(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

at Revelation 11 verse number 15. Revelation 11, 15 it says, and the seventh angel sounded. So the title for the sermon this morning is the seventh trumpet, the seventh trumpet. Now when it comes to the book of Revelation, I'll be honest with you, I believe that just by the years I've studied and read this book, I remember reading this book when I was a little kid in church. I was kind of bored of the preaching. I had watered down preaching in the church I was attending, but I would always read the book of Revelation over and over and over and over again. You know, like many of you, it's one of the favorite books, I suppose, of the Bible. But I've always found Revelation chapter 11 the most difficult. Like even as I prepared to preach, you know, this sermon took me several hours. Like if I could just, I reckon probably took me more than 10 hours. Like just thinking about it, meditating upon it, reading again and just comparing scriptures and, you know, making sure that whatever I had to say lines up with the rest of the scriptures. Because this chapter, you know, actually, when I said I was going to cover the book of Revelation, this is the chapter that I was kind of not, dreading is the wrong word, but this is one of the most concerned about preaching. Revelation chapter 10 as well, but I felt like, you know, it wasn't as difficult, but definitely Revelation 11, I would say by far is the most challenging chapter of the book of Revelation. Not that by reading it, it's hard to understand what is occurring, but what happens as you go for Revelation 11, it brings up a lot of questions, brings up a lot of questions. And there might be thoughts that, you know, it appears inconsistent with other truths that we've seen in God's Word. And, you know, I'm going to leave that sort of toward the end of the sermon to cover those things that might seem inconsistent. And let's just read it as it is to begin with. And then we'll deal with some of those questions you may have or that I've had over the years. But let's start there in verse number one, Revelation 11 verse number one. And there was given me, now the me there is John, okay? And there was given me a reed like unto a rod and the angel stood saying, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein. And so this is the angel you may recall that had a little book in his hand. He gave it to John, John ate of it and it was sweet in his mouth and bitter in his belly. And the same angel then gives, you know, John like a ruler, like a rod, a way to measure this temple of God. And notice that this temple of God, it says there are people within that temple that worship therein. And so it's a religious institution is what it is, okay? And so the fact that he's been given something to measure, like he might be given, I'll use this microphone as an example. This might be the rod and, you know, whatever length that is, he's been asked by the angel, can you go and measure the temple? And there are people within that temple that are worshiping. So he's using, let's say some type of rod and he might, you know, we don't get the measurements. Like we don't get the reason why it's asked to measure it and we don't get the measurements, okay? But the point is, it's something that can be measured, okay? So you might end up measuring, okay, it measures a thousand microphones, whatever it is, right? There's some, obviously some type of conclusion to the matter here. But if we continue the verse number two, it says, but the court, that's the outer court of the temple, okay? Which is without the temple leave out. So don't measure that and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles and the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months. So the Gentiles are treading over the holy city, a reference to Jerusalem for forty and two months, which of course is three and a half years. So what we're dealing here with, you know, obviously we talk about a seven year period about this future event to come. We've already gone through the first three and a half years, you know, and we really commenced the next three and a half years. So what's happening here is we're not going back in time, but what we're being told is what has been happening in Jerusalem as, you know, God's been, you know, the trumpet judgments and, you know, all the things that we've been reading about the wrath of God. We kind of get an explanation as to what's been happening in the holy city, which is Jerusalem, and this temple of God, which brings a lot of questions and we can see that it's been, the city has been trotted on the foot of Gentiles for forty and two months. Now let me give you an idea of the, you know, well actually before we do that, drop down to verse number 19. Notice that this temple is called the temple of God, but it's clearly on the earth. It's clearly been people worshiping within it. Now I believe that's false worship. I'll tell you in a moment why. Okay. And we also see there are Gentiles that can actually infiltrate and tread all over this place. Okay. But when we look at verse number 19, it says, and the temple of God, you go, well, that might be the same temple, but notice, and the temple of God was opened in heaven. And so we're seeing a difference between a temple that is on the earth and a temple that is in heaven, but notice that they're both called the temple of God. And again, that brings a lot of questions, which we'll deal with later on. Okay. Now, is John actually measuring a physical temple? That's another question. I believe so. Come with me to Revelation 21. Come with me to Revelation 21 and verse number 15, just to show you a bit of consistency of the Bible here in Revelation 21 verse number 15, we're fast forwarding to the time when God creates a new heaven and a new earth. Okay. And then we have a new Jerusalem, heavily Jerusalem descend from heaven to the earth. And in Revelation 21, 15, it says, and he that talked to me had a golden read to measure the city. That's new Jerusalem. Okay. And the gates are off and the wall they're off. So again, there's another measurement that's taking place. It says, and the city live four square, and the length is as large as the breadth. So we actually get the dimensions. We're getting told the measurements of the city and he measured the city with a read 12,000 furlongs, the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof and 144 cubits, according to the measure of a man that is of the angel. And so what I'm trying to demonstrate there is if we're going to take Revelation 21, literally that they're measuring the city. I can't say that Revelation 11 can't be taken literally. I think to be consistent with the way God is presenting these measurements, it's one the same. This is a actual temple on the earth that can be measured. And there are people worshiping therein, which I believe are Christ rejecting Jews. And there are Gentiles that can are on the outer court and they're also treading underfoot the city of Jerusalem. Now keep your finger there in Revelation 11, come with me to Luke 21, Luke 21, Jesus Christ also speaks of this event. And yes, I touched upon this in the previous chapter, but I'm trying to just expand on this a little bit more. Okay. Luke 21 verse 20. And of course, this is a parallel passage of the Olivet Discourse. It is the Olivet Discourse that's been taught by Jesus Christ. And of course, the Olivet Discourse contains the great tribulation and the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, all those elements. But what he says in Luke 21 verse 20 is interesting. It says, And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Now, one thing that is challenging, you know, in the Bible, and you know, I don't have the time to elaborate on this. I hope that one day I will. Okay. When Christ speaks this word, these words, you know, he also spoke about the temple, and there'd been no stone left up one upon another. Okay. So we know that as Christ is teaching the Olivet Discourse, he's teaching about what's going to happen in 70 AD. Okay. About the Romans that will come and destroy Jerusalem and destroy the temple. Okay. But we also know that he's speaking of future events, because he speaks about his coming. And Christ did not come in AD 70. Okay. I mean, that that