Destination: Revelation 1-11 | Skip Heitzig

behind me is Westminster Chapel in London, England G Campbell Morgan and Martyn Lloyd-jones preached here today many of the great churches that once flourished throughout England are in decline as we approach our flight over the book of the Revelation we will come to Jesus' warnings to his churches, so let's prepare for our flight with this information. An incredible land lies ahead as we approach the book of Revelation, you will surely want to tighten your seatbelts for this one. Well, fortunately this book names itself in verse 1, as you can see, it is the

revelation

of Jesus Christ, this is his

revelation

, that is what the word revelation means, it is the Greek word apocalypse, which means to remove the veil. or clarify something and this is the idea that I want you to have in mind about this book, the image of a great statue. that has been covered it is in front of a public building there is a meeting the band plays the mayor speaks and the artist stands up and talks about what he was thinking when he made this statue and suddenly when the music stops the curtain goes up or the veil and the statue is there for everyone to see, that is the idea of ​​the word revelation and I tell you why that is important because the word itself contrasts with what many people think this book is.

Oh, this is a difficult book to understand. mysterious is shrouded in mystery no it is not it is meant to remove the veil so that we can see Jesus clearly as the glorified judge of all the earth and the future king Lewis Talbot wrote these words about the book of Revelation, the devil has converted thousands of people. far from this portion of God's Word, he does not want anyone to read a book that speaks of his expulsion from heaven nor is he eager for us to read about the final triumph of his number one enemy, Jesus Christ, the more one studies the book of euphoria the more you understand why Satan fights so hard to keep God's people away from him this book was written by John we have been studying John's writings for the last two weeks first John second John third John John was very old when he wrote This and this book were written in the latter part of the last decade of the first century, so somewhere between 95 and 96 AD.

John was on an isolated, rocky, rugged and desolate island called Patmos, about 25 miles off the coast of Asia Minor, an island six miles away. wide by 10 miles long. I have been to Patmos. By the way, today it is a beautiful island. It wasn't then, but they will show you St. Peter's Grotto. John they call it where John supposedly received this revelation, you will notice in verse one, then the revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him, that is, God the Father gave it to Jesus, who gave it to his servants to show his servants the things that soon owe. happen and he sent it and manifested it by his angel to his servant John who bore witness to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ to all the things that he saw see the word in verse 1 shortly these things must happen shortly that has tripped up some people they say, well, wait a minute, this was written a couple of thousand years ago and it said it will happen shortly, it's in two thousand years, not shortly, but mistakenly, distantly, well, the construction Greek is n takei, shortly in takei. and we get our word tachometer from which is an instrument for measuring speed and the idea is that when these things happen, they will happen very quickly in a short period of time and once they happen, they will not happen yet but once.

The tribulation begins is a certain period of time and will happen very, very quickly in the last days of history. God will put it at full speed, high speed and Takei, very quickly, it will happen again. Just notice in verse one, the revelation is. singular this is not the Book of Revelations plural it is the book of Revelation singular it is not a bunch of revelations about the future although they are there it is mainly the revelation of a particular person and that is Jesus Christ that is the theme of the book reveals Jesus , so in chapters 2 and 3 we will see Jesus as the glorified resurrected king and priest ministering to the churches in chapters 4 and 5 we will see Jesus as the glorified Lamb of God in heaven in chapters 6 to 18 we will see Jesus as the coming judge in chapter 19 we will see Jesus as the ruler who returns to the earth and in chapters 20 to 22 as the bridegroom with his bride it is all about Jesus Christ and revealing him verse 3 blessed is he who reads and those Those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things that are written in it for the time that is near, note that this book of Revelation is prophecy, it is not allegory, it is prophecy and a quarter of the Bible is prophetic literature, but notice that it is a A special type of prophecy is a prophecy that uses signs or symbols, as you will notice, it says that he sent it and signified it or used signs by his angel and we find many signs, symbols in this book, we find lampstands, trumpets, bowls, beasts, seals.

