Second Thessalonians chapter 2. So I'm continuing on from Sunday's sermon.
Okay, so I'm asking you to take your minds back four days ago, try to refresh
your minds as to what I preached, because I don't want to cover it all again, right?
I'm just building, these are the leftovers from Sunday. I did have
leftovers, so we're just building on from what we've learnt. I will cover some of
the things again just to refresh our memories, but not in too much detail.
So the title of tonight's sermon is Our Gathering Together Unto Him.
Our Gathering Together Unto Him. Now we get the title of that sermon, that message
here in chapter 2 verse 1. Now we beseech you brethren, so Paul is writing to the
Thessalonians church, I beseech you brethren, pay attention brethren, he's
saying, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together
unto Him. Now do you see how Paul again associates the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ with the gathering together unto Him. Gathering together unto Jesus Christ.
Okay, so the gathering, Matthew 24, remember people say it's not for us, it
talks about the gathering. Second Thessalonians chapter 2 talks about the
gathering, and it's called the coming of the Lord, and it's being written to the
Thessalonian church, right? To the New Testament church believers. Verse number
2, that ye, and pay attention, let's read this slowly, why is Paul saying, pay
attention, why is he saying this? Verse number 2, that ye be not soon shaken in
mind. I don't want you to be shaken in mind, I want you to be focused, right? I
want you to be stable, I want you to be established, or be troubled. I don't want
you to be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us. So I
don't want you to be deceived, I don't want you to be shaken, I don't want you
to be troubled. Even if some spirit comes to you, or some word, some epistle,
something that looks like the Bible comes to you, or a letter as from us, if
it has my own name on it, I don't want you to be troubled. Why? As that the day
of Christ is at hand, okay? He doesn't want people to be troubled thinking that
the day of Christ is at hand. Now what does it mean? What does it, what does this
mean? First of all, day of Christ, immediately we should recognize, going
back to verse number 1, that the day of Christ is the gathering together, is the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. We should recognize that, and I'll prove
that to you in a minute, that is true. But the trouble is, people were saying that
the day of Christ, that the rapture they were saying was at hand. That was the
problem. That was what Paul says, don't be troubled by that, okay? Don't be
deceived, don't be shaken. What does it mean to be at hand? If I say something's
at hand, what am I saying? I'm saying that it's close, right? It's nearby, right? That
it can happen soon. That it can be imminent at any moment. That's what at
hand means. Don't be troubled by that, okay? Now what are you gonna find across
99% of independent fundamental Baptist churches? That the day of Christ is at
hand. That's what they're teaching. The day of Christ is at hand. They're teaching
that it's imminent. It can happen at any moment. Paul says, don't be troubled by
that. Don't, don't be fooled by that, right? That's not, that's why I'm writing this
to you. So you pay attention, he's saying, right? Don't be fooled. Don't be thinking
that the day of Christ is at hand. Now let me just prove to you that the day of
Christ is a reference to the rapture. It's the same thing, because some people
want to say to you that it's not. Let me just show you a couple of verses. I'll
just read to you 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse 7. You don't need to turn
there. I'll just read it out to you. 1st Corinthians chapter 1, 7 to 8 says,
So that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ, pay attention now, to the coming, waiting for that, who shall also confirm
you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Okay, so what's the end as far as a believer is concerned? The coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? He says, I want
you to be blameless for that day, right? It'll be very embarrassing for
Christians if we're worldly, we don't care about the things of God, and Christ
comes back. We're gonna be ashamed of ourselves if we haven't been serving the
Lord. Now we're going to heaven if you're saved, amen, but you're going to be
ashamed that He's coming, and Paul is encouraging people, hey, you know, wait,
wait for the coming of the Lord, which is the day of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1 verse 5 and 6 also the same thing. This is what Paul says to
the Philippian church, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first
day until now. So what's the fellowship in the gospel? The gospel is what saves
us, right? So he's saying to the Philippian church, from the time of our fellowship
together in the gospel from the first day. So the first day you were saved
until now, so until the time that he's writing this, from the time that was saved
till now when the time was writing this, being confident of this very thing that
he which hath begun a good work in you, when was that good work when you got
saved, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. What's the day of Jesus
Christ? The rapture, right? God's going to continue to work for us until He's
coming back. That's the promise that Paul says to the Philippian church, from the
time you were saved till now Christ will continue working till the day of
Jesus Christ in your life, okay? So we can see that the day of Jesus Christ
and His coming are one and the same thing, okay? We have further evidence from
that from other passages. But back to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3, again
Paul continues this concept. He says, let no man deceive you, okay? Because they
were being troubled, right? They were being troubled. People telling, hey, the day of
Christ can happen at any moment. It's around the corner. It's so soon. He says,
let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come. What day? That
day shall not come. What day? We just finished reading about the day of Christ.
