Participants: Ivor Myers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Yvonne Lewis, Jason Bradley
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000063A
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00:31 We're still in Revelation chapter 14,
00:33 we have been looking at this beautiful message 00:35 that we describe as the everlasting gospel... 00:38 or the Bible describes it as the everlasting gospel 00:40 it is... what we describe as "The Three Angels' Messages" 00:43 Three Angels' Broadcasting Network... 00:45 Yvonne: Yes... absolutely, yes. 00:46 James: These messages and this is where it's based 00:48 and we've been... as we've been going through this 00:50 we've been realizing that the everlasting gospel 00:53 is here to counteract the counterfeit... 00:56 the counterfeit is the wine of Babylon 00:59 and when the gospel's preached, Babylon falls. 01:02 We could spend days trying to identify what Babylon is, 01:07 we could look at all the counterfeits 01:09 and try to figure them all out, 01:10 but what God is telling us is, 01:12 "No, focus on the everlasting gospel, 01:14 focus on the genuine... " 01:16 and when you focus on the genuine... 01:17 and when that is proclaimed, guess what happens? 01:19 Babylon falls. 01:21 The genuine brings down the counterfeit 01:23 so that's been our focus, 01:25 to focus on the genuine so the counterfeit falls. 01:27 We're going to go all the way down now... 01:29 well, we're not going to go all the way down, 01:30 we left off at around verse 12 01:32 and we're going to be looking at this verse 01:33 in relation to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus 01:36 and so, we want to start with a word of prayer 01:39 and then we want to just jump right into our study, 01:40 Yvonne, would you pray for us? 01:42 Yvonne: Sure, "Oh Lord God, we just thank you 01:44 so very much that we can open your Word 01:47 and learn just what's going to happen, Lord, 01:50 and learn of your love because this whole book 01:53 is a book of love so we thank you so much 01:55 so we pray for your Spirit to enlighten and illuminate 01:59 your Word and help us to be able to apply its truth to our lives 02:04 we pray in Jesus' name, amen. " 02:06 All: "Amen. " 02:07 Okay, verse 12, Jason, would you read that for us? 02:10 Jason: 14 verse 12... sure. 02:13 "Here is the patience of the saints: 02:14 here are they that keep the commandments of God, 02:16 and the faith of Jesus. " 02:18 James: Okay, now, there's something really key 02:20 in this verse... as you read it... 02:22 you're going to find the key word 02:24 that will help us to understand this truth. 02:27 This verse is a summation, really, 02:29 of the everlasting gospel. 02:31 The everlasting gospel has produced this people 02:34 and this people... the word is, "Keep... keep... " 02:38 would you keep this for me? 02:39 Yvonne: Sure... 02:40 James: There... so in order for you to keep that pen for me, 02:43 right, I have to give it to you. 02:44 Yvonne: Right. James: Right... 02:45 so something that is kept is something that's been given 02:50 okay, so, when they keep the commandments of God 02:54 and they keep the faith of Jesus, 02:56 the obvious understanding of that is... 02:59 is that the commandments of God have been given to them 03:02 and the faith of Jesus has been given to them. 03:04 It's not something they've earned, 03:05 it's not something that they've manufactured, 03:08 it's something that has actually been handed 03:09 and they're just keeping it, they're keeping it. 03:12 That's what the everlasting gospel proposes... 03:14 is that the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus 03:17 is part of this gospel gift. 03:19 The faith of Jesus... actually, in a sense, is the gospel 03:22 because the faith of Jesus, think about this phrase... 03:26 the faith of Jesus... not the "faith in Jesus," 03:28 because that comes as a result of the faith of Jesus 03:30 so, it could be understood as... as part of the parcel 03:33 but the faith of Jesus is the faith He exercises toward us 03:36 and the simplest way to explain that is: Calvary. 