Salvation in Symbols and Signs

Unmasking the Mark of the Beast, part 1

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ivor Myers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Yvonne Lewis, Jason Bradley

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Series Code: SISS

Program Code: SISS000057A


00:30 So we left off in Romans chapter 13,
00:33 now it's really good because Roman 13... Revelation 13...
00:37 it will be easy for us to remember
00:39 so that we can put these two chapters together...
00:41 we've got to put these two chapters together
00:43 because what's happening in the world today is imbalance
00:48 it's extremism... it's reaction of one of two extremes
00:52 and what God is calling us to in Romans 13
00:55 gives us a good outline of this... is balance.
00:57 How do we relate to civil government
00:59 and how does the Christian or the believer relate to laws
01:04 so that we're not totally
01:07 abandoning the morality,
01:10 the civil government... supporting the government
01:12 and at the same time we're not going to the extreme
01:13 and forcing religious laws
01:15 upon people who want religious... whatsoever,
01:18 how do we call that or walk that balance?
01:21 How do we...
01:22 how do we make sure we're in line with the principles
01:25 of civil government and at the same time...
01:27 we're in line with the principles of heaven?
01:29 And I think Paul is...
01:31 that's what Paul is outlining for us in Romans 13,
01:32 so we need to start with a word of prayer
01:34 and we'll just pick up where we left off in Romans 13,
01:36 Jason, would you pray for us?
01:38 Sure, "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you
01:40 that we have the chance to study your Word again
01:43 as we continue to dig deeper into Revelation,
01:46 we ask that you would help us to fully understand it,
01:49 retain the information that we're studying
01:51 and please be with our Viewers as well,
01:53 send the Holy Spirit to be with us
01:54 and to be with them, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. "
01:56 All: "Amen. "
01:58 And James, before you jump in there,
02:00 I think it would be good for us to kind of re-cap a little bit
02:03 of how we're getting to Romans chapter 13.
02:06 James: Okay.
02:07 Ivor: So, we were looking at the lamb-like beast
02:10 in our last program, we talked about the lamb-like beast
02:14 and how this is actually a symbol of apostate Protestantism
02:17 "horns like a lamb... speaks like a dragon... "
02:20 and so we began to talk about the relevance of it today.
02:26 Okay, how we see two elements emerging in our Country,
02:33 this polarization...
02:34 you have people who are either anti-religious
02:37 or people who are religious and want to use the Government
02:41 to enforce their particular view of religion
02:45 and we talked about how these two sides are basically
02:49 going further and further apart
02:52 and you see this anger, this... you know... just unrest
02:58 as it were, by-the-way, by-the-way...
03:00 it is this... the continuance of this kind of anger
03:06 that is going to really set the stage
03:08 for the counterfeit appearing of Christ,
03:10 just to let you know... this... when the world is like,
03:14 because, the world is going to be crying out for peace...
03:17 right... things are going to get so bad
03:20 we need peace and we need safety
03:23 and the one who is going to come with the answer
03:25 for peace and safety is Satan himself.
03:28 Hmmm...
03:29 Okay, but, we'll get there,
03:31 but the whole idea is that we've got these two issues
03:33 of a group of people saying, "Hey, as Christians,
03:36 we should have nothing to do with the Government
03:38 because the Government is evil... "
03:42 right, you have other Christians who are like...
03:45 other people who are like,
03:46 "Hey, as Christians
03:48 we need to totally take over the Government,
03:50 we need to...
03:53 there's no such thing as separation of Church and State,
03:55 we need to rue... turn this nation back to God
03:59 and this is how we do it... "
04:00 and on the third hand you have people
04:02 who are just against religion altogether
04:04 so, those are the three elements where we're looking at balance
04:07 as we jump into Romans chapter 10
04:09 we see, "Okay, how as Christians...
04:11 how do you respond?
04:12 James: Romans 13... Ivor: Romans 13...
04:14 James: Yeah. Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm...
