Participants: Pr. Jac Colon
Series Code: RN
Program Code: RN000014
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01:04 In Revelation the 7th chapter, 7th chapter,
01:09 verse 2, I saw another angel coming up from 01:14 the east having the seal of the living God 01:22 and he called out in a loud voice to the four angels 01:27 who have been given power to harm the land and the sea. 01:33 Do not harm the land and the sea or the trees 01:36 until we put a seal on the foreheads of the 01:41 servants of our God. We hear so much 01:47 today about the mark of the beast, but many 01:52 are not even aware that God has a mark on the 01:57 foreheads of his servants. In chapter 13, in Revelation 02:08 chapter 13, verse 15, he was given power to give 02:11 breath to the image of the beast so that it 02:15 could speak and cause all who refused to 02:18 worship the image to be killed and he also 02:22 forced everyone small and great, rich and 02:24 poor, free and slave to receive a mark on his 02:28 right hand or on his forehead so that no one 02:31 could buy or sell unless he had the mark. 02:37 So, John is looking forward into the future to the time 02:41 when the whole world will receive a mark on 02:44 their forehead or on their hand, those who 02:47 follow God receive God's mark and those 02:50 who follow the beast receive his mark. 02:58 In Revelation 12, verse 17, the dragon was 03:01 angry at the woman and he went off to 03:03 make war against the remnant of her 03:06 offspring, those who obey God's commandments 03:10 and hold to the testimony of Jesus. The dragon is 03:13 at war with those who want to be obedient to 03:16 the commandments of God. So, how does this 03:19 war unfold. I saw a beast coming up out of 03:23 the sea. We have identified the beast as a counterfeit 03:27 system of worship developed in the medieval church 03:30 during the Dark Ages that was designed to 03:33 replace the authority of God with the authority 03:36 of man and then the Bible says in verse 2, 03:40 one of the heads of the beast seemed to have 03:42 had a fatal wound but the fatal wound was 03:44 healed and the whole world was astonished 03:47 and followed the beast, men worshiped the 03:50 dragon because he had given authority to the 03:55 beast and they worshiped the beast. 04:02 But God isn't silent during this time. 04:06 In chapter 14 verse 6, I saw another angel 04:09 flying in the mid air and he had the eternal 04:11 Gospel to proclaim to those who live on the 04:14 earth to every nation, tribe, language, and 04:16 people. The Gospel is the good news they 04:19 were saved by grace through faith in 04:21 Jesus Christ and not by works, it's a gift of 04:24 God and this goes to every tribe, every 04:26 language, every nation, every people, every 04:29 living being on this earth at that time will 04:32 have the opportunity to hear the Gospel of 04:34 Jesus Christ. That isn't all, he said fear God 04:38 and give him glory because the hour of his 04:41 judgment has come if there was ever a time 04:43 that we needed the Gospel and we need to 04:46 cling to the cross of Jesus Christ, it's during 04:48 the judgment hour. Notice the Gospel goes 04:51 to the whole world and the angel also 04:53 announces the hour of his judgment had 04:55 come. We've already read in James the 2nd 04:58 chapter the 12th verse. The standard in that 05:01 judgment is the law of God. So, once again 05:04 we see the law of God and the grace of God 05:07 intimately intertwined in this last morning 05:10 message to the world. And then the third 05:14 angel in verse 9, the first angel isn't finished 05:18 yet. He says in a loud voice fear God and 05:21 give him glory because the hour of his 05:23 judgment has come, worship him who 05:25 made the heavens, the earth, the seas and the 05:27 springs of water. In other words every 05:29 living being on this earth, every tribe, 05:31 every language, every nation, every people is 05:34 going to hear not only the Gospel not only the 05:37 law of God but also the call to worship God 05:40 the creator of the heavens and the earth, 05:42 but practically the whole world worships 05:44 the creature who is the beast. You see the 05:48 battle in Revelation is not over oil, it isn't 05:52 over Iraq, it isn't over territory, it isn't over 05:56 lamb, the battle is over who do you worship 05:59 the creator or the beast, who do you worship 06:02 the creature or the creator? Who do you 06:05 worship the beast or the lamb? Who do you 06:08 follow? That's the battle. Verse 9, third angel followed 06:18 me said in a loud voice if anyone worships the 06:20 beast and his image and receives his mark 06:23 on the forehead or on the hand he will also 06:26 drink the wine of God's fury, which has 06:30 been poured full strength into the cup of 06:32 his wrath and he will be tormented with 06:34 burning sulfur in the presence of the holy 06:36 angels and the Lamb. There is no rest day or 06:40 night for those who worship the beast and 06:42 his image, no rest day or night. This calls 06:50 verse 12, this calls for patient endurance on 06:56 the part of the saints who obey God's 07:00 commandments and remain faithful to 07:02 Jesus. I want you to clearly notice the 07:07 contrast between those who follow the beast, 07:12 worship the beast take his mark and those 07:16 who follow God and receive his mark. 07:19 Look at it again, this calls for patient endurance 07:23 on the part of the saints who obey God's 07:26 commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. 