Participants: James Rafferty
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000115
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth live from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:24 Well, welcome once again to the 3ABN Worship Center 00:27 this wonderful Sabbath afternoon. 00:28 And if you're joining us from Australia, it's already Sunday. 00:32 But bear with us as we enjoy as the Sabbath 00:36 continues to carry on. 00:37 And with it, the blessing once again that Pastor James Rafferty 00:41 will bring to us as we walk again together through the 00:43 pages of the book of Revelation, and importantly how to be 00:47 prepared for these events that are coming upon the world. 00:50 We must go to the Lord in prayer, we must ask for 00:53 God's leading and guiding. 00:54 For these final movements, we can see, 00:57 will truly be rapid ones. 00:59 Stay with us for this next hour or so as we 01:02 open the Word of God together. 01:03 But before we do that, let's go to the Lord in prayer. 01:07 Gracious Father in heaven, how wonderful it is to know 01:11 that You loved us so much You sent us a message 01:15 for these last days through Your faithful servant 01:19 and prophet, John on the island of Patmos. 01:24 And Lord, as we look through the pages that chronicle the 01:27 heartbeat of America and the world, we pray that as we 01:31 see these frightful events transpiring before our eyes, 01:36 that we will look to You and be saved. 01:39 Father, think not so much of the price of the amenities 01:42 and the luxuries around us, but may our focus be on the 01:47 great high price You paid for our salvation. 01:51 Bless Your servant as he breaks the bread of life, 01:54 and strengthen us that we may find light in these dark times. 01:59 In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 02:03 I have the privilege of ending these meetings with a song 02:06 that really encapsulates what I've just uttered in my prayer. 02:10 You know, when you think of what the world is calling us 02:12 to purchase and buy, and what we're paying our lives for, 02:15 and whether high interest rates or all of our investments, 02:19 think of what Jesus paid for us. 02:21 And if you think of the great price He paid for us, 02:24 it should activate us by His grace to serve Him, 02:27 to love Him, and to live for His glory. 02:30 Because He paid so high a price. 03:05 Your love endured the cross, 03:12 despising all the shame; 03:19 that afternoon when midnight fell 03:24 Your suffering cleared my name. 03:32 And that sin-swept hill became 03:38 the open door to paradise; 03:43 because You paid 03:48 much too high a price. 03:58 You paid much too high a price for me; 04:07 Your tears, Your blood, the pain, 04:14 to have my soul just stirred at times 04:20 yet never truly changed. 04:26 You deserve a fiery love 04:32 that won't ignore Your sacrifice; 04:38 because you paid 04:43 so high a price. 05:00 Now Your grace inspires my heart 05:08 to rise above the sin 05:14 and all the earthly vanities 05:20 that seeks to draw me in. 05:26 I want to tell this tainted world of the love 05:33 that truly saved my life; 05:41 a love that paid so high a price. 05:54 You paid much too high a price for me 06:04 with Your tears and Your blood and all Your pain 06:10 to have my soul just stirred at times 06:16 but never truly changed. 06:23 Lord, You deserve a fiery love 06:30 that won't ignore Your sacrifice; 06:39 because you paid 06:45 so high a price. 06:53 Because you paid 07:00 much too high a price. 07:30 Amen. 07:32 Praise God. 07:34 That is really probably the most important truth 07:40 that we can study here in this series on prophecy. 07:44 And we've been looking at a lot important and significant 07:47 truths, haven't we. 07:48 But there's none that is greater than the cross. 07:50 In fact, that's where we're going to be landing 07:54 this ship, this plane, in our last meeting; 07:58 How to Prepare for Final Events. 08:01 And really, there's only one way to 08:03 get ready, get ready, get ready. 08:04 And that is to connect with Jesus. 08:08 That's really what it's all about. 08:09 That's what prophecy is all about. 08:11 I know that we have spent a lot of time emphasizing, you know, 08:14 the events and things that are happening. 08:17 We've looked at Revelation, we've looked at Daniel. 08:20 We've looked at Matthew and Mark and Luke. 08:23 And we've highlighted certain key prophetic declarations 08:28 that God has made that I think are being fulfilled today. 08:31 As we look around, we think, "Yes, that's amazing." 08:35 Even the words and the terminology and the way that 08:37 God described these prophetic events 08:41 we see them taking place in the world today. 08:43 And it can be a little bit unnerving, 08:47 perhaps even scary. 08:51 But the book of Revelation is blessed by God. 08:56 It's not there to scare us, it's there to prepare us, 08:59 to get us ready. 09:00 And yet I think that in my own personal life I struggle. 09:05 I mentioned the struggle I had with 09:07 gaining weight, for example. 09:10 Which I know some of you can't relate to, 09:12 but it's been a real struggle for me for many years. 09:14 And it was interesting, because we moved down to Loma Linda 09:17 temporarily in August. 09:20 And when I got there, I weighed 155. 09:23 Which is about 10 pounds, give or take, more than 09:27 I use to weigh when I was really underweight. 09:29 In other words, I had lost a lot of weight. 09:31 I had been failing to exercise and I had lost a lot of weight. 09:36 And I didn't feel good about that. 09:39 I felt like, you know, when I travel I lose weight anyway 09:42 for various reasons. 09:43 And so, but where we're living in Loma Linda, 09:46 we just step outside of our door and we look down the road, 09:49 and there's this place called the Drayson Center. 09:52 And the Drayson Center is like this exercise place. 09:55 And my wife is a student at Loma Linda, so we get 09:58 to go to the Drayson Center for free. 10:00 We're just members. 10:02 And I said, I'm going to start going to the Drayson Center 10:04 and working out again. 10:06 Something about exercise that's really interesting, 10:08 I don't know if you know this, 10:10 I started exercising intensely in, well I was 39. 10:14 So I don't know when that was, but it was many years ago. 10:17 And it took a long time to really get in shape. 10:22 I told you it took me a year to gain 10 pounds. 10:25 And so now I'm down to 155 pounds, and I haven't 10:28 exercised consistently for many months. 10:30 And I started going to the Drayson Center again 10:33 every single day. 10:35 And, you know, it was kind of humiliating because I was, 10:39 you know, I was way behind where I use to be. 10:42 Cardiovascular, strength wise, etcetera. 10:44 But I said, "I'm going to do this." 10:46 But here's the interesting thing. 10:47 Because I had been exercising consistently, 10:51 even though I had quite, once I started again 10:55 it was much faster, it was much quicker, 10:58 to actually get back up to where I use to be. 11:01 Right now, I weigh 175 pounds. 11:04 So from August to now, I have gained... 11:07 Let's see, 55, 65. 20 pounds. 11:10 Now it took me a year when I first started to gain 10 pounds. 11:14 But just in six months I gained 20 pounds. 11:17 And I feel good again, I feel strong again. 11:18 I feel like I'm, you know, back in shape again. 11:21 I can handle these long flights and these cold climates 11:24 because I've got a little bit of insulation on me, 11:26 etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. 