So we're in Revelation chapter 3, and this is the fourth sermon through the book of Revelation because we had an introductory sermon.
And as I mentioned last week, as we're looking at the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3,
we're not going to cover every verse and every word like we often do with chapters.
And there's a couple reasons why, and one is because you've got seven different churches,
and if you wanted to accurately cover all the information, you'd really have to do a sermon series through each of those churches.
And our sending pastor right now, Pastor Jimenez, is doing a series through Revelation chapters 2 and 3 on the seven churches.
I recommend you check those out to get more information.
But what we're trying to do here with Revelation 2 and 3 is we're trying to lay just some groundwork throughout the book of Revelation.
So we have just three different points here today, and I'll just tell you right up front what those points are.
We're going to show that the Jews are not God's chosen people,
and it's very important and fundamental and foundational to understand the book of Revelation.
We're going to show also that salvation is by grace through faith, and it mentions that through the book of Revelation here.
And we're going to get rid of one of the pre-trib arguments that they have.
So go back to Revelation chapter 1 to start. Revelation chapter 1.
Revelation chapter 1 in your Bible.
And in Revelation chapter 1, let me read you verse 4 where the Bible reads,
John to the seven churches which are in Asia, which are in Asia.
So as we mentioned last week, when it says the seven churches which are in Asia, it says present tense they are in Asia.
Now look, the book of Revelation was written, you know, probably in AD around 95 is what they say.
We'll talk about that later on in the sermon actually.
And so it was written over 1900 years ago, and it's speaking to churches that existed during that time period.
They are in Asia, okay?
Now let me clarify something as I just kind of briefly covered it last week.
When we're talking about Asia here, this is not the exact same Asia that we have today, okay?
The Asia that's mentioned here is basically in the southwestern part of what is present day Asia,
right around the area of Turkey. So it's kind of right on that border.
And so basically these seven churches are in the area right around where Turkey is, okay, present day.
Now when you look at the country of Turkey, Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country.
They are 98 or 99% Muslim.
Now if you were to look at 1914 though, a hundred years ago,
it was actually 25% Christian, you know, Christian so-called in the country of Turkey based on the measurements they say.
Still not very Christian, but a lot more Christian than it is today.
But I want you to understand something, that what they say, the people that believe in the seven church ages,
they say with the church of Philadelphia that that was a time period from between 1648 to around 1900.
And they'll say that it's the church of Philadelphia, brotherly love, because they're sending missionaries all over the world.
Well, for one it said in Revelation 1 verse 4, it said, are in Asia, but here's the other thing about that.
Now the area of Turkey was more Christian, you know, a few hundred years ago than it is today.
But look, the area of Turkey was never the one sending missionaries all over the world.
That's ridiculous.
Before the United States of America was released, they were sending missionaries all over the world.
Before the United States of America was really the country sending missionaries out, it was England.
There's a reason why God gave a King James Bible, okay, in 1611.
And so from 1648 to 1900, Turkey was not just sending Christian missionaries all over the world.
Okay, that's ridiculous.
So not only do they have a problem of saying are present tense, but also the location of Asia, which is modern day Turkey,
the southwestern part of Asia, it's not a Christian area.
They weren't sending missionaries out all over the world.
Okay, now go to verse 19, Revelation chapter 1 verse 19.
Revelation chapter 1 verse 19.
We're just going to kind of quickly cover just for one or two minutes, just kind of what we talked about last week to give you an understanding about this.
Because I want to reiterate these verses that are very key, and we have a lot of information here, so I'm going to kind of go quickly.
Revelation chapter 1 verse 19.
It says, write the things which thou hast seen.
Past seen is past tense, okay.
What he's saying at the end of Revelation chapter 1, the things that you have already seen, okay, it says write those things that you have already seen from chapter 1.
We already talked about those things a few weeks ago.
Then it says the things which are, okay, which is chapters 2 and 3.
Then it says the things which shall be hereafter, okay, which is chapters 4 through 22, okay.
So Revelation 1 verse 19 is a very important verse to understand.
With chapters 2 and 3, those were present day churches 2,000 years ago.
Now turn to Revelation chapter 4 real quickly.
Revelation chapter 4.
Revelation 4.
Let me tell you something.
I want you to be able to refute this doctrine of the seven church ages, okay.
This ties into the Preacher of Rapture, and you need to understand why it's false, okay.
I'm giving you the verses that will disprove them.
But I want you to remember as you're in Revelation 4 verse 1 that at the end of Revelation 1, it said the things which are, in verse 19, and the things which shall be hereafter, okay, shall be hereafter.
Now in Revelation 4 verse 1, look at the first two words.
After this, okay, that is when we're getting to the things that are after, not the present day.
After this, okay.
But notice the end of Revelation 4 verse 1.
And I will show thee things which must be hereafter.
Boy, that sounds pretty similar to Revelation 1 verse 19 where it says the things which shall be hereafter.
It uses the same word there, hereafter.
So in Revelation 4 verse 1, it's showing us, basically we're going to the future things.
And so basically John was told come up hither, and he came in spirit, okay, which is something that occurs sometimes through the Bible.