What is the day of Christ? The gathering of the believers, the rapture, the
resurrection, right? For that day shall not come, except they come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Now first of all,
the falling away, I'm not going to spend time on this, but that's about, that's
apostasy, okay? That's where people fall away from the truth. The truth is
available to people and they fall away from that, okay? They turn their backs
from the truth and they turn their backs against God. That is apostasy. That is
the falling away. We can have discussions about that all day long, but the other
key thing, not only does that have to happen before the day of Christ comes,
but also, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. What does perdition
mean? Damnation. This son of damnation. This antichrist that is who it is,
the beast. Now what does this person do? So the day of Christ cannot come till
the falling away and this son of perdition is revealed, okay? This man of
sin, the son of perdition. What does he do? Who opposeth, okay, who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that
he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Do you
guys remember when that takes place from Sunday's sermon? Remember the
abomination of desolation. Remember that happens in the middle of the seven week
period, three and a half years, right? The antichrist comes. We read this in Daniel.
He exalts himself above the God of gods. He makes himself out to be God and he
blasphemes against God. That is his revealing. That is his revealing. We know
that the day of Christ, the rapture cannot come till the antichrist reveals
himself, okay? And that revealing isn't just, I think, you know, I think, what's
the American president's name right now? Trump. You know, it's not, ah, Trump's the
antichrist. No, it's when some guy like a Trump, like a big politician or a
big warlord or someone who knows, puts himself up and says, I am God. That's the
revealing, all right? That's the revealing. So pay attention to that. That's what Paul
is reaffirming, which lines up perfectly with what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24,
right? He says the abomination of desolation must happen, then there's great
tribulation, and then the sun and moon go dark, the stars fall from heaven, and
the coming of Christ happens. Now, I just want to bring that to your thought
because, again, I'm trying to reinforce this idea that these teachings are for
the New Testament Church. This was a teaching given to the Thessalonians. They
weren't unsaved Jews, okay? They were saved Jews and saved Gentiles in this
church, okay? They were part of the New Testament Church. Now turn to Revelation
chapter 1, sorry, Revelation chapter 6, Revelation chapter 6, because now what I
want to do, we already saw that Revelation 1, 7, the coming in Revelation
1, 7, and the coming in Matthew 24, and the coming in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4,
are all the one coming of Christ. We saw all the similarities between those
passages, right? Christ coming in the clouds, but now I want to take one step
further. I want to show you the similarities between Matthew 24 and
Revelation chapter 6, okay? Because this is where John, okay, I don't know if you
know this, but in the Gospels you have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record the teaching of the Mount of Olives. They all
record that. The only one that doesn't record it is John, but yet where does he
record it himself? He wrote the book of Revelation as well as the
book of John. So he records the teaching from a different perspective. If you
guys know the book of Revelation, he was caught up into the Spirit, into heaven. He
was given this prophetic vision by God. He was taken into the future, if you will,
and saw these events come to pass. And then we get to Revelation chapter 6, okay?
Before I read Revelation chapter 6, Revelation chapter 5 is about this
scroll that nobody can open, right? It's got these seven seals, and John starts to
weep because nobody can open it, right? And then comes a lamb. He takes it from
the one on the throne, and the lamb has the ability, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ,
has the ability to unravel this scroll. He has the ability to unlock these seals,
and now Christ comes. He takes this book and begins to show this book, begins to
read from this book. Now before I start reading this, the pre-treat believers
will tell you that the scroll, this scroll is Christ pouring out his wrath
on the world. They teach that this is the tribulation period, and Christ is
bringing the tribulation upon the world. Now all Christ is doing is loosening
these scrolls, and I'm assuming reading it, right, showing what's taking
place. Then John looks and sees, yeah, these things are taking place on the
earth. The difference through the scroll, and then, you know, you've got the
trumpets and you've got the vials, if you guys know the book of Revelation. I'm not
going to go into the trumpets and the vials in any great detail. The difference
between that is you've got Christ doing this, but the trumpets being blown and
the vials being poured are all done by angels, okay? Not only are they done by
angels, but something is being expelled, whether that's the sound of the trumpet
or if it's the vials being poured out. Something's being expelled onto the
earth. Here the seals are just being opened and revealed to us through Christ,
and I'll show you as we read through this that Christ is not the one pouring
out his wrath at this point in time, okay? Now actually what I need you to do is
keep your finger in Revelation chapter 6 and turn to Matthew 24. I need you to go
back and forth, okay? So Matthew 24, keep one finger in Revelation 6 and go to
Matthew chapter 24, and just we'll flick through that a bit. I'll give you a
second to get to Matthew 24. Okay, Matthew 24, go back to Revelation chapter 6.
Let's read the first two verses. Revelation chapter 6 verse 1. So you've
got the Lamb, you've got Jesus Christ with this scroll. And I saw the Lamb opened
one of the seals, and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four
beasts saying, come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse. And he that sat
on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering
and to conquer. So once this first seal is unlocked and revealed, we see this
white horse. Now you guys might be familiar with the term the horseman of
Revelation or the horseman of the apocalypse, okay? This is what it's
referring to. There are these four horsemen and four horses that transpire
with these seals, the first four seals being loosened. But the first
horse is a white horse, and there's a person sitting on that white horse. And
he that sat on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth
conquering and to conquer. So this person that's been revealed is the Antichrist.
