Participants: Ivor Myers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Jason Bradley, Yvonne Lewis
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... |
Revised 2016-09-29