We will see Jesus as the judge using a sword, a two-edged sword comes out of his mouth. All kinds of symbolic language is used in this prophecy and the question is why the use of such symbolism is why the Book of Revelation is written like the book of Zechariah. with signs or meanings or symbols for various reasons number one they will stand the test of time it seems that symbols transcend time language and culture if you write about something symbolically it doesn't matter what the culture is or how it advances or what the culture and customs are It will turn out that there is the second reason why it is used, I think that symbolism awakens emotions like nothing else, it is one thing to say that a world dictator is coming, you can say that or you could put it in a symbolic way that connotes and demands more emotion and I saw a beast rising from the sea, you can talk about a corrupt world religious system or you can talk about Babylon the Great, the harlot over all the earth, it awakens strong and deep emotions and There is a third reason because all the signs and symbols in the book have its roots somewhere else and you know where the Old Testament is, we read the revelation and say, what could that mean?

But if you lived with the Jewish background of the Old Testament Scriptures, many of those symbols will ring bells and flags in your mind. I remember reading that somewhere, in fact, it has been said that of the four hundred and six verses of Scripture in the book of Revelation there are three hundred and sixty references or inferences or allusions to the Old Testament, so to us it sounds strange in symbolism, but in the first century it was closer and more easily understood. Now look at what it says, look at the special blessing you see,

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this, it won't cover 11 chapters. believe me, notice the special blessing, blessed or happy is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep it, a special blessing is pronounced for those who read it, those who hear it and those who keep it. what it tells me is instead of us saying oh, I'll leave this book to the theologians to figure out.

I won't read it. I will read the Psalms or one of the Gospels. It's much easier. There is a special blessing for those who read. listen to it and keep it you know what that blessing is I think I think it is the blessing of seeing Jesus clearly and the more clearly you see Jesus the happier you will be you will see him clearly you will see the future glory of him coming and ruling over the earth and reigning in glory over his creation and finally with his bride in heaven and the clearer you see Jesus, the blessing comes, the happier you will be because you will understand that God is a plan for this world, he is going somewhere and instead of going crazy like people do today with the economy, you can go, everything is in God's hands, this is going somewhere and I have read the end of the story, we won, so you will have hope, so by reading Revelation you will get you will be more blessed or you will be more happy, but there is a part of this that is a little difficult to understand, it says and who keeps this book, how is the book of Revelation kept, how is this book obeyed, you have all this information that is in symbolic format. language, it's one thing to listen to it, it's one thing to read it, how do you preserve it?

I think just by making the decision, in light of this book, to live in light of eternity instead of the temporal world, instead of making decisions and planning your life. day and plan your life based on temporal reality, which is transitional, transitional, it will be on eternal values, that's how you keep this book. Note in verse 19 of chapter 1, the book also comes with a summary of the things you have seen. what they are and the things that will happen after this that is the key verse of this entire book that verse is the outline of the book the book is given to you based on chapter 1 verse 19 that is how John writes it so write down the things that have you seen, that is the vision of Jesus Christ that is in Chapter 1.

John sees a vision of Jesus and writes what he sees, then notices and the things that are and John does that in chapters 2 and 3, he writes about the condition of seven. churches in Asia Minor in modern-day Turkey and then the things that will happen after this, after the church comes chapter 6, where he is caught up to heaven and writes about the future. Now there are a couple of very, I would say critical, I would say important words. what I want to draw your attention to if this is the outline and it is because this is how the book is designed there are a couple of words where it says it will take place after this the words after this in Greek meta tota after this or after these things now when we get to chapter 6 after the church is written about and the heavenly scene of chapters 4 and 5 ends, these two words appear again meta Taotao after this, then John writes about the vision of Jesus Christ, chapter 1, write about The church, which is the church age, I'll explain it and then write what happens after the church age starting in verse or chapter 6, so let's look at the first part of this, the things that they have seen , observe the vision of Jesus Christ in the chapter. 1 and I will read verse 9 relatively quickly.

I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and in the kingdom and in the patience of Jesus Christ, was on an island called Patmos by the word of God and by the testimony of Jesus Christ, I was in the spirit on the day of the Lord and I heard behind me a great voice like a trumpet saying I am the Alpha the Omega the first and the last and what you see just in a book and send it to the seven churches that are in Asia to Ephesus Smyrna Pergamum Thyatira Sardis Philadelphia and Laodicea Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, and turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the middle of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a robe down to his feet and girded about. around his chest with the golden ribbon, his head and his hair were white as wool, white as snow, and his eyes were a flame of fire, and his feet were like fine bronze, as refined in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. .

