9. Worship Service - 02/27/2021 - Pastor Stephen Bohr and Pastor James Rafferty

[Music] good morning and happy sabbath we're glad you decided to join us for a some tv sabbath school and worship service today i trust that it will be a blessing to your spiritual walk with the lord praise the lord that the number of infections and the number of deaths has greatly decreased in the united states we need to continue praying that the lord will intervene so that this pandemic can pass and once again we can meet in a church and fellowship together in person i want to remind you to please continue to support your church with your tithes and offerings right now many places are closed to in-person worship but let's continue supporting our church because it needs the resources to continue its work may the lord bless you happy sabbath and may you be blessed by the service today come join us singing hymn 207 it may be at mourn [Music] when the days are waking when sunlight through darkness and shadow is breaking that jesus will come in the fullness of glory to receive from the world his own lord jesus how long how long hair we shout the glad song christ returneth hallelujah [Music] twilight it may be perfect that the blackness of the midnight will burst into light in the blaze of his glory when jesus receives lisa oh lord jesus [Music] hallelujah [Music] oh joy or delight should we go without dying no sickness no sadness no dread and nor crying the lord into glory when jesus receives israel oh lord jesus [Music] christ returneth hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] well good morning everyone welcome to our secrets unsealed some tv sabbath school it's a real pleasure to be with you and thank you for tuning in this morning i have with me pastor james rafferty associate speaker here at secrets unsealed and my good friend elder melvin blue and we have a very interesting lesson today to serve and to save but before we get started we need to ask for the lord's guidance so i want to ask pastor rafferty if he would please pray that the lord will bless our study today amen let's pray father we want to thank you for this opportunity to open your word and to ask for the guidance of your holy spirit we want to pray for our viewers ask that you will please speak through your word to each one where they're at what their needs are we are focusing on isaiah and the picture that we have there of service and we're praying that our hearts will be knit with heaven as you direct us to be servants for you in this world of pain and sorrow that to bring light and hope and comfort and peace to soaring stricken human beings so guide and direct our hearts as we study this lesson and let our minds and our thoughts be uplifted to heaven we pray in jesus name amen amen amen well now we're beginning our study of what is called second isaiah isaiah 40 through 66 not there there is a second isaiah it's the same isaiah but that's what the scholars say and our study today has several passages from isaiah we're dealing with isaiah 41 isaiah 42 1-7 isaiah 44 verse 26 through 45 6 in isaiah 49 verses 1 through 12. it's too bad that in one quarter we have to cover the entire book of isaiah my own personal opinion would be that it would be nice to have three quarters where we studied just the book of isaiah and cover the entire book but anyway i'm going to ask melvin to read the memory verse which is isaiah chapter 42 and verse 1. all right it reads behold my servant whom i uphold my elect one in whom my soul delights i have put my spirit upon him he will bring forth justice to the gentiles i think the key word here in the lesson this week is my servant servant yeah now melvin lots of people think that it would be a great honor to visit the holy land the sites where jesus walked where jesus ministered some people even go over there and they get baptized into jordan like jesus did so is there anything wrong with visiting the holy land uh what should be our focus well i think it's a great educational tour i mean i at some point i'd like to take that myself the lord allows but i think it's it's not necessary uh to to be in the physical locality where jesus walked in order to be a disciple of christ so so why don't we read the quotation that we find right right under the memory verse where ellen white tells us how we can walk in the footsteps of jesus this is found in desire of ages page 640. it reads many feel that it would be a great privilege to visit the scenes of christ's life on earth to walk where he trod to look upon the lake bedside which he loved to teach and the hills and valleys on which his eyes so often rested but we need not go to nazareth to capernaum or to bethany in order to walk in the steps of jesus we shall find his footprints beside the sick bed in the hovels of poverty in the crowded alleys of the great city and in every place where there are human hearts in need of consolation and doing as jesus did when on earth we shall walk in his steps what a phenomenal quotation that's a desire of ages page 640. okay so the theme of the lesson is uh to serve and to save so let's go to sunday's lesson and the big question is is isaiah 41 dealing with literal jacob or israel is it dealing with the corporate people or is it dealing with another person uh who is a descendant of jacob so to speak so how do we understand isaiah 41 well i like that the lesson brought out that it could be um both and i i was thinking about it myself you know there's a verse in isaiah 41 verse 25 that i really have really liked a lot over the years in in bible study and it says i've raised that one from the north and he shall come from the rising of the sun he shall call upon my name and he shall come upon the princesses upon mortar and as the potter treads the clay and i've always thought of that as christ but you know in the lesson quarterly it talked about cyrus you know who came from the north and also from the east and came to deliver his people and i think that's you know kind of where we're going to in relationship to the chapter the chapter is assuring god's people of help god's going to help you and god of course helps us ultimately through jesus christ but presently in this historical setting the help comes from people who prefigure christ so we have once again typology like we found all through the book of isaiah you have a typology as of a historical person being a model in miniature of events relating to the first coming and then events relating to the second coming as well yeah yeah and in verse eight though it talks about but you israel are my servant jacob whom i have chosen the descendants of abraham my friend and so uh there there appears to be a focus kind of on on the on this uh this corporate nation kind of structure here um and of course you know there's the whole idea of of peace being spoken to them that was last week you know that that they're going to have an exit from their captivity and so um he's god is in speaking to this nation even though they're going into captivity and this is uh way ahead of time that he's he's giving these words that he is powerful enough to bring them out his plan is to bring them out so that they will continue the service that he had intended for them to have if they will turn to him right yeah you see a lot of that in some of these verses here like verse 6 says they helped everyone his neighbor and everyone said to his brother be of good courage so the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith and he that smothered smooth with a hammer him that smoked with the anvil saying it is ready for the soldering and he fastened it with the nails and that it should not be moved and you see that happening under nehemiah you see that happening you know when they were rebuilding the city in the temple and how they stood shoulder the shoulder and they you know had a sword girded on and they were helping each other and encouraging one another you know in those uh daniel predicts those troubles times the city will be rebuilt and the wall even in troubleless times you know um a good illustration probably of the individual and corporate fulfillment of these prophecies is in the case of isaiah 49 verse 6 which is one of the verses that's brought out in the lesson if we want to read isaiah 49 and verse 6 maybe i can have pastor rafferty if he could read that church and he said it is a light thing that thou should just be my servant to raise up the tribes of jacob and to restore the preserved of israel i will also give thee for a light to the gentiles thou mayest be my salvation under the ends of the earth and you know the interesting thing is if if you look at verse 5 this applies to an individual it's really talking about the messiah yes however when you go to the book of acts chapter 13 and verses 46 and 47 this actually applies to paul to the apostle paul um maybe uh melvin do you have that there sure acts uh actually 13 46 and 47. then paul and barnabas grew bold and said it was necessary that the word of god should be spoken to you first but since you rejected it and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life behold we turn to the gentiles for so the lord has commanded us i have set you as a light to the gentiles that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth interesting isn't it direct quote from a direct quote from isaiah 49 verse 6 it applies to paul but in its original context it applies to the messiah and i think the explanation would be that the church is the body of christ and jesus is the head and wherever the head goes the body goes at least as far as i know so so you know jesus is the main focus in isaiah 49 but the body of christ is to emulate is to imitate or is to participate in the mission of christ you know it's interesting as i was studying i i reflected back to exodus on the sinai incident where the covenant is being formed and in before the law is given god tells moses that that he wants the people to be a nation of priests you know and i said well the whole nation is a priest who are they serving you know what what's what's what's the intent here you know and it it's it's to bring the knowledge of god yes to the surrounding nations in their journey uh to the promised land and in their in the in their state in their in the promised land that's their function so it didn't eliminate the priesthood no right there within that the the hebrew nation but it gave an additional responsibility to every person to be a light to their neighbors and to the gentiles i like that yeah and you know the only difference between the old testament and the new testament as far as witnessing is concerned is that in the old testament israel was to be so prosperous in everything yes health agriculture etc that the nations would come to jerusalem what's the secret right of your prosperity you know like the queen of sheba sure it came to solomon but in the new testament jesus says go right so the nations in the old testament will come whereas in the new testament the church is told to go but still it's witnessing to the glory of christ and to the glory of the gospel i you know and you know as as uh you know i followed through your series on the hebrew feast and all that i said you know these people were like on vacation a good portion of the year they were always gathering in jerusalem they were having these feasts they were you know and i said well how did they become so prosperous you know if they weren't to glean the edges of the field they were only supposed to harvest as they passed through once uh you know it's like but you know god was blessing them so that the surrounding and said wait a minute these guys are always in jerusalem yeah you know they're always they you know they're not that we go through the fields and there's plenty of stuff left you know the poor you know the the remains of the fields for free how is it that they're so prosperous you know they took one day off every week exactly from labor completely yes yeah and one year after seven six years and then also uh one whole year after the 49th year right that's right yeah you know one of my favorite passages on this issue of witnessing is in the book of zechariah i know it's not in the lesson but it's related to