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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023024S
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00:00 (uplifting music)
00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:19 We're glad that you could join us again this week 00:21 as we continue our journey through the book of Revelation, 00:23 especially looking at the three angels' messages. 00:27 This is week number 12 of 13, 00:30 so that means we've got one more week 00:32 to cap everything off, but this week is a big one. 00:35 We are looking at "The Seal of God 00:37 and [the] Mark of the Beast: Part 2," 00:39 kind of picking up from where we left off last week. 00:42 Our guest this week again is Pastor Mark Finley, 00:45 he's an international speaker and evangelist. 00:47 We're delighted to have him back once again, 00:50 but before we look into this subject 00:52 and get his thoughts on it, 00:54 we are going to spend a moment in prayer. 00:56 So join me if you would. 00:58 Father, thank You so much 00:59 for being with us along this journey, 01:02 as we've looked at the three angels' messages of Revelation. 01:06 As we spend some time looking 01:07 at another significant portion of that today, 01:10 "The Seal of God and [the] Mark of the Beast," 01:12 help us to understand it, 01:14 and to understand how it applies 01:16 to us today, in a very real way. 01:19 We thank You in Jesus' name. 01:20 >>Amen. >>Amen. 01:21 >>Pastor Mark, welcome back once again. 01:23 >>Thank you. >>So last week, 01:25 we left off on an interesting subject, 01:28 "interesting" is probably not even as broad 01:31 as an adjective as I could use, 01:34 but "The Seal of God and [the] Mark of the Beast." 01:36 We looked at the identity of the beast power, 01:38 the antichrist as it's often referred. 01:41 We kind of dropped off the end there, 01:43 and this week we pick up on "The Seal of God 01:45 and [the] Mark of the Beast: Part [Number] 2." 01:48 Now, when we talk about the identity of the beast 01:51 or the identity of the antichrist, 01:54 a lot of times people get this idea 01:56 that it's some world leader, some secular power 02:00 or individually, a dictator, if you will. 02:03 How do we know that the beast power 02:07 is not some sort of a secular leader 02:09 or power or dictator or something along those lines? 02:12 >>I think one of the ways we know the answer 02:14 to that question is by looking at Revelation 13 itself. 02:19 Last week we pointed out 02:21 that Revelation 13 talks about the beast power 02:25 rising after Babylon, after Medo-Persia, 02:28 after Greece, after Rome, 02:30 and that it would get its authority from pagan Rome. 02:34 So we have to look back 02:36 at the historical nature of the rise of the beast. 02:41 So the beast rises, not simply at end-time, 02:45 but the beast power is a power 02:47 that has been present historically through history, 02:51 and it rises out of pagan Rome, 02:53 and we saw that papal Rome did. 02:55 Secondly, the beast power in the book of Revelation 02:59 is a power that the Bible says is a blasphemous power, 03:03 and the Bible defines blasphemy 03:05 as one claiming the authority or privileges 03:09 or prerogatives as God's equal, 03:11 and one, in addition to that, 03:14 claiming the authority and the ability to forgive sin. 03:18 So, we see that it's a religious power, 03:20 but there is a third identifying mark 03:23 that I think comes to the very heart of your question. 03:26 It's found in Revelation, chapter 13, 03:30 and it's found in verse four. 03:33 Revelation 13, verse 4, 03:35 and would you like to read that, Pastor Eric? 03:37 >>Sure, it says, "So they worshiped the dragon 03:39 "who gave authority to the beast; 03:41 "and they worshiped the beast, saying, 03:42 "'Who is like the beast? 03:44 Who is able to make war with him?'" 03:46 >>So whoever this beast power is, 03:52 the beast power is one 03:54 that compels worship. 03:58 So you have to have a worshiping power. 04:01 This is not some business person that rises. 