He had in his right hand seven stars and a sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth and his face was like the sun shining in his strength and when I saw him I fell at his feet as if dead, good move but he put his right hand on me telling me don't be afraid I am the first and the last I am the one who lives he who was dead and behold I am alive forever and ever amen and I have the keys to Hades and death this is the first part this is what John says he has seen he writes that first he sees Jesus Christ and in the process he sees Jesus as he had never seen Jesus before John was an apostle he walked with Jesus he saw him like the Nazarene walking from town to town teaching from place to place he also saw Jesus in the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and Elijah later sees Jesus after he rises from the dead and then ascends to heaven, but here she sees Jesus differently than she had seen him before.

Here John is in the spirit and sees Jesus Christ as the righteous judge of all the earth and this language is a symbol of that, the glorious judge John saw it unfortunately many Christians do not see it, they say well. I imagine Jesus always smiling, patting little children on the head, hugging everyone, tolerating everything anyone would do. I want to practice I prefer to think of Jesus that way, that's good, he loved, he was merciful, he was hugging, but get the full picture, blessed, happy is he who gets the full picture of Jesus Christ as the righteous, glorious, supreme judge who will end. putting an end to all evil and judging every form of it ultimately, that is what John sees here now there is symbolism there are stars and there are lampstands and we don't even have to guess what they are because in verse 20 notice the mystery of the Seven Stars that you saw in my right hand and seven golden candlesticks the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches on ravine angels or literally messengers of the seven churches could refer to the shepherds who have them in their hand and the seven candlesticks that You saw the seven churches, that is an apt description of what the church is: being a lampstand to show people the way from darkness to light.

Now Jesus said that he was the light of the world, but he also told his disciples about him. We are the light of the world, our task as a church is not only to meet a couple of times a week andshine together. I love the shine. I don't just love the shine. I love the afterglow. That's great. We want you to shine. We want you to go too and that is why we have here the candlesticks that show the way from the light and/or darkness and the delight of Jesus that his eyes are a flame of fire, his feet like fine bronze as refined in a furnace, everything that is the language of judgment fire and brass are symbols of judgment do you remember in the tabernacle the altar that was thethe altar of sacrifice was made of bronze the altar for worship in the inner sanctuary is made of gold so bronze becomes a symbol of judgment here it is Jesus is the righteous judge so that is the first part of Revelation the things that John chapters 2 & 3 sees are the things that go back to our outline in verse 19, the things that are and he describes seven churches with real names that really existed 2000 years ago in Asia Minor or modern-day Turkey.

What are these seven churches? There are some different ones. Number one apps like I said, they are real churches in real towns. I visited those towns now there are a lot of ruins for the most part, there were seven real congregations with seven real conditions that are written in a rodent about what rodents do about rot. Be encouraged in your book that are written here in the Bible in a letter from Jesus by the way I prefer not to call them seven letters but seven postcards they are very short they are just small fragments small quick evaluations so number one in real life situation number two I think They represent a historical application.

I believe these seven churches represent seven periods of church history from the Apostolic Church to the apostate Church at the end and then thirdly, I believe there is an eternal application for all churches. In fact, I can think that you can break that down and say that in every congregation there are people who represent these seven conditions, for example, there may be some here tonight, like the Church of Ephesus, who are very busy, very active, with a lot of discernment. but you have lost the spark of true intense love and devotion for Jesus Christ or some of you are like the church of Smyrna, you are suffering and I mean suffering for your faith in Jesus Christ, because you are Christians. molested, tormented, mocked, but you hold on tightly to it, others are like the church of Pergamum, you are a Christian, but you are compromising Christians, you are tolerating things like false teachings, false doctrines, there may be some here like the Church of Thyatira .

