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So we're continuing through the series of Revelation, and we're going to go through every single chapter here in the book of Revelation. We're in Revelation chapter 4. Now, if you remember from basically the first few weeks, chapter 1 are the things that are kind of in the past tense, and then chapter 2 and 3, those churches, they did exist during that time period. But in chapter 4, notice the first word, or first couple words, after this, after this. So this is detailing the things of the future, okay? These are the things of the future. So now we're kind of going into the future, but realize chapter 6 is really when the meat and potatoes starts, okay? Chapter 4, we're kind of still getting in the introductory sort of material, and in chapter 6, you'll start seeing the seals being released. But in verse number 1, notice what it says, 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 thee things which must be hereafter. So in verse number 1, there's this phrase where it says, Come up hither, come up hither. Now what we believe at Verity Baptist Church is we believe in a post-tribulation, pre-wrath rapture of the church. So we'll be spared from the wrath of God, but we will go through tribulation. In Matthew 24, it says, After the tribulation are those exact words, okay? So we do not believe in a pre-trib rapture. Now I want you to realize, chapter 6 is when Daniel's 70th week starts to happen. The first seal, the second seal, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. That's when it starts to happen. So if there was a rapture before chapter 6, you'd be looking at a pre-trib rapture. So people that believe in a pre-trib rapture, since the seals start in Revelation chapter 6, they must find a place to get the rapture before chapter 6. Now last week we talked about Revelation chapter 3 verse 10, and I explained it and I showed how, you know what, that was an individual church that was happening during that time period, some sort of worldwide persecution. But that was to that specific church, the Church of Philadelphia, okay? Now that's one of their big arguments for a pre-trib rapture here in Revelation. Their other big argument is Revelation chapter 4 verse 1. They say, well, it says, Come up hither, and they say that's the rapture. Come up hither, okay? Well, this is not the rapture, and there's a lot of problems with it. But what they'll say here when it says come up hither, they'll say, well, the church is not mentioned after Revelation 4. And since the church is not mentioned, it must mean everyone got raptured up to heaven, okay? We'll turn to Revelation 22, Revelation 22. Now I'll say this, that first off, that's a half truth, okay? Because church is mentioned after Revelation chapter 4, and we're going to see it here in Revelation chapter 22. Notice what it says in Revelation 22 verse 16. Revelation 22 verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David in the bright morning star. So when somebody tells you the word church is not mentioned after chapter 4, well, I mean, I guess it's the word churches, not the word church is mentioned. Not, you know, not churches, churches, okay? So it is mentioned here, but they'll say, well, it would have been mentioned beforehand, okay? Well, I want you to notice here, though, in verse 16, notice how it says churches. Churches, plural. This is more than one church, right? So you have to understand that when people say, well, the word church is not there after Revelation chapter 4. What they're saying is that there's some worldwide church, and just the church got raptured. But I want you to understand something. The Bible never teaches a universal church, okay? So the whole argument doesn't make sense to begin with, because what the Bible teaches is churches. That's what you see in Revelation 22 verse 16. In Revelation 2 and 3, we saw seven churches that existed during that time period, 1950 years ago. It wasn't just, well, here is the church of these 200 years, just worldwide. No, look, we're not Catholics. So the word Catholic means universal, but we don't believe in a universal church. The only time the Bible ever makes mention of a universal church is when everybody is up in heaven. You say, why? Because a church is a congregation, and when everybody is in heaven one day, they're congregated together, okay? This is a church because we're congregated together, okay? But look, I have friends that live all over the world, and look, my friends that live in the United States, we don't go to the same church. We're in the same family. We're brothers and sisters in Christ, but we're not part of the same church, because there's individual churches. The Bible never teaches this universal church that we're all part of that body, because when the Bible speaks about a body, it's something that's localized, okay? I mean, look at me. I've got two ears. These ears are effective because they're connected to my body. But what if one of my ears was like in the United States still? It wouldn't be that effective, would it? And see, when the Bible speaks about the body, it's speaking about a local body where you're congregated together, and one person's the feet, one person's the knees, one person's the nose, one person's the eyes, and it gives symbolic language, but the understanding is a body is connected together. You can't have part of your body in some other country or some other continent. It wouldn't do any good, okay? So the idea, well, church is not mentioned. Well, first off, that's not true because Revelation 22 says church is, but there is no universal church. So I would not expect the Bible to say, well, the church got raptured because there is no universal church. Look, in any church, I guarantee you, if the rapture were to happen during our lifetime, we have, you know, 50 people on a Sunday morning or whatever, there's probably some people that are not saved at our church. Just about in any church, they're saved and unsaved. A whole church doesn't get raptured. Individual people that have believed on Jesus Christ get raptured, okay? And in church, you're gonna have some saved and some not, okay? Depending on the church, you'll have more saved or less saved. But I want you to understand that first off, it does mention church, but who cares that the word church is gone? It doesn't make any difference. Turn back to Revelation 1. Revelation 1. Revelation 1. Because here's the thing about this. The word church is mentioned before Revelation 4, but it's not a universal church, is it? It's individual churches. And we'll see that in Revelation 1, verse 4, because notice what he says. John, Revelation 1, verse 4. John did the seven churches which are in Asia. Are is present tense. Asia is a location, which