04:15 James: And what's really interesting here,
04:16 maybe we can just start by reading the first verses,
04:18 we didn't read the first verses,
04:20 we need to get the context of Romans 13
04:22 so, let's read Romans 13, beginning with verse 1,
04:26 Yvonne, can you start there for us?
04:28 Yvonne: Sure.
04:29 James: And let's just read all the way through to verse 5.
04:31 Yvonne: Okay, Romans 13:1,
04:36 "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.
04:39 For there's no authority except from God:
04:41 and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
04:44 Therefore, whoever resists the authority,
04:47 resists the ordinance of God:
04:49 and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
04:52 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. "
04:56 Let me read that again,
04:57 "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.
05:01 Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?
05:04 do what is good,
05:05 and you will have praise from the same.
05:07 For he is God's minister to you for good
05:10 but if you do evil, be afraid;
05:11 for he does not bear the sword in vain:
05:14 for he is God's minister,
05:16 an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.
05:20 Therefore, you must be subject not only because of wrath,
05:23 but also for conscience sake. "
05:25 James: So, this is amazing when you think about this
05:29 because Paul is talking here and the context is
05:32 total context about the Pagan Roman Government
05:35 and that Government was not supportive
05:38 of the new "Christian" faith... or belief...
05:40 but Paul here is saying, "Hey, basically,
05:43 God sets up rulers and He brings down rulers
05:45 and these guys have a job that they're supposed to do
05:48 and a job that's assigned to them of God
05:50 and their job is... to take care of evil...
05:52 and so, if you do what's good,
05:55 you don't have to be afraid of them... "
05:56 now, it may be as Paul is saying that these powers
05:59 that are supposed to take care of evil
06:01 might be even persecuting the good,
06:02 but that's something you leave with the Lord,
06:05 the main thing is, and he's giving it out here
06:08 in verse 6,
06:09 the main thing is... is that we need to be good citizens
06:12 so he says in verse six...
06:13 "For this cause pay tribute also:
06:16 for they are God's ministers,
06:17 attending continually on this very thing. Therefore... "
06:19 verse seven... "Render therefore to all their dues:
06:21 tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom;
06:23 fear to whom fear: honour to whom honour. "
06:25 In other words, we need to pay our taxes
06:27 and so, that brings up an issue,
06:30 and the issue would be... in our current society...
06:33 the issue would be abortion,
06:35 now, I'm just going to bring this up
06:37 just to be able to help us to understand
06:40 the practical instruction that Paul is giving here, abortion...
06:43 So, some might say, "Well, I don't want to pay my taxes
06:46 because the Government is using tax dollars to fund abortion
06:50 through Planned Parenthood so I don't want to pay my taxes"
06:54 Paul is saying, "No, you need to pay your taxes"
06:58 but that doesn't mean that we cannot, as Christians,
07:01 be against abortion and even, in a political sense,
07:04 if we have an opportunity, vote for whatever kind of bill
07:10 might be coming up that would be against abortion,
07:13 so we can be politically engaged, Paul is saying here,
07:17 we can be politically engaged
07:18 and we should pay our dues and our taxes
07:20 as long as it has to do... we read these verses already...
07:23 with all of the commandments
07:26 relating to how we relate to our fellowman,
07:28 "Love thy neighbor as thyself... "
07:30 okay, so, if you love your neighbor as yourself,
07:33 you don't want to kill the unborn immigrants,
07:36 you know there's a lot of talk about immigration today,
07:39 so there are immigrants
07:40 that are trying to immigrate into our country from mothers
07:45 they're unborn immigrants...
07:47 we don't want to deny them access,
07:50 we don't want to allow them or cause them to die,
07:56 so we want to support legislation that says...
07:59 that's for life... pro-life... as Christians we can do that.
08:03 Any commandment that has to do
08:05 with how we relate to our neighbor,
08:07 we can support politically but what Paul leaves out of this
08:11 is the first four commandments, never touches them
08:14 it's really interesting because in verse 9,
08:17 we looked at this already but just... one more time,
08:19 we'll look at it again,
08:20 "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery"
08:22 okay, "Thou shalt not kill...