04:04 I will not name any who have been suggested 04:07 'cause I don't wanna put any ideas in people's heads, 04:10 but it's not some business leader that rises, 04:13 it's not some political leader that rises, 04:15 it's a power that grew out of Rome, 04:17 it's a system, not an individual. 04:20 So, just like, for example, in Daniel, 04:23 where it talks about the lion, the bear, 04:25 the leopard, the dragon, 04:27 in Daniel 7, verse 17, it says, 04:29 "These...beasts, which are four, 04:31 "are four kings [or kingdoms, that] arise out of the earth." 04:34 So Babylon was not simply Nebuchadnezzar, 04:36 it was the kingdom of Babylon, 04:38 or the lion was not simply Nebuchadnezzar, 04:40 it was the kingdom of Babylon. 04:41 The bear wasn't Cyrus or Darius, 04:43 it was the kingdom of Medo-Persia. 04:46 The leopard wasn't Alexander, 04:48 it was the kingdom of Greece, 04:50 and the same with the Rome, 04:52 you know, it's not simply 04:55 a Herod or a Caesar, 04:57 it is rather, the kingdom. 04:59 So this is talking about a system 05:01 that would grow out of Rome, 05:03 a system of religious worship, a system of a leader 05:06 that would claim the authority of God, 05:09 so, we can know that. 05:10 Also, there's some interesting mathematical proof 05:14 about the duration of its reign. 05:18 >>So, talk a little bit about that mathematical proof. 05:21 Where do we find that? 05:22 And I'm looking here at at verse number five, 05:25 it says it was given authority for 42 months. 05:28 I'm guessing that might be part 05:29 of the mathematical element of this, 05:31 but unlock, unpack a little bit more of that, 05:35 that mathematical element. 05:36 >>So the authority of 42 months. 05:38 Now remember in Bible prophecy, 05:40 one prophetic day equals one literal year. 05:45 When you look, for example, 05:48 at the prophecies in Daniel 05:52 that talk about this same power, 05:54 you have the antichrist mentioned 05:57 in Thessalonians by Paul. 05:59 You have the little horn power mentioned by Daniel. 06:04 You have the beast power mentioned by Revelation. 06:07 But the identification-- 06:08 identifying marks of these powers are all the same. 06:11 So let's go back to Daniel, chapter 7 and verse 25. 06:16 Daniel 7, verse 25. 06:19 We've read 42 months, 06:21 we're gonna go to two or three other Bible passages, 06:25 and we'll go to Daniel 7, verse 25. 06:31 And go ahead and read those, Pastor. 06:33 >>Sure, Daniel 7:25 says, 06:35 "He shall speak pompous words 06:36 "against the Most High, shall persecute the saints 06:39 "of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. 06:43 "Then the saints shall be given into his hand 06:45 for a time and times and half a time." 06:48 >>Notice this power would intend to think 06:51 that they had the ability to change times and law. 06:53 Well, the only law that has to do with time 06:56 is the Sabbath commandment. 06:58 And if the central issue in the book of Revelation, 07:02 and Daniel, is worship, and who and how do you worship, 07:05 the Sabbath commandment is the one that speaks of worship. 07:08 If the central issue is one of authority, 07:11 the Sabbath commandment gives you the authority 07:13 for the whole law. 07:15 It talks about who gave the law, the Creator God, 07:18 and it talks about why we worship God and His title. 07:22 We're gonna look at that later 07:24 when we talk about the seal of God. 07:25 But notice, here, it says that this power, 07:30 that would attempt to change the law of God, 07:32 would reign for time, times, and half a time. 07:35 42 months, time, times, and half a time, 07:37 what's all that about? 07:38 Let's now go to Revelation, chapter 12, 07:42 this will bring things home to us. 07:44 Revelation, chapter 12, 07:47 and we're gonna look here at verse 6 and verse 14. 07:53 Revelation 12, verse 6 and verse 14. 07:57 So go ahead and read verse 6, then 14. 07:59 >>Verse six says, "Then the woman fled 08:01 "into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared 08:03 "by God, that they should feed her there 08:05 one thousand two hundred and sixty days." 08:09 Then over in verse 14 it says, 08:11 "But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, 08:14 "that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, 08:17 "where she is nourished for a time and times 08:20 and half a time, from the presence of the serpent." 