07:31 The distinguishing factor, the contrast between 07:33 the two is those who follow the lamb are the 07:37 ones who obey the commandments of God. 07:42 The ones who worship God are the ones who obey God in 07:47 contrast to those who worship the beast. You 07:50 cannot separate obedience to the commandments of 07:53 God from the beast and his mark, they are 07:57 intimately intertwined. That's the fatal mistake 08:03 that so many make. Understand it, mark it, 08:07 underline it, memorize it, the issue in this 08:10 battle is spiritual, it is over worship, it is over 08:15 whom do you worship. And those who 08:19 worship God are the ones who obey God's 08:23 commands. This is not Jac Colon speaking, 08:29 this is God speaking. That's the issue. Now 08:35 what is the mark, for the next five minutes 08:39 more or less I am going to share with 08:42 you what I called the mark of the beast 08:46 principle. At first you are going to think it 08:49 has nothing to do with the mark of the beast 08:53 but it's the principle and then we'll apply it 08:56 and you are going to see it before I even tell 08:59 you what it is, when you apply the principle. 09:03 But if you miss the principle you'll leave here 09:07 wondering what is the mark. So, if you have 09:11 to take a siesta wait until after the next five 09:15 minutes are over, don't go to sleep now and if 09:20 someone is next to you sleeping give him 09:23 a little jab in the ribs, you must understand 09:28 the principle and ought to know, in order to 09:30 know what the mark is? So, what is the 09:33 mark of the beast principle, Matthew 09:35 chapter 15. And folks suddenly you are gonna 09:40 see why we have spent so much time talking 09:44 about some of the things we have been 09:46 talking about. It's going to be clear, 09:49 watch. Matthew 15, verse 1, some Pharisees 09:53 and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem 09:55 and they asked him. Why do your disciples 09:57 break the tradition of the elders? Oh! Isn't 10:02 that interesting? They are worried because 10:05 the disciples were breaking the tradition 10:07 of the elder. What tradition? They don't wash their hands 10:11 before they eat. Now, you need to know they 10:15 are not worried about the disciples getting 10:17 little germs on their food. That isn't the 10:20 issue here. The issue was that they had an 10:24 elaborate ritual they went through in 10:27 washing their hands and it was a tradition 10:29 and every Godly person had to do, but 10:32 the disciples didn't do it. So, why are your 10:34 disciples breaking the tradition. You see they 10:36 are concerned about the tradition, now we 10:38 learned last night that Jesus had a way didn't 10:41 he? He had a way of just cutting right to the 10:43 core and getting to the heart of the issue with 10:45 one single question. Here he does it again. 10:48 I love the way Jesus operates, wish I could 10:50 do like he did every time. Here's what he 10:53 says and why do you break the command of 10:59 God for the sake of your tradition? Wow! 11:04 They were all huffing and puffing about 11:07 breaking tradition. And Jesus said, you are 11:12 worried about traditions while you're breaking one 11:14 of the Ten Commandments and he goes on to talk 11:17 about honoring your father and mother. 11:21 Now, watch how he pulls it all together, 11:26 you're breaking the traditions, are you breaking 11:30 one of the commandments he said and honoring your 11:34 traditions. How does Jesus feel about this? 11:39 Verse 6 tells us, ''Thus you nullify the word of 11:46 God for the sake of your tradition." 11:51 In other words when you put your tradition over 11:54 the commandments of God, you are nullifying 11:57 the word of God. Are you getting it? 12:01 That's not all, you hypocrites, Isaiah was 12:04 right when he prophesied about you, these people 12:07 honored me with their lips. Oh! But their hearts are far 12:11 from me. They worship me in vain, why? Because their 12:17 traditions are but, their teachings are about 12:20 rules taught by men. Now, get the full 12:25 impact of what Jesus is saying, he is saying 12:28 that you put your traditions over the 12:31 commandments of God and when you do 12:33 you nullify the word of God and your worship 12:35 is no worship because you're worshiping me 12:38 vain. It's like not worshiping me at all. 12:42 Folks am I being fair with the word of God, 12:46 is that what Jesus is saying I want you to 12:49 see it, I want you to see it crystal clear this 12:51 is not my interpretation, I am just reading what Jesus 12:54 said and that is, that anyone who puts their 12:58 traditions of man over the commandments of 13:01 God no matter what he says, no matter how 13:03 righteous he appears, no matter how many 13:05 prayers he prays, no matter how many 13:07 times he goes to church, no matter how 13:09 many healings he does, no matter how many 13:12 languages his speaks tongues in, no matter 13:14 how many prophesying and demons he cast out, if 13:17 he puts the traditions of men over the 13:19 commandments of God. He is not 13:21 worshiping God at all. That's what Jesus said, 13:26 not everybody who says Lord, Lord, we'll 13:28 enter the kingdom who then, only he who does 13:32 the will of the Father. Well, what's the mark 13:37 of the beast principle, it's simple. The devil 13:40 wants your worship but he knows you are 13:43 not going to worship him, he stands here 13:45 with his little red jumpsuit long tail with 13:47 an arrow on the end and his pitchfork in his 13:50 hand and say worship me, none of you are 13:52 going to go for that. But if he can establish 13:58 a church who would try to put its traditions 14:04 over the word of God and the commandments of 14:07 God and if anyone pledges allegiance to 14:11 those traditions instead of the commandments 14:14 of God they would be worshiping the dragon 14:17 because he gave his authority to the beast 14:19 and tradition nullifies their worship, they're 14:23 worshiping God in vain. Do you follow? 14:27 The devil's no dummy. And that's exactly what 14:32 he does. He knows that if he can get anyone to 14:38 put the traditions of Rome over the 14:42 commandments of God. No matter what 14:45 they say no matter how holy they may appear. 