We're going to talk about that more next week.
And then he's going to see things in the future that he's going to write down as well, okay.
But chapters 2 and 3, these were present day churches, and that's going to be very important for this sermon, okay.
Now turn to Revelation 2, Revelation chapter 2.
Revelation chapter 2.
And the first point we have is quite simply this, that the Jews are not God's chosen people.
The Jews are not God's chosen people.
Now, we've talked about that already, but I'm going to go in more detail on some of these verses because it's a theme in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.
And I think it's a theme because it's important to understand the book of Revelation.
I'm sure God knew that the pre-trib doctrine would come in in Zionism and these things to deceive people, okay.
Now look at Revelation chapter 2 verse 9. Revelation chapter 2 verse 9.
I know thy works in tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich.
And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not.
See, God says, you know what, there's a group of people that say they're Jews, but they're not actually Jews.
You say, why would people say they're Jews if they're not Jews?
Well, you know, there's actually a lot of different groups that would claim to be the modern day Jews.
The black Hebrew Israelites in America say they're the true Hebrews.
You know, the Rastafarians.
There's a lot of different groups that would claim to be Jews because a lot of people understood that it's a spiritual promise which you see throughout the Bible and we're going to talk about that, okay.
But I want you to realize this is not talking about the black Hebrew Israelites.
It's not talking about the Rastafarians who love to smoke weed.
No, notice what it says here after that.
I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Are the synagogue of Satan.
I want you to notice it says the synagogue of Satan.
Now, here's the thing about this, okay.
There's different, you know, Christian religions and so-called religions that would say they're the true Jews, but here's the thing about it.
The only ones that meet in the synagogue are the ones that we think of when we say Jews.
If you've seen the documentary, Marching to Zion, we look at the people that say we're God's chosen people, our ethnicity goes right back to the time of Abraham, we can trace our lineage, etc., etc.
That's who it's referring to, okay.
The ones that follow the Talmud, that blaspheme Jesus Christ.
Why? Because they say they're Jews, but they're the synagogue of Satan, okay.
They're the only religion that meets in a synagogue, okay, that I know of.
It's the only religion that claims to be Jews and yet they meet in a synagogue.
So God makes it clear to say the synagogue of Satan because he's making it clear, you know what, this is referring to the people that a couple hundred years ago they had the true God, they had the living God,
they had the oracles of God, but when Jesus came, the vast majority of them rejected Jesus Christ, just like they rejected all of the prophets that God sent to them, okay.
Now turn in your Bible to Revelation 3, Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3 verse 9, Revelation chapter 3 verse 9, Revelation chapter 3 verse 9.
Say, why are you focusing this against the Jews so much? You did that last week also.
Well, because in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, there's multiple verses that are talking about how the Jews are not God's chosen people.
It's foundational to understand the book of Revelation and to realize that the events of the book of Revelation are not for the Jews, okay.
These are things that are happening all over the world. Revelation chapter 3 verse 9, Revelation chapter 3 verse 9,
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, once again the synagogue of Satan, which say they are not, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie.
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee.
He says, I'm going to make them worship before your feet and know that I have loved thee, and we're going to talk about that later on in the sermon, okay.
But he says, you know what, they say they're Jews and they lie. They're not really Jews. Turn to Matthew 23, Matthew 23.
You say, why are they not Jews? Well, here's the thing, it was a spiritual promise.
And they can say they trace their ethnicity back, but let me tell you something, you're not going to run into someone that can honestly trace back their lineage 4,000 years.
And they know for sure who their great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was.
The Bible says, don't focus on genealogies in the New Testament, okay.
Matthew chapter 23, Matthew 23, verse 37, and the Bible reads, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets.
And so Jerusalem is being blamed for killing the prophets.
And throughout the Old Testament, you see that they persecuted the prophets, they killed them.
And stonest them which are sent unto thee. They killed them, they stoned them to death.
How often would I have gathered thy children together?
Now I want you to notice, he says, how often would I have gathered, that is past tense.
He's saying, I would have, in the past, gathered thy children together.
Jesus is saying, I would have gathered thy children together, but what he's implying is not anymore.
You say, why? Well, notice, even as a hen gathered their chickens under her wings and ye would not.
He's saying, you rejected being gathered. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
He says, their house is left desolate. You say, why? Because the Jews were supposed to bring forth fruit.
Remember Jesus came to the fig tree, and there was no fruit. And he cursed that fig tree. Why?
They were expected to bring forth fruit unto God, okay.
And so they were given the oracles of God. It wasn't the fact that because of their ethnicity, God loved those people.
It's just called that in that area, the oracles of God were there, and to whom much is given, much is expected.
Much is required. And they were expected to bring forth fruit, and to go soul winning, and win people to the Lord.
And they weren't getting the job done, so their house is left desolate.
Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3 in your Bible.
Galatians chapter 3. Notice what it says in verse 26.
Free ye all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Amen.
We're saved by grace through faith. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
Verse 27. For as many as you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Now I want you to notice in verse 27, it's a conjunction. It's connecting verse 26 to 27.
He's giving more clarification on verse 26. Now he's not saying in verse 27, we'll see you have to be baptized to go to heaven, okay.
