WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.149 --> 00:00:09.578 Welcome everybody, and it's good to see everyone. 2 00:00:09.588 --> 00:00:15.952 Nice to have some more chairs filled. 3 00:00:15.962 --> 00:00:29.196 I want to begin by bringing some of you who are new up to speed a little bit, 4 00:00:29.206 --> 00:00:41.399 because here we look at the Bible in connection with God's first book. 5 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:48.185 You know what God's first book is? 6 00:00:48.195 --> 00:00:55.915 Creation, especially in the heavens, the stars. 7 00:00:55.925 --> 00:01:09.540 If we look at Genesis, this is Revelation, but if we go to Genesis 1, and verse 14. 8 00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:15.379 Here we have the Spanish, and German, and I have to use the English. 9 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:28.228 In verse 14, it says, and God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night, 10 00:01:28.238 --> 00:01:30.559 and let them be for signs, 11 00:01:30.569 --> 00:01:32.027 and for seasons, 12 00:01:32.037 --> 00:01:34.099 and for days and years. 13 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:49.609 So, God created the lights in the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars, for signs, as well as for time, to understand the time. 14 00:01:51.689 --> 00:02:07.259 And, when Jesus' disciples asked him about the time, especially the time of his return, he answered many things. 15 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:19.770 He said, when you see these things begin to happen, this is Luke chapter 21, and verse 28. 16 00:02:20.430 --> 00:02:28.450 And he said, when these things begin to come to pass, then look up. 17 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:32.410 What do you see when you look up? 18 00:02:32.420 --> 00:02:37.088 You see the heavens, you see the stars. 19 00:02:37.098 --> 00:02:44.490 Look up, lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. 20 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:56.972 Now the things that he was talking about in that chapter are many events, things that happen in the world. 21 00:02:56.982 --> 00:03:04.120 We see those things happening, we've seen that for years, in these last times. 22 00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:11.879 So, this applies to us, because we're starting to see those things begin to happen. 23 00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:17.669 So it's our job now to look up. 24 00:03:17.679 --> 00:03:22.907 He said, look up when you see those things. 25 00:03:22.917 --> 00:03:26.909 Then, what happens if we look up? 26 00:03:27.719 --> 00:03:40.825 In Matthew chapter 24, this is Matthew's description of the same answer that Jesus was giving to them. 27 00:03:40.835 --> 00:03:46.349 Then Jesus says something very interesting. 28 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:53.790 When you look up, he talks about some signs in heaven. 29 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:59.017 Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man. 30 00:03:59.027 --> 00:04:08.629 So first, when we see things happening in the world, like he was describing before. 31 00:04:08.629 --> 00:04:17.380 I'm not going to talk about those, but we understand in general that we're in those last days. 32 00:04:17.390 --> 00:04:22.044 So we look up, and what do we see when we look up? 33 00:04:22.054 --> 00:04:25.199 We see the sign of the Son of Man. 34 00:04:29.819 --> 00:04:34.438 And then he goes on and describes some other things that will happen. 35 00:04:34.448 --> 00:04:37.449 Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. 36 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:48.100 And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds, in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 37 00:04:50.420 --> 00:05:04.269 So just before the second coming of Jesus appears the sign of the Son of Man, and that sign we see in the heavens, in the stars. 38 00:05:05.970 --> 00:05:18.790 Today we have special technology, and we can actually see the stars even on a rainy day. 39 00:05:23.589 --> 00:05:28.292 So here is a program that shows us the whole sky. 40 00:05:28.302 --> 00:05:33.485 There's the whole night sky from one end to the other. 41 00:05:33.495 --> 00:05:39.329 If I zoom in a little bit, you can see there's the Milky Way. 42 00:05:43.399 --> 00:05:45.559 So where do we see the sign? 43 00:05:45.569 --> 00:05:48.884 Where do we see God's signs in the heavens? 44 00:05:48.894 --> 00:05:55.911 They're in the stars, but there must be some meaning, something that gives meaning to them. 45 00:05:55.921 --> 00:05:57.279 There are symbols. 46 00:05:58.589 --> 00:06:10.600 We've been talking about those symbols for several weeks, so we're going to look at some of that. 47 00:06:11.129 --> 00:06:23.113 But it comes from understanding that in the stars there are, first of all, constellations. 48 00:06:23.123 --> 00:06:30.970 You have groups of stars, and they are in different shapes. 49 00:06:32.629 --> 00:06:37.730 And we're moderately familiar, maybe, with some of those. 50 00:06:38.189 --> 00:06:47.778 You've heard of the zodiac and the twelve signs of the zodiac that follow the path of the sun. 51 00:06:47.788 --> 00:06:56.040 But there are many, many constellations all through the sky, and they never move. 52 00:06:57.439 --> 00:07:01.374 So how does God point to a specific place in the heavens? 53 00:07:01.384 --> 00:07:06.000 You have to have something that points, you have to have a pointer. 54 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:16.444 And those pointers, the pointers that God uses are the lights. 55 00:07:16.454 --> 00:07:30.870 The greater light, the sun and the moon, and the planets also, they move, and they're moving stars. 56 00:07:33.370 --> 00:07:49.318 Now, this is God's creation, and Satan has a counterfeit for that, and that's where astrology comes in. 57 00:07:49.328 --> 00:07:57.060 What we're looking at is different than astrology. 58 00:07:57.519 --> 00:08:08.350 This is because we take the signs of heaven, and we always compare it with the Bible. 59 00:08:09.529 --> 00:08:18.579 That's the important thing, to compare God's two books, the written word with the created word. 60 00:08:20.970 --> 00:08:34.830 So in that way, we follow the prophecies in the Bible, and what we've learned from the heavens is about the time. 61 00:08:36.690 --> 00:08:53.726 Remember, in Genesis, it said, the signs, in Genesis 1, verse 14, the lights in the firmament of heaven, the sun, the moon, 62 00:08:53.736 --> 00:08:57.466 and the planets that move, 63 00:08:57.476 --> 00:09:00.790 they are for the signs, 64 00:09:00.800 --> 00:09:03.145 and for seasons, 65 00:09:03.155 --> 00:09:03.976 days, 66 00:09:03.986 --> 00:09:05.500 and years. 