Participants:
Series Code: ICJ
Program Code: ICJ190026B
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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. |
Revised 2019-12-02