08:24 Thou shalt not bear false witness... "
08:28 so you've got commandment number seven,
08:32 commandment number six, commandment number nine,
08:34 "Thou shalt not covet" commandment number ten,
08:36 and then he goes on...
08:39 he's done naming specific commandments
08:40 so then he goes on and he summarizes,
08:42 and he says, "and if there be any other commandment... "
08:44 well, are there other commandments?
08:46 Other than number six, number seven, number eight,
08:48 number nine... are there other commandments?
08:50 Yvonne and James: One through four.
08:51 James: Then he says, "if there be any other commandment,
08:53 it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,
08:55 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. "
08:58 Do those other four commandments...
09:00 are they comprehended in that one phrase,
09:02 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?"
09:04 No... they're not...
09:06 they're summarized with the phrase,
09:08 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God...
09:10 with all thy heart, mind and soul... "
09:12 so, notice this, he is very intentional about
09:16 leaving out the first four commandments
09:17 and then when he summarizes, he's very intentional
09:20 about not allowing that summary
09:22 to apply to the first four commandments
09:25 because Paul is making a point here
09:27 that we have incorporated in this nation
09:29 going way back to the very beginning
09:31 and that point is actually revealed, in, for example,
09:36 an etching in the Supreme Court of the United States of America
09:39 if you go in the building,
09:40 there's an etching there of the Justices...
09:42 and in that etching, there's the Ten Commandments
09:44 there are the two plaques... are there...
09:47 and one of the Justices has his leg
09:50 that completely obscures
09:52 the first table of the Ten Commandments
09:54 in other words, they're... you can't see them...
09:57 they're not there... because the way the etching is set up
10:00 the leg of the Justice is covering it
10:02 and the second table of the commandments
10:05 is completely open to view and the point is
10:07 the Supreme Court of the United States of America
10:10 can rule on all those commandments
10:12 that have to do with how we treat one another
10:14 but it cannot rule on those commandments
10:16 that have to do with how we worship God,
10:18 I'm not saying that it can't rule on them,
10:19 it can in the sense that it wouldn't enforce them,
10:22 it would protect against any laws
10:25 that would be violating these first four commandments
10:27 so it's covered up, in the sense that we do not enforce laws,
10:30 we do not support laws
10:32 that would deal with these first four commandments,
10:33 it's exactly the same thing that Paul is saying
10:35 in Romans chapter 13... the same thing.
10:38 So, for this balance what we would say is
10:40 as we look at the political scenario and agenda
10:44 we would say,
10:45 "If there's any law that has to do with
10:47 how we treat our neighbors,
10:49 we can be supportive of that law... "
10:51 we can vote for a law that's in harmony
10:53 with the principles of the Law of God.
10:55 Yvonne: Right.
10:56 James: But, if there's a law that's being pushed
10:59 that has to do with how we worship God,
11:01 we can't support that... we have to back away from that
11:03 and this is where the confusion is coming in...
11:05 I think... in religion today
11:08 because what you see happening is...
11:11 we have Christians who are not...
11:14 who are feeling that they can't be involved with politics
11:16 when it comes to those last six commandments,
11:18 so they feel like,
11:19 "Awww... we can't really vote against abortion because
11:22 that would be a violation of religious liberty
11:24 for other people who want to have abortions. "
11:27 "We can't really vote against same-sex marriage
11:30 because that would be
11:32 a violation of religious principles
11:33 that have to do with people who want same-sex marriage. "
11:36 Well, according to the Bible, that's not true.
11:38 According to the Bible, we actually can...
11:40 we can vote against those laws
11:42 that violate the principles that we believe
11:44 are part of the last six commandments,
11:46 we can do that without compromising
11:49 "religious liberty"
11:50 but when the compromise takes place...
11:52 is when we start voting for,
11:54 and being politically active,
11:56 in laws that have to do with the first four commandments.