11:28 What I basically realized in this illustration is, 11:33 sometimes we backslide. 11:36 Sometimes we're not as spiritually fit as we once were. 11:42 Or perhaps, as we could have been if we kept exercising 11:46 our spiritual muscles. 11:48 And we can kind of get discouraged. 11:50 We can kind of think, oh, you know. 11:52 But I've learned that just like exercise, 11:56 picking up the habit again, you actually get a lot further 12:01 a lot faster than when you first started. 12:04 It's not like you're going all the way back to the beginning. 12:07 But you do have to start back at those beginning principles. 12:12 I'm thinking about this in relation to a verse 12:14 in the book of Hebrews. 12:15 If you want to open up there with me to Hebrews chapter 5. 12:19 And this is really on target. 12:22 How do you prepare, how do we prepare, for final events. 12:26 Now we're going to be looking at some verses in prophecy 12:29 that I think are to the point, 12:32 but they're still along these lines. 12:33 Because we've been studying prophecy, and I don't want to 12:35 jump clear out of prophecy and say, "Well, the way you prepare 12:38 is over in these verses." 12:39 I want to stay right in the line of prophecy 12:41 and understand how in the context of prophecy 12:43 God is telling us to prepare. 12:45 So, but Hebrews chapter 5, just to get us going here, 12:49 beginning with verse 12. 12:51 Paul is speaking here to, I think, the Hebrews specifically. 12:55 And it's interesting, because when you look at the history 12:58 of the Hebrew nation, you find that they're a lot like us. 13:02 And when I say, "us," I'm talking about Adventists. 13:04 They were given, you know, the commandments 13:06 and the law and the sanctuary, and all of these truths. 13:09 And they had this knowledge, this intellectual knowledge, 13:13 that set them apart, perhaps, from the rest of the nations. 13:16 And yet they failed, to some degree or another, 13:22 to have this relationship with Christ. 13:25 This intimate abiding relationship with God. 13:28 And so when you look at the book of Hebrews, 13:31 Paul has this burden for the Hebrews. 13:33 He has this burden for the Israelites. 13:35 And you'll recognize as you read the book of Hebrews, 13:38 it's a very relational book. 13:41 There's not a lot of doctrine in that book. 13:43 And if it is there, if Paul does talk about the sanctuary, 13:47 which he does a lot in here, a lot of it has to do with 13:49 breaking down the symbolism of the sanctuary 13:52 to lead to a relationship with Christ. 13:55 What did that mean? 13:56 What did the Holy Place mean? 13:58 What did the Most Holy Place mean? 13:59 What was the priesthood all about? 14:00 It was all about this relationship. 14:02 In fact, he opens up the book of Hebrews saying 14:03 "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, 14:06 spake in time past to our fathers by the prophets, 14:11 has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son." 14:16 See, it's communication, it's relationship. 14:19 You know, if you have a relationship with someone, 14:21 you speak with them. 14:22 If you don't have a relationship with someone, 14:24 you don't speak with them. 14:26 Right? 14:27 I know this because there are times when my wife and I have 14:34 intense moments of fellowship. 14:39 And we may go to sleep, you know, and she'll be on 14:41 one side of the king size bed that we sleep in 14:44 and I'm on the other side. 14:45 And there's enough room between us for both of our children. 14:49 And I'm going to sleep and she's going to sleep. 14:51 My wife is a communicator. 14:52 I'm kind of like, the way I operate is, you know, 14:55 everything will be good in the morning. 14:57 So just stuff it. 14:58 And so I don't want to talk about it. 15:00 "I'll feel better in the morning, you'll feel better. 15:02 It'll all be gone and we'll just wake up, smile, and you know." 15:05 But she's not that way. 15:06 She knows better than that. 15:07 And I know better than that now, but you know, I'm not 15:10 always ready to admit that. 15:12 So I know she wants to talk before we go to sleep. 15:14 And of course I can't sleep either, but I try to sleep 15:16 and I pretend I'm sleeping. 15:17 So when she asks me, "James, you know, are you awake," 15:20 I don't answer, because if I answer then she'll 15:22 think I'm awake, but I'm asleep. 15:23 At least I want her to think I'm asleep. 15:25 So we're there and, you know, she'll persist. 15:28 And finally I'll say, "No, I'm not awake, I'm asleep." 15:31 And we'll begin to talk, communicate. 15:34 When there's no communication, that means there's a problem, 15:38 there's an issue. 15:39 And so God is saying here, "I know you may have a problem, 15:42 but I don't have a problem." 15:43 God has always communicated. 15:45 He's always been a communicator. 15:46 He's initiated communication, He's been speaking to us 15:49 "in sundry times and in divers manners." 15:52 I love the King James Version of the Bible, because 15:54 we don't have a clue of what that means. 15:55 But it sure sounds beautiful, doesn't it. 15:57 Sundry times and divers manners. 15:59 It means, in every way and in every variety of way He can. 16:02 He's communicated to us through the prophets. 16:04 And in the last days, He communicated by 16:06 His Son, Jesus Christ. 16:07 So it's all about relationship. 16:10 That's how we prepare, that's how we get ready. 16:12 And so Paul is earnest about this in the book of Hebrews. 16:15 And he says to these former backslidden or backsliding 16:21 Seventh-day Adventists, in verse 12 of Hebrews 5 he says, 16:26 "For when for the time you ought to be teachers, 16:29 you have need that one teach you again which be the 16:33 first principles of the oracles of God. 16:36 You are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat." 16:41 Now just pause there for a second. 16:43 When I go to work out at the gym, and I haven't been in the 16:45 gym for a long time and I haven't been working out 16:47 for a long time and I haven't been exercising for a long time, 16:49 I can go in there, I've got a chart and outline 16:51 and I can say, "Well, this is what I use to press, 16:53 or this is what I use to run. 16:54 And so I'm just going to do it again." 16:56 It's not going to work. 16:57 I'm going to kill myself, I'm going to hurt myself, 17:00 if I try to do that. 17:01 And I've tried to, you know, pretend that... 17:03 It just doesn't happen. 17:05 I've got to go back. 17:06 I've got to take weight off, I've got to take time off. 17:08 I've got to start back here and then build up again. 17:12 And I tell people, I say, if you haven't been walking 17:14 with the Lord for a while, just forget everything 17:17 you know and start all over again. 17:20 Go right back to the very beginning. 17:22 All that stuff will come back, but you start with Christ today 17:26 from the foot of the cross. 17:28 You accept Christ as your Savior today. 17:30 And today you read His Word and forget what He's told you 17:34 in the past, you haven't been there for a year, two years, 17:36 months, whatever, and just let Him convict you today 17:39 of what it is that He wants you to do today. 17:42 And then continue to read and continue to grow 17:44 and continue to learn as you build strength. 17:46 Sure enough, all of that other stuff will come back into place. 17:49 So he says, you need to go back to the beginning. 17:51 Notice verse 13, "For everyone that uses milk 17:55 is unskillful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. 