Salvation in Symbols and Signs

Jesus First

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Ivor Meyers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Jason Bradley, Yvonne Lewis

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Series Code: SISS

Program Code: SISS000004A


00:31 Well, we don't have an agenda
00:33 to get through this Book in so many sessions,
00:36 so we're very open and really
00:38 as we've been studying the Book of Revelation,
00:40 Salvation in Symbols and Signs,
00:41 we haven't gone very far, we're really still in chapter 1,
00:46 we've kind of moved around the Book a little bit,
00:48 here and there and trying to get some big pictures
00:52 but I love this because I want us to really understand
00:55 everything that we're learning here
00:58 rather than just throw a bunch of information in
01:00 that we don't comprehend,
01:02 and that we just don't... doesn't make sense... you know,
01:04 but we're just kind of trying to get through this thing...
01:05 and maybe we'll remember 10 percent,
01:08 no, let's really understand what we're learning
01:10 and go point by point and Sanctuary symbolism...
01:13 great foundation,
01:15 the theme of salvation... it's vital...
01:17 our "repeat and enlarge" is vital.
01:20 There are a lot of questions
01:23 that people have about Revelation
01:24 and that's why I'm glad you guys are with us
01:26 even though we've...
01:28 we're supposedly preaching... teaching this, et cetera,
01:30 you guys... novice...
01:32 not necessarily even understanding it,
01:35 so you can moderate our whole conversation here
01:38 and make sure that we stay on track,
01:40 we don't get too deep and too far ahead
01:42 and I want to... I want to make sure you have the
01:45 power and the freedom to moderate us
01:48 and to bring up questions that you might have
01:51 so... let's... as we get into this next session
01:53 we're going to be talking about
01:56 the importance of putting Jesus first
01:58 and that's what we see in Revelation,
02:01 we see Jesus first and so
02:02 I'd like us to open with a word of prayer,
02:04 maybe Yvonne, you can pray for us
02:05 and then we'll get right into it.
02:07 Sure... "Father God, thank you so much
02:09 for allowing us the privilege to open your Word
02:11 and to study your Word and glean these precious truths
02:15 from your Word, so as we study now
02:18 and talk... we just pray for your anointing
02:21 and the power of your Holy Spirit
02:22 and the presence of your Spirit to be with us
02:25 thank you oh God in Jesus' name... amen.
02:27 All: Amen...
02:30 Revelation is so profoundly
02:35 gospel focused
02:36 that it's a wonder that people miss it,
02:39 now Martin Luther did miss it,
02:41 we talked about his preamble to Revelation
02:44 that was written in 1522
02:46 he just said, "Christ isn't in here"
02:47 but then he got it, eight years later... he got it
02:49 and I'm sure he's thinking to himself,
02:52 "Why did I ever... how did I ever miss this?"
02:55 But I think there's a reason, I think we come with a...
02:59 many people come to the Book of Revelation
03:01 with pre-conceptions that they've got...
03:03 like you... watched that movie,
03:04 I watched the same movie, by-the-way...
03:06 "Saved by DL... "
03:07 and I want to just be a little bit more frank here
03:10 and maybe step on a few toes,
03:12 my wife was raised in the church, born and raised in Loma Linda,
03:16 she attended her first Revelation Seminar
03:19 when she was probably somewhere between 8- and 10-years of age,
03:22 and she went from those meetings with a fear of the end of times
03:30 and The Mark of the Beast
03:31 and the crisis at the end of time,
03:33 she didn't leave those meetings with a blessing
03:35 and the happiness and the joy,
03:36 that anywhere with Jesus I can safely go...
03:38 anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know...
03:40 okay, so I'm going to say that part of the guilt
03:43 and I might even say, the majority of the guilt
03:46 for people being afraid of Revelation
03:50 is on us as Christians,
03:53 we as Christians bear responsibility
03:55 because of the way that we have presented this book
03:58 and some of that has been because
04:00 we know that prophecy is where people are interested in,
04:02 so we throw up the beast and we throw up the images,
04:04 and we talk about the end of the times
04:06 and that attracts the people
04:07 but I think we're living in a time where people
04:10 are going to be attracted by Jesus,
04:12 Jesus is lovely enough,
04:15 and Jesus says in John chapter 12,
04:18 and verse 32, "And I, if I be lifted up... "
04:21 will what?