Look at Matthew 24 verse 5. I just want to show you a few similarities.
Matthew 24 verse 5. Remember the disciples came to Jesus and asked them,
hey tell us about your second coming. Tell us about the end, right? Tell us
about the end of the world. Jesus says to them in verse 5, for many shall come in my
name saying I am Christ and shall deceive many. Now Revelation chapter 19,
guess who else comes on a white horse? Very clearly Lord Jesus Christ comes
on a white horse. Who do we have coming on a white horse when that first seal
is revealed? Jesus Christ. If we compare these passages, false Christs. Okay
remember I told you these false Christs, there's accumulation too. The
Antichrist, the one that exalts himself above all gods. He comes right on this
white horse, he has authority, he has power, and he goes forth conquering the
nations. Okay he's taking over. Now whether that's in war or just you know
remember what it said in Daniel that he shall confirm a covenant with many.
Whether that's just him making, because a covenant just means an agreement. So
whether that means he's making all these peace agreements and all these
confederations together, joining the world together, that's what he's doing.
He's conquering the world. Okay at this point it may not yet be by war but we'll
see shortly that it is by warfare. Revelation chapter 6 verse 3, Revelation
chapter 6 verse 3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast
say come and see. And there went out another horse, so this is the second
horse, that was red and power was given to him that sat there on to take peace
from the earth and that they should kill one another and there was given unto him
a great sword. So now this, instead of a white horse we have a red horse and the
one that's on this horse has the power to what? Take peace from the earth right?
Peace now. At first the conquering, that's what I'm saying, the conquering in the
first seal was probably a peaceful you know agreement between nations. Now he's
conquering with a sword. Peace has been removed and people are killing one
another and unto this one on the horse was given him a great sword.
What's the sword? It's a weapon of warfare right? It's a weapon of
killing, of fighting, of war. This second horse, the second horseman represents
warfare on the world. Go back to Matthew 24. Matthew 24 verse 6. Because after
Christ said there'll be false Christs, what's the next thing that he said in verse
number 6? Matthew 24 verse 6. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. Do you
see how these things come together? Matthew 24 and Revelation chapter 6. And
ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled for these
things must come to past but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against
nation and kingdom against kingdom. You can see world warfare right? It's not
just local wars. It says nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against
kingdom right? And then we have back to Revelation chapter 6 verse 4. And power
was given him that sat there on to take peace from the earth. This is why
many people believe this is a world war because peace is taken from the whole
earth. Nations against nations, kingdoms against kingdom. Many people are
resisting the Antichrist from taking power and so he has to take you know
take control of that through warfare rather than by peaceful means. Back to
Revelation chapter 6 verse 5. Verse 5. And when he had opened the third seal I
heard the third beast say come and see and behold lo a black horse. Now the
third horse is a black horse and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his
hand. Okay so these balances these things to weigh. And I heard a voice in the
midst of the four beasts say a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of
barley for a penny. See that thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Now what is
that about? What is that about? We get a bit more clarity when we go back to
Matthew 24. Look at verse 7. So we did read in verse 7 we read for nation shall
rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there shall be famines.
That's the next thing that Jesus says. There shall be famines. Now why is this why does
this link back to Revelation chapter 6? It's because a penny back in those days
a penny was your day's wage. Okay someone that worked a full-time job
approximately you'd receive a penny for your for your efforts. Let's say today
it's $150 a day or something like that maybe for a full day's wage. With $150
Australian dollars you will be able to buy a measure of wheat. A small amount of
wheat right. Now with two days of work I can probably provide for my my family of
12 right. Well we're not 12 yet. Well I guess Christina feeds for herself and
the baby. I guess it is it's 12 yeah. I'm losing track of that. Yeah it will be 12.
