Participants:
Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023023S
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:17 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:18 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:20 We're delighted that you could join us once again this week. 00:23 We are making rapid progress 00:25 through this quarter's series of lessons. 00:27 In fact, we've only got two to go, 00:29 well, three to go, two after today's program. 00:32 We're on lesson number 11, looking at 00:34 "The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast: Part 1," 00:37 which of course, implies that there's going to be a Part 2, 00:40 which will be next week, 00:41 but we got a little ground to cover between now and then. 00:44 Our guest this week as each week this quarter 00:46 is going to be Pastor Mark Finley, 00:48 he's an international speaker and evangelist. 00:51 You're well accustomed to hearing him 00:53 share thoughts on this, 00:54 because of course, he is the author 00:56 of this quarter's lesson. 00:57 We'll be hearing from him in just a moment. 01:00 But before we do, we're gonna spend a moment in prayer. 01:02 Let's pray. 01:03 Father, we wanna thank You for being with us, 01:06 for guiding and directing our study. 01:08 And as we look at a significant subject this week, 01:11 we ask that You would illumine our minds 01:14 so that we may understand where we are 01:16 in the grand scheme of things and what is shortly to come. 01:21 Help us to end up on the right side 01:23 in this great controversy. 01:24 We ask in Jesus' name, 01:25 amen. >>Amen. 01:27 >>Pastor Mark, this week, 01:29 "The Seal of God and Mark of the Beast: Part 1". 01:33 Welcome, we're glad that you're gonna lead us through this. 01:35 >>I'm so glad to do that. 01:36 You know, you can't cover this topic 01:39 that's so deep and detailed in one lesson. 01:41 So, we've kind of split it into two lessons, 01:44 looking at what is the mark of the beast, 01:46 who is the beast power, 01:48 what issues are coming in the future, 01:50 and what is the seal of God 01:51 and how can I receive the seal of God? 01:53 So, we'll look at that in both lessons. 01:54 >>So these are some, can be, some controversial subjects, 01:57 but we're gonna base what we study 01:59 on the Bible as we always do 02:01 and come to some conclusions 02:03 that are sound, make sense, and profoundly biblical. 02:09 I wanna begin by reading the first couple of paragraphs 02:11 that you have penned in this week's lesson. 02:15 It says, "As we study end-time events 02:17 "in regard to the mark of the beast, 02:18 "one crucial point that comes through 02:20 "is the difference between how God operates 02:23 "and how the enemy of souls does. 02:26 "As we have been studying, the central issues 02:28 "in the great controversy between Christ and Satan, 02:30 "[focus on] loyalty, authority, and worship. 02:33 "The prophecies describing the beast power in Revelation 13, 02:37 "the little horn in Daniel 7, 02:38 "and the 'son of perdition' in 2 Thessalonians 2 02:41 "all speak of a power that 02:43 "usurps God's authority, commands loyalty, 02:47 "and introduces a counterfeit system of worship. 02:50 "And [they do] so through the use of force, 02:52 "coercion, and at times bribes and rewards-- 02:56 all in order to compel worship." 02:59 I wonder if you might reflect on 03:01 those statements for a moment 03:03 and help launch us into this week's lesson. 03:06 >>Sure, thank you. 03:08 The essence of the beast power 03:12 is-- the beast power attempts to usurp God's authority. 03:16 Satan uses deception to accomplish that, 03:19 and he does it through deception, coercion, 03:23 the restriction of religious liberty. 03:26 He does it through force and pressure, 03:29 economic boycott, and the threats of a death decree. 03:32 The weapon that God has is love, 03:35 the weapon that God has is truth. 03:38 So, you see this contrast between the beast power 03:42 with his attempt to force and coerce, 03:45 with God attempting to love 03:48 and win us through His mercy and grace. 