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🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Good morning, everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats. As you find a seat, please grab a song book. Turn to song number 205. 🎵Music🎵 Song number 205, he keeps me singing. Let's all stand together for this first song, if you are able. Song number 205, he keeps me singing. All together nice and strong on that first verse. 🎵There's within my heart a melody🎵 🎵Jesus whispers sweet and low🎵 🎵Fear not I am with thee, peace be still🎵 🎵In all of life's heaven flow🎵 🎵Jesus, Jesus, Jesus🎵 🎵Sweetest name I know🎵 🎵Fills my every longing🎵 🎵Keeps me singing as I go🎵 🎵All my life was wrecked by sin and strife🎵 🎵His corn filled my heart with pain🎵 🎵Jesus swept across the broken strings🎵 🎵Surred the slumbering cords again🎵 🎵Jesus, Jesus, Jesus🎵 🎵Sweetest name I know🎵 🎵Fills my every longing🎵 🎵Keeps me singing as I go🎵 🎵Feasting on the riches of His grace🎵 🎵As the years shall repeat🎵 🎵Always looking on His smiling face🎵 🎵That is why I shout and sing🎵 🎵Jesus, Jesus, Jesus🎵 🎵Sweetest name I know🎵 🎵Fills my every longing🎵 🎵Keeps me singing as I go🎵 🎵Oh sometimes He leads through waters deep🎵 🎵Trials fall across the way🎵 🎵Seems rough and steep🎵 🎵Seen His footprints all the way🎵 🎵Jesus, Jesus, Jesus🎵 🎵Sweetest name I know🎵 🎵Fills my every longing🎵 🎵Keeps me singing as I go🎵 🎵On the last, soon He's coming back to welcome me🎵 🎵For me on the story's guide🎵 🎵Two worlds to learn and fly🎵 🎵Two worlds unknown🎵 🎵I shall ring with Him on high🎵 🎵Jesus, Jesus, Jesus🎵 🎵Sweetest name I know🎵 🎵Fills my every longing🎵 🎵Keeps me singing as I go🎵 Amen, wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer. Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for giving us another wonderful day, Lord. A beautiful day that we can come to your house and hear the preaching of your word. And I just thank you for our pastor, Lord. I thank you for all the people here in this building. I thank you for your word. I said to you, please just bless us this morning. Please bless every aspect of the service. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Please turn your songbooks to song number 250. Song number 250, Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary. Song 250, all together on that first verse, nice and strong. Days are filled with sorrow and care, hearts are lonely and queer. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Cast your care on Jesus today, keep your worry and fear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Troubled soul, the Savior can see, everybody can hear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Sunday morning service is at 1030 Sunday evening at 5 p.m. and then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. You see the soul winning times and teams and the list of expecting mothers if you can keep them in prayer. And of course the important reminders there at the bottom, please give heed to those things there. And then on Monday, May 1st is the Barstow soul winning. However, that might change because babies are due around this time. And so in fact, my wife might have the baby sometime today or tomorrow. You know, it's just imminent. And so if brother Ulysses' wife Vanessa and my wife both have babies around the same time, we might have to stay a little closer. And so just be flexible with that. We'll give you more information as far as where we're going to go for the soul winning. And then the men's prayer night is coming up on Friday, May 5th. There will be dinner provided for that. Mother's Day service is on Sunday, May 14th. And we will have a gift for all the moms that come on that day. Make sure you invite your mom or someone's mom on that day. And of course the sermon is going to be geared towards mothers. And then we have the end of school picnic on Tuesday, May 30th. You see the regular reminders there at the bottom. Please make sure there's no food or drink in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. And please make sure you're not loitering in the foyer fellowship hall during the preaching service unless you're taking your children out there, dads, just to distract them a little bit. And then of course quiet time is this afternoon from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. And lastly, please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. Let's go ahead and sing our next song, song number 121, Like a River Glorious. Song number 121, Like a River Glorious. Altogether nice and strong on that first verse. Like a river glorious is God's perfect peace Over all victorious in its bright increase Perfect yet it floweth fuller every day Perfect yet it groweth deeper all the way Upon Jehovah hearts are fully blessed Finding as He promised perfect peace and rest Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand Never for can follow, never train or stand Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care Not a blast of worry, touch the Spirit there Staid upon Jehovah hearts are fully blessed Finding as He promised perfect peace and rest Every joy or trial, falleth from above Trace upon our dial by the Son of God We may trust Him fully, who offer us to do They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true Staid upon Jehovah hearts are fully blessed Finding as He promised perfect peace and rest Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time the ushers will come forward to collect the offering. You can turn in your Bibles to Revelation, chapter number 12. You can turn in your Bibles, chapter number 12. You can turn in your Bibles, chapter number 12. You can turn in your Bibles, chapter number 12. We're in Revelation, chapter number 12 this morning. Revelation, chapter 12, the Bible reads, And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth and pain to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and did cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up unto God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought in his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has come down unto you having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-trial. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Dear Lord God, we just thank you for your word, and just ask that you would bless the Father from here now with your Holy Spirit as he preached it to us. Please just give us understanding and open our eyes so that we may behold wondrous things out of your law, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay, this morning I'm actually going to continue what I preached last week on the book of Revelation, and I'm going to cover the second chronology, backed by popular demand of the book of Revelation. Apparently there's a murmuring amongst the camp about the fact that I might have gone a little too fast over the second half. And so, therefore, I'm going to go ahead and appease the murmurers of today. No, I'm just kidding. And look, I made you a dispensational chart, too. And so, this is going to be like Sunday school class for a lot of you. So we're going to go ahead and pass out the juice boxes. No, I'm just kidding. There's no juice boxes. No, we're not going to sing the funny songs and pass out the meals and all that. And it'll definitely be longer than a 15-minute lesson, too. And so, we're going to go over the second half of the chronology of the book of Revelation. And let me go ahead and, by way of review, just talk about the first half of the book of Revelation, the first chronology that the Bible, the book of Revelation covers here. I'm just going to briefly go over that as a way of introduction, and then I'm going to go over the second half from chapters 12 all the way to 22. Now, I'm preaching this on Sunday morning because you're fresh. If this was on Sunday night, you know what I mean? You'd be struggling right now. But because it's Sunday morning, you've got the coffee in your system, the AC is cranking. Amen? It'll keep you nice and awake. All right, so let's talk about this. So, obviously, this entire thing is not Daniel's 70th week. Daniel's 70th week covers the seven-year period in the book of Revelation in regards to the tribulation and the wrath of God that's poured upon this world up until the millennial reign. This is actually covering not only Daniel's 70th week, but also from the last trumpet, the last vial until the new heaven and the new earth. And that's the part that I'm going to spend the majority of the time on the second half. Now, in the beginning, when you look at the book of Revelation, when you read it, chapters one through five kind of seem out of place in a sense of it doesn't explicitly deal with end times prophecy in the sense that it's not part of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It's not referring to anything specific as far as the fact that there's tribulation. It's just a lot of symbolism involved because of the fact that chapters two and three are the letters that are written to the seven churches which are in Asia. And when you read those two chapters and when Jesus Christ addresses those churches, you kind of wonder like what is this about? Obviously, there's some good principles here, there's some strong rebukes, there is good exhortation, but you don't really realize the fact that they have a lot of underlying principles in regards to the tribulation. So it's kind of priming us for chapter six which is dealing primarily with the tribulation. And so chapters one is an introduction to the book of Revelation. Two and three addresses the seven churches that each have a specific element or a factor dealing with the tribulation. Chapters four and five are essentially where John is caught up into heaven and is essentially getting ready to see these things which shall shortly come to pass. So this is the visionary type of chapters preparing us for what's going to happen. Now chapter six of the book of Revelation covers from essentially when the Antichrist makes a covenant with many for one week. And of course that one week doesn't mean seven