You are a bit loose morally and spiritually and you lack discernment of the truth. Others could be like the church of Sardis. You don't want to be like that. These were spiritually dead people. They had Christian names but they were dead. The others could be like the church in Philadelphia. you are experiencing a personal revival, you are keeping his word and finally some, maybe more than a few, are like the last church in Laodicea, lukewarm, not hot, not cold, but complacent, apathetic, whatever, no big deal now look again at chapter two verse one we're just going to take some quick snippets on each postcard to the seven churches in each one Jesus introduces himself borrowing a part of the vision from chapter 1 will take part of the description from chapter 1 and introduce himself to a church take another part of that description in chapter 1 and introduce yourself to another church and in each of these seven postcards use the phrase I know your works silica chapter 2 verse 1 to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write these things says the one who has the seven stars in his right hand and walks in the seven golden lampstands I know your works verse eight and to the Angel of the church in Smyrna write these things says the first and the last who was killed and who rose again I know your works verse 12 to the angel of the church in Pergamos write these things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword I know your works verse 18 to the Angel of the church in Thyatira write these things says the Son of God whose eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet like fine bronze I know your works that's what it does to each of those seven churches go down to chapter three now verse 14 to 22 the church in Laodicea look at verse 20 behold, I stand at the door and I knock, that's Jesus, I'm knocking at the door , if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and have dinner with him and he with me, how often is that verse quoted?

For the unbelievers look at Jesus standing at the door of your heart right now trying to enter, open your heart and that is true, but that is not the context here, the context here is Jesus is outside his church, a church that carries his name but he's trying to get in he's trying to get close and they won't let him so he's knocking he's not forcing himself he's asking for the door to be opened I'll come in and have dinner with you now you have to understand dining eating in the Bible was a sacred form of intimate fellowship they didn't do fast food 2000 years ago they didn't have a falafel stand in and out to eat it was a persistent thing and I have eaten Middle Eastern foods where it is our Because you are sharing yourself with another person, they believe that the food I eat is the same food that you eat and because the food goes into my body and it breaks down and it becomes part of my body and it becomes part of your body, we are becoming one with each other so it is intimate Jesus is saying I want intimacy with you I want closeness with you and here is Jesus outside trying to get in I want me to die with you something I also discovered about Jesus and that I really like Jesus Christ loved to eat hallelujah, in fact he sometimes got in trouble for it.

He had a reputation. Oh, he likes to eat with sinners and tax collectors. True, he had that reputation, but remember the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus is walking through Jericho and there are some little ones above. in the tree looking at Jesus and Jesus stops at the tree and leaves Zacchaeus let's go down let's go to your house for lunch loose translation and they do it they go there and eat Jesus loves to eat Jesus loves that intimacy and clothes type of fellowship now chapter 4 onwards is the third part of the book of Revelation we are not going to finish it tonight we are just going to go to chapter 11 the things that you have seen chapter 1 the things that are chapters 2 and 3 and now the things that will happen after this after these things notice the last verse of chapter 3 he who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches and then chapter 4 verse 1 after these things meta tau a ask what things answer well these things what are they these things the things of chapters 2 and 3 the things to the church in Ephesus Smyrna Thyatira Laodicea Philadelphia after these things come other things from the future now I drew your attention to the last verse of chapter 3 because this is the last time in the book of Revelation where you read the word church or churches you will not find it again until chapter 22 because the church is not mentioned it is not in sight here the church things are over the church age is over and now he writes about future things everything from now on is future chapter four and five is a duration in heaven and then chapters 6 to 18 tribulation on earth chapter 19 the second coming of Jesus from heaven to earth chapter 20 the millennium or you could say heaven on earth in chapters 21 to 22 the new heaven and the new earth the eternal state then verse 1 chapter 4 after these things I looked and saw a door open in heaven and the first voice I heard was like a trumpet speaking to me saying come here and I will show you things that must happen Mehta Tata after this I was immediately in the spirit and beheld a throne established in heaven and one sitting on the throne now this sounds strangely familiar like You know, I have heard this language before, in fact , I seem to remember Paul writing something exactly like this.

John is experiencing a vision of what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, he said that the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a cry of voice. of an archangel with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first and we who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air so here is the voice of a trumpet rise here immediately John is caught up and I believe that It is a beautiful prophetic picture indicative of the rapture of the church from now on John will see things from a heavenly perspective from the perspective of the throne room he will see the judgment on the earth but it will be from this perspective verse 3 and Hughes, who was sitting there , had the appearance of a jasper and sardine stone and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an emerald.

Around the throne there were twenty-four thrones and on the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting dressed in white robes and they had golden crowns on their heads and from the throne came lightning, thunder and voices seven lamps of fire burned before the throne which are the seven spirits of God before the throne was something like a sea of ​​glass, clear as crystal in the center of the throne and on each side of the throne were four living creatures full of strange eyes, full of eyes in front and behind. The first thing that catches John's attention when he is immediately taken in the spirit to heaven are not long lost friends or relatives but God now I know for sure that when you get to heaven you will see your family and friends who are believers who were before you.