03:52 You see on this hand, the devil working through deception 03:56 and God working through truth. 03:58 And that's what this final controversy, 04:00 Pastor Eric, is all about. 04:02 >>You know, when you look at effective ways 04:04 to get someone to do something, 04:05 I've often heard it said that 04:07 fear is a great short-term motivator. 04:10 If someone is holding a gun to your head, 04:13 you're inclined to do what they ask, 04:15 but when they take that gun away, 04:18 you're less inclined to do what they wanted you to do. 04:21 Love, on the other hand, is a great long-term motivator. 04:25 And so, God is looking for people who will follow Him, 04:28 who will serve Him, who will glorify Him 04:31 out of love rather than fear. 04:33 >>Exactly, and that's what 04:35 the great theme of Revelation is all about. 04:37 The winsomeness of Christ, the majesty of Christ, 04:43 the power of Christ, the grace of Christ, 04:45 the mercy of Christ, to win us to Himself. 04:49 He uses, not force, but love. 04:51 >>With that in mind, 04:53 Sunday's lesson is titled "Steadfast Endurance." 04:57 "Steadfast Endurance," and the passage 04:59 that you reference there is Revelation 14, verse number 12, 05:04 and this is, I think, a familiar passage to many. 05:07 But in Revelation 14, verse 12 it says, 05:09 "Here is the patience of the saints; 05:12 "here are those who keep the commandments of God 05:16 and the faith of Jesus." 05:19 So, "the patience of the saints," 05:21 this idea of steadfast endurance, 05:24 what can you help us to understand about that? 05:26 >>Well, there's a couple things here 05:27 that I think are important. 05:29 One, is it'll take steadfast endurance 05:31 to get through the coming conflict. 05:33 The Bible predicts, as we'll get into in this very lesson, 05:36 that there's a time coming when nobody can buy or sell. 05:38 There'll be a death decree hanging over our heads 05:41 and it'll take steadfast endurance. 05:45 There are those who believe that 05:46 we will be raptured before the time of trouble. 05:49 But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego 05:51 weren't raptured before the fiery furnace. 05:53 They went in, but Christ was there with them. 05:56 Daniel was not raptured before the lions' den. 05:58 He went in, but was protected by God. 06:01 The Israelites were not raptured 06:03 before the plagues were poured out in Egypt. 06:07 They survived through the plagues 06:09 and were delivered after the plagues. 06:11 And the book of Corinthians says, 06:13 "All these things happened [to] them [as] examples: 06:15 "and...are written for our admonition, 06:17 upon whom the ends of the world are come." 06:19 So the Bible teaches that 06:21 we will go through the final crisis trusting God, 06:25 but then, notice what our text says. 06:27 It says, here is the steadfast endurance 06:29 to go through that time. 06:31 "Here are they that keep the commandments of God," 06:32 I'll come back to that, 06:33 "and the faith of Jesus." 06:36 Now, it's interesting, it doesn't say faith in Jesus. 06:38 I'm sure it's faith in Jesus as well. 06:40 What is the faith of Jesus? 06:42 It's the quality of faith that Christ had, 06:46 when He was on the cross, 06:47 that could not see through the portals of the tomb. 06:50 When Jesus was on the cross, bearing the condemnation, 06:52 the guilt, and the sins of humanity, 06:55 and the guilt of sin was so great, 06:57 He sensed the consequences of sin. 07:01 He did not see Himself, at that moment, 07:03 coming out of the tomb, 07:04 although He had said previously, 07:06 "Destroy this body in three days, I'll raise it up again." 07:09 At that moment when sin was so great, 07:12 when the sins of the world had so accumulated upon Him, 07:16 in their guilt and shame, 07:18 in the hiding of His Father's face, 07:20 in the darkness of the cross, what did Jesus say? 07:23 "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." 07:25 That's the faith of Jesus. 07:26 The faith of Jesus is trusting when you cannot see. 07:30 It is believing, when you don't know 07:32 the end from the beginning. 