literal days, it's referring to seven years. And I covered that last week, you might want to listen to that sermon, which is one of the reasons why it's called Daniel's 70th week because 69 weeks have already been completed. And when you look at what's been completed, you obviously see that it's not referring to actual literal weeks. It's referring to years. And so we're still waiting for that 70th week which is covered in the book of Revelation. And the reason we know that's the 70th week is because of the fact that the events that the book of Revelation covers matches up with Matthew 24, what Jesus Christ is talking about. And he specifically mentions the abomination of desolation that Daniel writes about. And so when you go back to the book of Daniel, you see that in context it's referring to the 70th week of the 69 that have already been complete. You can visit that sermon later on. So chapter six deals with the Antichrist going forth conquering into conquer. These are known as the seven seals. And the reason they're referred to as seals is because of the fact that they're essentially sealing up the contents of a scroll. So when Jesus Christ begins to reveal, open up the seals, he's not imposing tribulation upon the world, he's simply revealing what's going to happen in the end times. So the first seal is broken, you look at the contents, what is it? It's the Antichrist going forth conquering into conquer, second seal, war, then famine, pestilence, then death on a massive scale. This is popularly known as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. And the reason I say the four horsemen of the apocalypse is because it helps you to remember, right, regarding the tribulation. It's like there's four horsemen and it's the Antichrist, war, famine, pestilence, death on a massive scale. Now we often refer to this as the tribulation, but biblically it's actually referred to as the beginning of sorrows. So when you read Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, Jesus Christ refers to it as the beginning of sorrows. Leaning up to the culmination of sorrow, which is the great tribulation. Now why is this the beginning of sorrows? Well because of the fact that this not only affects Christians, it's actually affecting the entire world. Some people wrongly think that this is actually just for Christians, but it's not just for Christians. The entire world is going into the beginning of sorrows because nations shall rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom, there's famine and pestilence all around the world, and then of course there's death on a massive scale just affecting everyone. Now the reason that this is taking place, and obviously this is man-made, the reason there's famine and pestilence is because of the fact that the Antichrist wants to use famine and pestilence as a springboard to introduce what's known as the mark of the beast. We'll look at that in chapter 13 in just a bit, which no man can buy or sell save he that had the mark. So they're going to use, oh there's famine, we need to, you know, there's inflation, there's famine, people are starving, we need to reintroduce a new type of economy known as the mark of the beast whereby people can buy and sell and restore the world and help the world. Of course that's not the actual plan, that's essentially what they're putting forth, that's what he's going to be putting forth. So that's the beginning of sorrows, four seals equals to the four horsemen, the fifth seal is very important. See that really large statue there, of course we know that's Nebuchadnezzar, and obviously the abomination of desolation is not going to look like that. The reason I put Nebuchadnezzar's statue there is because in Daniel chapter 3 when Nebuchadnezzar's statue is mentioned, it's actually symbolic of the abomination of desolation. And I preached a sermon on that regarding Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who did not bow down to the statue, right? And then they were cast into the fiery furnace that was turned seven times hotter which is obviously symbolic of the great tribulation. Now this is a very important point because this happens in the midst of the week referring to in the middle of those seven years. And the reason this is so significant is because this essentially marks the beginning of the persecution of Christians. So we're not necessarily being persecuted here, we're just suffering with everyone else. But all of a sudden, everything just kind of turns their attention to Christians in the midst of the week when this is set up. Now why is this thing set up in the first place, right? Well sometime during this period right here, the Antichrist actually receives a deadly wound to the head. He's possibly some general of some sort, maybe going to war with the Muslims who is commonly known as the enemy of Christianity from the Republican narrative, right? So then you have them going to war with the Muslims possibly, he receives a deadly wound to the head, he dies, he's a war hero. And the Bible tells us that he comes back to life, okay? Well when he comes back to life, he's obviously, the world is marveling, right? Because he came back to life and I actually think that he's probably going to come back three days later. Now this isn't because he's supernatural in the sense that he has godly powers, it's because he's being possessed by Satan himself. And it's at that point that he becomes the son of perdition. So once he comes back to life, people are going to be like, whoa, is this Jesus? Because remember, he's referred to as the Antichrist, which people would commonly think refers to that he's against Christ, but that's not what it means, but it's obvious that he is against Christ. Anti means that he's coming in the place of Christ. So people are going to think that he's Jesus Christ because he's coming back to life. And the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians that he's going to go into the temple of God proclaiming himself to be God. He's going to pose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worship and he is essentially going to say, I am God. And you know what? The majority of the world is not going to fight him on that. You know, people often think, oh man, you know, don't be deceived and, you know, don't be deceived by the mark of the beast or by the Antichrist. But the people who are saying this who are not saved are going to be the ones who are deceived. Because everyone's going to believe other than Bible believing Christians, saved people, that he is God. They're going to believe his statements. Well, he's going to have a guy that the Bible refers to as the false prophet essentially preparing the way of the Antichrist. And he's going to be doing signs and wonders. Well, it's the false prophet's idea to set up this abomination of desolation so that everyone should worship that abomination of desolation. And whoever doesn't worship the abomination of desolation, the image of the beast, is put to death. So people are going to worship this, but the reality is this is that people are going to want to worship it. The only ones who are not going to worship it are Bible believing, saved Christians. You understand? So once this is set up and then Christians are not worshiping it, then a campaign is going to be set forth to put Christians to death. But you know, that's kind of hard to do, right? Especially if Christians are running all over the place. The world is chaotic at this time. So therefore, the mark of the beast is instituted and the only way you could get the mark of the beast is by worshiping the image. And obviously the entire world needs the mark of the beast because they're hungry, they need to buy and sell. And therefore, the mark of the beast is put forth essentially to sift out who are the real believers. Not to help the world, but to kill Christians. And this is why Revelation 13 says that the antichrist goes to make war with the saints and he will overcome them. So as soon as this is set up, abomination of desolation, this means that the antichrist has come back to life. He institutes the mark of the beast and then you have great tribulation which lasts for approximately 75 days. Up until the rapture, this dude flying in the air, you know, just shows you anybody can get saved, amen. It's possible for anybody. So, but let me back up a little bit. So this is the fifth seal which is referring to martyrdom, Christians dying. The sixth seal is the sun and moon being darkened, which is essentially Jesus Christ rolling out the red carpet for himself. It's kind of like signifying that the day of the Lord is at hand, you understand? The sun and moon being darkened, this is his precursor, this is his red carpet. This is signaling to us as Christians, when we're going through the great tribulation, that Jesus is on his way. This is why Luke 21 says, lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh, when you see these things come to pass. So those are essentially the six seals of the beginning of Revelation. So chapter six covers from seal number one all the way to seal number six. Chapter seven covers the rapture and of course partly some of the description of the 144,000. Now how do we know that the rapture is in chapter seven? Because the Bible talks about John seeing a great multitude which no man can number, of every tribe and tongue and kindred. This is referring to every believer that has gotten saved from the beginning of time up until now, which is obviously an innumerable company of saints. And by the way, it says that they came out of great tribulation. These are they that came out of great tribulation. Well, does every believer though come out of great tribulation? Well, if you think about it, yes. Because the rapture is essentially even believers of the Old Testament in times past receiving their glorified bodies, which comes after the great tribulation. So they're coming out of great tribulation. So that's chapter seven. Chapter eight goes into the four trumpets. And obviously there's seven seals. So the