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I want to talk this morning about the topic of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. I was at a conference this week with 5 ,300 other people at the Kentucky Convention Center, all singing about Jesus Christ. There were eight speakers, and everyone preached about the same subject.
Any guesses? Jesus Christ. Did you know there's a book in the Bible dedicated to just talk solely about Jesus Christ? It is a book that's maligned by many. George Bernard Shaw called this book, A Curious Record of a Drug Addict's Visions.
Someone else tried to slam this book by calling it a musical godspell. They said it is a vision presented as showing Jesus as a frolicking buffoon, dressed in a clown suit with a Superman sweatshirt and a red nose with a heart painted on his forehead.
But that's not the real book. What is the book that talks about Jesus Christ, that unfolds him, that unveils him, that says, well, there's a sheet over something, and we take that laundry sheet and we rip it down to show what's underneath.
What book might that be? As much as I wanted to stay in Matthew chapter 6 this week, I could not. Don Whitney's coming next week, and I thought this is a perfect jumping off point, for I can just talk today about Christ Jesus, to show you a book of the Bible that talks about Jesus as the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth, that shows Jesus as risen, glorified, king, called the son of God in this book, the son of man, the first and the last, the holy one, the true one, the amen, the beginning of the creation of God, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the lamb in heaven, and the list goes on.
What book might that be? Turn your Bibles to that very book this morning, the book of Revelation, the unveiling of Christ Jesus, a book that puts Jesus Christ at center stage, that pushes him to the forefront as king of kings and lord of lords, that shows the bright and morning star the root and the offspring of David.
Today I want you to see with your own eyes the glory of Jesus Christ as John, through the Holy Spirit, unveils him and shows him for all his glory. Even for those that disagree with the way we interpret Revelation, we'll not disagree with this.
This book unveils Christ Jesus as Lord of glory. If you want to know what I'm after this morning, this is my purpose. To show you the Lord of glory and by the Spirit's power to encourage you to live holy lives, to demand that you praise God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then to tell other people about Christ Jesus, for he's surely coming back, but this time not as a babe in a manger.
Most of the time this congregation believes what I say. You are not going to believe the next statement, but I will attempt to do it anyway. Twenty-two chapters, sixty minutes. We are going to, see, I told you you wouldn't believe me.
You're supposed to respect your pastor, you're supposed to obey. Don Whitney will be here next week, and then the week after that I'll be in Matthew chapter six verses five to eight, and so we're going to look at all of it today, and it'll be front loaded with a little more time spent on the earlier chapters, and we're going to go through all the way to the book of Revelation that reveals Christ Jesus.
I hope that it prompts you to study it more. I hope that you say to yourself, when I listen to this book, it's not so much as a critique of what the pastor might believe on his end times theology, but all end times theology, no matter what your perspective, should drive you for holy living.
It's surprising to me that we have a conference and we say it's about end times, and everybody shows up with their clipboard and their end times chart, when the goal of talking about the end of the world with Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, is so that you live a holy life.
If you're an end times fanatic, then you should be one of the holiest people I've ever met. So strap on your pew belts, twenty-two chapters, the revelation of Christ. You're still laughing. You still don't believe me.
I don't believe this book gives a panoramic view of church history from the apostles' time to now. I don't believe this book focuses on 70 AD, the destruction of Rome. I don't believe this book is some kind of depiction of the forces of good and evil and a cosmic struggle.
I think if you're a blue collar worker, I think if you're someone just learning the English language and you read it, you will see that it's a futuristic approach to the book of Revelation. But nevertheless, even if you disagree with me, you will again be reminded today that Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory and that you should live in light of His soon return.
This book was written by John to write on the hearts of the people, be encouraged about who Jesus is and what He will do. It is not the evil one, Satan, who sits on the throne. It is Christ Jesus. It is not Satan's over here with one kind of power and a similar power that Jesus has, kind of a yin-yang equal power.
You cast the deciding vote. Satan is a created being and Jesus is the king. And this book, the Apocalypse, is frighteningly clear. There are some things that are difficult, yes, but I think if you're steeped in Old Testament theology and the Word, it's pretty clear.
And it is my desire 1 John 2 .28 will take place by the Spirit's power in our church. John said, the same writer of Revelation, now little children, abide in Him so that when Jesus appears, we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming.
What would the opposite be? Little children, I want you to have confidence so you can embrace Him in boldness and in love and in honor when He returns. Let's go to Revelation chapter 1 .1. If you don't have a Bible, grab a Black Pew Bible in front of you and a cup of coffee and let's go.
If you sleep during this sermon, I don't know what to tell you. Not because of me, because of the text. This is the book that reveals and unveils and displays for all to see Jesus Christ. If you're a Christian, you love this book.