18:02 But," verse 14, "strong meat belongs to them who are 18:05 of full age, even those who by reason of use have their 18:09 senses exercised to discern both good and evil." 18:13 So there's this principle here that he's talking about, 18:16 and he goes on to elaborate on it in chapter 6. 18:19 He's talking about how that when we don't exercise, 18:21 when we don't spiritually exercise, we're not strong. 18:24 And because we're not strong, even though we ought 18:27 to be strong, we ought to be teachers, we need to go back. 18:29 We need to go back to babyhood, we need to go back to the milk. 18:33 And as we go back to that milk, we develop strength, we gain. 18:37 And then the strong meat comes. 18:41 So I think for all of us there are times... 18:44 Well maybe not for all of us. 18:45 But for me, there are times when I need to go back 18:47 to the milk; when I need to go back to basics, 18:50 so to speak, and allow God to teach me again 18:54 the first oracles, the foundation 18:57 of the oracles and the teachings of God. 19:00 And I think it's good for all of us. 19:02 I see this in the book of Revelation. 19:04 And I just want us to look at it again from an overview 19:08 in relation to our subject this afternoon. 19:13 And that is, how to prepare for final events. 19:20 What is the first thing we need in preparing for final events? 19:23 Revelation chapter 1 and verse 1. 19:28 What is the first thing we need in preparing for final events? 19:32 The revelation of Jesus Christ. 19:34 That's the first thing we need. 19:35 The book of Revelation has been given to us. 19:37 I believe the book of Revelation is a 19:39 distillation of the entire Bible. 19:40 The book of Revelation has been given to us 19:43 so that we can be ready for final events. 19:46 Now if you understand that this is a special book given, 19:50 of course, to all of God's people from John's time onward, 19:53 but especially applicable to God's people 19:56 in the end of time, especially. 19:58 "The revelation of Jesus Christ..." 20:00 Here's how you get ready for the future. 20:03 It's an outline. 20:04 It's a step by step outline. 20:06 Whatever you do, do not jump into Revelation chapter 13 20:13 and think you're going to be ready for end time events. 20:15 And do not take other people and plop them into Revelation 13 20:19 and think they're going to be ready for end time events. 20:21 Now I know we've done that to a degree here, 20:23 because we've had a shorter more intense study time 20:26 with a special emphasis. 20:28 But now we're getting to the meeting where we prepare for 20:32 all the things we've talked about. 20:33 So we kind of put the cart before the horse, 20:35 so to speak, but now we're going back and we're saying, 20:38 "Okay, how do we get ready for all those things 20:39 we've been talking about?" 20:40 Well the book of Revelation tells us how to get ready. 20:43 If God wanted us to be in Revelation 13 from the get go, 20:46 He would have put it in chapter 1 of Revelation. 20:47 But He didn't. Right? 20:49 He put Jesus first. 20:51 In fact, there is no dragon in the first half of the 20:55 book of Revelation. 20:59 Just pause on that for a bit, selah. 21:01 Just think about that. 21:02 There's no dragon in the first half of the book of Revelation. 21:06 There's no beast coming up out of the earth in the 21:08 first half of the book of Revelation. 21:09 Or out of the sea, excuse me. Or the earth. 21:11 There is one coming out of the bottomless pit. 21:13 That's in Revelation 11, but still it's almost halfway 21:15 through the book before we encounter any of those 21:18 beasts or dragons or any of that type of terminology. 21:22 And by the way, here's something that might 21:23 surprise you, but maybe not. 21:25 There are no commandment keepers in the first half 21:30 of the book of Revelation. 21:32 There's mention of the people who keep the commandments 21:34 of God in the first half of the book of Revelation. 21:37 Because beasts and dragons and commandment keeping 21:40 and the conflict is something that God holds 21:45 until we're ready for it, ready to encounter it. 21:49 And in order to get ready... 21:51 Well you know the words to that song, 21:54 "Anywhere with Jesus, I can safely go. 21:58 Anywhere, anywhere. Fear, I cannot know." 22:03 Before we encounter any of that, we need an encounter with Jesus. 22:08 That's what the book of Revelation 22:10 is actually explaining to us. 22:11 That's the way it's written. 22:12 It says, "The Revelation of Jesus." 22:14 God have given this unto Him. 22:15 It's from Him, verse 5, "who loved us and washed us 22:18 from our sins in His own blood." 22:19 The first thing that John sees, the first vision he sees, 22:23 the first thing, the first person he sees is Jesus. 22:25 Doesn't see a beast, doesn't see an image. 22:26 He sees Jesus. 22:27 The first message he gets is the message of the gospel. 22:30 "I love you, I've washed you from your sins. 22:32 I've done this for the world. 22:34 I want you to focus on Me and I want you to know 22:36 the message of My life. 22:38 That'll get you ready for the beast, 22:39 that'll get you ready for the dragon. 22:40 But I'm not done yet. 22:41 I understand all of your weakness, all of your 22:43 failures, all your faults." 22:44 Revelations seven churches. 22:46 "I know you from A to Z. 22:49 In fact, those of you who are living in the last days, 22:52 you really make Me want to upchuck. 22:56 You really nauseate Me. 22:58 Because you have this attitude of being rich, 23:00 increased with goods, and in need of... 23:02 But, I love you. 23:04 I'm with you. 23:05 I'm among the churches." 23:07 So don't hide from God. 23:09 Don't hide your failures, faults, imperfections. 23:13 I know we hide them from each other. 23:15 I hide them from my wife, she hides them from me. 23:17 And it is hard, because sometimes when we 23:19 reveal our failures to even people that are close to us, 23:23 they don't quite treat us as God would treat us. 23:26 They don't quite relate to us the way that maybe God would. 23:29 And we don't want to spoil that, you know. 23:31 It's difficult for us to be real with one another 23:34 because, you know, it lowers people's estimation. 23:37 I mean, we could spend the rest of this time 23:39 just telling you all the things about myself. 23:41 But as you realize that Jesus Christ is the one 23:45 that we please, He's the one that weighs the heart, 23:49 He's the one that we are to stand in front of, 23:54 not each other but His judgment seat, 23:56 and that He loves us, and that He longs to reveal 23:58 so that He can heal rather than condemn, 24:01 we gain security. 24:04 It becomes okay, we become healthy. 24:06 And we're okay with the way other people see us 24:08 or don't see us, or know us or don't know us. 24:10 Because we have a Savior who sees and understands 24:14 and accepts us. 24:15 And He's the author and the finisher of us. 24:17 And He's going to take care of all of that. 24:19 And so we become freer, we become more able to handle 24:23 the criticism and the faultfinding 24:24 and the negativism, and all of the other things. 24:26 Because we see Jesus now and we claim His promises. 24:31 And even though He reminds us through the Spirit; 24:33 overcome, overcome, overcome, overcome, 24:35 we're not overwhelmed by that. 24:37 Why? 24:38 Because He's showing us how this works. 24:41 He tells us in Revelation chapter 5, 24:43 there's no man in heaven, there's no man in earth, 24:44 there's no man under the earth, that can overcome. 