seventh seal is essentially introducing a new chapter in the events of Revelation, which basically starts off the trumpets and the vials. So this is essentially kicking off the trumpets of God's wrath and the vials of God's wrath. So tribulation is what the world does to us. The wrath of God is what God's going to do to the world. This is why we don't refer to it as a seven year tribulation. You know, people are like, oh, you're mid-trip them, huh? Because what they're implying is that because we believe that Jesus Christ is going to rapture all believers around the middle of Daniel's 70th week, automatically that makes us mid-trip because they view the entire seven years as tribulation. But we're not mid-trip because all seven years is not tribulation. You have 1,260 days of tribulation, beginning of sorrows, and then the rest of Daniel's 70th week is the wrath of God. So anyways, chapter eight, you cover the trumpets of God's wrath. And the reason they are symbolized as trumpets is because you blow a trumpet when you go to war. So just as the Antichrist will blow essentially a trumpet to wage war on Christians, well, God himself, after the rapture takes place, blows seven trumpets as a means of warfare against the world and the Antichrist and his kingdom. So then you have these four trumpets in chapter eight. Chapter nine, you have two more trumpets. And then chapter 11 is where we finish off the first chronology of the book of Revelation, where you have one of the trumpets, which is the third woe. And then you have the destruction of Babylon, which is, you know, the United States right here. I don't know if you guys noticed that right here. Signifying the destruction of Babylon. And then, of course, you have the battle of Armageddon leading into the millennial reign. This is where the Bible says that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Now don't get confused because you think to yourself, well, I thought the destruction of Babylon was in chapter 17 and 18. Chapter 17 and 18 cover the plenary of the destruction of Babylon. But obviously, in the first half, it's just giving you what happens right before that. So obviously, if chapter 11 is covering Armageddon along with the millennial reign, well, what happens before that? The destruction of Babylon. So that's chapter 11. So that's the first chronology of the book of Revelation and pretty simple. You say, where's chapter 10? Well, I put chapter 10 down here because of the fact that you'll see that in the first half, chapter 10 is a very small chapter. And then the second half, chapter 15 is a very small chapter. And these chapters are kind of like introductions to what's the big stuff that's about to happen. They're really short chapters. Chapter 15 primarily dealing with the song of Moses and then kind of prepping the reader to say, hey, the vials of God's wrath are about to get poured out. And, of course, chapter 10 is basically saying, like, everything's done. The rapture is about to take place and or excuse me, the millennial reign is about to happen. And so that's chapter 11. And that's the first conclusion to the first half. Now, one thing that I didn't put on here that's not necessarily that important, but it's just cool to know is that when the abomination of desolation is set forth, this is actually when the two witnesses come to this world. Moses and Elijah, not Moses and Enoch either, by the way. It's Moses and Elijah. Anytime you hear someone say, Moses and Enoch, just know this, they're saying that because they believe in the Book of Enoch. Because the Book of Enoch is that which prophesies that Enoch is going to be coming in the last days. It's Moses and Elijah, in my opinion, beyond a shadow of a doubt, especially now that I know that people who are advocates of the Book of Enoch are saying Enoch. Whatever they say, just do the opposite. So they come here. So if this so comes in our lifetime and we make it to the great tribulation and forward to the rapture, we might even see the two witnesses. And here's the thing is that the Bible says that every eye shall see him when we're referring to Jesus Christ when we're raptured. And the world's going to see the two witnesses. Now the flat earthers of this world always bring up this really stupid point. And I'm going to spend a couple seconds just to address it. It's just like, uh, pastor, quick question, how shall every eye see him if the earth is a sphere? How many of you have ever heard something like that? The same way everyone's going to see the two witnesses, which is through social media. People act like, you know, like we're going back to primitive times when we're here. Technology, it's at its apex at this point. So they're going viral on TikTok, viral on Instagram, it's all over Facebook. The news outlets are covering everything. And they're putting out fake news. They're saying probably Jesus is an alien or something like that. But they're going to cover it. And that's how every eye shall see him. And so, you know, yes, it does happen on a sphere. And it doesn't mean that everyone in the world is going to behold him when he descends. It just means that every eye will see him whether with their own two eyes or literally on social media outlets, news outlets that are covering it. Not hard to understand that, folks. Okay. Be reasonable. Flat earthers are not reasonable. And so that's what that covers there. Chapters one through five, of course, that's the introduction dealing with the seven churches which are in Asia. Four and five is the vision that John has. Chapter six all the way to chapter 11 is that first half. Okay. So let's talk about the second half here. All right. Now let's talk about chapter 12 and chapter 13. Now chapter 12 is probably one of the most enigmatic chapters in the book of Revelation. And I talked a little bit about it. I don't know if it was last week or the week before that on chapter 12. But essentially chapter 12 all the way to chapter 13 covers the tribulation. Okay. Now the reason we know that chapter 12 is covering the tribulation is because it's mentioned in there. And it gives the allotted amount of time of 1,260 days going into the wilderness. Okay. And it talks about the woman going into the wilderness, etc. Now look at chapter 13. If you would in your Bibles go to chapter 13 which also covers the tribulation. Now remember what I said last week is that the second half, the second chronology of the book of Revelation has more details. A lot more details. Okay. The first half gives you a good amount of details. But the second half not only gives you a little more detail but it actually goes further into the end of the world. Right. Leaving up to the new heaven and the new earth, the new Jerusalem, etc. But chapter 13 is essentially parallel with chapter 6. Because chapter 6 obviously is dealing with the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the beginning of sorrows. Chapter 13 primarily deals with the famine and pestilence or the result of that which is the mark of the beast. Okay. Now look at chapter 13 real quick. Look at verse number 1 it says, And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were like unto the feet of a bear, and his mouth is the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world wondered after the beast. So obviously this is referring to the Antichrist, and it gives us imagery of these animals. Well if you studied and read the Bible long enough, especially through the book of Daniel, you'll see that these animals are parallel to what we see in the book of Daniel. Book of Daniel you have these animals being mentioned separately as separate kingdoms, whereas in the book of Revelation they kind of come together like a Megazord or something like that. Okay. That's the only way I can describe it. Okay. I was talking to my son about Power Rangers in the 90s, it was way better back in those days. But, you know, I digress. So in the book of Daniel, you have these separate beasts being mentioned, and these separate beasts represent separate kingdoms that have arisen throughout different years. You understand? You have Babylon, you have the Persia Empire, Grecian Empire, Roman Empire, things of that nature. Whereas in the end times, those beasts are mentioned once again, kind of conglomerated together to create this one world system, known as the New World Order. So these verses are giving us the indication that there's going to be a one world power run by one specific man. You understand? So these guys all come together making up the kingdom of the Antichrist. Well, obviously, if this is taking place and you have this one world order, he receives that deadly wound to the head, the deadly wound is healed, and then people wander after the beast. Look at verse 4, they worshiped the dragon, referring to Satan, which gave power unto the beast, and they worshiped the beast saying, who is likened to the beast? And who was able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. So what are the blasphemies that he's speaking? Well, it's what we talked about in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. He opposes and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. So those are the great blasphemies that he speaks when he goes into the temple, and it says that from that time forward, he rules for how long? Forty and two months. How long is that? Three and a half years. Three and a half years. Signifying that this happens in the middle for three and a half years until the conclusion of Daniel's 70th week. So for those three and a half years, the antichrist is going to be ruling the world. Understand? Now look what it says in verse number 11. It says that he beheld another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. Now this is referring to the false prophet who props up the antichrist. Isn't it interesting that it calls him, it describes him as having two horns like a lamb, but he speaks as a dragon. Now why does it say that? Well because of the fact that a lamb is often synonymous with Jesus Christ, that which is godly, that