what we're talking about regarding witnessing because the lesson is on service on the on the servant yes but we are to walk in the steps of jesus he who says that he's in him ought to walk even as he walks so notice zechariah chapter eight and um let uh let me begin at verse 20 thus says the lord of hosts people shall yet come inhabitants of many cities the inhabitants of one city shall go to another saying let us continue to go and pray before the lord and seek the lord of hosts i myself will also go yes many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the lord of hosts in jerusalem and pray before the lord thus says the lord of hosts in those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a jewish man saying let us go with you for we have heard that god is with you what is spectacular from every nation we want to go to jerusalem and we want to worship your god yeah and i love that uh you know the sleeve of the skirt there in in the hebrew is the garment and it reminds us of the garment of christ's righteousness that what we have to offer the world is not just the knowledge and the wisdom and the blessing but also the righteousness or the gospel of jesus christ right okay well let's go to monday's lesson the unnamed individual servant this is isaiah 42 and verses 1 to 7 and probably we should read those verses so that everybody knows what we're commenting on so pastor rabbit could you read verses 1-7 yes isaiah 42 beginning with verse 1 behold my servant whom i uphold mine elect in whom my soul delights i put my spirit upon him he shall bring forth judgment to the gentiles he shall not cry nor lift up his nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street verse 3 a bruised reed shall he not break in the smoking flacks shall he not quench he shall bring forth judgment unto truth verse 4 he shall not fail nor be discouraged until he has set judgment in the earth and the isles shall wait for his law verse 5 thus saith the lord he that created the heavens and stretched them out he that spread forth the earth and that which comes out of it he that gives breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein verse six i the lord have called thee in righteousness and will hold thy hand and will keep thee and will give thee for a covenant of the people for a light of the gentiles verse seven to open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house so who are these verses talking about i can't help but say they're talking about jesus what characteristics would tell us that this passage is referring to christ oh almost every verse but you love the fact that he first of all has the spirit of god upon him he's filled with i will put my spirit upon him my soul delights in him those are the things that you know set christ apart from any other man filled with the spirit of god and you know this is this is my son in whom i'm well pleased that the spirit of god rested upon him at his baptism but then he goes on here and it just talks about his meekness and humility you know he didn't cry or lift up his voice in the street like the pharisees did you know pray in the corners loudly to be seen and you know i could tell you of our visit to to uh you know the holy land some years ago and the experience we had with different religious people even on the plane where they just want to be noticed you know we want to be noticed in our praying and this kind of thing and christ wasn't that way at all and then the way he dealt with people you know he was just very gentle with people that were broken you know bruised reed and people who the light was almost going out and he just didn't quench their you know their their light or or take them out yeah and i i reflected a lot on that verse three you know a bruiser he will not break and the smoking flax he will not clench it you know when when people approach jesus or when he approached him typically you know they were um kind of in a downward spiral either spiritually or physically and uh he didn't say to him well or both yeah or both yes they didn't say to them oh oh well you know this you brought on yourself and so you know so be it you know yeah he did he didn't he didn't snuff them out and he didn't break them you know they that little bit of that little spark of faith or whatever that he built on that uh and uh it wasn't about um building himself up it was about bringing you know by serving bringing people back to a knowledge of god and into a relationship with the father so i heard somebody say that jesus comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable i think that's true that is true but even when he's 23. even when he spoke to them to the scribes and the pharisees you know i mean he you know he spoke to them in parables and all they and they would go away scratching their head and say well wait a minute he was talking about us but you know he didn't bash him right yeah yeah but he loves them too much yeah to not say to say nothing sure and alan white says you know when he spoke you know he spoke truth and in love and tears were in his voice but how did his scathing reviews yeah and sometimes when jesus was talking about them they incriminated themselves right like in the parable of the vineyard you know sends out messengers they reject the message and then other messengers are sent out they reject them finally he sends his son right and they say this is the air let's take him out and kill him so they take him out and kill him jesus says what do you suppose should be done with those individuals oh they should be destroyed miserably and there and their kingdom should be given to another people who produce the fruits thereof and then when the story ends they say they realize that he was talking about them kind of like david and nathan exactly same thing when nathan comes and tells him the story and then all of a sudden david says oh fourfold and then he loses this man thou art the man right yeah but of course david uh reacted you know his uh conscience was shaken and uh he rectified his life but the pharisees you know they went out and plotted how they could kill jesus because of what he said you know this this passage in isaiah 42 reminds me of the verses that jesus quoted when he began his ministry in nazareth let's go to isaiah 61 verses 1 and 2 where jesus actually explained what his mission was remember he opened the scroll to the prophet isaiah yeah and then at the after after reading these verses he said this has been fulfilled in your eyes today so let's read isaiah 61 1 and 2 uh melvin could you read those verses let me get there yeah new bibles you know it's difficult to turn the pages of new bibles he's almost there all right isaiah 61 61 and verses one and two okay one and two the spirit of the lord god is upon me because the lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to claim to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the lord and the day of vengeance of our god to comfort all who mourn you know the only thing that jesus left out was the part that says and to end the day of the vengeance of our god when this is quoted in the new testament and then read verse three it's a beautiful verse to console those who mourn in zion to give them beauty for ashes the oil of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they may be called trees of righteousness the planting of the lord that he may be glorified isn't that a beautiful passage that's beautiful about the ministry and not only the ministry of christ that is also our ministry now let's go to matthew chapter 12. matthew chapter 12 where where several of the concepts that we find in these seven verses in isaiah 42 are applied directly to jesus the messiah matthew chapter 12 and verses 15 to 21 and um maybe i can have james uh pastor rafferty read uh verses 15 to 21 matthew 12. see if we can catch the details that come from isaiah 42 okay matthew 12 15. but when jesus knew it he would drew himself from thence and great multitudes followed him and he healed them all verse 16 and charged them that they should not make him known verse 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by isaias the prophet saying behold my servant whom i have chosen my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased i will put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment to the gentiles he shall not strive nor cry neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets verse 20 a bruised reed he shall not break and smoking flack shall he not quench till he send forth judgment unto victory verse 21 and in his name shall the gentiles trust direct quote very clearly isaiah this is why isaiah is called the gospel prophet because christ is of course christ is the center of every scripture but isaiah highlights the the ministry in the mission of christ in such a spectacular way you know it's really significant though to see this too because isaiah is also full of judgment you know we've looked at a number of chapters chapter 24 25 26 27 28 where we see major judgment uh coming against uh israel and then prophesied against babylon against the assyrians and so it's really significant i think to recognize how the gospel and christ in his righteousness and god's goodness and his grace is interwoven between all of those judgments because when you get when you take a parent for example that manifests justice and you know punishment and severity to a child without love and without care without being motivated by that love and care um you're going to you're going to basically instill in that child rebellion but when you combine the love and the care with justice and fairness and punishment and you know discipline then you're going to develop a completely different child you're going to develop a person into a man or a woman that is able to understand love not only in the uh you know i love you and i'm just going to do whatever but also in discipline and that's what god is doing here he's developing children in that balanced way yeah i love that in hebrews chapter 13. god it says that god chastens and disciplines those whom he loves chapter 12 yeah chapter 12 yeah and and so you know discipline is something that uh is not our favorite thing no but when a parent disciplines the child the child really sees that the parent cares for them and parents it's not a favorite thing for parents either i mean how easy was it for us to discipline our kids i was it was not easy you know because you see the tears or you feel you know whatever and and i think that that's part part of what we need to see here in in isaiah is that god does that but it's isaiah 28 says it's his strange work to punish in any way shape or form and i think that would apply across the board you know whatever and whatever we see here so praise the lord yup he's good okay well uh let's go to tuesday's lesson because time the clock does not forgive hmm uh tuesday's lesson the title is the persian messiah now who is the persian messiah that would be saying i didn't know that jesus was persian that would be cyrus they'll be cyrus that would be cyrus okay in what sense is cyrus uh called by the way just uh in summary the name cyrus means son s-u-n okay not s-o-n-s-u-n uh he's referred to in isaiah 44 28 as god calls him my shepherd my shepherd oh yeah in 45 verse 1 he's called by name and is referred to as messiah god's messiah yeah uh in uh chapter 45 and verse 13 he is it says god called him in righteousness to let the captives go in isaiah 46 11 it says that he comes from a far country and in isaiah 41 verse 2 20 and verse 25 it says that he comes from the north and from the east [Music] so you have once again the idea of a model in miniature in other words of a miniature type right of someone who is far greater who's going to come in the future yeah because all of these attributes and all these activities are the things that christ does and and uh even you know the idea of coming from the north you know in in the sanctuary that you know the throne was on the sides of the north right yeah and um so yeah all of these things that are attributed to cyrus are also attributed to christ even coming even jesus coming to this earth from the east from the east right not only in the second coming the first