24:47 That's what John is told, and he begins to weep. 24:49 And then the elder comes to him and says, "Weep not. 24:52 Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah," 24:55 I'm reading Revelation chapter 5 right now verse 5. 24:58 "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David; 25:00 He has prevailed. 25:02 He has prevailed." 25:04 And that same word, same word, "nikao;" 25:06 the same word that's used for, "overcome," 25:08 through all the churches. 25:10 What we need is what Jesus Christ has done. 25:12 He's prevailed where we have failed. 25:15 And so then the book of Revelation goes into chapter 6. 25:18 Jesus begins to unseal the scroll. 25:23 One seal is broken after another. 25:25 And by the way, the Lamb opens the seals. 25:27 Calvary, the cross, reveals the mysteries of the seals. 25:29 Those things that we don't understand. 25:31 And as He opens the first one, there's this 25:33 white horse and its rider. 25:35 And of course, Zechariah chapter 10 explains that 25:37 we are the horse. 25:39 And of course, Revelation 19 explains that Jesus is the Rider 25:42 of the white horse. 25:44 In other words, the horse is a symbol of people. 25:48 There are four horses in Revelation 6 because 25:50 we have four as a symbol of the four corners of the earth. 25:53 Just like the four winds. 25:55 There's more than four angels hold four winds, 25:57 but we've got north, south, east, and west. 25:59 We've got the whole world being symbolized by the four winds. 26:01 We've got the whole world being symbolized by the four horses. 26:05 And those four horses represent our response 26:09 to the unsealing of history as it relates to the Lamb; 26:15 Jesus Christ. 26:16 He has prevailed, He's taken the scroll, 26:18 He's unrolling that scroll, He's unrolling that history. 26:20 And the first thing we see is this white horse and its Rider. 26:23 That represents God's church, the apostolic church. 26:26 The white represents God's people. 26:29 And the Rider, of course, is Jesus. 26:30 Because God's people united with Christ. 26:33 They're connected with Christ. 26:34 They've given Him the reigns and He is directing them. 26:37 And as we connect with Jesus, as He becomes our Rider, 26:40 as He takes the reigns of our lives, 26:43 we go forth conquering and to conquer. 26:48 We need to overcome. We can't overcome. 26:49 Jesus has overcome. 26:51 As we connect with Him we go forth to conquer 26:52 and to overcome. 26:54 That's the message that we have here. 26:55 In other words, everything centers in Christ. 26:58 It's all about connecting with Christ. 27:00 Not being overwhelmed by where we fail, 27:02 but putting our trust in where He prevails 27:06 not where we have failed. 27:07 And then we move on. 27:09 And as you go through the horses, it's really interesting, 27:10 parallel them with the parable of the sower and the seed. 27:14 It's a perfect parallel. 27:15 Because the sower and the seed is, the seed is 27:18 sown into the world. 27:19 The world is the field and you have how many types of ground? 27:22 Four. How many horses? 27:24 How many types of ground are good ground? 27:27 One. How many horses are good? 27:29 One. How many are bad ground? 27:31 Three. How many horses are bad? 27:32 Three. 27:33 It's a perfect parallel. 27:35 Jesus is teaching the same thing in the horses that we see 27:39 being taught in the parable of the sower and the seed. 27:41 And parables are symbolic, just like these in Revelation 27:44 are symbolic. 27:45 And he repeats now. 27:46 And by the way, before he goes into the trumpets, 27:48 it's really powerful, he gives a picture of those who are 27:51 going to be saved in heaven. 27:52 Just to encourage us. 27:54 In Revelation 7 verse 9, he says, John says, 27:57 "After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude..." 28:00 I love these next five words. 28:02 King James, "...which no man could number." 28:08 Isn't that powerful? 28:09 That's beautiful gospel truth there. 28:11 And he does it in just the right place. 28:13 Because he's just finished describing the 28:16 sealing of the 144,000. 28:20 And you know how we are. 28:21 We're thinking, "Yeah, 144,000. That's a pretty small number." 28:25 That's what we're thinking. 28:26 And the idea some of us get is, you know, God is 28:28 standing at the pearly gates, "143,997; that's Shelley. 28:33 143,998; that's J.D. 143,999... 28:39 144,000; who's... 28:43 Alright Bill, we'll let you in. 28:44 That's it, sorry folks. No more room." 28:47 That's the idea we get sometimes. 28:50 And so John immediately is shown a company 28:53 that no man could number. 28:54 And guess where they are. 28:55 Because we think, "Oh, a company no man can number. 28:57 That must be the lost. 28:58 That must be the people outside." 28:59 No, they're standing before the throne. 29:01 And that's the question that was asked, 29:02 "Who's going to be able to stand when He comes, 29:04 and before the Lamb?" 29:05 And they have palms in their hands and white robes. 29:08 And they cry with what kind of voice? 29:10 A loud voice. Of course. 29:13 We're not going to be quiet then. 29:14 We're quiet now, we're not going to be quiet then. 29:16 And what is their cry? 29:17 "Salvation to our God." 29:21 Now, the reason we're so quiet about that is because 29:24 we're not sure at this point if salvation is to our God 29:27 or if it's to Him and us. 29:29 And so we sit in our pews and we think, "Well, I know 29:32 that God loves me and He saved me, but I also know that 29:35 if I'm here, I've got to be here in order to be saved. 29:37 You know, I've got to pay tithe in order to be saved. 29:39 I've got to eat my veggie dogs in order to be saved." 29:41 Whatever it is. 29:42 You see what I'm saying? 29:43 But a time is coming when we're going to figure it out; 29:46 salvation is to our God. 29:47 Because we're going to realize none of that other stuff we did 29:50 actually merited our salvation. 29:54 We're going to realize that. 29:55 Does that mean we shouldn't do it? 29:58 Well, it depends. 30:00 It depends on why you do it. 30:01 If you're doing it to merit your salvation, 30:04 yeah, it's about time you quit. 30:07 But if you are doing it because you have fallen in love 30:09 with Jesus, because there's no other way to live 30:12 but the way He wants you to live and do the things He 30:15 wants you to do, then you're going to keep doing it. 30:17 It's not going to make any difference 30:18 that it doesn't save you. 30:20 That has nothing to do with it. 30:21 You have a Savior and you love Him. 30:24 And you want to do what pleases Him. 30:25 And by the way, what pleases Him is what's best for you. 30:29 It's best for you too. 30:30 So it's like a win, win situation. 30:32 But the love has to be there. 30:34 That's why the first church is, you know, 30:35 "You've got works and faith. 30:36 You try those that say they're apostles and they're not. 30:38 But you've lost your first love. 30:39 And all that other stuff you're doing isn't going to make... 30:41 It's not going to get you through." 30:43 That's the first church message, the last church message. 30:45 And here we are being reminded of this truth 30:48 over and over again in the book of Revelation. 30:50 It's righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ. 30:53 It's trusting in Him for salvation. 30:56 It's a gift, He gives it to us as a gift. 30:59 We can't merit it, we can't earn it. 31:01 And when we realize that, it grabs our hearts. 31:04 It motivates us. It takes over. 31:07 Do we need to realize that at least once in our life? 31:10 No, it's not good enough. 