The Revelation, our uncovering, verse 1, of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His bondservant the things which must shortly take place. And He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bondservant, John.
There's going to be a disclosure. This is not a book like Daniel that says it's sealed for a certain time. This is a book that declares that it's time to uncover it. Revelation 22 says, don't seal these words up.
We need to know them. And oh, the longing for this day, these days that the New Testament writers had. Whether it was Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, Peter, John, you name it. The writer of Hebrews, the longing that they had for Jesus' return.
And here we have the revelation of Jesus, by Jesus, which God gave Him. From God to Jesus, to the angels, to John, to us. That Jesus would swiftly, would quickly, would soon return. And if you read it and heed it, there's a blessing, verse 3, blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near.
Seven times in the book of Revelation, blessed, blessed, blessed. This book contains a beatitude of sorts when you think about and contemplate that Jesus will return. When my father used to go out of town to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to work, it was the same story every couple months.
My mother would say on Friday night, your dad gets home in the morning. Translation, it's time to obey me now. Translation, you better get that room picked up, you better take care of the dog, you better get the yard taken care of, and all the things you've been sloughing off from doing, it is time to get busy now.
And Jesus is returning, and don't do what the bumper sticker says, look busy. How blasphemous that is. This is not for your information. You read it and then you heed it, there lies the blessing. And although it focuses on Christ Jesus, there's all kinds of Trinitarian talk, the Father, Son, and the Spirit.
Verse four, John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Father. And from the seven spirits, the Holy Spirit, who are before his throne.
And the last member of the Trinity, verse five, and from Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ. And look at how he's described here, the faithful witness, the preeminent one who's been raised from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us, and keeps on loving us, the text says, and released us past tense one time from our sins by his sacrificial death, and he has made us to be a kingdom. Priest to God and Father, our God and Father, to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.
And then he gives a sneak peek, and you want to summarize all the book of Revelation, it's found in verse seven. Behold, he is coming with the clouds. In blazing glory, Jesus Christ returns, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him.
And he says the same thing he did in verse six, even so, amen. Jesus, like God the Father, calls himself in verse eight, I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.
Strangely, John gets this vision on a small little island where he's exiled called Patmos, verse nine. I, John, your brother and fellow partaker of this tribulation, he's on this island, and God reveals himself through the word to John.
It's on a Sunday, the Lord's day, verse 10, and he hears this sound like a trumpet behind him, as it were, and he's told in verse 11 to write, and he's to write to churches, and he's to write to these churches about the leader of all the churches, Christ Jesus, verse 14, is described as having his head and hair white like wool, like snow, and his laser-like penetrating eyes are like flame of fire.
And as we survey his head and work down to his feet, it says in verse 15, his feet were like burnished bronze when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.
He's a king, he's a judge, and he controls the churches. And what did John do when he saw him, verse 17, I fell at his feet as a dead man. And then John records Jesus' message to seven churches. We don't have time to go into all these, but Jesus is giving a charge to seven churches, seven real churches on a postal route, 2 ,000 years ago.
And many of the things we see in these churches happen in churches today, but these particular churches, Jesus says in five of them, here's what you don't do well. Maybe there's a couple things you do well, but I've got something against you.
In two of the churches, the suffering churches, he says, I'm going to commend you. And so just peeking in to these two chapters, let me just show you each church as fast as I can. And as you're calculating right now, I'm still in chapter two, and it's taken me 12 minutes to do chapter one.
You can extrapolate. Don't extrapolate, because that's not how we're going to go. Every pastor front loads it up front and says, you know what, I'm going to talk more about the first point than I am the last, so hold on.
I can't wait. One of the reasons I'm here today is I can't wait to hear what I'm going to say about the book of Revelation. It is exciting to me. Teach me about Jesus. John said, I'd love to. The Lord of the churches addresses each church.
The first one found in chapter two, Ephesus. Almost every one of these towns were pagan towns, like Ephesus, called the Vanity Fair of Asia. They had all kinds of goddesses. It had all kinds of temples.
It's said that even in the book, even in the town of Ephesus, one of its own citizens, not a Christian, said that the people there were worse than animals. For even promiscuous dogs do not mutilate each other.
And its inhabitants at Ephesus, one philosopher said, were fit to be drowned. And here we have Jesus, the Lord of this church, addressing the church. And he praises the church, yes, but he says, you've got a problem.
He says in verse four, I have this against you, that you have not lost, but left your first love. Literally, your first love you have left, their fervor and their devotion for God is no longer what it was when Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy at the same town.
And he prods them along like a good shepherd and says in verse five, remember and repent. Those who struggle with a decrease in fervency for Jesus, remember and repent. He says to the church at Smyrna in verse eight, praise for Smyrna.