14:50 They're nullifying the word of God and 14:54 worshiping God in vain. It's as simple as 14:58 that, can you see it? We're not done yet 15:01 there's more, then if that's the principle, 15:06 what is the mark? The mark of the beast we 15:09 have already seen is a counterfeit to the mark 15:11 of the God. The devil counterfeits everything 15:14 that God does. And the counterfeit in order to 15:20 see so many people must look as though it 15:22 is the genuine thing. You don't try to pass 15:26 the counterfeit $11 bill and Satan doesn't try to 15:30 pass counterfeits that they don't look like the 15:32 real thing. So, the counterfeit mark must 15:36 appear as though it is the mark of God. 15:41 So, the best way to recognize a counterfeit 15:44 is to know the truth. Amen. 15:48 You can take a $20 counterfeit bill and 15:52 memorize every color and every line and 15:54 every curve and make sure that you can spot 15:57 that $20 counterfeit bill anytime, anywhere, 15:59 any place but it won't prevent you from being 16:02 deceived by a different kind of counterfeit $20 16:06 bill. Isn't it better to just memorize the real 16:09 thing. So, what is the truth? What is God's 16:12 mark? Turn with me to Deuteronomy 6th 16:15 chapter and we are going to find a surprise here. 16:19 Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 6, he had just 16:21 finished reviewing the 10 commandments that 16:24 God gave to Moses. Moses had just finished 16:27 reviewing them and he in verse 6 he concludes these 16:30 commandments that I give you today are to be upon 16:33 your hearts, in verse 8, tie them as symbols on your 16:37 hands and bind them on your foreheads. How about 16:41 that? God wants his commandments on our 16:44 hands and on our foreheads, the beast wants 16:47 his mark on our hands and on our foreheads. 16:51 So, what is God's mark? His commandments, it 16:56 shouldn't be a surprise because Revelation 13 16:58 shows that the real battle is over 17:00 obedience to the commandments of 17:01 God, but that isn't all. Lets turn to Exodus 17:05 chapter 13, verse 9. Exodus 13th chapter, 17:08 9th verse. This observance will be for you like a sign 17:12 on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that 17:15 the law of the Lord is to be on your lips. 17:19 Again, God wants his law on our hands, he 17:23 wants his law on our forehead, now the 17:25 Jews made a fatal mistake with this verse 17:29 and the problem is that most Christians today 17:33 are making the exact same mistake the Jews 17:36 made. They tried to understand this verse 17:40 literally without recognizing the Bible 17:44 as a spiritual book. What did they do? 17:48 How did they get God's word on their 17:50 hand and on their forehead? They 17:53 developed what was called in that day 17:55 a phylactery, a little leather pouch and they 18:01 would take pieces of scripture written on 18:04 little scripture, written on little pieces of 18:07 papyrus or whatever they wrote on at that 18:09 time, memorize it and put it in the phylactery, 18:13 it had straps on it so they could tie it around 18:16 their head and now they have the word of God 18:21 on their forehead and they put another one 18:22 on their arm so now they have the word of 18:23 God on their hand and the forehead. And the 18:26 more of the scripture they memorized the 18:28 bigger phylactery they would have going 18:30 around. They missed the whole point, look 18:36 at the text again. This observance of God's 18:43 commands, this observance will be for you like a sign 18:50 on the forehead and a reminder on your hand 18:54 that the law of Lord is to be on your lips. 18:56 The observance is like a sign, he doesn't say 19:00 write the law on your forehead, you don't go 19:03 to the nearest laser shop and say tattoo the 19:06 10 commandments up here for me, he said 19:11 the observance of the commandments is like 19:14 a sign on the forehead. When you obey God 19:19 it's like a sign, you see God wants us to 19:26 believe in him. He wants us to believe his 19:27 law, he wants us to choose with our mind 19:28 that we obey him and his law but it isn't 19:32 enough to just believe God. He wants you to 19:35 do his will and that's what it means to write 19:38 it on your hand, the observance of the law 19:40 is like a sign on the hand that the law of 19:43 Lord is on your lips. They missed it, that's 19:49 why they missed Jesus. And today they are 19:54 doing the same mistake and I am 19:55 scared that many are going to miss Jesus. 19:59 Looking for something else, I read a book one 20:03 time about the mark of the beast by a lady 20:07 who claimed to be a PhD in economics and 20:11 theology. So, I thought well, she must really 20:15 have it together. I want to know what she has 20:17 to say it must be right. And as I read through 20:20 this big book the bottom line was that 20:23 she said that every Visa card has 20:28 a magnetic strip on the back. So, I took my 20:33 Visa card out looked in it and it had a magnetic 20:36 strip on the back. And she said encoded in 20:40 that strip are a bunch of numbers and I believe 20:44 that, she also said among those numbers on the 20:51 magnetic strip are the numbers 666 and if 20:59 you get a Visa card in the mail. She wrote 21:03 and you don't send it back you have taken 21:06 the mark of the beast. Now, folks I have 21:12 a little problem with that, I have a little 21:16 problem with a God who would condemn 21:18 someone to help because he took the 21:21 wrong credit card or maybe you've heard 21:27 that the mark of the beast is going to be 21:29 a computer chip in the hand or the forehead. 21:34 Sure enough almost a year ago now in the 21:36 Seattle Times, Friday, May 10, 2002 chip 21:41 implants in human beings begin today and 21:44 there it is. Los Angeles eight people will be 21:46 injected with silicon chips today making 21:48 them scannable just like a jar of peanut 21:51 butter in the supermarket checkout line. 21:54 These miniature devices are about the size of a grain 21:57 of rice, it is just a safety precaution for people 22:04 with Alzheimer's or heart disease. Yeah 22:07 right, safety precaution. Now listen to this, it's 22:13 developed by Applied Digital in Florida and a few 22:16 religious groups feel that the chips are the 22:19 mark of the beast referred to in the Bible. 