coming he came from the east too notice luke chapter one if i'm not mistaken and is that verse very much so [Laughter] easy guys um yeah chapter 1 and verse 78 and verse 79. it says uh speaking this speaking about jesus who's coming uh through the tender mercy of our god with which the day spring from on high has visited us you know that that expression day spring is the same word that is translated sun rising in revelation chapter 16 and verse 12 in relationship to the sixth plague so at the second coming he's coming from the rising sun because really it's two greek words but it's translated sun rising but really it's from the rising sun there are two two words so jesus is is coming from the east in the second coming it came from the east and his first coming continues saying through the tender mercy of our god which with which the day spring from on high has visited us and of course what does the sun do to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace so even the direction of the compass that cyrus comes from is typological of the coming of christ first and second second coming of course matthew 24 also says his lightning shines from the east to the west so the coming of the son of man and you also picked this up in daniel 11 i'm sure you're familiar with the verse there which is tidings out of the east and out of the north well here's the king that comes from the east and the north right tidings out of the east and the north shall trouble him and those tidings you know when you think about it just think about this and i'll just do a little pause here and maybe you can correct me if i'm off theologically when you think about it uh the north would represent where god comes from in the sense of he's the king of the north his second coming he's going to come from heaven he's going to come from the size of the north the east of course we understand to represent the ceiling angel in revelation 7 and the seal of god is the sabbath so the north would represent the second coming and the east would represent the sabbath and those two truths combined the seventh-day sabbath and the second coming of jesus christ are encapsulated in the name seventh-day adventists so the trump the tithings that trouble him in daniel 11 are the tidings that are brought to the world by seventh-day adventists they're preaching the everlasting gospel they're directing people the second coming of jesus and they're directing people of the sabbath truth and these tithings are troubling him so i think that the gods the name that we have as a people is a god-given name it's in the bible and of course ellen white says god gave us that name specific for a specific purpose but here it is right here in daniel and of course that's backed up by matthew 24 and revelation 7 and isaiah 41 25. you know um the north in antiquity we usually think of the of the directions of the compass in a linear fashion you know we say north is straight that way south is straight that way east is to the right and west is to the left hand however uh in scripture the north is up it's up the south is down the east is to the right hand and the and the west is to the left hand in antiquity the west and the south were considered uh the the areas uh possessed by demons because it had to do with the position of the sun okay see the sun originates in the east and it reaches its highest intensity in the north directly above head so those were the directions of the compass that belong to god god is always from the north and from the east whereas darkness begins in the west where the sun sets and it reaches its deepest intensity in the underworld and so and so really uh when revelation chapter 18 tells us that there's this loud cry message that comes from heaven it's really coming from the north and in revelation chapter 7 the seal of god comes from the east and you know you notice that ellen white tells us that when the loud cry message is being proclaimed then it's going to infuriate the churches and that's what we find in daniel chapter 11 you have you know the loud cry message and which is the ceiling message what is it what does it do it says after the titus from the north and the king north and east come they will go out with great fury the king of the north to try and destroy god's people so the loud cry and the sealing message is going to is going to enrage the world against god's people but of course god will protect his people and he will bless their work until it's finished amen amen okay now just a few more things about about cyrus cyrus was a very magnanimous person he's one of the few individuals in antiquity that released nation nations when he conquered them uh you know you have for example uh in ezra chapter one um let's go to ezra chapter one and uh read what cyrus had to say in his release of israel from bondage this is in the year 536 um and it's amazing what he says uh now in the first year of cyrus king of persia that the word of the lord by the mouth of jeremiah might be fulfilled the lord stared up stirred up the spirit of cyrus king of persia so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing saying thus says cyrus king of persia all the kingdoms of the earth the lord god of heaven has given me that's phenomenal and he has commanded me to build him a house at jerusalem which is in judah who is among you of all his people may his god be with him and let him go up to jerusalem which is in judah and build the house of the lord god of israel he is god which is in jerusalem and whoever is left in any place where he dwells let the men of his place help him with silver and gold with goods and livestock besides the free will offerings of the house of god which is in jerusalem you know elwha is a very interesting quotation where she states i had it here let me see if i can find it where she says that uh cyrus was deeply impressed with the experience of daniel delivered from the lion's den really um let me see if i can find that quotation is it in this file oh well it might be in this pile i have i have so many piles here that it's difficult to keep track because there's so many different issues in the lesson pardon me a finder's fee i'll find it can uh well anyway she says that he was deeply impressed with the deliverance of daniel from the lion's den by the way the deliverance of daniel from the lions den would have been within a two-year period after the fall of babylon we know that because darius was the ruler and darius died two years after the conquest of babylon and so sometime between those two years cyrus of course was the general of the armies sometime in that period he heard that daniel had been delivered from the lion's den and produced a tremendous impact on him and that's the reason why he speaks the way that he does here well yeah he's the deliverer like much later there would be the true deliverer wow now there's another issue brought up in this section and that is that uh cyrus was called by name 150 years plus before he was born and i really like the way that the lesson expressed that it would be like george washington predicting that a man named general dwight eisenhower would help 1945. that was it that was a very good uh illustration so this is the reason why critical scholars and by the way critical scholars are supposedly christians who don't believe in full inspiration of scripture uh they say that uh isaiah 40 to 66 was not written by isaiah because i yeah the original isaiah who lived from 745 bc to 685 bc they say it's impossible for someone to predict the birth of someone by name who would do what he was predicted to do and so um they call it deutero isaiah or second isaiah and they say that it was written after the bible after the exile so uh how do we deal with that uh particular uh little tidbit well you know there are a couple of things and one comes right off to me in scripture you know it says i am god and there's none like amen declaring the end from the beginning and in ancient times things have not come to pass you know so he speaks of his ability to do these things in scripture god gives he gives us the window into them and then of course uh as we talked last week in the lesson you know uh isaiah talks about the um the conquest of of of judah by babylon and and babylon's not even on on the plate on the radar yeah it's amazing it's not even on the radar you know that syria is on the radar um and so uh you know you know there there are those um messages all you know in the early parts of of isaiah yes yeah before the the the captivity even occurs this one becomes a little bit more challenging though because it's a specific name of a specific individual which i don't think is beyond god either the principle is the same exactly what you're saying melvin is the same but you want to look at scriptures for example where god sends an angel to impress parents to name their children certain names you know you see that with jesus of course and was a lit with elizabeth so much so that when zacharias has questioned who his name is going to be you know and of course he can't speak at that point he's still on a nine-month timeout for being you know unbelieving to the angel he writes on the tablet john the angel told me john but that that name's not in your family so it wouldn't be difficult i don't think for god to impress these parents to name their child cyrus just like he impresses believing parents to name their child jesus and john et cetera especially when you think of the idea that there are a lot of people that are not believers in god but are very susceptible and open to be impressed by god and you see this demonstrated i think more specifically in daniel chapter 10 where you see michael and gabriel contending with the powers of meter persia the kings and satan coming in there and he's contending also and they're trying to impress god's purpose on them versus you know satan trying to thwart that purpose so i think this happens all the time i think i meet lots of people who name their children certain names and they were impressed to name them those names and they mean something they're significant and actually has impact on the child so enoch is is is impressed to name his son methuselah yeah no it's a prophetic name yeah right when it is when it ends he will come yeah it will come you know yeah the only way that you could uh get off the hook of uh saying that this is a prediction is if the parents of cyrus had access to the book of isaiah and named him cyrus but we know that that's not the case by the way here's the quotation that i mentioned before prophets and kings page 557 the deliverance of daniel from the den of lions had been used of god to create a favorable favorable impression upon the mind of cyrus the great the sterling qualities of the man of god as a statesman of far-seeing ability led the persian ruler to show him marked respect and to honor his judgment and now just at the time god had said he would cause his temple at jerusalem to be rebuilt he moved upon cyrus as his agent to discern the prophecies concerning himself with which daniel was so familiar and to grant the jewish people their liberties so you can imagine what it must have been like for daniel to have an encounter with cyrus and say hey by the way did you know that uh your name you were named 150 years ago before you were even born so now we can understand why in ezra he says you know god has given me a kingdom this is the true god and another interesting tidbit is that zoroastrianism which is a monotheistic religion had its origins in the kingdom of persia in the times of cyrus and um and you know the the persian rulers were dead against polytheism in fact darius the first darius the persian expelled the babylonian magi who were still who still remained in the kingdom after the destruction of babylon he he slaughtered many of them and they fled to pergamum and then king xerxes the same one from the book of esther in the year of 482 bc uh slaughtered another group that had still remained and they also fled to pergamum wow and so and so they were very intolerant of polytheistic religions in the persian empire so um you know cyrus is a very good type of christ in the type of person that he was and you know and the priorities that he