67 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:07.269 In other words, for the time. 68 00:09:08.529 --> 00:09:20.159 So we learn about the time through the signs, and by comparing that with God's written word. 69 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:33.179 Okay, and then Jesus said, when we do that, and the time comes, we will see the sign of the Son of Man. 70 00:09:34.299 --> 00:09:36.700 Just before his actual return. 71 00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:49.676 We believe that we can see that sign now. 72 00:09:49.686 --> 00:09:51.104 Where is it? 73 00:09:51.114 --> 00:09:59.960 I wish I could take the time to explain how we came to understand the sign. 74 00:10:03.450 --> 00:10:17.389 We have talked about that in prior weeks, but let me show you, first of all, where it is, and how one aspect of how we found it. 75 00:10:22.419 --> 00:10:32.549 There are also, besides the sun, the moon, and the planets, there are also other lights in the heavens. 76 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:41.555 Those lights come every once in a while, and they're called comets. 77 00:10:41.565 --> 00:10:44.710 That's what we have been studying. 78 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:55.750 There are certain things about the comets, when we compare that with the Bible, and the symbolism that the Bible uses. 79 00:10:57.649 --> 00:11:04.009 Then we learn that they fit with a particular passage in the Scriptures. 80 00:11:09.620 --> 00:11:12.692 So let's look a little bit. 81 00:11:12.702 --> 00:11:16.117 Here are where the planets go. 82 00:11:16.127 --> 00:11:20.659 They follow a course along the ecliptic. 83 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:22.737 Excuse me. 84 00:11:22.747 --> 00:11:32.453 I'm just advancing the time a little bit, and you can see, there we go. 85 00:11:32.463 --> 00:11:42.149 You can see they move along one line, all the planets, going very fast. 86 00:11:42.149 --> 00:11:50.629 Here, you see the sun going by year after year, and this is how God points to different places. 87 00:11:54.100 --> 00:12:02.649 And then, but the comets, they don't necessarily follow that one line. 88 00:12:04.049 --> 00:12:15.559 So the comets are God's way of pointing to other places in the heavens, besides just the path where the sun and the planets follow. 89 00:12:17.570 --> 00:12:23.511 And in doing so, we learn more about the symbols. 90 00:12:23.521 --> 00:12:29.090 So those symbols come from the constellations. 91 00:12:30.529 --> 00:12:34.269 Many of them are ancient, some of them are more modern. 92 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:47.719 If we show the artwork, I've colored some of these, because we use them more. 93 00:12:47.729 --> 00:12:56.759 In this area, if I can get through here, here we see Orion. 94 00:12:59.990 --> 00:13:10.021 We spent more than a decade, or about a decade, studying Orion, just Orion. 95 00:13:10.031 --> 00:13:20.320 Another name for Orion is the hourglass, because it has that hourglass shape. 96 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:25.608 Now what is an hourglass used for? 97 00:13:25.618 --> 00:13:28.580 It's used to measure the time. 98 00:13:30.889 --> 00:13:46.370 There's, in all of the heavens, there's a lot of animals, there's some people, dragons, there's a woman, mostly animals. 99 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:55.399 But there are some tools, and there are only two time-telling devices. 100 00:13:55.740 --> 00:14:05.190 The hourglass in Orion, and the pendulum clock. 101 00:14:11.070 --> 00:14:19.269 And there's a lot of significance in that, that I can't cover today. 102 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:29.167 But there are two comets that travel through this area, through a particular time. 103 00:14:29.177 --> 00:14:29.759 Okay. 104 00:14:32.139 --> 00:14:40.515 So, these two lines are the path of two comets in the sky. 105 00:14:40.525 --> 00:14:47.889 And they're making this path right now as we speak. 106 00:14:47.899 --> 00:14:53.799 In March, is when it came from the clock. 107 00:14:55.529 --> 00:15:00.239 And it's up here in this area right now. 108 00:15:00.249 --> 00:15:09.198 On the other side, here was from March, and right now we're up in this area. 109 00:15:09.208 --> 00:15:13.309 So this spans a little over a year. 110 00:15:14.549 --> 00:15:23.590 And we first discovered this sign actually from another comet that passed through the clock. 111 00:15:25.419 --> 00:15:33.154 It was discovered as the biggest comet ever discovered. 112 00:15:33.164 --> 00:15:41.029 And the date that it was discovered was Jesus' birthday. 113 00:15:42.820 --> 00:15:46.136 According to the Hebrew calendar. 114 00:15:46.146 --> 00:15:53.070 So already, just from that, we said, hey, this is connected to Jesus. 115 00:15:54.409 --> 00:16:04.509 But more than that, it comes the closest to Earth in 2031. 116 00:16:07.090 --> 00:16:12.807 And that's exactly 2,000 years after Jesus' crucifixion. 117 00:16:12.817 --> 00:16:24.549 So we see two points in that one comet when it was discovered on Jesus' birthday, according to the Hebrew calendar. 118 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:32.590 And it comes closest to Earth 2,000 years after Jesus' crucifixion. 119 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:39.660 So we said, hey, that's significant. 120 00:16:39.670 --> 00:16:42.004 That means something. 121 00:16:42.014 --> 00:16:51.330 So we studied that more, and it led us ultimately to recognize how this clock works. 122 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:56.968 And when it strikes midnight. 123 00:16:56.978 --> 00:17:02.536 Midnight is an important hour in the Bible. 124 00:17:02.546 --> 00:17:10.044 You remember the story that Jesus told of the ten virgins? 125 00:17:10.054 --> 00:17:14.289 It says, then let's look at that. 126 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:20.742 Because it's always good to actually see. 127 00:17:20.752 --> 00:17:23.783 It's in Matthew chapter 25. 128 00:17:23.793 --> 00:17:31.519 It's always good to read from the Bible, to see it with our own eyes. 129 00:17:34.500 --> 00:17:47.712 And Jesus says, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 130 00:17:47.722 --> 00:17:49.908 Five of them were wise. 131 00:17:49.918 --> 00:17:51.609 Five were foolish. 