Yeah, but it's not um, oh you do? It turned off on mine. It turned off on mine. The revelation thing?
I'm live now.
Did you put a layer on the road? No.
Yeah, see?
Let me just get rid of these.
Yeah, I switched them. That was weird.
It's a bunch of openers.
It's this.
Gattobrom. Gats.
Gats.
Huh?
Gattobrom.
No, it's still there, huh?
But I muted it.
Okay.
Hang on, I gotta find something right here.
I don't know what I'm doing here.
I'm just trying to figure out what I'm doing here.
Thanks for watching!
Alright folks, welcome to the Olive Crown Podcast.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
We're just getting some things ready here.
Trying to figure out what was going on with the sound for a little bit.
And so, we're going to get started with Revelation chapter number 4 tonight.
And thank you all for tuning in to the live stream.
I'm going to be going live on Instagram.
Basically every Friday.
And just going through the book of Revelation.
Now, I will say this.
If my wife has the baby.
Within the next couple of days.
I might take about a week off or so.
So, you know, I might not be here on next Friday.
But, of course, we'll see.
I don't really know exactly what it is that we're going to do.
But, if that takes place.
Then we'll just pick it up for the following week.
And we'll see what happens.
If that takes place.
Then we'll just pick it up for the following week.
And then I'll just do random live streams throughout the week.
Discussing different various topics.
And so, good to have everyone on the live.
I see a lot of people on the stream here.
Thank you so much for tuning in.
And this stream.
This particular stream on Fridays.
Is going to be a little different in the sense of.
We're not necessarily going to take a lot of questions initially.
But, I'm going to just teach you the chapter.
I might give some time at the very end.
For people to ask questions.
And so, if you have any questions.
Put it at the end.
And then we'll try our best to get to those.
To those inquiries.
Alright.
I think we need to straighten out this camera.
A little bit.
I think you might have bumped into it.
I'm just going to blame you for it.
This one right here.
Yes.
I think this way.
Alright.
And so, we're in Revelation chapter number 4.
Tonight.
So, I hope you have your Bible with you.
But if not, don't worry.
We've got some scriptures on screen.
We're going full technology today.
And we have even the scriptures.
On the podcast.
For you.
And so, how does that look?
Is it good?
No.
It's alright.
We'll figure it out.
I'm saying.
I think it's not centered.
On the stream.
But, whatever.
We'll figure it out.
Alright.
And so.
Revelation chapter number 4.
And 5.
Basically, are dealing.
I don't know. What are you doing, Eli?
What's going on here?
Sorry folks.
Trying to figure this out here.
Yeah, this is not.
I think it needs to go to.
Yeah, there you go.
Now it's down.
Now it's doing something else weird.
Yeah, I don't know what you did.
Sorry folks.
Let me switch it out here.
Why don't you go ahead and talk to the folks.
Hey, how's it going?
Nah.
Sorry man.
I wanted to introduce you all to
my evangelist and so.
Hopefully that helped out a little bit.
Get to know him.
Ulysses Hernandez or as Fox
News 11 likes to call him
Ulysses Fernandez.
So let's get right into it. Revelation chapter number 4.
Revelation 4 and 5 are the
introduction to the vision
that God is giving to
the apostle John.
So, Revelation 1, 2 and 3
are dealing with
the introduction obviously to the book of Revelation chapter 1.
2 and 3 are the letters
that are written to the 7 churches which are in Asia.
It's Jesus Christ addressing those churches.
And the different qualities
that they have, the
defects that they have, the things they needed to work on.
And of course, they had an immediate
application for
that day in the first century
AD. But it
also had end times
Bible prophecy significance as well.
And the major significance
that it had was the fact that it
was dealing with tribulation.
A lot of those churches were suffering tribulation.
They were going through difficult times.
And so chapter 2 and 3
really work as a primer
to Revelation chapter 6
where we find
the tribulation. And so
now chapter 4 and 5
are basically John being
caught up in the spirit
into heaven in order to be
revealed the things which must
surely come to pass.
And it's basically
highlighting the
transition there from being on
earth on the isle of Patmos
to transcending in spirit into
heaven, being revealed these things.
And then he gets a glimpse of the
book of wrath.
Not to be mistaken with the seven
seals. The seven seals are that which is
over the book of wrath. And once all
the seals are open, then the
contents that are actually found in the book are
revealed which is what we see in
Revelation chapter 8 all the way to
Revelation chapter 12.
And so we'll get into that in just a bit.
Let's go ahead and start reading here.
Let me see if I can, I think I need to
probably fix the scriptures here. I don't know if you guys
can see it. Maybe condense it a little bit.
Let me fix that for you real quick.
Let me see how that looks.
If it doesn't look fine, then just open up
your King James Bible and follow along with me.
Revelation chapter 4 and verse number 1,
the Bible reads here,
After this I looked, and behold, a door was
opened in heaven, and the first voice
which I heard was as it were of a trumpet
talking with me, which said, Come up hither,
and I will show you these, show
thee things which must be hereafter.
And immediately I was in the Spirit, and
behold, a throne was set in heaven,
and one sat on the throne.
So immediately what we see here,
what, you need me to move it again?
Just a little bit. He just wants me to
move it just a little bit, just a tiny
bit.
You're interrupting my teaching here, man.
All right.
So as I was saying,
John
is caught up in the Spirit here,
and a lot
of people who hold to what
people would commonly refer to as a
pre-tribulation rapture will try to
use Revelation chapter 4
as a text proof for
that doctrine.
Because, you know,
people who hold to a pre-tribulation
rapture, they have to put the rapture
somewhere.
Because of the fact that we're reading the
book of Revelation, and one thing that
you'll see in the book of Revelation is
the fact that the rapture should be there.
I mean, it's dealing with end times.
Is your stream working over there?
And so,
obviously we see that the tribulation
undoubtedly is highlighted
in Revelation chapter number
6.
But, here's the thing is
that we understand
according to Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21
that the rapture comes after the
tribulation. So those who hold to a
pre-tribulation rapture have to
place the rapture
somewhere before chapter number 6.
Can't put it in chapter 5 because
there's a lot of enigmatic symbolism
going on there. So they put it
in chapter 4, and they
basically have John
presenting the church.
And
they'll use these elements that you see in verse number 1
where it says a voice
a door was opened in
heaven and the first voice which I heard was
as it were of a trumpet talking with me. We obviously
understand that the element of a trumpet
is essential when it comes
to the rapture. We see that
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4
we see that in Matthew 24
as well.
And so you see there, which said,
come up hither, so he's being caught up,
right?
And it says, come up hither and I will show
thee the things which must be hereafter.
And this is what they'll say, they'll say
John represents
the church. Now
first and foremost, let me just say this, is that
there's no such thing as
the church, unless you're referring
to the local church.
Okay? For example,
if I stand in front of my
pulpit on Sunday morning and I talk
about the church, I'm referring to first words Baptist
church. There's no
such thing as a universal church.
