Salvation in Symbols and Signs

The Seal of God

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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

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Series Code: SISS

Program Code: SISS000029A


00:30 Well here it is... we've been talking about it
00:32 we've been thinking about it, we've been edging toward it,
00:35 but we haven't ever quite got there,
00:36 we are now on the Seal of God.
00:38 I think we were... we were trying to get in there
00:41 last time but just... so we were...
00:43 so in order to get in there this time
00:44 and not get carried away in good, good stuff...
00:47 because all the stuff we've been talking about
00:50 is really good, powerful, practical stuff,
00:52 we want to open up with prayer, Jason, open us up with prayer
00:56 and then we want to get right into Ephesians 1, Yvonne,
00:58 if you want to read Ephesians 1 after we pray
01:00 and we're going to read... we'll start with verse 12
01:04 to get us the context... 12, 13 and 14,
01:08 Ephesians 1:12 to 14, yeah.
01:11 Jason: "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you once again
01:15 for allowing us to be able to even study your Word
01:18 and to comprehend what we're studying
01:20 and to be able to take our time with it,
01:22 we realize that progress is a process
01:25 and we thank you for blessing us with...
01:27 with the time to be able to get a firm understanding of it
01:31 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. "
01:32 All: "Amen... "
01:33 James: Amen... Ephesians 1:12 to 14.
01:35 Yvonne: Okay,
01:37 "That we should be to the praise of his glory,
01:40 who first trusted in Christ.
01:41 In whom ye also trusted,
01:43 after that ye heard the word of truth,
01:46 the gospel of your salvation:
01:47 in whom also after that ye believed,
01:50 ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
01:53 Which is the earnest of our inheritance
01:56 until the redemption of the purchased possession,
01:58 unto the praise of his glory.
02:00 Wherefore I also after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus,
02:04 and love unto all the saints,
02:06 Cease not to give thanks for you,
02:09 making mention of you in my prayers... "
02:11 James: All right, you got a couple of extras there
02:14 but that's good in the context and it's really powerful,
02:16 Paul here is talking about the Christian experience,
02:19 he's talking about unbelievers who believe.
02:22 He's talking about people who heard the gospel
02:25 and then they accepted it, they believed in it,
02:28 they trusted in Jesus Christ and then he says this,
02:30 he says, "After you trusted in Jesus Christ... "
02:33 he says, "you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise"
02:39 okay, now, the Seal of God... Revelation chapter 7
02:44 and inference is in Revelation 14...
02:48 in Revelation 22,
02:49 is the character of God in our foreheads,
02:52 the character of God in our hearts...
02:54 in our lives revealed in actions but the Seal of God
03:01 in the context of this is telling us
03:04 that that's... that... that experience
03:06 is through the gospel of Jesus Christ.
03:08 Yvonne: Hmmm...
03:09 James: So, when we think about the Seal of God,
03:12 we are talking specifically about the gospel,
03:15 that's why in Revelation chapter 7
03:16 you have the Seal of God...
03:18 in Revelation 14, you have the everlasting gospel.
03:20 The sealing of God's servants
03:22 and preaching the everlasting gospel are synonymous,
03:24 they go together,
03:25 okay, so, here Paul is... is breaking it down,
03:29 Revelation... it's a beautiful book,
03:30 it's a powerful book but it's a symbolic book
03:33 and it's really difficult because it's like...
03:35 you have these words and phrases that are highly symbolic,
03:38 and you have to open them up, you have to break them up,
03:40 and get... unpack them...
03:42 that's what Paul is doing for us on the Seal of God right here,
03:45 he's unpacking... he's telling us how it all works,
03:47 it involves hearing the Word of truth,
03:49 it involves the gospel of salvation
03:52 and it involves the Holy Spirit, now the Holy Spirit
03:55 is the third person on the Godhead.
03:58 The Holy Spirit is God and God created us in His image,
04:05 and God wants to restore us to that image
04:09 so the process of restoration
04:12 is being settled back into the truth of Jesus Christ,
04:16 Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life.