You know I can probably feed my family let's say on a day's wage probably for
half a week approximately roughly like that right. But this will be just for a
small amount of wheat. What's that that's not going to get through you know for a
larger family anyway that's not going to provide much. Also that same penny that
same day's wage will be able to provide for free measures of barley. So you get
a bit more barley than you do wheats. So wheat to make not to make bread okay a
loaf of bread let's say a loaf of bread what does that cost two dollars three
dollars four dollars you know if you get the good stuff five dollars it's gonna
cost you $150 day's wage to get that piece of that bread. Why? Because there's
famine on the earth right. There's famine on the earth people and money loses its
value when it can't cannot purchase what it needs to purchase right. This
hyperinflation the the the value of your money has deteriorated to the fact that
it can only buy a bit of wheat. There's famines on the earth you can see that
correlation there with Revelation chapter 6 and Matthew 24. Now look at
verse number 6 in Revelation 6 sorry verse 7. Revelation 6 verse 7. And when
he had opened the fourth seal I heard the voice of the fourth beast say come
and see and lo and behold a pale horse. Now before I keep reading when you when
you see someone that is pale what do you think about that person like if I'm up
here and you see my face I like my face loses color you're gonna think I'm sick
right you're gonna think there's something wrong with you right. I
remember many times that I've gone to work you know my old workplace not
feeling the best people say to me Kevin you look pale you don't look yourself
you know you've lost color in your face. That's the same idea this pale horse
brings sickness and lo and behold a pale horse and his name that sat on him
was death and hell followed with him and power was given unto them over the
fourth part of the earth. So there's this sickness to kill with with
the sword and with hunger and with death and with the beast of the earth. People
now are dying through various means through the sword we already know about
that through through warfare with hunger why because there's the famines with
death and with the beasts of the earth so you even have the animals going wild
right there's not enough I'm assuming the animals don't have enough food for
themselves and they're going the wild beasts are attacking human beings at
this point in time and of course if you look back to Matthew 24 verse 7 Matthew
24 verse 7 we said and there shall be famines and pestilences
what are pestilences sicknesses right deadly diseases taking place in this
time which lines up with the pale horse because that is what it's representing
right these pestilences these sickness plus is all that all this other death
that's taking place what do you have when people are dying across the world
you know they're probably not being buried it's a time of warfare that's
where body starts to rot you know insects calm and spread all kinds of
diseases all kind of you know things that's what's taking place during this
period so you have these four horses these four horsemen right and then look
at Matthew 24 verse 7 again Matthew 24 verse 7 and pestilences and earthquakes
in diverse places verse 8 and these are the beginning of sorrows patients that
these are the beginning of sorrows if you remember back to Sunday that leads
up all the way to the midpoint to the abomination of desolation when the
Antichrist reveals himself so even though the Antichrist is active on the
scene we don't know of him exactly we don't know who this is right this can be
anybody but he's revealed at the time of the abomination of desolation when he
exalts himself above God right because we have politicians we have kingdoms
that have conquered kingdoms we have people raise up and bring peace in
different parts of the world okay we can't always say well someone's doing
that they must be the Antichrist no you only know that when he exalts himself
above the God of gods but notice notice that all of this is called the beginning
of sorrows why because a change takes place after the beginning of sorrows
that's the great tribulation that's the exalts when the Antichrist exalts
himself right and revelation chapter 6 follow suit with us because if you look
at rev well sorry he's still in Matthew 24 Matthew 24 verse 9 it says there
because after the beginning of sorrows it says this then shall they deliver you
up to be afflicted and shall kill you and you shall be hated of all nations
for my name's sake okay so instead of this just affecting the whole world now
they're persecuting you now they're afflicting you now they're killing you
Christian okay this is what's going on so we would expect when we go back to
Revelation chapter 6 that we're going to find the same thing take place right
when the next seal is open go back to Revelation chapter 6 verse 9
Revelation chapter 6 verse 9 and when he had opened the fifth seal now are we
going to see another horse here no we're not and when he had opened the
fifth seal I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the
Word of God and for the testimony which they held you see that Christ says
beginner sorrows that's done with then they're going to afflict you then
they're going to kill you right what do we see in Revelation chapter 6 the
beginning of sorrows was represented by those four horsemen that that analogies
done away with now now there are these souls that were killed for Christ's name
right well sorry what does it say there they were slain for the Word of God and
for the testimony which they held and what did Matthew 24 say why were they
cured for my name's sake and these two things go together and then in
Revelation chapter verse number 10 in Revelation chapter 6 and they cried so
these souls that were killed are under this altar I'm trying to get this
heavenly picture here I'm assuming it's a big altar right all these souls under
this altar cried with a loud voice saying how long O Lord holy and true
thus thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth let's
pause here for a minute has Jesus Christ been pouring out his wrath on the on the
earth at this point the pre-tribbers will say he has but what do these people
what do these Saints say how long Oh Lord holy and true
thus thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth they're
saying hey how long till you start doing something on the earth they're praying
to God when are you going to do this right they're asking him so has Christ
been pouring out his wrath has God been pouring out his anger upon himself has
he been destroying the earth not at this point in time right that's why
they're asking how long how long more do we have to wait verse 11 and white robes
were given unto every one of them it's interesting that these souls without a
physical body are able to put on robes anyway and white robes were given unto