which is Christian, but when he actually speaks, you know, the fruit of his mouth, he's a dragon. So this is a person who obviously puts himself forth or parades as a religious leader who claims to believe in god, even though he has two horns, right? And he speaks as a dragon. He's demonic, he's satanic. You know, many people have said that it's possibly the pope, okay, whatever pope comes up next, which, you know, I definitely agree that that's a possibility because the pope has become so ecumenical in his views. And so accepting of just every blasphemy on this world, you can see how he would definitely prop up the antichrist. But he's being used of Satan here, look at verse 12, and he exercises all the power of the first beast before him and causes the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles. Which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by the sword and did live. So somehow he has the ability to cast fire down from heaven, okay, and consume those who do not worship the beast. Now let me give you my personal opinion as to why he's doing this, aside from obviously he's just wicked as hell, okay. You gotta keep in mind that during this time you have the two witnesses. And when you read the description of the two witnesses, they're also given power to do these great miracles, such as cast fire down from heaven. So what you have here is a Janus and Jambres versus Moses and Aaron type thing. Where Moses and Elijah are doing these great miracles, but then who's competing with them? The false prophet and the antichrist. Because of the fact that if you're looking at these two witnesses and they're just burning people up by just, you know, breathing on them, they got hot breath or whatever, you know. Literal fire out of their mouth and they're causing it to not rain, you know, fires coming down, you know people are going to be like, okay these guys are the real deal. They're going to be like, maybe we should listen to what they have to say. However, if you have the false prophet doing the same thing, what it's going to cause the people to do is harden their hearts. Just as Pharaoh hardened his heart after his magicians performed the same miracles that Moses and Aaron did. Causing them to become even more reprobated, okay. And so that's why I think he's able to do these things is essentially to harden the hearts of the public to say, eh, whatever. The false prophet, obviously they're not going to call him the false prophet, you know the pope is able to do these things. Look what it goes on to say in verse 15, and he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. So we don't know exactly what this looks like. My personal opinion could be that the image of the beast is somehow related to artificial intelligence. I don't know. I mean they're about to roll out robots in New York, you know, as a police force to enforce laws there now. Like four different types of robots, this is, you can look it up, it's a legitimate thing. What is it, Boston Dynamics is the one who's responsible for doing that? You have that robot dog or whatever, and I'm just wondering like, so how are they going to enforce that though? And then the second thing that comes to mind is like, did you guys not watch Terminator? And every other movie? Like this is like, every movie about robots always ends really bad, right? The robots always turn on you and then you know, it's just like, humans are dumb. It's probably not the best idea. But hey, if you're going to roll that out, for sure do it in New York though. It's probably a perfect place to do it. So we don't know exactly how this is, but somehow he has the authority to give life to this image. It's able to speak and kill whoever does not worship it, okay? It says in verse 16, And he calls it all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. So this is when the mark of the beast is rolled out, okay? And obviously it's not going to be called the mark of the beast. And we see precursors to this already, with Amazon One for example. Where they literally call it Amazon One, it's literally a chip that they put on the hand, and you go to some Amazon store, you get all your groceries and you go, doot, you just pay with your hand. How many of you have ever heard that before? How many of this is the first time you've ever heard it? Okay, that's a real deal. You can look it up. People do it already, they have the chip in their hand. You say, that's the mark of the beast. Well no, that's not the mark of the beast. It's just conditioning people to make fun of Christians, because it looks like the mark of the beast, but nothing's going to happen. And so we need to be careful what we call the mark of the beast, folks. Because then you're essentially feeding into this monster of individuals that mock Christians and the Bible, because we're constantly saying, this is the mark of the beast, this is the anti-Christ, this is the... And then it never happens, and people are like, well where is the promise of his coming? For all things continues to work from the beginning of the creation. So if we're constantly rolling these things out and saying these things, these are essentially false flags, spiritual false flags. And obviously, that's going to happen no matter what. I mean, that's why you have people on social media, TikTok, always saying, we're in the tribulation, and oh, the great Euphrates River has been dried up, this is in revelation, and then people mock when nothing happens. So public service announcement, stop saying that the vaccine was the mark of the beast. Because here we are three years later, nothing ever happened. And the last time I checked, you don't receive a vaccine in your right hand or in your forehead. Right? I mean, I don't take vaccines, period. But if I were to take a vaccine, unless my blood is so thick, you know what I mean? How many of you know what I'm talking about? Sometimes they can't find your vein, so they have to go to your hand. Oh, man, maybe it is the mark, you know, I don't know. Sometimes they do that, but you know what, the vaccine is not the mark of the beast. But this is the narrative that people were pushing in 2020, in 2021, you know, with the coronavirus. Oh, corona, crown? A crown is given unto him, he's going forth into, going, oh! And here we are like three years later, no one's dead. No one's dead. We're still here. Obviously, it's a complete fluke, okay? So, you know, who cares what the majority of mainstream Christians are saying? We need to go to the Bible. But this is a legitimate thing. And here's the thing is that I know Christians spend a lot of time talking about, warning other Christians, telling them, don't take the mark, don't take the mark, don't take the mark. But that's the wrong message. Don't tell people not to take the mark. Say what, why? Because you're supposed to tell people to get saved. And if they get saved, they're not going to take the mark. It's impossible to. The people who say don't take the mark, they're going to be the first ones to take the mark. You know, it's just like, oh, if you take the mark, you're damned. What do you mean you're damned? If you believe on Jesus Christ, you live forever. You know, it's just like, don't promote, don't use New World Order technology. Why? I'm already saved. New World Order technology is cool, man. It makes life easier. It just kind of helps the work to get done faster. Yeah, but you're feeding into the beast. The beast is going to be fed no matter what. My job as a Christian is to win souls to Christ, to preach the word of God, to lead my family, to prepare people for tribulation. Amen. So why are you preaching the sermon for? To prepare you for tribulation. You think this is going to happen in a lifetime? Even if it doesn't, though, you're going to suffer some tribulation, though. And every tribulation that you experience that's not the Great Tribulation is to prepare you for some sort of future tribulation to make you stronger as a Christian. So the mark of the beast is rolled out, and whoever doesn't take it gets killed. And so there might be some weak Christian out there who's just like, forget it, man, I'm hungry. I just want one more Raising Cane meal before all this is said and done. I'm going to go get the mark. And somehow they're either going to have some sort of technology that's mixed with demonic forces or discernment to know that you are a believer, you are not a worshiper of Satan. We don't know exactly how that works out. We might find out in the future because obviously the further we get into the future, the further we get into end times of Bible prophecy, the more is revealed. Not necessarily from the Bible because we have everything we need in the Bible, but look folks, 100 years ago people thought the mark of the beast was 666 or something, tatted on your forehead or something like that. They didn't understand how technology can work. They didn't understand the technological advancements that would appear 100 years later. And so if it were to happen in our lifetime, we don't necessarily know how they would discover if you're a believer or not, but somehow they're going to be able to find out. And of course he says here's wisdom led him to have understanding count the number of the beast for it is the number of a man. His number is 603 score and 6, the proverbial 666. So chapters 12 through 13 highlights the tribulation and primarily focuses on the aspect of the tribulation dealing with the mark of the beast and the inauguration of the new world order, which is symbolized by the beast coming out of the sea. Does that make sense to everyone? It's exciting stuff, I know. So chapters 12 through 13, chapter 14, right here, this dude doing parkour or about to do a backflip. Chapter 14 signifies the rapture. Now go to chapter 14. Now what's interesting is that the way you can remember these things is chapter 7 of the first chronology has the 144,000 and the rapture. Chapter 14 also has the 144,000 and the rapture. Because they happen kind of simultaneously. And by the way, the 144,000 