04:17 As we're settling into the truth of the gospel,
04:19 we are restored to the image of God
04:21 in which we were created
04:22 and the ultimate goal, of course, is love...
04:25 Yvonne: Hmmm...
04:26 James: and that love is revealed in two ways
04:31 that Jesus Christ identified in Matthew 22,
04:33 loving God with all our hearts
04:34 and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
04:36 Yvonne: Hmmm...
04:37 James: So God says, "I have these parameters,
04:39 I have these... these principles,
04:40 these truths that I want you to understand
04:42 and those truths are the good news
04:44 of you being created in my image
04:45 and being restored into that image
04:47 and if you believe that, I'm going to seal you into that,
04:50 I'm going to seal you... " how does it say here?
04:52 "I'm going to seal you...
04:53 you are sealed with the Holy Spirit... "
04:56 the Holy Spirit is not just this entity or whatever,
04:59 it's the actual character of God,
05:01 it's the actual Law of God.
05:03 We are returned to the image of God in the fact that we have
05:07 in the way that we have the Law of God now
05:11 returned to our character, we are like God,
05:14 we love God like we were created to
05:17 and we love people like we were created to
05:18 so the Law of God is actually returned to our character
05:22 so this is the work of the Holy Spirit.
05:24 Ivor: I think a good verse that just amplifies the thought...
05:29 the Holy Spirit seals us, it's found in Ezekiel chapter 36
05:33 Ezekiel chapter 36 then we're going to look at
05:37 verse 26 and verse 27,
05:39 in fact, we're going to look at verse 25 to 27.
05:42 Yvonne: Did you say Ezekiel 36?
05:44 Ivor: Ezekiel 36 and maybe one of you could read 25 to 27.
05:48 Jason: 25 to 27... okay,
05:51 "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
05:58 and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness,
06:01 and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
06:03 A new heart also will I give you,
06:05 and a new spirit will I put within you:
06:08 and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh,
06:10 and I will give you an heart of flesh.
06:13 And I will put my spirit within you,
06:16 and cause you to walk in my statutes,
06:18 and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. "
06:21 Ivor: Right, so, here you have the Holy Spirit...
06:23 when the Holy Spirit becomes a reality in our lives,
06:27 when the Holy Spirit does its sealing work in us,
06:30 the purpose of it is that we will walk in His statutes
06:34 and do them and keep them,
06:35 so there's this connection between the Holy Spirit...
06:39 the Sealer... the one who seals us
06:43 and what is He sealing?
06:44 He is writing on us the Law... and where is the Law written?
06:49 It's written in the heart, it's written in the mind
06:52 in fact, the New Covenant says in the Book of Hebrews
06:55 chapter 8 and chapter 10
06:57 that I will write my Law in your minds
07:01 and that's where we find the Seal of God
07:03 placed upon the people of God so, here's a very...
07:06 just an interesting... interesting question...
07:09 the Covenant... the New Covenant...
07:13 what is it also called?
07:15 In the Book of Revelation 14 it's called... what?
07:17 James and Ivor: The everlasting gospel.
07:20 Ivor: Which means that it lasts for how long?
07:23 Yvonne: Everlasting...
07:25 Ivor: And it has existed... for how long?
07:26 All: Forever...
07:28 Ivor: So, if the everlasting gospel is the...
07:33 the Law of God... the New Covenant...
07:35 and the New Covenant is everlasting
07:36 and the New Covenant is the seal...
07:38 James: Okay...
07:40 Ivor: Right... then if it's the seal then... then guess what?
07:44 Everyone who has ever been under the New Covenant,
07:46 which by-the-way is the only way you can get into the...
07:49 into the city of heaven
07:50 then anyone who has received the New Covenant
07:53 and has lived their life under the New Covenant,
07:56 has received what?
07:57 James: The Seal... Ivor: The Seal...