08:23 >>Forty-two months, 1,260 days, time, time, and half a time. 08:27 In the Jewish calendar, there were 30 days in a month. 08:29 So if you look at 30 times 42, it's 1,260. 08:33 Here you got 1,260. 08:35 Time, many translations say, 08:38 year, two years, half a year, 08:42 three and a half prophetic years, 42 months, 1,260 days. 08:46 So, if a prophetic day equals a year, 08:50 you've got 1,260 years, 42 months, 1,260 days, 1,260 years. 08:56 Babylon reign, then Medo-Persia, then Greece, then Rome. 08:59 The Roman Empire fell apart from about 351 AD to 476 AD. 09:05 By 538 AD, the papal power was 09:08 the dominant power in Europe. 09:12 The pagan Roman emperor, Justinian, gave to Vigilius II, 09:17 the pope of Rome, the civil and religious authority. 09:20 So the 1,260 years would've begun in 538. 09:24 1798, Berthier, the French general, looks down, 09:30 and he takes the pope captive 09:31 and brings the pope into captivity. 09:34 So the amazing thing is, that mathematically, 09:39 the papal power fits into 09:42 this prophecy remarkably. 09:46 Let's look at these four identifying characteristics. 09:49 The papal power receives 09:51 its authority from pagan Rome. 09:55 The papal power is a worldwide system 09:57 of worship, Revelation 13:5. 10:00 The papal power claims the authority of God to forgive sin. 10:03 The papal power reigned for 1,260 years. 10:06 So, here are some very clear historical facts 10:10 that identify the papacy 10:11 as a system of religious power 10:15 that rises in Revelation, chapter 13. 10:18 >>Pastor Mark, you mentioned that in 1798, 10:21 Napoleon's general Berthier took the pope into captivity. 10:24 Here in the lesson on Sunday, you mentioned a deadly wound. 10:27 How are these things related one to another? 10:30 >>Sure, in Revelation, chapter 13, 10:34 if you let your eyes drop down to a couple passages 10:37 in Revelation 13, verse 3, Revelation 13:3, 10:41 "And I saw one of his heads 10:42 as...it had been mortally wounded, 10:44 "and his deadly wound was healed. 10:46 "And all the world marveled...[after] the beast." 10:49 So, and then if you go down further 10:53 to the ninth verse, 10:56 go ahead and pick up verse nine. 10:58 >>Verse nine says, 10:59 "If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 11:01 "He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; 11:04 "he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. 11:07 Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." 11:09 >>So, this deadly wound would occur. 11:12 Napoleon is in the North, 11:14 he's in France, 11:15 he looks down to Italy, 11:17 he sees a dominant rival to him, 11:20 sends Berthier down. 11:21 He goes down in 1797, but pulls back. 11:25 Well, another general goes down in 1797, 11:27 but Berthier comes down in 1798, takes the pope captive. 11:30 He goes up to Valencia, in France, 11:32 and he dies there in captivity. 11:35 So it's a direct fulfillment to this prophecy, 11:38 exactly at the end of the 1,260 years, 11:41 exactly as the Bible says, exactly in the way 11:44 that he says the deadly wound takes place. 11:47 Interestingly enough, in 1928, Mussolini gives civil 11:51 and religious authority back to the pope. 11:54 And in the "San Francisco Chronicle," it says, 11:57 "Deadly wound is healed." 11:59 So, these prophecies--prophecy does not guess, 12:03 it knows. They've been fulfilled exactly. 12:05 >>And so we're seeing evidence, 12:06 after evidence, after evidence, 12:08 that the identification 12:10 that we have been studying here 12:13 over the last couple of weeks, 12:15 in fact, the identification that many Protestant scholars 12:17 over the years have made, is accurate. 12:21 There are some fanciful ideas 12:22 of, like you said, political 12:23 and business leaders today, fulfilling these, 12:26 but you can't fit everything 12:29 in those individuals. 12:32 Any other thoughts on this before we go to break? 