He's just saying, because the word baptize or baptism means multiple things in the Bible.
He's saying basically you have to be immersed. And when you get saved, you're immersed in Christ is what he's saying.
You that have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. We're the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female.
For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise.
He says, if ye be Christ's, then you're Abraham's seed.
So I want you to understand the promise that was given was not something that you could trace back your lineage,
that your great granddad was this dedicated Jew. No, it was a spiritual promise.
And look, if ye be Abraham's seed, if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed.
So he that believeth not the Son is not Abraham's seed. It's those that believe on the Son, that believe on Christ.
Turn to Galatians 4. Galatians 4. Galatians chapter 4.
And in Galatians chapter 4, for sake of time, because I've got a lot of material here tonight, I'm not going to cover all this passage,
but I want you to go to verse 28 because what's going to happen in Galatians chapter 4 is he's going to give basically an analogy,
a description, an allegory, he says, of basically Isaac and Ishmael, and basically Sarah and Hagar.
And he talks about how Hagar and Ishmael is in bondage. I want you to notice verse 28.
Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. So this is Paul writing to the church of Galatia,
and he says, we brethren, us that are saved, as Isaac, are the children of promise.
Notice what it says in verse 29. But as then, he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit. Even so it is now.
And what the Bible says is those born after the flesh, they persecuted those born after the Spirit.
And isn't that true today? That people that are trusting in their works to get to heaven, they're persecuting those that believe on Jesus Christ.
Those that don't believe in Jesus, the false religions of the world, whether it's Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism, all over the world,
they persecute the true believers that believe on Jesus Christ.
He that is born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
And he's saying during that day 2,000 years ago, even so is it now, like it was before,
and let me tell you something, 2,000 years after the book of Galatians was written, even so it is now.
It still happens that basically people that don't believe will persecute those that do believe.
Okay, verse 30.
So then brethren, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free.
And so he gives this allegory and he's telling them it's a spiritual promise.
We, and he's referring to people that believe on Jesus, that are Christians, we are not children of the bond woman, but of the free.
So when you're looking at the true Jews or the true Jerusalem, look, it's us.
We're the true Jews because it was a spiritual promise given to Abraham, okay?
It wasn't a physical promise, it was a spiritual promise.
Turn to Revelation 2. Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2.
And so in Revelation chapter 2, let's look back at verse number 9 where it said,
I know thy works in tribulation and poverty. Revelation chapter 2, verse 9.
But thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not.
Notice verse 10.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
He mentions suffering right after in verse 9 when he talks about these people that say they're Jews and they're not.
You say, why does he do that?
I believe he does that because the persecution was probably largely coming from the Jews or to a big degree, okay?
And so I want you to realize, we're going to see during the sermon, Rome was definitely persecuting the Christians,
and they started putting out when Nero came out in the 60s AD,
a pretty heavy persecution on the Christians, and it got bigger and bigger and things such as that.
But a lot of the persecution came from the Jews.
And throughout the Bible, you're seeing the Jews predominantly persecuting the Christians.
So absolutely, it would end up coming from the Romans as well.
But honestly, throughout the Bible, it's usually the Jews.
The ones that say they're Jews, but they're not. They do lie, okay?
Now, turn to Revelation 3. Revelation 3.
So the first point we have is quite simply that the Jews are not God's chosen people.
And that means this book of Revelation was written to believers.
This is not just a book given to Jews.
Matthew 24 is not just a book given to Jews.
You know, Mark 13, Luke 21, these are written to us as believers, okay?
Now, the second thing I want to do is I want to destroy a pre-tribulation argument,
and that's found in Revelation 3, verse 10. Revelation chapter 3, verse 10.
Revelation chapter 3, verse 10.
But let me start with Revelation chapter 3, verse 9 before we get into verse 10.
And let me say that Revelation 3, 10 is oftentimes like the big heavyweight verse the pre-trib people like.
To some of them, that's their biggest argument, okay?
And next week, we'll see Revelation 4, 1, which is their other kind of big argument that they like to use.
But this is one of their biggest arguments is Revelation chapter 3, verse 10.
But look at verse 9 real quickly. Verse 9.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie.
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Okay?
Now, he's writing to a church in verse 9, the Church of Philadelphia, 2000 years ago.
And he's talking about the synagogue of Satan and these Jews,
and this is something the Church of Philadelphia dealt with during that time period.
And he tells them, you know, they're going to find out and worship at your feet.
And we're going to talk about that here in a second.
But I want you to understand, in Revelation 3, verses 9 and 10,
these are the things which are the present-day church of Philadelphia
that existed over 1900 years ago when this book was written.
These are the things which are, okay?
Not the things which shall be hereafter, okay?
So when pre-trib people like to use this verse and say,
well, see, during the rapture, you're going to escape it, okay?
No, these are the things which are, okay?
Notice verse 10.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, okay?
Now, he's speaking to a church and he's saying,
by and large, that that church just kept the word of his patience, okay?
They were living a godly life.
They were doing what was right.
They kept the word of his patience.
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.
I will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world
to try them that dwell upon the earth.