He says, I know your tribulation, verse nine, and your poverty, but you are rich in the blasphemy by those who say they're Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Commends them. Nothing wrong with the church and suffering drives out many false doctrine.
Commends them. They acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. Pergamum, found in verse 12, which means citadel, was a city that had all kinds of pagan cults and Asclepius, who was a god of the snakes, and if you were sick or something was wrong with your body, you'd lay there in the temple full of thousands of snakes, and hopefully if a snake crawled over you, it would touch you in a way to heal you.
And there was a church there. Some praise, yes, but there was a problem. Verse 14, the Lord of the church says to the church at Pergamum, but I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who keep teaching Balaam to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality.
Just like Balaam counseled Balaam to cause Israel to sin through intermarriage and idol worship, so too that's going on in the church, and Jesus says that's not to happen in my church. The fourth church, Thyatira, found in verse 18 and following.
There's some praise, but there's a problem with this church, and the Lord of glory is returning to make all things right, and he gives this instruction, I have this against you. If you tolerate the woman Jezebel, probably just some other name, but this was typified by the word Jezebel, and she was just as bad as the real Jezebel, making people do all kinds of idolatrous things.
She calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and leads my bond servants astray, says Jesus, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. Jezebel, by definition, means unchaste, and here is this unchaste woman in the church making my saints unchaste by their actions.
Jesus is going to judge her and her children. Fifth church, Sardis, found in chapter three, one to six. There's a problem there. It's a dead church. Verse one, I know your deeds that you have a name, but I think you're alive, but you're dead, is basically what he's saying.
And what do you tell somebody who's dead? What do you tell somebody that's lifeless? Jesus, with his words, grabs them by the shoulders, as it were, and says, wake up. Verse two, strengthen the things that remain.
You guys are having a picnic, and you should be at a funeral. Sixth church, Philadelphia. This is a city that was a horrible city. We always think of the city of brotherly love. Well, it was the city named brotherly love, but they loved to worship Bacchus, the god of alcohol and drunkenness.
They loved it so much, they put Bacchus on the coins. There was some praise, yes. Little power, verse eight, not denying his name. There's a small group of faithful and humble believers there. He commends them.
He gives them a promise. You've kept the word of my perseverance. Didn't say they did anything wrong. They've been tested, and they will be tested, verse 10. Verse 12, there's a promise. I'll make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore.
I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God and my new name. As a Hindu might write the name of their God on their forehead, here God himself writes the name of his people on their own heads.
And then the seventh church, Laodicea, verses 14 through 22, Zeus worshippers there. They were pleasure mad. They had circuses and theaters, and he says with a problem, verse 15, I know your deeds. You're neither hot nor you're cold.
I would that you were cold or hot. Because you're lukewarm and neither hot or cold, I will spit you from my mouth. Your slogan is moderation in all things, even when it comes to worship. And I don't want you to be listless.
I don't want you to be half-hearted. No word of commendation. Before Jesus the judge executes justice throughout the earth, we're taken into the throne room of heaven in chapter 4 and 5. If this chapter 4 was not in the Bible, and if chapter 5 was not in the Bible, you may be tempted to think the horrors of just judgment in 6 to 18 somehow come from a God who is unholy, unjust, who goes overboard, who would, in a modern day scenario, find someone stealing some bubblegum at Cumberland Farms and then have the hand chopped off, somehow the punishment not fitting the crime.
And so we're transported to heaven so everyone will realize God is just, God is holy, and God is a God that when He exacts justice upon people, it's deserved. This is a judgment prologue, if you will, to chapters 6 and following.
It tells us, by the way, where the judgment comes from, not natural occurrences. This is the dispenser of the judgment, Jesus Christ. We can't find a judge to judge today. You commit a crime, you commit murder, and 40 years later you may be judged.
Here we're reminded of the justice of the judge. And this judgment is not whimsical, this judgment is not capricious, this judgment is equitable. This is the headquarters of the holy. And God is not distant from sin.
The world is full of evil, but we are to be encouraged because God is a king over these things and it says in verse 1 of chapter 4, after these things, behold a door standing open in heaven. First voice which I had not heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me says, come up here and I'll show you the things which must take place after these things.
He's transported, he's moved, verse 2, I was in the spirit and behold the throne was standing in heaven and one sitting on the throne. In light of all the sin, in light of everything that's going on in the world, there is one who sits on the throne and God is sovereign over every sin and every bit of evil.
And John sees God's justice and judgment as beautiful. Do you think God's judgment is beautiful? John did. Verse 3, and he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and like sardius in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance.
Faithfulness of God keeping his promises and all of heaven begins to praise God for the outpouring of his wrath. And from the throne proceed flashes, verse 5, of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.
