The Incomparable Jesus

The Spirit and the Bride Say Come!

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: ICJ

Program Code: ICJ190026B


00:01 Several times in His sermons and teachings to the disciples
00:04 the Lord Jesus warned the disciples
00:07 that false christs would show.
00:10 And He reiterated that for the end of time.
00:14 You know, today people want Jesus to be in their own image.
00:16 They want Him to be like them.
00:19 And man has had a problem with this down through the centuries.
00:21 They always try to form God into their own image.
00:24 But listen, you can't make Jesus into your own image.
00:27 You want the Jesus of the New Testament.
00:29 But Babylon makes a false Jesus.
00:31 She paints a Jesus that is not the Jesus of the New Testament.
00:36 And so that's why you want the faithful church.
00:38 The faithful church teaches this incomparable Jesus,
00:41 this incomparable Jesus, this Jesus of the New Testament.
00:45 This Jesus that teaches unselfish love.
00:48 And so I want to go to that and take a look at Revelation 12:17,
00:53 and we're going to see what this faithful church
00:55 actually teaches.
00:57 It says, "And the dragon was enraged with the woman,
01:01 and he went to make war with the rest," or the remnant,
01:03 or the last piece on the bolt of cloth, "of her offspring..."
01:08 Using her as a symbol.
01:10 This is God's faithful people, His faithful church.
01:13 And he describes them, not by name.
01:15 He doesn't name them,
01:17 or everybody would have used that name.
01:19 But he describes her characteristics
01:21 so you can know who she is and who is the faithful church.
01:26 So here it is.
01:27 "...who keep the commandments of God..."
01:29 That's pretty clear.
01:30 That's pretty basic, isn't it?
01:31 God's Ten Commandments, we know the context.
01:34 Just a few verses earlier in chapter 11 verse 19
01:38 the ark of the covenant is open in heaven.
01:40 That's where the Ten Commandments are kept.
01:43 "...and they have the testimony of Jesus."
01:46 So they love Jesus, they have His testimony.
01:50 And they also keep God's commandments.
01:52 Now Revelation 14:12 adds a little bit to that.
01:56 It says, in contrast to those who keep the mark of the beast,
02:00 it says, these are the faithful, the faithful church,
02:03 the one you need to go into to get out of the other one
02:06 while there's still time,
02:07 "Here is the patience of the saints;
02:10 here are they that keep the commandments of God..."
02:13 That's reiterated twice.
02:15 "...and have the faith of Jesus."
02:18 So these are the people that have the faith of Jesus.
02:20 Faith in Jesus.
02:21 And they trust Jesus with all their heart.
02:24 Now notice these three characteristics.
02:27 This is not complicated, it's not rocket science.
02:30 You can add and subtract here.
02:32 With just some godly wisdom, submission to the Holy Spirit.
02:35 Here are those three characteristics.
02:38 First of all, they keep the commandments of God.
02:41 And we know these are the Ten Commandments.
02:43 That's the context. You can't escape the context.
02:46 The context is crucial.
02:47 It's not just some, you know, ordinary,
02:51 not ordinary, but unusual commandments that God...
02:54 No, it's the Ten Commandments.
02:55 We should always keep any of God's commands,
02:58 but these are His Ten Commandments.
02:59 That's the context.
03:01 And then it goes on to say, number two,
03:04 it has the testimony of Jesus.
03:07 Or it has the prophetic gift.
03:09 Now the Holy Spirit that's been given to the church
03:12 will operate in the church until the end of the time.
03:14 The Holy Spirit is the one who brings
03:16 the living Christ into us.
03:18 He brings the living Christ into our hearts and into our lives.
03:22 And so, this group has the testimony of Jesus
03:27 which is the prophetic gift operating in the church.
03:31 One of the fruits of the Spirit is the prophetic gift.
03:33 And we want that prophetic gift.
03:36 And I'm thankful for the prophetic gift.
03:38 I don't have time to get in and talk a lot about that,
03:41 except to tell you that characteristic.
03:43 But let me give you the text of Scripture that tells about that.
03:47 Revelation 19:9-10 says this,
03:51 and I want you to notice something here,
03:53 "Then he said to me," this is the angel talking to John,
03:56 "Write," write what you've seen, "Write: 'Blessed are those
03:59 who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'"
04:01 Now keep that in mind.
04:02 "...those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb."
04:04 Called out of Babylon.
04:06 These are God's people at the end of time;