22:24 A few? Over 80 million that read the 22:27 the left behind series believe that, they don't 22:31 read the Bible. The computer chip is not 22:35 the mark. The mark of God is obedience to 22:43 his law on the forehead and on the hand. Now, 22:44 the computer chip can easily be used to 22:45 enforce the mark. The time is coming when 22:47 you can't buy or sell unless you obey the 22:49 beast and take his mark and so, you go to 22:51 grocery store and you buy some groceries 22:54 and they say stick your hand in there gotta 22:55 scan you like a jar of peanut butter and they 22:58 put it in there and it says no. He doesn't go 23:03 along with the world global religion. Don't 23:06 sell, sure, it can be used to enforce the 23:09 mark but it isn't the mark. The devil's no 23:14 dummy, who on earth would take a chip if 23:18 that was the mark of the beast? No, he is 23:21 much more subtle than that. God's mark is 23:25 obedience to the commandment like 23:27 a mark on the forehead or on the hands. 23:30 In fact, God gets even more specific than that 23:35 in Matthew chapter 31, verse 12, he said you 23:39 must observe my Sabbaths, this will be 23:47 a sign between me and you for the generations 23:50 to come so that you will know that I am the 23:53 Lord who makes you holy. Verse 16, 23:55 observe the Sabbath celebrating it for the 23:58 generations to come as the lasting covenant it will 24:01 be sign between me and the Israelites 24:03 forever, for in six days the Lord made the 24:06 heavens, the earth and the seventh day he 24:08 abstained from work and rested. Now, don't 24:10 get thrown by this sign between me and the 24:13 Israelites because we know now who the 24:15 true Israel of God is, and that is those who 24:18 follow Jesus because there is no slave nor 24:21 free Jew nor Greek, that we are all one in 24:23 Christ and if you have put on Christ you are 24:26 Abraham's seed and you're the Israel of 24:28 God today. So, don't let anybody tell you 24:31 well that's for the Jews. True it is but who is 24:35 a Jew, those who have put on Christ. 24:42 So, notice the Sabbath again folks this is not 24:46 Jac Colon this is not even my church, this is 24:49 the word of God singling out the 24:52 Sabbath as a special sign between you and 24:56 God. So, that you can know that he is the one 24:59 who saved you. Well, Why do I need the 25:00 Sabbath to know that God saved me? 25:02 Because when we sin, we are broken, 25:13 smashed, and only the God who made us can 25:20 remake us and recreate us in his image anew. 25:26 You see it takes the creator who made us to 25:30 be the God who saves us and that's why the 25:35 Sabbath is a sign between you and God, 25:38 the Bible says that folks not me. Am I 25:41 being fair with the text? Is the Bible 25:44 saying the Sabbath is the sign between us 25:47 that we can know that he has saved us? I am 25:50 not making the Sabbath more 25:52 important than anything else. I am not 25:54 singling it out. The Bible is singling it out 25:56 as a special sign for God. In fact, if you 26:00 think about it among the Ten Commandments, 26:04 the Sabbath is the one that qualifies as a seal of 26:08 God why? Because a seal in Bible days had 26:11 the name for example in Babylon the king 26:15 Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon 26:20 was on his seal, his name, his territory and 26:23 and his authority. And the Sabbath begins, 26:27 the Sabbath commandment says remember the Sabbath 26:29 of the Lord your God, that's his name, he 26:33 works six days. In six days he created the 26:37 heavens and the earth that's his authority as 26:39 the creator, the heavens and the earth are 26:41 the territory the Sabbath's commandment has a seal 26:44 of God right in the center of the law of 26:46 God. And the Bible points to it as a special 26:51 sign. Now, we are not saved because we keep 27:01 the Sabbath, we keep the Sabbath because 27:07 we have been saved by the Creator and 27:11 Redeemer, who are one. Nobody is saved 27:17 by works, but works show that our faith is 27:22 real. Anyone who says I know God, I can do 27:26 miracles, I can pray, I can cast out demons 27:29 but does not do what he commands is a liar. 27:33 In fact, watch this. In First John chapter 2, in 27:37 first John chapter 2 this is in the New Testament now, 27:39 chapter 2 verse 3 we know that we have 27:42 come to know him and Jesus said this is life 27:44 eternal that we know God. So, how do we 27:47 know that we have eternal life? How do we 27:49 know that we know God? How do we know? 27:51 If we obey his commands, Now watch this, I would 27:55 never ever have the courage to say what 27:58 I am about to say right now. I mean John had 28:02 some courage. So, I am not going to say it 28:05 I am going to read it and this is the same as God 28:10 speaking. Isn't it? When we read his 28:12 word it's the same as God speaking are you 28:15 with me now. Okay, so, if you want to get 28:17 mad at what I say don't get mad at me, get mad 28:19 at God because he is the one who said this. 28:23 Here it is, we know that we have come to 28:25 know him if we obey his commands. Now, 28:31 does that mean all of them or the ones that 28:32 we pick and choose to obey? He means all of 28:34 them, because he who keeps them all but 28:36 breaks just one is guilty of breaking all 28:38 of them. Remember, so, we know that we 28:41 come to know him if we obey his commands. 