Okay? Universal church doesn't
exist. The Bible
teaches that there are local
visible called out
assemblies of baptized believers.
Visible churches.
Local churches. When you read the New Testament
you see the churches that are being addressed
in Galatia. You see the
church at Ephesus. The churches that are in Thessalonica.
You see the
seven churches which are in Asia.
The church at Laodicea. The church at Smyrna.
The church at Pergamos.
And these are all referring to physical
local visible
assemblies of God
made up of baptized believers.
So that's important to know.
And, you know, the
proof that this subject or this topic
of the church doesn't really exist
the universal
church doesn't exist is the fact that in
1 Corinthians chapter 5
there is a very strict
instruction given
to the church at Corinth
regarding church discipline.
And he gives
the apostle Paul is dealing with a man who
is committed fornication
and he's addressing the leadership there
and he's basically telling them that they need
to cast that person out
of that assembly. Okay?
They need to purge out the old
leaven and it gives a list
of sins that people can be guilty
of that would merit excommunication
from a local New Testament church such as
fornication, drunkenness, railing,
idolatry,
okay, extortion,
things of that nature. According
to the Bible, a person who's committing those things
unrepentantly in a
local church cannot attend that church
and they need to be cast out. And the very end of
that chapter it says, wherefore
put away from among yourselves that
wicked person. Well, here's
the thing. If we're dealing with a universal
church, that's actually impossible to do.
Because once you cast them out of your assembly
he's still part of that assembly
because it's a universal church.
So, what I'm saying is this is that this
concept of a universal church doesn't exist
in the Bible.
And so, we see
in the Bible that churches are being
exemplified,
churches are being seen
and people attend actual physical
local visible churches.
So, but what they'll say is this, well, John
represents the church
because obviously it's one person.
Okay, he's being caught up. You see the trumpet.
He's being caught up there. But here's the
problem with this interpretation, okay.
The problem
is actually found in verse two. It says,
and immediately I was in the spirit
and behold the throne
was set in heaven and one sat on the
throne. Now, when the actual
rapture takes place
it's the spirit
meeting the body
in the air. That's what the rapture is.
The rapture is synonymous with the resurrection.
So, what the rapture
is, is
if a person has passed away in times
past and they were saved
and they're in heaven,
their bodies who are currently buried
right now in the earth will meet
their spirit in the air and they will
be eternally transfigured.
They will receive their resurrected
body. This corruptible body
shall put on incorruption. This mortal
shall put on immortality.
It's referring to the body. Read 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and it goes into great
detail what that resurrection
looks like.
Excuse me.
If someone is saved and they're alive until the coming
of the Lord,
then that person who
is still alive and
remains and is caught up together with
them in the clouds, he's still
in that physical body. It's just that that
body is now transformed
into a resurrected body.
Okay?
And so this is
a bad interpretation of this scripture
because they'll say, well, because
he's in the spirit, he's being caught up,
therefore it's the rapture. Well, wrong.
Because the rapture is not just a spiritual
resurrection. It's a bodily
resurrection. Now, how do we
know that? We know that because of the fact that
when Jesus Christ resurrected, he didn't
resurrect as a spirit. He resurrected
in a bodily form.
You know, he told the disciples to touch
his hands and his feet and his side
for spirit hath
not flesh and bone as
you see need to have. That's what he said.
So he was a physical, it was
a physical resurrection and
he is the first fruits
of the resurrection.
And then obviously, when
we resurrect, we're also going to receive
a bodily resurrection as well.
So this doesn't jive
with what the Bible teaches about the resurrection or the
rapture. It's just
the dispensational, pre-tribulational
crowd that is trying to fit
their theology, they're trying to place
the rapture somewhere because they need it to be
right before the tribulation because if not,
it debunks
a lot of their teaching on Zionism
and the Jews being God's chosen people
and other things
that the Bible doesn't teach regarding
end times.
So here's the problem, here's
another problem, another issue with that
interpretation.
Another problem with this interpretation
is the fact that
if you have
John representing
all believers, for example,
you have him representing
all believers and
he's being caught up
to be with the Lord,
well then you would have to apply everything
that happens thereafter with John.
What's going on?
Okay.
You would have to apply everything that happens
thereafter with John
to all believers.
Right?
And here's the problem is that at the end of the vision
that he sees of the book of Revelation,
he's given that commission to return
to the earth,
to preach the word of God,
to prophesy before nations
and tongues and peoples.
Well, here's the thing folks,
when we get raptured,
we don't come back to do that.
We're going to be raptured and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.
We're going to be raptured
and be forever with God
and so, you know, that's called
cherry picking.
When you only use verse number one of chapter
number four to say that's the rapture, but you don't
apply anything else that happens to John
as happening
to all believers.
So they say, well, verse number one, you know,
that's the picture of the rapture, but thereafter
it's just John.
Well, where does it say that?
Because then you would have to apply everything else.
You would have to apply us seeing the 24 elders
and seeing the lamb in the midst
and all these things that he sees
when that only pertains to John.
Okay.
And so it makes no sense
and it doesn't hold any water
when it comes to
this matter of the rapture
and end times Bible prophecy.
Okay.
So let's read on here. It says in verse number two,
and immediately I was in the spirit and behold,
the throne was set in heaven
and one sat on the throne
and he that sat was to
look upon like a jasper and a sardine
stone and there was a rainbow
round about the throne
in sight like unto an emerald
and round about the throne
were four and 20 seats
and upon the seats I saw four and 20
elders sitting
clothed in white raiment and
they had on their heads crowns
of gold. So let's talk about these
guys here, these 24 elders.
Okay.
Because obviously
this is a pretty prominent
position that they're holding. A lot of people
have speculated and try to
you know
try to guess what these people are
and you know
they think that maybe it's the leaders
of the 12 tribes.
Maybe it's the 12 disciples.
It's the 12 disciples and the 12
men, the 12 tribes of Israel, the leaders
of the 12 tribes making up 24.
You know maybe
it's you know
I mean there's all types of interpretations
out there
and for the most part you know people
who hold to a fairly
reasonable
end times prophetic
interpretation would say well these are just
24 pastors
who have existed throughout
time and
you know they've served God faithfully
and therefore they're given these positions
of authority. Okay.
Now here's the funny thing, going
back to this whole pre-trib interpretation
here is that John
to them, to the pre-trib crowd
represents the church
but so do the 24 elders
because then they go up there and it's like
well that represents the 24 elders represents
the church. So which one is it?
Is it John? Is it the 24 elders?
You can't just slap on
that label church to every
you know imagery that
you see in the book of Revelation. Some
of these people are actually just the people.
Okay. Some of these people just represent
themselves. In fact
all of them do. Okay.
But he sees these
24 elders and elder
is simply another word for pastor.
You have the word bishop
you have the word
elder and bishop
often is used as a term to describe
to describe a leader in the church
who is the administrator.
Okay. He's a bishop.
He's a shepherd.
Which we would also use as a pastor.