More judgments, it's like the initial kind of spouting of a volcano that's about ready to erupt. There's all kinds of creatures up there and verse 8, they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy. This is not unholy judgment.
And elders are falling on their faces before him, verse 10, casting crowns to him and saying, verse 11, worthy art thou, O Lord, and our God to receive glory and honor and power. It's not like he's been told, well, you know what?
This is bad judgment so you shouldn't receive glory, you should receive chiding for that. No, God is the creator. It says, thou dost create all things and because of thy will they existed and were created.
God has created the world and he is now the judge over it and he will intervene. God does as he pleases. This creator has a plan. But thankfully, we see inside of heaven that God is not just a creator and a judge, he's a redeemer.
I'm so glad for this. Imagine if God is only a creator and a judge. He creates us, we fall, he judges us and then we're doomed, we're undone. But God is not just a judge, he's not just a creator, he's a redeemer.
There's hope, there's victory over sin. Soon even the presence of sin will be gone and there needs to be a title deed open and no one can open the title deed. Verse 5, an elder said to John, stop weeping, behold, no longer they'll call the lamb here, the lion, Jesus, that is from the tribe of Judah, messianic title, the root of David has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.
Here's the ferocious lion. Just how worthy is Jesus to open this? Verse 6, I saw between the throne, the elders, the lamb standing as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
29 times Jesus is referred to as a lamb. This word here is a little pet lamb, a little baby lamb, a little household pet lamb. But this lamb has been slain but now standing, resurrected, bears the marks of his violent death on his body.
All-knowing lamb, all-powerful lamb, Jesus has your credentials, he is worthy. And how do you respond to this great slain lamb? With more praise, verse 9, and they sang a new song saying, worthy art thou to take the book.
You're reminded of the newness of God and his great redemption and so you're reminded by making up a new song to break its seals for thou was slain and didst purchase for God with thy blood, men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
He paid the ransom, swirling around, praising God. With loud voices, verse 12, worthy is the lamb that was slain. Sin is going to be dealt with. The penalty of sin was vaporized by the death and resurrection of Christ.
The power of sin was obliterated at Calvary and now, soon and very soon, the presence of sin is going to be destroyed. Sadly, maybe some even in this room have snubbed their nose at God's Son, his only Son, the Son he loves.
And for those like these who spurn the Son, judgment is sure to follow. The stage is set here. We move to chapter 6 and following, all the judgment will be just. And we move to the seven-year tribulation in chapters 6 through 18.
And I believe the words from the author of Hebrews would be a banner over all these chapters. Vengeance is mine, I will repay. Trumpets, seals, bowls, in order, seals, trumpets, and bowls, and each one gets worse.
The seal judgments come in chapter 6, I believe, in the first three and a half years of the tribulation. We don't have time to get into all these details, but I'll give you some hints. And right now, we're on schedule to finish all 22 chapters.
And these seals are undone, and with each one, there's a larger cascade of God's judgment. The first seal found in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 6 is a cold war. Verse 1, and I saw when the lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with the voice of thunder, come.
I looked, and behold, a white horse. And this isn't Jesus. He sat on a head of bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering. And to conquer, without arrows, without weapons, here the Antichrist.
Perfect statesman, military genius, Satan's pawn. Peace won't last, but it starts. Verses 3 and 4 is the second seal, war. Verses 5 and 6, the third seal, famine. I mean, what happens after cold war and then real war?
Famine is sure to follow. And the fourth seal, when there's war and famine, death logically follow. Verses 7 and 8, I looked, and behold, verse 8, an ashen horse, a yellowish-green, gross-looking color, death-looking, and he sat on it, had the name Death.
And there was death by sword, there was death by hunger, there was death by disease, there was death by beasts. If you think the rats in the 14th century, black death, bubonic plague were bad, think again.
The fifth seal, martyrdom, verses 9 to 11. The sixth seal, the midpoint of 70th week of Daniel, physical disturbances, verses 12 to 17. Verse 12, I looked, and when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood.
The stars of the sky fell, verse 13. There's no more Richter scale here. The sky, verse 14, was split apart like a scroll when it's rolled up, like your window shade. Every mountain, Everest, K2, Washington, McKinley, were moved out of their places.
And if that ever happens, and it will, the response in verse 15 is, hide yourself. But there's something worse than having a mountain fall on you, and that is the wrath of the Lamb, verse 16, and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the lion.
No, the wrath of the Lamb. The earth isn't the problem, the Lord Jesus Christ is the cause. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of a living God. Need a breather with all that, don't you? That's exactly what happens with a little interlude here.