07:58 so when we're talking about the concept of the 144,000
08:03 sealed with the Seal of the Living God,
08:05 we see the fact that the 144,000...
08:08 really represent the Great Multitude,
08:10 but the Great Multitude...
08:12 then the Great Multitude are sealed...
08:14 and what are they sealed with?
08:16 They're sealed with the everlasting gospel
08:19 which is not something that just came on the scene,
08:22 like, right at the close of time...
08:23 right... it's some that has always been
08:26 and... and it's interesting because
08:28 even if you go back to the Old Testament
08:31 in the Book of Isaiah...
08:32 James: That's where I'm going right now how did you know that?
08:34 Ivor: By the look in your eyes.
08:36 James: Chapter 56...
08:38 Ivor: Actually I was going to chapter 8...
08:39 James: Oh... I was going to 56, you were going to 8, we're good.
08:41 Ivor: Chapter 8 and verse 16.
08:43 James: You go to 8 and 16 and I'll go to 56.
08:45 Ivor: And let's say what Isaiah 8 verse 16 says,
08:47 Isaiah chapter 8 verse 16,
08:53 but then I think we're going to look at verse 20 as well.
08:56 Yvonne: "Bind up the testimony,
08:58 seal the law among my disciples. "
09:00 Ivor: Okay, so that was written in the Old Testament.
09:02 Ivor: "Bind up the testimony
09:04 seal the law among my disciples"
09:08 right, so when we take those terms,
09:13 "testimony and law"
09:14 we go back to the Book of Revelation
09:17 and what you find is that same combination
09:19 God's people... keeping the commandments of God
09:22 having the testimony of Jesus Christ.
09:24 So, while the actual... I see the sealing process
09:29 as actually beginning in the Investigative Judgment.
09:34 Okay, so while God's people in the past have lived by faith
09:40 looking forward to receiving those white robes,
09:42 looking forward to receiving the sealing,
09:45 the issue is this,
09:46 this, I think, is very important for us to understand.
09:48 James: Okay.
09:50 Ivor: When the... the symbol
09:55 that you have made it through the Investigative Judgment
09:58 is a white robe and the sealing,
10:01 in other words, the sealing is, "You've passed"
10:04 and there's a favorite book of mine
10:07 that has a very powerful statement,
10:10 it says, "Only those who receive the Seal of the living God
10:14 will be able to enter through the gates into the city. "
10:16 James: Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm...
10:18 Ivor: So that tells me... you know...
10:20 just... speaking of what it takes to get into the city...
10:23 if you don't have the Seal of God on your forehead
10:25 you do not have a passport to enter the city
10:28 which means that everyone who enters the city,
10:31 must have the seal or the name of God in their foreheads.
10:36 James: Okay, so, I want to just bring this out a little bit more
10:39 Isaiah 56 because... there are a few words...
10:42 there are a few key words that you've used...
10:44 in relation to this seal, one of them is "covenant"
10:47 and that's a key word that I think is in here
10:51 and the other one is "everlasting"
10:52 and, of course, we understand that the one we looked at
10:56 in Ephesians 1 is "salvation or gospel"
10:58 so, I want us to read Isaiah 56
11:01 and I want us to start reading at verse 1...
11:03 and all the way through verse 6.
11:05 Jason: Okay, "Thus saith the LORD,
11:07 Keep ye judgment, and do justice:
11:09 for my salvation is near to come,
11:11 and my righteousness to be revealed. "
11:13 James: Stop right there, so we are talking...
11:15 right now... the context of our subject
11:17 of what we're talking about is salvation and righteousness,
11:20 okay... all right... next verse...
11:22 Jason: "Blessed is the man that doeth this
11:24 and the son of man that layeth hold on it;
11:26 that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it,
11:29 and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. "
11:31 James: Okay, now... now God has connected with salvation
11:34 and righteousness... He's connected the Sabbath,
11:37 all right...