Right. And then elder is simply
significant of the fact that
the pastor of the church is supposed to be
is supposed to be spiritually mature
in the Lord. The Bible tells us in
1 Timothy chapter 3 not a novice
lest being lifted up with pride he falls into
condemnation of the devil. And
so someone who is a pastor shouldn't be
a novice. Okay. And it's not
it's not saying you shouldn't be young in
age. It's just you're supposed to be spiritually
mature. And
let me just say this is that there's a lot of pastors
out there who shouldn't be pastoring
because they're novices
or people that put themselves on that
pedestal of being a pastor. They ordain
themselves. They
they're like these evangelists that travel around
the country and they just kind of do their
own thing. They don't want to be they don't want
anybody leading them. They don't want to be
a follower of man.
Let me just say that's such a stupid teaching
to say well I don't want to be a follower of man
I'm a follower of God. Well that's funny
because Jesus said follow me
as I excuse me Jesus said follow
me and I'll make you fishers of men. And that's
why he was on this earth. The apostle Paul
said follow me as I follow Christ.
The apostle Paul told
Timothy the things that thou has heard of me among many
witnesses the same commit thou the faithful men who shall be
able to teach others also. That
requires people to follow other people.
The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 13
when talking about pastors it says
whose faith follow.
So it's constantly telling us to follow people.
And these people these
these want to be pastors out there these want
to be evangelists who want to just
you know go out there and do their own thing.
It's funny how they want their wives and their children to follow
them. It's funny
how they're trying to evangelize the world
basically you know teach their
doctrine. They basically want people to
follow what they're
saying.
So it's hypocrisy
to say well I don't want to
follow you know I don't I don't follow
any man I follow God but yet
they expect everyone else to follow them
as though they're the source of all truth.
And it's obviously it's
foolishness. An elder is
someone by the way the reason I even brought that up
is because of the fact that that's what happens
when you put a person in a position of authority
who's not mature in the Lord.
They don't understand authority
they don't understand biblical authority
and so they can't be put in a position of
authority because they don't know how to handle it.
In order to be a great leader
you need to be a great follower first.
So these men here
these 24 elders in my opinion
are 24 pastors who have
existed throughout time.
24 spiritual
leaders who have
existed throughout time. Now the question
is this you know why
are they given
such an honorable position
in heaven? Because it says
in verse 4
Now we're all
going to go to heaven those of us who are saved
you know those of us who
have believed on Jesus Christ for salvation
we're going to go to heaven obviously.
But here's the thing
if you're already saved we should strive for
positions
of spiritual authority.
The Bible tells us in Revelation chapter 3
that to him that overcometh
and keepeth my word until the end
the same will I give power over the nations
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.
So God actually promises
authority
you know in heaven
or even in the millennial
domain as well. And why not strive
for that type of position and authority
right?
So these 24 elders
so let's ask ourselves this
what is it
that has given them this authority?
Why is it that they have this authority?
What is it that they've done
to merit this authority?
Well quite simply
in my opinion
when you look at scripture and you
compare all the different verses
I think it's because of the fact that
these are 24 men
who have suffered for the cause of Christ
throughout all ages.
Whether Old Testament or New Testament.
And the reason
I think that let me read to you a
couple scriptures here.
Romans chapter number 8
says this in verse
17 verse 16
the spirit itself beareth witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God
and if children then heirs
and heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him
that we may be also glorified
together.
So obviously when we get saved we become
heirs of God.
But the Bible says that we can become
joint heirs with Christ
if so be that we suffer with him.
What does it mean to be a joint heir?
It means we rule with Christ.
You think of something that's joint it means
we are next to you.
And that's exactly where the 24 elders
are actually situated in heaven. They're around
about the throne to the right hand
and to the left.
Okay. Let me give you some more
scriptures to prove that there.
I'm going to turn to
let me think here I'm going to turn to
2 Timothy
How's everyone
doing on the live right now?
Throw
a couple comments on the live
let me know that you are alive.
2 Timothy chapter number 2
says this in verse number 11
It is a faithful saying
for if we be dead with him we shall also
live with him. It says in verse 12
if we suffer
we shall also reign
with him. So the Bible says that we can
reign with Christ. Of course
this is referring to the millennial reign it could be
referring to what we see going on here in Revelation
chapter 4. More specifically I think
it's designated
for what's going to take place in the millennial reign.
We can reign with Christ. We can have
authority with Christ if we're willing
to suffer for his name's sake.
Because it says if we suffer
we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him he will also
deny us. Now people try to use this to say
well that's referring to salvation.
You know that if we deny Jesus Christ
you
know if we are acting like Peter
that denies the Lord
that basically what that means is that
God's going to deny his salvation.
But don't you just love it how people just add things
to the Bible that are not there?
You know the Bible says repent and believe the
gospel and they'll say yeah that's why you got to repent of your sin
where it says nothing of the like
of repenting of your sin
and believe the gospel. It just says repent and believe
the gospel. Well in like matter we have
this verse here where it says
if we deny him he will also deny us.
Now what does this
mean? Well I believe what it's referring to
is because we're reading in context of suffering
he's saying if we deny him
such as Peter denied the Lord
he will also deny us. Deny us what?
The privilege to
reign with him which is exactly what we see
in verse number 12.
Okay. If we suffer
we shall also reign with him
but if we deny him he will also deny us.
He'll deny us what? The privilege
to have authority
in the coming life.
Okay.
