Alright, so we'll be starting a new book on Wednesday nights. We're going to be going through the book of revelation
And so this is a book a lot of people don't try to tackle because they're very confused by the book and in today's sermon
We're not going to go over really in-depth things
We're just covering an introduction
Then we're going to go chapter by chapter for the next 22 weeks and cover through the book of revelation
And so the first thing I want you to see here is in Revelation 1 verse 1 and the first point is very
Simple this book is meant to reveal information
Not to conceal and to hide and to confuse you it's meant to reveal. Okay?
Notice what it says in verse 1. Excuse me. Hold on one second
Man, I must swallow a fly or something. I don't know
Revelation chapter 1 verse number 1 the Bible reads the
Revelation of Jesus Christ the revelation of Jesus Christ now
I've heard people say this before as well that the book of Revelation reveals information and I've heard people answer back
Well, that's just the name of the book. That doesn't mean it actually reveals information
It's like did you read the first couple words of the book of Revelation?
They get the name for the book based on the first couple words. Okay the
Revelation of Jesus Christ
so this book is
Revealing information see a lot of the dark sayings in the Old Testament in the major and minor prophets
These things are revealed in the book of Revelation. It's meant to reveal. It's not concealing or hiding information
Okay now go back to Zechariah 4
Zechariah chapter 4
So
See what you need to understand about the book of Revelation and also the New Testament just in general is the New Testament
It sheds light on the Old Testament. See a lot of the things in the Old Testament, especially with the prophets a
Lot of those things were kind of confusing
Okay, but when you read the New Testament in the book of Revelation this reveals or tells you what that's talking about
Okay. Now notice what it says in Zechariah 4
Zechariah chapter 4. Sorry Zechariah chapter 4 verse 3
Zechariah 4 verse 3 and two olive trees by it
One upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side thereof and so two olive trees are mentioned
Okay. Now when you've read the entire Bible, you know, the New Testament talks about these olive trees
Okay, but if you were just reading the Old Testament you'd be like, what are these olive trees like
What in the world is it even talking about and see Zechariah?
The one who the book was written by he thinks the same thing
Two olive trees are mentioned and he's like what in the world is that? Okay notice what it says in verse 4
So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me saying what are these my Lord?
So Zechariah says what are these olive trees? I don't know what this is
Okay, now you'd figure when he's asking this question. What are these the answer would come right but notice what it says in verse 5
Look what the angel responds to him
Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me knowest thou not what these be and I said no my Lord
And so the angel responds to what are these olive trees is you don't know what these olive trees are Zechariah
He's like no, and that's the answer. He doesn't give it an answer
He's like, you know, you don't know what these are and he's like, no, I don't that's why I'm asking you
What are these olive trees see the book of Zechariah? It's not revealing the information
It is concealing it to some degree in the Minor Prophets. Not everything's all that clear
Okay, but see the book of Revelation it sheds light it
Reveals the dark sayings from the Old Testament and so Zechariah is really burdened about this
He's like, what are these olive trees? So in verse 11, they have another conversation about these olive trees verse 11
Then answered I and said unto him
What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
And see he did not get an answer the first time and he wants to know what are the olive trees?
He's asking the angel verse 12 and I answered again and said unto him
What be these two olive trees which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves and notice
What it says in verse 3 and this is the angel speaking and he answered me and said
Knowest thou not what these be and I said no my lord
So it's the same exact thing Zechariah hears about these two olive branches and he's wondering
What are these olive branches and the angel says you don't know what these olive branches are. He's like, no I don't
Then later on in the chapter
He's like, you know, what are these two olive branches and the angel once again says you don't know what these are
It's like no, I don't okay. He doesn't actually give him the answer there. Okay, notice what it says in verse 14
He gives a bit of an answer then said he these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole
Earth, okay
Now here's the thing if you were to just read the Old Testament alone
That is all the information you would get you would have no idea
But if you've read the entire Bible and studied it out, you're gonna know this is Moses and Elijah
Okay, that's what I believe. It is Moses and Elijah because it talks about it in the Gospels
It talks about it in Revelation
They mentioned the signs and wonders that those two did but you would not know that from the Old Testament alone
See what I want you to understand is that in this time of human history
You have more access to knowledge than any time ever
You can know more about the Bible than at any time in human history and as we get closer to the times of
Revelation the information is gonna make more sense
Okay, see a hundred years ago when you talked about this
Antichrist and these things being seen by everybody in the world
People would be like how in the world could everybody see this but now we have cell phones. There's TVs
There's the Internet look everybody has access to information all at once if some celebrity dies in the next couple minutes
But we could all be talking about it right after the service because someone checks in their cell phone and you find out somebody died
And then everybody's talking about it immediately in the past you wait for the newspapers
Okay, you wouldn't know this stuff immediately in today's world in time
information is more accessible than ever before and the events of Revelation and
Daniel and Zechariah
These things will make more and more and more sense as we get closer to the end times see
There's a wrong philosophy from a lot of people a lot of Baptists that you know what the revelation is just so confusing
How in the world could you understand the book of Revelation?
