Participants: Ivor Myers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Yvonne Lewis, Jason Bradley
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000057A
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00:30 So we left off in Romans chapter 13,
00:33 now it's really good because Roman 13... Revelation 13... 00:37 it will be easy for us to remember 00:39 so that we can put these two chapters together... 00:41 we've got to put these two chapters together 00:43 because what's happening in the world today is imbalance 00:48 it's extremism... it's reaction of one of two extremes 00:52 and what God is calling us to in Romans 13 00:55 gives us a good outline of this... is balance. 00:57 How do we relate to civil government 00:59 and how does the Christian or the believer relate to laws 01:04 so that we're not totally 01:07 abandoning the morality, 01:10 the civil government... supporting the government 01:12 and at the same time we're not going to the extreme 01:13 and forcing religious laws 01:15 upon people who want religious... whatsoever, 01:18 how do we call that or walk that balance? 01:21 How do we... 01:22 how do we make sure we're in line with the principles 01:25 of civil government and at the same time... 01:27 we're in line with the principles of heaven? 01:29 And I think Paul is... 01:31 that's what Paul is outlining for us in Romans 13, 01:32 so we need to start with a word of prayer 01:34 and we'll just pick up where we left off in Romans 13, 01:36 Jason, would you pray for us? 01:38 Sure, "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you 01:40 that we have the chance to study your Word again 01:43 as we continue to dig deeper into Revelation, 01:46 we ask that you would help us to fully understand it, 01:49 retain the information that we're studying 01:51 and please be with our Viewers as well, 01:53 send the Holy Spirit to be with us 01:54 and to be with them, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. " 01:56 All: "Amen. " 01:58 And James, before you jump in there, 02:00 I think it would be good for us to kind of re-cap a little bit 02:03 of how we're getting to Romans chapter 13. 02:06 James: Okay. 02:07 Ivor: So, we were looking at the lamb-like beast 02:10 in our last program, we talked about the lamb-like beast 02:14 and how this is actually a symbol of apostate Protestantism 02:17 "horns like a lamb... speaks like a dragon... " 02:20 and so we began to talk about the relevance of it today. 02:26 Okay, how we see two elements emerging in our Country, 02:33 this polarization... 02:34 you have people who are either anti-religious 02:37 or people who are religious and want to use the Government 02:41 to enforce their particular view of religion 02:45 and we talked about how these two sides are basically 02:49 going further and further apart 02:52 and you see this anger, this... you know... just unrest 02:58 as it were, by-the-way, by-the-way... 03:00 it is this... the continuance of this kind of anger 03:06 that is going to really set the stage 03:08 for the counterfeit appearing of Christ, 03:10 just to let you know... this... when the world is like, 03:14 because, the world is going to be crying out for peace... 03:17 right... things are going to get so bad 03:20 we need peace and we need safety 03:23 and the one who is going to come with the answer 03:25 for peace and safety is Satan himself. 03:28 Hmmm... 03:29 Okay, but, we'll get there, 03:31 but the whole idea is that we've got these two issues 03:33 of a group of people saying, "Hey, as Christians, 03:36 we should have nothing to do with the Government 03:38 because the Government is evil... " 03:42 right, you have other Christians who are like... 03:45 other people who are like, 03:46 "Hey, as Christians 03:48 we need to totally take over the Government, 03:50 we need to... 03:53 there's no such thing as separation of Church and State, 03:55 we need to rue... turn this nation back to God 03:59 and this is how we do it... " 04:00 and on the third hand you have people 04:02 who are just against religion altogether 04:04 so, those are the three elements where we're looking at balance 04:07 as we jump into Romans chapter 10 04:09 we see, "Okay, how as Christians... 04:11 how do you respond? 04:12 James: Romans 13... Ivor: Romans 13... 04:14 James: Yeah. Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 04:15 James: And what's really interesting here, 04:16 maybe we can just start by reading the first verses, 04:18 we didn't read the first verses, 04:20 we need to get the context of Romans 13 04:22 so, let's read Romans 13, beginning with verse 1, 04:26 Yvonne, can you start there for us? 04:28 Yvonne: Sure. 04:29 James: And let's just read all the way through to verse 5. 04:31 Yvonne: Okay, Romans 13:1, 04:36 "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. 04:39 For there's no authority except from God: 04:41 and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 04:44 Therefore, whoever resists the authority, 04:47 resists the ordinance of God: 04:49 and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 04:52 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. " 04:56 Let me read that again, 04:57 "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. 05:01 Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? 05:04 do what is good, 05:05 and you will have praise from the same. 05:07 For he is God's minister to you for good 05:10 but if you do evil, be afraid; 05:11 for he does not bear the sword in vain: 05:14 for he is God's minister, 05:16 an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 05:20 Therefore, you must be subject not only because of wrath, 05:23 but also for conscience sake. " 05:25 James: So, this is amazing when you think about this 05:29 because Paul is talking here and the context is 05:32 total context about the Pagan Roman Government 05:35 and that Government was not supportive 05:38 of the new "Christian" faith... or belief... 05:40 but Paul here is saying, "Hey, basically, 05:43 God sets up rulers and He brings down rulers 05:45 and these guys have a job that they're supposed to do 05:48 and a job that's assigned to them of God 05:50 and their job is... to take care of evil... 05:52 and so, if you do what's good, 05:55 you don't have to be afraid of them... " 05:56 now, it may be as Paul is saying that these powers 05:59 that are supposed to take care of evil 06:01 might be even persecuting the good, 06:02 but that's something you leave with the Lord, 06:05 the main thing is, and he's giving it out here 06:08 in verse 6, 06:09 the main thing is... is that we need to be good citizens 06:12 so he says in verse six... 06:13 "For this cause pay tribute also: 06:16 for they are God's ministers, 06:17 attending continually on this very thing. Therefore... " 06:19 verse seven... "Render therefore to all their dues: 06:21 tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; 06:23 fear to whom fear: honour to whom honour. " 06:25 In other words, we need to pay our taxes 06:27 and so, that brings up an issue, 06:30 and the issue would be... in our current society... 06:33 the issue would be abortion, 06:35 now, I'm just going to bring this up 06:37 just to be able to help us to understand 06:40 the practical instruction that Paul is giving here, abortion... 06:43 So, some might say, "Well, I don't want to pay my taxes 06:46 because the Government is using tax dollars to fund abortion 06:50 through Planned Parenthood so I don't want to pay my taxes" 06:54 Paul is saying, "No, you need to pay your taxes" 06:58 but that doesn't mean that we cannot, as Christians, 07:01 be against abortion and even, in a political sense, 07:04 if we have an opportunity, vote for whatever kind of bill 07:10 might be coming up that would be against abortion, 07:13 so we can be politically engaged, Paul is saying here, 07:17 we can be politically engaged 07:18 and we should pay our dues and our taxes 07:20 as long as it has to do... we read these verses already... 07:23 with all of the commandments 07:26 relating to how we relate to our fellowman, 07:28 "Love thy neighbor as thyself... " 07:30 okay, so, if you love your neighbor as yourself, 07:33 you don't want to kill the unborn immigrants, 07:36 you know there's a lot of talk about immigration today, 07:39 so there are immigrants 07:40 that are trying to immigrate into our country from mothers 07:45 they're unborn immigrants... 