had that's interesting history for programming and pergamos in the church you know the exaltation of you know all of the babylonian principles in the church during that time frame that's interesting because pergamum is really the the link it's the link between pagan roman people right and it was also the link between ancient babylon and the roman empire yep and babylon is the code and at the end of time also pergamum is the link between protestantism and the papacy so um and sunday is involved at each stage as well uh you know a lot of these details i got from a phenomenal couple of books by humphrey prado on the history of the medes and persians it's a two volume set he wrote maybe 150 years ago but really really detailed in the in the history of the medes and persians okay so anyway uh let's continue because we only have like 12 minutes left oh we're running out of time running out of time as usual uh let's go to thursday's lesson a feeling and suffering servant isaiah 49 and verses 1 through 12. let's read those verses and then comment on them okay i'll read them here listen o coast lens to me and take heed you people from afar the lord has called me from the womb from the matrix of my mother he has made mention of my name and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword in the shadow of his hand he has hidden me and made me a polished shad in his quiver he has hidden me and he said to me you are my servant o israel in whom i will be glorified then i said i have labored in vain i have spent my strength for nothing and in vain yet surely my just reward is with the lord and my work with my god and now the lord says who formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring jacob back to him so that israel is gathered to him for i shall be glorious in the eyes of the lord and my god shall be my strength indeed he says it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of jacob and to restore the preserved ones of israel i will also give you as a light to the gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth thus says the lord the redeemer of israel their holy one to who to him whom man despises to him who the nations abhor to the servants of rulers kings shall see and arise princes also shall worship because of the lord who is faithful the holy one of israel and he has chosen you thus says the lord in an acceptable time i have heard you and in the day of salvation i have helped you i will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people to restore the earth to cause them to inherit the desolate heritage that you may say to the prisoners go forth to those who are in darkness show yourselves they shall feed along the roads and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights they shall neither hunger nor thirst neither heat nor sun shall strike them for he who has mercy on them will lead them even by the springs of water he will guide them i will make each of my mountains erode and my highways shall be elevated surely these shall come from afar look those from the north and the west and these from the land of cinema how do you unpack these 12 verses in the time that we have left so much detail and here obviously it's speaking directly about jesus the messiah all of the details indicate that it's talking about jesus the messiah what is it that strikes uh either one of you about what we read here in these verses well i love the fact that the transition is made i'm just jumping into verse six here that it's it's not enough it is just not enough that you are going to be raising up the tribes of jacob and restoring the preservative of israel i want you to go to the gentiles and i want you to bring salvation to the ends of the earth and immediately i thought about revelation 18 and revelation 14 and the fact that god wants to lighten the earth with his glory he wants everyone god is not into a specific group of people god is into everyone he wants everyone to be saved and he wants everyone to understand the plan of salvation that includes them god is not willing that one should perish but that all should come to repentance i love that that that's brought out so clearly here in these in these verses yeah so john 3 16 for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son whosoever believed in him should not perish but have eternal life yeah and so it is it's a it's a broad reaching scope it's it's an eternal scope it's not you know it's not just um a segment it's not just for jews you know but the gentiles are included in this so god basically elects for service he elects with a purpose and what happens if uh the the nation or the church or the person does not fulfill the purpose for their election you know he'll call another and another and another and another we see this time and time again uh we see it with saul for example who was humble at first and you know when he was called and didn't fulfill god's purpose then god replaced him with david but god waited i'm amazed how long god waited you know on saul and and and let david you know go through a lot of trials and tribulations before he actually became king which was good to develop his character but so god but it's still he's going to do it look right here we're talking about jesus but the fact of the matter is god wanted to do this through israel and jacob and even though they failed he's going to try to restore them but that's just a little thing you want to get heavy right you know this is a light thing you want to get heavy i'm going to go to all the world with this message yeah and that's where you have you know where it says here you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth that's directly in matthew chapter 28 and verse 18 to 19. yes where it says you shall beware and actually in acts chapter 1 also you know you shall be witnesses to me in jerusalem judea samaria and to the ends of the earth to the outermost ends of the earth and so this is uh talking about the mission of christ in his first coming but it's also referring to his people as we noticed isaiah 49 and verse 6 at the beginning of our study it's also referring to paul and to all of those who need to preach the gospel as an extension of christ as the body of christ yeah so in essence it's also referring to us absolutely yeah yeah did you notice also that here you have kind of like a blending of the first coming with the second coming there's certain details here that apply to the second coming and some to the first yeah verse one you've called me from the womb from the bowels from my mother you know you made mention of my name so thou shalt call his name jesus you know this speaks this verse and another one further down where he repeats that same idea you know and it speaks also of of god's calling in the womb to every single human being it's not just you know to christ but all of us are called god has a purpose for us from the very conception from the very beginning of life when we're first conceived in the womb god has a purpose for every human being and we shouldn't think that we're a mistake or that we you know god doesn't want us to be part of his kingdom he does and that purpose is to serve that purpose is to serve and in service we find our highest joy you know we think services drudgery services and drudgery service is a blessing service is a positive thing and the drudgery is you know the idleness and the sinfulness and all of the things that have displaced god's original purpose for us but it's in service that we find our greatest joy and our greatest happiness giving to others doing for others yeah and so we reflect on jesus you know at the last supper you know and uh you know the disciples the scripture said there was a dispute amongst them as to who was going to be the greatest you know but you know jesus lays off his outer garment takes the bowl of water and and began serving them you know and lets them know whoever is going to be great in my kingdom is is going to be the least he's going to be a servant yes yeah and so our job is that of us i mean the whole this whole self ascendancy thing is counter intuitive to the kingdom it is and and we've got it upside down even as christians we say the way to up is down but we're still trying to get up and the truth of the matter is that down is up in god's kingdom and even at the last s at the great marriage supper christ is going to be serving us you've got a thought here that's amazing you're right that's yeah that's an amazing thought that yeah he's going to be the waiter yes and we're going to be the guests sir how how do we how does that rate you know uh the connection between isaiah and revelation is striking in one particular verse okay uh isaiah 49 and verse 10 they shall neither hunger nor thirst neither heat nor son shall strike them for he who has mercy on them will lead them even by the springs of water he will guide them all right revelation chapter seven yes revelation chapter seven this is almost verbatim it is it shows that this has more than just an application to the first coming it has an application to the second coming as well uh it says there you want to read that uh james they shall verse 16 they shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto the living fountains of waters and god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes so that's the ultimate fulfillment of the messianic prophecies of isaiah absolutely amazing i thought you were going to go to revelation chapter 21. you know because it's also it's also there but revelation 7 has it you know every one of these uh epochs these these uh repeat and large sections of revelation take us down to the new heaven and the new earth but this is just you know i'm hoping that people who are watching will do more than just read the passages you know try and find the links because all of the books of the bible meet and end in revelation according to the spirit of prophecy and so we need to not only stick with history we need to see how all of these things are types or small scale illustrations of the work of the messiah in the first coming and the work of the messiah relating to the second coming of christ as well amen so we need to go beyond just the surface and just reading okay well time is just about up let's go to friday's lesson and i know that melvin has this um if you could just in closing read the quotation from gospel workers page 117 do you have that melvin i don't i do the one i have is on friday's desire of ages so oh yeah that's right before no yeah yeah it's right after it yeah okay sure okay in the work of soul winning great tact and wisdom are needed now that i'm gonna read that again of comments because we only have the work of soul winning great tact and wisdom are needed the savior never suppressed the truth but he uttered it always in love in his dealings with others he exercised the greatest tact and he was always kind and thoughtful he was never rude never needlessly spoke a severe word never gave unnecessary pain to a sensitive soul he did not censor human weakness he fearlessly denounced hypocrisy unbelief and iniquity but tears were in his voice when he uttered his scathing rebukes he never made truth cruel but ever manifested deep tenderness for humanity every soul was precious in his sight he bore himself with divine dignity yet he bowed with the tenders compassion and regard to every member of the family of god he saw in all souls whom it was his mission to save amen amen hello friends and welcome again to our worship service as we enter into this part of our service today we want to ask the lord be with us so we'll bow together as we pray father in heaven we just want to thank you again for this opportunity to worship you in spirit and truth we want to thank you for the blessed promise of your holy spirit we want to pray for the message for the special music for the whole service we want to ask that you will guide and direct our hearts to heaven that you will speak to us through your word and that our hearts will be knit with you and witnesses for you in this earth especially in these closing days and we pray and ask these things in jesus name amen hi boys and girls it's auntie caroline here to tell you a wonderful story about some of god's creations today