but the first two words of the book of Revelation prove you can understand it because it says the
Revelation which means the information is being revealed
Not concealed okay turn to Daniel 12 Daniel 12
Sadly in a day where we have more access to knowledge and we have Bibles on our smartphones
You know Bibles all over you're on the internet. You can pull up the the whole Bible
You can listen to audio Bibles yet in today's world. We probably know less about the Bible than any time
It's amazing how little people know about the Bible you go soul winning and some people don't even know what Noah
It's like you don't know Noah's Ark. You don't know about the flood
They don't know these basic things that it used to be everybody knew about and it's it's it's sad
That's the way it is but look as Christians as believers that have the whole Bible and we get closer to
Revelation the events that you read about in Daniel and Zechariah, you know what honestly you can make sense of those with the whole
Word of God, it's going to tie together
It's gonna make sense and you're gonna see that over these next 23 weeks
Okay, but I want you to realize first off that the book of Revelation is revealing information
It's not concealing it and I've heard people make this joke before generally Baptist pastors
And they're kind of make fun of you
If you say you know what because we believe in a post-trib rapture, okay
Now most people don't believe in a post-trib rapture, but we're we're just upfront about what we believe, okay
We're not going to shy away and we can prove it to you from the Word of God and some people believe
Like a pre-trib rapture some people believe in a mid-trib rapture
We believe in a post-trib pre-wrath. It's before the wrath of God
But it's after the tribulation. Okay, the confusion comes in because people think the seven-year period is all God's wrath and
Tribulation that's not what the Bible teaches and we're gonna see that in this series
Okay
But what I want you to understand is this I've heard Baptist pastors kind of make fun of you when you say well
It's a post-trib, you know, I can show you in the Bible
They'll say well, you know what?
I believe in a some believe in a pre-trib rapture some believe in mid-trib some believe in post-trib
But I believe in a pan-trib rapture and then they want you to say like what's a pan-trib rapture?
And I've heard this joke like 20 times. Okay, and then they'll say well, you know
I have no idea but it's all gonna pan out in the end and they say that to kind of make you feel
Like oh, whoops. I'm so foolish to think I can understand what the the Bible says in the book of Revelation
Look the book of Revelation it says the revelation of Jesus Christ and look there are
Confusing things in the book of Revelation, but the timing of the rapture is not confusing. It's very
understandable, okay
Now notice what it says in Daniel 12 verse 8 Daniel 12 verse 8
I'll show you another example of a great man of God who didn't even understand the things that he was writing about
Okay, Daniel 12 verse 8 and I heard
But I understood not
Then said I oh my lord what shall be the end of these things and so Daniel's a great man of God
So when he hears the Word of God, and he doesn't understand he wants it revealed to him
He wants to know what it's saying now look as believers
We should be the same way when you read the Bible and you do not understand something
You should pray to God and ask what is this talking about?
That does not mean it's gonna be revealed immediately, but usually if you keep reading the Bible you're gonna find the answer
Okay, we have access to the Word of God and the knowledge of God, but sometimes it takes a little bit of time
Okay, this is not like a 2 plus 3 math problem
There's some deep things in the Bible, and I'm glad because it keeps it exciting okay, but notice what he said
What shall be the end of these things and he said go thy way Daniel for the words are closed up and sealed
Till the time of the end and what Daniel is told is you know what I'm just not giving you the information
You're not going to understand this
We can understand more about the end times than Daniel that wrote about the end times
That's pretty exciting to think about we can understand more than in any time in human history and as we get closer to the end
things like you know the United Nations and just you know the the
LGBT agenda and just basically all these religions because hundreds of years ago
Or even a hundred years ago the Pope and the Catholic Church said there is no salvation outside of the Catholic Church
But now the Pope is just getting together with Muslims and Buddhists and Hindus
And it makes sense to us as believers when you know the Word of God this big
Ecumenical movement to go against God's people it makes sense
Okay as we're getting closer to the end times we can see how these things are unfolding this is revealed to us
But not to Zachariah
Not to Daniel
But it is to us and look there is no excuse as a saved person
Who hears this kind of preaching and you know you need to read the Bible to not actually find out what the Bible's speaking about
You need to read the Bible for yourself not just five minutes a day, but dig into the Word of God
Okay take it seriously love the Word of God why because God wrote this to be revealed to you
But if you do not read it you're just not going to know turn in your Bible to Genesis 6 Genesis 6
When my wife and I first started talking you know this was the topic that you know we kind of disagreed about I've mentioned
This before in sermons, but about the the rapture and the timing of the rapture and you know my wife
You know eventually she became post-trib pre-wrath you know like we believe at this church
You know I showed her what the Bible said and you know she had the same response
I've heard from a lot of people that have kind of shown the chapters like 2nd Thessalonians 2 Matthew 24
Revelation 6 and 7 she was basically like man
It's so obvious how did I never understand this because honestly when you hear false views about Revelation you're just confused
Probably many of you in this room grew up in a Baptist Church learning about the pre-trib rapture
And when you read the book of Revelation you're like man. I just don't see it
It's like where is it? I'm just confused, and you're like man. I can't even understand the book of Revelation
It's just too complicated
It's the end times
But yet the first two words of revelation would disagree with that statement it would tell you that you can understand because it says
the revelation of Jesus Christ and when you're indwelled with the spirit of truth as the Bible says and
God is revealing the information to you when you read the book of Revelation
You can understand it, and it's honestly not that complicated
Okay, now. I'm not saying there aren't some dark things in the book of Revelation, but by and large
It's pretty understandable when you read the book of Revelation and as you're gonna see during this series especially as we get to chapters
Six and seven and you're really understanding the timing you're gonna be like man
This makes a lot of sense okay, so the first point we have tonight is this
The book of Revelation it is revealing information, but the second thing
I want to talk about is this why does the end of the world even come?