11:38 Jason: "Neither let the son of the stranger,
11:41 that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying,
11:43 The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people:
11:47 neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
11:51 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths,
11:55 and choose the things that please me,
11:57 and take hold of my covenant... "
11:59 James: Okay, now let's stop right there,
12:01 now, we have... God has brought in eunuchs
12:03 and strangers and foreigners, people who aren't Jews,
12:05 He's brought them in to salvation,
12:08 He's brought them into righteousness
12:10 and He's brought them into the covenant
12:12 and He's brought them into keeping the Sabbath.
12:14 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... James: Verse 5...
12:18 Jason: Even unto them will I give in mine house
12:22 and within my walls a place and a name
12:24 better than of sons and of daughters:
12:27 I will give them an everlasting name,
12:30 that shall not be cut off. "
12:32 James: Okay, now we've got that word, "everlasting"
12:33 we've got the everlasting gospel,
12:34 we've got an everlasting name, a name that lasts forever
12:37 this is in the context again of the Sabbath,
12:39 of righteousness, of the covenant,
12:41 all of it is there, inclusive of strangers,
12:44 the everlasting gospel is to every nation, kindred, tongue
12:46 and people... now the last verse, verse 6.
12:48 Jason: "Also the sons of the stranger,
12:49 that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him,
12:52 and to love the name of the LORD,
12:53 to be his servants,
12:55 every one that keepeth the Sabbath
12:56 from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant... "
12:59 James: Now here God sums it up, He sums it up.
13:03 Ivor: Are you not going to read verse 7?
13:04 James: No, I was going to read verse 7,
13:06 okay, come bring it... I see... I see it now, I see it now.
13:11 Ivor: I can't...
13:12 James: You can't? really? Okay, I can do it.
13:15 Ivor: Even then... will I bring where?
13:17 James and Yvonne: "to my holy mountain... "
13:19 Yvonne: Oh... Ivor: Where are the 144,000?
13:21 James: On Mount Zion. Yvonne: Mount Zion.
13:23 Ivor: On Mount Zion... on the sides of the north.
13:25 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm...
13:26 James: Yes, yes, you see this? Yvonne: Hmmm...
13:27 James: Everyone is included, it's covenant, it's salvation,
13:29 it's gospel, it's an everlasting name,
13:31 everyone's included, everyone's included in this,
13:34 this is the summation
13:35 of what we're reading in Revelation
13:37 about the sealing of God's people,
13:39 this is the summation right here,
13:40 it's inclusive of those who are Jews,
13:42 it's inclusive of those who are not Jews,
13:45 everyone here is being brought to this place
13:47 and it all centers around the Sabbath,
13:49 why... why the Sabbath?
13:51 See, I want to illustrate it this way,
13:53 this is us... this is us... this is actually granola...
13:58 as an example, this is an illustration...
14:00 this is us... where we're created...
14:02 complete package... perfect...
14:04 God created us with the complete package
14:06 and we're perfect and there's nothing...
14:09 no fault in us whatsoever, now,
14:10 sin comes along and sin rips us apart,
14:13 that's sin right there... rips us apart,
14:15 exposes us to the elements, okay, we're exposed,
14:18 if we stay in this sinful state right here,
14:20 everything is going to just perish...
14:23 it's just going to rot, it's just going to...
14:25 it's just going to get moldy and old,
14:26 it's just going to... it's just going to perish...
14:27 but God has built into His creation plan...
14:30 God has built into this plan a re-seal... a seal...
14:34 Yvonne: hmmm...
14:36 James: A seal... this is the seal of God,
14:37 okay, to seal us up and Satan knows that...
14:39 so God is seeking to seal up so that we don't perish...
14:42 He's seeking to seal us into the truth
14:44 and the everlasting gospel, the new covenant
14:46 which has to do with the Sabbath so Satan comes along,
14:48 he says, "Oh, I'm going to do something about that seal
14:50 I'm going to cut that right out of there... "
14:52 let's get that out of there... Satan says,
14:55 "and I'll give them something else,
14:57 here, we'll put a little clip on there... "
14:58 whoops!