is kind of the southwestern part of Asia modern day, which is in the area of Turkey, most of it. And these were seven churches that existed 1950 years ago in a location. Individual churches. It's not, well, you know, the church of, you know, Asia. You know, Asia. No, there's individual churches depending on where you're at. Patmos, Smyrna, Philadelphia, Laodicea. There's different churches because there is no universal church, which we're all members of. There's individual churches and then individual local bodies. Okay, that's what the Bible teaches. Okay, now turn to Revelation 4. Revelation 4. So, look, it really wouldn't make a difference if the word church was not in Revelation 22, verse 16. It doesn't really make a difference because the church doesn't get raptured. Individuals get raptured. Okay, and we are going to see that, you know what? The rapture is mentioned in the book of Revelation. We can see it. Okay, it doesn't really make a difference if the word church is gone, but there's problems with their view. Okay, even disregarding that, I want you to understand something in Revelation 4, verse 2. Let me show you the biggest problem. Revelation 4, verse 2. And immediately I was in the body? Is that what it says? I was in the spirit and behold, a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne. Immediately I was in the spirit. See, here's the thing. If I were to die today, my spirit would go to heaven, not my body, right? When you die, it's not the body. The body just dies, but you will eventually get a glorified body. When does that happen? Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. See, the problem is if this was the rapture, John would be given his new body, but he's in the spirit, okay? And look, people kind of use this expression today. You know, it's like, hey, are you going to, you know, the game or whatever? It's like, no, I'm not going. I'll be with you in spirit, okay? What does that mean? I'm not really going. My body is not going to be there, okay? And so, look, this expression in the spirit, you know, he's there. He's seeing visions, but it's not his body. His body was still down there on the ground, okay? He was there in the spirit. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Now, when it says sleep, what it's saying is dying, okay? Because oftentimes, you know, even the disciples of Jesus got confused when he talked about Lazarus. He said he's taking sleep, and they say, oh, that's good. He's taking a nap or whatever. It's like, no, no, no, no. He's dead, okay? That's what I meant by sleep is what Jesus tells them. And so when it says we shall not all sleep, what that means is not everybody's going to die before the rapture. Some people are going to be alive when the rapture takes place. Otherwise, there'd be no purpose of a rapture, okay? Because that's sparing everyone from being killed, okay? But we shall all be changed. So basically, not everybody's going to die, but everyone's going to be changed. Because those that are dead, they're going to be given their new bodies, okay? And they're going to be caught up. And those that are alive, they're going to be changed. It's not the same body you have now, okay? The sinful body, sinful flesh that might have ailments or sicknesses or whatever. You're going to be changed, okay? You're going to be given a different body, a glorified body. Verse 52. When does this happen? In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So look, when the rapture takes place, I want you to realize everyone who's the dead in Christ shall rise first, the Bible says. Then we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep, okay? Everyone's going to be changed though. Those that are saved, those that are dead in Christ, they're going to be caught up. New bodies, us that are alive during that time period, we're going to be given a new bodies. We're not all going to sleep. We're not all going to die, but we shall all be changed, the Bible says, okay? So here's the thing about this. If this symbolized the rapture, why doesn't John go there with his body? Because we're all going to be changed. I mean, he's alive at this time period. If this represents the rapture, why is he not there in body? Why does he say he was there in spirit? Because it's not symbolizing the rapture, okay? It doesn't symbolize the rapture. The Bible's not teaching. And look, John lived 2000 years ago. So if that's the rapture, then not very many people made it, okay? So that doesn't make sense. So number one, there's a problem because of the fact he's just there in spirit, which shows right there that's not symbolizing the rapture because at the rapture, you're going to be there in body, okay? Your body's going to be taken. But not only that, I want you to understand another problem is this would be a very poor representation of the rapture because the rapture is supposed to be men and women from every country around the world, anyone who's believed in Jesus Christ. So how would John, one person, one man, how would he represent every single person in the entire world? That's a poor representation, okay? I'm sure John was a smart guy, but I'm sure he didn't speak every language in the world that existed then, okay? The rapture is going to be people of all nations and kindreds and tongues, men and women, people of all ages, people that are 90 years old, people that are young children, people everywhere, anyone who is saved, okay? But I want you to understand in the book of Revelation, we're going to see something that is a good representation of the rapture, and that's in Revelation 7. Revelation chapter 7, turn there. Revelation chapter 7, because I'll tell you, that's a poor representation of the rapture. It's pretty poor symbolism if that's what it was, but we don't even have to look at symbolism. The rapture is in the book of Revelation, and people that believe in a pre-trib rapture, they'll either say that the rapture is in Revelation 3 10 or 4 1, or what they'll say is the rapture is never in the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation about the end times, and it never mentions the rapture one time, it's never hinted at. No, the rapture happened before the book started. How does that make sense when Revelation 1 are things from the past tense, Revelation 2 and 3 are the things that were existing during that time period, and then you go to the future things? So why in the world would the rapture just never exist, okay? Now, you're welcome to make up your own mind, but let's look at Revelation chapter 7 and explain to me if this sounds like the rapture. Verse 9, Revelation 7 verse 9, and keep in mind, this is after seals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 found in Revelation chapter 6. Revelation 7 verse 9, after