Well Peter denied the Lord
and he lost his salvation for
sure you know because
I remember a scripture in the
book of Luke in the gospel of Luke
where Jesus tells him
that Satan hath desire to
sift you as wheat and he
says but I have prayed for thee that thy faith
fail not and when thou art converted
strengthen thy brethren
and there you have it. That's when he got saved. No
wrong. Converted
is not always talking about
salvation. Converted simply means
to be changed to be transformed
and the Bible tells us in Romans
chapter 12
I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of
God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice
wholly acceptable unto God
which is your reasonable service and be not
conformed to this world but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of
God. So to
be converted simply
means to be changed
and the Bible says in Ephesians chapter
number 4 that we need to be
renewed in the spirit of our minds
okay. We need to constantly
be putting on the new man being transformed
so no he
did not lose his salvation
but you know what happened
to Peter is something that can happen to all of us
where we face persecution
because of our beliefs because we're
Christians because we're serving God
because we're preaching the gospel because we're
preaching the hard truths of the Bible
and we get a little pressure from the world
we get a little pressure from the enemies
of God and they try
to use that against us and put the pressure
on us they threaten our lives
they bomb our churches
they physically harm us
and that's suffering
well the Bible says if we deny him
if we backslide if we deny
him he's going to deny us the privilege
to rule and reign with
him okay. So
I think that this is actually referring to in Revelation
chapter 4 of 24 elders
that were just bosses
these guys just suffered
so much for Christ
they went through
an extreme form of
persecution
and here's the thing you know it could be like someone
like James and John
might be one of the 24 elders
because if you remember in the gospels
Jesus had already promised
the
he had already promised the disciples
that they were going to reign over the 12 tribes
in the millennial reign right
but then you have James and John
coming to Jesus
or should I say James and John's
mom
come to Jesus and basically petition
that one would sit at his right hand
and on his left okay
and he
responded by basically saying
are you able to be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with
can you drink of the cup that I shall drink of and be baptized
with the baptism that I am baptized with
and what he's referring to is actually
persecution and suffering the baptism of
suffering okay
and they said we are able
now I believe that what he's talking
about there the right hand
or the left is potentially referring to
those 24 elders that are
sitting round about
the throne
it's not referring to them ruling over the 12 tribes of
Israel because he had already promised them that they were going to
receive that the 12 disciples
are privileged
obviously because you know they were
there during that time
and so they
already received that reward but even aside
from that they're asking for that
they're asking to be
to be on the right hand and on the left
which is exactly what we see in Romans chapter number 8
that they can be joined heirs with
Christ. Speculation
regarding James and John
but I believe it's correct that these
24 elders is referring
to Christians who have suffered
for Christ's sake do you see a theme
here
just an overriding theme throughout
the book of Revelation of suffering
persecution, tribulation
and so
verse 4 round about the throne
were 4 and 20 seats
and upon the seats I saw 4
and 20 elders sitting
clothed in white raiment
they had on their heads crowns of gold
of course we know that
crowns are
significant
we see that crowns in the Bible are
distributed to saints who have
accomplished some sort of work whether
being an elder like we see in 2nd
Peter being a good pastor
they receive a crown
in James chapter number 1 we see a crown of life
being distributed to those who suffer
and they basically pull through
well these men have crowns of gold
upon their head so it could be referring
to that in fact let's read
James shall we
James chapter number 1
and
verse number 12 says blessed
is the man that endureth temptation for when
he is tried he shall receive
a crown of life which the Lord
has promised to them that
love him right
so we see that crown being distributed
and then we have in 2nd Timothy
chapter 1
let's see
here what am I looking
for
excuse me chapter 4
says in verse number 7 I have fought a good fight
I have finished my course I have kept the faith
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness which the Lord
the righteous judge shall give me at that day
not to me only but unto all them that
love his appearing
and so over and over again we see this
concept of crowns I won't get too much into
that because there's just a lot to say about
that but you
get the point right let's see here
let's
scoot this up a little bit
what
verse are we in alright verse number 5
and out of the throne proceeded lightnings
and thunderings and voices
and there were seven lamps
of fire burning before the throne of God
which are the seven spirits of God
so let me just briefly cover this
regarding
the seven spirits of God
now
there's a lot of false teachers
out there that will try to teach that
this is actually literally referring to the
fact that God literally
has
seven spirits
which is obviously
a false doctrine
he does not have
seven spirits
it's very like the Holy Spirit for example
you know there's only
you have the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost but when he's
talking about the seven spirits he's actually
referring to the seven attributes of God
now along with those attributes
the Holy Spirit is included
but let me read to you from Isaiah chapter
number 11 we're going to look at the seven
spirits here it says in verse number 1
and there shall come forth
a rod out of the stem of Jesse
and a branch shall grow out of his roots
and the Spirit shall rest upon him
the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him
that's one, the Spirit of wisdom
two, and understanding
three, the Spirit of counsel
four, and might, five, the Spirit
of knowledge, six, and of the
fear of the Lord, that's seven right there
okay
so these are the seven
spirits of God that we see highlighted
there in Revelation chapter 4
and actually also you'll see it in
chapter 5 as well
he says in verse number 6 and before the throne
there was a sea of glass
like into crystal
and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne
were four beasts full of eyes before
and behind now this is a
crazy thing that
John is looking at here
okay
it's kind of scary actually
it's funny because
when people think about like angels
they think of these like
beautiful majestic beings
angels are actually pretty scary in the Bible
the cherubims
and the seraphims
those things are terrifying to look
upon that's why most of the
time when saints would look
upon these angels when they would appear to these saints
they would be like terrified
of them because they just look scary
okay
such as what we're looking at here
so he's looking at
this sea of glass
like into crystal
and it says
and in the midst of the throne and round about
the throne were four beasts full
of eyes before and behind
and let's look at the description here in verse number 7
it says the first beast was like a lion
the second beast like a calf
and the third beast had a face as a man
and the fourth beast was like a
flying eagle and the
four beasts had each of them six wings about
him and they were full of eyes within
and they rest not day and night
saying holy holy holy lord god almighty
which was and is
and is to come so let's talk about these
four beasts that are being mentioned here okay
I believe what this is actually
referring to when it talks about these four beasts
it's talking about
they're representative of the four
gospels okay
and
the reason why I believe that is because
of the fact that the first beast is like
a lion and
the book of Matthew actually pictures
Jesus Christ as a lion for example because he's
the king the lion is
the king of the jungle just as Jesus Christ is
the king of the Jews
okay the second
beast is like a calf and
often in the book
of Mark Jesus Christ
the gospel of Mark
Jesus Christ is portrayed
and what's emphasized of his ministry
is his work that he puts into
it right all the works that
he did the labors that he partook
of and an ox
an ox is a beast of burden
okay
and then you have the third beast
which had a face as a face of a man
and we
know that to be the book of Luke because of the fact
that the book of Luke is where you find
Jesus Christ being referred to as the
son of man we obviously understand that he's the son
of God but he's also the
son of man he's a hundred percent man
and a hundred percent God
so Matthew, Mark and Luke
can represent these four beasts or should I
say these four beasts represent Matthew, Mark and
Luke being the lion being
Matthew the
the calf or the ox
representing Mark the beast of burden
and the face of a man
representing the son of man in the
book of Luke and the eagle
would represent the book of John
okay and
for various reasons I'll probably cover that
later on but
let me move on here before I actually get
into that the reason why
these four beasts though in verse number
six are full of eyes before and behind
because if you think about it
the gospel
has been preached into all the world
okay
all eyes so to speak have seen
the word of God they've
perceived it okay
he said well I don't know about that because not
everyone has read the word of God
not everyone has opened up the Bible
not all nations have actually had a physical
copy of the book but I believe what this
is this is saying it's not necessary that they've
looked upon it it's just referring
to the fact that they perceived it