12:35 >>I do, I have one thought on it, and it is this. 12:39 If you look at the reformers, 12:41 you look at Martin Luther, for example, 12:43 he saw in the antichrist, in the little horn power, 12:47 in the beast power, he saw the papacy. 12:50 You look at the Protestant--great Protestant reformers, 12:53 John Wycliffe, Huss, Jerome, all of these men saw, 12:58 in these prophecies, the prediction 13:02 of the rise of the papacy 13:04 that would substitute tradition for truth, 13:07 substitute the commandments of men 13:08 for the commandments of God. 13:10 Again, this is not speaking about individuals, 13:13 but we're looking at a system. 13:14 This is not some Johnny-come-lately, 13:17 pull a rabbit out of a hat, you know, trick, not at all. 13:21 It is rather, the clear historical chain 13:26 of truth outlined in Scripture. 13:28 >>One more powerful evidence 13:29 that we can, indeed, believe the Bible. 13:32 I wanna encourage you as you're studying the Bible 13:35 and getting to know it better, 13:36 make sure that you pick up the companion book 13:37 to this quarter's lesson. 13:39 It is called "Three Cosmic Messages" by Pastor Mark Finley, 13:42 and you will find it at itiswritten.shop. 13:46 It goes into more detail 13:47 on the subject that we're looking at today, 13:49 as well as many other subjects that we have covered. 13:51 itiswritten.shop, "Three Cosmic Messages" 13:54 by Pastor Mark Finley. 13:56 In just a moment, we will come back, 13:58 and we're going to be looking at, the one 14:01 that gets all the flash and the fanfare, 14:03 is the mark of the beast. 14:05 The one that often gets overlooked is the contrast 14:08 to the mark of the beast, and that is the seal of God, 14:11 and we're going to be delving into that in just a moment. 14:13 We'll see you back momentarily. 14:20 >>There's nothing like a great dad. 14:22 Great dads influence their children, 14:24 protect and grow their families, and contribute to society. 14:29 But the truth is, not every dad is a great dad. 14:33 There are plenty of average dads, and, sad but true, 14:38 there's no shortage of bad dads. 14:40 Bad dads are found all through the Bible, 14:43 God preserving their stories, 14:45 so we can avoid making the same mistakes they made. 14:48 Don't miss "Bad Dads and What They Teach Us." 14:51 Learn from the failings of some 14:53 of the most illustrious people in biblical history, 14:56 people who manage to make a mess of parenting. 15:00 There's hope for every parent 15:02 who doesn't always get it right, 15:04 and that's because the best dad of all wants 15:08 to see parents be all that they can be. 15:11 "Bad Dads and What They Teach Us," 15:13 brought to you by It Is Written TV. 15:20 You know that at It Is Written, 15:22 we are serious about studying the Word of God, 15:24 and we encourage you to be serious as well. 15:27 Well here's what you do if you want to dig deeper 15:29 into God's Word. Go to itiswritten.study 15:32 for the It Is Written Bible study guides online. 15:35 Twenty-five in-depth Bible studies that will take you 15:38 through the major teachings of the Bible. 15:40 You'll be blessed, and it's something you'll want 15:42 to tell others about as well. 15:43 itiswritten.study. 15:45 Go further, itiswritten.study. 15:50 (uplifting music) 15:55 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:56 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:58 We are looking at a fascinating subject this week 16:00 that is "The Seal of God and [the] Mark of the Beast." 16:03 Pastor Mark, we kind of-- 16:04 we left off on asking, what is the seal of God? 16:08 First of all, where do we read about the seal of God 16:11 in the book of Revelation? 16:13 Where do we find it? 16:14 >>We find it in Revelation, chapter 7 and verses 1 to 3 16:18 where it says, "After these things 16:20 "I saw four angels standing [on] the four corners 16:22 of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth." 16:25 Now wind is a symbol of destruction. 