Okay, because science will tell you we can only live for a certain amount of time
And we're just gonna overheat or we're gonna die up
But see the Bible says there's gonna be no end of heat and cold of summer and winter until the very end
Okay, the Bible would disagree with that statement
But science will tell you we can only last a certain period of time
That's global warming is not going to end this world my friend
Now God will send a global warming eventually okay
But global warming as the scientists say is not going to end this world because God promised in the book of Genesis
That wouldn't take place
God is going to end the world though, and it's not due to the world overheating
It's due to wickedness and sin that's taking place and see that is what's gonna
Actually in this world is the wickedness of man say how do you know that because in Genesis 6 we see the pattern of God
Notice what it says in Genesis 6 verse 5
Genesis 6 verse 5 and
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every
Imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually
And so what we see in Genesis 6 verse 5 is that basically God looks down at man
He looks down on the earth, and he says it's wicked. It's filled full of sin
Okay verse 6 and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth
And it grieved him at his heart by the way this has nothing to do with a sermon
But this is the first time you see the word repent in the Bible and the first time you see repent in the Bible
It's God repenting right that kind of has to change your definition of all repentance is turning from your sins
So God is turning from his sins. I didn't know God was a sinner
Right because all of us we sin from time to time, but I didn't know God sent
But if you're gonna actually take this definition of repenting means to turn from your sins
Apparently God is a sinner know what God is doing is he's changing his mind, and he says you know what?
I'm gonna start over because everyone has gotten wicked and oftentimes in the Bible when God basically gives certain things
He says I'll do this as long as you obey if you don't obey
Israel then you're done, okay, there's an example okay notice what it says in verse 7 verse 7 and
The Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth both man
And beast and the creeping thing in the fowls of the air for repenteth me that I have made them
God says he's gonna destroy man. Why did it just get really hot on earth?
I mean just global warming right okay because honestly from Genesis
1 to Genesis 6 a lot of time actually goes by in human history the book of Genesis covers a lot of ground in human
History did it just get really hot and God had to start over no it's because of sin
It's because of wickedness go down to verse 11 verse 11
The earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence and God looked upon the earth and behold
It was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth and God said unto Noah the end of all
Flashes come before me so basically he's going to end he's going to destroy everybody except Noah and his family
Why?
For the earth is filled with violence
Through them and behold I will destroy them with the earth God says I am going to destroy this world because
They're wicked okay look you have to understand in today's world. We're getting to that point
We're not getting more godly with each passing year
2020 it's going to be a more wicked year than 2019 which was a more wicked year than 2018
Which was a more wicked year than 2017. It's getting worse and worse and worse and worse
Look when I talk to people that are from the Philippines and were born here people at this church
You say you know what you when you grew up. You didn't see guys running around wearing dresses, right?
I can't even imagine the Philippines without seeing guys wear dresses because you see that all the time
That's the only Philippines
I know since I visited and look it's gotten a lot worse since even 2014 when I first visited here
But look the only Philippines. I know is seeing a bunch of guys wearing dresses
Are we getting more godly with each passing year?
Do you is any country getting more godly see the reason why we're getting more ungodly is you know the television?