There's like a divine breather here, and it's the redeemed in the tribulation, chapter 7. Is God's wrath so intense that everyone will be destroyed? Can anybody in the tribulation make it? Will there be any mercy in severe judgment?
Yes, 144 ,000 Jews, these are not Jehovah's Witnesses. These are Jews. There's two groups saved in the tribulation. First group is found in verse 3, do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we've sealed the bond servants of our God on their foreheads, until we've given them the seal of protection and ownership of these 144 ,000 Apostle Pauls.
I'd like to know one Apostle Paul. That would have, he would have been an evangelizing machine. Can you imagine Apostle Paul? Just meeting Paul? Now we have 143 ,999 more of them. And Paul's not one of them.
There's 144 ,000. Who are these people? Verse 14, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. They've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Don't you know it? In verse 15, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in the temple.
And he who sits on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them, died in the tribulation and now enjoying the goodness of God. The seventh seal is open, chapter 8. The second part of the three and a half years of the tribulation called the great tribulation.
And when he broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half hour. This is amazing. What has going on in heaven before this? There are voices in heaven. There are elders and angels and creatures and songs and praising and harps and music and choirs and thunders and trumpets.
And now an eerie silence. It's like the eye of a hurricane. And you could cut the silence with a knife. And we come to the trumpets now. And the first four I call the real earth day. The first trumpet found in chapter 8, verse 7, the earth is smitten.
Hail, fire, blood. A third of the earth was burned up. Third of the trees were burned up. A third and all the grass was burned up. Sodom and Gomorrah, part two. Lava like hail, blood. The second trumpet, a third of the sea becomes blood.
Chapter 8, verse 8 and 9. Third trumpet, a third of the water smitten. Here is the judgment of Jesus the Lamb. Fourth trumpet, a third of the stars and heavens attacked. More darkness, more judgment. And it only gets worse.
Verse 13, I heard an eagle flying in midheaven saying with a loud voice, Whoa, whoa, whoa, to those who dwell on the earth. You better believe it because of the remaining blast of the trumpet. You haven't seen anything yet, in other words.
And the next three aren't earth related, they're demon related. The fifth trumpet, men are attacked by demonic hordes. Satan given delegated authority to send those demons. How would you like to have one demon let loose, let alone many?
How would you like to take every jail and penitentiary in this world and unlock the key and say, you're all free. Go for it and give them the power to do it. Sixth trumpet, men are killed by demons. Chapter nine, verse 13 and 21.
Killing. So much so, verse 18, a third of mankind was killed by these three plagues. Fire, smoke, brimstone. And you can judge people, you can punish them, but their heart never is changed apart from the grace of God.
Verse 20, the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues repented, of course, because they didn't want the judgment. Did not repent, the text says, of the works of their hands. So as not to worship demons and the idols of gold, they never stopped worshiping demons and gold and idols.
Punishment never changes anyone. It did not repent. Verse 21. I need another breather. Revelation gives it to us in chapter 10. Talks about the little book, God consoling the believers, and God is sovereign over the earth.
And God will judge and God will exalt the sufferers at the right time. Chapter 11, two witnesses. There are two witnesses who have been given authority by God, and they prophesy 1260 days, chapter 11, verse 3.
And they're like Moses and Elijah, someone close to that, but turned up at maximum power. Verse 5, and if anyone desires to harm them, preacher's dreams come true. Fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies.
And if anyone would desire to harm them in this manner, he must be killed. They do things that people don't like. Have the power to shut up the sky. The world's already torched in order that the rain might not fall during the days of their prophesying.
People try to assassinate them, and God's going to protect them till the work is done. Verse 7, when they finish their testimony, then there's going to be death by the Antichrist. And their dead bodies are paraded all around, will lie in the street in the great city, which is mystically called Sodom and Gomorrah, right there in Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified.
No burial, nothing decent. It is time for another hallmark holiday card. As my old pastor said, happy Dead Witnesses Day. You don't believe me? Verse 10, and those who dwell in the earth will rejoice over them and make merry, and they will send gifts to one another.
Final trumpet, chapter 11, verse 15, the seventh trumpet. John resumes his movement of the book, all kinds of ands showing the movement chronologically. The seventh angel sounded, verse 15, and there arose loud voices in heaven.
The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever. Hang in there, be patient. There's comfort coming, don't worry. We're close enough to the end that you can taste this.
And when things like that are proclaimed, there's always two kinds of responses. The godly respond, verse 16, fall on their faces and worship, and say, we thank you, verse 17. The ungodly, it says in verse 18, are enraged.
Fist in the air, hating God. You say, I need more information. I know a lot of what's, but I don't know who's in this panorama. And here in chapter 12 and 13, John, through the Spirit of God, gives seven great people, quote unquote, of the end times.