132 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:59.982 If you were here last week, we talked about those five wise and five foolish. 133 00:17:59.992 --> 00:18:06.109 And how we see them represented in the symbols of heaven. 134 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:12.859 They that were foolish took their lamps, took no oil with them. 135 00:18:14.150 --> 00:18:19.348 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 136 00:18:19.358 --> 00:18:25.205 And while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 137 00:18:25.215 --> 00:18:29.279 And then, at midnight, there was a cry made. 138 00:18:29.329 --> 00:18:33.430 Behold, the bridegroom cometh. 139 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:36.446 Go ye out to meet him. 140 00:18:36.456 --> 00:18:40.400 So, this happens at midnight. 141 00:18:41.609 --> 00:18:46.711 And in the story, who is represented by the bridegroom? 142 00:18:46.721 --> 00:18:50.895 This is a story that describes Jesus' coming. 143 00:18:50.905 --> 00:18:58.119 Jesus is telling this story, and he's saying, this is how I'm going to return. 144 00:18:58.269 --> 00:18:59.509 It's going to be like this. 145 00:19:00.089 --> 00:19:05.356 We have five wise virgins, five foolish virgins. 146 00:19:05.366 --> 00:19:12.608 And at midnight, a cry will be made that the bridegroom is coming. 147 00:19:12.618 --> 00:19:16.220 And that cry is what we see here. 148 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:32.988 When the clock strikes midnight, which was in March, then the cry began to go out as the comets form the sign. 149 00:19:32.998 --> 00:19:37.769 This is the sign of the Son of Man. 150 00:19:38.460 --> 00:19:41.940 It tells us that the Son of Man is coming. 151 00:19:42.609 --> 00:19:50.707 It's the cry that goes out at midnight from the clock. 152 00:19:50.717 --> 00:19:54.165 What does it look like? 153 00:19:54.175 --> 00:19:56.575 A fish, exactly. 154 00:19:56.585 --> 00:20:00.033 And what did Jesus say? 155 00:20:00.043 --> 00:20:07.391 He said there would be no sign given except what? 156 00:20:07.401 --> 00:20:11.099 Except the sign of Jonah. 157 00:20:11.920 --> 00:20:21.998 And Jonah, the story, talks about how Jonah was the prophet that got swallowed by a great fish. 158 00:20:22.008 --> 00:20:23.812 God uses imagery. 159 00:20:23.822 --> 00:20:32.289 He always told stories so that people would imagine how those things take place. 160 00:20:32.589 --> 00:20:35.967 And he does the same thing in the heavens. 161 00:20:35.977 --> 00:20:44.490 He tells the story of the Scripture, and particularly the story of time, with the pictures in the heavens. 162 00:20:44.819 --> 00:20:56.430 Another thing that Jesus said was that in the end of time, in the coming of Jesus, it would be like it was in the days of Noah. 163 00:21:02.009 --> 00:21:06.447 And then he says, let me just read that. 164 00:21:06.457 --> 00:21:08.787 Matthew 24, verse 37. 165 00:21:08.797 --> 00:21:17.210 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. 166 00:21:18.829 --> 00:21:27.637 So that means that we can look at the story of Noah and apply that in our time, 167 00:21:27.647 --> 00:21:36.110 because now we're seeing even the sign of the Son of Man when he will come. 168 00:21:36.120 --> 00:21:40.914 So let's look at the story of Noah briefly. 169 00:21:40.924 --> 00:21:43.579 This comes from Genesis. 170 00:21:48.589 --> 00:22:00.580 And so you know that this Noah was the one in the antediluvian times when God destroyed the world by fire, by water. 171 00:22:00.590 --> 00:22:04.105 And God told Noah to build an ark. 172 00:22:04.115 --> 00:22:07.609 And he gave him many instructions. 173 00:22:08.369 --> 00:22:14.550 And then he told him to get in the ark and that a flood would come. 174 00:22:14.560 --> 00:22:18.066 And the ark was his way of protection. 175 00:22:18.076 --> 00:22:22.299 That was how he would protect Noah in the ark. 176 00:22:22.890 --> 00:22:24.936 Okay, here it is. 177 00:22:24.946 --> 00:22:26.150 Chapter 7. 178 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:28.910 Chapter 7 and verse 11. 179 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:37.580 In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, in the 17th day of the month, 180 00:22:37.590 --> 00:22:45.599 the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the windows of heaven were opened. 181 00:22:47.619 --> 00:22:58.767 Now I want you to notice in the 600th year, Noah, they lived a lot longer than we do in those days. 182 00:22:58.777 --> 00:23:03.393 He was 600 years old when the flood came. 183 00:23:03.403 --> 00:23:07.549 And this is when he got into the ark. 184 00:23:13.329 --> 00:23:18.388 In our time, it's not 600 years. 185 00:23:18.398 --> 00:23:26.144 But from creation, it's more or less 6,000 years. 186 00:23:26.154 --> 00:23:29.769 So we see a similarity. 187 00:23:32.609 --> 00:23:37.476 And furthermore, Noah, in Hebrew, is a word. 188 00:23:37.486 --> 00:23:42.020 Just like sometimes we name our children. 189 00:23:42.030 --> 00:23:47.430 Like in English, you might name a daughter Grace. 190 00:23:47.890 --> 00:23:53.224 It's a word that has meaning on its own. 191 00:23:53.234 --> 00:23:56.435 It's the same with Noah. 192 00:23:56.445 --> 00:23:59.359 Noah is a Hebrew word. 193 00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:04.230 That word means rest. 194 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:18.047 So what this is saying is in the 600th year, Noah, or rest, he entered the ark. 195 00:24:18.057 --> 00:24:23.630 So after 600 years, he had rest. 196 00:24:24.289 --> 00:24:32.601 When they named Noah, they said, this one shall give us rest. 197 00:24:32.611 --> 00:24:37.652 Therefore, they named him Noah, rest. 198 00:24:37.662 --> 00:24:45.000 So Noah serves as an illustration or a type for Jesus. 199 00:24:45.779 --> 00:24:51.244 Because Jesus is the one who gives us rest. 200 00:24:51.254 --> 00:25:00.149 And he gives us that rest, not after 600 years, but after 6,000 years. 201 00:25:00.159 --> 00:25:06.619 There's more we can say about that in a little bit. 202 00:25:08.190 --> 00:25:15.480 But let's look at that in the context of the sign of the Son of Man. 203 00:25:18.109 --> 00:25:23.545 I've turned on the boundaries so we can see where. 204 00:25:23.555 --> 00:25:32.349 And these are just lines that astronomers have used to divide the constellations. 