much should be obvious. The book of Daniel also speaks of this abomination that will take place. Okay. But he's speaking about a different man altogether. Anticus Epiphanes. All right. And he also does something very similar. They go into the temple, they default the temple, they set up an image. And all this took place before the birth of Christ. And so Daniel prophesies of this event. But again, it's symbolic. And it's a type and a shadow of future events yet to come. Because when you get to Daniel chapter 12, he speaks of the resurrection. And so it's sort of like this teaching occurs multiple times. And it's almost like this free layered prophecy. You know, and it's a little bit about events that took place before Jesus was born. It's also about 70 AD. And it's also about the end times. And that's the challenge is sometimes reading through these passages, identifying what elements are for that specific time period. And then what elements are about future events? You know, and that's what brings up a lot of questions. All right. Just recently, on last Thursday, I was preaching for Isaiah and the burden of Babylon. And, you know, Christ is speaking about earthly Babylon that will take Judah into captivity. But then all of a sudden, he's speaking about the end times Babylon that you read about in Revelation. Okay, but then he returns back to earthly Babylon. And then he goes back to the end times Babylon. It's the same sort of idea is that God many times uses things that are taking place on the earth as a type as a picture of future things yet to come. But the challenge is knowing when is it just about this current event in their time and what is still things that needs to be fulfilled in the future. There are some that will say to you, everything's already been fulfilled. Because they identify there are things about present day or things that have occurred in our past that have taken place, like Jerusalem being compassed with armies. They'll say, Well, that was the Romans. Okay. And that's 70 AD. That's the Great War, you know, with the Jews and the Romans. And you know, that that whole event took took seven years. And in the midst of the week, there was an idol, idol of Zeus set up in the temple. That's recorded pretty well recorded in history. So some will conclude the idea then all of that already took place. But what was there a resurrection? The people were people resurrected, the Christ come in the clouds, were people caught up in the clouds? Like, you know, the people take the mark of the beast. What is that technology if that already all occurred? And so some people have this idea. And so it's all been done. It's not all. Look, there is elements that have been done. Okay, but they're pictures of what is still yet to happen. Okay. And I think that's clear in the Bible. You know, it's not one or the other. It's both. But things are being pictured as types or shadows of future things to come. But what I'm trying to show you here, brethren, is that in Luke 21, Jerusalem will be compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Desolation means destruction and emptiness. Okay. What is he referring to? Drop down to verse number 24. It says, and they shall fall. That's the people of Jerusalem or Judea. They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. Look at this, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. So was Jerusalem trodden on the feet of the Gentiles by the Romans? Yes, it was. And it was complete desolation, wasn't it? But this will occur again in the future. Okay. Now, when you get this idea of being trodden on the foot, the picture that I get is, you know, we've got a decent sized backyard in our house, but we've also got a play gym where the kids play. We got our swings and we have a slide. Now, the areas that get trodden underfoot, what happens? The grass dies. Okay. And all that is left is a patch of dirt. So for example, when they go down the slide and they land on the ground, like once again, that area just at the bottom of the slide is just dirt. There's no grass. Why? Because it's been trodden under the foot of man constantly, constantly. And it leaves desolation like grass can't grow. You know, the dirt has been compacted and it's difficult for grass to grow in that area, if you know what I mean. Okay. That's the idea that Jerusalem is going to be surrounded by the armies of the Antichrist, I believe they are. Okay. And that that city is going to have massive destruction. That desolation begins at the midpoint. Okay. When the Antichrist rides himself up and also we'll see this later on in the book of Revelation, sets up an image to be worshiped in the same vein that these men of the past have done so in the temple of God. This brings a lot of questions, but what is the temple of God? Which we'll deal with later on, but let's just go back to Revelation 11, please. Revelation 11, Revelation 11. You know, the question might come up is why would the Antichrist want that? Why would he want to just conquer the city of Jerusalem? Why would he just want to tread it under his foot and the foot of his armies? You know, and I'm just going to give you my answer, like what I believe is happening because it's crystal clear in the scriptures that Christ is going to reign in Jerusalem. There are so many passages. You can't, you can't spiritualize all of them. You can't just be like, well, maybe we're Israel and he's just going to ruin our hearts or something like that. No, it talks to not just the ruling in Israel and Mount Zion and Jerusalem, but also the land has been referenced there. And look, it only lines up with the coming of Jesus Christ, his thousand year reign. Okay. And it's so obvious in the Bible that that's a truth that it could be that the devil and the Antichrist are just trying to stop that from happening. I'll destroy Jerusalem. I'll wipe it out. I'll conquer it. I'll make sure that I've got the power in that land, you know, to prevent potentially, I don't know what's in the devil's head or the Antichrist's head, potentially to stop Jesus Christ from coming and ruling in this area. But that's just my thought. Okay. Now let's continue there in verse number three in Revelation 11 verse number three. So the holy city has been treading on the foot for 42 months, three and a half years, right? Just being completely wiped out and not annihilated. But then verse number three, it says, and I will give power unto my two witnesses, that they should prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days clothed in sackcloth. So they prophesied for how long? A thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is if you divide that by 30, 30 days in a Jewish month, calendar month is another three and a half years. So the same time that Jerusalem has been treading on the foot of Gentiles, the same time is the same time that these two witnesses are witnessing in that city. Okay. What I like about this, one thing that I, you know, I've sort of come to realize sort of later in my later years is that even though the Antichrist gets a lot of power and control in the end times, he never achieves really what he wants. Like when he's like on the verge of succeeding, but just it doesn't really happen for him. Like you'll see this over and over again. And one thing is, you know, he's trying to, you know, set up people to worship him, to take the mark of the beast. And yes, he's making war against the saints. But then you've got these two pesky witnesses just preaching of Jesus Christ. And they are getting people saved. I'll show you that in a moment. Okay. And he just, he just, and he has a hard time defeating these two witnesses. He eventually does. Okay. But he has a really hard time. I mean, these two witnesses are preaching for three and a half years. Like the second three and a half years. All right. Now this brings up a lot of questions. Again, this brings up a lot of questions because if they start preaching at the midpoint for three and a half years, well, we all, if we're the last generation, we're all going to be here in that midpoint because that's when the great tribulation begins. And then we know 75 days or less, the rapture takes place and we get new resurrected bodies and we go to be with the Lord in heaven. But then what about these two witnesses? Were they not resurrected? They're