are coming down from heaven as we're going up. 144,000, first of all, it's not Israel, excuse me, it's not the Jews. It's people of Israel who've lived in times past who are coming back. Secondly, it's not 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses either. And whenever people propose that to you at the door and they're a Jehovah's Witness, they talk about the 144,000, ask them this, what about the women? Because there's 144,000 young men. That's what the Bible says. So it's just like, if you ever run into a female Jehovah's Witness and she talks about the 144,000, just be like, man, Jehovah's Witnesses are sexist. Because there's no women mentioned in the 144,000, so I guess no women are going to heaven. Think about that. Alright, see you later. And she's like, walk away. Now how do we know that the 144,000 are not of Israel in the current Israel when this is taking place? Well because of the fact that chapter 14 highlights that they actually start off in heaven first. And then they come down. Look at verse 1, it says, So if they are presently with Christ in heaven, that's showing us that they did not start off on the earth, they started off in heaven, and these are obviously a very select group of individuals that are chosen by God to time travel all the way to the end times to preach the gospel to every creature. Look what it says in verse number 4, it says, Obviously these guys are really special. These are like the Daniel types, Joseph types. We don't know exactly what it is that they did to merit this, but they're obviously very special in the eyes of God. And we don't necessarily know, the Bible doesn't explicitly say, it could be that they didn't die yet. They might have been translated like Enoch was translated. And the only reason I would say that is because of the fact that they're coming back to preach the gospel in their unregenerated bodies. So how do you know it's unregenerated? Well because a regenerated body can't be hurt. Right? A glorified body can't be hurt. And they have to receive the name of their father in their foreheads so that the locusts don't touch them. Implying that they could potentially be hurt. And so they receive that and you know that's pretty unique if you think about it because these men were obviously laborers for God in the Old Testament, but their labor is not yet finished. Because they're going to come back in the future, preach the gospel. So you know God is not leaving the world without a witness obviously. When the rapture takes place. Regardless of what the preachers think, you know that the Holy Spirit is removed and you know he's no longer here. He who now leadeth will lead till he be taken out of the way. It's referring to the Holy Spirit. Not true. Because you have saints being mentioned in chapter 13. Okay? Which shows us that believers are still here. You have the two witnesses that are here preaching God's word. But you also have 144,000 evangelists are going around the world preaching the gospel as well. God still loves the people of this world and he wants them to be saved and obviously there's going to be very few who are going to be saved. But they're going to be saved because you know the gospel is the power of God unto salvation and that's what they're preaching. Okay? So where's the rapture? Look at verse number 14 of chapter 14. It says here, And I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud. Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Verse 16, And he that sat on the cloud thrust his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. This is obviously symbolically representing the rapture. Okay? Because when you read the gospels, the rapture is often referred to as reaping the souls from this world, coming in the harvest, right? And reaping those souls there. So that's chapter 14. Okay? Referring to the rapture and of course a more descriptive details of the 144,000. Where am I at here? Okay. 15 is kind of like chapter 10. Shorter chapters, basically 15 is giving us a primer for the vials of God's wrath that are about to be poured out into the world. So chapter 16 right here, okay, is unlike the first half of the chronology of Revelation. It's a little different because of the fact that in the first chronology, the seven trumpets are kind of spread out through various chapters, right? Whereas all the vials of God's wrath are covered in one chapter. He just kind of gives it to you all in one chapter. Now, why is it vials? Okay? Which by the way, it's not bowls either. And the reason I say that is because a lot of these false versions of the Bible use bowls. And you'll have these like King James only fundamental Baptists preach about end times Bible prophecy. And here is the smoking gun that they did not read the Bible when studying the book of Revelation. They call it bowls. That's what I eat cereal out of. Amen. We're talking about cereal, talking about bowl soup. It's not bowls. Okay. And they're getting it from, you know, the Left Behind series and all these things. The Bible doesn't talk about bowls of God's wrath. Okay. Talk about vials of God's wrath. And the reason it uses vials is because that's typically where you put, for example, perfume, you know, scented oils or whatever it may be in a vial. Typically throughout the Bible, that's what's being put in there. And it symbolically represents the prayers of the saints. So don't ever think that your prayers are going to waste in this world. Okay. When you pray, you're going through a difficult time. You know, you pray supplications, imprecatory prayers, prayers of needs. You know, God collects those prayers and he puts them in a vial. Okay. The Bible talks about that. So why? Because it's a sweet savor unto him when his children ask him for things. Okay. So don't lose faith. If you haven't gotten the answer to your prayers, it doesn't mean God's not paying attention. If you feel like, oh man, I've been praying for this for years and years and years, you know, why hasn't God answered my prayers? Well, here's the thing. It's being collected in these vials. Okay. God hears your prayers. He's listening to you. And we need to have faith that everything's beautiful in his time. Okay. So don't lose faith. And look folks, we're people of the Bible. We're people of the Word of God. But we need to be people of prayer as well. Okay. And pray throughout the day, Lord, help me. Give me wisdom. Help me to deal with this difficult situation that I've got going on right now. I'm discouraged. I'm depressed. I'm just sad. I'm angry. I need to be filled with the Spirit. Help me to deal with the situation and help me to deal with it tomorrow, the day after. Okay. Pray. Don't have a small view of God where you feel like you only have to pray when the big things come either. Pray for the small things as well. Amen. Now, these vials, I don't believe are vials of Thanksgiving. It was like, thank me for the meals here. These are all the meal ones. These vials are called the vials of what? God's wrath. So that means there's someone in this world who put in a lot of work to fill up those vials with those prayers. Okay. These imprecatory prayers. And I'm just hoping that I got like at least one vial in there. I'm trying to, you know, do my part to fulfill anti-Bible prophecy by filling some of those vials of God's wrath with my prayers. Okay. These imprecatory prayers. And, you know, chapter 6, when talking about martyrdom, you have the souls under the altar that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou now judge and avenge our blood and them which dwell on the earth? What is that? That's an imprecatory prayer. Like, Lord, judge them because they just died for their faith. So these prayers are placed into a vial and then they're distributed into the world. Each and every one is just like, here's the answer to the prayer. And here's the thing, folks. We think, Lord, judge these reprobates or judge this one reprobate. The Bible says he's able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Because once you see these rolled out and we're not going to be here, but once you see these rolled out from heaven, you're gonna be like, wow, God answered this abundantly. Like, a lot of people were destroyed for this. That's kind of morbid, though. Should we rejoice because God is judging the world through these vials? I mean, like, I don't know, that's kind of morbid. Is that really Christian? I read in Devotional. I read in Charles Spurgeon's whatever. Well, let's look at what the Bible says. Verse four says in the third angel of chapter 16. Verse number five or four says the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the water say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art and wast and shall be because thou was thus judged. Judge thus. What is he saying? You're right for doing this. You judge righteously. So it's not like these angels, and by the way, we're not going to do a thorough study on this because we don't have time. Many of these angels are actually people, prophets. We think that they're celestial beings, but some of them are actually prophets. We see that towards the latter end that the angel that's speaking unto John is one of the brothers and of the prophets. So dude, that means some guy living in this world is going to have the privilege to pour out one of these vials. And it might be someone who just suffered greatly, who when reviled, reviled not again. We don't know exactly who this guy is. He's a prophet, though. And when he gets to heaven, it's just like, get him, tiger. You know, and he's going to have the privilege to pour out that. And you know what this person is saying? Lord, you've judged righteously. He's not in heaven like, God, I think you just overdid it. You know, can't we just give him a second chance? He's just like, Lord, you've judged righteously. Perfect are your judgments. Look at verse six. So he's not standing in judgment of God, which a lot of Christians do today. They stand in judgment of the Bible. They stand in judgment of God's word. Oh, why does it say