205 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:43.136 And so it makes it easier to see which ones are where. 206 00:25:43.146 --> 00:25:46.851 So Noah entered the ark. 207 00:25:46.861 --> 00:25:53.480 And you see that this is the sign of Jonah. 208 00:25:54.529 --> 00:25:57.961 Now what happened with Jonah? 209 00:25:57.971 --> 00:26:02.231 He was swallowed by the fish, right? 210 00:26:02.241 --> 00:26:04.608 So he got swallowed. 211 00:26:04.618 --> 00:26:06.984 He was inside, okay? 212 00:26:06.994 --> 00:26:11.569 Now this is the sign of the Son of Man. 213 00:26:14.150 --> 00:26:17.392 So we want to be in Christ, right? 214 00:26:17.402 --> 00:26:21.779 Just like Jonah was in Christ or in the whale. 215 00:26:23.140 --> 00:26:25.706 He was therefore protected. 216 00:26:25.716 --> 00:26:32.371 The whale protected Jonah, otherwise he would have drowned in the sea. 217 00:26:32.381 --> 00:26:37.400 That was his intent, but God had other plans for him. 218 00:26:38.009 --> 00:26:43.315 So if we look at what is inside, we see some interesting things. 219 00:26:43.325 --> 00:26:49.619 We have been talking in the last weeks, for those of you who have been here, 220 00:26:49.629 --> 00:26:55.500 about the seven churches that are described in the book of Revelation. 221 00:26:57.930 --> 00:27:08.589 In Revelation 2 and 3, there are letters that Jesus dictated for seven different churches. 222 00:27:10.700 --> 00:27:14.384 There was a church of Ephesus. 223 00:27:14.394 --> 00:27:17.956 There was a church of Smyrna. 224 00:27:17.966 --> 00:27:20.279 Church of Pergamos. 225 00:27:21.539 --> 00:27:22.878 Thyatira. 226 00:27:22.888 --> 00:27:26.605 Seven different churches. 227 00:27:26.615 --> 00:27:39.680 We've been talking about those for a while, and let me just show you what we have found. 228 00:27:41.589 --> 00:27:48.349 If we look at those seven churches, there are things that correspond to the symbolism that we see in the heavens. 229 00:27:53.019 --> 00:27:59.606 One thing, for example, is the church of Laodicea. 230 00:27:59.616 --> 00:28:03.690 Laodicea is the seventh church. 231 00:28:05.559 --> 00:28:20.623 If you look in Revelation 3, Jesus' letter to the church of the Laodiceans, he says in verse 15, I know thy works, 232 00:28:20.633 --> 00:28:25.380 that thou art neither cold nor hot. 233 00:28:26.009 --> 00:28:28.142 He's talking about water. 234 00:28:28.152 --> 00:28:34.710 There was a river that flowed through Laodicea, and it was neither hot water. 235 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:38.249 It came from hot springs, but it was too far away. 236 00:28:38.259 --> 00:28:42.390 By the time it came to the city, it wasn't cold, but it wasn't hot. 237 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:52.380 In verse 16, it says, So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 238 00:28:55.069 --> 00:29:00.020 When we look in the heavens, we see water. 239 00:29:00.030 --> 00:29:06.748 Here's the mouth of the fish, the sign of the Son of Man. 240 00:29:06.758 --> 00:29:08.859 This water is out. 241 00:29:08.859 --> 00:29:10.783 It's being spit out. 242 00:29:10.793 --> 00:29:12.236 It's symbolism. 243 00:29:12.246 --> 00:29:19.730 I wanted to mention this about the churches, because there are seven churches. 244 00:29:21.970 --> 00:29:27.462 To each church, Jesus says that he knows their works. 245 00:29:27.472 --> 00:29:32.654 All seven churches, Jesus says, I know your works. 246 00:29:32.664 --> 00:29:34.509 I know your works. 247 00:29:34.700 --> 00:29:36.225 I know your works. 248 00:29:36.235 --> 00:29:45.720 And then for most of the churches, he says, or actually for all of the churches, he says to him that overcometh. 249 00:29:48.019 --> 00:29:51.049 And then he gives a promise, different promise for every church. 250 00:29:52.559 --> 00:30:03.099 So those who overcome are those who are inside, inside Christ, inside the sign of the Son of Man. 251 00:30:04.289 --> 00:30:11.503 Those who don't overcome, Jesus gives warnings to all of the churches, most of the churches. 252 00:30:11.513 --> 00:30:15.109 And those would be represented on the outside. 253 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:20.433 And there are seven churches. 254 00:30:20.443 --> 00:30:26.541 Now, Laodicea is only shown on the outside. 255 00:30:26.551 --> 00:30:38.019 But for those who repent from Laodicea, there is a place inside for them as well. 256 00:30:40.430 --> 00:30:44.007 And that is over here. 257 00:30:44.017 --> 00:30:51.334 The symbol of a dog comes from Revelation 22. 258 00:30:51.344 --> 00:31:00.430 In verse 15, it says that the dogs are outside the city. 259 00:31:00.430 --> 00:31:05.871 It says, For without, it's talking about the city here. 260 00:31:05.881 --> 00:31:19.130 For without, outside the city, are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters, whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 261 00:31:21.180 --> 00:31:25.819 In Laodicea, they were lying to themselves. 262 00:31:27.650 --> 00:31:33.259 Because Jesus had some hard words to speak to them. 263 00:31:33.269 --> 00:31:40.420 Jesus said, I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. 264 00:31:40.430 --> 00:31:44.150 I would that you were cold or hot. 265 00:31:45.539 --> 00:31:50.846 So then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 266 00:31:50.856 --> 00:31:53.500 And then this is their lie that they believed. 267 00:31:55.039 --> 00:32:00.900 Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, have need of nothing. 268 00:32:00.900 --> 00:32:08.742 And you know not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 269 00:32:08.752 --> 00:32:12.438 So the Laodiceans, they had those lies. 270 00:32:12.448 --> 00:32:15.829 They believed lies about themselves. 271 00:32:16.769 --> 00:32:20.272 And Jesus told them, it's not so. 272 00:32:20.282 --> 00:32:26.331 You're really wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. 273 00:32:26.341 --> 00:32:28.549 Those are hard words. 274 00:32:30.529 --> 00:32:37.950 It's not something that most people would like to hear. 275 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:44.302 Doesn't make us feel very good about ourselves. 276 00:32:44.312 --> 00:32:48.069 But that is what Jesus said. 277 00:32:49.910 --> 00:32:53.269 And they would be outside the city. 278 00:32:53.279 --> 00:32:58.174 Those who partake of those lies are among the dogs. 279 00:32:58.184 --> 00:33:02.579 They're in that list that's headed by the dog. 280 00:33:04.950 --> 00:33:08.059 But there is a part that repents. 