03:39 On the cross, Jesus Christ died for the sins of the entire world 03:44 and in that sense, 03:46 He was exercising faith in the entire world, 03:48 He was saying, 03:50 "I'm going to pay the price for every single sinner... 03:52 every single sin, that's my faith. 03:55 I believe that everyone will respond... 03:58 that everyone should be included in this gift of love. " 04:01 Ivor: That's good because you're talking about "Keep" 04:05 it's like God is saying, "Hold this for me," 04:07 you know, "Hey, would you hold this?" 04:09 and we say, "Yes, Lord, we'll hold it for you. " 04:11 James: Hmmm... 04:13 Ivor: And Satan's going to come along and be like, 04:15 "Hey, what is that, can I see that? 04:17 Can I borrow it? 04:18 I just want to hold it for a second... can I just...?" 04:22 "No, you can't hold this, God has asked me to keep it" 04:25 you know what I'm saying? 04:26 "He's entrusted this to me... " 04:27 and that's what he's going to want to do at the end of time. 04:30 James: "But I got something else for you... 04:31 I got something else here for you 04:33 you're not going to be able to hold both of them though, 04:35 you're going to have to let go of that, 04:37 I can hold that for you for a while... just let me... " 04:39 Ivor: "Let me check it out for a moment... " 04:40 take it away... 04:42 Jason: That... the whole thing is... 04:46 the "faith of Jesus" is very interesting 04:48 because when you look at it like, 04:49 Christ's leadership is just absolutely amazing 04:54 so, my Uncle Arthur... Uncle Arthur... 04:58 always says like, 05:00 "You don't lead where you don't go 05:02 and you don't teach what you don't know. " 05:03 And so, Christ is setting the bar... 05:06 He's setting the precedence... coming down, having faith 05:09 that the world will receive what He's giving 05:13 and reciprocate that and so, we're called to die to self 05:20 and to honor God and keep His commandments 05:27 but He took that... He takes that chance on us... 05:31 He spared no expense... 05:32 He risked everything and came down here for us 05:35 and He leads by example. 05:37 James: And so, He exercised supreme faith 05:40 toward the human race 05:41 and when we see the faith of Jesus toward us, 05:45 it motivates us to respond, we respond in like... 05:48 now, one of the way we respond is we exercise faith in Him 05:51 so He's exercising faith toward us, 05:53 we exercise faith in Him 05:55 but we also exercise faith toward other people 05:57 the way He exercises faith toward us 05:59 and toward other people. 06:00 Christ is exercising faith toward the world 06:02 and dying for the world 06:03 and when we accept that faith of Jesus, 06:06 that means, we have the faith of Jesus, 06:08 the faith that He had toward the world 06:10 is the faith that we have toward the world 06:12 so it causes us to think about people 06:14 and to treat people differently. 06:16 Yvonne: Would this not also... the "faith of Jesus... " 06:21 would this not also vindicate the Father's character 06:25 because Jesus had faith in the Father, 06:29 He had to... because He was laying down His life 06:32 and if the Father didn't raise Him up... 06:35 or if He... "In Him was life... 06:37 it was unborrowed... underived... " 06:40 but He had to have faith in the Father... 06:42 He said... He could do nothing without Him 06:45 and without Christ... we can do nothing. 06:47 James: Yes. 06:49 Yvonne: So, would this not also, "the faith of Jesus... " 06:52 would it not also vindicate the Father's character? 06:57 He's not a vindictive, wrathful, terrible God... 07:01 He's a loving, compassionate Father... 07:03 and Jesus had faith in His Father 07:07 and He had faith in us. 07:08 James: One of the verse I want us to look at here, 07:11 this one is found in Romans chapter 3 07:14 and just to get the context, Paul is talking about the fact 07:17 that no one is righteous, 07:20 Jews and Gentiles have all gone astray... 