that in the Bible? Why is God so mean? Why is God so judgmental? You know, we need to be on the other side to say, Lord, that's what they deserve. And your judgments are right. I rejoice in your judgments, Lord. He says they have shed blood and you've given them blood to drink. You know, we would say today that we live in a bloodthirsty world. Constantly killing babies. People getting shot up and killed in Christian schools and churches. The innocent and the righteous are constantly being persecuted. I mean, there's things that are happening in this world to innocent, righteous people that we'll never know about. It's a bloodthirsty world. And you know what? God has simply given them, he's going to quench their thirst. Which is why he just turns all the waters to blood. He's like, oh, you like blood that much? I'm going to give you so much blood that it's going to quench your thirst for blood. It's going to make your life miserable. It's like the children of Israel when they wanted quail. It's coming out of their nose. And so we see here, verse 7 says, And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. So never read this and say, I think I'm going to read the NIV version of this because it's less mean or something like that. No, this is what God wants. These are God's judgments. The judge of all the earth will do right. Rejoice in his judgments. Verse 9 says, And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues. And look what it says, And they repented not to give him glory. So even when all of these judgments are, and by the way, I forgot to mention, that the seven trumpets and seven vials are not the same judgments. They're separate judgments that are happening concurrently. So the trumpet is blown, and then these people are suffering, and then the vials poured out. Sometimes they happen at the same time, but they're actually separate judgments that are happening concurrently. He's just giving them double, basically. So even though they're suffering all these punishments on the sea, on the earth, the rivers, the sun, darkness upon the world and on the seat of the beast, hail and fire and all these things, they're still not getting right with God. Show us a sign and we will believe. Wrong. Wrong. Because even when they're just being punished with the most supernatural judgments that can ever come upon this world, that will ever come upon this world, they still don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They refuse to do it. It's crazy. It says in verse number 10, And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain. Now this is a parallel to the judgment, the trumpet, where the locusts from hell are being released. So the reason these people are gnawing their tongues for pain is because these locusts are coming out of hell, led by Apollyon, also known as Abaddon, and these locusts are going about to torture men for five months. And it gets to a point where they want to die, but they can't. Maybe because they're paralyzed, we don't know exactly, but this takes place for five months, and it takes place for five months in complete darkness. So you're in your house, hopefully not you, hopefully you're saved, you're in your house, you hear the noise of chariots, which is how the Bible describes these locusts, breaking in through your house, you can't see anything. There's no flashlights, there's nothing, it's all dark. And this thing is chasing you in your house, it stings you, you're paralyzed, and they're just repeatedly stinging you, and once you feel better, they come and sting you again. And you're just like, I just want to die, but you can't die because you can't even reach a gun to shoot yourself in the head because you're paralyzed. I mean, this is like torture. That's why they're gnawing their tongues for pain. Incomplete darkness, you know. But hold on a second, men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil, the Bible says. That's why he's giving them darkness. So the darkness that's literally coming upon the world is representing the darkness that this world has embraced. Oh, you're bloodthirsty? Okay, I'll turn the waters to blood if you like it that much. Oh, you love darkness rather than light? Okay, I'll make the whole world go dark. You can't see anything. It says in verse 11, and blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains, and their sores, and repent not of their deeds. So keep in mind that once each of these is rolled out, people are still feeling the effects of the previous judgment. So they have sores on their body, but now they also have the scorpions, or excuse me, the locusts. And once they have all the wounds from the locusts, then you have those horsemen who are breathing out brimstone, and fire, and smoke, asphyxiating people all around the world. I mean, they're dealing with all of this at the same time. It's just kind of adding one to another. Okay. So we got chapter 16 dealing with all of these smiting the earth, the sea, the rivers, smites the sun, the seed of the beast, and the entire world. The second woe, or the sixth vial, is when the Euphrates River is dried up. So it's not today. I know the Euphrates River is dried up right now, but guess what? None of this has happened yet. Okay? So why is the Euphrates River being dried up at this point? Because it's making way for the kings of the, I think it says the north, to come essentially to prepare battle against Jesus Christ and his army. So think about this. How can this world just believe on the anti-Christ and take the mark of the beast? That's crazy that anybody would believe that. I mean, we think to ourselves, we're like, how? Well, the Bible says that God sends them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. And you think that's wild. That holds nothing in comparison to the fact that they think they're going to fight Jesus Christ and win. Like you would think like, okay, they're worshipping this false guy, this anti-Christ or whatever, but they'll wake up as soon as they start fighting against Jesus Christ. You know Jesus coming on a white horse from heaven with this massive army? You would think, yeah, I'm not with that. Like you didn't say we're going to be doing this. I didn't see that in the contract when I took the mark of the beast. Like this guy's coming from heaven and he has a sharp sword. We're all going to die. But you know what? These people actually believe that they can actually defeat Jesus Christ. And it's not the only time. Because after the millennial reign is complete, it's called the, I'm getting ahead of myself. It frustrates me. So 12 to 13, tribulation. 14 is the rapture. 15 is the intermission, the song of Moses, declaring the judgments that are about to follow. 16 are the vials of God's wrath. And then you have 17 and 18 dedicated to the destruction of Babylon. And Babylon is essentially used of the anti-Christ to get into power. And the reason Babylon is destroyed is because it's referred to as a whore. And the implication there is that the anti-Christ is simply using and abusing the whore for his own desires and needs until she can no longer be used and then he discards her. Which is why the kings that give their power unto the beast end up turning on Babylon and it ends up being destroyed. Now I preached two entire sermons on Babylon, being the United States. And when you look at the parallels of Babylon in chapter 18, you see how similar it actually is to the United States of America. Now obviously if it doesn't happen in our lifetime, some other super world power rises up. It could be that. But as of now, America is the one world superpower. It's very powerful and so it would definitely fit the bill. So that's 17 and 18. 19 through 20. Go to chapter 19 if you would. We're almost done. 19 begins with the battle of Armageddon. Now Armageddon isn't explicitly mentioned in the second chronology. It's actually mentioned in the first chronology. But we know that it's referring to, chapter 19 is referring to Armageddon because it precedes the millennial reign. So the Euphrates River is dried up to make way for the kings to fight against Jesus Christ and his armies at the battle of Armageddon. Look at chapter 19 if you would. And skip down to verse number 11. It says, Then I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fiercest and wrath of Almighty God. Now this is a very significant war here because this is essentially, you know, it's kind of a landslide is what it is, right? Because what happens is Jesus Christ comes on a white horse with his armies, which is referring to us by the way, we're also sitting on white horses coming with him, and we come down and basically he takes the antichrist and the false prophet, and he essentially casts them into hell, into the lake of fire both soul and body. Like there's no battle there. We often think of a war like they fight and they're a little lightsaber duel or something like that. This doesn't happen. Because the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians that he destroys him with the brightness of his coming. So he just kind of rides down and he just snatches them and just casts them into the lake of fire right then and there. So the antichrist and the false prophet are actually the first people to inhabit the lake of fire. And in fact they have the lake of fire all to themselves for a total of a thousand years. Because the lake of fire is separate from the current hell. The current hell according to the Bible is in the center of the earth. That's where people are who have rejected Jesus Christ. The lake of fire is where hell will be relocated at this point right here. But up until that point when the battle of Armageddon takes place for a thousand years, only the false prophet and the antichrist are inhabiting the lake of fire. Which by the way completely debunks the stupid doctrine of annihilationism. Oh no we believe that as soon as people go to hell they just burn up because that's what fire does or something. Well not the fire of God. How do you know? Well how about the burning fiery bush? It was on