15:00 "we'll put a little clip on there... "
15:02 Ivor: That's what we need to put Satan's clip... throw it away.
15:04 James: That's exactly right...
15:06 we'll put a little clip on and there...
15:08 and this clip... that will keep it fresh...
15:10 will that keep it fresh by the way?
15:11 Yvonne: No... because air is still getting in there.
15:13 James: And Satan wants us to think
15:15 that that's going to keep it fresh,
15:16 you see, he wants us to think that
15:17 and God says, "That's not going to work,
15:19 Satan has ripped this open, he's caused the fall,
15:23 he has cut out my seal, he's cut out the truth,
15:26 the everlasting gospel, the Sabbath... he's cut that out
15:28 and he's just... he's changed it okay, but I have a Plan B...
15:31 I have a Plan B... " Yvonne: Come on... come on.
15:32 James: Here's a new man...
15:34 this is the first Adam right here,
15:36 here's the second Adam, okay,
15:38 now, the second Adam also had his top ripped off,
15:41 in other words, He came in the likeness of man,
15:43 He came like us, okay,
15:46 the second Adam emptied himself,
15:48 He was filled with divinity... He emptied Himself,
15:51 okay, so He empties Himself,
15:53 He comes in the likeness of sinful flesh,
15:55 Romans chapter 8 verse 3
15:57 but He opens Himself up to all of our pain,
15:59 all of our suffering... all of the elements of the world,
16:01 He opens Himself up and He says,
16:03 "You know what? You need to come to me
16:05 and you need to be in Christ and if you accept me
16:09 and if you unite with me... white horse rider,
16:12 and you'll be a part of me and abide in me...
16:16 come into the truth, accept the truth,
16:18 you can be new creatures in Christ
16:21 and you can be 'sealed up' and you will not perish. "
16:26 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son
16:27 so whoever believes in Him
16:29 should not perish but have everlasting life... "
16:31 you could be sealed up into the truth
16:33 and this is the work that's happening in Revelation 7
16:36 God wants us to come to Christ, Ephesians chapter 1,
16:39 accept the gospel and let the Holy Spirit
16:41 seal us up into truth... and the way we're sealed to that truth
16:45 in Isaiah 56 says, "through the Sabbath. "
16:48 Yvonne: Hmmm...
16:50 James: Why the Sabbath? How does the Sabbath relate?
16:52 It's in the gospel and being sealed into the truth.
16:55 Ivor: I want to take a couple of moments
16:57 to answer that question specifically
16:59 because I think this is crucial and I do that...
17:02 I just want to take you guys to a couple of verses,
17:04 I'll probably just quote a couple of them
17:06 but Hebrews chapter 4 verse 9,
17:09 the Bible says there,
17:11 "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God,"
17:15 okay, I've the Greek word here is the word Sabbatismós
17:19 that word... rest... and it means,
17:22 "the repose of Christianity... a Sabbatism or a type of heaven"
17:27 a type of rest, okay,
17:29 so it's interesting that the Bible uses this word,
17:33 "Sabbatismós" to describe what heaven is like,
17:36 okay, heaven... when you think about the Children of Israel,
17:39 Paul is speaking here in the context of,
17:41 "Look, Children of Israel...
17:43 left captivity and entered into a land of rest... "
17:46 we too are looking to enter into a land of rest,
17:49 the reason why God described this as a land of rest...
17:52 I'm going to read it, you have, 2nd Chronicles 14 verse 6,
17:55 the Bible says, "He built fenced cities in Judah:
17:58 for the land had rest, and had no war in those years;
18:02 because the Lord had given him rest. "
18:04 James: Okay, that's 2nd Chronicles...?
18:06 Ivor: Yes, 2nd Chronicles 14:6
18:08 for a land to be at rest, there's no war,
18:09 everything is in peace and harmony
18:12 so that's what heaven's like but guess what?