16:28 The four corners of the earth, 16:29 the four points of the compass, 16:31 north, south, east, west. 16:32 "That the wind," that is the wind of destruction 16:35 through the seven last plagues, 16:37 "should not blow on the earth, 16:38 "on the sea, or on any tree. 16:40 "Then I saw another angel...from the east, 16:42 "having the seal of the living God. 16:45 "And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels 16:47 "to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 16:50 "saying, 'Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees 16:54 "'till we have sealed the servants of...God 16:55 on their foreheads.'" 16:57 So we find that concept of the seal of God 17:01 in the light of the coming of Christ, 17:03 just before the seven last plagues, 17:05 here in Revelation, chapter seven. 17:08 We find the seal of God in contrast 17:10 to the mark of the beast. 17:12 >>So, if it's going to play a role 17:15 shortly before the seven last plagues, 17:17 shortly before Jesus comes back, 17:19 that would indicate that it's gonna be playing 17:20 a significant role very, very soon. 17:24 >>Exactly. 17:25 In fact, in these messages of the three angels, 17:28 that's why God has given this urgent message to mankind. 17:32 And we read in Revelation 14, could you read verse seven, 17:36 then verse nine, and then verse 12? 17:40 >>Verse seven says, 17:41 "Saying with a loud voice, 17:42 "'Fear God and give glory to Him, 17:44 "'for the hour of His judgment has come; 17:47 "'and worship Him who made heaven 17:48 and earth, the sea and [the] springs of water.'" 17:51 Verse nine says, "Then a third angel followed them, 17:54 "saying with a loud voice, 17:55 "'If anyone worships the beast and his image, 17:58 "'and receives his mark on his forehead or [in] his hand,'" 18:01 verse 10 talks about what's going to happen to them. 18:04 And then verse number 12 says, 18:05 "Here is the patience of the saints; 18:07 "here are those who keep the commandments of God 18:10 and the faith of Jesus." 18:11 >>Notice the contrasts. 18:13 Worship the Creator, verse seven, 18:16 don't worship the beast, verse nine, 18:18 and then, keep the commandments of God. 18:21 So the final conflict regarding the mark of the beast 18:25 and the seal of God is over worship. 18:28 This final conflict focuses on worshiping the Creator 18:32 and worshiping the beast. 18:34 So worshiping the Creator must be 18:38 in total harmony with the commandments. 18:42 So what commandment has to do with worshiping the Creator? 18:44 The Sabbath. 18:46 So the question becomes then, is the Sabbath 18:50 the visible symbol of the seal of God? 18:53 See, if somebody asked me, "What is the seal of God?" 18:55 It is a settling into God's truth, 18:58 spiritually and intellectually, 19:00 so you can never be moved. 19:02 But the visible manifestation of that settling 19:06 into God's truth, at a time 19:08 when an economic boycott has passed 19:10 and a death decree has passed, 19:12 the visible manifestation of the inner commitment 19:14 is the external keeping of the Sabbath. 19:16 So do we find the seal of God in the Sabbath commandment? 19:20 Well, let's go back and look at Exodus, chapter 20. 19:23 And I'll talk a little bit about ancient seals. 19:27 What was an ancient seal used for? 19:30 An ancient seal authenticated a legal document. 19:34 So if there was a legal document in ancient times, 19:37 they would have a seal. 19:39 Many thousands of seals have been discovered 19:43 by the archaeologists. 19:44 These seals would have the name of the sealer, typically, 19:49 some of them would, or the symbol of the sealer. 19:52 They would have the title of the sealer. 19:54 They would have the territory, 19:55 but there would be something that indicated name, 19:57 title, and territory of the sealer. 20:00 They often wouldn't have the exact name, 20:03 but the the seal would indicate the authority, 20:06 the one who has the authority to make that seal. 20:08 The key thing about a seal 20:10 is that they authenticate a legal document, 20:13 and they have to declare who is the one 20:16 who has the authority to authenticate that document. 20:19 The 10 Commandments were written by God, 20:21 on tables of stone, with His own finger. 