281 00:33:08.069 --> 00:33:09.482 They're inside. 282 00:33:09.492 --> 00:33:10.980 There are a few. 283 00:33:11.140 --> 00:33:18.156 Jesus said, if any man hear my voice, then I will come into him. 284 00:33:18.166 --> 00:33:21.345 Talking to individual people. 285 00:33:21.355 --> 00:33:26.049 So the seven churches are illustrated here. 286 00:33:27.319 --> 00:33:34.815 But in the context of Noah, we see something similar. 287 00:33:34.825 --> 00:33:41.047 How many people went into the ark with Noah? 288 00:33:41.057 --> 00:33:43.178 There was Noah. 289 00:33:43.188 --> 00:33:45.279 Eight in total. 290 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:47.197 There was Noah and his wife. 291 00:33:47.207 --> 00:33:48.440 He had three sons. 292 00:33:48.450 --> 00:33:50.690 And each of them had three wives. 293 00:33:51.670 --> 00:33:57.171 So there was Noah and seven others. 294 00:33:57.181 --> 00:34:02.367 So let's just count a little bit. 295 00:34:02.377 --> 00:34:07.230 Now Noah is a symbol for Jesus. 296 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:09.408 Okay. 297 00:34:09.418 --> 00:34:15.753 How did Noah and his family come into the ark? 298 00:34:15.763 --> 00:34:18.104 Did they jump in? 299 00:34:18.114 --> 00:34:22.933 They came in through a door, right? 300 00:34:22.943 --> 00:34:25.009 He made a door. 301 00:34:25.019 --> 00:34:28.550 The angel opened the door. 302 00:34:29.199 --> 00:34:30.587 And he entered, right? 303 00:34:30.597 --> 00:34:32.490 So coming in through the door. 304 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:33.005 Now who? 305 00:34:33.015 --> 00:34:34.844 What does the door represent? 306 00:34:34.854 --> 00:34:36.960 Jesus said something about a door. 307 00:34:39.130 --> 00:34:43.072 He connected the door with who? 308 00:34:43.082 --> 00:34:46.760 He connected it with himself. 309 00:34:47.250 --> 00:34:50.026 He said, I am the door. 310 00:34:50.036 --> 00:34:54.623 And here we see the door, if you will. 311 00:34:54.633 --> 00:35:02.579 If we imagine this not as a fish now, but as an ark of protection. 312 00:35:04.739 --> 00:35:09.528 This would be, this is the only opening. 313 00:35:09.538 --> 00:35:11.454 That's the door. 314 00:35:11.464 --> 00:35:17.429 And coming in the door, Jesus said, I am the door. 315 00:35:18.570 --> 00:35:21.372 And we see here a clock. 316 00:35:21.382 --> 00:35:37.143 And this clock, for reasons that we've been talking about, represents, in prior weeks we've been talking about it, it represents Jesus. 317 00:35:37.153 --> 00:35:41.219 Jesus is also represented in Orion. 318 00:35:44.389 --> 00:35:49.333 And he's also represented here, in the river. 319 00:35:49.343 --> 00:35:55.824 You remember a story in the Bible where Jesus was baptized? 320 00:35:55.834 --> 00:35:59.329 What happened at Jesus' baptism? 321 00:36:02.539 --> 00:36:08.275 There was the dove rested on his head. 322 00:36:08.285 --> 00:36:14.010 And here we see the very same imagery. 323 00:36:14.710 --> 00:36:21.302 The dove coming down, and that was John the Baptist's sign. 324 00:36:21.312 --> 00:36:26.787 He said, that's the sign that this is the Christ. 325 00:36:26.797 --> 00:36:32.699 When the one whom the dove comes upon, that is Jesus. 326 00:36:34.469 --> 00:36:39.886 And we see that also pictured here in the center of the sign. 327 00:36:39.896 --> 00:36:47.079 Jesus buried in the water of the river, being baptized with the dove coming down. 328 00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:53.420 So we have different symbols for Jesus in this sign. 329 00:36:56.280 --> 00:37:03.417 But going back to Noah, Noah is the one who represents Jesus. 330 00:37:03.427 --> 00:37:13.130 So he would be represented by the clock coming into the ark, the ark of protection. 331 00:37:14.329 --> 00:37:26.970 And then if we compare this with the churches, we have how many others joining him? 332 00:37:26.980 --> 00:37:38.239 First of all, we have one here, and we can include the dove with this one. 333 00:37:39.210 --> 00:37:47.078 So that's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. 334 00:37:47.088 --> 00:37:58.104 Seven people, seven things inside that represents Noah and his family. 335 00:37:58.114 --> 00:38:09.739 Now that's just a nice little thing, I think, but it's not the main point. 336 00:38:14.429 --> 00:38:23.080 Jesus told us that it would be like in the time of Noah. 337 00:38:23.090 --> 00:38:29.269 And Noah and his family entered the ark. 338 00:38:29.279 --> 00:38:39.610 And we see, in a sense, Noah and his family entering the ark there. 339 00:38:40.519 --> 00:38:45.292 But there's much that we can learn from this. 340 00:38:45.302 --> 00:38:54.741 And I want to look especially at the clock, because that's one of the symbols for Christ. 341 00:38:54.751 --> 00:38:59.610 We have three symbols for Christ in this sign. 342 00:39:01.019 --> 00:39:13.645 In Orion, as the ministering priest, we have Jesus being baptized when he was here on earth. 343 00:39:13.655 --> 00:39:19.409 And we have Jesus represented as the time. 344 00:39:21.869 --> 00:39:28.110 And that's especially important in reference to the churches. 345 00:39:29.059 --> 00:39:31.728 I want to show you why. 346 00:39:31.738 --> 00:39:47.969 I mentioned that in every one of the churches, in his letters to the churches, he says, for example, to the Laodiceans, verse 15, chapter 3. 347 00:39:48.940 --> 00:39:50.491 I know thy works. 348 00:39:50.501 --> 00:39:55.329 Every one of the churches, he said, I know thy works. 349 00:39:56.730 --> 00:40:05.769 Now this is a difficult theme for many people, because nobody really wants to talk about works. 350 00:40:08.079 --> 00:40:17.825 As soon as you talk about works, then, well, we say, oh, don't judge, right? 351 00:40:17.835 --> 00:40:23.862 And that's right, because we're not the judges. 352 00:40:23.872 --> 00:40:25.519 But Jesus is. 353 00:40:26.639 --> 00:40:29.871 And he says, I know your works. 354 00:40:29.881 --> 00:40:39.472 And he proceeds to tell them some good things as well as some bad things for those churches. 355 00:40:39.482 --> 00:40:42.590 And we can take that to heart. 356 00:40:43.840 --> 00:40:51.409 There are things that Jesus tells us, some good things and some things that need to be changed. 357 00:40:56.539 --> 00:41:02.577 Now, what is time for? 358 00:41:02.587 --> 00:41:07.252 What is time for? 359 00:41:07.262 --> 00:41:11.927 To measure, okay. 360 00:41:11.937 --> 00:41:18.248 And for measuring what? 361 00:41:18.258 --> 00:41:24.530 You measure time, yeah. 362 00:41:25.500 --> 00:41:30.723 But why do you measure time? 363 00:41:30.733 --> 00:41:31.666 Okay. 364 00:41:31.676 --> 00:41:32.609 Okay. 365 00:41:32.619 --> 00:41:50.500 So, for example, if you want to meet someone, you need to have a time where to meet them, right? 