07:47 we don't want to deny them access, 07:50 we don't want to allow them or cause them to die, 07:56 so we want to support legislation that says... 07:59 that's for life... pro-life... as Christians we can do that. 08:03 Any commandment that has to do 08:05 with how we relate to our neighbor, 08:07 we can support politically but what Paul leaves out of this 08:11 is the first four commandments, never touches them 08:14 it's really interesting because in verse 9, 08:17 we looked at this already but just... one more time, 08:19 we'll look at it again, 08:20 "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery" 08:22 okay, "Thou shalt not kill... 08:24 Thou shalt not bear false witness... " 08:28 so you've got commandment number seven, 08:32 commandment number six, commandment number nine, 08:34 "Thou shalt not covet" commandment number ten, 08:36 and then he goes on... 08:39 he's done naming specific commandments 08:40 so then he goes on and he summarizes, 08:42 and he says, "and if there be any other commandment... " 08:44 well, are there other commandments? 08:46 Other than number six, number seven, number eight, 08:48 number nine... are there other commandments? 08:50 Yvonne and James: One through four. 08:51 James: Then he says, "if there be any other commandment, 08:53 it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, 08:55 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. " 08:58 Do those other four commandments... 09:00 are they comprehended in that one phrase, 09:02 "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?" 09:04 No... they're not... 09:06 they're summarized with the phrase, 09:08 "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God... 09:10 with all thy heart, mind and soul... " 09:12 so, notice this, he is very intentional about 09:16 leaving out the first four commandments 09:17 and then when he summarizes, he's very intentional 09:20 about not allowing that summary 09:22 to apply to the first four commandments 09:25 because Paul is making a point here 09:27 that we have incorporated in this nation 09:29 going way back to the very beginning 09:31 and that point is actually revealed, in, for example, 09:36 an etching in the Supreme Court of the United States of America 09:39 if you go in the building, 09:40 there's an etching there of the Justices... 09:42 and in that etching, there's the Ten Commandments 09:44 there are the two plaques... are there... 09:47 and one of the Justices has his leg 09:50 that completely obscures 09:52 the first table of the Ten Commandments 09:54 in other words, they're... you can't see them... 09:57 they're not there... because the way the etching is set up 10:00 the leg of the Justice is covering it 10:02 and the second table of the commandments 10:05 is completely open to view and the point is 10:07 the Supreme Court of the United States of America 10:10 can rule on all those commandments 10:12 that have to do with how we treat one another 10:14 but it cannot rule on those commandments 10:16 that have to do with how we worship God, 10:18 I'm not saying that it can't rule on them, 10:19 it can in the sense that it wouldn't enforce them, 10:22 it would protect against any laws 10:25 that would be violating these first four commandments 10:27 so it's covered up, in the sense that we do not enforce laws, 10:30 we do not support laws 10:32 that would deal with these first four commandments, 10:33 it's exactly the same thing that Paul is saying 10:35 in Romans chapter 13... the same thing. 10:38 So, for this balance what we would say is 10:40 as we look at the political scenario and agenda 10:44 we would say, 10:45 "If there's any law that has to do with 10:47 how we treat our neighbors, 10:49 we can be supportive of that law... " 10:51 we can vote for a law that's in harmony 10:53 with the principles of the Law of God. 10:55 Yvonne: Right. 10:56 James: But, if there's a law that's being pushed 10:59 that has to do with how we worship God, 11:01 we can't support that... we have to back away from that 11:03 and this is where the confusion is coming in... 11:05 I think... in religion today 11:08 because what you see happening is... 11:11 we have Christians who are not... 11:14 who are feeling that they can't be involved with politics 11:16 when it comes to those last six commandments, 11:18 so they feel like, 11:19 "Awww... we can't really vote against abortion because 11:22 that would be a violation of religious liberty 11:24 for other people who want to have abortions. " 11:27 "We can't really vote against same-sex marriage 11:30 because that would be 11:32 a violation of religious principles 11:33 that have to do with people who want same-sex marriage. " 11:36 Well, according to the Bible, that's not true. 11:38 According to the Bible, we actually can... 11:40 we can vote against those laws 11:42 that violate the principles that we believe 11:44 are part of the last six commandments, 11:46 we can do that without compromising 11:49 "religious liberty" 11:50 but when the compromise takes place... 