The movies the music and look the smartphones are not making people more godly
Now they're helpful you have the audio Bible on there you can pull up the Bible
But look that is making people more and more wicked with each passing year
Look little kids have access to pornography in their hands at the age of eight and their parents give them that access
They say here's a cell phone
I'm not going to pay attention to what you're watching and they wonder why all these kids are being born out of wedlock and
Basically all this wickedness has taken place. It's like you're giving them access at a young age
You're supposed to be parenting them and preventing them from having that access. Okay, turn to Genesis 18 Genesis 18
And so as the world is getting worse and worse and worse
It fits God's pattern of the fact that when it gets really wicked
He's going to destroy it
Okay, and look we're getting closer and closer to that point now
Look, I have always been someone that said I do not believe this will happen during my lifetime
But I must admit that over the last 10 years, especially with the LGBT agenda. It is accelerating like this
For those of you that like math. I was a math teacher. Like this is how the curve looks like
It's not like it's just slowly increasing. No, this is concave up my friend
It's getting worse and worse and worse. Okay, it's getting worse and worse until the very end. It's accelerating
That's the way the world is getting and you don't notice it from day to day
But look we are rapidly getting worse and worse and worse just in my lifetime
It's changed quite a bit
You could go a hundred years ago go on youtube and look at a time lapse of a city
Look at a time lapse of new york city or san francisco
Okay from a hundred years ago and it will show you the people and what you're going to see is all the ladies are
wearing long dresses
And they look like women they're acting like women. You're not going to see any guys wearing dresses
But now in today's world
Boy, it's everywhere. It's getting worse and worse and worse. That's only a hundred years
Just imagine another hundred years. It's hard to even fathom what the world's going to be like genesis 18
genesis 18 verse 31
Genesis 18 verse 31 you say brother stucky. How do we spare the country then?
Because obviously we're getting more and more wicked
But I would like god to spare the philippines from being destroyed in this world as long as possible
I want to live and die an old man. I want to have grandkids and see my kids grow up
I don't want this world to just end in five years, but there actually is a way we can spare this world
Okay, verse 31 genesis 18 verse 31
And he said behold now I have taken upon me to speak unto the lord per adventure
There shall be 20 found there. This is referring to 20 saved people
And he said I will not destroy for 20 sake and god says you know what if we can find just 20 saved people
I will not destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah just 20 people, okay
Now look abraham obviously knows this pretty wicked because he starts at 50 and he keeps going down like 50
You know 45 40 30 20 notice what it says in verse 32
And he said oh let let not the lord be angry and i'll speak yet
But this once per adventure 10 shall be found there and he said I will not destroy it for 10 sake
You can't find 10 saved people in sodom and gomorrah, I mean it doesn't tell us the population
But look that's showing you a very small percentage of that area is saved
But if there was a larger percentage of people that were saved god would have spared sodom and gomorrah even though it was wicked
He said we want to spare the philippines. We want to spare metro manila
We need to go and do soul winning get people saved and god actually will spare it
And look these baptists they get mad at us that don't do any soul winning
They want to spare this world. They say we're ruining it by preaching hard against sin
Why don't you spare this world by joining us with soul winning?
That is what's going to spare it. Okay when soul winning is taking place
That is how we can spare this world and spare this country turn in nahom chapter three nahom chapter three
But the sad reality was that sodom and gomorrah was destroyed because of sodomy and wickedness
It was a wicked country and it was destroyed and I want you to see it name chapter three
Name chapter three so part of sparing this world in this country is basically getting people saved
And the other part is when righteousness is taking place
Not just that people are saved but that basically there's not filthiness and wickedness going on
Okay, because sodom was destroyed not just because there was few people saved
Look, there's areas of this world where there's few people saved. There's somebody saved in every country in the world
But there's areas that have few people saved
But sodom and gomorrah was not just they had few people saved they were also incredibly wicked. Okay name chapter three verse one
Name chapter three verse one referring to ninnova. Woe to the bloody city
It is all full of lies and robbery the prey departeth not
And see because ninnova was a wicked country a wicked city within the the asyrian empire. They were destroyed. Okay
So if we want to spare this world
What you do is you do a lot of soul winning and you preach hard against sin
And you get churches started and they do likewise in their areas and they can spare those areas from god's judgment
If that's not taking place, then god's judgment is going to go forth. That's what took place in the flood
That's what took place with sodom and gomorrah with ninnova
And look we're getting to the point of this world where it's getting worse and worse and worse and worse
There is no country that's getting better
You say prove that to me from the bible the bible says that when we get closer to the end
It will wax worse and worse
Evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse and this world's going to wax worse and worse
Okay, and that is what we see in this world. It's getting more wicked people aren't reading the bible in today's world
They're by and large not really going soul-winning most churches turn to matthew 24 matthew 24
Hey look I want you to understand I became an independent fundamental baptist when I was 19
And look when I was 19 years old and I was visiting churches that I was considering being a part of
This is just 16 years ago 15 16 years ago
Look those churches the ifb churches in west virginia. They all went soul-winning
Every single one. I remember showing up at the soul-winning time
There's like 30 people from the church going soul-winning you go to the same church 10 years later and there's like two
in like 10 years
Churches are not going so anymore, but you know, they used to
Churches old ifb churches used to all go soul-winning being old ifb did not just mean you're king james only
It also meant you actually went soul-winning you believed in soul-winning you're knocking doors and people are like, oh man
Not the baptists again
The baptists are at our doors again see in today's world. They think it's the johovah's witnesses
Yeah, I mean even the philippines the johovah's witnesses are out and about and people say oh man the johovah's witnesses again
Look I wish they would say oh no the baptists again
It's like how many times are you going to knock my door until you get saved?