31:12 We need this realization repeated every single moment 31:17 of our Christian experience. 31:18 Otherwise, it'll be ripped out of our hands. 31:20 Our natural inclination is to trust in our righteousness. 31:25 It's to trust in ourselves. 31:27 And Jesus warns us about this. 31:29 If you look at this in Luke chapter 18 31:31 it's really interesting because Christ is talking about 31:33 whether or not He's going to find faith when He comes back. 31:36 This is an end time prophetic verse. 31:40 It fits perfectly with how we prepare for final events. 31:42 Luke 18, He says, verse 8, "I tell you that 31:47 he will avenge them speedily. 31:48 Nevertheless," it's halfway through the verse, 31:49 verse 8 of Luke 18, 31:51 "Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, 31:54 will he find faith on the earth?" 31:56 It's a prophetic question. 31:57 He's talking about His second coming, 31:58 will He find faith on the earth? 32:00 Will He find a people that keep the commandments 32:01 of God and have the faith of Jesus? 32:03 Will He find that? 32:05 And then, verse 9, He spoke a parable, 32:08 "...unto certain which trusted in themselves 32:11 that they were righteous..." 32:12 So the contrast here is really interesting, because 32:16 in Revelation we're preparing to meet the dragon, 32:19 we're preparing to meet the beast, 32:20 we're preparing to meet the final crisis. 32:23 And in that preparation, there's no emphasis 32:25 on those entities or even on commandment keeping. 32:28 The entire emphasis is building toward a faith relationship 32:32 with Jesus and trusting in His righteousness. 32:34 So we go back here to Luke 18, will He find faith on the earth? 32:38 Then He talks about a group of people who trust in 32:40 themselves that they're righteous. 32:42 And you're thinking, "How can I know? 32:43 It's so difficult sometimes." 32:45 Especially when you want to do what God wants you to do. 32:47 How can you know if you're actually trusting in yourself 32:51 or you're trusting in Jesus? 32:52 I mean, that's a good question, isn't it? 32:55 Where here's where Jesus gives us the answer. 32:56 It's a beautiful answer, it's a simple answer. 32:58 But it's... 33:02 Well let me just read it to you and you'll know what it is. 33:07 Verse 9 again, Luke 18, "And he spoke this parable 33:10 unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were 33:12 righteous, and despised others." 33:18 There it is. 33:19 That's how you can know. 33:21 You can know if you're trusting in yourself, 33:25 in your works, in your righteousness, 33:27 if you despise other people. 33:30 Now that's deep, that's heavy. 33:33 That says, how do you feel about Baptists? 33:39 Catholics? Muslims? Obama? 33:48 Not the healthcare, you understand. 33:50 That's a thing, that's not a person. Right? 33:52 You can not like that if you don't want to. 33:54 That's okay. 33:55 But people. 33:56 People for whom Christ died. 33:58 How did Christ feel about people? 33:59 Were there certain people that Christ hated? 34:02 Think about it. 34:04 For whom He did not die? 34:05 Because we are Christians. 34:08 Christians. 34:10 And honestly I have to say, I'm not there yet. 34:13 There are people I don't like. 34:15 I just don't. 34:16 I don't like the way they treat me, or I don't like the way they 34:18 look at me, or I don't like their interaction with me, 34:21 or I don't like the history I have with them. 34:23 And I have to praise the Lord and say, 34:24 "Wow, I'm still trusting to some degree in my righteousness. 34:28 And when I know that I'm saved totally by the grace of God, 34:31 that but for the grace of God there go I, I, I, I, I. 34:34 That's me." 34:35 When my righteousness is completely decimated, 34:39 then I know finally God has taken it all out. 34:42 All of it is gone. 34:44 And I'm ready. 34:45 I'm ready for the crisis. 34:47 Because when that crisis comes, my test is to gather warmth 34:50 from the coldness of others, 34:51 encouragement from their cowardice. 34:52 My test is going to be to give kindness, 34:56 to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile, 34:58 in the face of all of that. 35:00 If I'm not doing that now, how am I ever going to do it then? 35:03 It's got to be completely 100% trust in Christ and not in me. 35:08 So I'm thankful that I have a gauge that tells me 35:12 how I can know I'm trusting in myself. 35:15 And a red flag goes up, a red light goes up, 35:17 and it reminds me that when I judge someone else, 35:19 when I think negatively of someone else, 35:21 it reminds me, oh, there's a fiber of Babylon there. 35:25 There's a fiber of self-righteousness there. 35:27 God wants you to know and understand it. 35:29 And then He, of course, is going to... 35:31 You can't remove it. 35:32 You can't love others by trying to love others. 35:37 What you need is the love of Christ in the heart. 35:39 So that's the focus, that's where we want to focus. 35:42 And that's what Revelation does. 35:43 It's so beautiful, it's so powerful. 35:45 John then opens up the seven trumpets 35:47 and he gives us this picture. 35:49 It's a picture of an angel with, it says in verse 3, 35:53 a golden sensor. 35:55 "And he's given much incense that he offers it with the 35:58 prayers of the saints upon the golden altar 36:00 which is before the throne. 36:02 And the smoke," verse 4 of Revelation 8, "of the incense, 36:04 comes with the prayers of the saints and it ascends 36:07 up before God out of the angel's hand." 36:09 Now this picture is beautiful, because so far we've 36:12 seen the incarnation of Jesus; Revelation's seven churches. 36:15 He's with us. 36:16 We've seen the crucifixion of Jesus; Revelation's seals. 36:20 Christ crucified in the midst of the throne, 36:22 the Lamb slain in the midst of the throne. 36:23 And now we're seeing the intercession of Jesus. 36:26 The angel, the incense, the prayers of the saints 36:29 being mingled with the incense. 36:31 And by the way, even though in Revelation 36:33 chapters 4 and 5, incense, especially in 5, 36:36 represents the prayers of the saints, 36:37 in Revelation 8 incense represents the merit of Jesus. 36:41 Because it's being mingled with the prayers of the saints. 36:43 It would be redundant for the prayers of the saints 36:45 to be mingled with the prayers of the saints. 36:47 So according to Ephesians 5:2, that Christ's sacrifice for us 36:51 is a sweet smelling savor, a sweet smelling incense. 36:54 And that's what's being depicted here. 36:56 That the incense, the righteousness of Christ, 36:58 is mingled with our prayers. 37:01 And we need it desperately, don't we? 37:03 Especially now that we've realized that when we despise 37:05 other people, it's an evidence that we're trusting 37:07 in our righteousness. 37:08 So our prayers go up and we say, "Oh Lord, please forgive me 37:10 for trusting in my righteousness." 37:13 Or our prayer goes up like in Luke 18. 37:17 Remember the prayer of the publican and the Pharisee. 37:19 The Pharisee says, "Oh, I'm so thankful 37:21 that I'm not a Baptist and I'm not a Catholic 37:24 and I'm not a Muslim and I'm not Hindu. 37:26 I'm so thankful I'm not like that guy over there. 37:28 I fast twice a week, I pay tithe of all I possess. 37:29 I'm so thankful I'm a Seventh-day Adventist." 37:33 How far up do you think that prayer goes? 37:35 Well, the context of it says the guy prayed to himself. 37:40 So God doesn't hear prayers when you pray to yourself. 37:43 Anyway. Though He does hear them. 37:45 We know He hears all prayers. 