20:24 Has He authenticated that document, and how has He? 20:28 Well, let's look at Exodus, chapter 20. 20:31 And why don't you read just right down, eight through 11? 20:35 >>Okay, verse eight says, 20:37 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 20:39 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 20:42 "but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 20:45 "In it you shall do no work: 20:46 "you, nor your son, nor your daughter, 20:48 "nor your male servant, 20:50 "nor your female servant, nor your cattle, 20:52 "nor your stranger who is within your gates. 20:55 "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, 20:57 "the sea, and all that is in them, 21:00 "and rested the seventh day. 21:01 "Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day 21:04 and hallowed it." 21:05 >>Now let's look at that carefully. 21:07 It says, "Remember the Sabbath day." 21:09 God said, "Remember," but human beings have forgotten. 21:12 He wrote these commandments, 21:14 with His own finger, on tables of stone. 21:18 He says, "Six days you shall labor, 21:19 "but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God." 21:22 There's His name, 21:23 He's the Lord your God. 21:26 Then it goes on to say, about doing no work therein, 21:30 and He says, "For in six days," verse 11, 21:34 "the Lord made heavens and earth, 21:37 "the sea, and all that in them is." 21:40 The Lord made, 21:41 He's a maker or creator, 21:43 that's His title. 21:44 He's the maker, and here's His domain, 21:47 heaven, earth, sea, and all that in them is. 21:49 "He rested the Sabbath, the seventh day. 21:51 "Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day 21:53 and hallowed it." 21:55 In the Sabbath commandment 21:56 you have the name of God, the Lord my God. 21:59 You have the title, is Creator, 22:02 and you have His domain, heaven, earth, and sea. 22:06 So the Sabbath commandment contains the seal of God. 22:10 Just like in the days of Daniel, 22:13 when Nebuchadnezzar built the golden image, 22:17 that the second commandment was a test question. 22:21 It revealed an inner faith, just like the first commandment 22:26 in the days of Daniel, when he was threatened not to pray 22:30 to any God except the king Darius, 22:34 and he went into the lions' den. 22:37 Just like Daniel, himself, had that faith, 22:43 the second commandment was a visible, external manifestation 22:45 of that inner faith. 22:48 The Sabbath commandment, worshiping the Creator, 22:52 at the climax of earth's history, 22:54 is a visible manifestation of genuine, 22:57 authentic faith in God. 23:00 And keeping the Sabbath 23:01 is not a legalistic form of salvation, 23:05 but it is a revelation of the faith of Christ 23:09 at a time of crisis. 23:11 Now, if the seal of God indeed is the Sabbath, 23:14 and if there's a test over the law of God, 23:17 how might we look at this conflict 23:18 between the seal of God and the mark of the beast? 23:21 >>So it seems that the mark of the beast 23:23 would have to stand 23:24 in contrast to it. >>It would. 23:25 >>If the manifestation of settling into the truth 23:29 for God is the recognition and the practice 23:32 of keeping the Sabbath, then the flip side 23:35 would have to be the mark of the beast. 23:37 >>Exactly. 23:38 You know, here, there's a couple things 23:40 that I think--couple statements that are quite critical. 23:44 If you look, for example, on page 100 of the quarterly, 23:47 there's a statement from the book 23:49 "Great Controversy," page 592. 23:53 Is that one that you have you could read? 23:55 >>It is. 23:56 Says, "Those who honor the Bible Sabbath 23:58 "will be denounced as enemies of law and order, 24:01 "as breaking down the moral restraints of society, 24:03 "causing anarchy and corruption, 24:06 "and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth. 24:09 "Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, 24:12 "stubbornness, and contempt of authority. 24:15 "They will be accused of disaffection 24:17 toward the government." 24:19 >>That's a pretty serious statement. 