Actors, if you will, in this divine tragedy. I won't talk hardly about any of them. The first person is found in chapter 12, verse 1 and 2, the person named Israel. Chapter 12, verse 3 and 4, the second person, the red dragon, Satan.
The third person, the male child representing Christ, verses 5 and 6 of the same chapter. Obviously, look at verse 5, she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.
Sounds just like Psalm 2 to me. The fourth person, the archangel Michael, verses 7 to 12, the champion of Israel. The fifth person, the offspring of the woman persecuted by the dragon, verses 13 to 17.
The sixth person, the beast out of the sea, the future world dictator. Chapter 13, verses 2 to 10. And the final person, the seventh person, the beast out of the earth, the false prophet, verses 11 to 18.
And this is the one who makes the forehead mark mandatory. Verse 16, he causes all the small and the great, rich and the poor, the free men and the slaves to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and pressed like a stamp on their head, like you brand cattle as it were.
He makes it difficult if you don't, verse 13, verse 17, and he provides that no one should be able to buy or to sell except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name on the person himself.
Worship or starve. What is the number? The people in these days will figure it out. God will let them know because here is wisdom, verse 18, let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast.
The solution will be arrived by counting. How did God's people do throughout all this judgment? Does God lose one? I mean, maybe in all this stuff, God's going to lose one poor person here or there. Chapter 14, there have been 144 ,000 chosen.
And this little intermission reassures that God will get every one of those home, just like with the select church. The point of chapter 14 is God will judge and God will triumph, whether it's the beast worshipers in chapter 14, verses 9 through 13, or anyone else.
And we have a little introduction in chapter 15, a prelude to the bowl judgments. And we've seen the seals, we've seen the trumpets. And one thing about a bowl is, would you rather have a kid have a bottle of water, 20 ounces, fall over, or would you have a kid take a bowl with 20 ounces and dump it over?
Well, the bowl just dumps out more completely and more quickly because the smaller things take a while to glug, glug, glug out. The idea of a bowl is rapid judgment, rat-a-tat-tat style. And the bowl judgments are found in chapter 16.
And this I call the great chapter. There's a great voice. There's a great river Euphrates. There's a great day of God Almighty. There's a great earthquake. There's a great city. There's a great Babylon.
There's a great hail. And there's a great plague. And notice there's no great escape. The first bowl, chapter 16, verse 1 and 2, loathsome sores. I'm thinking of Egypt. The second bowl, seas turn to blood, verse 3.
The third bowl, rivers turn to blood, verses 4 to 7. The punishment fits the crime, verse 7. Oh, yes. Oh, Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. The fourth bowl found in verse 8 and 9 of chapter 16, scorching fire.
The fifth bowl, darkness in the realm of the Antichrist, chapter 16, verse 10 and 11, only if you'll notice, his kingdom. The sixth bowl, Euphrates is dried, verses 12 to 16. And the seventh bowl, widespread destruction.
Chapter 17 and 18 gives us a little more detail on Babylon. Chapter 17 talks about this religious false system that's going on during this horrible time. Chapter 18 tells us a little bit about commercial Babylon itself.
And you can read this on your own. And then we have chapter 19. Hallelujah chorus, right here in the Bible. Only four times in the New Testament, hallelujah is used. And they're all used here in Revelation 19.
After all this, chapter 1, 2, 3, all the way through the seals and the trumpets and the bowls, Jesus, according to Revelation 1, 7, behold, he's coming with the clouds. Jesus, come back so we can start the hallelujah chorus.
Hallelujah means praise the Lord. Why and for what reason do they praise the Lord? Verse 1, they praise him because he's a savior. He's not just the judge. And after I heard these things, Revelation 19, 1, I heard, as it were, a loud voice, a megaphone, literally, of a great multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
God, by nature, is a savior. There's another hallelujah found in verse 2. A hallelujah for God's justice and righteousness. When have you given a hallelujah for that one? Verse 2, because his judgments are true and righteous.
And he has judged. He has avenged. Hallelujah for God himself. Verse 4, and the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, amen, hallelujah. We're going to praise you just for who you are and your sovereignty.
More praising sovereignty. In verse 6, and I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and the sound of many waters and the sound of the mighty pearls of thunder. Hallelujah for the Lord our God, the almighty reigns.
Everything is going to plan exactly on time. Praising God. There's a marriage announcement. And then we come to the second coming in chapter 19, verses 11 and 16. You won't see baby Jesus here. You won't see some gifts given to Jesus here.
You are going to see God come back. Yes, he's the lamb, but here comes the lion. And I saw heaven open. By the way, it says he's seen with heavens open and then it remains open. No more reason to have the heavens now.