i've chosen the sandhill crane these majestic beautiful birds they have such beautiful necks and long beaks and legs their wingspan is six and a half feet imagine that also they live in cuba mexico all different places they're quite they travel quite a bit from florida to canada and beyond and they are see that that's one taking off isn't he beautiful majestic now the thing about the sandhill crane is it's so funny because they just land when they're tired and they need to eat they'll land and they stick their bills right down into the dirt in the muck and mire in the swamps and stuff and they just dig out roots and and grubs and they'll even eat corn and then after they're done eating they'll throw that corn stalk up in the air and they'll do a mating dance and it's so fun to watch and sometimes they'll just be there and all of a sudden they'll all just leave at the same time nobody tells them they just all get up and fly northward into a v they fly in a v because the front bird does all the work and they have to rotate all the time so that one bird doesn't get too tired the reason they do that is they have an instinct inside of them who gives them that instinct well i believe god put that instinct in them and birds who follow their instincts live a happier healthier life just like us if we listen and follow our instincts the ones god gives us sometimes we don't realize the holy spirit is with us and then maybe um we find that we can do something that's very difficult and it was a little easier to do because the holy spirit was with us sometimes we'll feel something in our conscience and that can be the holy spirit talking to us um god has said he will always be there and he will send the holy spirit to be with us even though we can't see him we can't hear him he's with us and he's always there guiding us along if we let him we need to remember to let him guide us let's pray that we always let the holy spirit guide us dear heavenly father thank you for being with us thank you for these majestic creatures please be with all the children help us all to listen to our good instincts and let the holy spirit guide and direct our hearts we ask these things in your name amen our scripture reading this morning comes from the book of revelation revelation chapter 12 verse 17 and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ may the lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word great is thy faithfulness oh god my father there is no shadow of turning with thee thou changest not thy compassions they fail not as thou hast been thou forever will be great is thy faithfulness greatest thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercies i see [Music] great is thy faithfulness lord unto me [Music] summer and winter and springtime and harvest sun moon and stars and their courses above join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness mercy and love greatness thy faithfulness greatest thy faithfulness morning bye morning new mercies thy faithfulness [Music] 10 000. thy faithfulness greatness thy [Applause] [Music] faithfulness [Music] is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness lord unto [Music] me some tv is a worldwide christian ministry providing christ-centered programs with clarity and power on topics such as bible prophecy in time events bible interpretation tips for helpful living cooking demonstrations and much more our programs provide practical counsel for daily life and assurance and these uncertain times download the free some tv app or watch online at some tv.org you will be blessed hi friends and welcome to worship service at some tv secrets unsealed we're so glad you could join us our title today for our message is the remnant of what and we're going to be looking primarily in revelation chapter 12 but our scripture reading is in revelation chapter 12 and verse 17. it reads and the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ so what we're going to be looking to do is we're going to be looking to unravel this verse in the context of revelation chapter 12 in the context of the rest of the bible we're going to be answering the question who is this a remnant of this remnant in revelation 12 17 that keeps the commandments of god and has the testimony of jesus is the remnant of what before we go into the word of god let's pause and ask god's holy spirit to guide our study in his word this morning father in heaven we just want to thank you again for your word we want to thank you for the opportunity we have to study and to ask for the gift of your holy spirit our hearts our minds are very distracted this world is filled with all kinds of distractions that would cause us to keep our hearts away from your word away from the truth and to dull our understanding and so we're lifting up our hearts to you right now we're asking that you would please take away those distractions direct us to your word help us to be spiritually in tuned perceptive forgive us father for anything that would cloud our understanding would be numb our senses and allow us to have a clear understanding of the remnant church that is identified in revelation chapter 12 and verse 17. this we pray and ask in the worthy name of jesus christ amen so revelation chapter 12 and verse 17 the remnant of what well the answer the simple answer that question is found in the context of the verse because it tells us right there that the dragon that's wroth is wroth with the woman and the woman has a seed and the seed has a remnant so the the immediate answer to the question is is that the remnant who keep the commandments of god and the testimony of jesus are the remnant of the woman but here's where this gets significant and that is we need to go back now to identify the woman in order to have a fuller better understanding of the remnant why is that well because this remnant church is a controversial issue in christianity today the idea that there is a remnant church and that this church is identified it has certain characteristics is very controversial in fact even within adventism there are people who deny the idea of the remnant church it's very significant for us to identify this church and the source from where it came so that we can have our feet planted on the truth and walking in the light in these last days as a lot of people even among us are seeking to to turn away from the truth of the remnant church of bible prophecy all right we don't want to dismiss this truth so let's go back into the scriptures revelation chapter 12 verse 17 says that this woman has a remnant and this remnant keep the commandments of god in the testimony of jesus so we identify in verse 17 the remnant church with the woman now as we've identified the remnant church with the woman we want to go back and identify the woman and that's not hard to do the woman is found in the same chapter revelation chapter 12 and verse 1. let's take a look and there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars so you get the picture here this is a beautiful picture in bible prophecy a woman represents a church a pure woman would represent god's church and an adulterous woman as identified in revelation chapter 17 would represent a corrupt church and in revelation 12 1 we have a pure woman we have a woman that would represent god's church paul tells us this in second corinthians chapter 11 verses 2 through 5 and there are many other scriptures in the bible like jeremiah 6 verse 2 that identify god's church as a woman ephesians chapter 5 also does that so a woman in bible prophecy is representing a church a lot of people might say that this woman is god's church because she is identified as clothed with the sun having the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of 12 stars in contradiction to the woman in revelation 17 which is pictured as being arrayed with costly array pearls etc has a cup of abominations and is guilty of the blood of the saints and of the prophets of god so there's a contrast here between this woman and the woman in revelation 17 which is identified as babylon the mother of harlots so revelation 12 verse 1 identifies this woman first of all as being clothed with the sun now we want to identify what that means that's that's a symbol the sun is a symbol in bible prophecy of something that is very significant in relation to this woman we want to go back into the bible because the book of revelation is really a summation of the entire bible in the book of revelation all the bible begins and ends we could say that the book of revelation is a distillation of the rest of scripture and little phrases little words little symbols have to be unpacked in the rest of the bible or in order to be understood in the context of the book of revelation so that's what we're going to do right now we're going to go back to malachi chapter 4. now malachi 4 is easy to find because it's just on the other side of the book of matthew matthew is the first book of the new testament and malachi chapter 4 is the last chapter of the old testament so if you go to matthew chapter 1 and you turn back one page you're going to come to malachi chapter 4 and verse 2. malachi chapter 4 and verse 2 is going to identify for us this symbol of the son malachi 4 verse 2 says this but unto you that fear my name shall the sun issue and of righteousness appear arise with healing in his wings and he shall go forth and you will grow up and ye shall go forth and you will grow up as calves of the stall so this verse malachi 4 verse 2 is identifying jesus christ as the son of righteousness it's identifying the son as a symbol or representation of the righteousness of jesus christ jeremiah 23 also tells us that we're going to call jesus the lord our righteousness so malachi 4 verse 2 the son of righteousness is the symbol that we find used in revelation 12 1. let's go back there now and put this symbol in place revelation 12 1 there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun i.e the righteousness of jesus christ does that make sense so you've got a church in revelation 12 1. that's the woman and she is clothed this church is clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ now let's pause there for just a second because this is really important the righteousness of jesus christ is a phrase that we use a theological phrase that we use and and sometimes we just kind of use that phrase the righteousness of jesus christ and we really don't know what we're talking about the righteousness of jesus christ means his righteousness and not our righteousness his righteous life and his penalty satisfying death for our sins and his glorification his resurrection in our behalf is the righteousness of jesus christ his life his death his resurrection that is the righteousness of jesus christ and we call it righteousness because it's right and we're wrong there's no righteousness in us but there is pure righteousness in jesus christ he lived a perfect life he never sinned he was sinless and that perfect life is what entitles us to heaven we have the righteousness of christ we have the death of christ and we have the resurrection of christ paul says in first corinthians chapter 1 verses 30 and 31 christ is our justification our glorification and our sanctification he's our righteousness he's even our wisdom he's everything paul says so the perfect life of christ the death of christ and the resurrection of christ is what we mean when we talk about the righteousness of jesus christ we need his righteousness because we're going to be judged by the law of god every single person stands before the judgment seat of christ paul says in romans 14 and we're going to be judged by the standard of the law of god and none of us can live up to that standard all of us have sinned and fallen short of god's glory of his righteousness of his law his character which is a transcript of the law of god and so jesus christ came to this earth and he lived a perfect life and then he died our death he died in our place he took our punishment he took upon himself the consequences of our sin second corinthians 5 21 says he became sin for us and then he was resurrected the grave couldn't hold him because even though he took upon ours himself our sins even though he became