one of them so every one of them and it was said unto them they should rest yet
a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren should
be cured as they were should be fulfilled so do you know the the idea
here is given white robes of righteousness right and wait wait a
little more just a little season there's a few more people that are going to die
for the name of Christ okay once that's accomplished then then we're going to
take care of business right so we see and the other thing is that's all we
learn about in the fifth seal that's all we learn about these souls that are
slain and some people that are saying well Christ you know Christ is pouring
out his wrath he's doing all this well all that happens in the fifth seal is
Saints being killed so you're going to tell me that Christ killed his own
people you know is it is Christ is murdering his own people you know people
preach it was pretty true to say to me because I believe we're going for the
tribulation they say oh so are you saying you know Christ is gonna beat up
on his wife is Christ of wife beat up I don't know if you've ever heard that
well it's it's better to be beaten up than to be murdered but because if
they're saying Christ is doing this then you're saying Christ is murdering his
people all right I mean wouldn't you rather just be beaten up a little bit
then then being murdered so you know that doesn't carry weight at all what
they say but we can see Christ has not yet done anything to the earth he's not
avenged the blood of his people just yet let's look at chapter verse 12 sorry
Revelation 6 12 and be and I beheld and he opened the sixth seal now this is
where it all gets really you know action-packed well it's been
action-packed till now about this is where it gets really exciting and and I
beheld when he had opened the sixth seal and lo there was a great earthquake and
the Sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became his blood you
guys remember that remember the Sun the moon the stars verse 13 and the stars of
heaven fell onto the earth even as a fig tree cast off her untimely figs when
she's shaken of a mighty wind now what this is what I believe see how it says
the fig tree cast off the figs like the figs are falling off the fig tree but it
calls those figs untimely figs so they're not figs that are ripe just yet
and I believe that ties in with Jesus saying you know that the days shall be
shortened because he probably had a time set for all of this but because he
shortens that time it's kind of this idea of the figs not yet being fully
ripened and so they're untimely and they fall off that tree when she's shaken of
a mighty wind and then verse 14 and the heaven departed as a scroll okay let's
stop there so we have the Sun going dark we have the moon turn into blood and the
stars fall from heaven right that lines up with Matthew 24 okay then as soon as
that happens what are we to do remember Sunday where to lift up our heads for
our redemption draweth night remember that we expect Christ to come Christ
says he will come like that like lightning from the east to the west how
it shines it says in verse number 14 and the heaven departed as a scroll we see
that the sky it opens up like a scroll it rolls back like a scroll you know how
scroll those old you know old times scrolls they were kind of together and
then to read them they had to roll it open like that I don't know if you guys
have seen videos of that they stay screw that's the same thing the sky just opens
up the sky just opens up your parts of the scroll when it is rolled together
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places wow this earthquake
not only we get more information here than Matthew 24 this massive earthquake
just shakes the whole earth verse 15 now pay attention to this what were the
people remember all the people what were they doing remember when we read about
it they were mourning they were wailing remember that what do we find verse 15
and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief
captains and the mighty men and every bond man and every free man everyone hid
themselves in the dance and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the
mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us pay attention to their words fall on
us hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne who do they see
when the heaven is departed as a scroll they see the face of the one that sitteth
on the front they see Christ come every eye shall see him remember behold he
cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him they see Christ and they're so
fearful they're praying to the mountains into the rocks they're probably going in
bunkers on the ground what have you they're saying hide us they're talking
to the to the environment as though that it's going to protect them from God
Almighty from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and now look and
from the wrath of the Lamb who's the Lamb Jesus Christ they know the wrath of
the Lamb has come they know it's time for the earth to face its consequences
for the great day of his wrath is come that's present tense the great day this
day this say that we stand out the sun and the moon have gone dark the stars
from up from heaven this day this day the great day of his wrath is come and
who shall be able to stand you see that now we start the wrath of God right this
very day is going to be the start the day where the sun and moon go dark and
the heavens roll back that day will be the start of God's wrath now just to
cover a couple of things very quickly if you look at Revelation chapter 6 just
because I've had this argument being brought forth to me you see how it says
the sun will be darkened as sackcloth of hair I think it says there and then it
says the moon shall turn to blood let me have a look at that yeah the moon became
as blood but I'm going to read to you Matthew 24 quickly I didn't have this in
my notes but just in case you get asked this question let's have a look so it
says he in Matthew 24 29 immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the Sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her lights so some people
have said to me Kevin these are different events you have the Sun going
dark you have the moon going dark the stars from falling from heaven in
Matthew 24 but in Revelation 6 says the moon turns to blood so it's a different
event right now it's not I mean how many times are the stars fall from
heaven both times the stars fall from heaven right but just because one says
it goes dark it loses its light or goes dark and one says it turns to blood
doesn't mean the different events it just means both things are happening
like for example you know if I had a let's say these lights you know let's
say these lights let's say that there's a power failure shorts out it turns one
of them turns off and catches on fire you know you might go and say well the
light caught on fire and then someone else might say well the light went out