07:34 So the faith of Jesus is the quality of Christ's faith, 07:37 in our heart, that will give us steadfast endurance, 07:41 so that we keep the commandments of God 07:43 through the time of trouble. 07:44 >>And there's nothing that we can do 07:46 to increase that faith in and of ourselves. 07:49 We can't, as it were, 07:50 pull ourselves up by our bootstraps 07:52 or bear down stronger and increase our faith, 07:58 if our faith is a little weak. 08:00 Kind of like the fellow who met Jesus and said, 08:02 "Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." 08:05 What could we do 08:07 to strengthen our faith in Jesus, 08:11 so we can have that faith of Jesus? 08:13 >>There are two wonderful Bible passages 08:16 that answer that question. 08:17 The first is found in Romans 15, verse 4. 08:20 And in Romans 15, verse 4, it tells us this, 08:24 that when we come to Christ, 08:25 He gives us a measure of faith. 08:27 So, Romans 15, and we're looking there at verse four, 08:32 and you can read that for us, 08:36 if you would please. 08:37 >>Romans 15, verse 4 says, 08:39 "For whatever things [are] written before 08:41 "were written for our learning, 08:43 "that we through the patience and comfort 08:45 of the Scriptures might have hope." 08:47 >>Okay. So, God has written things beforehand 08:51 so that we will have patience. 08:53 What's that patience? 08:54 Steadfast endurance. >>Yes. 08:56 >>So, notice--compare that passage 09:01 with Romans 10 and verse 17. 09:07 So some things were written beforehand 09:08 so that we can have patience. 09:10 And Romans 10, verse 17 puts it this way, 09:16 "So then faith comes by hearing," 09:18 and hearing, by what? 09:20 "The word of God." >>The word of God. 09:21 >>So as I open my mind to God's Word, 09:25 I will develop steadfast into assurance 09:28 and my faith will grow. 09:30 So faith grows as we fill our minds with God's Word. 09:36 As I study the gospels, and I see Jesus 09:40 touching the eyes of the blind, and they're opened, 09:42 touching the ears of the deaf and they're unstopped, 09:44 and healing the withered man's arms, 09:46 I can have faith in that Jesus. 09:47 I see what He's done for others, 09:48 I know He can do something for me. 09:50 When I see Him forgiving sins of Mary, caught in adultery, 09:53 when I see Him delivering the demoniac. 09:55 So the more you study the Word of God, 09:56 the more your faith is gonna grow. 09:59 The other aspect of this is, 10:00 faith grows as we exercise it. 10:02 So God's gonna give us little trials, 10:04 He's not gonna give us, 10:06 He's gonna allow us to experience trials in our life. 10:08 Satan brings the trials in our life, 10:09 but He's gonna allow us to experience those trials. 10:13 As we experience those trials and have faith 10:15 and see God's deliverance, our faith is gonna grow. 10:18 It's like a weightlifter who lifts weights. 10:22 You start with 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds, 10:24 you know, 100 pounds, 100-- 10:26 whatever you're gonna go up to, 10:27 and you grow your muscles that way. 10:30 We grow muscles of faith by exercising faith. 10:33 So, how do you grow faith? 10:34 One, believe that God and Jesus is the author of faith. 10:38 Two, fill your mind with the Word of God 10:40 and claim the promises of God's Word by faith. 10:43 Say, "This promise is for me." 10:45 And three, exercise faith and watch God grow your faith. 10:49 >>So this steadfast endurance 10:51 can be experienced by us as our faith grows. 10:56 There's something that plays, sometimes at odds with faith, 10:59 and that is our feelings. 11:01 And there are many who walk more by feelings 11:04 than they do by faith. 11:06 How might one, if they're not feeling 11:09 like they have what it takes to make it, 11:13 how might they bridge a gap between feeling and faith? 11:16 Or at least understand that even 11:19 if they don't feel 100%, 11:22 that faith can still 11:23 be running strong? >>Sure. 11:25 Feelings are natural. 11:27 We have feelings of fear, feelings of anxiety, 11:30 feelings of worry. 11:32 We have feelings of joy, feelings of gladness. 