this I beheld and lo, a great multitude. Now, I don't know how many a great multitude is, but it's more than just John, okay? It's more than just one person, a great multitude which no man could number. Nobody can number, okay? Now, I want you to understand something. We still don't know how many people it is, but look, I can count 11 people in this room right now, okay? So it's more than 11 people because no man's able to number this, okay? No one is able to number. And I want you to realize that when it comes to numbering a great multitude of people, look, they could put you in basically files where it's basically side by side 50 people in like 50 rows back. 50 by 50 rows is just 2500 people. But you could put people in rows and count big numbers that way if you were organized, but it's going to be so many people that it would be so many columns and so many rows that when you look, you can't even figure it out. Because all you need mathematically is to basically set them in columns and rows. And if you have 100 columns and 100 rows, it's 10,000 people, okay? But it's so many people that you'd have so many columns that you'd be counting and you're like 217. No, wait, was that 216 or 217? You would lose count because there's just too many people. So you could count big numbers by putting them in rows and columns, okay? But it's going to be such a large number that nobody can count it. No man or no woman could number. Notice this, though, of all nations. Of all nations, which means every nation in the world, there's going to be someone who's raptured in kindreds, in people, in tongues. Tongue is a word for language, which is showing you there's saved people that speak every single different language there is on this planet, okay? Every single nation, there are saved people. Even in the darkest, most unreceptive places like North Korea, there are saved people in North Korea because it says of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. Now, I think this sounds like a rapture to me. But pre-trib people will say, no, this is not the rapture, okay? Well, let's just keep reading and see if this makes sense, okay? Now, let me just give you a side because sometimes I say in sermons that there's somebody saved in every nation in the world except for Vatican City. Now, look, I still don't think Vatican City is a nation, okay? Why would you call Vatican City if it's a nation, okay? There's like 300 people that work for the Catholic Church. I still don't think that counts as a nation according to the Bible. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. But anyways, verse 10. Verse 10, and palms in their hands. Verse 10, and cried with a loud voice saying, salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and onto the lamb. So this great multitude is crying out salvation to our God, okay? Which sitteth upon the throne and onto the lamb. Verse 11, and all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God. Verse 12, saying, amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and might be onto our God forever and ever, amen. What you're seeing is all these people, this great multitude and all these angels are basically crying out to God, salvation. And they're saying praises, amen, blessing and glory. Verse 13, and one of the elders, okay? So I believe this is one of the 24 elders that was mentioned earlier in the Book of Revelation. One of the elders answered, saying unto me, who is he saying this to? He's saying this unto John, okay? So the elder is speaking to John, saying unto me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes? Well, who's arrayed in white robes? At the end of verse nine, it says of this great multitude, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. So when the angel is saying, or when the elder is saying, what are these which are arrayed in white robes, he's referring to verse nine, the great multitude in white robes. Those are the ones who have the white robes. So the elder is saying to John, what is this great multitude? What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And notice this, and whence came they? Whence means from where? Where did this great multitude come from is what he's saying, that are arrayed in white robes from every nation and kindred and tongue. Where did all these people come that are screaming out salvation? Now, look, when you're seeing that, immediately you can tell from how he's saying this, this is a new group of people. Because he's saying, where did they come from? And look, that would be like if 100 people showed up here, and then I'd be like, where did they come from? Because they just showed up. If they had been there for like hundreds of years, you wouldn't say, where did they come from? No, there's a great multitude that just got there, okay? And we'll talk about that more in a couple weeks. But he's saying, where did they come from? Whence came they? From where did they come? And then this is what John says to the elder. And I said unto him, sir, thou knowest. And so John is asked, where did this great multitude come from? And he says to the elder, you know, you know that I don't know that. I have no idea where this great multitude came from. Thou knowest. And then the elder tells you, and he said to me, who did he say this to? The elder said to John, and he said to John, these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So where did this great multitude come from? They were out of great tribulation. Look, it sounds like there were Christians going through the great tribulation as we believe. And guess what? All of a sudden, where did they come from? All these people. They were in great tribulation. What took place between Revelation six and Revelation eight? We're going to talk about this more next week. But look, at the end of the sixth seal, all of a sudden, the whole chapter goes by in, like, a blink of an eye. Because chapter eight verse one says there's silence. Actually, turn to Revelation eight. I'll show this to you. Revelation chapter eight. Let me turn there myself. Revelation eight. Revelation chapter eight. And I want you to notice this and keep your finger in Revelation eight. Let me show you Revelation chapter six real quickly. Revelation six verse 12. Revelation six verse 12. 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. So the sixth seal is open in Revelation six verse 12. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal. Now I want you to realize in this chapter, you see the first seal, the second seal, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, all in one chapter. But there's not six seals. The number of perfection for God is seven. There's seven seals. Okay, I want you to go. Now look at the end, verse 17. Revelation six verse 17. For the great David's wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? So basically, God's wrath is about to commence. His great wrath is come. It's right here, because when the opening of the sixth seal is the signal that it's going to happen. But I want you to notice something. The wrath starts at the seventh seal. Turn to Revelation eight verse one. Notice something. It's about to take place. His wrath is come. But notice Revelation eight verse one. And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. So look, his wrath starts one chapter later. Revelation chapter eight verse one. It's about to happen. It is come. And then it is Revelation chapter eight verse one. And when this wrath takes place, there's silence in heaven for half an hour. Why do you think there's silence? Because this is one of the most significant events in the history of the world. Outside the Lord Jesus Christ dying and being resurrected, all of a sudden there's a great multitude in heaven and there's silence. Because it's like, whoa, all of a sudden there's like, you know, millions of people or however many up in heaven, tens of millions of people up in heaven. Out of nowhere, where did they come from? Out of great tribulation. So see, they were going through great tribulation is what it says in Revelation chapter seven. But God's wrath starts Revelation chapter eight verse one. That is why when we say we're post-trib, we say we're pre-wrath. Because the rapture is Revelation chapter seven verse nine. The wrath of God is Revelation chapter eight verse one. There's a reason why with that seal there's silence for 30 minutes. Because it's the most significant event since Jesus rose again. 2000 years or 2000. I'm going to time the rapture 2,407. I don't know how many years. But basically it's the most significant event since Jesus rose again. That is why there's silence for half an hour because the great multitude is up in heaven. And then he's going to pour out his wrath on those that are left on earth. So look, Revelation chapter seven verse nine, I think that's pretty clear that's a rapture. It's a great multitude. No one can number it. And look, as I explained, if you do things, if you're organized, and I'm sure this is how militaries have done it, they would line people up single file, basically side by side, side by side. 250 people, 250 people, you've already got 62,500 people. And you could number that. All you'd have to do is count one row, one column, 62,500 people. Okay, assuming I think I'm doing the math right. So basically, you know, you could count big numbers. But look, if you're talking 10 million people, if you're talking a million people would be a thousand rows and a thousand columns. If you're talking 100 million people, 10,000 rows and 10,000 columns, you're not going to be able to count up to 10,000 without making a mistake. You're probably not going to be able to count to 1,000 without making a mistake. So it's going to be such a large number that nobody's going to be able to number it. Okay, even if you're as organized as possible. This is the rapture. And we know that because it says they came out of great tribulation in Revelation, chapter seven, verse 14. But it's before the wrath of God in Revelation, chapter eight, verse one. Okay, now what people will say that believe in a preacher rapture? They'll say, Well, this is not the rapture. They'll say, These are just people that died that got saved after the rapture. They died during the tribulation period. And basically it's just a great multitude. It's like, So you really believe a great multitude that nobody can number gets saved after Jesus gets raptured? I think that's pretty far fetched. I mean, people are receptive to the gospel when you give it to them. But you're talking like 50 million people are going to get saved after Jesus gets rapture. If you believe in a preacher rapture, I think that's pretty far fetched when you've taken every single Christian out of the world. How are they going to get saved? They're going to watch the Left Behind DVD or something. I mean, like, how are they going to get saved? I mean, if every Christian's gone from the earth, I understand there's going to be two witnesses during the end times, but you really think 50 million people are gonna get saved from two people in, in like seven years? I mean, that's pretty optimistic, even in a receptive country. Okay, so look, I think Revelation seven, I think it's pretty clear. It lines up. And you know what? Here's what you need to understand. Turn back to Revelation four. Revelation four. Here's what you need to understand. Revelation is chronological. It goes in order. People that believe in a preacher rapture, oftentimes they just bounce all over the place. They'll be like, this chapter was like 1500 years ago. This is like 500 years. They're like all over the place. And so if you're going to read the book of Revelation, which is supposed to reveal information, you're going to be like, I have no idea what's going on. It's like, they're like, oh, no, no, no. This verse here is like 50 years before this verse. And they're just like all over the place. It's like, how in the world could you understand the book of Revelation if that's how it was written? But the book is meant to reveal. So the only information you kind of need to know about the chronology is the fact, and I mentioned this in the introductory sermons, it's divided into two halves. The first 11 chapters and then the second 11 chapters. And when you get to chapter 12, the second 11 chapters, it basically starts over, okay? When we get to chapter 12, we're going to see that, okay? Because you can see the rapture later on in the book of Revelation as well, because it's basically divided into two halves. And it kind of makes sense because you think of the book of Daniel and Daniel is 12 chapters. And how many of them are prophecy? Six, the last half. The first six, it's just Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Nebuchadnezzar being like an animal, Daniel in the lion's den. The first six chapters are, you know, basically really entertaining stories. Great, and then the second half of Daniel, you're like, man, I'm so confused, right? It's like really deep information because it's all about prophecy. So look, it makes sense that, you know, Revelation follows the same pattern, where basically it's divided into halves. And we'll see that as we go later on. But I want you to realize as we're going to chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, you're going to often see words like after this. And when it says after this, it's telling you it happens after, okay? Revelation four, verse three. Revelation four, verse three. And so notice what it says in Revelation chapter four, verse three, and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. A