18:16 Lucifer, in heaven, decided to start a war
18:21 so what did he break in heaven? The state of Sabbatismós...
18:27 he broke the "rest" of heaven...
18:29 James: Connection... you get that connection?
18:31 Ivor: War... war now comes to heaven, okay,
18:34 so what was Lucifer's war?
18:36 Lucifer said that I can be like the Most High...
18:39 now is that a good thing or a bad thing?
18:42 Yvonne: That's a bad thing.
18:43 James: It depends how you're looking at it.
18:45 Jason: In this case it was a bad thing.
18:46 James: Yeah, we want to be like Jesus, we want to be like God.
18:48 Ivor: Do you want to be like the Most High,
18:49 do you want to be like the Most High?
18:50 Jason: Yeah... Yvonne: Yes. Ivor: Okay, we all want to be...
18:52 in fact Jesus says, "Be like your Father in heaven"
18:55 so there's nothing wrong with wanting to be like the Most High
18:58 but Lucifer's argument was,
19:00 "I can be like the Most High
19:02 in my own way... " James: Yes.
19:04 Ivor: "I don't need a Law
19:05 dictating to me how to be like the Most High,"
19:08 so what would we call that?
19:09 We would call that... self-sanctification.
19:12 James: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm...
19:15 Ivor: "I can sanctify myself,
19:16 I don't need God telling me what to do with my life...
19:19 I can sanctify myself... "
19:22 and in doing this, he had broken the state of Sabbatismós,
19:25 okay, so here's what's interesting,
19:27 when God creates Adam and Eve, He gives them... after six days
19:33 the Bible says, "He rested on the seventh... "
19:35 it's as though He gives them the Sabbath,
19:39 it's as though in that Sabbath
19:40 He was giving them a slice of heaven,
19:42 He was saying, "Listen, this Sabbath is a sign
19:45 that earth is in harmony with the Government of heaven...
19:49 with the Government of heaven. "
19:50 So, when Adam and... now check this out...
19:53 go with me to Ezekiel chapter 20 and verse 12,
19:55 Ezekiel 20 verse 12 and verse 20 as well,
19:59 so Jason, why don't you read verse 12,
20:03 and Yvonne, why don't you read verse 20.
20:06 Yvonne: Okay. Jason: Ezekiel 20 verse 12.
20:09 Ivor: Because we're going to see why God gives Adam the Sabbath.
20:14 Jason: Okay, "Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths,
20:21 to be a sign between me and them,
20:23 that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. "
20:27 Ivor: Okay, and verse 20...
20:28 Yvonne: Verse 20... "And hallow my Sabbaths;
20:31 and they shall be a sign between me and you,
20:34 that you may know that I am the Lord your God. "
20:37 Ivor: Okay, so in verse 12... God says,
20:42 "Keep the Sabbath because it is a sign to you
20:45 that you may know that I sanctify you,
20:50 you don't sanctify yourself,
20:52 don't make the same mistake Lucifer made in heaven,
20:55 I sanctified you, I sanctified you... "
20:59 so this whole... that Sabbath was the...
21:02 was the symbol... the sign against self-sanctification
21:08 so God says, "How do I sanctify you?"
21:10 I mean, that's the question, how does God sanctify us?
21:13 what is the... why is the Sabbath the symbol
21:16 of sanctification by God?
21:18 Because God says, "Look, I do it you don't do it. "
21:22 "But Lord, what do you want me to do?"
21:24 "I just want you to rest... "
21:25 James: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm...
21:28 Ivor: "But Lord, there's got to be something I can do?"
21:30 James: "Martha, Martha... " Ivor: "don't do anything,
21:32 I just want you to rest. "
21:35 "Rest?"
21:37 "Yeah, yeah, come unto me,
21:38 all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
21:41 and I'm going to teach you how to rest. "
21:44 "But Lord, what does that mean 'to rest'?"