fire but it wasn't consumed. There you go right? And the reason we know that it doesn't do that is because when they're cast into the lake of fire and then Satan is cast into the lake of fire a thousand years later, he says where the beast and the false prophet are. So it's just like a thousand years later they're still there burning and being tormented day and night. Not for a little minute or something like that. It says day and night. Now look at verse number... Okay so let me just describe this real quick. So this battle that's taking place here at the battle of Armageddon is very bloody. And obviously we know that Jesus Christ is the general. He's the king going forth to slay these people. But I personally think that there's probably believers involved in this war as well. Because of the fact that there's just a lot of blood. And I mean this is a huge war. It's a huge battle. And if I can be frank here, the body count is so large, very large, that number one, God commands all the fowls, referring to birds of the air, to come and feast on the flesh of the kings and captains and everyone who is against them. You have all these bodies all over the place and the birds come and they eat the flesh of these people. That's number one. Number two, in the first half of the chronology, we see that the blood goes up to the bridle of the horse. It's very bloody. And obviously it's reminiscent of the book of Psalms that talks about the fact that the righteous shall wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. Well if you're riding a horse and it's coming up to the horse's bridle, you can see how that kind of works. Oh man, that's too late. We're ready for a Sunday morning sermon. Hey, Revelation is good, amen? Let me just say this. If you're like, well, preach out of Proverbs, preach out of the book of John, I'm trying to give you a blessing. Because the Bible literally says that if you read the book of Revelation, you will inherit a blessing. There's a specific promise given to believers when they read the specific book of Revelation. And I'm going to finish the sermon with what that blessing is, okay? Now look at verse number 19, it says, And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And of course he ends up taking them and casting them into the lake of fire. Now this rolls right into the thousand year reign. Now the thousand year reign is essentially the judgment seat of Christ, okay? So don't confuse this with the great white throne judgment. Two separate events here. The great white throne judgment takes place a thousand years after. The judgment seat of Christ is for believers. The white throne judgment is for all unsafe people. The judgment seat of Christ is basically once the war has ended, the battle of Armageddon, Jesus Christ, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. He sits on his throne and then the ceremony begins. Which is all believers coming before the Lord to try their works in the fire to see of what sort it is. Gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and stubble. I don't know how exactly how that's going to look. Somehow supernaturally our works will be present and we're just kind of like, Alright, you're next. Next! And he's just like, And you know what they're going to tell you? At least you're saved. Next! I'm just kidding, he's like, Because it says, They shall be saved yet so as by fire. Because there's going to be people that are suffering loss at the judgment seat of Christ. That this should be a wake up call to all of us. Don't allow your labor to be in vain. Don't allow your life to be in vain. Should I say it? Use your life for the judgment seat of Christ. Because let me just say this, That's like the most important event for us as Christians. Because you know what we want to hear when we get there? Well done thou good and faithful servant. I mean we live to please Jesus Christ. We live, our life is literally for the glory of Jesus Christ to please Jesus Christ. Because we will see him face to face one day. Our boss, our Lord. And we will bring our works with us. And the fire that he's going to place before it, we're going to throw it on there. And if it yields wood hands stubble, it means like you wasted your life. You get nothing. However, if you did do something for God, One soul is to Christ, you live righteously, you live according to the Bible, you obey the Lord, you throw your works in there, and it says it will produce gold, silver, and precious stones, which are the elements necessary to forge a crown. And I believe once that's forged, well done thou good and faithful servant, have thou authority over ten cities. That's what the Bible says. So it's just like, here you go, Bruce, or whatever my new name is going to be. You get to rule over Omani. Yes! I don't want Omani. Omani is in Babylon, amen. Although Babylon is a den of devils though. Babylon, that's what the Bible says. And so is Omani. So that's why, that's the judgment seat of Christ, and we don't know how long that takes, but this is essentially when we begin to permeate all of society the right way. It's not like, oh man if we could just vote in all Christians, as governors and mayors in this world, the world would just be a better place. No it won't. You're trying to have now what you could only have in the millennial reign. Because it's only going to work in the millennial reign. You know why? Because Christians who are saved, who go into politics, are going to compromise one way or another. However, in the millennial reign, we are regenerated, without sin, with Jesus Christ as King. Then we will be able to institute the laws. But let me say this, even then, if I may say so, the world still will not be perfect. Even with Jesus Christ ruling, it will still not be perfect. Why? Because sin is still present, sinners are still present, which is why we have to institute biblical laws. The only time everything will be perfected is right here. New heaven and the new earth, when sin, Satan, sinners are completely removed. So in the millennial reign, we get to enjoy the fruits of our labor, where I believe it will essentially be like when Joshua went into the Promised Land. If you read the story, Joshua went into the Promised Land, and God told Joshua, the land is before thee. Only difference is, you have to conquer these lands, and then distribute the different plots to all of the children of Israel. One like manner, when he gives us authority, it's just like, go conquer that land. Subjugate the people, and they have to obey the laws of the land, preach the gospel unto them so that they can be saved, and that's how, for a thousand years, that will be the world, with Jesus Christ as King. And of course we know that things begin to change, people live longer, it's going to be great. Now I will say this, I think during this time, we're going to be doing a lot of rebuilding, because of the fact that prior to this, God just got finished decimating the world. So, you know, don't get too excited about ruling over Hawaii. It's probably not going to look the same once the millennial reign happens, it's probably going to look like a piece of trash. There's a lot of work to do here. Everything is just destroyed. So chapter 20 deals with that, look at verse number 3 of chapter 20. It says in verse number 4, it says, Take that, Preterist. And the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Now what dead is he referring to? The people who have died during the wrath of God. They don't live again essentially, they don't receive their regenerated bodies until after the thousand years are over. So people are dying here, right? Some of them get saved, they die here, they die here, and then they stay in heaven throughout this thousand year period. It's not until this part right here and this part right here that they come down, which is why a new heaven is also introduced. And I'll explain that in just a bit. So that's the judgment seat of Christ and of course during this time, when this takes place here, Satan is cast into the bottomless pit. So think about this, this is a world that we're going to inherit, that's absent of Satan. No temptation from Satan. And people are still going to sin. So you can't blame everything on the devil now, can you? The devil made me do it. Sometimes it's just you. Because throughout these thousand years, he's not even there. How are you going to blame him? He's not there. Yeah, but what about his demons? Well according to the Bible, all the demons are actually placed in Babylon during this time. Because Babylon is actually made desolate, if you read Jeremiah and of course the parallel passages in Revelation 17 and 18, it's made desolate and according to the book of Isaiah, it becomes a den of every foul spirit, satyrs, and devils. Which means that all the demons are probably tossed into this area right here. Now some people believe it's only a section of Babylon, or United States, Babylon, or whatever, it doesn't really matter. I'm just saying that's where they're going to go. You're like, that's kind of weird, I think you're kind of adding that to that. Well here's the thing, it's not really weird. Because if demons are inhabiting animals, every foul, bird, and creeping thing, that's not new. When Jesus Christ exercised the legion out of the maniac of Gadara, he threw him where? Into the swine. Where all those demons go, all those devils are. So even then people are still going to sin because they have a sin nature. So after this is done, I'm almost done, chapter 20, you have the battle of Gog and Magog. And this is where Satan is released from the bottomless pit, and he gathers all the armies of the world to fight against God. So think about this folks, the world has just finished seeing a thousand years of Christ's physical reign on this world. In this world. And yet they still think they're going to be able to defeat God. It's crazy. But you know what, it shouldn't surprise us because people believe crazy things today. It shouldn't surprise us that they believe they're going to be able to fight