11:34 So feelings sweep over us. 11:36 We are human beings created to experience feelings. 11:40 So feelings in themselves are not necessarily wrong. 11:44 What becomes challenging is, 11:45 if you let your feelings dominate your life, 11:48 if you live by your feelings. 11:50 So here are feelings, here is faith. 11:53 What connects me to Christ is my choice. 11:58 I can choose to harbor feelings of bitterness, 12:01 anger, and resentment. 12:02 Those feelings may sweep over me, 12:04 but I choose to allow Christ to live in my heart 12:08 and I choose to receive His power 12:10 and not be dominated by those feelings. 12:14 Let me give you two very practical examples. 12:16 Philippians, chapter 4, verse 13, "I can do all things 12:19 through Christ [that] strengthens me." 12:21 When you have feelings of weakness that you cannot overcome, 12:25 claim the promise of God that 12:27 I can do all things through Christ, 12:29 and choose to receive that promise 12:30 and choose to believe it. 12:31 So what do I do? Do I believe my feelings 12:33 or do I believe the promise of God? 12:36 Philippians 4:19, "My God shall supply all your need." 12:39 Do I cherish my feelings of inadequacy 12:44 or do I believe the promise of God? 12:46 So, faith grows as I claim God's promises 12:50 and don't allow the feelings to dominate my life. 12:54 >>Very good. 12:55 Well, hopefully, that will be an encouragement 12:57 to you or someone that you are trying to encourage. 13:01 I encourage them to walk by faith, 13:02 to get to know Christ better and to walk in that faith. 13:07 We've been looking at steadfast endurance, 13:09 something that each one of us needs to have, 13:12 as Christ had, as we walk closer and closer 13:15 to these trials that are coming on us very, very soon. 13:19 I wanna encourage you to pick up this book. 13:21 I know we're pretty far through the quarter. 13:24 We're at week number 11, only a couple weeks to go, 13:27 but it is not too late to pick this book up 13:29 and to gain a lot from it. 13:31 This is the companion book 13:32 to this quarter's Sabbath school lesson 13:34 called "Three Cosmic Messages" by Pastor Mark Finley. 13:38 You can pick this up at itiswritten.shop, 13:41 again, itiswritten.shop. 13:44 It's a powerful volume that will add 13:47 much to your study of this great subject. 13:49 We're going to come back in just a moment 13:51 as we continue our look at 13:52 "The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast," 13:55 especially, focusing on the mark of the beast, 13:58 here, coming up very soon. 13:59 We'll be right back. 14:04 >>Thank you for remembering that It Is Written exists 14:07 because of the kindness of people just like you. 14:10 To support this international life-changing ministry, 14:13 please call us now at 800-253-3000. 14:17 You can send your tax-deductible gift 14:19 to the address on your screen 14:20 or you can visit us online at itiswritten.com. 14:24 Thank you for your prayers and for your financial support. 14:27 Our number, again is 800-253-3000, 14:31 or you could visit us online at itiswritten.com. 14:35 More and more people are watching It Is Written TV. 14:39 They're watching their favorite It Is Written programs, 14:42 listening to inspiring sermon series, and much more. 14:46 They're watching them here, 14:48 here, and even here. 14:50 See for yourself why people 14:52 are turning to It Is Written TV 14:54 to watch their favorite Christian programs 14:56 live and on demand. 14:58 Watch It Is Written TV for free anytime 15:00 on Roku, Apple TV, and at itiswritten.tv. 15:05 (upbeat music) 15:10 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:11 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:13 We're looking at 15:14 "The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast." 15:16 Pastor Mark, I wanna jump to Tuesday's lesson right now. 15:20 Tuesday you called "An Ungodly Chain." 15:24 Now, there's a list of things happening here, 15:26 events that are coming that are, 15:29 to say the least, unpleasant. 