You and you will recognize them, but I think that the main attraction of heaven will not be reuniting with your mother. or father or son or daughter or friend but seeing God he will occupy and will be the majority of what you will see when you get to heaven is God is really he is really here take a look at him and he sees the throne is the place of which he rule and reign and make the decisions this is the perspective that John will have throughout this book around the throne where there were other Thrones there were 24 elders very similar to a king in a court with subjects around now these 24 elders who are they?

I think it is best to see them as representatives of God's people. Representatives of God's people. Do you remember that in the Old Testament there were courses of priests, that is, there was a group of priests who served their week throughout the year? How many priest courses were there in total? twenty-four twenty-four groups of priests the priests were representatives of the nation of Israel before God they represented the entire nation these 24 elders are representatives of God's people caught up to heaven just as the priests in the Old Testament represented now it could be that this is representative of the church or here is another possibility that they could represent the Old Testament saints as well as the church and I say that because when we get to the New Jerusalem in chapter 21 22 John sees the city of Jerusalem with 12 gates and more The gates are the names of the 12 tribes of Israel and the city has 12 foundations and are named after the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, so we have 12 and 12, which are 24.

Either one is plausible, but they are representative of a group representative of people. Also notice that there are four living creatures, these four living creatures are what any assumption is safe, how about angels? That would be good, we don't have to worry about what kind of angels, these angelic beings, our angels who are in the presence of God and us. We will administer the judgment that will come upon the earth in the period of the Great Tribulation chapter 5 verse 1. You are good so far, good, good, let's go quickly, I know it and I'm talking very fast, I know it like some kind of car salesman no Be offended if you are a car salesman because I am being one right now and I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back sealed with seven seals and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the scroll and loose its seals and no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look at it and that is why I cried much better translation with great convulsions I cried with great demonstration of emotion I cried a lot because no one was found worthy to open and read this scroll or to look at it but one of the elders told me do not cry because behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah the The root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and loose its seven seals.

Anyone familiar with the Old Testament, especially Jewish documentation, could guess that this is the title deed to the land. The property titles were written on the scrolls. There were the stipulations of the property deed on the inside outwards and then it was sealed with a wax seal. This is a seal with seven seals and as each one is removed it will represent a judgment. Now in ancient times property in Israel was never permanently lost. The land, if you had to lose it for any reason, it could be redeemed, bought back, but you had to qualify, there were three requirements, number one, it had to be a relative, a relative, and well, the Hebrew word, it had to be related, you had to be. in family number two you had to be able, that is, you had to have the money to do it and number three you had to be willing to do it and the great illustration of that is the Book of Ruth, you know the story of Naomi marries a Un guy named Elimelech there is famine in the land, they left Bethlehem and wentto Moab, but in Moab, the fate of the ulama dies, their two children, Naomi, the two children, the melon and the chili, died, and now you have these three women, Naomi, Ruth and Orpah. left or / decides to stay Ruth decides to return with her mother-in-law to Bethlehem she is a servant in a field they have lost their property through confiscation because they abandoned the land but there is a kinsman redeemer a good one named Boaz who is a kinsman we will pay the price and is willing to do it and it's a beautiful story of redemption and this is the title to the land John cries who is worthy is the question who has the right to rule who has the authority to finish God's plan for the earth and redeem it no one except one and that is Jesus Christ who takes the scroll and unties it 'like the seals here is the deal that God created the earth was his belongs to him we became stewards of that but what happened Adam Adam lost the earth Adam lost the earth to satan who was the lord / and what chapter 5 of Romans says through a man sin entered the world and death through sin and death spread to all for all have sinned Adam was like Benedict Arnold who gave the title of the earth to Satan, who incidentally is called in the Scriptures the god of this world and even when Jesus was being tempted and the devil said, hey, if you bow down and worship me, I will give you all these kingdoms that listen . what he says because they are mine and I can give them to whoever I want now Jesus did not dispute Satan, he did not say that they are not you because in a sense they were, yes, they were God's by creation, but the title of ownership was given. by the fall Jesus came to the earth he shed his blood but this is the final shot this is where the title of property returns to God and that will come through the Tribulation Period God will judge the earth he will purify it he will cleanse it and redeem it completely back then what happens the rest of chapter 5 is about worship verses 8 9 and 10 the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders worship verses 11 and 12 the angels join in and worship verses 13 and 14 every creature will also join in worship now starting in chapter 6 through chapter 18 actually part of chapter 19 is the Tribulation Period the Tribulation Period and let me break it down for you there are three sets of judgments in these chapters seals seven seals seven trumpets and seven bowls represent a series of judgments that will happen very, very quickly upon the earth with each set of judgments, it gets worse, it becomes more intense, very fast, very hard, in a very, very short period of time, I mean, three and a half years, the earth will pass for its worst period. never in the future and it will happen very quickly it will not be it will not be prolonged it will not be prolonged because Jesus even said unless those days were shortened no flesh would be saved but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened now when these three sets of judgments are over, seals, trumpets and bowls, the wrath of God is over, it's over and then he just takes over, so chapter six tells us the opening of the seven seals, okay, now I need your mind just for a minute.