07:23 they've all turned away from God, 07:24 there's none that seeks God... no not one, 07:26 all of us have come under the condemnation of the Law, 07:29 he says in verse 19 of Romans 3, 07:31 "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, 07:34 it saith to them who are under the law: 07:36 that every mouth may be stopped, 07:37 and all the world may become guilty before God. " 07:40 So, basically, he's just laying us out... 07:43 even religious people... laying this out flat... 07:45 none of us are any better than anyone else, okay, 07:48 and then He says, verse 20, 07:51 "Therefore by the deeds of the law 07:53 shall no flesh be justified in his sight: 07:56 for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 07:58 But... " verse 21... 08:00 "now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, 08:05 being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 08:06 Even the righteousness of God 08:08 which is by faith of Jesus Christ... " 08:13 the faith of Jesus Christ 08:16 "unto all and upon all them that believe: 08:19 for there is no difference: 08:20 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. " 08:22 "Unto all... " that is the world 08:24 "and upon all those that believe... " 08:25 so there's no difference 08:26 between everyone else and even those who believe, 08:28 "all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God" 08:30 so it's not by the law... 08:32 it's by the faith of Jesus that we have this justification 08:35 and justification is not just the forgiveness of our sins 08:39 "justification" in the Bible 08:41 is also the fact that we have life, 08:43 justification of life, 08:45 every breath we take, comes through Calvary, 08:48 the cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf 08:52 and every water spring. 08:53 So every breath we take, every... every... 08:56 everything we do in life... the staunch Atheist, 09:00 has life through Calvary 09:03 and you can ask yourself the question, 09:05 "Well, if the... if life comes to the staunch Atheist, 09:08 if life comes to every single human being 09:10 whether they believe or not, 09:12 through Calvary... through the sacrifice of Calvary 09:14 then what's the difference between 09:16 this life and eternal life? 09:17 Because the sacrifice of Calvary 09:20 was necessary to give us this life... this temporal life, 09:23 we think sometimes in terms of, 09:25 "Well, Calvary's cross gives us eternal life" 09:28 No, Calvary's cross gives us eternal life 09:31 and Calvary's cross gives us this life. 09:33 Not just eternal life... it gives us this life 09:35 and when we understand that, we recognize, "Whoa... " 09:38 people say, "Well, I don't believe in Christ... " 09:40 "Well, He believes in you... " 09:41 "What do you mean, 'He believes in me...?'" 09:43 "Well, He died for you... " 09:44 "Well, He died so I could have eternal life 09:46 but I'm not accepting that... " 09:47 "It doesn't matter, He died so you could have this life... " 09:49 and that's the evidence that He already loves you 09:53 and He's already done something for you. " 09:54 And when we preach the gospel, 09:56 we don't always emphasize that point. 09:57 James: But it's all through the New Testament 09:59 it's in the Old Testament too 10:01 but it's all through the Bible, it's all through the New... 10:03 it says that we live and move and have our being in Him 10:06 and Paul was talking to people who didn't believe in God. 10:08 "The unknown god... " he said... 10:10 "He's the One that gives you life... " 10:12 and he talks about how everyone 10:13 has been given a measure of faith 10:15 and that Christ has taken the sins of the whole world upon Him 10:17 and he goes all the way through... 10:19 all of these arguments, Paul brings to the table 10:21 and he's bringing it to the table right here in Romans 3. 10:23 He says, "It's not through the law that we have righteousness, 10:26 it's through the faith of Jesus, 10:29 and that is why, I believe, 10:31 when we emphasize the gospel, we need to start 10:33 with the life we have right now 10:34 because the only difference 10:36 between this life that we have right now 10:38 and eternal life, is our choice. 