okay
and here's the proof of that you know
often you know for example in Hebrew chapter
number six it talks about reprobates and
how they've tasted of
the word of God now does that mean that they
literally got a Bible and just licked it or something
and took a bite out of it no it's it's
representing the fact that they perceived it
it was given to them you
understand that's how close they were to
the word of God that's how that's how nigh the
word of God came unto them
well in like manner when it says that
these four beasts are full of eyes
before and behind it's referring to the fact that
people in the Old Testament have perceived
the gospel and people
in the New Testament have perceived the gospel as well
and the proof of that
is in the book of Romans
chapter number 10 it
tells us in verse number 17 so then
faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God
but I say have they not heard
yes verily their sound went into
all the earth and their words unto
the ends of the world
so people of the Old Testament
were preaching the word of God in
the known world at that time
the word of God went into the
ends of the world
that's what the Bible says so
these four beasts that are filled
with eyes before and behind
is referring to the fact that the four
gospels have been perceived by
all nations from the beginning
of time up until now
okay and
it says in verse 8 and the four beasts had
each of them six wings about him
and they were full of eyes within
again you know referring
to the fact that people have perceived
the contents of the Bible
and they were full of eyes within and they rest not
day and night saying holy holy holy
Lord God Almighty which was
and is and is to come now
I want you to notice that it says holy holy holy
three times because of the fact that we
serve a triune God
the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
the Bible says okay
and that's why he says holy three times
because he's giving honor
they're giving honor
to the trinity there and let me just
make myself very clear that I am
a trinitarian I believe in the Father, the Son
and the Holy Ghost I'm not a oneness
heretic I don't believe in modalism
that's a false teaching
that seeks to
minimize the
the nature of Jesus Christ
modalists believe that Jesus Christ
became the Son of God in Bethlehem's
manger I believe that Jesus Christ has
always been the Son of God from
eternities past okay
he didn't become the Son of God when
he was born he's always been
the Son of God and
the proof of that is the fact that
in Daniel chapter number three when
Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego
are tossed into the fiery furnace
Nebuchadnezzar sees the Lord in the furnace
and he refers to him as the Son of God
okay
and obviously that is
significant because he is the Son of God
even prior to being born even
prior to the word of God being made
flesh and dwelling among us
you know he basically was
the Son of God even in eternities
past okay
and so
that's important to note the Bible says in
first John chapter five in
verse number six it says
this is he that came by water and blood
even Jesus Christ not by water only
but by water and blood and it is the Spirit
that beareth witness because the Spirit is truth
for there are three that bear record in heaven
the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost
and these three are one
it's not saying these three
are one person
it's saying this is one God
three persons
and one God
and here's the proof of that
in the book of Genesis you have
God saying let us make man
in our image
well you know if it's
oneness and there's only one person
then what's with the terminology using
us you understand
and so when he says us
he's referring to the Father
he's referring to the Son and he's referring to the Holy Ghost
that's why the 24 elders
this is why excuse me the four beasts
are saying holy holy holy
Lord God Almighty which was and is
and is to come
let me
do this real quick
hope everyone's enjoying
the live stream
how's everyone
doing out there
we have a lot of people on here
good group
make sure you share this
we're going to upload it to Instagram live
so you can catch it later on brother
will make sure he doesn't delete it
we did the other live stream
it says in verse 9
so what we see here
is that the 24 elders
are constantly falling down
falling down on their face
they're casting their crowns
before the Lord before the throne
and this is what they do for all of eternity
ok
and so chapter 4 is a very short chapter
not a whole lot to say
in here other than of course
what we see with the 24 elders
the four beasts
and so on I was thinking about covering chapter number 5
I might wait on that until next week
and so but the main thing
that I want to emphasize here
is that this is not the rapture
ok
this is not the rapture
and let me give you some more proof
that this is not the rapture because here's the thing
the rapture is the
resurrection of all believers
from the beginning of time
till now or till the end of time
excuse me ok or till the rapture
excuse me so it's from the beginning of time
up until the
midst of the week and thereafter
when the rapture takes place
those are all the believers that existed at that time
that's the rapture so everyone from the Old Testament
everyone who's saved today
everyone who will be saved during the tribulation
that's who it's referring to
so let me show you
where the rapture actually is
ok since we're on the topic
I don't have it on the screen here
but you can look at it in your bibles
revelation chapter 7
it says here
in verse number
9 it says
and after this I beheld
of course this is after the tribulation
because when it says after this
it signifies
a chronology so it's saying
after all these things have taken place
this is what he sees
after this I beheld a great multitude
look what it says
which no man could number
of all nations and kindreds and people
and tongues stood before the throne
of the lamb clothed with white robes
and palms in their hands
that's the rapture
that would make sense that that would be referring to the rapture would it not
because the rapture would be
all believers of all nations
kindreds, peoples
tongues
that would make sense
because it's everyone who's gotten saved from the beginning of time
in all nations
up until the rapture takes place
that's all believers not just John
ok
and this is literal
he says in verse 10
so what do we see here
we see that this is actually
signifying this is telling us that this is the rapture
because it's all people
from all walks of life
who have gotten saved
there's a teaching out there that says well no this is referring to the Jews
well that's interesting because
I thought the Jews were a part of Israel
and here it says that
there's a great multitude of all nations
kindreds
and people
so if the Jews are of Israel
if they are of the 12 tribes
of Israel
Benjamin and Dan and all these other tribes
then why is it that it says
all nations, kindreds and peoples
doesn't make any sense
this is referring to
everyone who has resurrected
who has been saved who has gotten saved
from the beginning of time until the rapture
and here's another proof of that is the fact that it says
it's a multitude which no man could number
I mean could we really number
all the believers
everyone who has gotten saved from the beginning of time
until the rapture takes place
I mean that's a great multitude
which no man could number
this is what God told Abraham
where he said that his
children
his seed shall be as the
sand of the sea
stars of heaven, sand of the sea
it's a great multitude which no man could number
millions and
billions of people that have gotten saved
and that's not even
including all the babies that have been aborted
that are in heaven today
all the children
whether they've been aborted or murdered
or they just
have a still birth or whatever it may have been
that's including those children as well
from the beginning of time
up until the rapture takes place
that's where the rapture is
and you know what that would make sense because of the fact
that Revelation 6 is the tribulation
and if you have
the tribulation in Revelation chapter number 6
it would make sense that you would find
the rapture thereafter
because that's what the Bible tells us
and so
for them to say
well Revelation 4 is the rapture
that's the rapture
Revelation 4 with John
that's figurative of the rapture
it's a bunch of baloney
it's not
okay
now you know
I don't really think you should split hairs
over this particular doctrine
unless you're dealing with
a dispensationalist
who's a hyper dispensationalist
you know these dispensationalists that believe in
various salvations throughout time
I reject that completely
and I encourage you to go watch
the Dispensation of Heresy documentary that we put out
go to First Works Baptist Church on YouTube
make sure you subscribe
hit the like button and scroll down
to the documentary section you'll find that documentary
there, the Dispensation of Heresy
where we debunk dispensationalism
okay
but here's the thing
is that I don't think we should
necessarily split hairs over it
because of the fact that
this isn't necessarily having to do
with salvation
but you know what
we do need to take people to task
on this and I'm not saying you need to go to your pastor
and try to prove them wrong regarding the
timing of the rapture
or when it takes place in the Bible
but you know
if people want to teach this
false doctrine
it needs to be corrected
so that's what I believe
and here at our church
we believe
in a post-trib
pre-wrath rapture
okay
so we are raptured
post-tribulation
meaning after the tribulation
but before the wrath of God is poured out
upon this world because we're not appointed to wrath
but the Bible says that we are appointed
to tribulation
you understand
and so
pretty much it folks
we're done with chapter number 4
there
let's look at the chat now
I'm going to open it up for some questions
so brother Ulysses
did you write down some questions?