still preaching for three and a half years. They're still on the earth. That brings up a lot of questions. That doesn't make a lot of sense. Some people might think, you know, you know, I've heard one view as well. Maybe they, maybe they get saved like straight after the rapture. Look, if you get saved, like on day one, you're a babe in Christ and you know nothing. These two witnesses are powerful preachers. I mean, they're experienced. They've got experience in their belt. They're performing miracles and you know, they're standing up to the antichrist and they're just bold and that's not a baby in Christ. They've operated before. They know what they're doing. Okay. But these are the questions. Well, why? Because we'll see later, they could get hurt and they die. But once we're raptured, once we receive resurrected bodies, we receive bodies that can never perish. They see all the questions that this chapter creates. Like the chapter itself is not that complicated. Like you can read it. Okay. I get the gist, but then it brings up a lot of questions. It seems inconsistent. The rapture took place and all these things. Okay. Now let me just show you as we keep going there in verse number four, we get a description of who these two witnesses are. Verse number four, these are the two olive trees. It's like these are the two olive trees. Okay. But the idea there is we should know of who they are already. And I'll show you in a minute why. It says, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. Okay. So they're described as two olive trees and two candlesticks. All right. These are, it's like, you should know that already. Why should we know that already? Look, we're reading the last book of the Bible. If you get saved, look, I'm not going to, I don't hate you for getting saved and I'm going to study the book of Revelation, but it's the last book of the Bible for a reason. It's because you should have gained knowledge that's been written through the Bible that you can then bring to the book of Revelation as well. Okay. So these are the two olive trees. It's a reference of somebody that we should already be aware of, or the scriptures I've already covered. So keep your finger there and come with me to Zechariah. Zechariah is the second last book of the Old Testament. Okay. Zechariah chapter four, Zechariah chapter four and verse number 11, Zechariah chapter four, verse number 11, Zechariah receives this vision or this dream from God. And Zechariah chapter four, verse number 11. I just want to show you what it says here. Zechariah chapter four, verse number 11. Zechariah receives this vision. Zechariah, just to give you the timeframe of Zechariah's life, after the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity, they were allowed to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and they were allowed to rebuild the temple. Okay. Now there was a pause because of persecution. There was a pause of building the temple and then God uses Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the Jews to finish the work. Okay. So it just gives you a timeframe of when he lived. And the two men that God used to primarily be in charge of the rebuilding of the temple was Zerubbabel, if you might be familiar with that name. He was the governor of the land and Joshua, not the Joshua we think about in the book of Joshua, but another Joshua, the high priest. And these were kind of the two key men. Okay. That God would, you know, ensure that the building of the temple would be, you know, they were in charge of the operations, making sure that all happened. So I'll give you the context of that because let's read it first. Zechariah chapter four, verse number 11. Then answered I and said unto him, what are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, so he doesn't get an answer. And I answered again and said unto him, what be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes emptied the golden oil out of themselves? So Zechariah sees the two olive trees and he sees the two olive branches there, one on the right side of the candlestick and the other on the left side. And verse number 13, and he answered me and said, knowest thou not what these be? And I said, no, my Lord. Then said he, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. Now in Revelation 11 four, it said here, these are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. So when we get that introduction in Revelation 11, these are the two olive trees like Zechariah. Remember we got introduced to them back in Zechariah. So some people conclude, not I, but some people conclude that these two olive trees are Zerubbabel and Joshua because God would use them in this time to reestablish the temple. Now the argument that might be in favour of that to some extent is if these two men were used by God to ensure the temple has been rebuilt, well they're prophesying in Jerusalem at a time when there is a temple on the earth and they might be fulfilling some part of their work that wasn't yet completed. That's an argument some people make. I can kind of see it, but I believe there are stronger candidates to who these two olive branches are. Okay. Now when you look at Zechariah, do we have a clear description of who they are? We have no idea. Even Zechariah doesn't know. Okay. And so what I'm trying to say to you, look, I'm going to give you my thoughts. I'm not going to tell you I know. Okay. I'm at the same level as Zechariah. And if you're like, I know who they are. Look, just calm down. I think I know who they are, but I don't know really who they are. Okay. And we'll cover that shortly as we continue going through this sermon. Okay. Let's go to verse number five in Revelation 11 verse number five. It says, and if any man hurt them, the two witnesses. So can they be hurt? They can. But when we receive new resurrected bodies, can our bodies be hurt? No. Okay. They're immortal bodies. It says if any man will hurt them, so they will be hurt by a proceedeth out of their mouth and devourer of their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. So people might attack them. Okay. And they get hurt. I don't know what kind of attacks they might sustain during this time, but if they get attacked by some enemy, fire is going to come out of their mouth and just devour that person. I mean, again, are these babes in Christ? New believers that just got saved after the rapture or something like this. No, look, they're actually operating before the rapture. Meaning that if we're the last generation, we're going to see these two witnesses before we're raptured in heaven. And I think once we see them, we'll know who they are. Like at that point, we'll be like, Hey, what's your name? If you're not sure. Okay. We'll know who they are. Okay. But Hey, look, they got the power to perform miracles. They can be hurt, meaning they've not received their new resurrected bodies as of yet. Verse number six, these have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy. Shutting up heaven means they're stopping the rains from falling. They can cause drought on the earth and have power over waters to turn them to blood. Now we know we're seeing that as God's pouring out his wrath, that the seas and the rivers are turning to blood and things like that. But these guys can do it too. Like as God is pouring out his wrath from heaven, these two witnesses are pouring out God's wrath from the earth. They're performing very similar things. Like if they're able to shut the rains from falling, that's going to dry up the grass. We know that when, uh, when God pulls out his wrath, all green grass is going to be burnt up. Well, that makes sense. If they've just stopped the rain from falling, like it will be easy for all grass to be burnt up in that, in that sense. So they might be working in conjunction with God's wrath being poured out on the earth. It says here, and to smite the earth with all plagues. So other miracles, other disasters they're able to bring on the earth as often as they will. All right. So someone's giving them a hard time, stopping them from witnessing. Well, if you're a witness for God, what are you witnessing? The gospel, obviously that's what we're called to be witnesses of the gospel, witnesses of Jesus Christ. Now look, sometimes we go soul winning and you know, we're at, we're