10:40 God is saying, "You see the life you have right now, 10:43 the life that you have came through Calvary 10:45 and I want it to continue for all eternity 10:47 and if you would say, 'Yes' to me, 10:50 this life will continue it will get better, 10:51 there'll be no more pain, 10:53 there'll be no more sorrow when the new earth comes, 10:55 all the former things are going to be wiped away... " 10:57 so, it's not exactly the same, it's just that the life itself, 11:01 that fact that you have life, that you're a person... 11:03 that you feel love 11:05 and you have these desires for something better, 11:08 all of that's going to continue 11:09 in fact, I'd say it this way and I love this thought, 11:12 this life is given to us so that we could find 11:17 a moment... maybe 30 seconds, maybe a minute... maybe longer, 11:21 a moment in this life 11:23 that we have a memory... that we treasure, 11:26 a moment where we felt completely and totally happily, 11:31 happy loved and accepted, just a moment, 11:33 think about... think about your whole life 11:35 think about that moment where you were just like 11:36 "Man, I wish I could just stay in this moment for all eternity, 11:39 this feeling right here... forever... " 11:41 that is a taste of heaven... Yvonne: Hmmm... 11:44 James: That is a taste of heaven Yvonne: Hmmm... nice. 11:46 James: Because that moment that you have 11:48 is what God... 11:49 it's an earnest of what God wants you to experience 11:51 for all eternity, you're going to... 11:52 that's the way you're going to feel 11:53 and I can't even fathom that, I'm like... "No... " 11:55 I'm so used to it ending, 11:57 like, "vacation is over," like, "love is dwindling," 12:00 like, "something is... " no... 12:02 it's never going to end, 12:03 the way you feel in this moment right here, 12:05 this is the happiest moments of your life, 12:07 will continue on forever... that's a taste of heaven. 12:09 Ivor: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Wow! Man! wow. 12:12 Ivor: Faith of Jesus. 12:13 I think that as we look at the faith of Jesus... 12:16 James just explained what the "faith of Jesus" is 12:18 right, and so, in Revelation 14:12, 12:21 we're looking at this in the context of 12:23 the three angels' messages, right, 12:26 this is an end-time message 12:28 so, why do we need the faith of Jesus especially at this time? 12:34 So we want to take a look at that next, 12:36 let's go to 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 7. 12:38 Let me ask you guys a question, 12:41 "When do you need faith the most?" 12:44 Yvonne: Oh, wow! that's a good question. 12:48 Jason: We need it all the time but in trying to... 12:51 Ivor: We need it all the time, where is it in your life, 12:53 when people are like, "Have faith, hold on... " 12:55 James: What's your trial... 12:57 Ivor: When you're going through a trial... right, 12:58 1st Peter 1:7, what does it say? 13:00 Laughter... 13:03 Yvonne: "That the genuineness of your faith 13:05 being much more precious than gold that perishes, 13:09 though it is tested by fire, 13:11 may be found to praise and honour 13:15 and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. " 13:17 James: King James version says, 13:19 "That the trial of your faith... " 13:20 Ivor: That's right, "the trial of your faith... 13:22 the trial of your faith," right, 13:23 so the timing you need faith the most, 13:25 you need it all the time. 13:27 The time you need the most is in trial... 13:29 is in trial, right, 13:30 the Bible tells us in Romans 10:17 13:33 "faith comes by hearing... " and "hearing by the word of God" 13:37 so what does "faith" really mean? 13:38 It means, in trying times, stand firm on the Word of God. 13:43 James: Turn to the Word of God. 13:44 Ivor: Turn to the Word of God... 13:47 depend upon the Word of God, okay, 13:49 2nd Corinthians tells us that faith comes... I'm sorry... 