And so people that believe in a pre-tribulation rapture,
that we will escape the tribulation period
and be raptured before the tribulation happens,
they will often go to verse 10 and they'll say,
well, see, he's going to keep us from the hour of temptation.
And they'll tell you, well, that hour of temptation
is referring to taking the mark of the beast.
And if you're keeping the word of the patience of Jesus Christ,
you're going to be kept from taking the mark of the beast.
Well, here's a problem with that.
The mark of the beast is not something that's happening 2,000 years ago.
These are the things which are, not the things which shall be hereafter.
It's not saying, well, he's going to keep you from taking the mark of the beast.
Well, it doesn't say that.
You're adding to the verse with your theory.
Well, it'll say, well, maybe it's not the mark of the beast.
Maybe it's saying the seven-year period.
I will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
the seven-year period that will come upon all the world.
Once again, it doesn't say that.
And the problem is the Church of Philadelphia
probably doesn't exist today anymore in Turkey.
If anything, it's probably a mosque now.
Okay? It doesn't exist.
This is a church that existed 1,900 years ago.
Okay?
And he told those people that lived during that time period,
this was written and it was applicable to those people.
Since you've kept the word of my patience,
I will keep thee from the hour of temptation.
Okay?
Now, I want you to understand something.
Let's say that this phrase is referring to the rapture,
which they try to claim.
Basically, keeping you from the hour of temptation,
basically, you won't go through persecutions.
Okay?
Well, if that's true, you've got a problem with your salvation.
Because notice how he says,
because thou hast kept the word of my patience.
Do we have to keep the word of the patience of Jesus,
of God, to be saved?
No, we just have to believe on Jesus Christ.
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience.
It's not that they believed on Jesus.
He's saying you believed and you're actually following
and doing what was right.
You've kept the word of my patience.
Okay?
This is not a requirement for salvation.
The requirement is you receive salvation.
You believe on Jesus.
So if this was referring to the rapture,
or the mark of the beast,
you have a problem because then he would be saying,
you must keep the word of my patience
in order to escape the tribulation
or escape the mark of the beast.
So that's not what it's saying.
Okay?
Now, I want you to understand
that I've heard this verse talked about a lot,
Revelation 3, verse 10.
And usually it's by people trying to justify a pre-trib rapture.
Okay?
And, you know, when it's not about a pre-trib rapture,
people are just proving that it's not a pre-trib rapture
in this verse.
Okay?
Which is what I just talked about,
that this does not refer to a pre-trib rapture.
But I want to dig a little bit deeper
and try to find out what is this talking about.
Because I believe this was something that took place
2,000 years ago with that church of Philadelphia,
the hour of temptation that comes upon all the world.
I want to know what that's talking about.
Okay?
So let me say this, that I think we proved
that this has nothing to do with something 2,000 years later.
Because you don't have to keep the word of His patience to be saved.
Plus it does not say the hour of temptation
is the mark of the beast or the seven-year period.
It does not say that.
The Bible does not teach that.
Okay?
But what is this referring to?
Well, let me go with a few different theories here.
And there's kind of two main theories
to when the book of Revelation was written.
And the reason why there's kind of just two theories
is because people believe it was written
during a time of pretty heavy persecution.
And that makes sense,
because John had just been banished to the isle
that was called Patmos.
Okay?
And also because of the fact he said,
I'm your companion in tribulation.
So it makes sense as he's writing to these churches
about persecution they're going to go through
and these various struggles,
it makes sense that this was written
during a time of heavy persecution.
And so when you're looking,
there's kind of two possibilities.
Now, one possibility is under the reign of King Nero.
Okay?
Now, this was in the 60s AD,
and this is not the most common opinion,
and it's not what I personally believe,
but I'll give you kind of the evidence
and you can kind of decide for yourself
because the Bible doesn't specifically tell us.
Okay?
But you might have heard of King Nero before,
and usually you hear about him basically
persecuting and killing the Christians,
which is true.
But let me just read you a few other things about this guy
so you can understand how big of a reprobate
and how bad of a guy King Nero was.
King Nero, as pretty much all wicked people,
he was a sexual pervert.
He was a sexual deviant.
This included with men, women, boys.
He was a pedophile.
These things were very known.
And I want you to understand that
I'll mention kind of a few of the main thoughts
of what they've said that he did,
but I want you to realize,
even if it's not 100% true,
because we don't know if every single thing
that was written down was true,
when there's smoke, there's fire.
When there's a lot of smoke,
and a million rumors,
it means that at least some of them
have some credibility usually.
So one of the big rumors was this.
Not really a rumor.
It's known that basically he killed his wife
when she was pregnant.
And so some say that basically she lost the baby
and then he beat her,
but basically the main opinion of what he did,
when you look at historical accounts,
is he basically kicked his wife in the stomach
when she was pregnant,
and she lost the baby.
And so she ended up dying.
He ended up beating her in the stomach.
He ended up dying,
he ended up beating her too,
and she ends up losing the baby, okay?
After this event, he became very sad.
He actually mourned her death,
even though it's very likely that he's the one who killed her.