with someone at the door and we're witnessing, right? About Jesus. And then an interruption takes place. Oh, they don't want to hear it, even though they wanted to hear it. Isn't that frustrating when that happens? But what about if these witnesses, they're trying to witness and someone tries to stop them and they can just cool down. Like they just block fire or plague them with some leprosy or something. They can stop all of that. So they can have a clear presentation. You know, there will be no interruption of their ability to witness of Jesus Christ. Now they finished their work. It says in verse number seven, and when they have finished their testimony, so that look, they get that, they, they get their job done. Okay. But when they finish the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them. Doesn't this once again confirm that they haven't received the new resurrected bodies as of yet? Okay. Now this is the first time in the book of Revelation that we're introduced to the beast. The beast is another name for the antichrist. We learn a few things. In fact, I prefer using the word beast, but then the word beast in the Bible is animal. I understand why in theological, the theological world, people just use the word antichrist. And when you say the antichrist, people generally know, okay, that's the beast of Revelation. Okay. But one thing that we learned about the beast, the antichrist is that he ascends out of the bottomless pit. Now we've covered this before. What is the bottomless pit? Hell. Okay. Hell. So he comes out of hell and then he, once he's out of hell, he's got the ability, the power, the strength to overcome. Again, God allows that to happen because they finished the testimony. Okay. The work's done. Look, if they had not finished their work, obviously the beast would have no power over them. Okay. So God allows these events to take place, but they're killed. Now they preach for 42 months, the second half. So essentially we now got, we've got to the point now where we're right at the end of the seven years. They finished the testimony. They get killed right at the end of the seven years. That's why we're up to the seventh trumpet being blown. We're right at the end before Christ begins to rule in his millennial kingdom. Okay. So that's when he finally has victory over them, kills them. Now, what does this mean for the antichrist to rise out of the bottomless pit, for him to rise from hell? What is this referring to? What is this speaking of? Let's get a bit more context in the book of Revelation. Let's go to Revelation 13, Revelation 13 verse number three, Revelation 13 and verse number three. Nicholas, if you can get me a cup of water, that'd be great. Revelation 13 verse number three. This is speaking about the same beast, the antichrist. It says, and I saw one of his heads. Now he doesn't have multiple heads. It's just the description, the illustration that God uses here is of a beast with many heads. Okay. But speaking of the antichrist here, 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. The whole world is like, whoa, one surprise amazement. Now look, people have had wounds, deadly wounds in the world. And some people's hearts have stopped and they've been brought back. They've been resuscitated. Okay. Like having a deadly wound that then is healed is not a big deal, but if that deadly wound kills you and then you're brought back to life, wouldn't that be amazing? The whole world went, wow, the beast is, you know, we refer to him as the antichrist for a reason because he stands in the place of Christ. He mimics Christ. We know that Christ of course died and rose again from the dead. Well, the antichrist does the exact same thing with the power of the devil. Okay. He does that. Now continue down to verse number 11. And I behold another beast coming up out of the earth. And he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. This other beast is the false prophet. We're going to all that right now, but it says in verse number 12, and he exercised of all the power of the first beast before him and cause of the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders so that he make a 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 a sword and did live. So we see how he was wounded to death. He was pierced through by a sword. Okay. So this antichrist has power, has control, and an assassination attempt takes place. In fact, it succeeds. It kills the man. His soul goes to the boneless pits. His soul goes to hell, but with the help of the devil, he has the power to be resuscitated, come back to life. The whole earth wonders, okay, how this happened. So there are not just the miracles of God's wrath falling upon the earth at this time, but there are lying and deceiving miracles also taking place with the power and the strength of the devil, utilizing the antichrist and the false prophet who are doing these amazing miracles. Coming to another passage, Revelation 17. Revelation 17, verse number eight. Now I believe Revelation 17 eight just confirms, just nails it that the beast, the antichrist did in fact perish. I mean the fact that he raised from the boneless pit should be enough to tell you that he perished. He went to hell. Okay. But look how it's worded here in Revelation 17 eight. The beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. So he was, he was alive and he's not, then he's not alive and then he comes out of boneless pits and go into perdition and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is. So we've all of that together, putting that together, that seems crystal clear. The beast suffers an assassination attempt which succeeds, he dies, he was, but then he's not, but then yet is, comes back to life and the whole world is like wow. And of course later on this is why he starts claiming himself to be God. He claims himself I'm sure to be Jesus Christ. He you know elevates himself above all that is called God, refers to himself for God. We'll look at that in a moment as well. But it's very interesting all of these things that take place. Okay. Now come back with me to Revelation 11 verse number eight. Revelation chapter 11 verse 8. I mean doesn't that just bring up another question? How can a man just come out of hell and be walking the earth again? Like that's never happening before. Brings up a lot of questions right? I mean look even though it brings up questions, we as believers are to read God's word and to believe what it says. Like I don't have to fully wrap my head and understand everything in the scriptures. I understand enough to know it is true, 100% true. This book is impossible to be written by man. It must be written by God. Do I fully understand how Christ dying for me or dying for the whole world can give us all everlasting? Do I fully understand the spiritual nature of things? I don't fully understand all that but I believe it. I believe that simply by trusting in my Christ death bearer resurrection that I'm being granted everlasting life. I believe it. But can I just sit there and break it down to a spiritual level how all of that, that's the spiritual realm beyond my understanding right? Exactly how the blood of Christ is able to just cleanse us all from our sins and all that. I just believe it's true. And I think any time that you read through the Bible if you're just being challenged, look I don't understand that, I don't grasp it. I think what pleases God? Faith. Without faith it's impossible to please him the Lord says. So you say Lord I may not fully grasp this. I ask a lot of questions but I'm just going to believe that it's true. And I think once you take that approach and you please God he's going to reveal more and more and more to you. Okay alright Revelation 11 verse number 8. So these two witnesses are killed by the Antichrist who's been killed and rose again from the dead alright. It says in verse 8 and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified. So this great city is described as it's easy to right where the Lord was crucified. Where was the Lord crucified? Jerusalem. And we already saw that it's Jerusalem because that's the place where the Gentiles are under their feet for 42 months. Okay so we know that this sort of this agenda of the Antichrist is taking place to just wipe out the city to take control of the city but