366 00:41:52.099 --> 00:41:56.341 How many of you looked at the time this morning? 367 00:41:56.351 --> 00:41:58.649 I think we all did, right? 368 00:41:58.659 --> 00:42:00.760 We all look at the time. 369 00:42:01.019 --> 00:42:04.822 Why did you look at the time? 370 00:42:04.832 --> 00:42:14.141 Because you want to come at our meeting place at the right time, right? 371 00:42:14.151 --> 00:42:14.806 Okay. 372 00:42:14.816 --> 00:42:21.079 We have time so that we can do something, right? 373 00:42:21.630 --> 00:42:27.275 We want to go somewhere or we want to do something. 374 00:42:27.285 --> 00:42:29.599 We have to have time. 375 00:42:31.869 --> 00:42:39.981 So, whatever works that we do, they're done in time. 376 00:42:39.991 --> 00:42:43.734 That's what time is for. 377 00:42:43.744 --> 00:42:50.119 God gives us time to do, to do our works. 378 00:42:53.780 --> 00:43:01.809 So, when he says, I know thy works, he's coming from the perspective of the time. 379 00:43:04.610 --> 00:43:08.656 He is the clock, and he gives us that time. 380 00:43:08.666 --> 00:43:15.150 You know, the Bible says, in him we live and move and have our being. 381 00:43:16.699 --> 00:43:22.807 In him, in Christ, he is the time. 382 00:43:22.818 --> 00:43:35.572 And he knows our works because he gives us that time to do those works. 383 00:43:35.582 --> 00:43:47.239 But he stands at the door, and he says, what are your works like? 384 00:43:48.409 --> 00:43:52.943 Do you have good works or bad works? 385 00:43:52.953 --> 00:44:04.780 Now, in the letters to the churches, he tells them things that are not good about their works. 386 00:44:04.920 --> 00:44:11.092 And he wants them to change those works. 387 00:44:11.102 --> 00:44:23.140 And that's where many people stumble because it makes us feel not good, right? 388 00:44:23.150 --> 00:44:28.840 We want to feel good about ourselves. 389 00:44:29.179 --> 00:44:39.130 And when Jesus tells us there's something wrong, well, then we feel bad, right? 390 00:44:41.260 --> 00:44:43.851 So, what's the answer? 391 00:44:43.861 --> 00:44:56.340 Jesus gives counsel, and in the end, he says in verse 19, for example, this is similar for other churches. 392 00:44:57.690 --> 00:45:03.048 He says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. 393 00:45:03.058 --> 00:45:11.360 So, is it a bad thing then when God tells us there are problems in our life? 394 00:45:13.349 --> 00:45:22.909 No, we can be assured that he loves us because he tells us those things. 395 00:45:22.919 --> 00:45:28.219 Imagine an artist is painting a picture. 396 00:45:28.219 --> 00:45:38.080 And he looks at the picture, and he says, there's something wrong. 397 00:45:38.090 --> 00:45:43.020 The artist wants to correct that. 398 00:45:43.030 --> 00:45:43.627 Why? 399 00:45:43.637 --> 00:45:50.480 Because he wants to paint a beautiful picture. 400 00:45:50.949 --> 00:45:55.438 He wants all the imperfections to be out of it. 401 00:45:55.448 --> 00:45:58.599 And that's how Christ is with us. 402 00:45:58.610 --> 00:46:00.500 We are the painting. 403 00:46:00.500 --> 00:46:06.345 And he says, there's something here that's not quite the way I want it. 404 00:46:06.355 --> 00:46:08.980 It's not as good as it could be. 405 00:46:10.090 --> 00:46:15.590 And so, he points those things out because he wants a beautiful picture in the end. 406 00:46:18.420 --> 00:46:25.791 And then he says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. 407 00:46:25.801 --> 00:46:30.122 Be zealous, therefore, and repent. 408 00:46:30.132 --> 00:46:34.179 And that repentance is a choice. 409 00:46:36.449 --> 00:46:41.073 It's simply a choice. 410 00:46:41.083 --> 00:46:50.550 We choose either Christ's way or man's way. 411 00:46:50.560 --> 00:47:03.530 Now, it's interesting to look at the symbolism in the sign. 412 00:47:05.969 --> 00:47:16.340 I don't know if you can see it, but on the clock, there are two numbers that are marked by the comets. 413 00:47:16.350 --> 00:47:20.610 Straight down from the clock is what hour? 414 00:47:21.980 --> 00:47:25.754 At the very bottom, 6 o'clock. 415 00:47:25.764 --> 00:47:32.170 So, we have the number 6 highlighted by that comet. 416 00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:43.253 And then, one hour later, the other comet marks the number 7. 417 00:47:43.263 --> 00:47:53.610 Now, 6, like we saw in the case of Noah, 600 years, that represents man. 418 00:47:54.289 --> 00:47:59.541 Six is the number of man in the creation. 419 00:47:59.551 --> 00:48:03.000 That's where it comes from. 420 00:48:04.409 --> 00:48:13.356 On the sixth day, God created man and gave him dominion over everything he had created until that time. 421 00:48:13.366 --> 00:48:16.570 And what happened on the seventh day? 422 00:48:18.159 --> 00:48:23.760 Then God rested from his works. 423 00:48:23.770 --> 00:48:27.384 So, we have 6 and 7. 424 00:48:27.394 --> 00:48:34.420 We have man's works and Christ's works. 425 00:48:35.539 --> 00:48:38.912 We have this contrast. 426 00:48:38.922 --> 00:48:51.493 Now, I want to show you in the Ten Commandments, in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 8. 427 00:48:51.503 --> 00:48:59.167 It says, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 428 00:48:59.177 --> 00:49:04.820 Six days you shall labor, shall work. 429 00:49:05.579 --> 00:49:09.748 Six days you shall work and do all thy work. 430 00:49:09.758 --> 00:49:14.968 But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 431 00:49:14.978 --> 00:49:19.980 So, we have this contrast in the Sabbath commandment. 432 00:49:24.050 --> 00:49:32.398 There's a strong contrast between man's work and God's work. 433 00:49:32.408 --> 00:49:38.391 Six days you shall labor, do all your work. 434 00:49:38.401 --> 00:49:43.389 But the seventh day is for the Lord. 435 00:49:44.480 --> 00:49:49.210 The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. 436 00:49:49.220 --> 00:49:52.281 In it, you shall not do any work. 437 00:49:52.291 --> 00:49:55.239 So, he makes a clear separation. 438 00:49:56.670 --> 00:50:00.447 Six days are for man. 439 00:50:00.457 --> 00:50:05.313 The seventh day is for God. 440 00:50:05.323 --> 00:50:23.650 Now, I want to mention that Paul says of the law that the purpose of the law is to bring us to Christ. 441 00:50:26.019 --> 00:50:29.960 And I'm trying to find that verse. 