Now, there are some people that say she died during labor,
and she died as well as the child,
and he was really sad afterwards.
And so there's kind of different opinions,
but most believe he murdered his wife.
That's what most historical accounts say.
Well, after that, though,
after he becomes sad,
it's known to be very true, okay?
There's a lot of evidence of this,
that basically he ends up marrying this boy,
this male,
that kind of resembles his wife,
and I guess she had some facial features
that resembled his wife.
And this guy's name is Sporus, S-P-O-R-U-S, okay?
So he marries this boy,
but before he does that,
he wants her to resemble his wife as much as possible,
and he castrates this boy, okay,
makes him a eunuch,
and then he marries him.
In public, Sporus would kind of go out
looking like a woman,
like a cross-dresser, okay?
And this is the person that he was with.
Look, King Nero was an extremely wicked person.
He was a deviant.
He was a weirdo.
He was wicked.
And look, he also murdered his mom, okay?
His mom murdered to get him on the throne,
and there's a lot of disgusting, wicked rumors
I'm not going to go into,
but then he did murder his mom, okay?
And that's known.
It's an established fact,
and he tried to kill her,
and she was smart,
and she survived it when she was out on a ship,
and then all of a sudden,
he realized that,
and he sent someone to kill her, okay?
But he murdered his mom, okay?
So this was a really, really bad guy.
But how this pertains to the Book of Revelation is this.
There was a great fire in the 60s AD
called the Great Fire of Rome.
This fire burned down two-thirds of Rome.
It lasted for nine whole days.
It was really going strong for six days,
and it kind of fizzled out.
It was contained but still burned a little bit for three days.
And so for nine days,
this burned through Rome,
and two-thirds of Rome was destroyed.
It was known as the Great Fire of Rome.
Now, there is a dispute
of whether or not King Nero was there when it happened or not
because most historical accounts say that he started the fire,
and I'll explain why in a second, okay?
But I want you to realize
that even if King Nero wasn't there when it burned,
he still could have just told someone to do the job.
And basically, he looks innocent
because he's not there when it happens.
He could have easily hired someone,
and there's reports of him hiring drunk people,
hiring people, paying them money, and things such as that.
And so most reports say he didn't personally do it
but that he paid someone to do it.
That's what was believed during that time period.
Most people believed that even though he never admitted that.
And so basically, there's a debate
about whether or not he was there or not when it took place, okay?
And another rumor that is there
is that he was there when the burning happened,
and he played on his fiddle or lyre while it was burning
and basically celebrating about Rome burning down.
This is the emperor of Rome, okay?
Now, that's actually where we get the expression
about don't fiddle around, you know,
don't play around, don't waste your time, don't fiddle around.
This comes from actually King Nero,
who supposedly was actually playing his fiddle
and celebrating as Rome was burning down,
and he was watching it burn down.
And so is that true?
You know, it's hard to tell whether all that's true,
but why would he celebrate?
Well, I'll tell you this.
After this event, he used this as his means
to persecute and murder and kill all the Christians, okay?
He went after them after this.
He blamed this fire on the Christians,
and this is something that a lot of governments do.
They will basically start a disaster,
they'll blame one side for doing it,
and they have the justification to go for war.
Look, I've seen it in the United States of America
plenty of times in my lifetime, okay?
This takes place, empires, kingdoms,
people will always do these sorts of things, okay?
You see this take place in countries
where they will cause a disaster
to have a means to do something.
So he used this event to try to persecute the Christians
as he blamed them, and people got behind him on it.
And not only that,
he also built like a really grand palace.
He basically used the money that he raised
as a result of this, people wanted to rebuild it,
and he rebuilt it and made it bigger and better than before.
And so when people saw that, they said,
well, it seems like he was pretty ready to do this.
It seemed like he had a plan in action,
and it's believed that he actually burned it down,
but it led to this great persecution of Christians.
And so some people say, and some people believe
that Nero was the Antichrist and things such as that.
Obviously that's not true,
but I want you to realize during this time period,
I'm sure the Christians probably believed
this is the end of the world.
You say, why?
Because they're getting mass murder, okay?
And I think there's a reason why
God said in 2 Thessalonians,
he said, let no man deceive you by any means,
for that day shall not come except there come
a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition, who so opposeth
and exalt himself above all that is Christ
or is called Christ.
And it says then so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God,
okay, declaring himself to be God, okay,
in the temple of God.
And so what Paul was reminding them is,
hey, this isn't taking place in the temple.
This isn't taking place in the temple,
so we know that this isn't the antichrist.
Because people thought King Nero was the antichrist.
But Paul is saying, you know, there's specific signs
of what actually is gonna be revealed, okay?
And those things hadn't taken place.
So it was a great persecution on Christians,
but it wasn't like it says in 2 Thessalonians 2.
And so he says, don't think that the day of Christ
is at hand that it's about to take place.
And so Christians were going through mass persecution
and the Roman Empire in addition to from the Jews.
But here's the thing.
I don't believe that persecution from what I've read
was a worldwide persecution, okay?
I don't believe that it was a worldwide persecution
to execute all Christians.
I believe it was more localized.