you wrote them down? oh man
he's got a little book here
Q plus A questions
so we got some good questions on here
alright
I'm going to answer all these questions
why not right
I'll leave this open because
I need to reference it so here we go
number 1 what about cremated
people okay
now what is cremation is basically
when a person dies
sometimes their family
will make the decision to
instead of burying the body
they will cremate the body they will burn the body
they will take it to a crematorium
where they will
basically incinerate the corpse
put it in some sort of vial
and they'll do that
you know
I'm not for cremation
but I'm also not of the sort
that if you cremate a believer that somehow
that has to do anything with their salvation
because obviously it doesn't
when you cremate someone we're just talking about the body
okay it has nothing to do with
the spirit it has nothing to do with your salvation
because once you're saved you're always saved
believe on Jesus Christ once you're saved
you're always saved you can never lose
your salvation
but I will say this is that
there's a reason why
the Bible often talks about
burying people
okay and let me just go ahead
and go to 1 Corinthians chapter
15
1 Corinthians chapter 15
go home and read it where you're probably already home
but like after this open up
your King James Bible and go to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and 1 Corinthians
15 is about the resurrection
okay
and it tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 15
in verse
35 but some man will say
how are the dead raised
up and with what body do they come
thou fool
thou which thou sowest is not
quickened except to die and thou
which thou sowest thou sowest not that body
that shall be but bare grain
it may chance of wheat or of
some other grain but God giveth
it a body as it hath pleased him
and to every seed his own
body all flesh is not the same
flesh but there's one kind of flesh
of men another flesh of beasts
another of fishes another of birds
and it goes on so basically
the thought here is the fact that
what you have
is when someone dies
when a believer dies
we are to bury their physical body
because what's being pictured is like
a seed being planted into the ground
and
when a seed is planted into the ground
when it sprouts it doesn't just
come up like this massive seed right
it's not like this huge
mustard seed that comes out of the ground
something completely different comes
out of the ground that's why he says
thou which thou sowest
thou sowest
not the body that shall be but bare grain
it may chance of wheat or of some other
grain he's basically saying when you sow something into the
ground something completely
different will come out
and so when we bury
believers when they die
it's just a symbolic representation
of the fact that when they
resurrect they're going to be completely different
you sow a
seed into the ground
and it's going to come out completely different
because when you get resurrected
you receive a transfigured
body the bible says in verse 40 there are celestial
bodies and bodies terrestrial
but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory
of the terrestrial is another there is one
glory of the sun and another glory of the moon
and another glory of the stars for one star
different from another star in glory
so also is the resurrection of the dead
it is sown in corruption you know like you
sow a seed it is sown in corruption
you bury the corruptible
body it is raised
in incorruption it is
sown in dishonor it is
raised in glory it is sown
in weakness it is raised in
power it is sown a natural
body in other words a physical body
it is raised a spiritual
body there is a natural
body and there is a spiritual body
and so on and so forth and so what it's basically
saying is you know we should
practice burying the dead
who are believers because
it's representative
of the fact that you know that you will see
them one day again
in a resurrected form
whereas cremation
what does that signify
now you know
obviously people have done both
and not everyone who was
buried or cremated
were saved you know
some people who were saved were
cremated some people who were saved were buried
it's just symbolically
representing something and
think about this if you're cremating someone it's
basically representing hell
okay
and this is one of the reasons why
in the Old Testament
God would actually
or excuse me the kings of the Old Testament
would
excavate the
bones of these false prophets
and wicked kings
and would burn them on the altar
because they're wicked people and he's just he wants
them to just be burned because it represents something
so that's a great question there
cremation
how will cremated people who received
be resurrected
well that's a great question so
how will cremated people
who received who basically
got saved I'm assuming that's what you're talking about
who believed on Jesus Christ how will they be
resurrected well quite simply
God will just gather their body
from wherever they're at
and that's not hard to believe
because God is the one who created the body
he can cause
the body to come back together again
and let me give you scriptural proof of that
alright in Revelation
chapter 20
when talking about the damned
those who are going to be punished those who are going to be
cast into the lake of fire
there's this resurrection of the dead
that takes place where the damned
are basically raised up
their bodies meet their spirit
and both soul and body
shall be cast into the lake of fire
you know Jesus said fear not him which can kill the body
but rather fear him who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell
and it's referring to the lake of fire
well this actually takes place in Revelation chapter 20
and it says in verse number 12
and I saw the dead small and great
stand before God
and the books were opened and another book was opened
which is the book of life and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books
according to their works look what it says here
and the sea referring to the ocean
gave up the dead
which were in it
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them
and they were judged every man according to their works
so I mean think about this
I mean don't they take cremated
remains and sometimes just kind of
spread it over the ocean sometimes
they'll go to like a
specific area and they will
basically
they'll spread the ashes in the ocean
because you know that person
liked to sail or something I don't know
but people will often do things like that
well here it says that the sea
will give up their dead so basically
God's divine
power is able to
reunite all those molecules
and sinews and bones
back together
in order to be judged now if he can do that for the
damned obviously he's going to be able to do that
for the saved
okay
and we have a picture of this
in the book of Ezekiel I won't go into it too much
where he gives his vision to Ezekiel
of the army and
he goes into the valley of dry bones
and it says that they're dry
because they've been dead for a very long time
and it goes to that
imagery and the description how
they basically come back to life
and
basically that's representing the
rapture there doesn't matter where
your body is doesn't matter if it was chopped
up into pieces or burned or
no matter what happens
God can find you no matter where you're at
okay
I mean God is omnipotent
David said if I make my bed
in hell that aren't there
and obviously we understand that saved people can't go to hell
but he's just showing the extremities
of God's omniscience
and omnipotence and omnipresence
that he's just everywhere
so great question there
are you going to put another one up there?
or should I just go through this?
okay
gotcha
very technologically advanced
there
let's see
what do you think about
church on Saturdays?
is it in the Ten Commandments?