and then be like well hold on which story is true now these two different
events yeah just saying two things are happening right the Sun sorry the moon
turns red turns to blood and it also because it turns to blood it loses its
light you know it goes dark so these things are one and the same don't let
people make you think that they're different events anything like that it's
fine I don't see a problem why that's the moon going to blood means that it
has to keep shining right it just goes it turns to blood and it goes dark now
I'm going to read to you Acts chapter 2 verse 20 Acts chapter 2 verse 20 the
Bible reads the Sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before
the great and notable day of the Lord come okay the Sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord
come so the Sun and moon go dark first then we know the day of the Lord has his
come right that comes first the Sun and moon so at this point in Revelation the
Sun will go dark where now they're saying the wrath of God is is come it's
come because it's the day of the Lord okay it's a day of the Lord if you know
the Old Testament you know the day of the Lord is a time of wrath you know
it's a time of darkness you know it's a time that people are worn it's spoken of
so much in the Old Testament it's a time of God's wrath upon the world now
I'm going to reach another passage you don't need to turn there first
Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 2 because I want to remember we talk about the day
of Christ now it's all about the day of the Lord first Thessalonians chapter 5
verse 2 for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night again Thessalonians now you know Thessalonians in the second
Thessalonians talk about the day of Christ first Thessalonians talks about
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night and then verse 4 says
by ye brethren are not in darkness that that that that day should overtake you
as a thief so the day of the Lord okay so what does that mean this is what he
means we're to look for the day of the Lord okay the same day that the day of
the Lord begins which is the wrath of God is the same day as the day of Jesus
Christ is the same day of as Christ the difference is when he talks about the
day of Christ you'll notice in the Bible it's a very positive mention it's
it's what we're looking for okay we're waiting for the Lord's come the day of
the Lord Jesus Christ where he finishes that good work in us all very positive
mentions about the day of Christ but to the unbelieving world so the world
that's going to go for the wrath of God to them that is the day of the Lord
which is a day of darkness day of wrath got they've got great anger and judgment
okay now I'm not I'm not fully I've got to study up a little bit more I'm not
sure if the day of the Lord is just that represents that one day but I have seen
some other passages that it might be a longer period of time regardless
whatever it is it begins on that day that same day that the Sun and the moon
are darkened that's the day of Christ for the believers so we know Christ is
coming the heavens rolled open right people saw Christ but then they know the
wrath of God has come upon them the day of the Lord has come upon them now look
at Revelation chapter 7 verse 1 Revelation chapter 7 verse 1 so we've
had the six seals remember this scroll has seven seals okay we haven't opened
the seventh seal just yet now all of these things we know this day of the
sixth seal is the day when God's wrath starts okay but it hasn't started just
yet in the reading of Revelation Revelation chapter 7 verse 1 and after
these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding
the four winds of the earth and the wind should that the wind should not blow on
the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree and I saw another angel ascending
from the east having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud
voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea so
there are these four angels they've got this amazing power that they have the
ability to control the earth the seas the winds okay that God's given these
angels this power and other another angel comes and says to those four
angels to whom he was given to hurt the earth and the sea saying verse 3 hurt
not the earth don't hurt the earth neither the sea nor the trees till so
they are to hurt the earth but not yet not till we have sealed the servants of
our God in their foreheads again I just want to show you this because Christ has
still not yet poured out his wrath on the earth we know this day this very day
they're talking about is the day is going to start but it's not commenced
just yet the angels are told don't hurt the earth just yet okay and what are
they waiting for for the 144,000 12,000 from every tribe of Israel to have this
on their foreheads they're on the earth and we won't go into that right now
because that that's just its own thing let's look at verse number nine verse
number nine so after this 144,000 appear on the scene verse number nine and after
this so after this happened again we're still on the same day of the Sun and
Moon going dark of the heavens being opened and Christ appearing and after
this I beheld and lo a great multitude a great multitude which no man could
number of all nations and kindreds what's kindreds families and people and
tongues all kind of languages stood before the throne and before the lamb
clothed with white robes and palms in their hands and cried of a loud voice
saying salvation to our God which sit upon the throne and unto the lamb and
all the angels stood round about the throne what a great vision all these
people praising God and then the angels stood round about the throne and about
the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne in their faces and
worshiped God saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and
honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever amen what great
worship to the God of gods all this host of heaven just praising God right and
then verse 13 and one of the elders answered saying unto me what are these
which are arrayed in white robes who are these people well who are these this
great multitude right but then look at the next question and whence came they
what does whence mean from where no this elder comes is where do they come from
were they there all along no they just came out of nowhere right they whence
came they whence from where thence from there hence from here just old English
okay lessons there for you from whence where do they come from verse 14 and I
said unto him so John says to this elder maybe to a put this pastor sir thou
knowest they saying like you know like why are you asking me I I'm the one
that's been caught up here in the spirit I'm the one that's good you know trying
to contain everything that I can see he says you know you know where they came
from and he said unto me what did he say unto them these are they which came