04:22 "I'm going to draw all... "
04:23 yeah, everyone is going to be drawn to Him,
04:25 so, I think we should take Him at His word,
04:28 now, this is what I like about Revelation,
04:30 it begins with Jesus,
04:31 it's the Revelation of Jesus Christ
04:34 and the first vision that John sees
04:36 in Revelation, and it's... it's Revelation...
04:38 let's just read... Revelation chapter one...
04:40 and read verses 10, 11 and 12,
04:48 Jason, would you read those for us?
04:51 Revelation 1:10, 11 and 12...
04:53 Sure, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,
04:56 and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
04:59 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last:
05:02 and, What thou seest, write in a book,
05:05 and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia;
05:08 unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna
05:11 and unto Pergamos,
05:14 and unto Thyatira,
05:17 and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia,
05:23 and unto Laodicea.
05:24 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.
05:28 And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
05:33 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks
05:37 one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment
05:40 down to the foot, and girt about the paps
05:44 with a golden girdle. "
05:45 Okay, so, here is John... he's in vision...
05:50 he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day
05:51 and by-the-way the "Lord's day" is the Sabbath
05:53 Jesus says, "I am the Lord of the Sabbath. "
05:55 Yvonne: I was going to mention that, yeah,
05:56 because that's often used for... you know, to justify Sunday...
06:00 Listen, I'm just going to put this as an aside...
06:02 there are five modern versions of the Bible today
06:05 that are printed... in print,
06:06 that say, "the Lord's Day,"
06:08 that actually have in the verse, verse 10...
06:11 Sunday, or the first day of the week,
06:13 it's not in the Greek,
06:14 it's not backed up by any Greek manuscript,
06:15 it's just in there,
06:17 modern transliterations of the...
06:19 so, you're right, it's becoming...
06:21 the changes to the Word of God are becoming very significant
06:26 in relation to some of the modern translations
06:28 and we just need to be aware of that,
06:30 I encourage people
06:31 "Get as many translations as you can,
06:32 because, you know, it helps you to understand the text... "
06:34 but also, be aware that there are some major changes
06:37 in these translations... be aware of that.
06:40 So, John is going to vision for the first time
06:43 the Spirit is coming upon him for the first time,
06:45 John has been given this Apocalyptic Book
06:48 that teaches about prophecies, especially,
06:51 eschatological, which means,
06:52 last-day events... okay...
06:54 and he's going to see about the Antichrist
06:56 and this... that... and the other and so
06:57 what is the first thing that God shows him?
06:59 Jesus...
07:01 Yvonne: Oh, I love it...
07:02 Jesus first...
07:04 and I think it becomes us to recognize this
07:07 as a call to our methods of evangelism,
07:11 our methods of reaching the world,
07:12 that God... when we present the Book of Revelation,
07:16 we don't start in chapter 13, God starts in chapter 1,
07:19 He doesn't start in chapter 13, chapter 13 is the Antichrist,
07:22 "We want to start with the Antichrist... "
07:23 No don't start... "You want to know
07:24 who the Antichrist is? Come to these meetings!"
07:26 These kinds of meetings tell you about the Antichrist...
07:27 no... these meetings will tell you about Jesus Christ
07:30 and everything that you need to know about the Antichrist,
07:34 will be seen as the opposite of Jesus Christ.
07:37 Ivor: We kind of focus on the wrong Christ.
07:40 James: Yes... Yvonne: laughing...
07:43 Okay, if we can learn all about Christ,
07:46 we will be able to identify the Antichrist,
07:49 you spot the counterfeit by knowing the genuine
07:52 so you know the genuine...
07:53 and so and this is the blueprint we have here... Jesus first...
07:57 now here is something that I think is really significant
08:00 in the way that we approach this book,
08:01 Satan's doing everything he can to get us sidetracked
08:05 away from this book to bring it to us as a book of fear,
08:09 if we can put Christ first
08:11 and recognize that the very principles
08:13 of interpreting this book are based
08:16 in the character of God and the heart of God,
08:18 now, the reason why I say this is
08:20 because I want us to look at three verses,
08:22 I want us to look at Revelation chapter one and verse four,
08:26 if you could read these verses for us, Yvonne,
08:28 Revelation 1 verse 4.