11:52 is when we start voting for, 11:54 and being politically active, 11:56 in laws that have to do with the first four commandments. 11:58 Yvonne: But you know what ends up happening is 12:01 each... and I don't want to get too political 12:04 but each party has its platform 12:06 and so one can say, 12:10 "Well, I like these things that this party supports 12:14 but not this. " 12:16 And so, what you find yourself doing is 12:18 you end up aligning yourself with a party that... 12:22 whose total platform you might not embrace, 12:25 so, then you have to... you know... 12:28 if you can vote on issues, that's the way to do it 12:33 but because there's this polarization 12:37 here in this Country and you're either Democrat or Republican... 12:41 James: Take all of it or none of it. 12:42 Yvonne: And that's the... that's... 12:44 that's where it becomes a flaw, 12:46 if we could vote issues, 12:47 I think, we'd all be like, "That's great... " 12:49 but we can't really vote issues without embracing the platform. 12:56 James: Things that we don't believe in. 12:57 Yvonne: Exactly... as Christians it does call for us 13:02 to really be... to really see God on what we're doing 13:07 and to focus on what... as you said James... 13:10 what the Bible is saying, 13:12 we have to focus on the principles of the Bible, 13:14 does the Bible say that this is okay? 13:17 if it doesn't... then no matter... 13:20 whether we embrace other parts of this party or not 13:23 if the Bible says, "No... " then it's no... 13:26 and that's what we have to do as Christians, I think, 13:29 because otherwise we... we can get so caught up 13:33 into what's going on 13:34 and I think it's an important discussion 13:36 because we're looking at the relevance 13:38 of these Scriptures as it pertains to current events 13:42 and I just feel like we have to give... 13:46 we just have to stay in the Word... 13:49 because the Word is telling us, 13:51 "This is the way, walk ye therein 13:54 these things are okay... these things are not. " 13:56 So, I think if we can... if we could deal with just issues 14:00 that would be... that will be great. 14:02 Ivor: I think that it's... like I said earlier... 14:07 this entire... the turmoil that we see going on 14:12 is actually prophetic, 14:13 you know, God is showing us ahead of time, 14:16 these are the things that are going to happen 14:18 He's showing us this polarization 14:21 but He's ultimately showing us again, 14:23 "This is who is going to win out. " 14:26 So, as we look at the Lamb, we have to remember that 14:29 "while it looks like a Lamb, 14:31 it's going to speak like a dragon" 14:33 right, and so, realizing... we talk about... 14:36 we were saying this a little bit earlier that 14:40 as Christians, we need to stand in a place 14:45 where we can reach both sides of this turmoil 14:51 especially in this Country and even around the world 14:53 but we have to be able to... 14:55 to stand with... um... 15:01 those who uphold those six commandments 15:06 and agree with them and say, "Hey, you know what? 15:08 as Christians, it's our duty to stand with you on this. " 15:12 On the other hand, as we were talking earlier, 15:15 we need to stand with those who may not agree with Christianity 15:20 but have some principle of right, where we're like, 15:23 "Yeah, you know what? you're not supposed to hate, 15:25 even if these people don't stand for what you stand for, 15:28 you can't hate on these people" right, 15:30 "you can't have that kind of attitude 15:32 of 'I'm better than you... '" or whatever, 15:35 so, we have to be able to stand in the place 15:38 where we can minister to both sides 15:40 because a time is coming where we are going to... 15:45 it's going to be a... the Bible calls it a "time of trouble" 15:49 and God has called us to be able to minister to everybody, 15:54 right, and so, we've got to find that balance 15:57 of how do I minister to the people that 16:00 really are seeing things from two opposite experiences. 16:05 Yvonne: Yes, yes... 16:07 Jason: We need to look at Jesus and how He did it 16:09 because He was surrounded by people who hated on Him 16:12 and hated Him 16:13 and the way that He carried Himself and conducted Himself, 16:17 with those people, I mean, He's our example in all things, 16:20 so, we just need to stay focused on Christ. 