442 00:50:29.970 --> 00:50:32.752 Do you know where it is? 443 00:50:32.762 --> 00:50:36.008 Yes, in Galatians chapter 3. 444 00:50:36.018 --> 00:50:39.843 Galatians chapter 3 and verse 24. 445 00:50:39.853 --> 00:50:47.000 Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. 446 00:50:47.000 --> 00:50:48.705 Anybody in school? 447 00:50:48.715 --> 00:50:51.273 Some of you younger people. 448 00:50:51.283 --> 00:50:54.977 We're all in the school of life, right? 449 00:50:54.987 --> 00:50:58.019 And the law is the schoolmaster. 450 00:50:58.029 --> 00:51:01.400 The teacher who brings us to Christ. 451 00:51:02.829 --> 00:51:08.894 That we might be justified by faith. 452 00:51:08.904 --> 00:51:20.023 So, this issue of works, it's embodied in the Sabbath commandment. 453 00:51:20.033 --> 00:51:25.909 And that is reflected in the clock. 454 00:51:27.480 --> 00:51:29.349 Six days for man. 455 00:51:29.360 --> 00:51:37.280 But the seventh day, those are the two numbers highlighted in the clock. 456 00:51:37.290 --> 00:51:39.250 Six for your work. 457 00:51:40.630 --> 00:51:45.327 And the seventh for God's work. 458 00:51:45.337 --> 00:51:51.550 And so, in the clock, we see that choice. 459 00:51:51.560 --> 00:51:55.480 Our work or Christ's work. 460 00:51:57.030 --> 00:52:13.474 The purpose of the Sabbath is so that we make that distinction between our work and Christ's work. 461 00:52:13.484 --> 00:52:21.874 And Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28. 462 00:52:21.884 --> 00:52:27.570 He was talking to those who labor. 463 00:52:29.199 --> 00:52:36.029 And he said, come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. 464 00:52:36.039 --> 00:52:38.099 You're doing works. 465 00:52:38.109 --> 00:52:40.800 And I will give you rest. 466 00:52:42.989 --> 00:52:52.049 So, Jesus is telling us, come from your works on the sixth days. 467 00:52:52.059 --> 00:52:57.296 Come into my rest on the seventh day. 468 00:52:57.306 --> 00:53:03.090 So, the Sabbath, it's a symbol in itself. 469 00:53:03.090 --> 00:53:07.980 It's saying, come into my rest. 470 00:53:07.990 --> 00:53:13.511 Away from your works, into my rest. 471 00:53:13.521 --> 00:53:22.019 That's the decision that we see for entering the sign. 472 00:53:23.059 --> 00:53:32.726 We enter into his rest through the symbol of the Sabbath. 473 00:53:32.736 --> 00:53:43.251 But there's more to the Sabbath than just the day of the week. 474 00:53:43.261 --> 00:53:52.230 Because the Sabbath is about that choice of my works. 475 00:53:53.300 --> 00:54:08.670 Or, like we read a minute ago, being brought to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 476 00:54:08.680 --> 00:54:17.969 When we come to Christ by faith, we come into his rest. 477 00:54:17.979 --> 00:54:22.519 And then he does the works. 478 00:54:24.510 --> 00:54:35.505 When Jesus makes that separation between the works, he said the Sabbath, it's less about the day. 479 00:54:35.515 --> 00:54:42.202 And it's more about the symbolism, what we do in that time. 480 00:54:42.212 --> 00:54:46.159 The sixth days are for man's works. 481 00:54:47.400 --> 00:54:52.648 The seventh day is for Christ's works. 482 00:54:52.658 --> 00:54:56.940 Now, let me ask you a question. 483 00:54:56.950 --> 00:55:03.442 What happens if Christ is ruling in our hearts? 484 00:55:03.452 --> 00:55:10.190 And we have followed the law as the schoolmaster. 485 00:55:10.190 --> 00:55:12.681 We've come to Christ. 486 00:55:12.691 --> 00:55:15.538 We have faith in Christ. 487 00:55:15.548 --> 00:55:19.108 Who then is doing those works? 488 00:55:19.118 --> 00:55:19.800 Jesus. 489 00:55:20.420 --> 00:55:24.900 Jesus does the works through us. 490 00:55:24.910 --> 00:55:30.370 So Jesus does his works on the Sabbath. 491 00:55:30.380 --> 00:55:36.380 And Jesus does our works on the sixth days. 492 00:55:37.559 --> 00:55:39.671 It's all about Jesus. 493 00:55:39.681 --> 00:55:50.338 All of our works, when we're in Christ, when Christ is in our hearts, all of our works are Christ's works. 494 00:55:50.348 --> 00:55:58.170 And therefore, Jesus says, my father works until now, implying the whole time. 495 00:55:59.590 --> 00:56:05.704 And I also work the whole time, the whole week. 496 00:56:05.714 --> 00:56:18.073 It's not about a day of worship so much as it is, are we in Christ with his works or our works? 497 00:56:18.083 --> 00:56:25.108 And that's the question that the clock presents to us. 498 00:56:25.118 --> 00:56:26.909 It's a choice. 499 00:56:27.579 --> 00:56:50.892 Do we have man's works or do we enter the ark of protection in the last days through the Sabbath, which is representing Christ's works? 500 00:56:50.902 --> 00:57:05.570 Now, in the world, especially in these last days, we see how man's works are forming. 501 00:57:06.360 --> 00:57:10.236 And they're coming to a conclusion. 502 00:57:10.246 --> 00:57:18.210 And there's really a great conflict between man's works and God's works. 503 00:57:21.260 --> 00:57:32.992 Man's works are represented in the philosophy of the world, say, the United Nations. 504 00:57:33.002 --> 00:57:40.963 If you summarize it into one word, it would be tolerance. 505 00:57:40.973 --> 00:57:46.679 United Nations says, tolerate everything. 506 00:57:47.250 --> 00:57:50.735 All religions, it's fine. 507 00:57:50.745 --> 00:57:53.533 Come in, no problem. 508 00:57:53.543 --> 00:58:03.840 If you want to change your gender, identify as something else, no problem. 509 00:58:05.449 --> 00:58:10.590 We love everybody, tolerate everything. 510 00:58:10.600 --> 00:58:22.331 And this philosophy is coming to a head at the end of the world, just like in Noah's day. 511 00:58:22.341 --> 00:58:36.030 After 600 years of Noah's life, now after 6,000 years, man's ways, his works are coming to a conclusion. 512 00:58:37.179 --> 00:58:43.407 And we can see that it's this contrast. 513 00:58:43.417 --> 00:58:49.165 And it doesn't work with man's ways. 514 00:58:49.175 --> 00:59:01.289 See, man, the slogan of the United Nations is to achieve peace and security. 515 00:59:05.280 --> 00:59:10.125 So they want to achieve it using tolerance. 516 00:59:10.135 --> 00:59:19.601 Accept everything, everybody, whatever you believe, no matter how crazy it might be. 517 00:59:19.611 --> 00:59:21.619 It doesn't matter. 518 00:59:23.699 --> 00:59:27.293 But God says, no, repent. 519 00:59:27.303 --> 00:59:40.659 He wants us to repent, which is just a choice to choose his ways, his works, and not our own. 520 00:59:45.360 --> 01:00:03.150 And when we do, we come by faith into the rest of Christ, into his ark of safety, into his security. 