08:29 "John to the seven churches which are in Asia:
08:32 Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is,
08:36 and which was, and which is to come;
08:38 and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne... "
08:41 Okay, grace and peace,
08:43 you see that right there? Yvonne: Yes...
08:44 James: And then another phrase, that we're going to highlight,
08:46 "Him which is... which was,
08:50 and which is to come"
08:51 now tell me what that means, what does it mean,
08:52 "which is, which was, and which is to come"
08:55 give me other words for those phrases.
08:57 Yvonne: Eternal...
08:58 James: Okay... Jason: Past, present, future.
09:01 James: Past, present, future or eternal...
09:03 past, present, future, let's use those three phrases,
09:05 past, present, future, okay...
09:07 now let's take that to verse 8, let's read verse 8.
09:10 "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,
09:14 saith the Lord, which is, and which was,
09:16 and which is to come, the Almighty.
09:18 There's that phrase again, now remember,
09:20 this is the introduction of the Book of Revelation
09:22 so God is introducing principles here that are foundation
09:25 for interpreting the Book of Revelation.
09:27 God, so far, twice says, "past, present, future,
09:31 I was... I am... I will be...
09:34 I was, I am, I will be, I was, I am, I will be...
09:37 now, look at verse 19 and let's read that,
09:41 "Write the things which thou has seen,
09:44 and the things which are,
09:45 and the things which shall be hereafter... "
09:48 James: Ah ha, do you see the same phrases?
09:51 Past... things which have seen,
09:54 the present... the things which are...
09:56 and future... the things which shall be.
09:57 The Book of Revelation is a revelation of God Himself,
10:01 a God who has been with His people in the past,
10:03 is with his people today
10:05 and will be with his people in the future,
10:07 Amos 3:7 says,
10:08 "Surely the Lord God will do...?"
10:10 Yvonne: "nothing... "
10:11 James: "nothing... except He reveals his secrets
10:13 unto his servants the prophets. "
10:15 God is at work in the history of the human race,
10:18 the book of Revelation
10:20 is a prophetic history of the human race,
10:21 God is at work in the history of the human race,
10:23 past, present, future.
10:25 Don't be selfish, end-time people,
10:28 don't try to take all that prophecy for yourself,
10:30 some of that prophecy belongs to those people in the past
10:33 because God loves them too.
10:34 Okay, don't be so
10:37 James: negligent...
10:39 Jason: self-centered James: yes... self-centered...
10:40 and don't try to scuff it off to the future,
10:43 and those guys over there, they're going to get
10:44 all that prophecy... that's all for them...
10:46 no, part of that prophecy is for now,
10:48 right now... you see,
10:50 because God is a God who has been,
10:53 who is and who will be
10:54 and the Book of Revelation is written for those
10:56 in the past, in the present and in the future
10:58 and that's what we call "Historicism"
11:01 Historicism... Yvonne: Oh... okay...
11:03 Jason: I mean you can turn on the news right now
11:05 and see that prophecy is being fulfilled
11:07 we see it when you look on the News
11:11 and you see some of the things that are going on in the world,
11:13 you see prophecy being fulfilled.
11:16 Now, could you look at the News a 100 years ago
11:18 and see prophecy being fulfilled?
11:20 Yes! What about 200 years ago?
11:22 Yes! you see...
11:24 Jason: If the had TV back then
11:26 they'd be able to do that.
11:27 James: That's right, you can turn on the Newspaper
11:30 or turn on the gossip news or whatever it was,
11:32 however they communicated... you know...
11:34 and so that's the point
11:35 and this is why we approach the Book of Revelation
11:39 with this phrase, past, present and future,
11:42 what is basically summarized as Historicism
11:45 because it reveals a God, Jesus Christ
11:48 and the heart of God who is always with His people,
11:51 always will be with His people,
11:53 or... who always has been with His people,
11:55 is with His people and always will be with His people
11:57 and that's why the Book of Revelation
12:00 is so powerful in its context
12:02 of past, present and future,
12:04 now there is... go ahead, Ivor...