And what it said in Revelation 3.10
is this temptation which will come upon all the world,
not just in part of the world, but all the world, okay?
So that leads to another character named Domitian, okay?
Domitian.
Now, Domitian came about 30 years later.
And, you know, I'll tell you,
I believe that this verse in Revelation 3.10,
I believe it's referring to the reign of this person, okay?
I can't prove all this stuff historically.
You know, we don't know for sure all this is true.
I'm not saying it's in the Bible.
But let me give you a few facts,
a few things that would line up
with maybe this worldwide persecution happening
during the time of Domitian, okay?
Now, historical accounts will say that John was sent
to the Isle of Patmos in 94 AD by Emperor Domitian, 94 AD.
Now, accounts say that John would die
between the next four to six years.
Some said 98 AD, some said 100 AD.
So he was not in the Isle that was called Patmos
for a long time when he wrote the book of Revelation.
He was just there for kind of a short time probably, okay?
And then it says this,
John supposedly wrote Revelation in either 95 AD or 96 AD.
Now, I do believe this makes sense.
I think 95 AD probably makes a lot of sense,
and it would make sense with the persecution
that was going on in the world at that time, okay?
Let me tell you a few things about this guy Domitian.
This is a man who claimed the title Dominus et Du,
which means Lord and God.
That's how he wanted to be referred to.
This was very common for a lot of Roman emperors
when they kind of looked at themselves as gods.
Like, they were the Lord, they were the God,
they owned the world, they could do no wrong,
and this is how that he would refer to himself.
Now, let me say this.
Most historical accounts say this information is true.
There are always some that say,
well, you know, I don't necessarily think he was as evil
as they say in history.
We can't necessarily know 100% for sure that this is true.
I'm just kind of giving you general information here.
Now, according to some historians,
Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted
toward the end of Domitian's reign from 89 AD to 96 AD.
So for those seven years,
Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted, okay?
Now, I'll be honest with you,
that sentence came from Wikipedia,
and that sentence really made me think
that what I'm thinking here of Revelation 3, verse 10 is true,
where it says Jews and Christians,
and I'll explain it in a second, okay?
Now, what I basically believe is that John,
during persecution, was sent to the isle that is called Patmos,
and he wrote the book of Revelation.
He's sending it out to the churches,
and what they say about Domitian,
what it said was during his last seven years,
from 89 AD to 96 AD,
the persecution was extremely heavy
that he was giving towards Christians.
He was murdering lots of Christians.
So I believe John wrote the book of Revelation
during pretty big persecution.
He had just been banished,
and he sends it out to the churches
and was told the Church of Philadelphia is,
there is an hour of temptation coming upon all the world.
Now, as he's writing that, I want you to realize,
I don't think he's writing that for something
that would take place 100 years down the road.
Why? It's supposed to be applicable
with the Church of Philadelphia.
I think what he's telling them is,
there is an hour of temptation coming upon all the world
basically in a short amount of time.
And what I believe is that Domitian
was probably trying to persecute or kill all the Christians,
and what he said to the Church of Philadelphia
is, because you've kept the word of my patience,
I will keep thee from the hour of temptation.
So I believe as we can apply this to our lives,
if we are doing what's right, if we're in God's will,
and we're going soul-winning,
absolutely we're gonna go through tribulation,
but there's a very good chance
God's gonna allow us to get through that tribulation,
allow us to get through that persecution
so we can still go soul-winning,
so we can still preach the Bible,
so we can still reach the lost.
So I believe what we can take away from that
is that if we're living godly,
God can keep us from the hour of temptation.
But I believe this was a literal hour of temptation
that basically took place in all of the world
during that time period, okay?
Now, let me say, I don't know for sure this is true
because these are kind of my thoughts,
and I've never necessarily heard anybody say this,
and, you know, I was looking into the history,
and tying it together, that's kind of what I believe, okay?
But I'll say this.
If you go back to Revelation 3, verse 9,
I believe this kind of gives you some more information
that could make this line up.
Revelation 3, verse 9.
I know we're going deep here tonight,
but it's the book of Revelation, okay?
There's a lot of deep, interesting information here, okay?
Revelation 3, verse 9.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan,
which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie.
So once again, people that claim to be Jews,
but they're not Jews.
But notice what it says.
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet
and to know that I have loved thee,
to know that I have loved the Christians and not the Jews.
That's what he's saying.
He's saying, what is that referring to?
I believe that what's being referred to
is something that took place 2,000 years ago, okay?
Here's the thing.
Remember what it said with Domitian.
He was heavily persecuting the Jews and the Christians
toward the end of his reign,
persecuting anyone of any sort of religion that's against Rome.
You know what I believe, and I could be wrong?
I believe there's a pretty big persecution on both,
and although some Christians lost their lives,
and although they were being persecuted
and told not to preach the gospel and things like that,
I believe that it was very obvious in that situation
that God was protecting the Christians and not the Jews.
And the Jews get scattered all over the world,
whereas the Christians are still able to preach the gospel.
And it's kind of like in life when you go through rough times,
but you can still look at your life and say,
you know what, God has definitely blessed me.