out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb where this great multitude come from the great
tribulation being persecuted by the Antichrist this is why so many of them
had died during the fifth seal and more were to die right the great tribulation
had taken place we've read that in Matthew 24 they've come out of that the
robes are washed in the blood of the Lamb you know this people say to you this
isn't us Kevin this this isn't us this is some other group some other group in
future tribulation period the tribulation saints they call them
something that's never coined or termed in the Bible that's what they call them
they're not it's not the church it's tribulation saints they're washed in the
blood of the Lamb if you've been saved you've been washed in the blood of the
Lamb verse 15 and I'm gonna prove to you that these people are is the New
Testament Church okay I'm gonna prove that to you maybe not just yet but a
little later verse 15 therefore before the therefore are they before the throne
of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them praise God God will dwell among us right this isn't
just some you know we go and preach the gospel people tell us I don't believe in
God you know we can't we can't show them God right we can't produce God but
at this point God will be with us dwelling with us we better see him in
his fullness praise God what an amazing thing and look at this verse 16 and
shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore neither shall the sunlight on
them nor any heat that's such a good thing on the Sunshine Coast too much
heat here no more of that for the lamb which is in the midst of the throne
shall feed them and shall lead them unto live in fountains of water pay
attention now I want you to pay attention to these next words and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes all tears all your stress all your worries okay all your
problems on the earth all your concerns all your suffering washed away wiped
away God himself will wipe away those tears from your eyes nevermore to
sorrow nevermore to mourn God will wipe away all tears from their eyes I want
you to just retain that in your memory because we're going to cover that later
on turn with me to Revelation chapter 8 Revelation chapter 8 verse 1
Revelation chapter 8 verse 1 have we opened the seventh seal yet no not yet
we're still in the same day okay it's still the same day of the Sun and Moon
being darkened and the rapture taking place verse number one and when he had
opened the seventh seal okay so now the seventh seal is opened there was
silence in heaven for about the space of half an hour silence just everything
goes quiet people were praising God worshiping God God wiped all these tears
now it goes quiet for half an hour it's kind of like this this calm before the
storm right everything just goes quiet because we know what's gonna happen
what's coming the wrath of God verse number two and I saw the seven angels
which stood before God and to them were given seven trumpets remember this guys
remember this the seventh seal is opened then what happens the seven angels get
the seven trumpets okay because there are some people I don't know how people
get this idea they say well seal one goes with trumpet number one seal two
goes with trumpet number two they don't have the trumpets until the seventh
seal is over okay that's what's been reviewed here in the seventh seal is
that these seven angels received their trumpets and to them were given
seven trumpets verse three and an angel and another angel came and stood at the
altar from that altar where these souls that were slain were under he comes at
same altar having a golden censer and there was given unto him much incense
that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints so this incense I don't
fully understand this picture guys but we see this angel coming to that throne
remember what that throne was that the souls crying out when are you going to
avenge us how long Lord how long do we have to wait but not only that all the
prayers of the Saints the prayers of all Saints upon that altar was before the
throne and the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the
Saints so these prayers it's like it's kind of like God's been reserving all
these prayers okay and now it's time to answer these prayers this is these
prayers come up to the Lord smoke of the incense which came the president
saints ascended up before God out of the angels hand and the angel took the
sense now look what he does he takes the sensor and filled it with fire from the
altar so somehow these prayers of the Saints translates now into this fire in
this altar and cast it into the earth and there were voices and thunderings
and lightnings and an earthquake before they start blowing the trumpets God
pulls out this the angel gets this fire cast it onto this earth and you have
reacts all this this thundering lightning earthquakes verse number six
and the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound
Wow silence then all of a sudden all these these voices I guess they're
screaming on the I don't know screaming on the earth earthquakes it you know the
earth is shaken and now the angels are about to sound the trumpets we're not
going to go into the wrath of God you can read more about the trumpets there
in verse number a chapter verse chapter 8 if you want in your own time but you
know what this reminds me of it reminds me of Romans chapter 12 verse 19 and 20
I'll just read it to you where it says dearly beloved avenge not yourselves but
rather give place unto wrath so someone does wrong to us don't get revenge give
it give place unto wrath for it is written vengeance is mine and I will
repay saith the Lord therefore if thine enemy hunger feed him if he first give
him drink for in doings for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his
head I like the similarities there right these people that are being persecuted
God says look don't avenge yourself give the place to wrath right so you know do
good to these people and these these these coals of fire will be heaped upon
their head this reminds me of the altar you know all these prayers of the Saints
you know they're not avenging themselves they're asking the Lord to avenge them
and and it kind of it's this fire that this angel takes and cast it onto the
earth it's kind of like it's it's sort of like God's just reserved that and now
he's hearing all those prayers and it's it's like all right now's the time now
we've got to sound the trumpets now we've got to pour out the wrath and
destroy what there is such a scary thought for those that miss the rapture
right you know this is why we need to preach the gospel and get people saved
so they can be part of this great rejoicing so they can be part of the day
of Christ rather than be part of the day of the Lord now we won't I won't be
going into the to the wrath at this point in time or maybe it needs its own