We'll stop we'll we'll agree once you get saved. We'll stop knocking that door. Okay, but we want to get everybody saved
But that is the reality that when it comes to baptist churches, they're not going soul-winning anymore
And look our church is going soul-winning and we believe in that but look churches used to go soul-winning
And I saw that when I was 19 years old
That all the churches were going soul-winning and it's just died down through the last 15 years
You say why because when people are living more sinful and worldly lives, they won't want to go soul-winning
And churches are getting very worldly. They're getting very sinful the pastor preaches on nothing
People don't get sent out of their lives. They never feel guilty in church. They never make any changes
They're never motivated to read the bible and then they're never motivated to go soul-winning
That's the result of it
But I want you to understand point number three
God is long suffering for the gospel
God is long suffering for the gospel and look things might get pretty bad before god destroys it
And the reason why is because god wants the gospel everywhere in the world
Okay, matthew 24 verse 14 matthew 24 verse 14
In this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for witness onto all nations
And then shall the end come okay now I want you to understand something that if you look throughout the bible
The word of god is already in all of the world
Okay, there's plenty of verses that prove that the name of jesus is everywhere
There are saved people everywhere think of rahab the harlot
There are saved people that exist everywhere when the gospel is being preached in all the world
I don't think it just means oh there's one or two saved people in this area in this city
Or there's like 27 saved people. I think it means the gospel is being preached everywhere around the world
Now there are some countries where there's really not much of an open door
And I don't know if that means god's going to open up the doors of a place like north korea where you're going to get killed
I don't really know
But the reason why god is being long suffering and he's going to let it get really wicked is because of the fact
He wants the gospel to go in all of the world
Okay, now wherever you live because we still have people here from the missions trip
You need to go home and take that deal with you
And preach in the area that you live in
Okay preach the gospel why this gospel needs to go in all of the world, okay turn to james chapter five james five
And look praise the lord for the online ministry, I think it's great
I love the fact that we're able to put our preaching online and there's other great churches that have their sermons online
But don't use that as an excuse to not bring the gospel to people
Don't think that online ministry is going to reach all the world
No
God's not going to bless a church that refuses to go soul winning and just says we'll just get people to listen to our sermons
Do you realize how few people actually get saved from the first time they hear the gospel from online?
Look, I remember I met somebody in west virginia. This person goes to
Mountain baptist church pastor jason robinson and you know, I saw that we were common
We had common friends, you know that I had a common friend of pastor anderson from somebody
I went to I live in the same city as bridgeport west virginia and bridgeport west virginia is a very small town
I mean there's like 10 000 people and I was like man
There's another pastor anderson listener and the church I was going to was 45 minutes away
So I sent this guy a message on a saturday and I said, hey, I saw your friends with pastor anderson
You know looks like you're an online listener
I said we got a people group of people that go soul winning here in morgan town that listen online
You know, we love the online ministry and you know, I invited him to church
He messaged me back that next night. He says i'll be there tomorrow and he came the next day
He came to church. He drove 45 minutes to church and he came and he went soul winning with me that day
Well, I didn't realize this but two years later. He told me, you know, he messaged me online because I was living in sacramento, california
He's like I just wanted to let you know
That you know, i've been listening to pastor anderson for a couple years
But when I visited that church, I realized when I went soul winning with you and I heard you give the gospel
I realized I wasn't saved. He's like you actually got me saved
And it was like this person had listened online for almost two years
But here's what you need to understand when people are listening online oftentimes. They're listening to like the book of revelation
Not like how to be saved why that seems more exciting to people people figure
Oh, I already got this figured out how to be saved. Just live a good life, right?
Live a good life and i'm gonna go to heaven. That's what people think. They think yeah
Yeah, believe in jesus, you know and follow the commandments of god, right? That's what they think
So they oftentimes they don't really watch that stuff
They just look on the stuff like the end times and the interesting stuff
That's why you know a lot of people watch people like jean kim
That have this that talk about aliens in their sermons like oh, wow, that's interesting. Is that in the bible?
No, it's not. Okay
it's not in the bible, but
People watch the stuff on the end times and oftentimes, you know what?