13:55 it's... we just quoted that... 13:59 2nd Corinthians tells that we walk by faith 14:01 and not by sight. 14:03 Let's put that all together, right, 14:05 faith is not depending upon what you see 14:08 but the Word of God. 14:11 Remember the condition that's going to be created 14:14 that we've been talking about in the last three or four programs, 14:17 an overwhelming visual assault by Satan himself. 14:23 Demons impersonating dead loved ones, 14:27 Satan impersonating Christ, and Jesus says, 14:30 "At this time, you're going to need the faith of Jesus. " 14:33 All right, so, Man! the faith of Jesus... 14:36 where can we find Jesus going through a trial of His own 14:42 that He needed faith? 14:44 James: Definitely in the wilderness. 14:45 Ivor: In the wilderness, now check this out, 14:48 why in the wilderness? 14:49 Well, see, in the wilderness, Satan comes to Him three times, 14:53 what does he begin with? 14:55 What does he open up with? 14:57 Yvonne: Appetite... James: If... 14:58 Ivor: "If you are the Son of God 15:00 because you sure don't look like Him right now. " 15:02 James: Right. Yvonne: Hmmm... 15:03 Ivor: "You look like... " James: "You're in the wilderness" 15:05 Ivor: "Yeah, in the wilderness, 15:07 this desolate place... does... " 15:08 James: "You don't have any food you don't have any water... " 15:09 Ivor: "Yeah, look at you... 15:11 by sight, you don't really look like you're the Son of God. " 15:13 What did Jesus do? 15:14 see, the chapter before the temptation... 15:19 the Word of God is spoken to Him... 15:21 "This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. " 15:25 Jesus had an option, 15:26 He could remember the Word of God 15:29 or He could look at His circumstances 15:32 and in fact, I'm not sure if I can do this 15:34 but one of my favorite books is "The Desire or Ages... " 15:38 it talks about this temptation in the wilderness, 15:41 it says that when Satan came to Jesus, 15:44 he actually was like, "You know what? 15:47 I don't really know if are who you say you are 15:49 I'm from heaven... " 15:50 James: He came as an angel of light, 2nd Corinthians 11. 15:53 Ivor: Yeah. 15:54 James: He came as an angel of light. 15:56 Ivor: And basically said... 15:57 James: He said that 15:58 he gave Him the story of the fall of Lucifer. 16:00 Ivor: Yeah, and said, "You might be Lucifer... " 16:01 James: "You look like... " 16:02 Ivor: "You look like that angel. " 16:04 James: "You must be that angel that fell from heaven. " 16:05 Ivor: "So, if you're really the Son of God... " 16:07 so, role reversal... Yvonne: Wow! 16:10 "You're the evil one... " 16:12 all right, now, Jesus... what did He do? 16:13 He overcame those three temptations, right? 16:15 No problem, it was just like, boom! right, 16:18 because God was with Him. 16:19 All right, now, let's go over to John chapter 19 verse 12, 16:24 now... 16:25 Yvonne: But did he actually think that... did Lucifer... 16:29 I mean, did Satan actually think that the Creator, Jesus, 16:34 who... through Him everything was created... 16:37 would fall for that? 16:39 James: Here's the deal... 16:40 and here's the point that Ivor is bringing out 16:41 that I think is so important for us to understand, 16:43 we're looking at "Jesus" and we're saying, 16:46 "Well, Jesus... He is the Messiah... " 16:49 and we're not realizing that He was a man 16:52 and that Satan did think that he could deceive Him 16:56 into thinking this, 16:58 he came in the appearance of an angel of light, 17:00 Christ is out in the wilderness, seemingly forsaken of God... 17:02 hasn't eaten for 40 days, He has no water... no food... 17:05 in other words, what Ivor is bringing out here 17:09 is that we can be almost sure that we'll be okay, 17:12 because we've got the Word and we have... 17:15 but we don't realize 17:17 how overmastering Satan's delusions can be 17:19 he even tried this on the Son of God... 17:21 thinking that it could work 17:23 and the only thing that Jesus Christ could turn to 17:26 was... Jesus didn't say, "No, I'm... I'm... " 17:29 He turned to the Word of God 17:31 the only thing He could turn to... 17:33 so Christ is saying to us with this example, 17:36 "You've got to be on the Word... you've got to be on the Word. " 17:38 Ivor: Exactly. 