12:05 We just about to share that
12:08 there are three... or actually four
12:10 different schools of interpretation
12:12 when it comes to the Book of Revelation.
12:15 One is Historicism, which is the idea that
12:18 prophecy has been unfolding throughout history
12:22 and there has never been a time or a people
12:25 who have been without the prophecies of God to guide them
12:28 in their particular time, okay,
12:31 okay... um...
12:33 the Bible says that the prophecies are like a...
12:34 "We have a more sure word of prophecy... "
12:36 and it describes it as a light,
12:38 so God has never left His people without light.
12:41 For those who don't know what the word "prophecy" means
12:46 to prophecy or to... what is prophecy?
12:49 So, prophecy is the foretelling of events
12:53 before they come to pass,
12:55 when Jesus says, "I am...
12:56 behold I tell you these things before they happen
13:00 so that you may know that I am He... "
13:01 prophecy is really the thing
13:05 that sets Jesus and the Heavenly Father aside
13:09 from every other false god
13:10 because no other god can "foretell... "
13:13 God says, "Call all your gods together
13:16 and let them tell you the future,
13:18 if they can tell you the future, let them be God. "
13:19 Yvonne: Ah... ah ha...
13:21 "so, now, grab your holy book,
13:23 whatever choice of holy book you have
13:24 and let's see how your... your central figure
13:29 foretold the future,
13:31 because if that person can actually foretell the future,
13:33 then I'll listen to them. "
13:35 And that's Isaiah 48 and also John 13:19 and John 14:27
13:40 "I told you before it comes to pass...
13:42 that when it comes to pass, you might believe"
13:45 "I am the God, there's no other God like me,
13:47 foretelling the end from the beginning... " etc...
13:50 So that's Historicism
13:52 and by and large...
13:54 most of the Protestant Reformers were Historicists.
13:56 Preterism is a teaching that most of the prophecies
14:01 of the Book of Revelation were fulfilled
14:03 by the first century A.D.
14:05 so we really have no you know...
14:07 significance for us today the Antichrist was Nero
14:13 and so the prophecies were in the past,
14:17 we just kind of learn lessons from those things today.
14:20 Futurism teaches the exact opposite,
14:23 which is... "These prophecies...
14:26 are all... actually from Revelation 4 onward
14:31 are all future...
14:33 and God's people don't even really need to understand it
14:37 because we're not going to be here
14:38 so this is for a time after the church has gone
14:41 that Antichrist will appear
14:43 so these three schools of prophecy
14:46 and then there's idealism which is basically
14:51 that the Book of Revelation is just a bunch of principles
14:53 and you glean gospel principles...
14:56 which is... absolutely there are principles
14:59 in the Book of Revelation,
15:00 the gospel principles are found in the Book of Revelation
15:03 well you take away the history and say,
15:05 "The history is not really applicable,
15:07 these are just gospel lessons, lessons of salvation... "
15:10 James: People go through conflict are thrown in together.
15:14 Yeah, so these are the four schools of thought
15:19 when it comes to the Book of Revelation.
15:20 But three of them violate the laws that God lays down.
15:28 And His very nature... the very person of God...
15:32 who says, "I'm He which is and was and is to come"
15:36 which is really beautiful to me because
15:39 the principle of interpreting the very Word of God
15:42 is found in the very character of God,
15:44 His Word and His character are the...
15:46 and isn't that what it says in John chapter 1,
15:48 "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us... "
15:51 so it's... this is the way I'd like to illustrate it,
15:54 it's kind of like whole wheat... whole wheat has the whole...
15:57 has everything in it, everything you need,
15:59 now, if you take the bran out of the whole wheat,
16:03 which is the fiber, and some people do that,
16:04 they take the bran... and they want to eat their white flour
16:06 and their white stuff...
16:08 but they want to make sure they're getting fiber
16:10 so they sprinkle a little bran on the cereal in the morning
16:12 hoping to get their fiber, you know,
16:13 okay, or you could take just the white flour
16:15 and they don't like whole wheat flour
16:19 or... and I do struggle with brown rice,
16:22 I like my white rice but last night
16:24 when I stopped to get some,
16:25 he said, "You want white rice or brown?"
16:27 I said, "Can you mix them both together?"
16:29 So I put a little brown... okay...