04:08 the ones that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
04:12 "And then he said to me, 'These are the true sayings of God.'
04:16 And I fell at his feet to worship him."
04:18 John is so overwhelmed with the presence of this glorious angel.
04:21 "But he," the angel, "said to me,
04:23 'See that you do not do that!
04:25 For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren
04:29 who have the testimony of Jesus."
04:32 Now remember, "Write: 'Blessed are those
04:35 who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'"
04:36 The angel says to John, "Don't worship me.
04:38 I'm one with you.
04:40 I'm a part of your brethren that have the testimony of Jesus."
04:43 And then the angel said, "Worship God.
04:46 For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
04:53 The spirit of prophecy.
04:54 Now he reiterates that another time in chapter 22 verses 8-9.
05:00 John says, "I saw these things and heard them.
05:03 And when I saw them and heard them,
05:05 I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel
05:11 who showed me these things."
05:13 John just again is overwhelmed.
05:15 "But then the angel says to me, he said to me,
05:18 'See that you do not do that.
05:20 For I am of your fellow servants...the prophets,
05:24 of those who keep the words of this book.
05:27 Worship God.'"
05:28 So the testimony of Jesus is what comes
05:30 through the prophetic gift.
05:32 And that gift is given to us in Scripture, of course,
05:35 but it's also given to the church,
05:37 particularly in the end of time to those who are called
05:40 to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
05:44 So you want to find a church that has a
05:47 genuine prophetic gift in it.
05:49 Now the Bible says there will be false prophets
05:51 even down to the end of time.
05:53 How do you tell a false prophet from a genuine?
05:56 You tell it by Scripture.
05:57 You test everything.
05:59 The apostles said test everything.
06:02 Jesus commended the church of Ephesus
06:04 because she tested the apostles.
06:06 Commended other churches because they tested people
06:09 who said they were prophets.
06:11 No, test it.
06:13 But that doesn't mean the real one is not going to be there
06:15 for the end of time for God's church.
06:18 It also has the faith of Jesus.
06:21 Revelation 14:6 says, "Then I saw another angel
06:26 flying in the midst of heaven,
06:28 having the everlasting gospel..."
06:31 So it has the gospel of Jesus.
06:33 It has the true gospel of Jesus.
06:35 What is the everlasting gospel?
06:37 It's the repentance of your sins.
06:40 Even Jesus went about saying in His day
06:43 when He started His ministry,
06:45 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
06:48 To repent means to repent in front of God's Ten Commandments.
06:52 It means to give up your sins.
06:55 If you repent, I promise you, by the grace of God
06:58 if you repent out of your heart
07:00 by the moving of the Holy Spirit, you will be forgiven.
07:02 Because Jesus, that incomparable Jesus,
07:05 is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
07:10 Who takes away my sin and your sin.
07:13 The gospel has power to deliver.
07:15 It was in Romans that the apostle Paul in the first
07:18 chapter said this, he said, "For I am not ashamed
07:23 of the gospel of Christ..."
07:25 Why was he not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?
07:27 Not only because it gave salvation,
07:29 not only because it forgave people's sin,
07:30 but listen to this.
07:32 "...for it is the power of God unto salvation..."
07:37 In other words, it has power to change.
07:39 Now I say this with sweet kindness.
07:41 You can go to all religions of the world,
07:43 and they're basically all religions of works.
07:45 "If you do this, and this, and this, and this,
07:47 if you go through these rituals, rituals, rituals,
07:48 you will somehow get clean."
07:50 You're not going to get clean.
07:52 Because they can't change your heart.
07:54 It's only this incomparable Jesus that can transform
07:57 the human heart.
07:59 The gospel reveals the righteousness of God.
08:02 I don't have a lot of time to go into this,
08:04 but I want to go over Romans 3:21
08:07 and I want to read that verse, or at least repeat it.
08:10 "The righteousness of God is revealed apart from the law,
08:14 being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets."
08:18 What does he mean by this?
08:20 What does he mean by that?
08:22 How is the righteousness of God exhibited apart from the law?
08:27 Well, maybe some of you are fishermen.
08:30 Have you ever pulled a fish out of the water?
08:33 Why does it start to flop and go like this?