Here comes Jesus. It stands open kind of dramatically without warning and heavens are open. And behold, a white horse, not a donkey, a victorious charger, the generals would ride on. It's the idea. He who sat upon it is called faithful and true.
He is coming back. He's always said he's coming back. And I can trust that he is coming back. And matter of fact, he is. He's called faithful. That's his name. Present tense. He's always faithful. Present tense.
He's always true. In inequity or righteousness, he judges and wages war. War is hell. One man said. But there's a worst war. And here it comes from the holy one. His eyes are a flame of fire. Penetrating laser like upon his heads are many diadems.
If you were king and back in those days, you'd conquer other kingdoms and take the. Crowns of the kings and put them all on your head to say, I rule all these people. He is the ruler over everyone. And he has a name written upon him, which no one knows what except himself.
Don't ask me what that name is. Only he knows back in those days of those who had the greater privilege and authority and power did not have to tell the name to someone else. They didn't have to say their name.
The people would come to them and judgment and and the king could say, what's your name? But those who are there getting judged, they could never say, oh, what's your name, by the way? What's your social security number?
What do you do? The one with the power says, I can tell you my name if I like. He's clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the word of God. There's bloodshed going to come. There's a white horse.
There are white saints. There's white saints, horses. There's white clouds. And Jesus is the only one in nonwhite because there's blood. Verse 16, and on his robe and on his thigh, right at eye level.
So it's conspicuous. He has a name written, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. As a writer back in the old days, a Roman general would ride a white horse. And you can imagine the wind coming through his robe, flying up high.
So you could easily see what was written on the thigh. And it's King of Kings. It's obvious. There's lots of feasting, verses 17 through 21, Armageddon. Lots of feasting by birds after the second coming of Christ.
And now we had the millennium, chapter 20. Have you ever prayed, thy kingdom come? It's going to get answered in Revelation 20. Satan's bound. I saw an angel, chapter 20, verse 1, coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand.
More verses that start with and, showing continuing thought. He laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and bound him for a thousand years. And there's still sin going on. You can get rid of Satan and there's still sin.
You can be in a good environment, there's still sin. Because sinners sin. Goaded by Satan, yes. By the way, if you're one of those who like to bind Satan, I might suggest that you stop that silly notion because he won't be bound until here.
He's bound and then let out so everybody knows this entity deserves eternal punishment. Saints are resurrected, chapter 20, verses 4 to 6. And then one last ditch effort of revolt, chapter 20, verse 7 to 9.
Satan's released. Come out to deceive the nation. Dr. Thomas said, Satan's incurable bent towards evil. It came up on the broad plain, verse 9, of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
Satan's tormented, verse 10 of chapter 20. People think of hell as a place where Satan's poking you with a pitchfork. Satan will be the tormented, not the tormentor in hell. For ever and forever. When I read Revelation, chapter 20, verse 10, I sing with Martin Luther and lo, his doom is sure.
The great white throne judgment judging the unbelievers. I saw, verse 11, great white throne and he who sat upon it from those presence, earth and heaven fled and no place was found for them. By the way, that verse right there should drive into your hearts if you're a Christian, the need for evangelism because there'll be no place to hide, no place to run for an unbeliever.
Whether it's a husband or a wife or children, there's no way to hide. There's nowhere to hide. And there's going to be accounting that day for sin. Verse 12, it says, the books are open, the book of everything, book of life and the dead were judged from these things.
Perfectly judged, perfectly known, perfectly not even learned by God because he knows all things which are written in the books according to their deeds. Please stand to receive your sentence. If anyone's name, verse 15, was not found written in the book of life, he will be thrown or he was thrown into the lake of fire.
As it was said of Judas, so will it be said of them. And you, if you're not born again, better if you were never, John Bunyan said, abandon hope all ye who enter here. But for the Christian, for the Christian, chapter 21 and 22 is out of this world.
This is amazing. We don't know all the details. It's as if God doesn't want to give us every little detail of heaven because even if he told us, we'd have our minds blown when we were there because we couldn't comprehend it.
This is just enough information to wet your whistle regarding heaven. I saw a new heaven and a new earth. By quality new. For the first heaven and the first earth passed away. Yeah, it was creamed by God.
There's no longer any sea. Can you imagine John at Patmos surrounded by water, three quarters of the globe all water into a Jew? A lot of times the ocean was was was mysterious and strange and chaotic and it's gone.
And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem. Coming down out of heaven from God made ready, mark that made ready as a bride adored for her husband. The same word made ready is used by Jesus Christ in John 14.
I go to make ready a place for you. I go to prepare a place for you. It's made ready by Jesus, promised by him in John 14. And here comes the delivery. Made ready. Oh, the goodness of God for every Christian here.