24:21 Now, how does that play into the mark of the beast, 24:23 and what might the mark of the beast is? 24:25 Why are they being claimed 24:29 as enemies of law and order? 24:32 Could it be that the opposite of Sabbath worship 24:36 is sun worship coming back into the church, 24:39 like in the days of Constantine? 24:41 Could it be that the mark of the beast, 24:44 is the mark of the papal power uniting 24:48 with the state and the economic leaders, 24:50 at a time of crisis, to initiate laws 24:53 to worship on Sunday, at a time the world's falling apart? 24:57 In "The American Catholic Quarterly Review," 25:01 January 1883, 25:03 I'm reading a statement that says, 25:05 "Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change," 25:09 that's the change of the Sabbath, "was her act.... 25:12 "And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power 25:15 and authority in religious matters." 25:17 So the church says that the change of the Sabbath, 25:21 from Saturday to Sunday, is a mark 25:23 of her ecclesiastical authority. 25:26 Well, if you change the law of God, 25:27 written with God's own finger on tables of stone, 25:29 you must have an authority greater than God. 25:32 Nobody has an authority greater than God, 25:34 He is the highest authority. 25:36 There are those that say it's impossible, 25:38 for example, that Sunday would ever become 25:41 a common day of rest and worship. 25:44 It's very interesting, 25:45 on June 6th, 2012, and I've listed this in the quarterly, 25:49 "Pope Benedict XVI made an urgent appeal 25:52 "to more than 15,000 people gathered 25:55 [at] St. Peter's Square in Rome." 25:57 And he said, "Sunday must be a day of rest for everyone." 26:00 And he goes on to say, 26:01 "By defending Sunday, one defends human freedom." 26:05 Now this isn't, of course, calling for Sunday legislation, 26:09 but what it is saying is 26:12 that--it is preparing the way for that. 26:15 It's saying, look, Sunday is a day for workers to rest. 26:20 It's a day for social opportunity with our family. 26:23 It's a day for shops to be closed. 26:25 The mind is being conditioned 26:27 to accept this Sunday law in the future. 26:29 In fact, in Europe, there is a movement right now, today. 26:34 In some places in Europe, there's a movement 26:37 to have Sunday as a day of rest for laborers, 26:40 not so much a worship day because Europe is quite secular, 26:44 but you can see at a time of crisis, 26:47 at a time of earthquake, famine, fire, flood, war, 26:51 threat of nuclear war, 26:53 it might be possible for these prophecies to be fulfilled. 26:57 I think it's highly likely that they could. 26:59 >>Yeah, I think we're getting closer and closer to that. 27:02 And if you're paying attention to what's happening 27:04 in the world around you, and I hope that you are, 27:06 and if you're paying attention 27:07 to what the Bible says is happening right now, 27:09 and will be happening in the near future, 27:12 you're aware of some of the things 27:13 that are shortly going to come to pass on this earth. 27:16 And it has been very interesting 27:17 to look at what's happening in the news, 27:18 especially in Europe with some of these things. 27:21 But God has not left us to be ignorant of what's happening, 27:24 He gives us plenty of opportunity to know what's going on 27:28 and to prepare for what's going on. 27:30 It's not just a matter of a day. 27:33 It's a matter of something much deeper, 27:35 and that's of heart and loyalty. 27:38 And what God is doing today, 27:40 is He's calling people to trust Him, 27:42 to believe in Him, to have faith in Him, 27:45 and to walk forward in the truth that He has shown them. 27:48 And my hope and prayer 27:50 is that God is encouraging you 27:51 to do the very same thing. 27:53 Pastor Mark, thank you for joining us 27:54 again this week. >>Thank you. 27:55 >>And thank you for joining us. 27:56 Next week, we will get together again 27:59 for our final time this quarter, 28:01 as we pull together the last thoughts 28:02 on "Three Cosmic Messages." 28:05 God bless you, and we'll see you next week. 28:08 (uplifting music) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-06-13