16:31 I'm not sure on the rice but I know flour,
16:34 I used to eat Wonder bread
16:36 and I would just take that Wonder bread
16:37 and I would roll it up like this and scarf it and scarf it...
16:40 and I remember the first time I ate
16:42 a slice of whole wheat bread, and I was like, "Whoa... "
16:44 I was like, "Wow, that really hit home,"
16:47 I can eat a whole bag of Wonder bread,
16:50 and not even... so, what God does
16:53 with Historicism is He puts in the whole wheat,
16:57 He puts in everything we need,
16:59 now, when you take Historicism out
17:01 and you just say, "It's past, " that's Preterism...
17:03 when you take the... the whole wheat apart
17:06 you would say, "It's future"
17:07 that's Futurism, so that will be like the bran,
17:10 this would be like the white flour,
17:11 and God wants us to have the whole grain,
17:14 with all the nutrients there,
17:15 so when you look at Historicism, it doesn't exclude futurism,
17:19 it's incorporated into it,
17:20 there are some prophecies in the future,
17:22 when you look at Historicism, it doesn't exclude Preterism,
17:25 There's some past there, there's some Preterism there,
17:28 but it doesn't isolate it, make it all past, you see,
17:31 you don't go to extremes,
17:32 and is there idealism in Historicism?
17:34 Absolutely, idealism is in there.
17:36 You see the principles that are incorporated
17:40 into these historical events and into these conflicts...
17:42 you see the principles but it's not isolated,
17:45 we don't make idealism the only way to understand it
17:48 so Historicism actually takes
17:50 everything and puts it altogether.
17:51 Yvonne: Oh, that's good James: I love it.
17:53 Ivor: So if you are... we were talking about the
17:55 Sanctuary symbols a little bit earlier
17:57 and actually if you go back to the Sanctuary,
17:59 you see something that really is amazing
18:01 when it comes to the seven churches,
18:03 the seven seals and the seven trumpets,
18:05 but before I touch on that,
18:08 we were talking a little bit earlier about the number 7
18:11 yeah... and... so where's the first time you see
18:14 seven in the Bible?
18:16 Yvonne: Seventh day...
18:18 Ivor: That's right... it's in the Book of Genesis right?
18:22 And what you have in Genesis are the six days of Creation
18:25 followed by the Seventh-day Sabbath.
18:27 Yvonne: Right...
18:28 Ivor: So, looking at this pattern of one to seven,
18:32 what you have here is a complete cycle of time
18:36 the numbers one to seven would represent one through seven
18:41 would represent a complete cycle of time,
18:43 that's the first thing we have presented to us in Scripture.
18:46 So when I take that principle
18:48 and bring it over to the Book of Revelation,
18:51 we have seven churches, seven seals,
18:54 right... seven trumpets... so what do they represent?
18:56 A series of events that occur,
18:59 over a complete cycle of time.
19:02 Right, so now I have to find out, okay,
19:05 "What is complete cycle of time?
19:06 when is the beginning and when is the ending?"
19:09 And lo and behold,
19:11 you find... in almost... in all the sevens...
19:13 you find the second coming of Christ,
19:15 and in all the "ones" you find early church...
19:19 what happened?
19:20 Events unfolding right after the resurrection of Christ,
19:23 so then, I can come to the conclusion that,
19:27 "Okay, these seven churches represent a period...
19:31 a series of events that unfold... over a cycle of time
19:36 from the death, burying and resurrection of Christ,
19:39 all the way down to the second coming,
19:40 the same is going to be true for the seven seals,
19:43 the same is going to be true for the seven trumpets
19:45 so I've allowed principle to determine
19:49 my view of the churches, seals and trumpets.
19:54 Yvonne: Okay... Ivor: Okay...
19:55 now I'm going to show you something else
19:57 and just go quickly with me to Exodus chapter 30 verse 7,
20:01 and maybe someone else can find Leviticus 24 verse 8.
20:05 So Exodus 30 verse 7 and Leviticus 24 verse 8.
20:09 And what does it say there?