17:39 James: The woman who's standing on the moon... 17:41 Ivor: Yeah, you can't trust your feelings or senses 17:44 right, now, go to John 12 and you've got a question for me, 17:48 you were about to say something, so go ahead, 17:50 but go to John 19... I'm sorry, John 19 verses 12 to 14, 17:53 go ahead and say what you were going to say. 17:55 Jason: Satan tried to use the Word... but he twisted it... 17:58 Ivor: Exactly... exactly... James: Yes. 17:59 Ivor: And I'm going to show you something that's monumental. 18:01 James: And he tried to use this Plan of Redemption 18:03 and he twisted it. Ivor: That's right... 18:04 James: The fall... and he twisted it. 18:06 Ivor: Now, now go to the Garden of Gethsemane, right, 18:09 just before you read John 19, Garden of Gethsemane... 18:12 Jesus is in the garden and He is praying... 18:13 He prays three times... "Father if it be possible, 18:16 let this... " what? "cup pass from me... " 18:19 Does He get an answer? 18:21 No... 18:23 He prays the second time, "What is this? 18:27 I'm talking to my Father and He's not answering me?" 18:31 I mean, imagine, your child coming to you, 18:33 "Daddy... " and you don't answer, 18:35 right, now, He's in a situation where He has not been... 18:39 in the wilderness, He had heard the voice of God, 18:43 "This is my beloved Son... " 18:44 now, He's being told... He has to drink this cup... 18:47 all right, so this is the beginning of His ultimate trial 18:51 and watch this... John 19... read it for me, verses 12 to 14. 18:56 Jason: "And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: 19:00 but the Jews cried out, saying, 19:02 If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: 19:06 whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 19:10 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, 19:13 he brought Jesus forth, 19:14 and sat down in the judgment seat 19:16 in a place that is called the Pavement, 19:19 but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. " 19:22 Ivor: Okay, so, Gabbatha... it means, "an exalted place... " 19:25 the Pavement is actually translated as "stone floor" 19:28 stone floor... all right... check this out... 19:32 here is Jesus... standing before someone's seat, 19:38 He's standing on stones... going to be judged... 19:43 why? For claiming to be like God, 19:48 does that ring a bell? 19:51 Yvonne: Hmmm... 19:52 Ivor: Was there an angel in heaven 19:54 who stood on a stone floor, who was cast out and judged 19:59 because he claimed to be like God? 20:03 Yeah, there was... 20:05 I want you to see what's going on here, 20:06 Satan is about to wage the most psychological... 20:10 James: battle against Christ. Ivor: against Christ... 20:12 James: He's already put the seed in there... 20:14 Ivor: Because now, think about how Lucifer is described, 20:17 think about some of the things that's said about Lucifer 20:19 like in Ezekiel 28, "claimed to be God... " 20:22 "you weakened the nations... " 20:23 what did they accuse Christ of? 20:24 "You're weakening the nations... " 20:26 James: "Claiming to be God... you're Beelzebub... " 20:28 Ivor: "You're Beelzebub... you're working by Beelzebub... " 20:30 the Bible says of Lucifer... 20:31 that he will be cast out of the Holy Mountain... 20:33 the Holy Mountain is Jerusalem, 20:35 where was Jesus taken? Out of Jerusalem... 20:38 in other words... 20:40 it's almost as if... before... 20:42 yeah, you could depend on the voice of God because... 20:44 but now, now Satan begins to wage this conflict 20:49 that, "Look, you're not just... you are that fallen angel... 20:54 you are fulfilling everything 20:57 the prophecy says you would fulfill... 21:00 claiming to be God... cast out of the holy mountain... 21:04 you weaken the nations... you'll be... 21:08 never will you be anymore 21:10 you're going to go down, you're not coming back up... " 21:14 the psychological... in other words... 