there are these just two pesky witnesses that just they just can't defeat. They're preaching for 42 months. Anyone that tries to hurt them they're able to destroy with fire to their mouths but eventually finally once they finish their testimony right toward the end of the seven years they die. Their bodies are there. Okay it's interesting that Jerusalem at this point is called Sodom and Egypt. It just tells me that homosexuality is just running rampant in that area and it probably really is from what I from the reports that I hear. Okay so it's a place of great weakness. Egypt, Egypt involved many times is a place of symbolic of just worldliness. You know like when we when the Israelites came out of Egypt it's a picture of salvation and when we were saved we came out of the world as it were and brought into the kingdom of our Lord and Egypt also represents oppression right. The children of Israel were oppressed under Egypt and so you know this place of Jerusalem is a place of oppression and so this is where all of these events are taking place in Jerusalem. Verse 9 and they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. So the bodies are just there lying on the ground for three and a half days and everybody is able to see them. I think this just confirms that there's television or or like live streaming. I don't know what kind of technology they'll have in these end times but look you can live stream something today and you can go throughout the whole world. Like even this church is live streaming right now and there are people in different places in the world tuning in to listen to the sermon this morning okay and why is everyone tuning in and just looking at these dead bodies well let's continue that verse number 10 and they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them they're like they're dead yes and make merry and shall send gifts one to another this is like a new Christmas let's start giving gifts wow they're dead whoo let's celebrate because this is why because these two prophets tormented them and that dwelt on the earth so they're witnessing they're preaching to these ungodly people is like torment hearing about God hearing the words of God is like it's tormented to them and they're just rejoicing now this asks another question those 42 months were they only working in Jerusalem those entire 42 months I'm not sure the fact that they've tormented people of every nation might be that they've traveled the world during that 42 months you know and they end up in Jerusalem later on or it just could be that they are operating solely from Jerusalem and for some reason their message their preaching is being broadcast to the whole world I'm not sure why but that could be a possibility as well okay so there's a few ways to to look at that look at verse 11 and after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them that'd be scary they rejoice in they're giving gifts to one another it could be because these two witnesses have the ability to perform miracles and some of the miracles are similar to what God's been doing with the trumpet it could be that they are associating the wrath that's upon the earth all these you know it could be that they're just thinking it's these two men doing it all and so we've killed them it's done we finally have victory over these so-called saints over these so-called witnesses but then to see them come back to life oh no let's give back the gifts um and then it says in verse number 12 and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them i'm up here and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them very similar to how christ ascended to heaven after his resurrection caught up in the cloud right i stand up to heaven now it could be and i think it's very reasonable to say this is the time they receive the new resurrected bodies okay but look it's two people they're obviously an exception to the rule what we saw in zechariah god referred to them as anointed ones they're set as a for a reason for a purpose you know some great work some great ministry and i believe their ministry is great and i believe they get many people saved because in verse number 13 as they ascend up to heaven it says and the same hour was there a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell so what is left of jerusalem a tenth part of it just collapses out of an earthquake and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand okay so that would be the enemies that watch them go up to heaven seven thousand of them perish in this earthquake but notice they have an effect of saving souls because it continues and the remnants were frightened and gave glory to the god of heaven and you know god often used that word remnants he referred to believers saved because there are a few that are saved and yeah i understand the fear i mean there's a great earthquake and uh but they're giving glory to god you know that they've witnessed these two witnesses that most likely got them saved after the resurrection they're rejoicing in the god of heaven you know they're seeing that god does care for his believers and so i do believe these two witnesses are winning souls okay because we looked at others that did not repent from their from the wickedness because they will reprobate though you know they either take take the mark of the beast that made them reprobate or they're ready to reprobate you know god sends them a strong delusion we've really seen this before but these people are able to give glory to god in heaven okay so the ministry of these two witnesses was successful and it gives me just you know an appreciation for i really appreciate god but just a further appreciation that even the midst of his wrath being poured out there are still souls that need to be saved you know just wow lord like your your love is deep like it's your mercy is amazing okay now would there still be people that are able to be saved obviously okay those that um rejected the gospel before the rapture they're going to receive a strong delusion those that that said no i don't want it that that that's it they've lost a chance they're reprobate those that take the mark of the beast reprobate okay the bible's very clear but wouldn't there be a percentage of people that have not heard the gospel leading into the wrath a certain percentage of people that would say no i'm not taking the mark of the beast i'm not going to worship the dragon and i think a really good indicator has been you know the the uh this is going to give us a strike on youtube whatever the covid vaccination now whether you took the vaccination or not i don't care i don't think you're a horrible christian if you did anything like that okay but it gives a slight indication that there you know i don't know if it was 92 of australians they say took the vaccination but that still leaves eight percent that didn't okay whatever whatever that number is well it could be that eight percent of the world have said you know what we're not doing that to our bodies we're not going to inject something into our skin under in our hand in our foreheads and we'll just we'll just make do until we get over this business well obviously those people that are rejecting the antichrists a small percentage a percentage nevertheless you know there are those that can be saved so and of course we need people because there's a millennium to come there needs to be people that go into the millennium that are alive and and right you know not reprobate and not being thrown into lake of fire and all these kinds of things or or teaming themselves up the antichrist there's got to be people on the earth that will then go into the millennium that's a question that i've been asked many times actually people are saying oh well god's putting out his wrath and destroying the people of the antichrist and those that take the mark of the beast there'll be no one left you know to go to the millennium no no it's very clear that there are and that is the purpose of those two witnesses to make sure people are still getting saved when god is pouring out his wrath all right then we get to verse number 14 revelation 11 14 the second woe is passed and behold the third woe cometh quickly so the first woe if you remember was the fifth trumpet which were the locust that came out of the bottomless pit the second woe