20:19 "And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning:
20:25 when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. "
20:29 Okay, that's talking about the Alter of Incense
20:30 and the seven-branched candlestick,
20:32 so the Bible is simply telling us
20:34 that whenever the priest ministered at the candlestick,
20:37 he was also to minister at the Alter of Incense,
20:42 okay, now, Leviticus 24 verse 8,
20:46 "Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord
20:48 continually,
20:50 being taken from the children of Israel
20:52 by an everlasting covenant. "
20:54 Okay if you read just up a verse earlier,
20:56 it's speaking about the Table of Shewbread,
20:58 which is, once again, these three articles of furniture
21:02 are all found where? In the Holy Place all right?
21:06 So what does this tell us?
21:07 It basically tells us that the High Priest,
21:10 I'm sorry, the Priest...
21:11 whenever he ministered in the Holy Place,
21:14 it was a simultaneous ministry going on,
21:17 in other words,
21:18 when he ministered at the Candlestick,
21:20 he was also to be ministering at the Alter of Incense
21:23 and every Sabbath, at the Table of Shewbread,
21:26 okay, so, this tells us
21:28 that the ministry of the priest in the Holy Place,
21:32 was a simultaneous ministry,
21:35 okay, what does that show us in the Book of Revelation?
21:39 That the seven churches, the seven seals,
21:43 and the seven trumpets... all are unfolding... how?
21:47 Simultaneously.
21:49 And it tells us that because the churches begin
21:52 with a picture of Christ and the candlesticks,
21:54 the seals begin with a picture of Christ
21:57 before the Table of Shewbread,
21:58 and the trumpets begin with a picture of Christ
22:01 before the Alter of Incense,
22:02 they each one...
22:04 and each one of them, by-the-way,
22:06 highlights a different phase of the gospel,
22:09 with Christ and the candlesticks,
22:11 Christ is with us, that's the incarnation,
22:13 He is with us, He's with the churches,
22:15 with Christ and the seals,
22:17 He's the lamb that is slain in the midst of the throne,
22:19 okay, so He's in the throne room there... before the throne
22:22 and He's slain... that's the cross,
22:24 that's Calvary,
22:25 in the seven trumpets, Christ is pictured there as
22:29 having incense that He takes and offers with the present saints
22:33 on the golden alter before the throne
22:35 which is the golden alter... is... the Alter of Incense...
22:38 so that's intersession... so you have incarnation,
22:40 crucifixion and intercession,
22:42 and in one last picture that we see here
22:44 that's very interesting is the one in Revelation 12,
22:47 the woman brings forth a child,
22:48 and she's caught to God into His throne...
22:51 He's caught up to God into His throne
22:54 and so we have this double emphasis on
22:56 Christ being caught up to God into His throne,
22:58 which is what happens as He's resurrected
23:01 and begins His mediation... His intercessory work there,
23:04 each one of these epochs and each one of these churches,
23:06 seals, trumpets and salvation signs
23:08 begins in the apostolic age,
23:10 begins at this Holy Place simultaneous ministry
23:14 it shows us the churches, seals and trumpets
23:16 are all cycles of seven that parallel...
23:19 that run down together at the same time,
23:22 it happened simultaneously.
23:23 Yvonne: Hmmm...
23:24 So we couldn't say that the seven churches occur here
23:27 but then the seven seals occur after the seven churches
23:29 or the seven trumpets occur after this...
23:32 no... they are...
23:34 they unfold simultaneously how do we know that?
23:36 Because we look back at the Sanctuary Law
23:39 and we see,
23:41 yeah, the priest was to minister how?
23:42 Simultaneously...
23:43 so the trumpets have to be unfolding at the same time...
23:47 Yvonne: Is all this pre-1844?
23:49 Ivor: And most of it is pre-1844
23:52 till we get to Revelation
23:53 chapter 11 verse 15 to 19... pre-1844.
23:58 Because the cycle takes us to the second coming
24:01 and the second coming...
24:02 and we'll just look at this again,
24:04 the second coming is...
24:05 we get a snippet of it in the churches,
24:08 the Laodicean Church is the church of judgment, that's...
24:11 okay we get a snippet of it in the seals
24:12 "Who will be able to stand before the throne
24:15 and before the lamb?"
24:16 And they all head for the hills and the rocks and the mountains,
24:18 saying, "fall on us and hide us from the face"
24:19 we get a snippet of it in the trumpets
24:21 "And the seventh angel sounded...