21:16 it wasn't the pain that hurt Jesus... 21:18 it was the psychological warfare when He cries out, 21:21 "My God, my God... why have you forsaken me?" 21:24 James: It's an exercise of faith. 21:26 Ivor: He had to depend solely upon faith 21:28 because it was a complete role reversal 21:31 guess what Satan is going to do at the end of time? 21:35 James: The same thing. 21:36 Ivor: "You guys... you're... you are the very ones... " 21:41 James: "You missed that verse, that verse doesn't say, 'air' 21:43 no, no, no, no, no, 21:44 feet, feet, feet... on the earth... right here... 21:47 1,000 years? Come on... 21:48 you got a couple of verses wrong 21:51 and you're whole theology is upside down... 21:53 look at the whole world... knows this... 21:55 the whole world knows this. " 21:56 Ivor: "We're the right ones, you're the wrong ones, 21:58 you're the ones that are getting deceived. " 22:00 James: "I'm healing people... this is me... 22:02 this is the guy you're going to be following. " 22:03 Ivor: And at that time, 22:05 if you don't have the faith of Jesus, 22:10 Jesus could not see through the portals of the tomb. 22:12 James: You're going down. 22:13 Ivor: Yeah, you're going down so remember a guy named Job? 22:16 Remember how he went through all this stuff? 22:19 And then they were like, 22:20 "Well, Job... tsk... may as well curse God... " 22:23 and what did Job say? 22:25 "Though He... " what? 22:27 "slay me... yet will I trust in Him... " 22:30 in other words... the faith of Jesus 22:32 is going to lead God's people at the end of time to say... 22:34 Satan's going to be like, "You guys are lost... " 22:36 God's people are going to say, "Well, hey, I may be lost... 22:41 but I'm still not bowing down, 22:44 I'm still not going to receive the mark... 22:47 I'm still not going to serve you I will go down praising God 22:51 'though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him... '" 22:54 what is this going to demonstrate? 22:56 You see, Satan... remember what he said to Job? 22:58 What he said about Job? James: Yeah. 23:00 Ivor: "He's only serving you for the reward. " 23:02 James: Right. Yvonne: Right. 23:03 Ivor: You know what he's going to say at the end time? 23:04 "They just want heaven... who doesn't want to live forever? 23:07 I mean, you're a by-product, I mean, yeah, you'll be there 23:10 but they just want heaven, they don't want to die, 23:12 they just want to live forever, 23:14 they just want the reward. " 23:16 So God says, "Okay, here's what I'm going to do... 23:18 I'm going to allow you to make it appear 23:21 like they don't have a reward... 23:24 like, their sins are so great 23:26 that there's no way that I can save them. " 23:29 James: Job lost all his merchandise, 23:31 couldn't buy or sell... 23:33 and then his life was threatened. " 23:34 Yvonne: Hmmm... 23:36 Ivor: And when God's people say, 23:37 "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him... " 23:39 it will demonstrate that the people of God loved Him 23:42 not because of the reward, but because of who He was. 23:46 James: Christ was hated of all nations... 23:47 Matthew 24 says... we'll be hated of all nations, 23:50 the word "Job... " 23:52 that word... that name means "hated" 23:54 "hated one... " yeah. 23:56 Ivor: Yes, so, it is this... the faith of Jesus... 23:59 now you read the rest of Revelation chapter 14, 24:02 it's basically a harvest, 24:04 we've actually covered it before 24:06 when we talked about the 144,000 but it's a harvest. 24:08 The righteous are harvested by Christ 24:11 and the wicked are basically... are harvested for the winepress. 24:16 What is it that separates the righteous from the wicked? 24:19 The faith of Jesus. 24:21 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 24:22 Ivor: Though He slay me... I'm going to trust Him. 24:25 Though He turn His back on me... 24:27 and I mean... I want you to think about that, 24:29 I mean, how often we serve God because of the reward... 