16:23 Ivor: Which is a very good point because 16:25 this is kind of taking us back in Revelation 13 16:30 but the reason that Christ was ultimately crucified 16:36 was because the Jews of His time... 16:41 they put a nation above God. 16:48 This super nationalism that said, 16:56 "Hey, it is expedient for us that one man perish... 16:58 that the whole... " what? 17:00 "nation doesn't perish... " guess what? 17:02 That same principle is going to be put to the people of God. 17:08 You know what? "Man! These people... 17:11 they're not willing to go along with... and you know what? 17:13 It's expedient for us that this small group of people 17:16 who keep the commandments of God 17:18 and have the testimony... 17:20 it's expedient for us that they perish 17:22 that the whole nation perish not... " 17:24 because remember, it's going to be... 17:26 "This is God's nation... 17:27 and we've got to do whatever we can to protect God's nation, 17:31 if it means, getting rid of a group of people 17:34 who refused to go along with these laws, 17:37 that had now gone beyond the six commandments, 17:40 but the first four... " 17:42 we see that very same principle 17:44 is going to play itself out at the end of time. 17:46 James: You know it's really interesting because 17:50 Romans 13 not only lays out these principles 17:52 that are vital for us in the end of time 17:55 but notice what Paul says as he closes out these verses, 17:58 in Romans 13, we read here in Romans 13:10, 18:02 and this is what Ivor was saying, 18:04 he was basically saying, 18:05 "Love works no ill to his neighbor: 18:07 for love is the fulfilling of the law. " 18:09 So, the whole idea that Jason was bringing out about... 18:12 "We need to follow Christ... " which by-the-way is 18:15 the answer to Revelation 13... it's in Revelation 14, 18:18 the answer to Revelation 13 and how we relate to this crisis 18:22 is, "Follow the Lamb wherever He goes" 18:24 that's Revelation 14, 18:25 Paul has the same point here, he says in verse 11, 18:29 "And that, knowing the time, 18:31 that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: 18:34 for now our salvation is nearer than when we believed, 18:37 for the night is far spent, the day is at hand: 18:40 let us therefore... " verse 12... 18:42 "cast off the works of darkness, 18:44 and let us put on the armour of light. 18:47 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; 18:49 not in rioting and drunkenness, 18:51 not in chambering and wantonness, 18:52 not in strife and envying. 18:54 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, 18:55 and make not provision for the flesh, 18:57 to fulfil the lust thereof. " 18:58 And his point is, sometimes we're poor Christians 19:04 and we compromise... in our own lives 19:09 which leads us to compromise 19:11 in relation to the Government and the powers that be 19:13 and we can't do that. 19:15 Yvonne: That's right. 19:16 James: Jesus is able to hold to righteousness 19:18 while He loved people, 19:20 He could say to the woman, "I don't condemn you... " 19:22 at the same time "go and sin no more... " 19:23 and that's the balance, 19:25 that's the difficult balance that God is calling us to 19:28 the problem in Revelation chapter 13 is... 19:30 that these guys go over the line 19:33 and we know that because 19:35 as you read Revelation chapter 13, 19:36 you see a word that's picked up here, 19:38 over and over again, 19:40 I'm going to read a couple of verses 19:41 and you tell me what the word is, 19:43 verse 4, "And they worshipped the dragon 19:46 which gave power unto the beast: 19:47 and they worshipped the beast... " 19:49 okay, that's the first time it's mentioned, 19:51 then it goes down here and even in verse 3, 19:53 "all the world wondered after the beast... " 19:56 and then you have it again in verse 15, 20:02 "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, 20:04 that the image of the beast should both speak, 20:06 and cause as many as would not worship 20:08 the image of the beast should be killed. " 20:10 Over and over again, throughout all of this, 20:12 verse 12, "And he exerciseth all the power 20:15 of the first beast before him, 20:16 and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein 20:17 to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. " 20:20 Over and over again, you see this word, 20:22 and what is the word? 20:23 Jason: Worship... James: Worship. 