sermon at some point but the questions get asked what is the purpose of the
rapture why do we have this resurrection what's the point of it
turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 1st Corinthians chapter 15 we're done there
with the book Revelation I just wanted to show you those similarities there
Matthew 24 with Revelation chapter 6 what is the purpose of the rapture 1st
Corinthians chapter 15 verse 51 behold I show you a mystery we shall not all
sleep but we shall all be changed okay now some will sleep pass away and die
and others will be changed you know some people say I've heard people say I
really want to make it to the rapture I really want to make it to the
resurrection I hope I don't die before that even if you die you're making it in
fact if you die you get to go first you get to experience the rapture first
before those that are alive so don't worry every believer is going to
experience the rapture even if you pass away before any of these events take
place so we shall not all sleep but we all shall all be changed in a moment in
the twinkling of an eye remember I saw about this reference being about our
bodies and not about the whole rapture event in the moment it took you and I at
the last Trump now I won't cover that right now last Trump we can talk about
that some other time for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible and we shall be changed now look at this in verse 53 for this
corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality
what is corruptible what is this corruption it's talking about physical
bodies our bodies that we have right now are corruptible bodies you know
corruptible means it can decay its putrid you know it's wicked it's
dishonest you know the sins that we commit are done in our flesh are done in
this body you know it's a sinful nature it's corruptible but then we're gonna
exchange that corruptible body this corruptible body for an incorruptible
body what does it mean to be incorruptible cannot be tainted cannot
decay it is perfect and without fault we're gonna get a perfect body
resurrected body just like the one that Jesus Christ received when he was
resurrected but also that and this mortal must put on immortality what
does it mean to be mortal it means it's our bodies are perishable you know we're
subject to death right when we talk about you know being mortal and some
that's immortal says this model put on immortality it's an amazing thought
we're gonna become immortal like physically I know we can't die
spiritually because we're born again with children of God but our physical
bodies we're gonna get these immortal bodies immortal means it cannot die it
endures it's eternal it's a body which lasts forever it's gonna be tangible
right heaven is not this this spiritual intangible world no it's physical new
heavens and new earth we're gonna be preaching about that on Sunday physical
physical bodies bodies that can work bodies that can eat and drink though it
says we don't have to but it can do those things okay it can function like a
body like a proper body now look at verse 54 so when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory
now don't ignore that that's important so many people read this passage and
just ignore that when we receive our resurrected bodies that that is the
point of the rapture to receive our resurrected bodies it's called the
resurrection so the fullness of our salvation takes place not only only is
our soul saved not only are we quickened in the spirit right now but we're going
to receive these new bodies and that'll be the fullness of our salvation
received at that point in time okay but when that takes place it says then shall
be brought to pass the same which is written death is swallowed up in victory
Oh death where is thy sting right Oh grave where is thy victory why why Oh
death where is thy sting what's the sting of death it's because you know to
die is not a nice thing you know that sting of death is gone where is it
because we got immortal bodies it can never die anymore Oh grave where is thy
victory why because these graves are going to be opened up and these bodies
are going to be raised incorruptible no longer with those graves of passed away
believers be holding on to those dead decaying bodies you know there's no
victory anymore in the grave right resurrection takes place verse 16 the
sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law why is it saying that
the sting of death is sin is because our new incorruptible immortal bodies
cannot sin they will be sinless bodies without corruption right this is the
point of the rapture this is the point of the resurrection and verse 57 but
thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ so
what had the victory before the grave right no more the grave we have the
victory we have the victory of the grave we're never going to die ever again
we have perfect resurrected bodies now what shall it says it should be brought
to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory that's found
in Isaiah 25 okay I'll read it to you Isaiah 25 verse 8 take reference of this
very very important I've never heard anyone preach this it was in my own
study time I went through this stuff I've never heard it preached before
Isaiah 25 verse 8 and 9 and you know I'm not making this up okay because it's in
the Bible do your own reading yourself Isaiah 25 verse 8 and 9 says this he
will swallow up death in victory so when Paul is quoting that verse it's coming
from Isaiah okay Isaiah 25 verse 8 he will swallow up death in victory and the
Lord look at this and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces where
did you read about that revelation chapter 7 the one that's supposedly not
for the believer is 1st Corinthians 15 the rapture there is that for believers
New Testament believers yes rights to the Corinthian Church it's to the church
what is Paul quoting the Old Testament Isaiah where death is swallowed up in
victory what is that event the wiping away of our tears why because when we
read Revelation chapter 7 we see these great multitude being brought before the
throne of God being raptured and guess what their tears are wiped away from all
their faces so revelation 7 is about us you can prove that just comparing
scriptures it's very clear and I'll just read verse number 9 in Isaiah 25
verse 9 and it shall be said in that day lo this is our God we have waited for
him this is Old Testament what are we waiting for the rapture the
resurrection we and Old Testament's calling this we have waited for him and
he will save us this is the Lord we have waited for him we will be glad and
rejoice in his salvation why are we glad and rejoicing because all the tears have
been wiped off our face right all the sorrow is gone your pain is over your
suffering is over your tears are over in exchange God gives you eternal gladness
eternal rejoicing in his salvation and so shall we ever be with the Lord let's
pray