28:42 The man who says I know him, oh! I know 28:46 God, Hallelujah, praise the Lord, I know him. 28:50 But does not do what he commands is a liar 28:56 and the truth is not in him. I don't care how 28:59 righteous he is, how many visions he's had? 29:01 How many tongues he's spoken in? How many 29:02 demons he's cast out? If he says I know God 29:05 I don't care how many television programs he's been 29:08 on the air? If I know God, but he doesn't do 29:12 what God commands to do he is a lair. He's 29:17 a lair, now that's what God says folks. If 29:23 anyone obeys his word God's love is truly 29:26 made complete in him. This is how we know 29:27 that we are in him, whoever lives in him 29:29 must walk as Jesus did, in other words we 29:32 must follow the lamb. And folks the lamb 29:36 kept the Sabbath and that's all should be all 29:40 we need to know. The lamb kept the Sabbath 29:45 and the Sabbath is God's mark on the 29:48 forehead in hand the Bible tells us. You know, 29:56 some people get a little upset about that 30:00 and they say well you, you make Sabbath be 30:02 more important than all the other commands, 30:03 that's all you talk about it's the Sabbath. You know 30:08 I don't think I singled out the Sabbath. I think 30:11 everybody else has singled it out by saying that's 30:13 the one you don't have to keep and then it forces me to have 30:18 to spend a little bit more time to show you why you need 30:20 to because everything else out there is saying 30:22 you don't need to. The Sabbath is no more important 30:26 than the other nine. It's no more important, it is no less 30:32 important than the other nine but since the whole world 30:36 is practically thrown it out. It forces us to spend a little 30:41 more time and the Bible singles the Sabbath out 30:47 as a special sign of allegiance to God 30:51 and in that sense it is singled out from the 30:54 other commandments, there is no doubt about it. 30:56 The Bible does that. John Calvin one of the 30:58 reformers that came after Martin Luther said the Sabbath 31:02 is a sign of total commitment and obedience to God, 31:06 if you keep the Sabbath you probably going to 31:08 keep the rest of commandments. Now of course he was 31:10 thinking Sunday. That's okay back then that was all he knew 31:14 and understood but now we have more light and we have 31:18 no excuse. Sabbath is to keep the Sabbath and you are not 31:22 going to say it's okay to kill and murder and lie 31:24 and commit adultery. In fact, isn't it interesting that 31:30 Daniel chapter 7 verse 25 says that the Antichrist would 31:34 try to change the set times and the laws and that's the 31:38 only one of the Ten Commandments that 31:40 deals with time. This thing should be jumping out all 31:44 over us here. The Sabbath then becomes the ultimate test 31:51 You see I, any God, Confucius, Sun Myung Moon, Buddha, 31:56 anyone claiming to be God could say it's a sin to lie. 32:02 It's a sin to commit adultery, it's a sin to kill people, any 32:06 God can say that. Now even politicians say that today, 32:11 it's a sin to not honor your father and mother, anyone 32:16 of the nine of the commandments we can 32:19 give a long list of, I even know people that don't even 32:21 believe in God who won't take his name in vain, 32:24 because there is just something about that. 32:25 Just doesn't seem right. You kill somebody you know 32:29 you did wrong, but you will never get up on a Saturday 32:31 morning mow your lawn and be stricken with pains of 32:34 conscience that you did the wrong thing because there 32:38 is no difference between Saturday and Sunday or 32:41 any other day, same number of minutes, 32:43 same number of seconds, smells the same. See the 32:48 only way you can know I said no difference that's not true. 32:51 The only way you can know that the Sabbath is on Saturday 32:55 and not Sunday or any other day is because 32:58 the Bible says, the seventh day is the day that God 33:02 blessed and made it holy. In that sense folks 33:07 the Sabbath becomes the ultimate test as to whether 33:10 or not we believe God, the issue isn't when do you go 33:12 to church or what day do you observe the issue is, do you 33:15 believe what God says? God says, I blessed the 33:19 seventh day, I made the seventh day holy, keep it 33:22 holy, do you believe that. If you keep the Sabbath then 33:25 you're showing you believe God, if you refuse to keep 33:28 the Sabbath and put the traditions of man over it. 33:31 It simply shows that we doubt God and that's what 33:35 Eve did, the big problem with Eve wasn't eating the 33:37 fruit, the problem was she didn't believe God that's the 33:41 problem. In that sense the Sabbath becomes the 33:43 ultimate test. People say wow! You're teaching works 33:46 brother, no way the Sabbath is a sign of faith and not 33:49 works because you can only know by faith in the word 33:52 of God that the seventh day is a Sabbath. Well then if 33:56 the Sabbath is God's mark and God's sign and folks the 33:59 Bible is so clear about that, what is the mark of the beast? 34:02 What does the Church of Rome point to as the mark of her 34:05 authority? Martin Luther was a 34:12 Roman Catholic priest and he began to teach a class on 34:16 Romans in the University of Wittenberg discovering 34:19 from the Bible that we're saved by grace through faith 34:21 and not by works but it is a free gift from the God. 34:24 And the church of Rome said no, no, no Luther, we are 34:27 saved by grace and works, not faith alone and 34:32 Luther said but the Bible says we are saved by faith 34:35 alone and the church said Luther, the Bible is not the 34:39 final standard, it's the Bible plus the traditions of the 34:42 church and Luther said maybe for you but not for me. 34:45 For me sola scriptura, the scripture and the scripture 34:49 alone and the battle line was drawn in the sand. 34:52 The Bible and the Bible only or the Bible and the 34:55 traditions of the church, the church taught tradition 34:58 and the Bible said and Luther, the Protestants said 35:02 no it's scripture alone. And many were protesting 35:07 Rome, leaving the church, standing on the scripture 35:10 and the scripture alone and they were called Protestants, 35:13 that's what a Protestant is, if someone who believes the 35:16 Bible is the only rule of faith and practice for the 35:19 Christians and so many were leaving the church 35:22 that Rome had to do something to stop this massive outflow, 35:26 so they called a special Council of Trent. 