20:25 Worship belongs to one person and one person only 20:29 and who is that person? 20:30 Yvonne: God. James: God... 20:31 and so, these powers are causing the world to worship 20:35 an earthly kingdom... an earthly power 20:37 because the beast represents earthly kingdoms or powers, 20:40 Daniel 7:17 and 23, 20:42 so, the worship that is due only to God, 20:45 is being directed to earthly powers and earthly kings 20:49 and earthly rulers... and that's where we draw the line, 20:53 and that's what Romans 13 is bringing out. 20:55 Yes, we need to be participating politically in laws 20:59 that violate the last six commandments 21:02 and anything that has to do with loving your neighbor as yourself 21:04 but we should back away from participating in laws 21:08 that have to do with worshipping God... 21:09 with the worship of God 21:11 and if we pull out completely, we lose our influence 21:17 with those people who follow the principles of Romans 13... 21:21 follow the Bible principles, 21:23 so, in order for us to be balanced, 21:25 we have to follow the principles 21:27 that are laid out in the Word of God... 21:29 follow those principles and then when we hold the line 21:31 and they say, "Well, why are you doing that?" 21:33 Well, because, the Bible prohibits us 21:34 from going any further than this. 21:36 Jason: A lot of this reminds me of Israel 21:38 when they were dying to have a king, you know, 21:41 they were begging for a king, 21:42 and they wanted to get out of the theocracy-type thing 21:46 and enter into a monarchy and it was... it was... 21:51 it was like, "You have God ruling and leading 21:56 but yet, you want to follow man and then take on those customs," 22:02 and then they begin... 22:04 they were constantly backsliding and compromising 22:06 and so, it's like, "You have the Creator of the universe 22:11 but yet, you're so stuck on following man 22:17 and what everybody else is doing. " 22:20 James: Yeah, and you see that same principle here 22:23 in Revelation chapter 13. 22:24 So, so, our safety is following the Word of God 22:29 and the way that it's outlined here... 22:31 and we need to be careful 22:32 because it's easy for us to become so sympathetic toward 22:35 and loving toward people 22:37 that we start compromising with their sin. 22:39 Ivor: Right. Yvonne: Right. 22:40 James: At the same time, it's easy for us to become 22:43 so filled with enmity or hatred towards sin 22:46 that we start hating the sinner 22:49 and God calls us to hold to the balance... 22:52 hold to the balance... and this is where it is. 22:54 Ivor: Because what's happening now in Society is... 22:56 like, the Left is going so far left 23:01 that it is angering the Right, you know what I'm saying 23:06 and so, you got this... and you got this... 23:10 this pendulum, right, that keeps swinging 23:13 and every time it goes through, it just goes... 23:17 and at one point, I mean, it goes so far left 23:19 that when it swings back right... 23:21 James: It's going to go too far that way. 23:22 Ivor: it's going to go... 23:24 and at some point, it's going to go too far 23:26 and... I mean, we're living in a time now where we're seeing, 23:31 "Whoa, that time could be very quick... " 23:33 of course, no one knows the day or the hour 23:36 but no one knows when that time actually begins 23:38 but with the anger that you see out in Society today, 23:42 it's very easy to see how quickly... 23:44 how we can get to that time. 23:46 All: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 23:48 James: So, Revelation chapter 13 let's get back in there 23:51 because we have, still, to identify the Mark of the Beast 23:53 and it's going to take us a little bit 23:56 as we go through this because, what we have here 23:58 is, we've identified two earthly powers... 24:00 the Papacy and the United States 24:02 but it says here that there's going to be a mark 24:05 that is related to these powers, the Mark of the Beast, 24:08 the Mark of this earthly power that is going to be enforced 24:11 so no man can buy or sell, 24:13 now, what we do know about this... the Mark of the Beast 24:15 firstly, is that it has to do with worship, 24:18 worshipping these beasts or these earthly kingdoms 24:22 what's interesting is when you compare Revelation 13 24:26 with Revelation 14, 24:27 you have a call in Revelation 14 to worship also 24:30 so there's a key word there that's in both chapters... 