11:58 Yvonne: But you know what ends up happening is
12:01 each... and I don't want to get too political
12:04 but each party has its platform
12:06 and so one can say,
12:10 "Well, I like these things that this party supports
12:14 but not this. "
12:16 And so, what you find yourself doing is
12:18 you end up aligning yourself with a party that...
12:22 whose total platform you might not embrace,
12:25 so, then you have to... you know...
12:28 if you can vote on issues, that's the way to do it
12:33 but because there's this polarization
12:37 here in this Country and you're either Democrat or Republican...
12:41 James: Take all of it or none of it.
12:42 Yvonne: And that's the... that's...
12:44 that's where it becomes a flaw,
12:46 if we could vote issues,
12:47 I think, we'd all be like, "That's great... "
12:49 but we can't really vote issues without embracing the platform.
12:56 James: Things that we don't believe in.
12:57 Yvonne: Exactly... as Christians it does call for us
13:02 to really be... to really see God on what we're doing
13:07 and to focus on what... as you said James...
13:10 what the Bible is saying,
13:12 we have to focus on the principles of the Bible,
13:14 does the Bible say that this is okay?
13:17 if it doesn't... then no matter...
13:20 whether we embrace other parts of this party or not
13:23 if the Bible says, "No... " then it's no...
13:26 and that's what we have to do as Christians, I think,
13:29 because otherwise we... we can get so caught up
13:33 into what's going on
13:34 and I think it's an important discussion
13:36 because we're looking at the relevance
13:38 of these Scriptures as it pertains to current events
13:42 and I just feel like we have to give...
13:46 we just have to stay in the Word...
13:49 because the Word is telling us,
13:51 "This is the way, walk ye therein
13:54 these things are okay... these things are not. "
13:56 So, I think if we can... if we could deal with just issues
14:00 that would be... that will be great.
14:02 Ivor: I think that it's... like I said earlier...
14:07 this entire... the turmoil that we see going on
14:12 is actually prophetic,
14:13 you know, God is showing us ahead of time,
14:16 these are the things that are going to happen
14:18 He's showing us this polarization
14:21 but He's ultimately showing us again,
14:23 "This is who is going to win out. "
14:26 So, as we look at the Lamb, we have to remember that
14:29 "while it looks like a Lamb,
14:31 it's going to speak like a dragon"
14:33 right, and so, realizing... we talk about...
14:36 we were saying this a little bit earlier that
14:40 as Christians, we need to stand in a place
14:45 where we can reach both sides of this turmoil
14:51 especially in this Country and even around the world
14:53 but we have to be able to...
14:55 to stand with... um...
15:01 those who uphold those six commandments
15:06 and agree with them and say, "Hey, you know what?
15:08 as Christians, it's our duty to stand with you on this. "
15:12 On the other hand, as we were talking earlier,
15:15 we need to stand with those who may not agree with Christianity
15:20 but have some principle of right, where we're like,
15:23 "Yeah, you know what? you're not supposed to hate,
15:25 even if these people don't stand for what you stand for,
15:28 you can't hate on these people" right,
15:30 "you can't have that kind of attitude
15:32 of 'I'm better than you... '" or whatever,
15:35 so, we have to be able to stand in the place
15:38 where we can minister to both sides
15:40 because a time is coming where we are going to...
15:45 it's going to be a... the Bible calls it a "time of trouble"
15:49 and God has called us to be able to minister to everybody,
15:54 right, and so, we've got to find that balance
15:57 of how do I minister to the people that
16:00 really are seeing things from two opposite experiences.
16:05 Yvonne: Yes, yes...
16:07 Jason: We need to look at Jesus and how He did it
16:09 because He was surrounded by people who hated on Him
16:12 and hated Him
16:13 and the way that He carried Himself and conducted Himself,
16:17 with those people, I mean, He's our example in all things,
16:20 so, we just need to stay focused on Christ.
16:23 Ivor: Which is a very good point because
16:25 this is kind of taking us back in Revelation 13
16:30 but the reason that Christ was ultimately crucified
16:36 was because the Jews of His time...