18 years, 35:29 1545 until 1563 trying to plug up the leak and stop 35:35 this massive outflow from Rome to those Protestants, 35:38 those protestors protesting the church, claiming the 35:42 scripture alone and not the traditions of Rome towards 35:45 the end of Council of Trent. In the year 1562, a powerful 35:51 argument emerged when the Archbishop of Reggio openly 35:56 declared in a speech that tradition stands above the 36:02 scripture because the church changed the Sabbath from 36:06 Saturday to Sunday not by the command of Christ 36:10 but by her own authority and now the gauntlet was laid 36:14 down. Now, the challenge was laid bare, if you want 36:17 to be a Protestant and stand on the scripture alone then 36:21 you need to believe in the Sabbath. In fact, In John 36:23 O'Brien's book, the former dean from the University of 36:26 Notre Dame which has the Pope's imprimatur 36:28 enstamped in the cover, we looked at his before in an 36:30 other night. I want to read it again, he says on page 136, 36:34 the Bible does not contain all the teachings of the 36:36 Christian religion nor does it formulate all the duties 36:39 for its members, take for example the matter of 36:41 Sunday observance. Let me address my dear non-Catholic 36:45 leaders you believe that the Bible alone is a safe guide 36:49 in religious matters. You also believe one of the 36:51 fundamental duties enjoined upon you by your Christian 36:53 faith is that of Sunday observance, but where does the 36:56 Bible speak of that obligation. I've read the 36:58 Bible from Genesis to Revelation and found no 37:01 reference to the duty of sanctifying Sunday. The day 37:04 mentioned in the Bible is not Sunday the first day of the 37:06 week, but Saturday the last day of the week. It was the 37:09 church which by virtue of her own authority changed 37:13 the observance to Sunday in honor of the day that 37:17 Christ rose from the dead. In observing Sunday as you 37:20 do isn't it apparent that you are really acknowledging 37:24 the insufficiency of the Bible alone as a rule of faith and 37:27 practice for the Christian and proclaiming the need of 37:30 a divinely established teaching authority which in 37:33 theory you reject? The same argument echoed at the 37:39 Council of Trent. In fact Cardinal Gibbons wrote in 37:47 his book the Question Box page 179, if the Bible is the 37:51 only guide for the Christians then the Seventh Day Adventist 37:54 is right in observing Saturday. Isn't it strange 37:58 that those who make the Bible their only teachers should 38:00 inconsistently follow in this matter the tradition of the 38:05 Catholic church and remember Jesus said if you put the 38:13 traditions of man above the commandments of God 38:16 you are nullifying the word of God and worshiping 38:19 God in vain. C.F. Thomas, 38:24 Chancellor Cardinal Gibbons wrote of course the 38:26 Catholic church claims that the change was her act and 38:30 that act is the mark of her authority in religious 38:36 matters. We changed the Sabbath but we can change 38:44 God's law. We have authority to do it and the proof is we 38:49 changed the Sabbath from the 7th, from the first day 38:51 to the 7th day of the week. It was the dragon who gave 38:57 the beast his authority and to acknowledge that authority 39:01 is to worship the dragon. The real issue its not which 39:09 day did you go to church. The real issue is who do 39:13 you believe, who do you trust, who do you obey. 39:19 Paul said in Romans 6:16 don't you know that you are servants 39:22 of the one that you choose to obey. I think it's clear. 39:30 Cardinal Gibbons said reason and sense demand the 39:32 acceptance of one of the other of these alternatives, either 39:35 be a Protestant and keep holy Saturday or be a Catholic 39:38 and keep Sunday compromise is impossible. And he is right, 39:45 because a Protestant is one who stands on the scripture 39:47 alone. The Church of Rome says no its tradition. When we 39:51 put tradition over scripture we are honoring Rome and 39:54 her traditions over the word of God. He is right compromise 39:59 is impossible. Bible says remember the Sabbath day 40:03 to keep it holy, but the church of the Rome says no 40:06 we have changed it to the first day of the week and low 40:10 practically the whole world bows down in reverend 40:12 obedience to the beast. We can know what his mark is. A man 40:21 was coming to our meetings one time he was a minister 40:23 of music in a large, large church and after he 40:28 heard about the Sabbath for first time. He went to his 40:31 pastor and said pastor what about that. That man stood 40:34 there and from the Bible he showed that Saturday is a 40:36 Sabbath day and the pastor said I know it is, well then 40:43 why don't we keep it? Well it's just not important. 40:47 And some of you have said if you believe Saturday is 40:50 Sabbath day, you saw it clear in scripture and I said 40:52 you thought about keeping it and you said well I don't 40:54 really think it's that important which day. 40:57 I haven't said a lot about it up until now, but I'm saying 41:00 it now, it is important to do exactly what God says. 41:11 The mark of God is obedience to the law of God and his seal 41:14 is the fourth of the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath. 41:17 What is the mark of beast? I think it's clear. 41:20 I have already seen some of you got up, 'cause I don't 41:26 want it to be fuzzy and I'm going to take a great risk. 41:32 I'm going to tell you exactly what the mark of the beast 41:34 is or will be. The mark of the beast will be forced 41:42 Sunday observance, it is the sign that Rome points to as 41:47 the mark of her authority in religious matters. It will be 41:52 forced Sunday observance, the time is coming when 41:56 you'll be forced to acknowledge the authority of 41:59 Rome to change the word of God. 42:02 I said I would tell you a great risk because some of 42:04 you if this is true to form every place we go someone 42:08 is going to leave here and say that that pastor said that 42:11 everybody who goes to church on Sunday takes the mark 42:14 of the beast. And I didn't say that, I said Sunday will 42:20 be forced and the mark is when Sunday observance is 42:28 forced upon the people. No one has the mark of the beast now. 42:35 Did you hear that? If anybody is sleeping, 42:38 jab them in the ribs good, cause I