They don't watch the stuff on salvation because they just aren't as excited about that
So look people listen the online ministry. It doesn't necessarily mean they're saved
And oftentimes they need to hear the gospel presentation many times when they hear it online because it's much more
Impactful when you talk to them one on one and you can look in their eyes
And you can see their emotion and you can see the parts
They're not sure about and you can spend a couple extra minutes if necessary
To make sure they get it it has far more impact in person than just hearing it online
Now people can get saved from an online presentation
I'm, just telling you it's a lot less likely. So do not think the online ministry is reaching all the world
You're not going to reach the area you live in by just having them watch sermons online
No, you have to actually go soul winning if you want to actually get people saved
Otherwise, it's going to be far less people saved james 5 verse 7
And look i'm sure that story is with a lot of people they listen in the i'm sure even in this room
There's probably people in this room that did get saved from the online ministry, but it probably wasn't in week one
Probably wasn't in week two
Probably wasn't in month one month
It was probably you know a year or two years and then all of a sudden you're like
Oh, wow, because you were so confused on repentance of sins that you just didn't know
That's probably the reality
But you know when we talk to people one on one man in 15 minutes people can literally change their perspective on eternity and get saved
Okay, james five verse seven james five verse seven
Okay
Be patient therefore brethren onto the coming of the lord james chapter five is actually a chapter about the end times
Okay
James 5 verse 7 be patient therefore brethren onto the coming of the lord referring to when the lord's going to come back
behold the husbandman waiteth
For the precious fruit of the earth now us as believers
We know the bible says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise
We're being told to be patient for the precious fruit of the earth, okay
And hath long patience the husbandman waited for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it
Until he received the early and latter rain, okay
Now i'm not positive if the symbolism i'm about to say makes full sense, but this is how I read this
When I think of early rain, I kind of think of a gospel presentation or a person who gets saved very easily
There's a little bit of rain and then all of a sudden boom they get saved
But the latter rain could be someone like your father that has to hear the gospel like 12 times before he gets saved
And it basically gets watered. It gets watered and watered. It's not the early rain that gets that person saved
It's the latter rain of the rain coming over and over and over again
And see god is long suffering and he wants to give everybody a shot because some people get saved like this
some people don't
When I heard the gospel it took more than an hour to get me saved
You know, praise the lord
It was a close friend of mine in college who gave me the gospel because I was just arguing with him
For like an hour and I don't know how long until basically I just realized man
I don't know what i'm talking about and I ended up getting saved
But look some people they need to hear the gospel over and over and over turn to first peter three first peter three
And so the first point we had was simply this that the book of revelation reveals information
It does not conceal information. It reveals information
The second point is we talk about why does the end come and that is because this world is getting very wicked
Okay point three god is long suffering for the gospel
Okay, and as a church that is our number one goal is to get the gospel everywhere in the world
Starting here, but reaching out to other areas as well
Point four let me go over some reasons why it's important to know the book of revelation
And understand because some people feel like well, you know what the book of revelation is just going to happen
Why do we really need to study this? How is this practical to my life?
What's the purpose of even knowing about the book of revelation?
Let me give you three practical points of why you need to understand and know the book of revelation
Number one is this it's mentioned a lot in the bible
It's mentioned throughout the bible. Look if it's not important, then why does the bible always talk about it?
It's not just the book of daniel and revelation
Right. I just showed you james five that is about the end times primarily in james chapter five the minor prophets
Zachariah and those books they talk about the end times a lot and even a lot of books that are basically not
Fully about the end times oftentimes they talk about the end times as well with symbolism the minor prophets the major prophets
Look, this is throughout the bible
And if you don't understand the book of revelation
You can forget about understanding daniel
And books like zekio and isaiah and a lot of chapters in the bible
And so number one the reason why you need to know this is it's throughout the bible and if god mentions it a lot
It must be important
Even if you don't understand why it's important god mentions it a lot
And and also this realize as we get closer to the end times. Do you think it's going to become more important or less important?
more important
Because of the fact we're getting closer to those things look
It's when it comes to the end times
It's not that the world is just a normal place and then overnight it goes from being normal to really weird
No, you you basically get worse and worse and worse
Okay, so you're getting closer to that point
Okay, it's not that it just goes from being normal then just boom. It's wicked. No, we're getting more wicked
So we're getting closer to the end times. We're getting closer to those events taking place. Okay, so that's why it's important also
Look it's relevant to our lives to understand just things that are going on in this world today
Look when it comes to the united nations and the wars that are going on
And how the media is always trying to push, you know an anti-muslim like the u.s
Versus the islam always as opposed to israel and things such as that these things tie in with the end times
It's going to help you understand realize satan is the god of this world
And he has a goal of brainwashing you
Okay, but I want you to understand that the book of revelation is going to help make sense to these events that are taking place
It's going to make more sense. You can look at things that are happening in politics the united nations the lgbt agenda
Why is this world getting more wicked? What is the reason what does this mean to us?