21:46 He says, "Look... "
21:47 "What do you want me to do? What do you want...?"
21:49 "I don't want you to do anything... I just want you...
21:52 there are things that I don't want you to do,
21:53 I just want you to rest so don't lie... rest from lying
22:00 cease... just stop... just rest...
22:02 rest from murder,
22:04 rest from committing adultery... "
22:06 in other words, the rest that He calls us to...
22:09 is the abstaining from the things
22:10 that we once did and how do we do that?
22:12 He says, "Look, don't do anything... just rest,
22:14 come unto me, I will give you rest. "
22:16 So, Sabbath now becomes the symbol
22:19 that I've learned what it means to rest in Christ
22:23 not trusting in my own merits
22:25 but trusting in what He
22:28 will do through me. James: Hmmm... hmmm...
22:30 Ivor: He sanctifies me through this rest
22:32 so guess what, when you ask,
22:34 "What do we do... to be a part of the 144,000?"
22:37 God says, "Just rest,
22:38 let me do the work you're going to do...
22:41 let me do what I'm going to do, you just rest. "
22:44 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Yes.
22:45 Ivor: So, the devil challenges us... to not rest.
22:47 "Come on we got to do something, do something. "
22:49 "No, rest... " I'd like to say it this way,
22:52 the Ten Commandments... if you look up the Ten Commandments
22:54 all of them are about rest,
22:56 "stop from doing this, stop doing that,
22:59 cease, cease, cease, cease, cease... "
23:02 everyone of them, so when someone says,
23:04 "The commandments talk about works... "
23:06 I'm like, "No, the Commandments are about rest. "
23:09 Yvonne: Hmmm... James: Hmmm...
23:11 Ivor: They're all about rest,
23:12 this is what the Sabbath is about.
23:14 A people who have learned to rest in Christ.
23:17 James: And I love that because
23:18 that takes us back to Creation Week.
23:20 Ivor: Yes.
23:21 James: In Creation Week,
23:22 God created this Planet in six days,
23:25 now notice that mankind was not created
23:28 on the first or the second or the third or the fourth
23:30 or the fifth day, we were created on the last day
23:33 and the first thing God said to us was, "Rest... "
23:35 we're like, "but wait a minute, isn't there something we can do
23:38 like, "can we help you with that tree?"
23:41 there was nothing we could point to where we could say,
23:45 "God and I did that together" you know...
23:47 "He did the trunk, I did the branches,
23:48 He did the fruit, I did the leaves... "
23:50 in other words... He did everything but He did it for us
23:52 and He asked us to rest in it,
23:54 now notice how this transitions to re-creation,
23:56 the Sabbath Commandment in Creation called us to rest
24:01 in everything God did for us without us.
24:03 Yvonne: Hmmm...
24:05 James: Okay, when we're re-created,
24:07 God knows there's nothing we can do... to re-create us,
24:10 so He comes... Second Adam...
24:13 He's empty... and He comes...
24:15 empties Himself and comes like a man,
24:17 He comes to this earth and He... the Bible says,
24:20 "He lived a perfect life... " we didn't help Him do that,
24:23 in fact, if anything, we hindered Him...
24:24 and then He died for our sins
24:27 what day did He die on? All: Sixth day.
24:30 James: Sixth day... just like the day we were created,
24:32 He's now dying on the very day of Creation
24:35 so this is now an act of re-creation
24:37 and what did He say when He created this world
24:40 on the sixth day? Ivor: It is finished.
24:41 James: It is finished...
24:42 What did He say when He hung on the cross on Friday?
24:44 "It... " what's finished? what's finished?
24:47 The work of the Creation is finished,
24:49 so what did He do on the 7th day when He created the world?
24:52 All: Rested.
24:54 James: What did He do on the 7th day
24:55 after He re-created the world in us?
24:56 All: Rested...
24:58 James: Rested on the 7th day,
24:59 so when we keep the Sabbath we're reminded,
25:01 everything Christ has done for us...