16:41 they put a nation above God.
16:48 This super nationalism that said,
16:56 "Hey, it is expedient for us that one man perish...
16:58 that the whole... " what?
17:00 "nation doesn't perish... " guess what?
17:02 That same principle is going to be put to the people of God.
17:08 You know what? "Man! These people...
17:11 they're not willing to go along with... and you know what?
17:13 It's expedient for us that this small group of people
17:16 who keep the commandments of God
17:18 and have the testimony...
17:20 it's expedient for us that they perish
17:22 that the whole nation perish not... "
17:24 because remember, it's going to be...
17:26 "This is God's nation...
17:27 and we've got to do whatever we can to protect God's nation,
17:31 if it means, getting rid of a group of people
17:34 who refused to go along with these laws,
17:37 that had now gone beyond the six commandments,
17:40 but the first four... "
17:42 we see that very same principle
17:44 is going to play itself out at the end of time.
17:46 James: You know it's really interesting because
17:50 Romans 13 not only lays out these principles
17:52 that are vital for us in the end of time
17:55 but notice what Paul says as he closes out these verses,
17:58 in Romans 13, we read here in Romans 13:10,
18:02 and this is what Ivor was saying,
18:04 he was basically saying,
18:05 "Love works no ill to his neighbor:
18:07 for love is the fulfilling of the law. "
18:09 So, the whole idea that Jason was bringing out about...
18:12 "We need to follow Christ... " which by-the-way is
18:15 the answer to Revelation 13... it's in Revelation 14,
18:18 the answer to Revelation 13 and how we relate to this crisis
18:22 is, "Follow the Lamb wherever He goes"
18:24 that's Revelation 14,
18:25 Paul has the same point here, he says in verse 11,
18:29 "And that, knowing the time,
18:31 that now it is high time to awake out of sleep:
18:34 for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed,
18:37 for the night is far spent, the day is at hand:
18:40 let us therefore... " verse 12...
18:42 "cast off the works of darkness,
18:44 and let us put on the armour of light.
18:47 Let us walk honestly, as in the day;
18:49 not in rioting and drunkenness,
18:51 not in chambering and wantonness,
18:52 not in strife and envying.
18:54 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
18:55 and make not provision for the flesh,
18:57 to fulfil the lust thereof. "
18:58 And his point is, sometimes we're poor Christians
19:04 and we compromise... in our own lives
19:09 which leads us to compromise
19:11 in relation to the Government and the powers that be
19:13 and we can't do that.
19:15 Yvonne: That's right.
19:16 James: Jesus is able to hold to righteousness
19:18 while He loved people,
19:20 He could say to the woman, "I don't condemn you... "
19:22 at the same time "go and sin no more... "
19:23 and that's the balance,
19:25 that's the difficult balance that God is calling us to
19:28 the problem in Revelation chapter 13 is...
19:30 that these guys go over the line
19:33 and we know that because
19:35 as you read Revelation chapter 13,
19:36 you see a word that's picked up here,
19:38 over and over again,
19:40 I'm going to read a couple of verses
19:41 and you tell me what the word is,
19:43 verse 4, "And they worshipped the dragon
19:46 which gave power unto the beast:
19:47 and they worshipped the beast... "
19:49 okay, that's the first time it's mentioned,
19:51 then it goes down here and even in verse 3,
19:53 "all the world wondered after the beast... "
19:56 and then you have it again in verse 15,
20:02 "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast,
20:04 that the image of the beast should both speak,
20:06 and cause as many as would not worship
20:08 the image of the beast should be killed. "
20:10 Over and over again, throughout all of this,
20:12 verse 12, "And he exerciseth all the power
20:15 of the first beast before him,
20:16 and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein
20:17 to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. "
20:20 Over and over again, you see this word,
20:22 and what is the word?
20:23 Jason: Worship... James: Worship.
20:25 Worship belongs to one person and one person only
20:29 and who is that person?
20:30 Yvonne: God. James: God...