15:31 Now, there's some things that 15:32 are going to be happening here. 15:34 Flesh that out a little bit for us. 15:36 >>The reason we call this "The Ungodly Chain" 15:38 is because down through history, 15:39 Satan has attempted to destroy the people of God. 15:42 We saw this for example, in Egypt, with Pharaoh, 15:45 in the oppression that he had on God's people. 15:48 We saw in Babylon with Nebuchadnezzar 15:50 trying to destroy God's people, 15:52 setting up the counterfeit image on the plains of Dura. 15:54 We saw it in the casting of Daniel 15:57 into the lions' den with Darius. 16:00 So "The Ungodly Chain," we've seen that 16:02 in the Roman, pagan Roman, persecutions in the first, 16:06 and second, third centuries. 16:09 We've seen that in the Dark Ages as well. 16:12 This ungodly chain where Satan uses force, 16:16 coercion, pressure to destroy the people of God. 16:19 Revelation talks about the climax of the ungodly chain 16:23 in Revelation, chapter 13, 16:26 looking there at verse 15 to 17. 16:29 Would you like to read those, Pastor Eric? 16:31 >>"He was granted power to give breath 16:33 "to the image of the beast, 16:35 "that the image of the beast should both speak 16:37 "and cause [that] as many as would not 16:39 "worship the image of the beast [should] be killed. 16:42 "He causes all, both small and great, 16:44 "rich and poor, free and slave, 16:46 "to receive a mark on their right hand 16:48 "or on their foreheads, 16:49 "and that no one may buy or sell 16:51 "except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, 16:55 or the number of his name." 16:56 >>So the Bible predicts that 16:58 there'll be a union of church and state in the future, 17:01 just like there was in the days of ancient Babylon, 17:04 when Nebuchadnezzar made that golden image, 17:07 a counterfeit image, in an attempt 17:10 to force and coerce worship in his empire. 17:13 Now, this talks about two major things here. 17:16 One, an economic boycott, 17:18 a time when no man could buy or sell 17:20 except he had the mark of the beast. 17:23 And second, a death decree. 17:25 Now, when we think of those things, 17:27 those are not very pleasant things to think about, 17:29 they're tough, but we need to think about 17:31 them in the context of Christ being with us 17:34 during that period of time. 17:35 Now, notice it says the mark of the beast 17:37 is received either in the hand or on the forehead. 17:41 The forehead, throughout the Bible, is a symbol of thinking, 17:45 conscious reasoning, choice, 17:48 the mental assent to something. 17:51 The forehead has to do with the forebrain. 17:55 The hand has to do with pressure, coercion, force. 18:00 The seal of God, 18:01 which we'll study in our next week's lesson, 18:04 is only given on the forehead, 18:08 because God only wants us to have positive choice. 18:11 So, it says the seal of God is in your forehead. 18:14 We choose to respond to His love and obey Him. 18:18 The mark of the beast is received 18:20 in the forehead or in the hand. 18:23 And either the devil wants to deceive you 18:26 or he wants to pressure or coerce you. 18:28 >>Very good. 18:29 So that helps us understand this ungodly chain 18:32 that's going on here. 18:35 Ultimately, as you mentioned, 18:36 everybody's gonna choose one way or the other, 18:38 the seal of God or the mark of the beast. 18:40 Those who will be saved, those who will be lost. 18:42 God is in the business of saving people, 18:44 He wants people to be saved, 18:46 and He's not going to pronounce 18:47 this terrible, ominous condition to the world 18:51 and not tell us who the beast is 18:53 and what the mark is and so forth. 18:55 How would we identify the beast power, to make sure 18:59 that we end up on the right side and not on the beast side? 19:03 >>The book of Revelation clearly gives us 19:06 a significant number of marks of the beast power, 19:11 signs of the beast power, identifying clues. 19:14 You know, if I were coming to the airport 19:17 and we had never met before 19:19 and my secretary sent you a note, says, 19:22 "Mark Finley is about six foot one, he weighs about 165. 19:26 He's gonna be wearing a pinstriped bluish suit. 19:30 He'll have a grayish blue tie, a light blue shirt." 