(Timeless Doctrines) Revelation's Timeless Doctrines - Part 2 — Denny Kenaston

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These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Revelations, timeless doctrines. In our last session, we began to discover that the twos in the book of Revelation represent dividing lines.

The Two Choices and the Matters of the Heart

I don't know if you caught that yesterday or not. Every one of those twos represent a dividing line. Every one of them call us to make a choice. And I don't know if you grasped the reality of it yesterday, but there are not three choices.

There are only two, and this maketh the heart to tremble. There are not three choices. There is no neutral. There is no limbo. It is one or the other in every instance. And I searched it out more thoroughly this morning in my studies, and it holds true all the way to the end.

These twos represent dividing lines, and each two calls us to a choice. We must decide which king we're going to serve, which army we're going to serve in, and on and on it goes. Pondering these heart issues, it dawned on some of us yesterday as we were visiting, that if you get the heart issues squared away in your life, it really doesn't matter.

If you have all those other things figured out, it really doesn't matter. If you figured out the seven bowl judgments, the seven trumpet judgments, if you figured out when the Antichrist comes or when the church goes out of this world, it really doesn't matter if you don't have all that.

If you have the heart issues cleared away in your life, all of that is not going to matter. Isn't it sad how many multitudes of hours people spend trying to figure out all those things when we're probably going to be wrong on a lot of them when it's all said and done?

I want to exhort you through these meditations that you go beyond trying to figure out all the details and get down to the matters of the heart. The rest of it will take care of itself. I want to hasten to say, I do believe it is right to seek wisdom concerning the last days, and I'm not against trying to discern when the church leaves, when the wrath gets poured out.

I'm not against those things. I study them. I ponder them myself. And obviously, there's value in that. Consider this morning. There's great value in understanding, if it dawns on you, that we're going to face that ugly, treacherous king that I talked about yesterday.

That is going to affect a lot of things in my life. But if I believe I'm going to face that king and the mark which he demands, it is going to greatly affect how I order my life, and it's going to affect how I raise my children.

Amen? I told my children two or three days ago, as we've been going through the book of Daniel, I don't know if I'm going to face all of these things, but I'm almost sure you will. It behooves us parents that we guide our children in a path that's very clear, and prepare them for losing their heads.

And I mean that, literally. It is a great encouragement to deep reality in my Christian life if I realize I'm going to stand before that king and die for my faith. I will order my lifestyle and my priorities in a very different way.

Nevertheless, because God is who he is, the supreme sovereign, he requires my utmost loyalty whether I'm going to face tribulation or whether I'm living in the good of the land. He still requires my utmost loyalty.

The Dedicated Ones and the Worldly Wicked

So let's get into the next set of twos here. We want to look at the two peoples. We find two peoples in the book of Revelation. And I've titled them the Dedicated Ones and the Worldly Wicked. And again, I want you to know there are only two.

There are only two. The Dedicated Ones, the blood-washed, consecrated ones. They call them saints in the book of Revelation many times. This is a word that is not supposed to be used by somebody that the church canonized for the way he or she lived in their past.

We are to be the saints. The blood-washed, consecrated ones who live for God with all their hearts. These are the saints, the Dedicated Ones. In the book of Revelation, they are the ones that are singing a new song.

In the book of Revelation, they are the ones that worship saying, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honor and glory and wisdom and power and majesty both now and forever. Amen. They are the ones that are saying those kind of things.

They are the ones that fill up the golden vials with the prayers of the saints. They are the ones. Revelation chapter one and verse two. John is one of them and he says this of himself, who bear record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all the things that he saw.

I don't know how much you've read the book of Revelation, but that little phrase in verse two comes up again and again and again and again. Repeatedly through the book of Revelation, you will find that little phrase, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus.

I believe that's the definition of the saints of God. For the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. Amen, Brother Rick. It's the word of God. True revival is when people turn back to the Bible, to the word of God.

As I see these dedicated ones in the book of Revelation, they are the soul winners. They're the soul winners. And you ponder that for a moment. You know, it's one thing for us to be a soul winner in America, the land of the free, where everything is okay, where you can go out on the streets and open up your mouth for Christ and it doesn't cost you anything.

You can stand on the street corners and preach the gospel and nobody will throw you in prison. But it's a very different thing to stand in the midst of the book of Revelation where you can lose your head for the testimony of Jesus, which, by the way, is testifying about the Lord Jesus.

Realizing that if I do testify about the Lord Jesus, I may very well lose my head. But here they are again and again and again. The description of the dedicated ones, it is for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

These are they that were slain for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. We should read over in the book of Mark just for a moment. It gives such a beautiful explanation of what that really means.

Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8 in verse 34. And when he called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. Now just read these verses in the midst of the book of Revelation. Amen? Whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. But whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, and the Gospels, that's the testimony of Jesus, the same shall save it.

For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with his holy angels.

Wow! For the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. Brothers, sisters, that makes me tremble. Wow! That is not an easy thing to do. That is probably the greatest challenge of the persecuted church wherever the church is being persecuted today.

The word of God and the testimony of Jesus. The persecutors will tell them, look, we don't care if you're... You can read your Bible, but don't you go speaking to anybody else about the Bible or about your Jesus.

As long as you'll do that, everything will be okay. And I'm afraid many have just quieted down to save their neck. And more of us may do that than what we realize also. So I'm not judging the persecuted brethren this morning.

For the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. The book of Revelation speaks of the dedicated ones. They do His commandments. They keep the sayings of this prophecy. They follow the Lamb with us to wherever He goes.

These are some of the words which describe the dedicated ones in the book of Revelation. Ah, let's see, Revelation 12, 17. Let's go see what verse that is. Yes, this is a good one. 12, 17. And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

There it is. It's very clear. And chapter 16 and verse 15 yet also. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. Those are pretty awesome words, aren't they, brothers and sisters, this morning.

But these are descriptions of this one group of people that we find in the book of Revelation. Let's turn now and look at the worldly wicked. Revelation chapter 9, verse 20 and 21. They are characterized by a little phrase that we find in these two verses.

I hope none of us are characterized by these words. But these words define this other group of people. And it says of them, they repented not. You fill in the blanks. They repented not. I hope there's nobody like that in here today.

That the testimony of your life and the conviction of the Spirit upon your heart, even as you sit here, is he or she repented not. That's what it says of this worldly wicked group in chapter 9 and verse 20 and 21.

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and of wood, which neither can see nor hear nor walk.

Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. They repented not. Even though judgment was beginning to be poured out, they repented not.

They are the group that despised prophesying. They are the group that had a big party when the prophets were killed. They are the group, in the midst of judgment being poured out on every side, they had a big party and sent gifts one to another.

They're part of that group. They are the group that was tormented by the preaching of the two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11. That's the other group. They are the group that worship the beast. They are the group that are caught up in the world.

They are the group that lived deliciously upon the earth. They are the group that lived in the lust of their flesh. They are the group that lived in riches. They are the group that is unjust still and filthy still.

They are the group. Revelation chapter 11, verse 9 and 10, we find an awesome set of verses which describe them. God's last gift to a world awaiting judgment is to send two prophets their way. Two prophets.

You watch, you note all the way through the Bible, God always does that. He is a just and a righteous God and He always sends one last warning. And here they are. Verse 9. And they, these two prophets, were killed.

And here's the people's response. And they of the people and kindred and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in the grave.

And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send gifts one to another because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. Tormented them with their words.

Tormented them with the truth. Tormented them with anointed words and an anointed life. They tormented the people that dwelt upon the earth. Well, can you see again? There's a choice to be made there.

Which group do you want to relate to? There is really no middle ground. As God brings us up to the end of the time of the end, there will be no middle ground. All the grey will be gone. I know it's grey these days.

We live in a mixed up Christian America and things are grey and they're mucky and they're lukewarm and many times you can't figure the thing out. Like one dear lady said to me today, we're tired of going to a circus called the church.

But the day is coming when the lines will be clearly drawn and there'll only be two kinds of people. Kind of look forward to that day. But, honestly, I don't know if everybody in this room is going to be on the right side.

Two Worlds: The Present World Under Judgment and the New Creation

Let's move on to the next set of twos. Two worlds. We find two worlds in the book of Revelation. The one is called the new heaven and the new earth. And the other one is called the world that now is. Revelation chapter 21 and verse 1.

We find these words. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. No more sea. The first heaven and the first earth, they're passed away here at the end of this book.

Brothers and sisters, we are living right now in the first earth and heaven that passed away in this chapter right here. We are living in it right now. Isaiah. We should read over there, just looking a little bit.

The book of Isaiah and chapter 65. Let's turn there. All these things that we're looking at, God was telling them to his people through the Old Testament. Through the prophets. In Isaiah 65 and verse 17, God says, For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.

And the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. Verse 25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. And the lion shall eat straw like the bullock. And dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.

A new world, brothers and sisters. Peter said that this way, a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Glory. Wherein dwelleth righteousness. According to Peter, we are to be looking for a new heaven and a new earth.

I'm afraid we enjoy this one too much to be looking for the next one. But we're to be looking for a new heaven and a new earth. Let's look at the world that now is. And this is a little bit difficult.