And he tells those Jews in verse 9,
I will make them to come and worship before thy feet
and to know that I have loved thee.
So what I believe is there was a pretty big persecution
given by Domitian,
and it was so big that the Jews and the Christians
are both being persecuted, anyone religious,
and basically the Jews just were getting destroyed.
And they looked at their situation and they had no hope,
because they do have no hope,
and realized this is less than 100 years after Jesus died.
So this is a time period where the Jews were still trying
to get rid of the Christians, and they look at this situation
and then I think a lot of the Jews realized,
man, our God is just not that powerful.
They know I've loved the Christians and not the Jews.
Now I could be wrong, but those are my thoughts, okay?
Now turn to 1 John 5, 1 John 5, 1 John 5.
Now let me say this though,
if I'm not right on all that information
because I'm tying together a lot of history
and the Bible doesn't directly tell us,
so we don't know for sure,
I do believe though it was some sort of temptation
or trial that was coming upon all the world 2,000 years ago.
I believe those are the things which are,
it was during that time period.
I don't believe that's referring to the rapture
and the end times, okay?
There's no evidence of that
because these are literal churches that existed, okay?
So the second thing we saw was we got rid
of the pre-trib argument in Revelation 3 verse 10.
And here's the thing,
if you don't agree with everything I said,
you say I'm not sure if that's true,
I'm not 100% sure either, okay?
But we did disprove a pre-trib rapture
because these are present day.
It doesn't say basically the mark of the beast
or the seven year period.
It says the hour of temptation
was gonna come upon all the world,
something to the Church of Philadelphia,
not just to all of the world in general
2,000 years down the road, okay?
Now let's talk lastly about overcoming, okay?
Look at 1 John 5, 1 John 5.
Go to verse 4, 1 John 5 verse 4.
And it says,
for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.
1 John 5, chapter 5 verse 4, 1 John 5 verse 4.
And this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith.
The Bible says what overcomes the world is our faith, okay?
Who is he that overcometh the world
but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
You cannot overcome the world
unless you believe on Jesus Christ.
It doesn't matter how powerful you are,
how much money you have,
if you die without believing on Jesus,
you will split hell wide open.
And the Bible says the person who overcomes
is the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Turn back to Revelation chapter 2.
Revelation 2.
Revelation chapter 2.
And what you see in Revelation chapters 2 and 3,
as he's writing to the seven churches,
if you read closely and pay attention,
you're gonna notice that to each of the seven churches
and each through Revelation 2 and 3,
it mentions overcoming, okay?
It mentions overcoming
throughout Revelation chapters 2 and 3, okay?
But I do want to show you something
that's kind of interesting
because Revelation chapters 2 and 3,
this is being written to the seven churches,
seven different literal churches
in modern-day Turkey, southwestern Asia, okay?
But notice what it says in verse 6,
the Church of Ephesus,
But this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds
of the Nicolaitans,
which I also hate, okay?
Notice he says to the Church of Ephesus,
you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
I also hate those deeds.
But I want you to understand something.
In Revelation chapter 2, verse 6,
he's talking to the Church of Ephesus,
but he's not talking to the Church of Ephesus in verse 7.
Notice what he says in verse 7,
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the church is.
He mentions churches, plural.
What he's saying is,
anyone who has an ear, anybody with ears,
listen to what's being said to the churches.
So the first six verses,
he's talking to the Church of Ephesus.
Then in verse 7,
he's not speaking to the Church of Ephesus anymore.
Notice what it says after that.
To him that overcometh,
to him that overcometh,
will I give to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
And so notice what he says.
First he talks about if you have an ear to hear,
hear what's said out of the churches,
then he says to him that overcometh,
will I give to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Now here's the thing,
when it's talking about overcoming,
it's talking about our faith.
You believe on Jesus,
you get to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the midst of the paradise of God,
which is heaven.
Paradise, heaven, one and the same, okay?
But he says, you know,
if you overcome, if you believe,
you get to eat of the tree of life.
But here's what I want you to understand.
In these verses,
this is not specifically written to the Church of Ephesus.
So what you're going to see throughout these seven churches
is it's going to mention two phrases.
It's going to mention overcoming
and he that hath an ear to hear.
And those verses,
those statements throughout Revelation chapters two and three
are not to just each of those individual churches,
but just everyone in general.
Let me show you what I'm talking about.
Revelation 2, verse 10.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison
that you may be tried,
and you shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I'll give thee a crown of life.
Now when he's talking about people being cast into prison
and having tribulation ten days,
he's not referring to the end times.
He's referring to that literal Church of Smyrna
during that time period.
So verse 10, he's talking to the Church of Smyrna.
But in verse 11, notice what it says.
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death.
You believe on Jesus, you overcome,
you will not go to the lake of fire.
The second death, okay?
So with each of these churches,
he'll speak to them,
then there's gonna be a break
where he talks to just everybody in general.
So I want you to understand
that there's specific information
to each of these churches,
but even in Revelation chapters 2 and 3,
there's information for each one of us as well.
And so I want you to understand,
when you're looking at the information
that's not specific to those churches,
those churches could still benefit from that information
even though it's not directly to them.