I will give you chapters 6 to 18 19 very quickly chapter 6 begins the first set of judgments called the seals chapter 7 is a parenthesis where additional information is given then chapters 8 and 9 continue the chronology the trumpet judgments but the chapters 10 11 12 13 14 and 15 are a parenthesis or additional information and details of that time period are given, then chapter 16 resumes the chronology of the tribulation judgments where we have the bowls being poured out, but chapters 17 and 18 are a parenthesis, then chapter 19 will end the chronological period. order of the book of Revelation in terms of the tribulation is over it is quite easy to follow it chronologically you just have to know that you have six seals and then a parenthesis for additional information and then a seventh seal the seventh seal secures in seven more judgments called trumpet judgments you have six of those and then there's a parenthesis with additional information the seventh trumpet uh sure, in the last seven judgments called the bull trials that's how it works, that's how the rest of the book is presented, so chapter 6 verse 1 now I saw When the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder come and see and I looked and behold a white horse and he who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given to him and he came out. conquering and conquering and when I opened the second seal I heard the second living one say, come and look, another fiery red horse came out and which was granted to the one who sat down to take peace from the earth, the people had to kill each other and it was given to him a great sword and when he opened the third seal I heard the third living being say come and see then I looked and behold a black horse and the one who was riding it had a pair of scales in his hand and I heard a voice in the middle of the four living beings It said a measure of wheat or a liter of wheat for a day's salary a denarius and three quarters of barley for a day's salary I think inflation is bad now and don't damage the oil and wine opened the fourth seal and I heard a voice of the fourth living being that said come and see and then I looked and saw a pale horse and the name of the one riding it was death and Hades. followed with him and they were given power over a quarter of the earth to kill with the sword with famine with death and by the beasts of the earth this is the Tribulation Period there is no time like it in the world it will be the worst period of time in human history now Jesus said this in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world in that verse the tribulation he was talking about it the trials and tribulations that we have every day everyone goes through them this is different the tribulation that we spend every day has as its source the world and the prince of this world the devil simply likes to bother everything and everyone in the future the Great Tribulation does not come from the world nor from satan it comes directly from God in a world that rejects to Christ is the worst time in history worse than the Middle Ages worse than the Holocaust in World War II worse than the Great Depression much worse than this current recession we are going through in fact it did you know more space is devoted to it in the Scriptures to the tribulation period that even to the second coming of Jesus Christ in all the Scriptures Jeremiah 34 that day is great the day of the Lord so that there is no other like it is a time of Jake troubles Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 there will be a great time of trouble , such as there has never been since there was a nation until then Matthew 24 verse 21 said our Lord Jesus and there will be great tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until this time nor will it ever be now just in case you are Thinking about it, I mean, how bad could it be, I mean, we've seen a lot of bad times, how bad could it be really bad, there's smoke, there's fire, there's hailstones weighing about a hundred and twenty-five pounds falling from the sky at the earth there is the abyss, the bottomless pit that is open and belches demons throughout the world that bring torment for months on the inhabitants of the earth the green things are destroyed the fresh water is destroyed a quarter of humanity has eliminated another third of humanity has eliminated really very bad chapter 7 is a parenthesis and sprouted chapter 6 is the first set of judgments chapter 7 is a parenthesis between the sixth and the seventh seal in chapter 7 answers a question that is poses in chapter 6 look at verse 17 of chapter 6 because great is the day of his wrath or because the great day of his wrath has come here is the question and who is able to stand now chapter 7 answers the question there two groups that can stand there are one hundred and forty-four thousand and there is an innumerable multitude of Gentiles from all the earth verse 1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree and I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the Living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth in the sea ​​saying do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads and heard the number of those who were sealed 144,000 now please notice the rest of the sentence of all the tribes of the Los children of Israel were sealed and chapters or verses 5 through 8 will list the sealed tribes by name.