Look those things on tv. They make sense to people like us
They don't make sense to the average world because they don't know the bible
But we as god's people we ought to know these things when it comes to having a one world currency and things such as that
All these religions getting together all these religions waiting for basically the anti-christ to come
You know, i've talked to muslims door to door and they described you about this coming one one day
That's going to bring peace to the world
and I remember I was so in with pastor jason robinson one time and he's just talking to us about
The the one who's going to come back that they believe he goes on for five minutes
We're just like man. He's just describing the anti-christ
He's going to bring peace to the earth. He's going to unite everybody
We're like you're describing the anti-christ, but that's not just islam. It's also hinduism
It's it's all of these religions and look it makes sense why they're teaching that and they believe that
If you understand the book of revelation, that's why it's important
Okay, and look we live in the last days and we're getting close and it's going to be more important
But also turn to first peter three and let me say this
Another reason why it's important is because people will ask you about the end times a lot
That is like the people's most interesting topic. Everybody wants to know about the end times
Okay, first peter three verse 15 first peter three verse 15
The bible says but sanctify the lord god in your hearts
And be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness
And fear and see the bible says that when people are going to basically bring questions to you and talk about things
You need to be ready to answer them and look people will ask you about the end times all the time
That is the topic people always ask about they're always curious about the end times
Okay, and so if people are going to ask you about that you need to know what the answer is
And look when your co-worker asks you about the book of revelation
And you just in a couple minutes kind of explain some basic things because you understand it. They're going to be like wow
That is really interesting that makes a lot of sense and that might be a good way to bring somebody to church
Okay, so this would be a great series to bring people to church
Okay, and also this when it comes to the end times in the book of revelation
This is going to help destroy a lot of false doctrines
Because the book of revelation is a book that people do not understand
This is where false doctrines and false religions go crazy
They go to the book of revelation and they take advantage of people for being a little bit bobo
That's the reality they go to the book of revelation because they know people just don't really read the book of revelation
And they don't understand the book of revelation and they'll pull out these vague verses and that's where you get a lot of false doctrines
They're using these verses that people just aren't aware about they don't know how to answer them
But look we need to answer every single part of the bible. Okay now turn your bible to act 16 act 16
Acts chapter 16
So point number one we learned here tonight was this that the book of revelation it is revealing information. It's not concealing
It's not hiding information. It's actually revealing information
Okay, it's going to help reveal the old testament and the minor prophets in the book of daniel and so point number two
We talked about why the the end of the world even comes and that is due to wickedness and sin taking place
Point three we see that god is very long suffering for the gospel
So as god's people we must understand that god might allow it to get really bad for us
The persecution might become really heavy. It might get very difficult to be someone who loves the lord in the next 50 years
And you just have to learn to live with that
Because look our our brethren in the faith from hundreds of years ago were persecuted and murdered by the catholic church
And look if they went through that we live the life of luxury in today's world
Look, there is no persecution here in the philippines for preaching the gospel you can preach to whoever you want
But look we have to be we have to realize that you know
What if people in the past went through that persecution in the next 50 years as we get close to the end times?
That persecution might come okay, we must be willing to just deal with that thing
God might allow it to get really bad. Why because we're spreading the gospel
Okay, and he wants the gospel to go out to everybody and we talked about reasons why this is important
But lastly, let me say this that when it comes to the timing of the rapture
This is not a topic worth splitting over
Say what do you mean by that? Look people that believe in a preacher rapture are welcome to come to our church
Of course they're welcome if you believe in a preacher rapture mid-trib
You're not sure you are completely welcome to come to our church
Now the reason why i'm saying this is because there are a lot of pre-trib churches that wouldn't let me come
Just because I believe in a post-trib rapture
And they literally will split over this and say you are not welcome if you believe in a post-trib rapture
It's like this is not a salvation issue, right?
Look, you can be saved and believe in a preacher rapture
There are plenty of safe people that believe in a preacher rapture or mid-trib, this is not a topic worth splitting over
Okay, act 16 verse 30
And I know these are very basic verses but act 16 verse 30
Act 16 verse 30
And brought them out and said sirs what must I do to be saved?
This is obviously the great question of life that people have what do I have to do to get to heaven?