And for myself, we should have been in chapter six to 18. This is where we get to be because of the lamb. Verse three, and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, Emmanuel.
He shall dwell among them. You don't need tents. You don't need curtains. You don't need holy of holies. You don't need blood. They shall be his people and God himself shall be among them. The intimacy with God, the communion with God, the joy he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Verse four, no death, no mourning, no crying, no pain. It's gone. Behold, I'm making all things new. Verse five, right for these words are faithful and true. Pay close attention. There is going to be full satisfaction for the family of God.
Verse seven, he who overcomes shall inherit these things. I shall be his God and he will be my son. The cowardly and unbelieving, verse eight, they're gone. But for my children, I'm going to give you water without cost.
And then we get a guided tour of the new Jerusalem, chapter 21, nine to 27. How can we ever describe it? I have no idea. He describes it just a little bit, though. He says at the end of verse nine, come up, come here, and I'll show you the bride, the wife of the lamb.
It carried me away in spirit to this great and high mountain, showed me the city, the holy city, Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like very costly stone as a stone of crystal clear jasper.
We can't have our finites and fallen minds accommodate any of this thought. It's a literal city. But beyond that, it's hard to tell. It's got the glory of God. That's probably all we need to remember.
There's gates in verse 12 and verse 13 and walls and gates and 12 gates in verse 13. And I think I could describe a city this way the best. Abraham was looking for the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God.
Oh, it's a great city. Room for all the saints. And then it's kind of described in verse 18 and following. You see all the different things, jasper, gold, glass, sapphire. My mother used to be a gemologist.
And I remember four hours before she died, I was reading her this passage about heaven, giving her a little foretaste. And even with the morphine drip going and even close to her deathbed, I would say, Mom, sometimes the word jasper here or sapphire is not what we think.
But I know you've studied the passage. And tell me when the Bible says emerald, what is it? And then she would describe that stone laying there. She can't even open her eyes. And I thought in four hours, she's going to see the beauty and the glorious nature of heaven.
Beyond our imagination. Verse 22, when I saw no temple in it for the Lord God, the Almighty and the temple and the lamp are its temple. Verse 23, the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it for the glory of God has illumined it.
And you don't even need any glasses to protect your sinful eyes because you won't be sinful. Gates never close. Verse 25, glory and honor of the nations are in it. Nothing unclean. Verse 27, no sin. You can count on that.
And then the delights in Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem, chapter 22, as we move inside the city, there are rivers, there are thrones, there are streets, there are leaves, there are trees, there are all these kind of things.
But the good news is what's not there? Verse three, and there shall be no longer any curse. And the good news is what is there? The throne of God and the lamb shall be in it. And his bond servants, his slaves will continually forever and ever serve him.
And the best I can think of the Aaronic blessing, Lord, may your face shine upon us and they shall see his face and his name shall be on their forehead. What are we missing in our service today? The sight of God in his face to stare and admire and gaze forever and ever.
No night, verse five, God will illuminate and they shall reign forever and ever. And there's just a little epilogue found in chapter 22, verses six to 21. If you think this is made up, if you think this isn't reliable, if you think this is just a show, verse six, these words are faithful and true.
And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show to his bond servants the things which must shortly take place. You better believe this is going to happen. And how fast will it happen?
Verse seven, I'm coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. It's going to be swift. It's going to be speedy. It's going to be at once. And I call you to do today, if you're not a Christian, what is called in chapter 22, verse nine, worship God, because there's going to be a day it's going to be too late.
You're going to be sealed in your sin. Verse 11, let the one who does wrong still do wrong. There's no hope. Let him be perfect as it were in his wrong. Let the one who is filthy still be filthy. There is no second chance.
There is no purgatory. It's the end. And there's no letdown thinking Christians might sin and let the one who is holy still keep himself holy. Behold, verse 12, I'm coming quickly. My reward is with me.
I'm the Alpha and the Omega, verse 13, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.
And any Christian says in verse 17, come, let the one who hears, you should say, let the one who's thirsty come and let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. Jesus has paid it all. He who testifies to these things says, yes, I'm coming quickly.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all. Thank you, Lord, for this great picture, true and faithful picture of Christ Jesus. I would pray, Lord, for our dear congregation that they might be stirred to action and stirred to obedience, that your spirit would stir our hearts to increase our praise and what we have been saved from and saved to.
Father, for those at our church today who have not bowed the knee to Jesus as Lord, I pray that you would use this passage to shake them. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And, Father, I praise you that you just have not created them.
You just will not judge them. But also, there's a way that you'll be the Savior. And that way is through Christ Jesus. So may he be lavish in his saving grace today. In Jesus' name, amen.