19:34 If somebody walks off the plane, 19:36 they're six foot one and 250, that's not me. 19:39 If somebody walks off the plane 19:40 and they're six foot one, 165 pounds, 19:43 and they have a red tie, that's not me. 19:45 If they have a plaid shirt with no jacket, that's not me. 19:50 You have certain identifying signs that you would say, 19:52 "Hey, that's the guy." 19:54 Well, in Revelation, chapter 13, we have certain signs. 19:57 Let's look at them, and just look at 19:59 a couple of them today, in this program, 20:01 and then we'll look at some more 20:02 in our next program, next week. 20:06 But in Revelation 13, it says, 20:08 "Then I stood on the sand of the sea." 20:11 Verse one, "And...saw a beast rising up out of the sea, 20:15 "[he has] seven heads and ten horns, 20:18 "and on his horns ten crowns, 20:20 "and on his heads a blasphemous name. 20:23 "Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, 20:27 "his feet were like the feet of a bear, 20:29 "and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. 20:30 "The dragon gave him his power, 20:33 his throne, and great authority." 20:35 Let's stop there. 20:37 Can you remember any time that 20:39 we've seen these beasts before, 20:42 a lion, bear, leopard? 20:43 >>Sounds a lot like the book of Daniel. 20:45 >>It does, doesn't it? 20:47 And, you know, we read about, in Daniel, chapter seven, 20:50 about the lion, Babylon, 20:52 and Medo-Persia, the bear, and the leopard, Greece, 20:56 and then the dragon like Rome. 20:57 And so, here is a power that follows 21:01 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. 21:04 Then it says the dragon gave him his power, 21:08 his seat, and great authority. 21:11 Now in Revelation 12, the dragon is mentioned as the devil. 21:16 Revelation 12, verse 7, says that, 21:19 the great dragon is Satan. 21:22 We come down to say verse 7, 8, 9, 21:26 and maybe just to summarize it, to save time, 21:29 you can read verse nine for us. 21:31 >>Verse nine says, 21:32 "So the great dragon was cast out, 21:34 "that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, 21:36 "who deceives the whole world; 21:38 "he was cast to the earth, 21:40 and his angels were cast out with him." 21:42 >>Yeah, so the dragon there primarily represents Satan, 21:45 but the dragon always works through earthly powers. 21:48 And so, in Revelation, chapter 12, 21:50 you find the dragon trying to destroy Christ. 21:54 Well, who did he use to do that? 21:56 He certainly used pagan Rome. 21:58 He worked through the political powers of pagan Rome. 22:02 He attempted to destroy Jesus as a decree was passed 22:06 that male children under two be killed. 22:09 Then you see Jesus tried 22:13 by a Roman governor, Pilate; 22:15 Jesus nailed to the cross by Roman soldiers. 22:18 You see it was a Roman seal that was on the tomb of Christ. 22:23 So, the devil worked through pagan Rome. 22:27 Now, here it says, the dragon gives this new power 22:30 that follows Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, 22:33 the lion, the bear, the leopard, the dragon. 22:36 The pagan Rome, working through the dragon, 22:39 Satan working through the dragon power, pagan Rome, 22:41 gives its authority to somebody. 22:43 But the question is, 22:44 who did pagan Rome give its authority to? 22:48 And here, in the lesson, 22:51 on Wednesday's lesson, 22:54 we quote the Adventist Bible Commentary 22:59 and also historian A.C. Flick. 23:03 And this helps us to understand 23:06 where this new power arose 23:09 and who Satan worked through 23:14 to give his authority 23:16 to this new power and who the new power was. 23:19 So, do you have it there? 23:20 >>I do. 23:22 It says, "Though primarily representing Satan, 23:25 "the dragon, in a secondary sense, 23:27 "represents the Roman Empire. 23:29 "The power succeeding the Roman Empire, 23:31 "which received from the dragon 23:33 "'his power, and his seat, and great authority' 23:36 is clearly papal Rome." 23:39 >>And then historian Flick's statement as well. 23:41 >>Yep, and then it says, 23:42 "Out of the ruins of political Rome, 23:44 "arose the great moral Empire 23:46 in the 'giant form' of the Roman Church." 