against God and win. So Satan gathers together all this great army against God, against all believers, and he's going to fight against them, but God is basically going to throw fire on them and that's it. God basically allows Satan to do that, to just collect the scum of the earth, so they can all collectively meet up in one specified location, and just throw fire on them and be done with them. That's what happens in chapter 20. In fact, look what it says in verse number 8, verse 7, it says when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of humans that has descended the sea, and they went up on the breadth of the earth and surpassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. It's like, that was easy. They're like, ahhh! It's just like, you know, just done. Now I do want to encourage you to go listen to my sermon on Gog and Magog, because I actually go into detail as far as how that war looks like, because although he destroys them in an instant, the time period between Gog and Magog and the White Throne Judgment might be elongated a little bit. We don't know exactly how long it takes. The reason I say that is because there's a period where people are hired to essentially bury the dead. You know, they're walking or whatever and they see a bone, a skull, and they're just like, oh, and they put a flag there to indicate there's a corpse there, and then there's other people that are hired to come and they see a flag and they're like, okay, and they give it a proper burial or whatever. And so go listen to my sermon on Gog and Magog where I explain that. It's pretty wild, but it does take place. And then you have the White Throne Judgment, which is essentially the confirmation of the damnation of the lost. So the souls of hell come out of hell, they come out of hell, they stand before the great White Throne, and he essentially throws the book at them. And he confirms their damnation, and by the way, the dead who come out of hell are reunited with their physical bodies, and then both soul and body are cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Of course, Satan is thrown into the lake of fire. Death is thrown into, I mean, all bad stuff just goes into the lake of fire at that point. Chapter 21 and 22 are dealing with the new heaven and the new earth. Now, the earth isn't new here. Just give me five minutes, because I'm not going to preach on this ever again for like another couple of years. Okay. So after all this is done, we have this earth that's just been completely decimated, destroyed, ravaged by sin, sinners. But you have the new Jerusalem that's in heaven that descends into the earth, and it's transfigured. It becomes different. It's essentially glorified, because it's completely absent of sin. This is the mount of God. This is where God the Father comes and dwells with man, and we're essentially there forever with him. Now, why does that take place? Well, because of the fact that the culmination of the end of the world, known as the new heaven and the new earth, is symbolically representing the fact that the world kind of represents us. The world is like us, individuals. When we get saved, my friends, Christ comes to live in us. But you know what? Just like the thousand year reign, we still have the old man with us. We have to constantly subjugate the inhabitants of the land. Reckon yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies that ye should obey in the lustre of. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. What the thousand year reign is, Christ living in us. And subjugating the members of this world, the sinners of this world, under the law of God. You understand? But you know what? Sin is still present. So when we get saved, sin doesn't just go away. Right? We still struggle with sin. It's the battle of the flesh and the spirit. We constantly have that battle there. But one day, my friends, we're going to die. And you know what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15? Death is swallowed up in victory. And what does chapter 20 say? That death is cast into the lake of fire. It's swallowed up in victory. And this signifies the rapture. Because what happens at the rapture? If we make it to the tribulation and the rapture, we will meet our body. Our body will meet the spirit in the air. So essentially the spirit comes down, the body comes out of the world, out of the earth if you've died, and boom. Then you receive a glorified body. Right? That's what the rapture is. In the twinkling of an eye, you know, this corruption must put on incorruption. This mortal shall have put on immortality. We essentially then legitimately become a new man. That's what the Bible refers to as the redemption of our body. One like man or this right here, the new Jerusalem is like the new man. It comes down to the earth and it transfigures the world where it's completely absent of sin. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. So what we have here is on a large scale what happens to us when we get saved. Now here's the last verse. Go with me if you would to 2 Peter. Go to 2 Peter chapter 3 if you would. So 21 and 22 is dealing with the new Jerusalem, the measurements of the new Jerusalem, and the details thereof. And then we live happily ever after for all of eternity. Okay. You say this does not help me at all. I need help with my children. I need help with my marriage. I need help with my job. I need help with depression. I need help because I'm struggling with this particular sin. How in the world is this supposed to help me? This is the most boring sermon I've ever heard that just didn't help me get right with God. Stupid chart. A dispensational chart. How in the world is this supposed to help me? Well look at 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 11. This is in regards to the end times. It says, Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. What is he talking about? He's saying knowing that this is going to happen, this should affect how you live today. Knowing that they shall be dissolved, you should allow the things of this world to be dissolved to you. You know how it helps your marriage? It helps your marriage by enduring the difficult aspects of your marriage because you know chapter 22 is a legitimate thing. You know how this will help you in your depression and your discouragement? It will help you by cleaning up your life, getting right with God and looking forward to chapter 22 because it's going to come one day. You see your life is not vain. This is not a fantasy. This is not the Book of Mormon. This is not the Quran. This is not the Book of Mormon. It's definitely not the Book of Enoch. This is legitimately what's going to happen one day. And a lot of times Christians can get caught up with the affairs of this world and they forget that there's an end to these things. You know why God wants us to read the Book of Revelation? To look forward to the end. And you know why so many Christians are so caught up in the affairs of this life? Because they're not thinking about the end. But thinking about the end is supposed to affect our lives how we live today knowing that these things, the things concerning me, the things concerning you have an end. This will help you to hold on a little longer when you're going through a hard time. Knowing full well there's an end to this. One day you're going to be here and you're not even going to remember these things anymore. The hardest day that you've ever experienced here in this life, the most difficult trial that you've ever had, the most painful experience that you've ever possessed will be nothing when you're right there. So then endure, serve God, win souls to Christ, love your spouse, love your children, love the brethren. And when you're tired and you're weary, you're like I want to go back to the world. I want to go back to just doing what I used to do. Oh you mean the world that's going to dissolve one day? Hey don't forget. There's a judgment seat of Christ though. Hey don't forget it's all going to burn. Hey don't forget there's a new heaven and a new earth. And don't forget you're only here for about 80 years if that. So you only have that amount of time to store up for that time. That's the blessing of reading the book of Revelation. It helps you to be eternally minded. It's not fiction my friends. It's the real deal. Why study the book of Revelation? Because it helps us look forward to the end and makes the current pains of this world pale in comparison to the glory that shall be revealed in us the Bible says. That's why it's important. Let's pray. Father we thank you so much for your word Lord. Thank you so much for the details thereof. Help us to give heed to these things and to help us to be more thankful for our church, be thankful for the brethren, be thankful for our husbands and wives, our children. Be thankful for what we have because all this will be gone one day. Even be thankful for the trials that we're experiencing because we know that we will receive a recompense and a reward for it. These things will one day end. And one thing we don't want is to live in regret in the end because we didn't endure. I pray that you bless us as we go on our way. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Please turn your songbooks to song number 145. Song number 145, It Is Well With My Soul. For the chorus on the first It Is Well, that'll be sung out nice and loud by the ladies and the second one that'll be sung out by the men. Just follow along nice and strong on that first verse. When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should perfect, though trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control, That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed his own blood for my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. My sin, the bliss of this glorious dark, My sin not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. And Lord, face the day when my faith shall be signed, The clouds we roll back as a storm, The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.