jasper and a sardine stone. Now, I was curious because I was not aware of this, like what color is jasper? What color is sardine? Okay, so I looked on Google and I just typed in jasper stone and it can be a few different colors. It can be red, it can be yellow, it can be brown or green. Many possible colors, but if you go to Google images, the color you're going to see the most often is red for jasper, okay? And if it's not red, it oftentimes would have a red tinge to it. So when it says jasper, I think it's probably red. And it makes sense because a sardine stone, this is not a fish, okay? A sardine, okay? A sardine, a sardine stone is like blood red. You can look it up on Google. That's what you're going to see. If you look, if you type in what a sardine stone is, it will tell you it's like dark red or blood red. If you look at images, it's going to be blood red, okay? That's what I did. So basically what I believe you're seeing is two stones that are red because that's the most common for jasper. So these two stones are red. I could be wrong. For me, I think that probably symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ, okay? Now I could be wrong. I don't know this for sure, but I'm just looking up these two stones and look, they appear to be red according to what I saw on Google. Now turn to Revelation 21, Revelation 21. Revelation 21. And so the Bible kind of gives more indications of basically, you know, what the building is going to look like, what it's going to look like in heaven one day when it comes down to New Jerusalem. And it would be nice to kind of have a good image of this. The problem with this, because you're reading chapters in the Bible where they talk about the Ark of the Covenant and things like that and Noah's Ark. And I always kind of think it would be nice to see an accurate picture of this while I'm reading and it would make more sense. The problem is if you type in what did Noah's Ark look like, you're going to have like a million different pictures that don't line up because people kind of have different opinions. And it's not really confusing reading when you're reading it. It's just you kind of lose your train of thought. So I would love to see an accurate picture of this. But in Revelation 21, verse 11, it says, having the glory of God and her light was like onto a stone most precious, even like a Jasper stone clear as crystal. A Jasper stone clear as crystal. Okay, so what I think that indicates is I believe it's a red stone. I believe it was basically see through. Okay, clear as crystal. I don't think it's saying the color was like silver. What I think it's saying is you could see through that color of red. Okay, because there are some stones that are different colors, but you could actually see through it. So I think that's the indication because it says a Jasper stone clear as crystal. Verse 18 and the building of the wall of it was of Jasper and the city was pure gold like onto clear glass. And when it mentions gold, it talks about clear glass like it's see through as well. So it seems to indicate as God's building this, you could actually see through it. Now, normally when you think of a building, you intentionally do not want people to see inside of your house or your building. Okay, but it's not like they're trying to withhold anyone from making it there. They're not hiding anything in there. It's not like Vatican City where they got to hide something. Okay, so it appears like it's clear as glass, the Bible says. So I believe that these colors of red, Jasper and starting stone, they're actually kind of see through, even though that they were red. Okay, now go to Revelation chapter one. Revelation chapter one. And I'll read a verse to you as you're going to Revelation one. Ephesians 1 seven, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. We know that salvation comes through the blood of Jesus Christ. It was not just his death. It was a blood shedding death. Okay. And so I think it makes sense that the stones would be red immediately. That's what popped to my head. You might have a different opinion because I can't prove you 100% that this is referring to red colored stones. But I will say, look up Jasper stone online. Look up starting stone. Sardine is blood red. From what I saw, like all the time, Jasper can be a few different colors, but it says red is the most common. And most of the pictures were red. So I believe it's probably representing the blood of Jesus Christ. But in Revelation one verse three, it also says this. 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 onto an emerald. A rainbow round about the throne in not Revelation one, Revelation four verse three. My bad. Revelation chapter four verse three. Sorry about that. Revelation chapter four verse three. Revelation chapter four verse three. And so Revelation chapter four verse three, it says, 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 onto an emerald. And so the Bible talks about Revelation four verse three. It says a rainbow round about the throne. This is the same verse that basically indicates two stones that I believe are probably blood red representing the blood of Jesus Christ that he died for us. But then you think about a rainbow. What is a rainbow symbolized? What's the purpose of a rainbow? Well, look, it's not going to rain in heaven because the rainbow comes after the rain. Right. And so what a rainbow represents turned to Genesis chapter nine, Genesis chapter nine. I don't think there's any doubt that all of us would agree that a rainbow is a very beautiful creation by God. It's a shame that it's been defiled by the LGBT that steal the rainbow. And you look at a rainbow that the LGBT has, they take out one of the colors. You know, rainbow supposed to be seven colors, the number of God's perfection, and they turn basically violet and indigo or indigo and violet into just purple. They make it six colors, and it's slowly brainwashes people as they see that. But a rainbow is a very beautiful thing, and it was created by God. Notice what it says in Genesis nine verse 13. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. When it says bow, it's not talking about a bow and arrow in verse 13. It's talking about a rainbow in verse 13 verse 14. And it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the water shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. So the rainbow was created by God to indicate to us as humans, I will no longer flood the earth to destroy it. Verse 16, and the bow or the rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. God made an everlasting covenant. It's going to last forever that he's not going to flood the earth, or he's not going to destroy the earth with a flood. Now, somebody needs to let the LGBT know that he did not say he's never going to destroy the earth. He said he's not going to destroy it with a flood. And so God abides by that promise. So you have to ask yourself the question, why is there a rainbow up in heaven? Because of the fact it's not going to rain in heaven. He's not going to destroy heaven. I believe the rainbow, not only does it represent God's promise he's not going to destroy the earth with a flood, it also basically symbolized that God did destroy the earth. So I believe it's representing judgment. And I could be wrong besides being a beautiful thing. I think the stones are representing the blood of Jesus Christ that he died for us, and the rainbow is representing the judgment of God. That's what my belief is on what it's talking about in Revelation 4, verse 3. Turn back to Revelation 4, Revelation 4. And so, you know, I think it makes sense because when I think about the attributes of God, I think about how God's a merciful God, and the fact that he would die for us, he's very merciful. But also that he's a God of judgment. God's a jealous God, the Bible says. And God is not just love, love, love. He loved us in the fact that he died for us and paid for our sins, and he cares about all of us. But he's also a God of judgment. And when you think about God eventually destroying the world as he's going to in the book of Revelation, a rainbow really seems to fit, and it's not going to be the first time he's destroyed everybody. And so Revelation chapter 4, verse 4. And round about the throne were four and 20 seats. And upon the seats, I saw four and 20 elders sitting. So the Bible says four and 20 elders are sitting on four and 20 seats. Okay, now there are a lot of different opinions about what this is talking about. I'll be honest, like when I... Elder can refer to a few different things in the Bible. It doesn't refer to an 18-year-old white person that loves the Book of Mormon. That's not an elder according to the Bible. But an elder can refer to someone who is older or someone who's a pastor. It's another term for pastor, four and 20 elders. Okay, I believe this is basically just read it as it says, four and 20 pastors, 24 pastors that have existed, which would be over the last 2000 years. Okay, basically, since churches have started 24 different pastors, which means if that were true, this would not include Noah or other great men from the past because they wouldn't have been elders. They wouldn't have been pastors. Okay, now some people disagree. Some people think the 24 elders is actually the church, they say, which once again, we don't believe in a universal church, but they say it represents the church. Some people say there's like half and half, like 12 disciples and 12 patriarchs. Like patriarchs would be Old Testament, Jacob, Abraham, people like that. And 12 disciples would be the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, the main 12 apostles. Some people say 24 high priests in 1 Chronicles 24. I personally believe it's referring to 24 pastors. And so basically that's one pastor every 80 years, roughly. One pastor every 85 years. So basically, I'm assuming that would indicate the pastors that were the most godly or the best. I don't know, it doesn't tell us. But look, one pastor over 85 years is pretty significant. Okay, because look, there's plenty of great men of God that exist today. And if it's one pastor over every 85 years, then obviously this is going to be a very godly person. I could be wrong, but when you look up elder throughout the Bible, that's what elder is referring to. I think it's referring to pastors, and it says they're clothed in white raiment and they had in their heads crowns of gold. White raiment would indicate that when you're saved, obviously you're 100% clean, you're 100% innocent. They're wearing white clothing representing the fact that they're saved and they have no sins, obviously, because they're up in heaven. They've been forgiven. They're saved. Okay, now notice what it says in verse five. Verse five, and out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne, there was a sea of glass like on the crystal. And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion and 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. Okay, so there's four different beasts listed here. And basically they all look a little bit different. It says, when it says like a lion in verse seven, it's saying it's not a lion, but it's like a lion. Okay, when it says like or as it's going to be similar to it, it's going to look like, but it's not actually a lion. Okay, when it says like a calf, it's similar to a calf, but it's not a calf. Okay, I believe that these are basically, we're going to see here in a little bit, angelic creatures. And the Bible is going to say they have six wings, which we'll see what that's referring to later on here in a second. But what do these four beasts represent? Okay, because it makes mention of a lion, a calf, the face of a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. Okay, now there's a lot of different opinions, and I've heard a lot of different things, but I think the thing that makes the most sense is that these are representing the four different gospels that there are. Okay, now people have different opinions, and I'm not saying for sure this is correct, but this is what I would say. A lion basically is the king of the jungle. Okay, and so when you think of Matthew, you think of the kingly lineage of Jesus Christ. So that seems to line up pretty good. A calf or an ox would be basically representing work, because those were animals that did a lot of work. And in the book of Mark, what it really highlights is all the work that Jesus did. Okay, so the book of Matthew kind of highlights his kingly lineage. The book of Mark kind of highlights his work. Then the next one mentioned is a man. And so throughout the book of Luke, it's going to constantly refer to Jesus as the son of man, indicating his human side. Okay, and then lastly, it said a flying eagle. And look, the book of John, because an eagle is sort of like the king of the air, so to speak. Okay, the Bible oftentimes mentions the eagle about how it soars with basically no problem whatsoever. And so I believe that kind of would represent the godly nature of Jesus. Jesus was God in the flesh. The book of John of the four gospels is the one that always talks about Jesus being God. Genesis or John chapter one, the first couple, in the beginning was the word is how the book starts off. So right there, it tells you Jesus was God in the flesh. In the beginning was the word. So that would represent a flying eagle. Now, I'm not 100% for sure that's true, because there are plenty of times Jesus is called the son of man, not just in the book of Luke. But I think it makes a lot of sense. And you're welcome to kind of come to your own conclusion as you read the gospels. But I think the first one lines up with the first gospel. The second one probably lines up with the second gospel. The third, the third gospel. The fourth, the fourth. But this is not really the only time it speaks about this. Go to Ezekiel chapter one. Ezekiel chapter one. Ezekiel chapter one. And so look, there's a lot of things that are pretty basic. Like for example, the rapture, as we mentioned earlier, that's pretty basic in Revelation chapter seven, I think. But now we're looking at some kind of deeper things in the book of Revelation. It's got kind of a mix of things that are pretty simple and some things that are kind of complex. Ezekiel chapter one, verse 10. Ezekiel chapter one, verse 10. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man and the face of a lion on the right side. And they four had the face of an ox on the left side. They four also had the face of an eagle. So it's going to mention those different ones. A lion, calf or an ox, man, and then an eagle. Verse 13. Verse 13. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire and like the appearance of lamps. And so it mentions lamps, which is something that's basically mentioned a lot in the book of Revelation, as we talked about the seven lamps it mentions. It went up and down among the living creatures, and the fire was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning. And so notice how it says living creature. Living creature. Okay, so I don't believe when it says living creature, this is referring to an actual lion, because a lion can live and be dead and then it's a dead creature. Okay, when it's saying living, I think it's saying that they're basically angelic beings in Ezekiel chapter one. So go back to Revelation chapter four. Revelation chapter four. And I'll show you why or what exactly I believe these are, what the biblical term would be for it in Revelation chapter four. Revelation four verse eight. Revelation chapter four verse eight. The Bible reads, and the four beasts had each of them six wings about him. Six wings about him. So what is a living creature with six wings? As I said, this is not really a lion, because lions, as far as I know, don't have six wings. Okay, turn to Isaiah chapter six. Isaiah chapter six. Isaiah chapter six in your Old Testament. When you get to the middle of your Bible, you'll probably turn to the book of Psalms, and then after Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon, Isaiah. Isaiah chapter six. Isaiah chapter six in your Bible. Isaiah chapter six. And it says in Isaiah chapter six, verse one, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. So mentioned seraphims are basically creatures with six wings. Okay, notice verse three. And one cried onto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And this lines up with Revelation chapter four. Because if you go to Revelation chapter four, go back there, Revelation chapter four. So these creatures, seraphims, six wings, and you see them saying holy, holy, holy. These are living creatures. They're not animals. They're not lions and dogs and things such as that. They're living creatures, okay? These are angelic beings, okay? Revelation chapter four. Revelation four, verse eight. 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 what we're seeing in the book of Revelation is these are called seraphim, okay? These are angelic beings that have six wings. You say the angels don't have six wings in the movies. Well, the movie's wrong. It's like, and look, it's not just six wings because you'll see the cherubims in the Bible as well. But the seraphims, okay, six wings is what the Bible says. So what I believe is this is referring to seraphim, okay? Revelation chapter four, verse nine. Revelation four, verse nine. And when those beasts, which is in reference to those seraphims, and when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying. And so look, when the beasts give glory and honor, every time the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him. So every time the beasts give glory and honor and thanks, the four and 20 elders do this, the 24 elders, okay? Now let's look at verse number 11. Verse number 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created. So this is the name of the sermon here, Thou Art Worthy, and we're gonna look at some verses here to close up. But, you know, this is kind of how it ends. In chapters four and five, talk about how God is worthy, how Jesus Christ is worthy. But I want you to see something here in verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord. So why is God worthy, okay? And it says you're worthy to receive glory and honor and power. So why is it that the Lord is worthy to receive glory and honor and power? For thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created. So since God created all things, since Jesus Christ created all things, he's worthy to receive glory and honor and power. So here's the thing. He's worthy because he's created all things and he's created us. So basically what that's implying is we're supposed to give him glory and honor and power. Why? He's created us. The things he's created ought to give him glory and honor and power. Now we see the beast doing that. We see the 24 elders doing that. So here's the question. How can we that are living today give him glory and honor and power since he has created us and for thy pleasure they are and were created? We're created for God's pleasure and that's implying we need to give him glory and honor and power. So how do we give God glory? Turn to John 15. John 15. John chapter 15. John chapter 15. And there's various things that are mentioned, but the one thing that you'll really notice when it talks about giving glory to God or God receiving glory in terms of what we can do is soul winning. That's what you see in the Bible. John chapter 15 verse 8. John 15 verse 8. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. Now John chapter 15 just got done with a soul winning parable. John chapter 15 verses one through six. And then he says after the soul winning parable that basically God's glorified when we bear much fruit, when we win souls to the Lord. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise. I heard this famous Calvinist preacher, John Piper, who's basically a false prophet. And John Piper talks about how God is glorified when people are burning in hell. So basically, you know, you say, well, you have a problem because what Calvinists believe is that people are predestined for heaven and predestined for hell. And we have no free will. And he says, you know what? Every time somebody burns in hell, God is glorified. I mean, that's not what John 15 verse 8 says. John 15 verse 8 says he's glorified when we bear fruit, which means we spare them from going to hell. But according to John Piper, God's glorified. God receives glory when people burn in hell. That's not what the Bible says. God receives glory when we spare people from going to hell. Okay. It makes what he did on the cross have meaning. Because otherwise they're going to spend forever in hell. And Jesus' death meant nothing for them, even though he died and paid for their sins. So God receives glory when we win souls of the Lord. John chapter 12. John 12. John chapter 12. John chapter 12. And in John 12 verse 23. John 12 verse 23. And Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Okay. The book of John's kind of interesting because a lot of the book of John takes place right when Jesus is about to die. Because he's saying in chapter 12, the hour has come. The Son of Man should be glorified. When you look up throughout the Bible, he's referring to dying. Okay. But then it says in verse 24, verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. So think about an example of an apple. Okay. If you have an apple and you just eat that apple, it's not going to create a tree. The only way that apple is going to create a tree is if it basically dies, falls in the ground, and the seeds go there, and it could produce an apple tree. Okay. And what the Bible is saying is, spiritually speaking, for us to bring forth much fruit, we must die to self. You kill off the old men. You kill off the sinful desires. You desire to basically, you know, watch something ungodly or to listen to ungodly music. You've got to kill it off. Otherwise, you will abide alone. You're not going to bring forth fruit and win people to the Lord. Okay. So this ties back into verse 23 with the Son of Man being glorified. And the reason why he died is not just that people can go to heaven, but that we can die to self and basically win souls to the Lord. And so God is glorified through soul winning. Okay. Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. So how does God receive honor from us? Because it said glory and honor and power. Okay, glory and honor and power. Now, I'm not for sure because I looked this up, and I didn't really see dogmatically one way or the other. But I would say this, that when it comes to power, that when we do any of the things mentioned, what I just mentioned about soul winning, and also here when it talks about receiving honor, that also kind of gives God power as well. I'm not 100% sure. But I did look up these words. And when it talks about receiving honor from us. Okay, what does that mean? Well, notice what it says in Ephesians six, verse one and two. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. We're expected to obey our parents. Then it says honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. You know, if you respect and honor your parents, you're going to obey them and do what they say. The Bible says it's a commandment with promise because he promises long life to those that obey their parents. Okay, but when it comes to honoring your parents, you show your honor by obeying their rules. When it comes to honoring God and giving him honor, what do you do? You obey what he said. If he loved me, keep my commandments. So when it talks about giving God glory, I think most specifically, go soul winning is what he's saying. When it comes to giving him honor, that means you respect him, which means you just do what God says. Just obey his rules. That is how we give him glory, and that's how we give him honor. So go back to Revelation 4. We'll close up Revelation 4. Revelation chapter 4. We're just going verse by verse tonight. We're going to kind of get to the meat and potatoes here in a couple of weeks with Revelation chapter 6, which is really where it gets super interesting. But, you know, just I want to close with this thought here at the end of Revelation chapter 4 verse 11, where it says, for thou has created all things. We know John chapter 1 says all things were made by him. Created and made are synonymous. They're the same thing. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made, which shows Jesus was not created by God because he is God. Jesus has always existed. Thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created. So here's what the Bible is saying. You were created to give the Lord pleasure. You were not created so you can have pleasure. Do you understand the difference there? You say, well, you know, I enjoy listening to, you know, I don't know, Led Zeppelin, whatever rock music, whatever Katy Perry, Justin, whatever's popular now, Justin Bieber, I don't know. But does God want you to listen to that music? Is that giving God honor? Is that giving God glory when you're doing that? You weren't created to gratify your own flesh or to have pleasure yourself. Now, look, here's the great thing about serving God. And I know things are kind of different now with this coronavirus and everything going on. But look, you know, people that have gone soul winning, many people in this room, you've got to go on a lot of exciting trips. You've gotten to see a lot of things that you never have before. We've had members of our church that are like, man, I've never been to Rizal Park before. It's like a really famous place here in the Philippines. And, you know, going on the soul winning marathon, they got to go. So here's the thing about this. I'm not saying it's wrong to go on vacation or anything like that. But what I'm saying is that we're expected to give God glory and honor and power and serve Him. And along the way, when you're serving God, God will give you opportunities to have fun. But you don't just say, well, I'm going to just forsake church, forsake reading the Bible and just go to have fun. That's not the way it works because you were not created to gratify your own flesh. You were created to give God glory and God honor and power. You were created for His pleasure, not for your own pleasure. Let's close in word prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today. And I ask you to just help us apply these things to our lives. Help us to understand the end times better. And the end times is so deep. Help us to read the book of Revelation and the book of Daniel as we're going through the study, God. And help us to basically give you honor. Thou art worthy is what it says. God, help us to honor you with the way we live our lives. And especially during this time of being locked down where we have so much free time, help us not to just waste that time on YouTube or vain things. God, help us to spend time reading your word and praying and serving you and growing closer to you. God, we pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.