24:33 Jesus said, "He who loves his life, will lose it... 24:36 and he who loses it for my sake will save it. " 24:39 We think of it only in terms of this life 24:41 but it's almost as though He is saying, 24:43 "Look, would you be willing to miss out on heaven for me?" 24:49 Yvonne: Hmmm... 24:50 Ivor: Remember how Moses wrote, 24:51 "Blot me out of the Book of Life... " 24:54 he wasn't talking about just taking back... 24:56 he was talking about the second death. 24:58 James: And Paul said the same thing in Romans 9. 25:00 Ivor: Yeah, he... in other words, look... 25:02 James: Even Christ did the same thing. 25:03 Ivor: Right, "Look, look, I am willing... " 25:05 see, most of us... we want to escape the first death 25:09 but we want heaven, guess who else wants heaven? 25:12 Satan... wanting heaven is... 25:16 Satan wants heaven more than many of us. 25:19 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 25:20 Ivor: So wanting heaven is not enough to get us there 25:22 because we have to be willing to... 25:24 we literally have to... not that God's going to let us do it 25:27 but we have to be at that place where we're like, 25:30 "All right, if I don't come up from the tomb 25:32 I'm still going to serve Him. " 25:34 James: Because the vindication of God's character is 25:36 selflessness... it's unselfishness... 25:39 it's the lack of self-focus 25:42 and that's the ultimate manifestation of it. 25:44 Christ gave us the ultimate manifestation 25:46 of this selfless love, 25:48 selfishness is inherent in the fallen human nature, 25:52 when we define sin, 25:53 we define it many times as transgression of the law, 25:55 "they keep the commandments of God... " 25:56 but keeping the commandments of God in this verse, 25:58 is... is much more than the outward code that we check off, 26:03 the code as we check off... 26:04 the ultimate definition of sin is selfishness... 26:08 selfishness... 26:09 so I can say to myself, 26:12 "Have I kept God's commandments?" 26:13 "Oh yeah, I did... " 26:15 "Have I been unselfish?" Yvonne: Hmmm... 26:17 James: Ooooh... that gets... 26:19 that is really where the rubber meets the road. 26:21 Ivor: You think about this, Jesus Himself did not consider 26:24 heaven a place to be desired while we were lost. 26:29 He was like, "Heaven... " 26:30 James: "I'm out of here... " Ivor: "I got to go... " 26:33 right, He was willing to step down from heaven, 26:36 so in return, we... we have to exercise that same... 26:42 "Hey, I'm willing... yeah, I am willing... 26:44 blot me out of the Book of Life 26:46 that your name be not blasphemed " 26:49 James: And ultimately when we get to that place, 26:51 when we embrace the selfless love of God 26:55 we will find that we have made it to heaven... 26:58 we've made it home... we're home... 26:59 when we have that, we're home 27:01 because that's what we were made for, 27:03 we were made in God's image and that's what we were made for 27:05 and that is the essence of heaven. 27:07 Streets of gold... yeah, that's cement... 27:10 that's blacktop... "it's all streets of gold" 27:14 no, it's blacktop... it's blacktop... 27:16 it's no big deal to us... 27:18 we go, "Oh, streets of gold... pearls... the gates of... " 27:21 no, unselfishness... the selfless love of God 27:25 that is the ultimate goal for all of us 27:27 and there's nothing like it... 27:29 experiencing that... there's nothing like that. 27:31 When you get to that place, you're just like, 27:32 "Yes, I could live like this forever, 27:34 this is happiness 27:36 this is the true reason why I have been created. " 27:38 Jason: Yeah. Yvonne: Hmmm... 27:39 James: We're out of time again 27:40 but we want to let people know how they can contact us 27:42 and send in for their questions. 27:44 Jason: Oh yeah, they should send their questions to: 27:46 sss as in Salvation in Symbols and Signs 27:49 @3abn. org 27:51 James: All right Salvation in Symbols and Signs 27:52 @3abn. org 27:54 this has been a good study on the faith of Jesus 27:56 commandments of God 27:57 and I've just been blessed, praise the Lord. |
Revised 2017-07-20