Over the years I have been fascinated to see how many groups want to identify themselves as part of the one hundred and forty-four thousand Herbert W. Armstrong at one time a false sect at one time who have since reformed claimed to be the one hundred and forty-four thousand Adventists. of the seventh day have claimed to be the one hundred and forty-four thousand Jehovah's Witnesses at one point they said they were the one hundred forty - four thousand this is before their 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses and then once they reached that number and there were more, they had I have to recalculate a whole new theology, but every time someone says I'm part of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, my question to them is very simple what tribe are you from and they usually say hey and I take them to this verse here are the tribes that are listed which tribe of Israel you belong to tells us who they are these are Jews, not Jehovah's Witnesses, they are Jews They are Jews, they are messianic Jews who are protected by God during the tribulation period, miraculously as the judgments fall upon the land, one hundred and forty-four thousand Jews who believe that Jesus is their Messiah, how are they saved?

I think a couple of people will. be presented in chapter 11 called the two witnesses the two witnesses appeared to evangelize and do signs and wonders and convince 144,000 Jews to be Messianic Jews and the Messianic Jews 144,000 witnessed two people in the period and there is an innumerable multitude of Gentiles who are saved I believe that the greatest evangelism in history will take place in the period of the Great Tribulation it will be horrible it will be hell on earth but there will be saved people many of them now I say that for two reasons one is theological the reason one is one logical reason theological reason is the reason that Jesus Christ gave in Matthew 24 verse 14 this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come does not mean that we are going to evangelize the earth and then the Lord will come in the rapture, it means that in the tribulation period there will be an eternal angel, the flies to heaven, there will be two witnesses who will do signs and wonders and that will bring 144,000 Jews. converts and I don't know if you've ever seen a Jewish believer, but they're pretty persuasive, they're pretty enthusiastic and they're pretty enthusiastic.

Imagine one hundred and forty-four thousand of them babies around the Earth. Makes sense. countless multitude what would come and they do and the logical reason is because these are the two groups mentioned in this chapter are associated together notice verse 9 after these things I looked and saw a great multitude that no one could count from all the nations tribes languages of the people standing before the throne and before the lamb dressed in white garments and palms in their hands and crying with a loud voice saying that salvation is from our God who sits on the throne and from the lamb chapter 8 the seventh seal is broken and that marks the beginning of the next phase of judgment, which are the seven trumpet judgments, the trumpets were used to announce things and announced the judgment, the first four announced the natural judgment, the natural judgment, there is judgment on the earth , there is judgment on the ocean, there is judgment on the sources of fresh water, there is judgment.

On the luminaries of the heavenly bodies the next three trumpets announced supernatural judgment because in chapter nine demons come out of the abyss and fill the earth and torment men for five months on earth with a kind of pain, a kind of inflammation that is It's so bad that people want to die, but the Bible says death will take a vacation. Death won't happen for another five months. People may not die, but there will be tremendous suffering during that period of time. Well, we're good now. in the tribulation period and I can say very quickly before we close this in chapter 11, there is no need to spiritualize this.

I take it literally. I know their signs and symbols, but I take them as literal events that are linked to them. signs and symbols I think you are hurting yourself and I will explain to you why if you try to spiritualize everything because once a hundred and forty-four thousand does not mean a hundred and forty-four thousand once a Jew does not mean a Jew once a seven does not mean seven, so what does it mean? ? And here is the answer. Nobody knows. Once you get away from the literal interpretation, you just make stuff up and that's what all the millennials have done and I don't have time to get into it.