so this is actually something that I was going to address
in the coming days I was actually going to make a video about this
and that is in regards to the Sabbath
okay
now there's a movement
amongst Christians right now
where they want to reject
meeting together on Sundays
which is the first day of the week
and they want to meet on Saturdays because of the fact that
Exodus chapter 20
says to remember the Sabbath
to keep it holy
and they basically take that commandment
and say we need to be keeping the Sabbath
because that's what God said
well first and foremost
let me explain a couple things here
when it comes to this topic okay
number one
no one can keep all the Ten Commandments first and foremost
the Ten Commandments were not there for you to keep
it's just to show you that you need a savior
the Bible says that the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ
and the Bible says that
in James chapter 2 and verse number 10
that if you keep the whole law
you're defending one point you're guilty of all
and so no one
is able to keep the Ten Commandments
it's impossible to do so
but secondly
God does not expect for people to keep
the Sabbath in the New Testament
and I'll tell you why
because the Sabbath
which was the day of rest
represents
us resting from our works
for salvation
and the proof of that is this
when in the Old Testament when someone
was keeping the Sabbath or they
chose not to keep the Sabbath
and you know they found some individual collecting
sticks the punishment for that was
death
and in like manner
the Bible says that for the wages
of sin is death
it's referring to the fact that you deserve
hell
so if someone wants to keep the commandments for salvation
the Bible says you're actually worthy of death
because
you can't keep all of God's commandments
the only one person
that can keep all of God's commandments was Jesus Christ
and that's why we need the righteousness of Jesus Christ
to be imputed upon us because
he's the only one who is perfect
we need his record in order to be saved
not our own record
but let me prove to you beyond a shadow
of a doubt that God does not expect for us
to keep the Sabbath in the New Testament
Colossians chapter 2
verse 14 says this
blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
referring to Jesus that was against us
which was contrary to us
and took it out of the way nailing it
to his cross
and having spoiled our principalities and powers
he made a show of them openly
triumphing over them in it
so what is it saying?
the Bible is saying here that he blotted out the handwriting
of ordinances
he's referring to that Old Testament
law of meats, drinks
divers, washings and carnal ordinances
such as
the purification laws and even the keeping
of the Sabbath
he said well no that's referring to the
sacrifices and all those purification laws
but the Sabbath is something different
well let's read on
it says in verse 16
let no man therefore judge you in meat
or in drink
or in respect of a holy day
or of the new moon
or of the Sabbath days
so it says
don't let anybody tell you that you need to be keeping the Sabbath
don't let anybody judge you
on keeping the Sabbath
why? verse 17
which are a shadow of things to come
but the body is of Christ
the Bible says
so according to the Bible
all of these rituals and ordinances
that we see in the Old Testament
were a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ
and when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross
he became the culmination
the representation of those ordinances
and in fact
if you think about it when he was crucified
when he was buried and when he resurrected
those three days prior to that were all
three Sabbaths
so he fulfilled all those things
so while he was being punished for our sins
while he was being crucified
while he was buried
we rested
they rested
during those Sabbath days
why? because it's a representation of the fact that
when we believe on Jesus Christ for salvation
we're not trusting in our works
for salvation
okay
we're not trusting in our works we're not trusting in our capability
of keeping the commandments which no man can keep
the Ten Commandments perfectly
and let me just give you
a reality check here
there's more than Ten Commandments in the Bible
okay
and the Bible says therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law
you know there's not a just man upon earth
that doeth good and sinneth not
everyone's broken the commandments
so
Jesus Christ was our Sabbath
because he actually did all the work for us
and we rest from our works
when we get saved
okay
we enter into his rest the Bible says
you need to switch that? alright hold on
go for it
so we rest from our works
when we get saved because Jesus Christ
did all the work for us the Bible says
he hath made them to be sin who knew no sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him
okay so no we don't need to keep
the Sabbath and here's the thing
for people to say well we do need to keep
the Sabbath then that would mean that you
where's your sacrifices?
where's the diverse washings and cardinal ordinances?
are you abstaining from
shrimp and all these other things as well?
that's why the seven day Adventists
are hypocrites
because they want to claim that they
and look
the Sabbath was a time when they would stay home
isn't it funny the seven day Adventists congregate
together on Saturday?
that's hypocritical
because don't you get in your car don't you drive
over there don't you get dressed don't you do all these things
don't you eat don't you cook and all these things
whereas the Bible says you're actually supposed to
collect food the day prior
and prepare for the Sabbath
okay
because no work should have
been done during that time
so to answer your question
no we do not need to keep the Sabbath because Jesus
Christ is our Sabbath he kept
he basically did the work so we can rest
from our works for salvation
okay
let's move on
there's an arrow here oh number three
alright skip that
brother Elise doesn't want me to answer someone's question
do you believe the angel of the
church is talking about the pastor
yes I do believe that I believe
when the Bible talks about in Revelation 2 and
3 to the angel of the church at Ephesus
to the angel of the church at Smyrna
it's actually referring to an actual pastor
and the reason I believe that is because
of the fact that
angel is simply a messenger and
it's actually correct to refer to a
soul winner an evangelist a pastor
as an angel because that's exactly what we are
we're angels
I'm just like a little angel
okay just bringing the message
of God's word and here's the thing
is that in Revelation you have
an actual man who the
Bible refers to as an angel
talking to the apostle
John and saying
that he is his fellow servant
let me read it to you because I don't want to misquote it here
let me see if I can find it
first
let's see here
which one am I looking for
Eli?
maybe someone in the comments section
can help me find it
you know what I'm referring to here?
he's not even paying attention right now
let me see if I can find it here
alright here we go
Revelation 22 verse 6
Revelation 22 verse 6 says
He said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true
and the Lord God of the holy prophets
sent his angel to show unto
his servants the things which must surely be done
behold I come quickly, blessed is he
to keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book
and I at John saw these things
and heard them and when I had
heard and seen I fell
down to worship before the feet of the angel
which showed me these things
then saith he unto me, See thou do it not
for I am thy fellow servant
and of thy brethren the prophets
and of them which keep the sayings of this book
worship God
so the angel that's actually designated
to show John these things was
actually one of the prophets of the Old Testament
he's given this honorable position
to partake in
the revealing of end times Bible prophecy
to the apostle John, what's going on?