It's a little bit difficult to look at the world that now is the way that we should see it. Because we live in prosperity. And there is a danger that we will not see this world with eternal eyes. There is a danger.

Nevertheless, it behooves us to look at the world that now is and see it from God's eternal perspective. It will help us to find our place and learn how we're supposed to relate and fit in to this world that now is.

When we begin to see it from God's eternal perspective. The world that now is, is under judgment. It is under judgment. The judgment is already decreed. Listen to me, brothers and sisters. If the house you live in, if you knew that in five years that house is going to burn to the ground.

How many of you are going to put new doors on it? When the doors are a little bit weak? How many are going to put all those new windows in there? Not against putting new windows in, Brother Roy. But how many of you are going to put all those new windows in there if you know that in five years this house is going to burn to the ground?

Well, we all know the answer to that. I mean, I'm not going to put new doors in and I'm not putting new windows in. The world that now is, is under judgment. When we gaze into this world that now is, in light of the book of Revelation, this is what we see.

We see famine. We see pestilence. We see earthquakes. We see water turned to blood. We see wars and killing everywhere. We see wickedness on every hand. Wickedness come to the full. We see green trees and grass gone and burned up.

And I could list a long, long list of what we see when we look at the world that now is, in light of the book of Revelation. This world is under judgment. The judgment is already decreed. Let's read in Revelation chapter six.

Revelation chapter six, verse twelve through seventeen. And I beheld, when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island was moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.

For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? That, brothers and sisters, is a little glimpse of the world that is under judgment, which we live in today. Turn now with me to 2 Peter, where we have the clearest admonition about the end times, besides this book of Revelation we're looking at.

2 Peter, chapter 3, verse 7. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. God, did you get that?

God is holding the world that now is, for one thing, to burn it up in the fires of judgment when he judges ungodly men. It is kept in store for that. This is the world that now is, that we all live in.

It sure puts a different perspective on this world, doesn't it? But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a gray noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

What are the works that are therein? Anybody tell me? Houses, that new car you just bought, the other towers that didn't fall yet, and on and on and on. Those are all the works of all the things that man has done with his hands.

They were all burned up. Boy, that sure makes the car look different, doesn't it? Seeing then, brothers and sisters, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?

Do you see? Peter is tying the two together. Peter is making an application. Peter is saying, look, if you see this thing the way it really is, it should affect your lifestyle. It should produce all holy conversation and godliness in you.

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, what things? This world burning up under judgment and a new world wherein dwelleth righteousness. Seeing ye look for these things, both of them, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless.

Those are awesome words in light of the world that now is. And I want to read one more, just to let us settle down real good upon our hearts this morning. Let's read yet in Isaiah 24. Isaiah 24 and verse 1.

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. Verse 3. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled, for the Lord hath spoken this word.

The earth mourneth and fadeth away. The world languisheth and fadeth away. The haunted people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men left. Question. What do you think? Ladies, if we read all of these verses, what do you think?

Playground or battlefield? Which one? How many vote playground? Brothers and sisters, the world that we live in, the world that now is, it is under judgment. It is under judgment. Now we're here, and we live in this world, and God put us in this world, and He put us in this world for some reasons.

Oh, I hope we have our focus on the right reasons why we are here. Because this world is under judgment. You know, as I look at the new heaven and the new earth, and the way that the Bible describes it, that looks more like the place where the playground ought to be, amen?

Where the children can go out and play next to the serpent's hole, and you know, the lion and the lamb will lay down together, and we can go for a walk with the king of the beast in the field. That sounds a little more like the playground.

Let's make sure we're not playing in the battlefield, brothers and sisters. We live in a day and an age when the professing church is playing in a world that is under judgment, and they are seeking after those things in mass.

That mentality! Deliver us, Lord! That world is under judgment. I wouldn't live too close to the edge of that thing. It's under judgment. It has the smell of smoke on it already. New York City had a few day glimpse of how it really is going to be someday.

After those two towers fell, man, everybody's perspective was changed for two or three days. They walked around in a stupor. Nothing mattered anymore. All the nice restaurants didn't matter anymore. All the entertainment places didn't matter anymore.

All the baseball games didn't matter anymore. All the evil didn't matter anymore. They walked around in a stupor as they looked at the spot where those two giant buildings stood. And again and again they said, they really fell to the ground.

So quickly, they're gone. And for two or three days, things changed a bit. I mean, if there was ever a time you'd get God back into the public schools, it would have been the day after 9 -1 -1. Amen? All of a sudden, it was okay to use the name God.

Everybody's praying. Everybody's singing hymns. I know it wasn't real for most of them. But it was a little glimpse into the reality of what's coming someday. Oh, dear brothers and sisters, must God make our world crumble to the ground before we realize, hey, wait a minute.