I'll distract you from where we are, well, chapter 10 and 11 is the number of parentheses, the interlude, so there are six seals and the interlude, the seventh number in seven more judgments, six come, there is an interlude which is the chapter 10 in 11 before the seventh trumpet and then chapter 11 verse 15 begins the seventh trumpetlook at chapter 11 verse three I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy notice how literal 1260 days dressed in sackcloth are which turns out to be 42 months or turns out to be three and a year and a half if you go by the 360 ​​prophetic calendar days a year verse four these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks that are before the god of the earth and if anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies and if anyone wants to harm them they must be killed in this way these have power to close the sky so that it does not rain in the days of their prophecy they have power over the waters to turn them into blood to strike the earth with all the plagues as often as they wish the question is who are these guys to help us understand who they are says in verse 4 these are the two olive trees you say that doesn't help me well if you remember the book of Zechariah remember these are symbols that are the roots in the Old Testament a bell will ring Zechariah chapter 4 Zechariah has a vision remember that he sees in his vision a candlestick the menorah a golden candlestick on top like a golden receptacle a bowl with pipes go to the seven lamps on each side of these lamps a Norman Ora our two olive trees and the olive oil goes directly from the olive trees to the golden receptacle and it flows into the lamps and into the menorah it's an automatic menorah and then the angel says Zechariah, what does that mean?

He goes, I don't know, and says, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might, not by power. but by my spirit says the Lord then Zerubabel the governor and Joshua the priest were the two witnesses at that time in Jewish history God was saying I know it is difficult to be back on the land I know it is difficult to rebuild the temple in the nation but I'm going to keep this going. I am going to use these two to finish the task, just as those two in the Old Testament were powerfully used by the spirit to finish the task and be a witness for the nation, these two will be in the future.

The tribulation through difficulties will be infused by the Spirit of God and will be the witness of God for the Jewish nation, from which will come the one hundred and forty-four thousand believers who are these two witnesses. I guess I don't know, but I'm going to guess one is Moses and the other Elijah. What better two witnesses could there be for the Jewish nation than to have Moses and Elijah? Why do I say that number one because of his past? Notice the miracles that these two witnesses sound very like. Similar to what Moses and Elijah did, didn't Moses turn the Nile River into blood and not what they do here?

Didn't Elijah call down fire from heaven in Second Kings chapter 1 on the men who tried to arrest him because of the past number 2 because of the prophecy because of the prophecy about Elijah Malachi chapter 4 the Prophet said I will send you Elijah before that great and terrible or terrifying day of the Lord that is why every Passover the door is open and a chair is saved for Elijah because of prophecy number three I say I believe that it is Moses and Elijah, based on precedents, they did it before on the Mount of Transfiguration who are the two who appeared with Jesus Moses and Elijah who were speaking about the future Kingdom were seen in a glorious state in the future and I finally believe it because of the way they passed from this world both had very unusual ends of life Elijah did not die did not die was taken to heaven in a whirlwind and Moses when he died there Was this unusual discussion about his body, right Jew?

Chapter 9 I'm Archangel Michael arguing with Satan over Moses' body, who cares about a body unless God has future plans for it, so I guess it's Moses and Elijah, you can have your own guess. we don't know so you can rule me then I know who it is or I think we don't know we can only guess verse 14 and we will close the second woe it has already passed behold the third woe comes quickly and begins in verse 15 comes the seventh trumpet that will now mark the beginning of the last part of the Tribulation Period, the seven bold judgments that we are in in the last months of the tribulation and we will cover that next week until the second coming of Christ and then the new heaven and the new earth, etc. ., let's have a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, boy, if we move quickly tonight and thank you for your grace to allow us to do that, thank you Lord for such a large group of believers who have sat down to assist Li and so firmly to this gentleman, I pray that for your grace let us understand not only the things that you have said to your church that pertain to the church, but the things that you have told us about what is reserved for this world, so that we can keep the words of this book we would live with eternity in mind and we would be trapped by heaven instead of this world, that we would make our decisions based on eternity instead of the temporal world.

Lord, I can't help but go back to that little verse. in Revelation 3:20 of Jesus standing and knocking and it could be that you are touching hearts tonight, it could be that you have been knocking for a long time and some have not let you in. I pray Lord tonight that they do it. Make yourself Lord of everything because what is happening, what will happen to this planet Earth, Lord, you will judge it and eventually destroy it and create a new one and I pray Lord that we live our lives. in light of that future reality because we ask it in the name of Jesus.

Amen, let us all arise and worship together.