25:03 lived a perfect life... died for our sins,
25:05 we're reminded everything He did for us
25:07 just like Creation... without us
25:08 so, we're resting in Christ.
25:10 Ivor: And not only that... but what He does in us
25:11 because you know what?
25:13 If you look at the Creation Week,
25:14 it is the exact method and plan by which He re-creates us,
25:19 we all start out in darkness... without void and empty.
25:22 James: Bring it... bring it.
25:24 Ivor: Guess what? Yvonne: Oh... come on now.
25:25 Ivor: The Holy Spirit moves and says, "Let there be light"
25:28 and suddenly we're like, "Whoa! whoa!"
25:30 You know what I'm saying? The Spirit of God moves upon us
25:33 and then He draws us out of the waters,
25:36 and he brings forth new fruit, day three,
25:40 and then He gives us a new light to be guided by,
25:43 and you go through the process,
25:45 He calls us to be fishers of men
25:48 and then He says, "Look, when the work is done,
25:50 I've re-made you in my image, now rest, you're sealed... "
25:55 and that's what...
25:57 we want to move from Day one...
25:59 that's the process of... that's the... that's the battle,
26:01 Satan's trying to move us back in time,
26:03 God's trying to move us into the 7th day to seal us,
26:06 so that He could come and redeem a perfect...
26:08 a perfected people.
26:10 Yvonne: Wow! James: And this...
26:11 Yvonne: You guys are giving me chills...
26:12 because this is wonderful.
26:14 James: It is and this is what it means, Ephesians chapter 4,
26:16 this kind of sums up, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 says,
26:18 "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God,
26:22 whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. "
26:25 So we don't want to grieve the work of God,
26:27 it's what we said in the last program,
26:29 I don't know if you remember us saying this,
26:31 but we said, "My part is not to do all the work,
26:33 my part is not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
26:35 my part is to abide in Jesus, my part is to look and live,
26:38 my part is to rest... just to rest in Him... "
26:41 Ivor: And James... to rest is to be settled.
26:43 When you say, "Settle down... settle down... "
26:45 the sealing is a "settling... "
26:48 James: Settling into the truth of intellectually and
26:52 spiritually... so we cannot be moved.
26:53 James: We're settled... voom...
26:55 Yvonne: Settled... rooted... anchored...
26:56 James: Yes, it's beautiful... it's powerful truth
26:59 so, we are out of time again, but we did cover the Seal
27:03 it's good stuff, you got it...
27:06 Jason: We're like... we went to church.
27:07 Yvonne: Laughing... that's good stuff right there.
27:11 James: Yeah, well, we're going to church in the next program,
27:13 that's for sure. Yvonne: Yes.
27:15 James: We'll see what we got,
27:17 all right, so we need to close out with a word of prayer
27:19 but before we do that, what do we do
27:20 and what are we telling people?
27:22 Jason: We need people to submit their questions
27:24 to sss@3abn. org
27:27 Yvonne: And they can submit video questions,
27:29 I mean it could be...
27:31 James: Oh really? And we could play them?
27:32 We could play them... Yvonne: Yeah... we could.
27:33 James: Like... "Hey, this is so-and-so from so-and-so... "
27:35 Yvonne: Yeah, that's right.
27:36 James: "I got a question you guys haven't answered... "
27:38 Yvonne: That's right, e-mail or video questions, either one.
27:40 James: All right... Yvonne, pray is out please.
27:42 Yvonne: "Father God, thank you so much,
27:45 oh, we just praise you Lord, thank you for the rest...
27:47 thank you for the sealing, thank you for...
27:50 just... your love Lord, we praise your name,
27:52 in Jesus' name... amen. "
27:54 All: "Amen... amen. "
27:56 James: So we are going to continue
27:58 in the Book of Revelation. Yvonne: Amen.
27:59 James: It's going to be good, it's going to be good.
28:01 Yvonne: Good...


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Revised 2016-09-29