 right, where? On Mount Zion... 22:25 where is that? On the sides of the north. 22:27 All right, so, what do we have here? 22:29 When Jesus comes, the view is that, 22:31 He's going to set up a kingdom on earth, 22:34 Mount Zion... He's going to set His tabernacles 22:36 right, upon Mount Zion. 22:39 Now, Isaiah 33 verse 20, who has it? 22:42 Jason: I got it, "Look upon Zion, 22:45 the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem 22:50 a quiet habitation, 22:52 a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; 22:54 not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, 22:57 neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. " 22:59 Ivor: All right, now, let me read one more verse 23:01 and then we're going to tie this all in, okay, 23:03 so this is Ezekiel 37 verse 26 to 28 23:09 and it says here, "Moreover I will make a covenant 23:13 of peace with them; 23:14 it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: 23:17 and I will place them, and multiply them, 23:19 and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 23:22 My tabernacle also shall be with them: 23:24 yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 23:28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, 23:32 when my sanctuary shall be in 23:34 the midst of them for evermore. " 23:35 What we have happening here 23:36 is in Revelation 13 verses 13 onward, 23:42 you basically have Satan 23:44 claiming to be the king of the North 23:48 or setting up his tabernacles, right, 23:51 as king over all the earth 23:53 and he's got his subjects and his people. 23:57 In Revelation 14, verse 1, God is showing us, 24:00 "This is who the true Mount Zion is... " 24:05 and then He goes to describe their... what? 24:08 their character... so from Revelation 12 24:11 you're seeing all the attributes of the characteristics 24:14 that lead up to this counterfeit Mount of Zion. 24:18 James: On this earth. Yvonne: Ooooh! 24:20 Ivor: And then God says, "All right now John, 24:22 now I want you to check out the real Mount Zion 24:24 and I want you to look at the characteristics 24:26 of the real people of God. " 24:28 Ivor: And it starts with them having His name... 24:31 which represents what? 24:33 Character written in their foreheads. 24:37 James: Yeah. Yvonne: Wow! 24:39 James: That's beautiful, that's a powerful picture, 24:41 so you've got Satan's counterfeit 24:43 and you've got the true right here 24:44 and also in this context 24:47 you've got an answer for a dilemma that we have 24:49 and that is, "How do we discern the true from the counterfeit 24:55 and what do we do to get ready for all of this?" 24:58 Because you know, you can think, 24:59 "Well, the way I get ready is, 25:01 I know what's the right day and I know what's the wrong day 25:03 and that's intellectually fine 25:07 but what about character development? 25:09 Like, how can we prepare ourselves 25:12 so one of the answers is given and I love this answer, 25:15 in Revelation chapter 14 when God shows John and us 25:18 the real picture of the true Mount Zion, 25:20 He says, that not only do they have His name 25:22 written in their forehead 25:24 but how do they get His name written in their forehead? 25:25 Well notice verse 4, 25:27 "These are they which were not defiled with women: 25:29 for they are virgins, 25:31 These are they which follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth. " 25:37 They follow Jesus, remember the words of that hymn, 25:41 "Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go. " 25:44 Anywhere? Jason: Anywhere... 25:47 James: Fear I cannot know 25:49 and this is why I think the book of Revelation 25:52 is so filled with "Lamb language. " 25:54 It begins in the beginning and it goes all the way through. 25:57 Jesus is the One that brings us safety 26:01 in the midst of our greatest crisis, 26:04 there's a great crisis coming... 26:06 a huge deception coming to Planet Earth 26:08 and the way we prepare for that is to stay very close to Jesus. 26:11 Ivor: Hmmm... hmmm... 26:12 James: This is what allows us to be dependent on Christ, 26:15 the crisis can be looked upon as a negative or a positive 26:19 a crisis in our lives today 26:21 can direct us for more dependence on Jesus... 26:24 to lean more heavily on our Savior 26:25 or it can pull us away from Him, 26:27 those little crises prepare us for the big crisis 26:30 and the answer in the big crisis is automatic, 26:34 it's right here in Revelation 14, 26:36 "Follow Jesus wherever He goes, just follow Him wherever He goes 26:39 you know how you have been following Him sometimes? 26:41 You know, how you look like Him 26:42 but you're not really connected, 26:43 you know how once a week you follow Him 26:45 but the rest of the week you don't, 26:47 well, that's not going to work when the crisis... 26:49 when the final crisis hits. 26:51 You're going to need complete and total commitment 26:54 to Jesus Christ... surrender... 26:55 you got to die all the way, you can't just be wounded. " 26:57 Ivor: This is the picture of the true Mount Zion. 27:00 The true Mount Zion 27:01 is made up of those who follow the Lamb. 27:04 All those characters that we're looking at 27:07 from Revelation 12 onward, 27:08 that's a false Christ that's coming 27:11 so depending on which characteristics you have, 27:14 those will determine which "Jesus" you end up following 27:18 the counterfeit one or the true One. 27:21 James: Hmmm... and that's why you have this... 27:23 this also being described as... 27:25 it says in verse 4, 27:27 "These are they which are not defiled with women. " 27:29 Ivor: Hmmm... hmmm... 27:30 James: Here it's not talking about literal... 27:32 it's not talking about people that aren't married, 27:34 it's talking about "women" as in "churches. " 27:35 Ivor: Right. 27:36 James: Not defiled with other church doctrines, basically, 27:39 they're not defiled... they're first fruits... 27:41 James in chapter 1 says, 27:42 the first fruit is someone who's born again. 27:44 They have the genuine born-again experience 27:47 first fruits... they depend totally on Jesus Christ 27:50 and that is what God is calling us to... 27:52 to be able to prepare for this crisis. 27:54 Total... total surrender to Jesus... 27:57 total dependence on Christ, that's what we need. 27:59 "Amen. " |
Revised 2017-06-28