What must I do to be saved and they said?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's that simple
Then it says in thy house and what this is saying is anybody in your house
It's the same promise if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
You'll be saved but the same thing works to anybody in your house if they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
They will be saved as well believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's that simple
Okay, that is something worth splitting over if people believe a false doctrine and a false gospel
Look people that are unsaved are welcome to visit our church
But look, we're not going to let somebody come into this church and just spread some false heresy in our church
That is something that's worth splitting over my friend verse 32
And they spake on him the word of the Lord into all that were in his house
And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized
He and all his straight way. So notice baptism happens after salvation
Okay, not to obtain salvation, but after salvation baptism happens verse 34
And we had brought them into his house
He set meat before them and rejoiced believing in God with all his house
We see everybody in that house believed as well as him and so the people that were baptized believed
Not babies. Okay. Look babies cannot believe the gospel, okay
You have to be of a certain age to basically believe that to get saved
So look, this is not a topic worth splitting over I hope
We have baptists that come to our church and are just curious that our pre-trip
Say why because quite honestly, you know what? This is not worth splitting over and let me say this
I have been soul winning with my old pastor who's a good man
I went soul with him and I heard him give the gospel and let me tell you something that gospel was not five minutes
That gospel was a 15 minute conversation and he went in depth on eternal security and i'll be honest with you
I was shocked when I heard him give the gospel. I was like man, that is some good soul winning
It was in depth and he for sure got that person saved. You know, he's pretty trip
Didn't affect his gospel presentation
Now I understand, you know, most baptists have a pretty shallow gospel when it comes to these churches, but not my old pastor
He had a very thorough gospel my old church
He had like a five-part series about why you must believe in eternal security to be saved
I mean, he's just like driving it in he's like man if there's anybody left at our church
Who doesn't give this then he had a five-part series on repentance of sins
They're like back to back me and my friends were loving every single week. You're like, this is awesome
He was pretty trim though. He didn't believe the same thing about the end times
But you know, he was fully like-minded
This goes back to what I preached about a month ago where someone like that I can fellowship with
Because I know his soul winning is real and he's getting people saved
Look, I would rather fellowship with someone like that that is actually soul winning and getting people saved
Than someone who's post-trib with a three-minute gospel
You say why because our main goal is what according to what we saw tonight to spread the gospel everywhere
And see this pastor my old pastor will help with that why he's got a good gospel
Someone who's post-trib that has a shallow gospel
He's not helping with the goal of what we have to spread the gospel everywhere
Okay, and so look when it comes to being like-minded, it's someone who's got a thorough gospel
That's part of it
Because if you don't have a thorough gospel, how many people are you really getting saved?
People do not get saved from a five-minute presentation
I'm, not going to say it's impossible because the word of god has power
But but let me tell you something i've never led someone to the lord in less than five minutes
Nor have I tried
Other than like the first month or two when I was first spreading the gospel when I was using the four spiritual laws
You know because that's what I was taught. God is a wonderful God loves you and has a wonderful plan for life
Do you believe God loves you?
Yes, and has a wonderful plan for your life. Yes, I do. That's all right. You got point one
Let's go to point two just a really, you know garbage gospel presentation is what I was taught
But look, I realize this is not actually getting these people saved
Five minutes is just not going to cut it to explain all the parts they need to understand
Okay, and so look this topic on the end times
This is not worth splitting over
And look if people come to our church and join our church in the future that are pre-trib or mid-trib
Or they're just confused about the trib look
They are welcome to come here and I am very confident that anybody that actually wants to know the truth
Will find out the book of revelations revealing it and it's very obvious to them because i'll be honest with you
When it comes to topics that are confusing in the bible, I do not believe the time of the rapture is confusing at all
I think it is incredibly clear
And i'll be and look the person who led me to the lord showed me the timing of the rapture
So he taught me this when I was probably 19 or 20 years old
He taught me the pre-wrath post-trib rapture and look I was like man, that's that's just clear
And i'll tell you this is how I got converted to a to be in pre-wrath post-trib
Because my friend showed me basically the timing of the rapture and my first reaction was this
It can't be that simple because there's so many godly people that are pre-trib. That's my first reaction
I was like I see what you're saying mike
I was like I see matthew 24 and revelation 6 and it certainly seems to line up
But if it's this obvious, how could so many people disagree with it?
And so what I did that night was I went to a pre-trib website
And I said, you know what?
I want to see the arguments on the other side and I went to the pre-trib website and I realized there are no arguments
On the other side and I remember calling my friend mike. I was like, you know what? You're right
I was like i'm post-trib
I was like it's just really obvious in the bible and look it honestly is
And you're going to see that when you come and I I encourage you to stay for this entire series
Because look, you know, you might have read the book of revelation many times and been frustrated and said I don't understand this
You know what's going on? And as you realize during this series, it's really not that confusing
It's pretty simple. It's pretty basic. It makes sense. You say why because it's the
revelation
Of jesus christ not concealing information
He's revealing information. Let's close in a word of prayer
dear heavenly father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and I just
Encourage us all to stick through this entire series and we can learn the book of revelation
I encourage us all to read it and to learn more about it and all parts of the bible are important
All parts are valuable and you talk about the end times a lot
God help us to understand this book and love this book and study this book. God, we pray these things in jesus name. Amen