was the sixth trumpet which had the the horsemen and the horses that blew out fire out of the mouth okay and devoured uh what was it um a third of the earth population that still remained well the second woe is now passed the third woe cometh quickly we're up to the seventh trumpet or the third woe okay of god's wrath now you might say the question might be well they've just been preaching for 42 months three and a half years are we not at the end now like shouldn't christ now come in the cloud like shouldn't christ come on his white horse with his saints and establish his kingdom no we still have one month left okay i'll quickly read to you from daniel chapter 12 11 it says and from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that make of desolate set up there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days one thousand two hundred and ninety days is 43 months and i explained to you before that on the jewish calendar because there's only 30 days of every month you have to have a leap month if that's the right term i don't know they have to add an entire new month every so often just like we have a leap year and we need to add an extra day because we follow the the solar calendar still if you just were to go by the numbers of the years of a standard year eventually over the years our months won't match the seasons and just like the jewish calendar they follow the lunar cycle okay and if they don't add a month every few years every so many years their their months will also not line up with the the lunar site or the seasons i should say okay and so there most definitely has to be at least i mean there's one because we've seen numbers of god but at least an extra month to happen so we have one month left before jesus christ establishes his kingdom that's important for you to remember there's still one month left so this third woe or this seventh trumpet the effects of the seventh trumpet is going to last a month okay this is important for several reasons now let's read verse number 15 i'll explain that to you in a moment why it says and the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ and he shall reign forever and ever so we're right at the end now like there's one month left right and so people are rejoicing all right it's it's all about to happen all the kingdoms are going to be given to christ right he shall reign forever and ever and what i've explained to you when i was going through um an overview of the book of revelation was my sermon title i had shown you that these last few verses are very uh compacted um of what is left to happen like compacted events so you see things playing out very quickly okay but the retelling of the book of revelation all the times that seven years in the second in the second half of the book of revelation breaks this down into a lot more detail okay so what we see here there definitely has to be a month from the time the seventh trumpet is blown to christ establishing his kingdom but we're right there so you know yes we're praising god so look there's there's nothing more once this month is over christ comes on his on his on his arm white horse you know the saints of god come with him and he begins his rule for a thousand years okay so we're right at the end of all of these events verse number 17 saying we give thee thanks sorry i didn't i didn't finish verse number 16 i didn't read that one did i actually you know what before i read that i want to just emphasize why that month is important keep your finger there and come with me to first corinthians 15 first corinthians 15 verse number 51 which is about the rapture okay first corinthians 1551 first corinthians 1551 very famous verses behold i show you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed 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 well this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality okay there are some that teach where it says that we our bodies are changed at the last trump they'll say well that's the seventh trumpet well we have a problem because at the seventh trumpet this is people that sort of believe that um the rapture and christ coming on the white horse are one the same event so they say it's at the last trumpet okay but it's a there's a month so when the seventh trumpet is blown okay let's say that's when the rapture takes place well it's still not the same time that christ comes on his white horse because there's a month separating the seventh trumpet and christ on his horse so that idea doesn't make any sense actually the other reason it doesn't make any sense is paul is writing this book to the corinthian church the book of revelation is not yet written not for many many many years later and he's telling them oh it's at the last trump like what are you talking about like if it's if it's a seventh trumpet it's like well there's nothing that we can turn to in scriptures to confirm whether this is true or not so it wouldn't make any sense to write a letter to the corinthian church about being raptured at the seventh trumpet when there is no information about the seventh trumpet yet anyway in the scriptures that are documented okay so the reason i wanted to show you that whole thing about the month is that's one way to debunk the idea that we're raptured at the seventh trumpet okay but what is first corinthians 15 talking about because you know i'd like to ask you know the question is what is the last trump well if you look up the definition for the word trump it's often it's got two main definitions number one it can be a single trumpet it can be but trump is also the blast or the sound of a trumpet okay so let's read it again verse 152 in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump i wonder if this is a singular trumpet or the sound a trumpet makes well what do we have after those words a semicolon which will then explain for the trumpet shall sound so the last trump is the sound of a trumpet not the last of a series of seven trumpets does that make sense so let me elaborate this a little bit further come with me to the most famous passage on the rapture first thessalonians chapter 4 first thessalonians 4 and verse number 16 verse thessalonians 4 16 about this time i'm starting to worry this is going to be a long sermon i'm like guys i'm sorry but not pastor shelly preached for an hour and 20 minutes and you guys were fine so i'm not going to apologize this morning if i go over time all right but first thessalonians chapter 4 16 verse 17 before 16 it says for the lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of god and the dead in christ shall rise first so what do we notice at the rapture there is the sound of a trumpet the trump of god i'll use this i'll use this sound i'm sorry if you're sick of it but bump it upon so you know when the sun goes dark the so you know when the sun goes dark the moon goes dark the stars fall from heaven we lift up our heads for our redemption joy of nigh and christ appears in the clouds so when he appears what's going to happen the blast of the first sound of the trumpet if you want okay then what happens then the resurrection takes place and the bible says in first corinthians 15 when our bodies are changed will be at the last trump so when it says last trump he refers to there being a trump beforehand so there's got to be at least two two sounds of a trumpet they could be free they could be four but there's got to be at least two and we see that there are two there's one when christ appears in the clouds and the last one is when our bodies are changed and we're caught up to be with the lord so at the rapture christ comes boom wow everyone sees him we're excited the rest of the world is panicking and then well our bodies are changing and as our bodies are changing the last trump and then we go to be with the lord in heaven forever so it's not the seventh trumpet that the rapture takes place in okay the trump is the sound of a trumpet okay back to revelation uh 11 please revelation 11 verse number 16 revelation 11 16 and the four and 20 elders which sat before god on their seats fell upon their faces and worshiped god saying we give thee thanks oh lord god almighty which art and wast and art to come because thou has taken to thee thy great power and has reigned and the nations were angry and thy wrath is come and the