want them to hear 42:40 this. How many people have the mark of the beast now? 42:44 "No one." How many? "None." Say it again. "None." 42:48 Okay and if you leave here saving that pastor said 42:51 everybody who goes to church on Sunday has the 42:53 mark you are bearing false witness, because no one has 42:58 the mark and no one will have the mark until it is forced 43:04 with a death decree. Well, that raises 43:07 another question. Who is going to want to kill me over 43:11 when I worship or how I worship. I live in a free 43:16 country, we even sang about it tonight. We live in the 43:20 land of the free and one of the things guaranteed by 43:23 the constitution is the freedom to worship God 43:26 as we choose. Well how does the United States fit in all 43:31 of this? Revelation chapter 13 verse 11, I saw another 43:37 beast coming up out of the earth. First one came up out 43:40 of the water. Water symbolizes multitudes of people we have 43:44 already talked about all of this and that was in Rome 43:47 the Church of Rome, but this one comes up out of 43:49 the earth. A quite relatively uninhabited part of the world. 43:53 He comes up out of the earth he has two horns like a lamb 43:56 a Christian nation coming into power in a relatively quite 44:01 uninhabited part of the world. He exercised all of the 44:04 authority of the first beast on his behalf and he made 44:07 the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast 44:09 whose fatal wound had been healed. So sometime after the 44:13 infliction of the fatal wound in 1798 sometime in the 44:17 late 1700s, we should be looking for a nation rising 44:22 to power in a relatively quite, relatively uninhabited 44:27 portion of the world at least compared to Europe and it 44:30 would be a Christian nation because he looks like a lamb. 44:35 There is only one nation coming into power around 44:38 the mid, the end of the 1700s, there was Christian nation 44:42 in a relatively quite part of the earth and you live there. 44:47 This is Protestant America. It began with the pilgrims 44:51 escaping the religious persecution under the 44:54 authority of the Antichrist, the beast, the little horn in 44:58 Europe, they came here with a right to worship God as we 45:02 please, to establish the freedom of religion and it 45:06 was to be a Christian nation, but the prophecy says he 45:11 spoke like a dragon. And he forces everyone to worship 45:18 the beast and I don't want to be misunderstood again and 45:24 I'm not anti-American. I'm proud to be an American, 45:31 we sang America today, God bless America and I pray 45:37 that everyday. I risked my life for the principals that 45:41 this country is established on, I believe in this country, 45:47 but I don't like what the prophet said is going 45:49 to happen. Protestant America is going to reach across the 45:55 gulf join hands with Rome and force the world to worship 46:00 and acknowledge her authority to change the word of God. 46:06 We are halfway there folks because protestant America 46:09 already acknowledges the authority of Rome to change 46:13 God's word. And who else on earth is strong enough 46:20 to enforce her church state religion, if it ever came 46:27 to that point which it will because that's exactly what 46:30 the prophet said is going to happen. Who on earth is 46:32 strong enough to do it? I love America, but I don't 46:37 love what the prophet said is going to happen. 46:39 America is going to change and you are going to lose 46:42 your freedoms and understand this every law that is passed 46:45 in order to protect you from terrorism is stripping away 46:49 some of your freedoms. And I have a lot more to say 46:54 about that on another night. But for tonight I just want 46:57 to take a quick look at how, how a nation speaks because 47:04 a nation speaks through her laws. And listen to what 47:08 John Paul II has to say about how the 47:11 United States of America is going to speak like 47:14 the dragon. In a extremely significant letter 47:20 Dies Domini written by John Paul II to try to 47:22 encourage more and more of his people to observe Sunday 47:25 and to go to church on Sundays because it's a tremendous 47:28 problem in the church. John Paul II makes an 47:31 impassion plea for Sunday observance based on the 47:33 fourth commandment, remember the Sabbath day. He concludes 47:36 with an appeal for Sunday legislation enforcing Sunday 47:41 observance. In section 64, he cites the Sunday laws in 47:47 the fourth century established by the Emperor Constantine 47:53 and based on those Sunday laws enforcing Sunday 47:56 observance by Constantine in the fourth century, 47:59 he goes on to conclude that therefore the particular 48:03 circumstances of our own time Christians will 48:06 naturally strive to ensure civil legislation, respects 48:10 their duty to keep Sunday holy. In other words 48:16 he's encouraging; he's encouraging his followers, 48:20 he's encouraging his believers to move towards 48:23 enforcing Sunday legislation, in fact I just saw an article, 48:29 I have it right here, just at the first of the year it 48:31 happened this was January 16. USA Today reported, 48:35 the Vatican issued a new set of guidelines for 48:38 Catholic politicians Thursday reminding them to heed 48:42 the churches "non-negotiable teachings on abortion, 48:46 Euthanasia, same sex marriage and other issues when making 48:50 public policy" and this is from Vatican issues, 48:54 Vatican issues guidelines for Catholic politicians. 