This doesn't mean a thing. It doesn't mean a thing. It's gone. In a moment, we are an eternal being placed in a world under judgment. Let us be like the two angels who went to the city of Sodom. Amen?

Let's be like them. They were in a world that was under judgment, but the judgment hadn't fallen yet. And what were they doing? They were running out of the city, and they had their hand upon Lot and his family.

And out of the city they were going. Why? Because they were living in a world under judgment. Let us be like those two angels and get our hands upon the shoulder of somebody and snatch them out of this world that's under judgment.

We have been placed in a world that is under judgment to prove and test us for the world that is to come. Ah, let's read 1 John 2 yet. We must do that. We often don't grasp this last verse that we're going to read.

We know the other verses very well. 1 John 2, verse 15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world which is under judgment, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.

Little children, it is the last time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time. Look at those verses, brothers and sisters.

Through the eyes of the book of Revelation here this morning, you look at those verses. What God is saying through the Apostle John in 1 John and also in Revelation is, let's make sure we are clearly associated with the world that is to come, and not with the one that now is.

I am afraid many, many people are going to be shocked, who are all caught up in a world that is under judgment. Instead, let us turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things on the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

I am not talking here this morning about running away from this world and hiding on some mountain somewhere. I am not talking about that. God has left us in this world to be a testimony of His saving grace and to preach the gospel to a lost and dying world around us.

But brothers and sisters, let us keep our eyes upon Jesus, so that we are not affected by this world around us. The next two that we would like to look at in the book of Revelation is two cities. There are two cities in the book of Revelation.

The New Jerusalem and Babylon

There is the New Jerusalem, and there is Babylon. Babylon, that great city. There is the New Jerusalem, which is from above, and there is that great city called Babylon. Now, the city in the Bible represents a testimony.

The city of Jerusalem was the testimony of God upon the earth. The city of Jerusalem was Mount Zion. The city of Jerusalem was the place where God chose to put His name in the Old Testament. The city of Jerusalem was the testimony and the glory of the God of heaven upon the earth.

There are two cities in the book of Revelation. And some of these illustrations cross over each other a bit. Yet, God has clearly made the distinctions that we are looking at. And therefore, we want to draw out of them what we can.

In Revelation chapter twenty-one, we read, let's read twenty-one, verse one through three this time. I save the last two verses for this illustration here. I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea.

And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem. God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God.

The New Jerusalem, the city in the book of Revelation, it's called the holy city. It's called the city that comes down from God out of heaven, praise the Lord. It's called the city that is prepared. It's called the city, it's called the tabernacle of God.

What a beautiful name for a city, the tabernacle of God. This city is described in the book of Revelation, having the glory of God in it, and her light was like unto the stone most precious, even like jasper stone, clear as crystal.

This city shines brightly. This city, nothing that defiles will enter into it. This city is made up of those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. It's a city, yes, it's a city set on a hill for sure, isn't it brothers and sisters?

This city, this New Jerusalem. Abraham, he was looking for this city, wasn't he? We find his testimony in the book of Hebrews chapter 11. It says it this way, by faith he, Abraham, sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.

For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. While we look into the book of Revelation and we see the glorious fulfillment, the final fulfillment of this beautiful city which is a testimony to the glory of our God, while we see all of that in the book of Revelation, we are that city.

Even today, brothers and sisters, we are Mount Zion. New Jerusalem is the ultimate testimony of God's glory and grace, but we are a foretaste of that glorious city which is to come. We are a foretaste of that now.

We are to be the city that is set on a hill. Each and every New Testament local church is supposed to be a city that is set on a hill, a testimony of the glory of the God who saved us and washed us and changed us and made us bright and made us holy and made us so that we are not defiled anymore.

We are to be a testimony of that God who has done that in our hearts and our lives, and that is the church of Jesus Christ. We are to be that. That city, that beautiful city. David and Solomon, they saw it afar off and pressed toward its beautiful fulfillment.

David, dreaming about Jerusalem and the temple and the Shekinah glory there and the majesty of the temple and all the things that he planned for before he died. Solomon, his son, picking up the vision from his father, went on and built the city of Jerusalem to be the testimony of God upon the earth in his day.

Brothers and sisters, we are that city. David wrote these words. He knew what he was talking about. He knew what he was dreaming as he wrote them. Dreaming into the future, but also living in the reality of the present when he wrote.

In Psalm 48, verse 1, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.

God is known in her palaces for a refuge. And also, Isaiah, that great Old Testament, New Testament prophet, he said it this way so beautifully as he also longed and dreamed and prayed for a day when there would be a testimony, an unshaking testimony for the glory of His God whom he saw seated on a throne, high and lifted up.