37:46 But our prayers need the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 37:51 Our prayers are still tainted with selfishness. 37:54 I mean, there are good reasons why I'm up here at 3ABN. 37:58 You know, I want to preach the gospel. 37:59 I love the gospel, I love preaching the truth. 38:00 And then there are other reasons, selfish reasons. 38:02 You know, I'm on 3ABN. I'm a speaker on 3ABN. 38:05 Right? 38:06 All of us have those issues that we're dealing with. 38:10 The things that God is working out through our characters 38:14 and our growth. 38:16 And sometimes it can be overwhelming. 38:17 I remember one year, I said, "Lord, show me myself. 38:19 Just go ahead and show me myself. 38:20 Yeah, I can handle it." 38:22 Boy, that was a tough year. 38:23 That was a tough year. 38:25 And you know, I rarely will watch or listen to myself, 38:29 because I'm like, "Man, I am so vain." 38:32 You know what I'm saying? 38:33 That whole thing, you're just like, uugh. 38:35 I wish I could be more like Jesus. 38:37 Well, I have to trust Him for that. 38:38 I can't give up. You can't give up. 38:41 There's nothing... 38:42 You know, the disciples left Jesus, in John 6, and Jesus 38:46 turned to His twelve and He said, "Are you going to go?" 38:47 And they said, "Where are we going to go?" 38:49 What options are there other than following Jesus? 38:54 I mean, I've been there, I've done that, I've experienced it. 38:57 I mean, it just is empty. It's void. 38:59 There is nothing but Jesus. Really. 39:03 He's our hope. 39:04 And so, you know, if He's willing to finish the work 39:07 and if He's not going to give up on me, 39:08 certainly I don't want to give up on Him. 39:10 Though I think I would do that before He did on me. 39:12 And I praise Him for that. 39:15 Praise God that we have that Savior. 39:16 And so Revelation chapter 8 reveals 39:20 this righteousness that is given to us. 39:22 Revelation chapter 10 builds on that a little bit. 39:25 I don't want to go into that, I want to get to Revelation 12 39:27 because we're going to run out of time. 39:28 Revelation chapter 12, what do we have here? 39:30 We have a wonder, we have a sign. 39:32 This is our destiny. 39:34 Revelation 12 verse 1 is our destiny. 39:38 Now I'm not going to deny that Revelation 12:17 is not our 39:41 destiny, or Revelation 14:12 is not our destiny. 39:44 What I'm going to suggest is that many times 39:46 when we think about preparing for final events, 39:49 we point to the commandments and keeping the commandments, 39:52 and keeping the Sabbath day, and having that as the 39:55 seal of God, having that day. 39:56 And we neglect the other prophetic verses 40:03 that are not only included, but precede those verses. 40:09 What I mean by that is, before we get to Revelation 12:17, 40:15 we get to Revelation 12:1. 40:16 And I think that is depicting our experience. 40:21 This is our walk, this is our experience. 40:23 God wants us to get to Revelation 12:1 before, 40:26 that's why He put it there, before Revelation 12:17 40:29 in our experience. 40:30 He wants us to be, notice, "And there appeared a great 40:33 wonder," sign, something out of the ordinary, "in heaven; 40:37 a woman..." 40:38 What does a woman represent in Bible prophecy? 40:40 A church. A pure woman; God's church. 40:42 An apostate woman; an apostate church. 40:46 And this woman is clothed with the sun. 40:51 And she is standing on the moon. 40:53 And she has a crown of twelve stars on her head. 40:56 Oh, what a picture is this. 40:58 The sun, according to Malachi 4 verse 2, 41:02 represents the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 41:06 He is the Sun, S-u-n, of righteousness, in Malachi 4:2. 41:10 So here you have a church that is clothed with the 41:14 righteousness of Jesus Christ. 41:15 This is before they keep the commandments. 41:17 See, when I came to Jesus, when I got on my knees and said, 41:19 "Lord, please, come into my heart. 41:21 Forgive me for my sins. 41:22 Take those sins, give me Your forgiveness." 41:25 See, in that moment I didn't have any clue about Adventism, 41:30 or the Saturday Sabbath, or anything like that. 41:33 I was raised a Catholic. 41:34 I learned how to accept Christ as my Savior. 41:36 I asked Him to come into my heart. 41:38 He took my sins, He gave me His righteousness. 41:41 And I was clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 41:43 Didn't even know about commandment keeping. 41:44 I was this before I was this. 41:46 Now some of us were raised Adventist and we are 41:48 this before we're that. 41:50 I'm talking about verse 1 and verse 17. 41:53 We get the cart before the horse. 41:55 We've got to get back to chapter 12. 41:57 We've got to go in Hebrews to chapter 5 before we 42:00 go on to chapter 6. 42:02 We have to go back to the basics. 42:04 They have to come first. 42:06 And God works sometimes in difficult and challenging ways 42:10 to get us to that place where He is the foundation. 42:14 And then we're standing on the moon. 42:15 Now the moon to me is, you know, Psalm 119:105, 42:18 the moon to me, the Bible teaches that the moon 42:22 represents the Word of God. 42:23 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path." 42:25 Or, "A light unto my feet, a lamp unto my path." 42:28 It's one or the other, but it's Psalm 119:105. 42:31 In other words, God wants us to be clothed with 42:35 Christ's righteousness and standing on His Word. 42:38 And then the crown of twelve stars, I believe, represents... 42:40 That's the kingdom number. 42:42 We are to be lights shining. 42:45 Twelve Old Testament tribes, New Testament apostles. 42:49 We'll talk about that a little bit when we get to Daniel. 42:53 Now, now, okay, think about this. 42:56 We've just come to the halfway point in the Bible. 43:00 I mean in the book of Revelation. 43:01 We're halfway. Okay? 43:03 There are 22 chapters; we've just finished Revelation 11:19. 43:06 By the way, the center of the book of Revelation is 43:10 Revelation 12 where it says, and I'm just going to read it 43:13 to you here, verse 10, "And I heard a loud voice 43:16 in heaven saying, 'Now is come salvation, and strength, 43:18 and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. 43:21 For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them 43:25 before our God day and night.'" 43:26 That's the halfway point of Revelation. 43:27 If you count the words, in English and in Greek, 43:30 on each side that's the halfway point. 43:32 It's the cross up, and Satan cast down. 43:34 That's the center of it all. 43:37 Okay, so we just got to the halfway point. 43:39 The focus of the halfway point; no commandments yet, 43:41 no beasts yet, well one beast, but no dragon, no crisis yet, 43:45 mark of the beast yet, the focus here of this halfway point is, 43:49 we're clothed with Christ's righteousness, 43:50 we're standing on His Word. 43:52 When you are clothed with Christ's righteousness, 43:54 standing on His Word, and part of His church, 43:56 twelve stars, now you're ready. 43:58 Now you're ready. But wait a minute. 43:59 Hold on just a second. 44:00 Just so we get this clear, Revelation 12:11. 44:04 Here it is, "And they overcame him by..." What? 44:10 "...the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, 44:14 and they loved not their lives unto their death." 44:18 Self is gone. Self is dead. 44:21 Self is gone. 44:22 They're 100% clothed with His righteousness. 44:25 They're depending on the blood of the Lamb. 44:27 They have a testimony. 44:28 And you can't have a testimony unless you have an experience 44:30 and a relationship with Jesus. 