24:23 and the kingdoms of this world became the kingdoms of our Lord,
24:25 and of his Christ; and he will rule for ever and ever. "
24:26 The last part of everyone of those,
24:29 you know... cycles... is the second coming,
24:32 but in Revelation 12, 13 and onward...
24:35 the whole focus is about the second coming
24:38 it's about the Antichrist, it's about the beast power
24:40 it's about the lamb-like power
24:42 and it's the Mark of the Beast
24:43 and then it's about this group of people
24:44 that give the three angels' messages
24:46 all post 1844 and then you have the harvest
24:49 and you see Revelation 15 and 16 the seven last plagues
24:52 and then you see a reverse back... well 17, the judgments,
24:55 the outline of the history and then verse...
24:57 chapter 18, you see the earth lightened with the glory of God,
24:59 it's all... all of it emphasize...
25:01 is emphasized in the very last part,
25:03 so that last part is kind of a huge magnifying lens,
25:08 if you will, on the little snippets we saw
25:11 in the three previous sections
25:12 we saw little snippets... it was incoming
25:14 and now the last epic magnifies that,
25:16 that's what "repeat and enlarge" does
25:17 repeat and enlarge,
25:19 enlarges upon areas that have been touched on over here
25:22 but haven't really been brought out...
25:25 So it's like the last parts of the churches, seals, trumpets
25:31 transition us
25:33 into Most Holy Place language and symbols, okay,
25:37 but the majority of it
25:38 are things that have been occurring in the past
25:41 from Jesus' time up until 1844
25:45 and so, now I have something that... I just...
25:48 Let me just touch on a point right here
25:50 and that's why it says here when Jesus gives this to John,
25:53 He says... in verse one,
25:54 "These are things which must shortly come to pass. "
25:58 "Shortly come to pass" means they begin in John's time,
26:01 they begin in Jesus' time, "shortly come to pass... "
26:04 So, coming to pass doesn't mean, it hasn't...
26:07 it hasn't been fulfilled... James: Right.
26:10 Yvonne: It means it's... "it's going to happen. "
26:12 Yeah, "coming to pass" is when it starts,
26:14 "this is shortly going to come to pass,"
26:16 Historicism says there's a past and a present and a future
26:20 and so, some of these prophecies,
26:22 that are "past" to us,
26:24 were being fulfilled in John's time
26:26 so when John was given this book...
26:28 "shortly come to pass... "
26:29 these prophecies are going to happen
26:31 very shortly... in your time,
26:33 we look back now, we see they've been fulfilled
26:35 but in John's time, they were being fulfilled.
26:37 "Coming to pass... "
26:38 Sometimes people say, "Well, it says right there,
26:40 'shortly come to pass,' how come Jesus hasn't come yet,
26:43 how come the second coming of Christ hasn't taken place yet?
26:45 It said it would shortly come to pass. "
26:46 Well, that's because,
26:48 they don't understand the nature of prophecy,
26:50 the nature of prophecy is as we've outlined it here is
26:54 is... past, present and future, it's a revelation...
26:57 and prophecies are revelation of history of events
27:01 that God has foretold
27:02 that takes place over a process of time
27:05 as you said, and I love that whole idea
27:07 over a cycle of time, what is the cycle of time?
27:10 From the incarnation of Christ, from the death of Christ,
27:14 from the resurrection of Christ,
27:15 from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
27:17 until the second coming of Jesus Christ.
27:19 As we get into Revelation chapter 20 and 21,
27:21 even past that... 1,000 years
27:24 and into the new heaven and the new earth.
27:26 So, it's a beautiful picture that we're seeing here
27:29 and we've run out of time
27:31 and so we've got to close this session,
27:33 but we're going to continue,
27:34 we're going to continue the journey...
27:36 and we'll be learning a lot more,
27:37 by God's grace, let's just pray together,
27:39 Ivor, would you close for us?
27:41 Okay, "Heavenly Father, we ask that you would
27:43 please continue to open our eyes as we study your Word,
27:46 show us wonderful things out of your Law is our prayer,
27:49 we ask it in the precious name of Jesus, amen. "
27:52 All: Amen...


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Revised 2016-07-25