time of the dead that they should be judged now this is important this is also important okay so the time of christ ruling on the earth has come right we're about to start his millennial kingdom this is important it says and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints are you one of those you're definitely a saint at least okay and then that fear thy name small and great and shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth so when do we receive when are we judged by christ when do we receive our rewards just before he commences the millennium kingdom that's the timing of the prophets and the saints that's when we're judged that's when we're rewarded okay that's important for later in the book of revelation now verse number 19 and the temple of god was opened in heaven and there was seen in the temple the ark of the of his testaments and there were lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail now what is the judgment what is the wrath of god that comes from the seventh trumpet we get the description here lightnings voices thunderings earthquake and great hail you go that doesn't sound too bad maybe okay all right remember revelation 11 it's all a quick summary of the final trumpet that christ is coming that we're rewarded and that he's going to rule forever because one day god's going to create a new heaven new earth i'm going to cover that topic this afternoon okay but let's understand if we get further information in the retelling of all these events in revelation 16 verse number 17 revelation 16 verse number 17 in the retelling of these end times god's wrath is not seven trumpets this time it's seven vials in the same order though one to seven okay and obviously the seventh vial will lead us to christ ruling in his thousand years so in revelation 16 17 and the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven we were introduced to the temple in revelation 19 from the throne saying it is done look at this and there were voices and thunders and lightnings and there was a great hail sorry great earthquake so all the elements that we saw in revelation 19 are here in revelation 16 okay the seventh angel with the trumpet and the seventh angel with the vial it's the same judgment that's fallen upon the earth in this last month of god's wrath and then it says about this great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth so mighty an earthquake and so great this is the most powerful earthquake that has ever come upon the earth verse number 19 and the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell and great babylon came in remembrance before god to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath so this earthquake is so mighty that the cities fall down the cities of the earth collapse like we're not going to be there but imagine that being on the news like sydney and new york and and moscow and and london and you know you just see all these buildings just collapsing from this massive earthquake this is why it's the third whoa like this is not good this is complete disaster that's fallen upon the earth look at verse number 20 and every island fled away so this earthquakes causing massive tidal waves the islands like the smaller islands that has been covered with water they're gone like think about the people living on those islands and the mountains were not found the mountains are collapsing they're breaking apart it's just massive this massive earthquake look at verse number 21 and they fell upon men a great hail out of heaven every stone about the weight of a talent and men blasphemed god because of the plague of the hail for the plague thereof was exceeding great we've gone through hail storms we've seen the damage that hail storms can make but these stones the weight of a talent these are significant massive hails like if that hail storm falls in your car it's a write-off it's done it falls in your house it's wiped out it's destroyed and so people start blaspheming god you know as he pulls out that final wrath but you can see that it's the same elements the voices the thunders the lightnings the earthquake and the retelling gives us just shows us the great significance of this damage that is going to come upon the earth back to revelation 11 please so let me answer some questions that pop up from this chapter this temple on the earth was referred to as the temple of god and for us that kind of blows our minds hold on no when christ died when he was crucified the veil of the temple was rent in twain the access to the holiest was made available to all we know the book of leave of hebrews the village the levitical uh priesthood he's done away with right there is no need for worship and sex christ says that there's coming a time when men will worship him people worship him in spirit and in truth not in the mountains and not in jerusalem all right there's probably a lot of verse that are just jumping at you it's like what in the world christ is the final sacrifice there is no need for sacrifice in the temple but it's called the temple of god so this is where it throws us for a loop asks a lot of questions well don't forget that when we saw that 42 month period was the beginning of the midpoint of the of the week okay at the midpoint is when the antichrist dies comes back to life and claims to be god all right now let's read about this in second thessalonians coming into second thessalonians chapter two and verse number three second thessalonians chapter two verse number three i believe this passage is going to give you the answer to why this temple on the earth is called the temple of god okay and let me just throw one thought at you before we read the passage god is not our god when it says temple of god in that verse that's not our god that's not the god of the bible okay let me show you this in second thessalonians chapter two verse number three let no man deceive you by any means for that day that's the day of the rapture shall not come except the coming falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition remember the antichrist went into perdition so this is when he rises from the bottomless pit and look at verse number four this is so important please stop and really think give your focus to this verse who the antichrist the beast who opposeth and exalts of himself above all that is called god all that is worshipped so that he as god sitteth in the temple of god showing himself that he is god so when it says there who oppose and exhaust himself above all that is called god when it says all that's referring to multitudes aren't there so he claims to be above all gods so the word god there yes does apply to our god of the bible but also applies to all false gods so he exalts himself above all gods all right he's above he'll claim to be above the gods of the hindu gods above the god of islam all right allah he'll be above the god of jesus he'll be above god the father that's going to be his claim that that's who he is when he rises from the dead then it says if we drop drop down to verse drop down go to the end of verse number four showing himself that he is god now is he really god no but he's claiming to be god does that make sense he's claiming to be god is it really god no but he's claiming to be god all right so if he sitteth in the temple of god is it really the temple of god no his claim is that he is a temple of god he is claiming that he is god and so he sits in the temple of god because he is god that's his claim that's who i am according to the antichrist so when we get this reference about the antichrist sitting in the temple referred to as the temple of god known for well it is not the god of our bible okay it is he who claims to be god when we go to revelation and we see the temple once again we see that it's referred to as the temple of god for us it's inconsistent because we're thinking god there refers to the god of our god the god of the bible no it's the antichrist the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit that's why he's included in that chapter to give us that reference to point us back to what we've known before in the book of second thessalonians to identify what that temple is whatever worship is going on there is not the worship of our god if it's a temple of the antichrist it's the worship of the antichrist it's the worship