23:49 >>So, when Rome faded into insignificance, 23:52 as the barbarian tribes are coming down 23:53 and dividing up Rome, the Roman Empire, 23:56 and as Constantine moved his kingdom 23:58 from Rome to Constantinople, 24:00 the vacuum was filled by the popes of Rome. 24:04 So, the dragon, pagan Rome, 24:08 Satan working through pagan Rome, gives its authority. 24:11 In fact, in Stanley's history of the Roman Empire, 24:15 it says that the Roman church 24:18 received the seat of its government, 24:20 used the very same language, and authority from pagan Rome. 24:23 So that's a pretty well-known historical fact. 24:26 Now, I need to point out that the Bible 24:28 is not condemning individual Roman Catholics. 24:31 It's not condemning individuals, 24:33 it's pointing out a vast system 24:35 that grew out of pagan Rome, namely papal Rome. 24:40 I was brought up in a lovely Roman Catholic home 24:43 and attended Catholic church for years; 24:46 my first elementary school years till I was 17 years old. 24:50 But then discovered these truths 24:52 and it just changed my life. 24:54 I found Jesus as my mediator, 24:56 I found Christ as my savior, 24:58 I found the truths of the Word of God, 25:00 or I said I found them, they found me. 25:02 Jesus reached out to me and touched my life, 25:05 and it's been my thrill to preach these things. 25:07 So here's one identifying characteristic, 25:09 that is, this beast power in Revelation 13, 25:13 whoever that is, gets its authority from pagan Rome. 25:16 But there are many more. 25:17 >>So we've got some indicators here, 25:20 of the identity of this particular power. 25:23 And again, as you mentioned, 25:25 God is not against people. >>Right. 25:28 >>He is against error. 25:30 He doesn't appreciate systems that teach error, 25:33 but He loves the people who are in those systems. 25:38 He loves all sinners, including you and me, 25:41 and that's what gives us hope. 25:43 Anything else that we can do 25:44 to help identify this beast power-- 25:47 >>There is. >>...gives us any other ideas. 25:48 >>There is. 25:49 You know, in the last lesson of this week, Thursday's, 25:53 "Jesus: Our Only Mediator," the book of Revelation, 25:57 chapter 13, verse 4, verse 5, says, 26:01 "Who's able to make war with the beast?" 26:04 And it talks about this beast power; 26:05 it talks about, that it's fact, that he's a power-- 26:07 that it's a system of worship. 26:10 Then it says, verse five, 26:12 "And he was given a mouth 26:13 speaking great things and blasphemies." 26:16 What is blasphemy? 26:18 The Bible defines blasphemy in two ways. 26:21 One, Jesus was criticized 26:26 by the Pharisees, as a blasphemer, 26:28 because He forgave sins. 26:30 The Pharisees said, 26:31 "Who is this that blasphemes?" 26:35 Was Jesus a blasphemer? 26:37 Not at all. 26:38 Why? Because He was the Son of God and could forgive sin. 26:41 Secondly, the Pharisees said 26:44 anybody who makes man a God, 26:48 makes themself a God, is a blasphemer. 26:51 And so, Jesus was claimed to be a blasphemer 26:54 because they said He was exalting Himself of God. 26:58 Does the Roman church claim the ability to forgive sin? 27:02 And does the Roman church claim 27:04 that its leader stands in the place of God? 27:07 Well, there are clear historical statements 27:09 that indicate that it does. 27:12 So here are two very fascinating 27:14 identifying characteristics. 27:16 What does this tell us spiritually? 27:18 It tells us, my friend, that we have one mediator, 27:21 the Lord Jesus Christ. 27:23 >>Amen. 27:24 And we need to get to know Him, 27:27 and to get to know Him personally, 27:28 because He is the one who can lead us through. 27:30 Pastor Mark, thank you again for joining us this week. 27:33 Thank you for joining us. 27:34 We're going to continue our study next week. 27:36 Two more weeks left into this quarter 27:38 as we continue dissecting these three angels' messages. 27:42 God bless you, 27:43 and we'll see you back next time. 27:45 (inspirational music) 28:26 (inspirational music ends) |
Revised 2023-05-31