44:31 Nothing to talk about. 44:32 But if you're connected with Him... 44:33 If you're connected with the NFL you're talking about football. 44:36 If you're connected with cars, you're talking about cars. 44:38 Right? 44:39 Whatever you connect with, that's what comes out. 44:42 Whatever it is you spend your time doing, 44:44 that's what's going to come out of your mouth. 44:45 That's what's going to be on your brain. 44:46 These guys are connected with Jesus and that's what they're 44:48 talking about; Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. 44:50 "You wouldn't believe this... Da, da, da. Da, da, da." 44:52 It's just a testimony. 44:53 It's just coming out of them. 44:56 And what do they overcome? 45:01 Verse 10, "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 45:05 'Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom 45:07 of our God, and the power of his Christ. 45:08 For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them 45:12 before our God day and night.'" 45:13 They overcome the accuser. 45:16 Now this is significant, because they're not just overcoming 45:19 the accuser like, "You're a sinner, you're no good. 45:22 You can't do anything..." 45:23 They're overcoming the accuser who says through us, 45:27 you are this, that, and the other. 45:29 In other words, we are no longer pointing the finger. 45:33 Jesus says they will know you because you have 45:36 love one for another. 45:38 I think the biggest thing that is eating out our evangelistic 45:43 outreach in the church is our judgmental, critical, 45:48 gossiping tongues. 45:50 We just can't stop talking about each other. 45:52 And the reason we can't stop talking about each other 45:54 is because we are insecure. 45:56 And we're insecure because we don't have 46:00 Christ's righteousness. 46:02 And we don't have Christ's righteousness because 46:04 we don't think we're good enough. 46:07 And we'll never be good enough. 46:09 That's why He gives us His righteousness. 46:11 And when we shed that and realize it and take hold of it, 46:14 we will no longer be grabbing people by the throat 46:16 and saying, "Pay me what you owe me." 46:18 You understand what I'm saying? 46:20 We're going in to God on our terms. 46:22 God says, "Hey, you've got a big debt here 46:24 and I'm going to have to hold you accountable. 46:25 You're going to have to pay it." 46:27 And we say to Him... 46:28 The servant, right? Matthew 18. 46:30 "Give me time, I'll pay the whole thing." 46:32 Right? 46:34 And God has compassion. He says, "I forgive you." 46:38 And we're like, "Oh, good." 46:39 And then we go out and what do we do? 46:42 We grab someone by the throat and say, "You need to pay me." 46:44 Why do we, why do we, why do we think 46:46 that person needs to pay us? 46:48 Because we went in with our terms. 46:50 Our terms were, "Give me time and I'll pay You." 46:52 "Oh you're going to...? Okay. 46:54 Now I've got some time, I've got to pay Him." 46:56 We missed the whole point. 46:58 And the whole point was He forgave us because He had 47:00 compassion on us. 47:02 And He wants us to do the same thing. 47:04 That's the point. That's the gospel. 47:06 And the gospel does change the life. 47:09 And if we don't grab the gospel, it won't change the life. 47:11 And so we'll be just the same. 47:14 And so Jesus says, "I've got a people now. 47:17 Now that I've got this people that are clothed in 47:19 My righteousness, standing on My Word, overcoming by My blood, 47:21 the accusing is gone. 47:23 They've got a testimony about Jesus. 47:24 They're not in it for themselves, self is forgotten. 47:27 Now I've got a people who keep the commandments of God 47:32 and the testimony of Jesus." 47:34 Revelation 12:17, there they are. 47:35 Here they are. 47:37 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." 47:38 Why do we love Him? Because He first loved us. 47:42 It's all there. 47:43 Revelation is a masterpiece. 47:46 Not because of its prophetic declarations only, 47:50 but because it's a basic outline of the plan of salvation, 47:53 and how we get ready, how we can be ready, 47:57 for the second coming of Jesus. 47:59 And that manifestation, the preparation that we make, 48:04 is to focus on Christ. 48:07 And, Revelation chapter 14, notice this. 48:10 The beast power is introduced in chapter 13. 48:13 We've got all the warfare coming against us, 48:15 all of the deception coming against us. 48:17 Everything is coming against us. 48:18 No man is going to be able to buy or sell. 48:20 Economic boycott is coming down. 48:22 It's going to be heavy, it's going to be hard, 48:24 it's going to be fast, it's going to be overwhelming. 48:26 But, out of all of this, Revelation 14. 48:33 "John looked, and behold a Lamb stood on Mount Zion. 48:35 With Him 144,000 having the Father's name 48:39 written in their foreheads." 48:41 How did it get there? 48:43 We're going to find that out in a second. 48:45 "And I heard a voice from heaven..." 48:47 If we haven't figured it out already. 48:48 "...saying with a loud voice.." 48:50 Excuse me, "I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of 48:54 many waters," verse 2, "and as the voice of a great thunder. 48:56 The voice of harpers harping with their harps. 48:58 And they sang as it were a new song before the throne, 49:02 and before the four beasts..." 49:03 I want to learn that song. Do you? 49:05 "...and the elders. 49:07 And no man could learn that song but the 144,000 49:10 which were redeemed from the earth. 49:11 These are they which were not defiled with women; 49:13 for they are virgins. 49:15 These are they which follow the Lamb wherever he goes." 49:23 They're just following Jesus, following Jesus, 49:25 following Jesus. 49:28 "They were redeemed from among men, being the 49:30 firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 49:31 In their mouth was no guile. 49:33 For they are without fault before the throne of God. 49:36 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, 49:38 having the everlasting gospel." 49:39 Do you see the connection here? 49:41 Here they are. Here they are. 49:44 And in the midst of all of that crisis and all of that terror 49:50 of Revelation 13, there's a people that have their 49:53 name's written in the Lamb's book of life. 49:54 And their focus is Christ. 49:56 And they're going to deliver a message. 49:58 It's not going to be terrifying for them, 50:00 because they're just sold out for Jesus. 50:02 It's just what they do. They can't help themselves. 50:04 They weigh the consequences, they think about it, 50:06 but then they just say, "Yeah, what else can I do? 50:11 I just have to live for Jesus." 50:13 They're filled with His Spirit. 50:14 Look at it in Daniel. 50:15 Daniel has another way of presenting this same truth. 50:19 This beautiful picture that we see in Revelation 50:23 is also filled out in the book of Daniel. 50:26 It might be a little bit different in the way that 50:28 it's approached, but in Daniel chapter 12 50:31 you have this picture. 50:32 Now this is interesting, because we're going to 50:34 look at the last verse of the prophetic picture of Daniel. 50:38 Now remember this morning we talked a little bit about, 50:40 you know, Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 8, Daniel 11. 50:43 And I said there were two principles that could help us 50:47 to understand end time prophecy, coming economic control, 50:52 and the connection between Daniel and Revelation. 