48:59 What are the other issues that he has in mind. We can 49:04 catch a glimpse into the mind of John Paul II in his letter 49:11 as we consider the coming test here in America. All we 49:20 have to think about is the change, the change in the 49:24 attitudes of the people since September 11. Now since 49:28 September 11 more and more people are looking to the 49:31 government to protect us in any way that you can even 49:36 at the cost of our freedoms, but there is another ground 49:42 swell that's beginning to emerge, evangelical Christians 49:46 right here in America. Increasing the call and the 49:53 demand to make America be a Christian nation again 49:56 obeying the commandments of God. None other than 50:01 doctor James Kennedy, one of the foremost and most 50:05 respected pastors of the Evangelical Movement and 50:10 I have learned so much from Dr. Kennedy I accredit him 50:14 with a large part of my understanding of the Gospel, 50:17 in his book Evangelism Explosion, I respect him, 50:21 I love the man, but I don't like what he said. He said 50:26 in his sermon on the Ten Commandments especially 50:28 the fourth one the gift of rest, we live in a time when 50:31 the institution of the Sabbath has come under 50:32 great attack, there are those who declare that it abolished 50:36 by Christ and it is no longer in effect today. 50:38 The scriptures do not teach that Christ ever annulled, 50:41 abrogated or abolished the Sabbath or any of the 50:44 commandments on the contrary the scripture plainly teaches 50:47 that the commandments remain in effect today and have been 50:50 strengthened by Christ who declared not only the deed, 50:53 but the thought and the word are a part of what God has 50:56 given us. He clearly states, Jesus clearly states Kennedy 51:00 says, if we love him we will keep his commandments, 51:04 even as late as the Book of Revelation we read that 51:07 here is the patience of the saints of God, those who 51:10 have the faith of Jesus and keep the commandments of God. 51:14 The very last chapter of the Bible, Kennedy says we read 51:18 of those who keep the commandments of God and have 51:20 the right to the tree of life, I couldn't have said it any 51:23 better. The only problem is he has the wrong day folks, 51:29 he is talking about Sunday. Referring to the Sabbath 51:37 and this is chilling, Kennedy goes on to say the benefit 51:43 of the human race that has come through the institution 51:45 of the Sabbath can hardly be overestimated. There is an 51:49 old maxim that states 'as goes the Sabbath so goes 51:52 the nation,' are you understanding this? Here is 51:57 a prominent evangelical leader saying there is an 52:00 old maxim folks, 'as goes the Sabbath so goes the nation.' 52:07 And we might do well to ponder that thought and what 52:10 it portends for America? He goes on to say as the 52:14 Sabbath is desecrated, church attendance is ignored and 52:19 nation sink deeper and deeper into the mire of sin, there 52:23 are those today who say the low moral condition of 52:27 America is related to our breaking of the Sabbath and 52:32 it doesn't take much imagination to see how this 52:36 mind set, however true it may be, how this mind set 52:40 coupled with the desire of the masses today for the 52:44 government to protect us from evil can easily arouse 52:48 the masses to a frenzied element to remove those who 52:52 refuse to go along with observing the Lord's day 52:56 because they are the ones that are causing the problem. 52:58 It doesn't take a leap of imagination to understand 53:00 that, why? Why would anyone want to murder you because 53:08 of the way you worship? First John chapter 3 53:15 in verse 12, do not be like Cain who belonged to the 53:18 evil one and murdered his brother and why did 53:23 he murder him? Because his own actions were evil 53:26 and his brothers actions were righteous. Well, what 53:29 did Cain do that was so evil? He worshiped God with 53:36 tradition instead of the word of God, and his own 53:42 actions were so evil that he murdered his own brother, 53:46 do not be surprised my brothers if the world 53:48 hates you. In fact Jesus said in John 16:2, the time is 53:55 coming when anyone who kills you will think he is 53:57 doing a service to God. Folks we are getting close 54:03 to that time. There is a lot more that I could say but 54:06 I'm out of time tonight, besides that I've got to 54:09 give you reasons to come back on other nights. But for 54:14 tonight it's enough for us to recognize that we need to be 54:19 prepared to follow the lamb and not the beast. Years ago 54:28 a Pope, not the current Pope, but a Pope died and the 54:32 Cardinal Bishops met in the Sistine Chapel cast their 54:35 ballots and elected a new man to replace him. And the day 54:39 for his carnation came and they lifted the huge triple 54:42 tiara, placed it on his head and with almost every 54:45 television camera in the world focused on him I now 54:49 crown you Pope, king over heaven and earth and hell. 54:57 And practically the whole world followed in wonder. 55:00 Do you know there was another coronation scene? This man 55:05 didn't look like a king. As he hung dying on a cross, 55:12 he didn't wear a triple tiara, he had a crown of thorns 55:16 on his head, but he said he was a King, he has said he was 55:24 King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He died, he was 55:33 buried and three days later he rose up again. He ascended 55:39 into heaven and that story isn't over yet because one 55:44 day soon he is going to come again. The skies are 55:48 going to open like a scroll, Jesus is going to descend 55:53 and those who have been faithful will be caught up to 55:55 him and we'll join that great choir in the sky, cast our 56:00 crowns at his feet and sing out all hail the power of 56:04 Jesus name. Let angels prostrate fall, bring forth 56:09 the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. 56:16 "Amen!" Jesus said, the son of man 56:22 is Lord, even of the Sabbath. Is he Lord of all 56:31 in your life? Even of the Sabbath. Follow the lamb. 56:43 Amen. Oh! Lord, it isn't easy to say some of these 56:56 things because I know that there are people sitting here 56:59 right now that are maybe a little confused, maybe 57:04 a little hurt, perhaps angry. And I know that sometimes 57:11 words have a way of coming out hard and harsh and unloving. 57:16 And Lord I pray if my words came out that way 57:21 that you'll forgive me and through your grace and 57:25 your power let the truth be clear because we want 57:31 to follow the lamb. Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17