alright
and so
angels can often
be referring to actual messengers
and you know you think of
in Spanish when you say gospel you say
Evangelio
in that word you have angel
because it just means simply a messenger of good things
the person who's bringing
good tidings to you
great question
next question here
can we have more
than one crown? Absolutely
that's why they're all highlighted there
now we'll say this, I don't believe
I don't believe ladies
can have one of the crowns
which is obviously the crown that is given
unto the pastors
because obviously only men
can be pastors in the Bible
according to the Bible
it says in
1 Peter chapter number 5
in verse number
3 gives the
instructions to the elders of the church
it says neither is being lords over God's heritage
but being samples to the flock
the chief shepherds shall appear
ye shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away
so I believe that's a special crown designated for
elders who basically fulfill their responsibilities
as a pastor
and they fulfill their role that we see here
in verse number 2
1 Peter chapter number 5
there's plenty of other crowns that people can receive
and so there's the crown of life
and really at the end of the day
the crown is simply representative
of authority
and you can compare that to the parable
that Jesus Christ gave
where he talked about
giving pounds to the servants
and he told them
occupy till I come
and the first servant came and he was a good steward
of the pounds that he received
and Jesus said well done
thou good and faithful servant
thou has been faithful in little things
have thou authority over ten cities
and so that's kind of synonymous with what we see
with this aspect of the crowns being mentioned
ok
last question here
what do you think
the palm means
in Revelation chapter 7
the palm
verse 9
it says and before the land clothed in white
robes and palms in their hands
well palms is a tree
it's part of a tree
no I think I don't think there's any
necessary significance other than the fact that
it's just signifying that they are
if you remember
they put palms before Jesus as he was coming
into the temple
as he was coming into the city they were putting palms
and so it's just signifying the fact
that he's king I think that's what it's referring
to I don't think it goes any deeper than that
and so that's pretty much
it folks if there's anything else
I don't know if there's
any other questions that people may have
if you do put it in
the comments section so I can get it
if not
we are about
to end this
stream soon
alright and folks thank you so much
for tuning in to the Olive
Crown podcast and
we're just kind of perfecting things here and so
thank you so much for your patience
as we
fixed the little glitches
that we have we had some more
graphics this is actually one of my favorite
graphics right here
yeah
stray pride
make sure you get your shirt
from
good works raiment
always has good great shirts
in fact that's where I got this shirt right here
it's a great shirt Leviticus 2013
will women be rewarded
the same in the millennial reign absolutely
planted by living water
as it will women be
rewarded the same in the millennial reign
absolutely absolutely
as long
as you fulfill your role on this earth
whether that be as a mom
as a wife as a soul winner
as a participant in church
you're serving God according
to you know your role
then you can you can be
rewarded more than some of the men in
this world who are Christians
you know and so
God is no respecter of people the Bible says
he just expects for
both genders to fulfill their
biblical role here
on this earth and that's how we can be rewarded
according to the Bible
okay and so
great question
I saw another one
besides getting people saved the
Delaware Dumpling says besides getting people
saved what are other ways to earn
crowns or is that the only way
well as I mentioned
you can you get different crowns for
example pastoring you can
get crowns by winning souls through Christ
you can get crowns
based upon suffering for the name of Christ
according to James chapter number one
you can get crowns because you love his
appearing
am I missing any crowns here there's other
crowns I can't think of off the top of my head
but here's the thing is the most important
thing is this and this is basically I think I actually preached
on this recently
the important thing is this
is that you have
your spiritual fishing pole
in as many ponds as you possibly
can because the Bible
isn't very explicit to tell us
which work
we can do that will
bring back the most
payback so to speak
and so
we need to win souls to Christ but we need to love
our wives as Christ also loved the church and gave
them so forth we need to raise our children
and nurture in the admonition of the Lord
wives need to reverence their husbands
we
need to make sure that we are discipling
people that we're teaching
the word of God that we're standing for truth that we're suffering
that we're good employees
because here's the thing service for God doesn't
doesn't it's just not subject to
the church that you're in
it's just the way you live your life
like being a good employee
being a good boss
doing those types of works
the Bible says to maintain good
works because that's profitable for you
and so
I think God keeps that obscure
for a reason as far
as what works we can do that can
bring the best payback
and it's for that
reason that we seek to be just balanced
in our Christian life and seek to be
as involved as we possibly can
so that we can
earn as many rewards
as possible
good question there
Wendy asks are we going to be ruling
and no more curse I'm not sure
what she means by that
maybe clarify that question
what else
do we have here do we have any tips to stay
consistently reading your Bible
Sean asks
do you have any tips to stay consistently
reading your Bible
well you know
it depends on what stage
of the Christian life you're in
if you're a brand new Christian
you just need to
develop the habit of
reading your Bible every single day
and
if you're not accustomed to reading
then take
bite sized tasks
such as reading a chapter
a day reading for
five minutes a day reading for ten minutes and increase
it the important thing is not how much
you're getting in the important
thing is that you're consistent in what
you're doing because you're just trying to formulate
a habit of reading the
word of God so it just becomes
second nature to you that's the important part
is that reading the Bible just
becomes part of your life
it's just something that you do it's like
spiritual muscle memory
and I have a podcast
on my
YouTube channel it's called the Rod of Iron Podcast
and if you enjoy a good laugh
if you like just casual
conversations and biblical talk
I would encourage you to do that if you are
holier than thou and
you know you don't like to joke around a whole
lot and you get offended easily don't listen
to the podcast because you're probably
not going to like it we let
our hair down a little bit when we
do that podcast and so but
on one of the podcasts I can't remember it was
it was a recent episode
where I talked
about a book called Atomic Habits
and Atomic Habits is a great book
to read in order to
it has to do with habit formation
and it can be applied to spiritual
matters such as prayer and
Bible reading and how to formulate
that habit okay
and so great question there I
encourage you to
I'm not talking about you
Sean that you would be offended I'm just saying
people in general I think
he put a question mark there he's like what are you talking
about what's that
yeah
Simon asked if we're a
joint heir with Christ does
that mean we inherit all things with
him because Hebrews 1 says he
is the heir of all things well
here's the thing you know we're ruling and reigning
with Christ but we obviously understand
that Jesus Christ is just a ruler of all
things he's king of kings and lord of lords
so we're joint
heirs in the sense of the fact that
we get to rule and reign
with him you understand it
judgment is given unto us
and we're able to rule
with the rod of iron just as he will
we're subject obviously unto Christ
he is our head it's
basically like the CEO and the managers that
are below him right the supervisors or
managers or whatever it may be that's
basically what it's going to be like in the millennial reign you
have Jesus Christ as the head the
government shall be upon his shoulders
and then below him are
the branches of government
that are ruled by
his servants who have been faithful who
he has distributed that type of authority to
okay
great question
what else we got here
any good book recommendations
yeah Atomic Habits is a good one
I encourage you to go listen to the recent
podcast that we put out I
talked about a good book that
I read twice a year every
year at least twice a year if I don't
I read it at least once
and I'm not going to tell you which one
it is because I want you to go listen to the podcast
and so go to First Works Baptist
Church and I explain that book
pretty much in detail and
many people have actually gotten that book
since I mentioned it and I haven't
gotten a battle review from it since
alright and so I encourage
you to go listen to that healthy competition is a good thing
that's not a question what else we got
here
the Delaware Dumpling loves
the podcast thank you for tuning in
no
I'm not doing that here this is the Olive
Crown podcast
the Rod of Iron
podcast is another
podcast it's a great podcast I'm actually going to take a break
from that podcast for a little bit because the baby's coming soon
and so I think that's pretty
much it folks
well thank you so much for tuning in
and it was
great studying
through the Book of Revelation chapter number 4
thankful that I was able to
chat with you guys for a little bit
and maybe answer some of your questions I hope that was a
help
and
tune in next week
as we discuss
Revelation chapter number 5
as we continue with the
vision that God gives
Jesus
gives to the
Apostle John and
I might get into some live streams
prior to that we'll see what we're
doing I might have something on my
mind that I want to talk about
and so looking forward
to this coming week
hope you guys can make it to that
and that's pretty much it folks
I'm going to be signing off thank you so
much for tuning in to the Olive Crown
podcast striving for the incorruptible
crown you guys have a good night