50:54 And I mentioned, of course, one of those principles 50:56 was that if we could find another prophetic section 51:01 of Scripture that had the same outline; 51:03 Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 8, Daniel 11; 51:05 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome; 51:07 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome; 51:09 Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome; Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome; 51:11 second coming, second coming, second coming, second coming. 51:13 Remember that was one of the principles we talked about? 51:16 But I didn't tell you if there was another 51:18 section of Scripture. 51:19 And I was wondering, did anyone figure out if there is another 51:21 section of Scripture that actually goes through 51:24 that same outline? 51:30 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome. 51:32 And then takes us further and outlines in more detail 51:35 events in the end of time that aren't clear in Daniel 11:40-45, 51:40 but actually could become clearer if we compared the two. 51:45 Yeah, there is. 51:46 There actually is another prophetic section 51:50 of the Bible that has the same outline that we see in 51:53 Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Daniel 8, and Daniel 11. 51:56 And do you know what that prophetic section is? 51:58 Revelation 13. 52:01 "Revelation 13 doesn't talk about Babylon and Medo-Persia 52:04 and Greece and Rome, does it?" 52:08 Think. 52:09 "I saw another beast coming out of the sea, 52:13 and it had seven heads and ten horns." 52:19 Right? 52:20 Nations of Europe. 52:21 John's looking back now. 52:23 "And the beast that I saw had a body like a..." 52:27 Leopard; Greece. 52:29 "...and it had the feet like the feet of a..." 52:31 Bear; Medo-Persia. 52:32 "...and it had a mouth as the mouth of a..." 52:35 Lion; Babylon. 52:37 There it is. 52:39 The whole first half of Revelation 13 is a prophetic 52:42 glance back in history to the same basic outline of 52:47 Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 11. 52:49 And then after the wound is inflicted, which is 1798, 52:53 time of the end, we see the rise of another power 52:56 that allies with this. 52:59 They have a holy alliance. 53:00 They connect together, this second power that 53:02 rises up out of the earth and the first one. 53:04 And they continue now to dominate the world. 53:08 So if you look at Revelation chapter 13 verses 11-18, 53:12 you can parallel them perfectly with Daniel chapter 11 53:14 verses 40-45 and onward. 53:16 It's a perfect parallel. 53:18 And there are a number of connections that we see there. 53:20 We made a few of them today. 53:21 But I just wanted to get to that. 53:23 Because I'm not sure if I covered that. 53:24 And of course we're running out of time again here. 53:26 But hopefully, I'm hoping, I'm planning on, I'm praying 53:30 about coming back next year and doing another series 53:32 just focusing on Daniel 11 and opening up those verses. 53:36 There's a lot of information there and a lot of stuff 53:37 we need to look at, and we can take more time on it. 53:40 But I want us to look at one thing right here 53:42 in Daniel 12 and verse 3. 53:45 It's the last verse of the prophetic picture 53:48 that God gives Daniel. 53:49 Because in verse 4 Daniel is told to close up the book. 53:52 It's kind of like a prologue, a close. 53:55 "Okay, close up the book. 53:56 It's going to be sealed for this many years. 53:58 Then you're going to stand in your lot." 53:59 So verses 4 through 13 are just instructions to Daniel. 54:02 But verse 3 is still part of the vision that he's given. 54:05 The interpretation that he's given, at least, of Daniel 11. 54:09 And so in verse 3, you could actually say that 54:11 verse 3, 2, and 1 should be part of Daniel 11. 54:14 And then verse 4 should be Daniel 12. 54:17 It should start with verse 4, really, 54:19 in the context of how it flows. 54:21 So the last thing Daniel is told... 54:24 This is it, this is it. It's closing out. 54:25 The whole thing, all of his visions are 54:27 closing out with this thought. 54:30 "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 54:33 of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness 54:37 as the stars for ever and ever." 54:40 That's what he's told. 54:42 "They that be wise..." 54:44 And then it's kind of a repeat. 54:45 "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 54:47 of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness 54:49 as the stars for ever and ever." 54:51 Now in Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse 6, we are told that 54:55 Jesus Christ is, "The Lord our righteousness." 54:58 So sometimes we put these big words in there 55:00 and we're like, "Well, what is righteousness?" 55:02 Jesus is righteousness. 55:04 Jesus is our righteousness. 55:05 So, you could actually read this verse... 55:06 I'm going to read it this way. 55:08 "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness 55:10 of the firmament; and they that turn many to... 55:14 ...Jesus as the stars for ever and ever." 55:18 See, that's the bottom line. 55:20 To direct people to Jesus. 55:22 To get out of the way so people can see Jesus. 55:26 So the weaker you are, the more faulty you are, 55:28 the more you fail, the more opportunity 55:30 you're going to have to reveal Jesus. 55:32 If you allow yourself to just be humbled 55:37 and let Jesus just shine through. 55:38 The more of you that's there, the less of Jesus 55:40 people are going to see. 55:42 I'm fully aware of that in my own life and experience. 55:45 But the more we fall on our face and the more we just 55:47 put our hearts out there and give it to Jesus, 55:50 the more people are going to have the opportunity 55:52 to see what Jesus can do with us and in spite of us. 55:55 And one last verse that I want you to look at here 55:57 that I think is really powerful. 55:58 Because it says everyone that's going to be delivered 56:01 is going to be written in the book. 56:03 Malachi chapter 3 verse 16. 56:10 "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another. 56:15 And the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of 56:18 remembrance was written before him for them that feared 56:22 the Lord, and thought upon his name. 56:27 'They shall be mine,' says the Lord of hosts, 56:31 'in that day when I make up my jewels. 56:33 I will spare them, as a man spares his own son 56:36 that serves him.'" 56:37 "They will be Mine." 56:39 So when we look at this, when we recognize 56:42 that the prophecies come right down to the very end 56:47 and direct us to Jesus, and direct us to direct others 56:49 to Jesus, that it's all about Jesus, we realize that 56:53 the book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus. 56:56 It's not the revelation of the beast or the dragon. 56:59 It's not the revelation of the judgments. 57:00 It's the revelation... Satan has stolen this book. 57:02 He has made this book a scary book, a terrifying book. 57:06 We need to take it back. 57:07 It's not his, it's ours. It's our book. 57:09 And we want it back. 57:11 Right? We want it back. 57:13 Because God has a blessing in it. 57:15 And I'm tired of hearing Christians say, 57:16 "I don't read Revelation. I'm scared of Revelation. 57:17 I don't want anything to do with Revelation." 57:19 This is God's book and it's for us. 57:22 And it prepares us, not scares us. 57:24 And we've got to know what's in it. 57:26 Because God has blessed it and he wants to bless us with it. 57:29 Amen? 57:30 Father, I just want to thank You again 57:32 for the revelation of Jesus. |
Revised 2014-12-17