sin for us he was sinless and so death couldn't hold him he was resurrected and that is the package of salvation that is given to us this is what is described here in revelation 12 1 a woman that is clothed with the sun with the righteousness of jesus christ but notice what else it says here it says she also has the moon under her feet now what does that represent or symbolize the moon under her feet well we just need to go back now to psalm 119 if we want to go back in our bibles to psalm 119 we're going to see this symbol identified also psalm 119 and we're going to look here at verse 105 psalm 119 105. notice what it says here in psalm 119 105. thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and by the way that word light in the hebrew means the light of day i.e the heavenly luminaries the sun the moon and the stars so here we have a bible verse that's identifying the moon the moon here according to psalm 119 105 represents the word of god the word of god that's the lamp and the light to our feet and guess where this woman is is where this war with this moon is symbolically applied to the woman at her feet she's standing on the moon so this lines up perfectly revelation 12 1 lines up perfectly with psalm 119 105 because the woman is standing on the moon and psalm 119 105 says that thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path the the word of god is the light that we're to be standing on us to be the foundation of the christian faith so what we have here in revelation 12 verse 1 is we have a church that is clothed with the righteousness of christ his perfect life his penalty substitute substitutionary death in our behalf and resurrection and is standing on the word of god the bible the old testament the new testament the the word the truth of god's word is the foundation for this church and then it goes on to say this under her feet and upon her excuse me and there appeared a great wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of 12 stars so there's one other characteristic of this woman this church she has a crown of 12 stars now 12 is the kingdom number in the bible in the old testament god had 12 tribes that represented his people his kingdom israel the 12 tribes of israel in the new testament god had 12 apostles that represented his kingdom his church the 12 apostles and that number therefore symbolizes represents god's kingdom twelve stars now the word stars is an interesting one it's used the symbol i mean it's used both in revelation and in daniel in revelation just back a few pages to revelation chapter 1 and verse 20 this is what we read revelation chapter 1 and verse 20 john sees here a vision of christ walking among the candlesticks and he has seven stars in his right hand and then he's told this the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks the seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches now that word angel means a messenger it's not always talking about an angel as in a heavenly being sometimes the word angel is used in the bible in revelation specifically to describe an earthly messenger of god a messenger that is human for example revelation 14 6 says i saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation kindred tongue and people now we know that angel is us it's god's church it's god's people also revelation 1 20 is talking about god's people specifically the ministers of the church the pastors of the church if you will and so we have here these angels representing the leadership of god's church the leadership of god's church is likened to an angel but notice this verse in daniel chapter 12 and verse 3 another verse that identifies a star daniel chapter 12 and verse 3 and by the way this is the very last verse of the entire prophetic book of daniel i mean it's not the last verse of daniel but it's the last verse of the prophetic section of daniel the last prophetic vision that daniel has is is the vision of the king of the north and the king of the south daniel 11 and daniel 12 1-3 is an addendum in addition to that vision daniel 12 1-3 are really part of the vision he comes out of the vision in verse 4 and he's given instruction to seal up the book of daniel so in daniel chapter 12 and verse 3 we have the last prophetic verse of the entire book of daniel if you will and this verse says and they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament so you see that shining there it suggests stars but notice it goes on and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever so this is a clear identification of these stars who are the stars symbolizing what is a star symbolizing it's symbolizing specifically in daniel 12 3 those who turn many to righteousness and of course you could put the word in there in place of righteousness you could put in there those who turn many to jesus because jesus is the lord our righteousness according to jeremiah 23 and verse 6. jesus is our righteousness and so those who turn many to jesus are going to shine as the stars the stars are specifically the ministers and pastors of churches the stars are those who turn many to righteousness and so this woman has the righteousness of christ the son and she is standing on the word of god the moon and she has the crown of 12 stars that is she's organized she has leadership just like the early church just like the israel of old she's an organized body an organized movement that turned people to righteousness that print people to jesus the leadership of this church turns many people to jesus do you see that picture now this is a powerful picture of the woman of revelation 12 1. and this is our identity identity this is our history these are our roots this is where the remnant comes from the remnant of revelation 12 17 comes from the woman it's the remnant of the woman so you can't disconnect the remnant from the woman and the reason why that's so significant is because when you read revelation 12 17 you see that this remnant let's read it again and the dragon was wrath with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ you see friends there's no way that you can disconnect the remnant from the woman because the remnant as identified as connected with the woman and the remnant is also identified as keeping the commandments of god and when you isolate that verse from revelation 12 1 you are contend toward legalism the reason you can tend toward legalism is because you can read revelation 12 uh 17 and you can think oh the remnant they're the ones that keep the commandments of god that's what i need to do i need to keep the commandments of god and you can turn that into legalism just like the jews did you know the jews of christ day the israel of christ day the hebrews of christ day were keeping the commandments of god so rigidly that when jesus christ was crucified by them when they had him crucified by the romans when they handed him over to pilate to be crucified to get rid of him to reject him when they did that they wanted the body to be taken down christ's body to be taken down off the cross before the sabbath so that they could go and keep the sabbath day holy can you imagine crucifying the lord of glory crucifying the lord our righteousness and still keeping the sabbath and that can be our experience we can be crucifying christ in the way that we treat other people crucifying christ in the way that we relate to his truth crucifying christ in our attitude and spirit and still keeping the sabbath day and that is raw legalism and so god is encouraging us this morning to make a connection between revelation chapter 12 verse 17 and revelation chapter 12 1. and here's a second reason why we need to do this revelation 12 verse 1 identifies our history identifies our source identifies where the remnant comes from and i believe that we are this remnant we who keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ and i wish we had time to go into the testimony of jesus christ we don't have time to do that in this particular presentation but going back we are identified as connected with the woman we're the remnant of the woman the woman is clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ there is no way that we can keep the commandments of god unless we are first clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ let me say it this way the reason why we keep the commandments of god is because we're first clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ now let me illustrate that before i became a seventh-day adventist even going back to the very beginnings of my experience as a young man i was raised catholic i went to church every week i was even an altar boy i went to catholic school when i was 11 years old our family moved to america i was raised in england born in the states raised in england we moved to america and church became a thing that we didn't do very much once we moved to the united states life was hard it was tough and god was not the center of our family and so through high school and on to my later years i found myself moving further and further away from god until finally when i was 21 years old someone witnessed me at work now this person that listens to me was a brand new christian and they witnessed to me and they talked to me about accepting christ as my savior which is something i'd never done before even though i was raised in that in a christian home i'd never accept the crisis of my personal savior and in time i found myself on my knees accepting christ as my personal savior my life was was dark my my guilt load was heavy i was into drugs i was trying to escape the voice of god and the conviction of the holy spirit i was drowning my life with rock and roll with work and with drugs and anything and everything that could try to make me happy and i could could find no happiness no peace anywhere until i accepted christ as my personal savior and then i felt the guilt lift i i sensed that my sins were forgiven i was filled with peace with joy with happiness i had a hunger for the word of god i began to study the word of god and in time i was going to a calvary chapel church and i was going to a pentecostal church and i was even attending an adventist church from time to time because that's where my sister went and started studying with adventists not because i wanted to join the church but because i wanted to get my sister out of this church but i'll tell you this i had complete peace in my heart i remember my sister coming home with me one time to eat lunch and she noticed that i was to have my drum set in my living room and that i was still listening to rock and roll music and she said to me you know you shouldn't listen to rock and roll music it's of the devil and i told her it doesn't matter what i listen to i love jesus i go to church i study his word i don't drink anymore i don't go to bars i don't do drugs music isn't important that's what i said to her in relationship to my rock and roll music god was working in my life and at that particular moment in my life rock and roll was not front and center his word was front and center but in time i remember coming home and i went over to my drum set to play and i noticed there were dust there was dust gathered on my drum set i thought i haven't played in a long time and i went over to my cassettes now back in the day music came in cassettes not cds but cassettes and there was no such thing as itunes or anything like that and so i went to my cassettes to take out a cassette to play music with the drums and i took out a van halen and i was reading through the sides because they had a backside a side a side one side two side a side b you can only play one side at a time one song at a time and i was looking through the songs to see what songs i wanted to play with my drums and i came to the song titled running with the devil and i thought to myself i'm not running with the devil and i took my entire collection of rock and roll favorites over 100 cassette tapes and i threw them in the garbage can not because my sister told me to or the church told me to anyone told me to my experience can be best described in the words of that hymn turn your eyes upon jesus look full in his wonderful face and the things of this world would grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace i was in love with jesus i was founded on his word now i didn't understand the word i didn't know the word i didn't have knowledge of the word but wherever i whenever i came to a truth in the bible and i was convicted about that truth i would follow that truth with all my heart and it was in out of that experience that i remember reading about the seventh-day sabbath reading about the commandments of god reading about the remnant church who keep the commandments of god and understanding the commandments of god as they're taught in the bible and friends i accepted the commandments i remember reading that verse in john 14 15 where jesus said if you love me keep my commandments and i thought well i love jesus of course i love jesus and so i began to keep his commandments all 10 of his commandments now i don't want to dismiss my former experience as a christian at least as a born-again christian when i accepted christ as my savior i knew that i'd been justified by faith i knew that i had righteousness by faith even though i wasn't yet keeping the sabbath i knew that christ had changed my heart i knew i was converted i knew jesus christ had saved me i knew that however i still had to go forward you know the proverbs 4 18 says the path of the justice is a shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day but i knew that i had the righteousness of jesus christ and because i had the righteousness of jesus christ and because i loved the word of god and i was founded on the word of god and i was only wanted to thus saith the lord in fact i remember telling my sister when she told me you should go to church on saturday i said that's ridiculous the bible teaches you to go to church on sunday when i discovered that the bible doesn't actually teach that you should go to church on sunday i was literally blown away i thought why are all these christians going to church on sunday if it's not taught in the scriptures so i found myself having the experience of the woman in revelation 12 1 before i had the experience of the woman in revelation or the remnant in revelation 12 17. before i began keeping god's commandments revelation 12 17 i was clothed in the righteousness of jesus christ i was standing on the word of god and this is vital for us to understand because this has to be the sequence this has to be the way our christian development works we cannot put ourselves in a place where we are going to keep the commandments of god that's what the jews did they set up regulations and rules and all kinds of of of traditions in order to force themselves into this narrow path of keeping god's commandments and and these rules and regulations was the way they obeyed that is legalism flat out what we need to recognize is that revelation 12 1 is proffering to us offering us the gift of christ's righteousness and when we are clothed with the righteousness of christ we are going to be motivated by love second corinthians 5 14 the love of christ will constrain us the love of christ will motivate us to keep the commandments of god so revelation 12 1 is the transition point in fact it's the transition point in the book of revelation it's the transition point in our christian experience revelation 12 verse 1 transitions us to a commandment keeping people revelation 12 verse 1 is the transition transition point because before revelation 12 1 there is not one single mention of a people who keep the commandments of god there's not one single mention in chapters one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven then you get to revelation 12 verse one and you see this woman clothed with christ righteousness that's the goal that's the focus that's where god wants us to get to he wants us to get to the place where we're clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ where we are standing on the word of god old and new testament it's a light to our path it's a lamp to our feet and when we get to this place then we're going to find ourselves keeping the commandments of god because the commandments of god is the natural outworking of the righteousness of jesus christ and if we try to make ourselves keep the commandments without the righteousness of jesus christ we're going to find ourselves in a situation that the jews room we're going to find ourselves in raw legalism at the same time if we find ourselves claiming to be clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ and at the same time neglecting to keep the commandments of god we're going to find ourselves in the the land of cheap grace or antinomianism and that's exactly what was coming into the church as it continued to grow in the early years in the first century antinomianism that is a disregard of the law of god disregard the moral standard of god began to creep into the church and james talks about this in james chapter 2. in fact james was a strong fighter against antinomianism and paul was a strong fighter against legalism and martin luther had a hard time with this martin luther the great reformer had a hard time with the book of james in fact he had a hard time with the book of james the book of romans and or hebrews in the book of revelation not romans hebrews in the book of revelation he had a hard time with all those books he felt like the book of james was a straw man and he thought it should not be part of the canon but what we need to realize is that james and paul are standing back to back fighting on the same team paul is fighting against legalism and james is fighting against antinomianism or cheap grace jude warned about this sneaking of the church this cheap grace turning the grace of god into a license to sin that that that sneaking of the church through brethren who would come into the church and turn the grace of god into a license to sin and so what you have in revelation chapter 12 is amazing picture of the balance that's to take place between grace between righteousness between christ our righteousness and what it leads to law keeping commandment keeping in revelation 12 1 you have a beautiful picture of the righteousness of jesus christ this is how we are saved we're saved by the righteousness of jesus christ by his righteous life his perfect life which is the only way we can stand before the law of god because our lives are imperfect so we need his righteousness as our advocate as our substitute and his substitutionary death and our behalf because the wages of sin is death and all we deserve is death and all we're going to get is death unless we have a substitute who stands in our place and takes our death takes our punishment and lets us free so that we can have the life that is his so he receives the punishment that we deserve that we might receive the righteousness that he deserves and then we have revelation 12 17 directing us to what that righteousness produces so you have both paul and james in the book of revelation paul is emphasizing the son of righteousness the gospel the righteousness of jesus christ which by the way we don't want to undermine what paul is saying paul was a strong advocate for the law of god he talked in romans chapter 3 verse 31 about the law of god being established by the righteousness of jesus christ but he is known by many christians today as being righteous by faith and of course with a twist many christians today would say and the law doesn't really matter paul wasn't really into the law he was actually into the law but james even more so james strongly emphasized the law of god in fact let's just look here in james chapter 2 where he talks about the law of god and we'll pick up we want to emphasize verse 2 but we'll pick up a little earlier than that james chapter two and we'll start in verse eight james two verse eight if you fulfill the royal law according to the scriptures thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself you do well but if you have respect to persons you commit sin and you are convinced of the law as transgressors verse 10 for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point he is guilty of all then he goes on to quote the commandments verse 11. for he that saith do not commit adultery said also do not kill now if you committed no adultery yet if you kill thou become a transgressor of the law verse 12. so speaky and so do as they that shall be justified by the law of liberty james call this a law of liberty and it is a law of liberty it frees us from the one enemy that we have and that is the enemy of sin which leads to death so the law of god is a law of liberty but notice what he says here you can't break one and keep the others and thinking you're keeping the law if you break one you've broken them all because he who said thou shalt not commit adultery also said thou shalt not kill and if you commit no adultery and yet you kill your transgressor of the law and this is what satan is trying to do in the christian church today he's trying to get the christian church to just break one law not all the laws and i've met with so many christians in the last 35 36 years that i've been born again who've told me honestly sincerely that they believe in all the commandments except for one they believe in all nine in fact someone even gave me a study saying that all nine of the commandments have been reiterated in the new testament there's only one command that hasn't been reiterated and that is the fourth commandment the sabbath that's right so many christians because of tradition because the disciples met on the first day of the week because the lord was raised on the first day of the week so many christians keep sunday and they think that's the lord's day but it's nowhere in scripture there's no commandment in scripture to keep sunday in the place of the seventh-day sabbath satan is so cunning in fact in revelation chapter 12 we're told that this serpent like enemy is going to deceive the entire world you can read it here with me in revelation chapter 12 verse 9 and that great dragon was cast out that old serpent called the devil in satan which deceives the whole world he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him and so what we see here is james warning us warning us that if you break one of the commandments you've broken the whole law and this is a law of liberty that frees us from sin it frees us from transgression of god's law and gives us the peace that comes when we receive the righteousness of jesus christ the righteousness of jesus christ leads us to live in harmony with the law of god but if you break one of those commandments you broke on the whole of god's law and therefore satan has deceived the christian world and even deceiving adventists if he can just get us to break one commandment he knows we broke them the entire ten because they are linked together as one and so satan is working to deceive the christian world he's working to deceive adventists to violate just one of these commandments so that we can be labeled as transgressors of god's law don't let satan come in don't let him sneak in and undermine any of god's commandments all right so let's just take a little bit of a summary let's just take a little bit of an overview of what we've learned so far because we've gone through a lot of information and perhaps we've gone through it quite quickly so we're going to back up now we're going to go right back to the beginning of our study our study is entitled the remnant of what revelation 12 17. this is a group of people who are the remnant of what and we identified in revelation 12 17 that they're the remnant of the woman revelation 12 17 the dragon was wrath with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ now before we review let me just share a thought that came to my mind here the dragon is angry with the woman the dragon is upset with the woman remember that and because he's upset with the woman he goes to make war with the remnant of her seed that's those who keep the commandments of god why do we keep the commandments of god remember we're not talking about the testimony of jesus right now why do we keep the commandments of god because we are covered with the righteousness of jesus christ the dragon is angry with the woman who is clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ sometimes we think the dragon's angry with the woman and goes to make war the remnant of her seed to keep the commandments the dragons angry with the commandment keepers no the dragon is angry with the woman because the woman has the righteousness of jesus christ and that righteousness is the source for commandment keeping so please understand this the dragon is only angry with commandment keepers because commandment keepers are connected to the woman and the righteousness of jesus christ the righteousness of jesus christ is the reason why the dragon is angry because the righteousness of jesus christ is the reason why god's people keep his commandments and that's what we're seeing in revelation 12 verse 1. when we when we connect revelation 12 17 to revelation 12 verse 1 we have this woman who is clothed with the son malachi 4 2 tells us that that is the son of righteousness the righteousness of jesus christ revelation or jeremiah chapter 23 verse 6 tells us he is the lord our righteousness she is clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ and then it says she's standing on the moon psalm 119 105 tells us that the word of god is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path that word light includes the moon so this woman is clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ and this woman is standing on the word of god that's the foundation for this woman the bible is the foundation for this woman and then it says this woman has a crown of 12 stars on her head we identified the stars as the leadership of god's church revelation chapter 1 verse 20. daniel chapter 12 verse 3 revelation chapter 1 verse 20 identifies the stars as angels revelation 14 6 identifies angels as people messengers for god revelation 12 daniel 12 3 identifies the stars as those who turn many to righteousness that's right we're turning many to the righteousness of jesus christ and let me tell you the righteousness of jesus christ is the issue in the remnant church the righteousness of jesus christ is the issue in the remnant church the dragon is is wrath with the woman who has clothing that is the righteousness of jesus christ and that woman has an offspring a remnant who keep the commandments of god and the reason they keep the commandments of god is because they're clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ and then we looked at the extremes the first extreme of course is the cheap grace jude talks about that warns us about that paul excuse me james also fought against antinomianism this cheap grace that says oh we're saved by god's love we're saved by his righteousness and we don't need to worry about the law of god we don't need to worry about morality that'll come naturally that's something that's just going to be instilled in us no we need to recognize that that is one extreme antinomianism is one extreme and it's led millions of christians honest sincere christians to an experience of not caring about the commandments of god all 10 of them and of course james 2 verse 10 specifically says quoting from the commandments of god that if satan can get us tripped up in one commandment if he can get us out of keeping one of the commandments of god i'm losing my tongue here that he has got us violating the entire law of god if you just get us in one and he's done it he's done it with the christian world because when you go to the bible and you realize the seventh day sabbath has been completely undermined by the christian world you realize that this serpent this devil has verse 9 of revelation 12 deceived the whole world in this one area so the righteousness of jesus christ is no longer leading the people to keep the commandments of god if indeed they are not keeping all 10 of those commandments and that means that the many christians millions of christians are not being identified as the remnant church of revelation 12 17. and therefore there's this controversy over the remnant church because there's a people who identify themselves as the remnant church why because they keep all ten of god's commandments why do they do that because they are clothed with the righteousness of christ they are the remnant of the woman who the dragon is wrathed with and because they're connected with the woman and because they have the righteousness of jesus christ and because they stand on the word of god and not on tradition on men's interpretations or men's laws or or anything else they stand on the word of god what does god say how does god identify the truth of the fourth commandment for example and we know in exodus chapter 20 let's just go there exodus chapter 20 beginning with verse 8 we have a clear declaration from god as to the fourth commandment the seventh day sabbath exodus chapter 20 beginning with verse eight we'll read all the way through uh verse 11. remember the sabbath day to keep it holy why does he say remember one of the only commandments that starts with something different than thou shalt not because he knew the world would forget remember the sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work but the seventh day what day the seventh day one two three four five six seven the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord thy god in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter nor thy maidservant nor thy manservant nor thy cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates for in six days the lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it now you notice here what it says it says verse 10 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord thy god so many christians believe that lord's day is sunday the bible doesn't teach that the bible doesn't say that in fact the bible says the opposite the bible says that the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord the seventh day is the lord's day and of course jesus affirms this in the new testament when you go to mark chapter 2 and beginning with verse 27 or is it verse 28 mark chapter 2 and verse 27 and he jesus said unto them the sabbath was made from man and not man for the sabbath therefore the son of man is lord also of the sabbath so jesus here is identifying himself as the lord of the seventh-day sabbath just like we see in exodus chapter 20 and verse 10. exodus 20 verse 10 mark chapter 2 verses 27 and 28 clearly teach that the sabbath day the seventh-day sabbath is the the the sabbath of the lord i god my tongue is twisting again so what we have here in revelation chapter 12 is the woman standing on the word of god remember she's standing on the moon the the word of god uh psalm 119 verses 105 says the word of god your word is a lamp and a light to my feet she's standing on the word of god so when people say the lord's day is sunday you say well wait a minute that's what not what the word of god says in exodus the word of god says that the lord's day is the sabbath the seventh-day sabbath in mark chapter two the the bible says the word of god says that the sabbath day is the is this the lord's day is the seventh-day sabbath and so we have here is we have a woman clothed with christ righteousness standing on the word of god she wants to thus saith the lord for what she believes and she is crowned with a crown of twelve stars which represents god's kingdom number so she's organized for service the twelve tribes of old the twelve apostles in new she's a continuation of god's organized church on earth stars representing leadership who turn many people to righteousness daniel 12 3 those that turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and ever and because this woman is called with christ's righteousness and because this woman is standing on the word of god and because this woman is led with godly pastors and ministers and leaders who turn many to righteousness this woman produces a remnant and that remnant that's identified in revelation chapter 12 and verse 17 that remnant keep the commandments of god why wouldn't they keep the commandments of god if they are clothed with the righteousness of jesus christ why wouldn't they keep the commandments of god if their feet are established upon the word of god why wouldn't they keep the commandments of god if their leadership the leadership of that church is turning many to righteousness is turning many to the righteousness of jesus christ of course they would keep the commandments of god and so revelation chapter 12 is a powerful chapter there's so much in here and we've just looked at a couple verses highlighted a couple of verses but revelation chapter 12 brings us that balance between you know going to the extreme of cheap grace or going to the extreme of legalism which was definitely an issue in christ's day legalism was the major issue that was the church faced in christ day you know when john wrote the book of revelation but but god inspired this book not just to deal with legalism but also to deal with antinomianism because antinomian was coming into the church cheap grace was coming into the church and so isaiah 30 verse 21 says you will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way i walk you in it when you turn to the left or when you turn to the right there are the two extremes that we can go to we can turn to deep grace so we can turn to legalism and the book of revelation tells us don't go either way the book of revelation brings us a picture of god's church god's woman god's end-time church and in the remnant of that woman and they are clothed with christ righteousness that means they rely 100 percent on the righteousness of jesus christ for salvation at the same time they keep the commandments of god that means the righteousness of jesus christ does not lead them to cheap grace but leads them to obey god's commandments not in order to be saved no no indeed not the commandment keeping people of god do so because they love jesus they do so because they want to glorify jesus christ they do so do so because this is the fruit of the gospel this is the fruit of righteousness by faith righteousness by faith produces people who keep the commandments of god all ten of the commandments of god don't let satan come in and try to undermine your commandment keeping by getting you to violate one of them and justify that violation no indeed we need to be people of the book and you and i are called to be part of this remnant church this remnant church god's people wherever they are whoever they are who are planted on the word of god and covered with the righteousness of jesus christ and leading people to that righteousness may god bless you as you continue to study this truth in this word today lift your voices in praise singing hymn number 227 jesus shall reign shall reign wherever the son does his his success stretch from shore to shore till the moon [Music] of every tongue dwell on his love with sweetest long infant voices shall proclaim their heart sings on his name let every creature rise and ring on earth [Music] repeat [Music] so as we close our message in revelation chapter 12 and verse 17 the remnant of what let's go to the lord in prayer father in heaven we just want to thank you again for your word it's so crystal clear that the remnant church is the remnant of the woman of revelation 12 chapter 1 verse 1 and that this remnant church in these last days is a commandment keeping church and we pray that our hearts and our lives will be in harmony with the revelation you've given us in revelation chapter 12 of this remnant church that keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ that that you have spoken to us and that if we are out of harmony with the truths that are revealed here in this verse and in the rest of the bible that that your spirit would speak to us convict us and bring our hearts in line with you so that we indeed can be part of that remnant church in worship and in truth we pray in jesus name amen [Music] you

Channel: secretsunsealed

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Keywords: SUMTV, SUMTVLatino, Secrets Unsealed, Secretos Revelados, Pastor Bohr, Pastor Stephen Bohr pastor, Pastor James Rafferty, James Rafferty, To Serve and to Save, The Remnant of What?

Id: J8XZh-2vJQE

Length: 118min 30sec (7110 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 26 2021