521 01:00:04.469 --> 01:00:10.807 So there's this contrast between man's peace and security. 522 01:00:10.817 --> 01:00:23.699 Oh, if we're just embracing of every ideology and we don't complain, then we can have peace and security in the world. 523 01:00:25.869 --> 01:00:31.219 Jesus says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden. 524 01:00:32.260 --> 01:00:37.733 I will give you that rest and security. 525 01:00:37.743 --> 01:00:39.147 Yes, amen. 526 01:00:39.157 --> 01:00:48.260 There's the peace and the protective wall of security in the ark. 527 01:00:50.039 --> 01:00:54.145 All signs represented here. 528 01:00:54.155 --> 01:01:05.101 So at the door is the judge who stands and he says, what is your choice? 529 01:01:05.111 --> 01:01:10.433 And so we need to make that choice. 530 01:01:10.443 --> 01:01:13.150 We need to decide. 531 01:01:13.659 --> 01:01:22.191 We need to stand for Christ's works or we may choose man's works. 532 01:01:22.201 --> 01:01:33.610 Unfortunately, even in the church, we have brought in in ways we don't even understand. 533 01:01:35.300 --> 01:01:43.429 We've brought in the mentality of the tolerate everything that the United Nations promotes. 534 01:01:44.710 --> 01:01:55.736 For example, there's, you know, there's this reluctance to speak about something that might offend someone. 535 01:01:55.746 --> 01:01:59.239 You might say, oh, don't say that. 536 01:01:59.369 --> 01:02:02.165 That might offend them. 537 01:02:02.175 --> 01:02:08.000 That would be like you're painting the painting. 538 01:02:09.239 --> 01:02:12.463 Oh, I don't want to look at anything that's wrong. 539 01:02:12.473 --> 01:02:15.503 What kind of a picture will you get in the end? 540 01:02:15.513 --> 01:02:17.170 It's going to be terrible. 541 01:02:17.889 --> 01:02:24.829 If you never correct anything that's wrong, you won't have a good picture in the end. 542 01:02:24.829 --> 01:02:30.241 And we are Christ's picture to the world. 543 01:02:30.251 --> 01:02:32.891 We represent Christ. 544 01:02:32.902 --> 01:02:35.389 We are his artwork. 545 01:02:36.070 --> 01:02:41.397 Therefore, he wants to correct us. 546 01:02:41.407 --> 01:02:50.181 And many times he does that even through human agencies. 547 01:02:50.191 --> 01:03:07.719 So we should be open to receiving his rebuke when necessary and not feel like we're too good to have the rebuke. 548 01:03:09.409 --> 01:03:16.061 And this is the problem with the world's philosophy. 549 01:03:16.071 --> 01:03:19.525 The world says you're good. 550 01:03:19.535 --> 01:03:21.050 You're fine. 551 01:03:21.460 --> 01:03:22.896 No problem. 552 01:03:22.906 --> 01:03:23.429 Sin? 553 01:03:23.439 --> 01:03:26.574 Don't tell me about sin. 554 01:03:26.584 --> 01:03:29.690 But God says you're bad. 555 01:03:30.059 --> 01:03:35.067 He says you need to repent and change your works. 556 01:03:35.077 --> 01:03:39.267 But we don't change our works on our own. 557 01:03:39.277 --> 01:03:43.550 We change our works by choosing his works. 558 01:03:45.050 --> 01:03:49.614 And then his works come out. 559 01:03:49.624 --> 01:03:54.189 So in our hearts, we're bad. 560 01:03:54.199 --> 01:04:15.210 And when we recognize that and we live understanding that we are not good people, then we remember that we're dependent on Jesus. 561 01:04:16.519 --> 01:04:30.294 And that, in the commandments even, the very beginning of the commandments, I'll close with this thought. 562 01:04:30.304 --> 01:04:32.000 In Exodus 20. 563 01:04:34.800 --> 01:04:45.230 And God spake all these words saying, first thing that he says, he's going to list off all of the commandments. 564 01:04:47.469 --> 01:05:01.695 First thing he says is, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 565 01:05:01.705 --> 01:05:07.168 And then he starts with the commands after that. 566 01:05:07.178 --> 01:05:10.800 But he says, you are in bondage. 567 01:05:10.840 --> 01:05:15.340 Egypt represented bondage, the bondage in sin. 568 01:05:15.350 --> 01:05:21.515 And he said, I am the one that brought you out of that bondage. 569 01:05:21.525 --> 01:05:27.179 And therefore, all the 10 commandments should be followed. 570 01:05:29.590 --> 01:05:33.099 But those are followed in Christ. 571 01:05:33.109 --> 01:05:41.511 And when we understand that relationship that we have with sin, we are sinners. 572 01:05:41.521 --> 01:05:49.690 And it's only Christ that does the good works, that follows the commandments. 573 01:05:51.000 --> 01:05:55.978 He was the only one that was good. 574 01:05:55.988 --> 01:06:08.434 And when we have that perspective, it changes our whole relationship with each other. 575 01:06:08.444 --> 01:06:20.869 So it's our choice to accept his invitation to come out of bondage and into his rest. 576 01:06:22.679 --> 01:06:35.523 So I invite you to stand with me, if that is your desire, and accept his invitation to enter his rest. 577 01:06:35.533 --> 01:06:38.303 All right, let's pray. 578 01:06:38.313 --> 01:06:47.360 Dear Father in heaven, we thank you for your instruction from your word. 579 01:06:49.530 --> 01:06:58.791 And we thank you for the rest that you have given to us in Christ. 580 01:06:58.801 --> 01:07:09.326 And even in these end times, you show us that your rest is still available. 581 01:07:09.336 --> 01:07:19.139 And you invite us to come into your ark, your ark of safety and peace. 582 01:07:21.159 --> 01:07:29.010 It is in Christ to separate ourselves from the world and the ways of the world. 583 01:07:32.349 --> 01:07:47.323 And Father, I just ask for each one of us, for all of your children, wherever they might be in the world, 584 01:07:47.333 --> 01:08:00.300 that you will reach out to them in their hearts just now and draw them into your presence. 585 01:08:03.599 --> 01:08:06.769 That each of your children may experience your rest. 586 01:08:08.730 --> 01:08:15.643 And your peace, a peace that the world cannot provide nor understand. 587 01:08:15.653 --> 01:08:18.558 We thank you and we love you. 588 01:08:18.568 --> 01:08:24.359 And we look forward to seeing you soon, as the sign shows. 589 01:08:25.579 --> 01:08:36.670 And we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ and he who was wounded for all of our transgressions. 590 01:08:37.369 --> 01:08:44.086 Thank you for your salvation, for bringing us out of the house of bondage. 591 01:08:44.096 --> 01:08:44.539 Amen. 592 01:08:47.149 --> 01:08:48.252 Thank you. 593 01:08:48.262 --> 01:08:57.407 Next week we'll talk more about the next part of the sign, where Jesus is baptized.