24:33 let's just read this verse in Revelation 14, 24:37 and glean from it what the context of worship is 24:40 in this verse, it's Revelation 14 and verse 7, 24:43 and the context is, 24:46 another angel flying in the midst of heaven 24:47 having the everlasting gospel 24:48 to preach to them through all the earth 24:50 to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, 24:52 Jason, verse 7 says what? 24:53 Jason: "Saying with a loud voice, 24:55 Fear God, and give glory to him; 24:57 for the hour of his judgment is come: 24:59 and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, 25:02 and the fountains of waters. " 25:03 James: Whoa... okay... worship "Him... " God 25:08 who made heaven and earth and the seas 25:09 and the fountains of water... 25:10 this call is a call to worship God... in fact, 25:12 Jason, if you read for us this verse, verse 9... 25:14 notice what it says here, 25:15 "And the third angel followed them, 25:17 saying with a loud voice, 25:19 If any man worship the beast and his image, 25:21 and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand. 25:25 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God... " 25:29 James: Okay, let's stop right there. 25:31 So, you have a call to worship God 25:33 and in that context 25:35 another warning against worshipping the beast. 25:37 So, the issue is worship, and there are two calls to worship, 25:41 one call is to worship earthly powers 25:43 and another call is to worship God 25:45 and God gives a warning against worshipping earthly powers 25:48 and receiving the Mark of the Beast 25:50 so the Mark of the Beast is directly connected 25:52 to the worshipping of these earthly powers 25:54 in contrast with worshipping God, 25:55 and here's why... I'll close this up... verse 12, 25:59 Yvonne, can you read that for us? 26:01 Yvonne: "Here is the patience of the saints: 26:03 here are those that keep the commandments of God, 26:05 and the faith of Jesus. 26:07 James: Now, this is really interesting 26:08 because in the commandments of God, 26:10 we have the call to worship God who created the heaven and earth 26:14 and the seas and fountains of waters. 26:15 Yvonne: Yes. 26:16 James: I mean, when you think about it, 26:18 there are only two days of worship in the Christian world. 26:21 Yvonne: That's right. James: Just two... 26:22 so, in the Bible you have two calls to worship... 26:24 and in the Christian world, you have two days of worship. 26:26 Yvonne: Hmmm... 26:27 James: Have you ever noticed that? 26:28 think about this because... because the two days of worship 26:32 are contrary to each other, 26:35 it's either one day or the other, 26:36 people who worship on this day, don't worship on this day... 26:38 people who worship on this day don't worship on this day. 26:40 Jason: And that's the first and the last. 26:41 James: Yes! the first and the last! 26:43 Yvonne: Yeah. 26:44 James: The first day of the week is Sunday 26:46 and the last day of the week is Saturday, okay, 26:48 so you've got these people who worship on Saturday 26:51 and the reason why they worship on Saturday 26:53 is because they find that Saturday is the seventh day 26:57 that is outlined in the Word of God. 26:59 Yvonne: Right. 27:00 James: It is the Sabbath of the Bible 27:03 and so, this call to worship... 27:05 this distinction between these two groups 27:07 becomes the centerpiece 27:09 of this "Mark of the Beast" controversy 27:11 in Revelation chapters 13 and 14. 27:13 Yvonne: And isn't it interesting 27:14 that the issue that the enemy has is worship... 27:19 he wants worship... 27:21 so, it stands to reason because he has... 27:25 for everything that God has, he has a counterfeit 27:28 so, this is... we're looking at the counterfeit 27:31 but it's interesting that in Revelation 13, 27:36 there is going to be a civil enforcement 27:41 so if you don't worship the beast, 27:44 you're in trouble... 27:47 with the law... 27:49 James: We are just... 27:51 we are just laying the foundation for this 27:52 and it's a good foundation. Yvonne: Yeah. 27:54 James: We're going to come back 27:55 and we're going to really unpack it, 27:56 we are going to unpack this. 27:58 Yvonne: This is some rich stuff here... 27:59 it's rich... praise the Lord. |
Revised 2017-06-19