08:36 Well let me ask another question.
08:38 Do fish need oxygen to survive?
08:42 The answer to that is, yes. Just like we do.
08:45 We need oxygen.
08:46 The oxygen is the same in the water as it is in the air,
08:50 but the fish can't breathe in the air.
08:54 He can't get oxygen out of the air.
08:55 He has to have water.
08:57 Listen, without Christ the law of God will simply condemn us.
09:01 We can't survive.
09:03 But in Christ, in Christ, He gives a totally new atmosphere.
09:09 And because of Him and His righteousness we can breathe.
09:14 Now the righteousness of God is like the oxygen.
09:16 It never changes. It's still righteous.
09:19 But in Christ we have forgiveness.
09:22 In Christ we are changed.
09:24 In Christ we can breathe and live, and not die.
09:29 That's why Paul says at the end of that same chapter,
09:32 "Do we then make void the law through faith?
09:34 God forbid!
09:36 Yea, we establish the law."
09:37 We establish it because we have the living law in Christ.
09:41 And in Christ you and I can breathe and live.
09:45 And that's the wonderful thing about the gospel.
09:47 We can't save ourselves.
09:49 This is summed up so beautiful in Galatians 2:20
09:52 where the apostle Paul says,
09:54 "I have been crucified with Christ.
09:57 Now then, this self is dead."
09:59 And you want yourself to get so dead that
10:01 it never has a hope of a resurrection,
10:02 as one person said.
10:04 "I have been crucified with Christ;
10:06 but it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
10:11 This incomparable Jesus, Paul is saying.
10:14 "...but Christ who lives in me.
10:16 And the life I now live in the flesh," in this present age,
10:21 "the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God,
10:26 who loved me and gave Himself for me."
10:29 What a powerful picture of the gospel.
10:32 Christ is the fulfillment of the law.
10:37 It's the gospel that Christ in you is the hope of glory.
10:41 And when you give your heart to Christ,
10:43 the Holy Spirit brings the living Christ inside of you.
10:47 A lot of people think if they just, you know, if they just
10:49 buy into some theory, or buy into the theory of religion,
10:53 if they get the right theory, that they'll be okay.
10:55 Well listen, I love the truth.
10:57 Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
10:59 And the truth is what brings you to Christ.
11:02 But the theory of truth, no matter how right it is,
11:06 cannot in itself save you.
11:10 The church can't save you.
11:12 No one can save you except the living Christ in you.
11:17 The living Christ who is the hope of glory.
11:20 It is this Babylon who in the end of time
11:23 gives lip service to Jesus.
11:25 But by her sins she shows that she doesn't belong to Jesus.
11:31 By her behavior she shows that she's not a faithful
11:35 wife of the Lord Jesus.
11:38 So we have the false mark of the beast.
11:41 By the way, the mark of the beast is nothing
11:43 except another false gospel.
11:44 But it's going to be a pleasing gospel.
11:46 A gospel that people are going to buy into.
11:50 You know, time is running out for the world.
11:53 I think of the prodigal son.
11:55 You know the story well.
11:57 He's down there in the pig pen.
11:58 He spent all of his inheritance.
12:00 And his father goes day after day
12:03 wanting, hoping that this boy will come back
12:06 and someday, somehow, he comes to his senses,
12:11 he comes to his senses before it's too late.
12:16 Now I ask sometimes, when was that boy forgiven?
12:19 Some people say, "Well, when he came back."
12:21 "When he left."
12:23 I want to tell you he was forgiven the day he was born.
12:27 Forgiveness was in the father's heart.
12:30 But he didn't experience forgiveness.
12:32 When he sinned and left his father's home
12:34 he could have stayed in that pig pen
12:36 and never, ever experienced forgiveness and been restored.
12:44 Listen, there's forgiveness in the heart of Jesus for you.
12:48 He says, "Come out.
12:49 Come into a church that's faithful.
12:51 Come, come out while there's still time.
12:54 I don't want you to suffer the plagues of Babylon.
12:57 There's forgiveness in My heart for you.
12:59 I love you."
13:00 And I want to recommend to you the example of the prodigal son.
13:05 Don't stay, don't stay where you ought not to stay.
13:09 Maybe you like it there, maybe it's comfortable,
13:12 but don't stay there.
13:13 If you keep staying there, there's going to come judgment.
13:17 There's a time to leave.
13:19 There's a time to be faithful
13:21 and be part of God's faithful church.
13:24 And now is the time.


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Revised 2019-12-02