20:31 and so, these powers are causing the world to worship
20:35 an earthly kingdom... an earthly power
20:37 because the beast represents earthly kingdoms or powers,
20:40 Daniel 7:17 and 23,
20:42 so, the worship that is due only to God,
20:45 is being directed to earthly powers and earthly kings
20:49 and earthly rulers... and that's where we draw the line,
20:53 and that's what Romans 13 is bringing out.
20:55 Yes, we need to be participating politically in laws
20:59 that violate the last six commandments
21:02 and anything that has to do with loving your neighbor as yourself
21:04 but we should back away from participating in laws
21:08 that have to do with worshipping God...
21:09 with the worship of God
21:11 and if we pull out completely, we lose our influence
21:17 with those people who follow the principles of Romans 13...
21:21 follow the Bible principles,
21:23 so, in order for us to be balanced,
21:25 we have to follow the principles
21:27 that are laid out in the Word of God...
21:29 follow those principles and then when we hold the line
21:31 and they say, "Well, why are you doing that?"
21:33 Well, because, the Bible prohibits us
21:34 from going any further than this.
21:36 Jason: A lot of this reminds me of Israel
21:38 when they were dying to have a king, you know,
21:41 they were begging for a king,
21:42 and they wanted to get out of the theocracy-type thing
21:46 and enter into a monarchy and it was... it was...
21:51 it was like, "You have God ruling and leading
21:56 but yet, you want to follow man and then take on those customs,"
22:02 and then they begin...
22:04 they were constantly backsliding and compromising
22:06 and so, it's like, "You have the Creator of the universe
22:11 but yet, you're so stuck on following man
22:17 and what everybody else is doing. "
22:20 James: Yeah, and you see that same principle here
22:23 in Revelation chapter 13.
22:24 So, so, our safety is following the Word of God
22:29 and the way that it's outlined here...
22:31 and we need to be careful
22:32 because it's easy for us to become so sympathetic toward
22:35 and loving toward people
22:37 that we start compromising with their sin.
22:39 Ivor: Right. Yvonne: Right.
22:40 James: At the same time, it's easy for us to become
22:43 so filled with enmity or hatred towards sin
22:46 that we start hating the sinner
22:49 and God calls us to hold to the balance...
22:52 hold to the balance... and this is where it is.
22:54 Ivor: Because what's happening now in Society is...
22:56 like, the Left is going so far left
23:01 that it is angering the Right, you know what I'm saying
23:06 and so, you got this... and you got this...
23:10 this pendulum, right, that keeps swinging
23:13 and every time it goes through, it just goes...
23:17 and at one point, I mean, it goes so far left
23:19 that when it swings back right...
23:21 James: It's going to go too far that way.
23:22 Ivor: it's going to go...
23:24 and at some point, it's going to go too far
23:26 and... I mean, we're living in a time now where we're seeing,
23:31 "Whoa, that time could be very quick... "
23:33 of course, no one knows the day or the hour
23:36 but no one knows when that time actually begins
23:38 but with the anger that you see out in Society today,
23:42 it's very easy to see how quickly...
23:44 how we can get to that time.
23:46 All: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
23:48 James: So, Revelation chapter 13 let's get back in there
23:51 because we have, still, to identify the Mark of the Beast
23:53 and it's going to take us a little bit
23:56 as we go through this because, what we have here
23:58 is, we've identified two earthly powers...
24:00 the Papacy and the United States
24:02 but it says here that there's going to be a mark
24:05 that is related to these powers, the Mark of the Beast,
24:08 the Mark of this earthly power that is going to be enforced
24:11 so no man can buy or sell,
24:13 now, what we do know about this... the Mark of the Beast
24:15 firstly, is that it has to do with worship,
24:18 worshipping these beasts or these earthly kingdoms
24:22 what's interesting is when you compare Revelation 13
24:26 with Revelation 14,
24:27 you have a call in Revelation 14 to worship also
24:30 so there's a key word there that's in both chapters...