of the dragon that's taking place in that temple so i hope that answers that question that some people might have now let's finish up with the two witnesses who could the two witnesses be now i'm going to tell you who i think they are i feel very strongly this is who they are i believe i have a i i spoke this on wednesday wednesday morning i have a strong belief i have a strong opinion of who this is but if you walk away and go it's those two guys i'm then you're learning nothing my opinion is inferior to god's word let me make it very clear god's word does not tell us who they are if you walk look if you walk away from this sermon you know that's interesting god's word doesn't tell us who they are our pastor has a strong opinion i might also have that strong opinion but you can't teach it dogmatically this is who it is you need to learn this as believers i'm preparing a sermon in the future to teach you guys this because i've gone through this in my whole life where things i thought were in the bible oh it's just an opinion things i thought were in the bible oh it's just a strong belief that opinion that belief might be true but it might be false okay and you need to be able to separate what does god say and what did my favorite past strongly believe could be could not be might not be compatible okay anyway let's go back to the miracles that these two make okay now back to revelation 11 please revelation 11 and i just got to find a place here okay yeah verse number five and verse number six all right first of all first of all the main belief that i've heard in independent baptist churches but i've heard a few opinions the main belief is that this is elijah and moses and that is my strong belief that is my strong opinion i once i once made it very clear this is my strong opinion someone rings me up where does the bible say that i'm making it clear the bible doesn't say that that's all you you have to please you have to be able to separate what god's word says versus what people strongly believe you have to you have to you're gonna have great burdens on your life if you start accepting what everyone's strong opinion is because i respect that pastor you're gonna have problems i'm telling you you have to be able to separate those things okay but elijah did not die a normal kind of death in fact did he even die is the question probably not okay but he was caught up in a whirlwind to heaven i'm going to quickly read to you from jude verse nine it says yet michael the archangel when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of moses does not bring against him a railing accusation but said the lord rebuke thee the bible in jude verse nine says there's a battle there's a battle that took place between michael the archangel and the devil over the body of moses for some for some reason the devil wants the body and god says no get claim that body for ourselves okay so god sends michael the archangel claims the body of moses moses did die in normal natural death okay but there's something about these two men what happened to elijah's body when he was caught up in the whirlwind i guess god knows where it is moses body was significant for michael to fight with it against the devil there's something significant about their bodies all right the other thing if you can turn to malachi please turn to malachi chapter four turn to malachi chapter four well you're turning to malachi chapter four obviously i don't have time to just confirm all this if you know your bibles you know all i'm about to tell you is true but these two witnesses they have the ability for fire to proceed out of the mouth that's an amazing miracle elijah was a prophet that god used to bring down fire from heaven so the point is the miracles they do are very similar to the miracles that elijah in fact they're pretty much the same except it's coming out of his mouth instead of coming out of heaven but it's the same type of miracles that these two men did so fire proceeded out of their mouth what else did we learn about these two witnesses they have power to shut heaven that it rained not in the days of their prophecy who else had the power to shut the reigns of heaven elijah once again elijah had that he performed that okay he caused drought to be upon the land and then it says about the two witnesses and have power over waters to turn them to blood who did god use to turn waters to blood moses remember one of the 10 plagues of egypt was that moses would turn those waters into blood and to smite the earth with all plagues again it was 10 plagues that fell upon egypt okay moses had that ability through the power of god of course to bring plagues upon egypt as often as they will so there's something about their bodies that's unique there's something about their you know not every prophet performed miracles i was very rare for certain prophets to perform miracles but these two witnesses are performing the same miracles that both moses and elijah performed okay now malachi chapter four verse number one malachi chapter four verse number one for behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven by the way i don't believe it's a coincidence that malachi is the last book of the old testament and then i'm going to use this to compare the last book of the new testament okay but it says here for behold the day cometh that shall burn as an oven and all the proud yea all that do wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh will burn them up save the lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither root nor branch if you keep going this is clearly about god pouring out his wrath in the end times okay but fast forward to verse number four just randomly remember ye the law of moses my servant which i commanded you in horror of all israel with the statutes and judgments behold i will send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord so when does the day of the lord occur when god begins to pour out his wrath 75 days or less after the midpoint okay so if they started at the midpoint yeah elijah arrives before the great and dreadful day of the lord i don't think it's a coincidence that moses is brought up in the previous verse in reference to god pouring out his wrath you know um in the book of malachi now a few this brings up other questions isn't this a reference to john the baptist of course it is jesus makes it very clear john the baptist did come before the great day in terrible terrible day of the lord so this is an argument they say well that's already been fulfilled in john the baptist yes and this is the complications of the bible which i find it wonderful i find it beautiful i think amazing the multiple layers i already covered it the multiple layers of what babylon is the multiple layers of the abomination of desolation the multiple layers even of the day of the lord the lord in the old testament was when babylon took judah into captivity there was a day of the lord in the old testament but it's a picture a shadow of the devil lord that would come in the future okay and what we see is john the baptist you know is i believe a picture a shadow of elijah to come with moses as the two witnesses that have been used by god that's a slam dunk pass not really because the barber doesn't say so understand but that's my strong belief and i think if we just use the scriptures you'll probably come to that same conclusion but brethren the title for the sermon was the seventh trumpet thank you for your patience i know it's a it there's a lot to absorb and i hope you can appreciate just look just reading it it's not that complicated i want you even when you're being challenged to go past i just i've read that i just don't see i don't understand i got a lot of questions just say you know what lord i'm gonna believe it anyway i've seen enough of your word to know that it's true in fact it saved my soul why would i doubt anything you have to say there are no inconsistencies there are questions there are challenges yeah you know what we ought to study to show ourselves approved of god you know why would that speak of studying reading believing studying these are good things you know but what we always want to do is make sure that what we conclude what we believe in our hearts as crystal clear doctrine is what the bible clearly says all right brevin let's pray