And we could also benefit
to what's written to the Church of Smyrna
or Ephesus or Philadelphia,
even though this was 2,000 years ago
and it doesn't directly apply to us, okay?
Notice what it says in Revelation 2, verse 17.
Revelation 2, verse 17, with the Church of Pergamos.
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna
and will give him a white stone,
and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
So once again in verse 17,
it talks about he that hath an ear
and it talks about overcoming, okay?
That's not specifically written to the Church of Pergamos.
Now with the first three churches,
he follows this pattern of having an ear to hear
and then overcoming mentioned after that.
With the last four churches,
he will mention overcoming first
and then he that hath an ear.
But that information is just everyone in general,
not to that specific church, okay?
Notice what it says with the Church of Thyatira, verse 26.
And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end,
to him will I give power over the nations,
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers,
even as I received him my Father,
and I will give him the morning star.
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
So verses 26 and 29,
this is not directly to the church,
this is not directly to the Church of Thyatira.
It's right after he spoke to the Church of Thyatira.
And verses 26 through 29 is to everybody in general, okay?
Revelation chapter three, turn to Revelation three.
Revelation three.
Revelation chapter three.
So, you know, I'd encourage you
as you're reading Revelation chapters two and three,
hopefully you'll be able to read the book of Revelation
many times as we're going through this series.
I encourage you to kind of slow down and pay attention.
What you're going to see is there's a message to the church,
then there's kind of a break with information
that's just generic to everybody,
and then he's going to speak to the church again, okay?
And you're going to notice this shift.
Revelation three, verse five,
with the Church of Sardis,
afterwards he says,
He that overcometh,
this name shall be clothed in white raiment,
and I'll not blot out his name out of the book of life,
but I will confess his name before my Father
and before his angels.
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
So it mentions overcoming, and he that hath an ear,
and this is after he spoke to the church in Sardis.
Verse 12, verse 12,
Him that overcometh,
while I make a pillar in the temple of my God,
and he shall go no more out,
and I'll write upon him the name of my God,
and the name of the city of my God,
which is New Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God,
and I'll write upon him my new name.
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
So verses 12 and 13 talks about overcoming,
and he that hath an ear.
Now the reason why what I'm saying is important
is because notice in verse 12,
he talks about New Jerusalem.
Here's the thing.
New Jerusalem isn't coming anytime soon,
and so it's important to understand
that there was specific information
in that church of Philadelphia,
and then there's kind of just generic information
that's for everybody, okay?
New Jerusalem was not coming
in the time of the church of Philadelphia,
but this is given to everybody here
as he's done spoken in the church of Philadelphia.
I do think it's interesting that in verses 9 and 10,
it basically talks about how the Jews are rejected.
Then he speaks in verse 12,
when he's speaking to everybody,
about New Jerusalem.
Why?
Well, the Jews have been replaced, my friend,
and so he's speaking about New Jerusalem
coming down out of heaven,
but it's right after when he spoke
about the Jews being rejected
and knowing that I've loved the Christians, okay,
because we're the ones who will partake in New Jerusalem.
Revelation 3, verse 21.
Let's close up.
Revelation chapter 3, verse 21.
To him that overcometh,
to him that overcometh,
will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father in his throne?
He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith on the churches.
So with every single church,
he gives them a message,
then he talks about this is to everybody,
and then he talks about overcoming.
Why?
Because overcoming, believing on Jesus, is paramount.
It's extremely important.
Everybody needs that,
and then he that hath an ear,
God wants us to hear every single thing that's written,
all of this information.
So basically, you need to get saved,
you need to hear this message, okay?
That's what he's saying.
And so basically, what we covered today,
as we kind of went through Revelation chapters 2 and 3,
we saw the Jews are not God's chosen people, okay?
And that's going to be something that's going to come out
throughout the book of Revelation.
It's a very big theme.
We also destroyed the pre-Trib argument
in Revelation 3, verse 10.
And as I spoke about,
I believe this is an event happening
during the time of Domitian,
and I could be wrong about that,
but that's what I believe there.
And then we also spoke about
what it means to overcome.
Next week, we're going to get into Revelation chapter 4,
and we will go verse by verse through Revelation chapter 4,
so I encourage you to read Revelation chapter 4 ahead of time,
and we'll be talking about Revelation 4-1 for a while,
but also there's a lot of interesting information in there.
So let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you for allowing us to be here today,
and just getting a chance to preach your word,
and I just pray this message was edifying to everyone,
that we were all able to learn some stuff.
These are the deep things of the Bible,
some really in-depth information,
but help us to understand this book, God,
and going through this book even tonight,
it makes you realize the persecution they were going through
during the times of Nero or Domitian
was so much more than anything we go through today, God,
and even today with all these events happening,
with the coronavirus,
I believe we have at least decades left
to serve you and to go soul winning,
and people back then,
they thought the end of the world was there
because of the heavy persecution,
but I do believe we have a lot of time left to serve you,
and so it's only going to be a short time.
We're going to be back to our normal schedule,
God, we just pray you'll make that time as short as possible
so we can go back out there and go soul winning
and win souls to you, God.
We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.