24:33 let's just read this verse in Revelation 14,
24:37 and glean from it what the context of worship is
24:40 in this verse, it's Revelation 14 and verse 7,
24:43 and the context is,
24:46 another angel flying in the midst of heaven
24:47 having the everlasting gospel
24:48 to preach to them through all the earth
24:50 to every nation, kindred, tongue and people,
24:52 Jason, verse 7 says what?
24:53 Jason: "Saying with a loud voice,
24:55 Fear God, and give glory to him;
24:57 for the hour of his judgment is come:
24:59 and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea,
25:02 and the fountains of waters. "
25:03 James: Whoa... okay... worship "Him... " God
25:08 who made heaven and earth and the seas
25:09 and the fountains of water...
25:10 this call is a call to worship God... in fact,
25:12 Jason, if you read for us this verse, verse 9...
25:14 notice what it says here,
25:15 "And the third angel followed them,
25:17 saying with a loud voice,
25:19 If any man worship the beast and his image,
25:21 and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand.
25:25 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God... "
25:29 James: Okay, let's stop right there.
25:31 So, you have a call to worship God
25:33 and in that context
25:35 another warning against worshipping the beast.
25:37 So, the issue is worship, and there are two calls to worship,
25:41 one call is to worship earthly powers
25:43 and another call is to worship God
25:45 and God gives a warning against worshipping earthly powers
25:48 and receiving the Mark of the Beast
25:50 so the Mark of the Beast is directly connected
25:52 to the worshipping of these earthly powers
25:54 in contrast with worshipping God,
25:55 and here's why... I'll close this up... verse 12,
25:59 Yvonne, can you read that for us?
26:01 Yvonne: "Here is the patience of the saints:
26:03 here are those that keep the commandments of God,
26:05 and the faith of Jesus.
26:07 James: Now, this is really interesting
26:08 because in the commandments of God,
26:10 we have the call to worship God who created the heaven and earth
26:14 and the seas and fountains of waters.
26:15 Yvonne: Yes.
26:16 James: I mean, when you think about it,
26:18 there are only two days of worship in the Christian world.
26:21 Yvonne: That's right. James: Just two...
26:22 so, in the Bible you have two calls to worship...
26:24 and in the Christian world, you have two days of worship.
26:26 Yvonne: Hmmm...
26:27 James: Have you ever noticed that?
26:28 think about this because... because the two days of worship
26:32 are contrary to each other,
26:35 it's either one day or the other,
26:36 people who worship on this day, don't worship on this day...
26:38 people who worship on this day don't worship on this day.
26:40 Jason: And that's the first and the last.
26:41 James: Yes! the first and the last!
26:43 Yvonne: Yeah.
26:44 James: The first day of the week is Sunday
26:46 and the last day of the week is Saturday, okay,
26:48 so you've got these people who worship on Saturday
26:51 and the reason why they worship on Saturday
26:53 is because they find that Saturday is the seventh day
26:57 that is outlined in the Word of God.
26:59 Yvonne: Right.
27:00 James: It is the Sabbath of the Bible
27:03 and so, this call to worship...
27:05 this distinction between these two groups
27:07 becomes the centerpiece
27:09 of this "Mark of the Beast" controversy
27:11 in Revelation chapters 13 and 14.
27:13 Yvonne: And isn't it interesting
27:14 that the issue that the enemy has is worship...
27:19 he wants worship...
27:21 so, it stands to reason because he has...
27:25 for everything that God has, he has a counterfeit
27:28 so, this is... we're looking at the counterfeit
27:31 but it's interesting that in Revelation 13,
27:36 there is going to be a civil enforcement
27:41 so if you don't worship the beast,
27:44 you're in trouble...
27:47 with the law...
27:49 James: We are just...
27:51 we are just laying the foundation for this
27:52 and it's a good foundation. Yvonne: Yeah.
27:54 James: We're going to come back
27:55 and we're going to really unpack it,
27:56 we are going to unpack this.
27:58 Yvonne: This is some rich stuff here...
27:59 it's rich... praise the Lord.


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Revised 2017-06-19