Podcasts about satan revelation

Aaron Lee | April 13, 2025 | Youth Sunday SchoolAaron reads through Revelation 12:7–12 and explains how it gives us a glimpse of what happened in heaven at Easter.The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon1. This scene reveals the cosmic battle between God's people, Jesus, and Satan.2. The woman represents God's people—a reference back to Genesis 37:9–11.3. The child is Jesus (Revelation 12:5), echoing Psalm 2.4. The dragon is clearly identified as Satan (Revelation 12:9).5. Revelation 12:7–12 gives us a heavenly perspective on what happened at Easter.6. Revelation 12:13–17 echoes the Exodus story, showing God protecting His people.7. Revelation 13 describes the time we're living in now—the period between Christ's ascension and His return.References:https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/revelation-bible-study-book-with-video-access-P005840612https://www.crossway.org/books/blessed-tpb/Series:https://youtu.be/W_wotrLFSGQhttps://youtu.be/2uex5-UiQ3Ehttps://youtu.be/y47ukme_kDUhttps://youtu.be/1imfLJDJXGc

What Do We Do With Satan | Revelation 12 | Revelation by Hunter Bible Church

When first venturing into the study of the return of Messiah, one can be easily confused by the seemingly contradictory statements regarding Yeshua's second coming.There are statements that speak of Messiah coming for his own, as well as his coming visibly for the whole world to see.There are verses that speak of Messiah coming to judge the works of believers as well as those that refer to him  coming to judge humanity in general.There are passages that tell us that believers will be "caught up" into the clouds "to meet the Lord in the air" (I Thessalonians 4:17), a marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9), a judgment upon the "beast" and false prophet (Revelation 19:20), a binding and ultimate judgment upon Satan (Revelation 20:1-2, 10), the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom (Revelation 20:4) and a final "white throne" judgment (Revelation 20:11-12).How are all these statements to be understood? How are they to be reconciled with one another? In what order are they to occur? These are the questions we will explore at our Saturday services and find answers to as we study together what Scripture says about the return of Messiah Yeshua.YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/ruFANAqm3BcSend us a text

Proverbs 27:5-14, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Hebrews 9:1-15. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5-10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1-14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5-10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1-14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Send us a textCould the kingdom of God be here and now, rather than a distant future event? Today, we unravel the mysteries of Revelation 20, challenging traditional interpretations by suggesting the 1,000-year reign of Christ is symbolic. This kingdom, we argue, began with Christ's ascension and continues today, emphasizing a spiritual realm rather than a utopia free from evil. With fresh insights into the symbolic language of Revelation, we delve into the profound implications of Satan's binding during Christ's ministry, proposing a view that allows the gospel to spread worldwide by limiting Satan's power to deceive.Through a fascinating examination of biblical texts, we explore the historical and spiritual significance of Jesus' role from the Old Testament through the New. We shine a light on the Jewish expectations of a messianic leader, contrasting them with the revolutionary message of love and redemption that Jesus offered. We also tackle the concept of free will, proposing that the true kingdom of God lies within, governed by the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. These discussions aim to deepen your understanding of the ongoing spiritual battle and the profound nature of Christ's reign in our hearts today.This episode offers a message of hope and encouragement to believers. Reflect on the special status Christians hold within God's plan and the transformative gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. As we continue to explore the kingdom of God, we urge you to appreciate the grace and redemption available to all who seek it. Whether you're a believer or a skeptic, this episode is a call to recognize the profound beauty of faith in Christ and the enduring promise of His kingdom.Global Revival Blast Ushering in a powerful wave of spiritual awakening, practical insights and transformation.Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

In Revelation 12 we see St. Michael the Archangel battle ‘the great dragon', Satan. Why did Lucifer (Satan) rebel against God in the first place? The Cross of Christ is ultimately what defeated the Devil. Cale breaks it all down on this episode of The Faith Explained.

The Devil & Satan Revelation 12:9 New King James Version So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 20:2 New King James Version He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; Greek translates the Hebrew Satan(H7854) as Devil(G1228). 1 Chronicles 21:1 Esther 7:4 Job 1:6,7,9,12 Job 2:1-4,7 Psalms 109:6 Zechariah 3:1,2 Greek translates the Hebrew Satan(H7854) as Satanas(G4567). 1 Kings 11:14 Satan Tempts Jesus Matthew 4:1-11 New King James Version 1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil(השטן/διαβολου). 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter(H5254 המנסה/G3985 πειραζων) came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' ” 5 Then the devil(השטן/διαβολος) took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' ” 7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' ” 8 Again, the devil(השטן/διαβολος) took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan(השטן/σατανα)! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.' ” 11 Then the devil(השטן/διαβολος) left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maranatha-ministries/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/maranatha-ministries/support

What is the ultimate fate of Satan? What is the fate of Christians? Let's find out the answer from Revelation 20:1-4. -Do you want to be an active member of 21c Moses? Then, consider becoming a 21c Moses Patreon! Click the link for more info: https://patreon.com/user?u=45306220&utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link -If you want to donate to 21c Moses Ministry, please click the link: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=P4LC3BE2S3JGA -Please check our website: https://21cmoses.com ©2024 21c Moses

How can Christians best fight Satan and his demons? Can you recognize when he attacks? Join us as Caleb teaches from Revelation 12 about Satan's waged war against God's people.

(Sermon) Revelation: The Thousand Years, Rev. Henry Kelly, Bible Education Institute Revelation 20:1-15 The Thousand Years: Revelation chapter 20 verses 1-6 The Judgement of Satan: Revelation chapter 20 verses 7-10 The Judgement of the Dead: Revelation chapter 20 verses 11-15 Revelation:Allegorical (or spiritual) method, the images and events are figurative, a deeper meaning of spiritual and symbolic numbers. (Resources) YouTube: Apologia Studios & Church w/ Pastor Jeff Durbin apologiastudios.com; Voddie Baucham ; Dr. R C. Sproul: Ligonier Ministries; Ray Comfort-Living Waters livingwaters.com; Ken Ham-Answers In Genesis answersingenesis.org; Wall Builders w/ David Barton wallbuliders.com; Dr. Walter Martin waltermartin.org; Bible Education Institute is on Video Plarforms: YouTube & Rumble; Podcast Platforms: Stitcher, Apple, Spotify, Amazon , Audible, Amazon Music, Facebook, Overcast,, Chrome, gPodder, Firefox, Safari,, iTunes, Alexia, Podbean, Internet Explorer & Podcast Addict, Listen Notes, Luminary Podcast, Player FM& others. Website: 5dbe1182e5831.site123.me Email: bibleeducationinstitute@gmail.com Donate: We greatly appreciate your donations to help reach as many people as possible. Thank you Please copy / paste and put on your computer or phone top search engine. https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=TYN64GZ6YLD7C Wanted: The Brave, Joshua 1:9, Kirk Cameron https://youtu.be/fBTv07MjwAA Watch "Christians Will Win Down Here | Jeff Durbin" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/live/IZ6EqLug0Sc?feature=share (Sermon) How to Save a Nation, Rev. Henry Kelly, Bible Education Institute https://youtu.be/bEyNvfRGQyc

God Comes To Town! Ezekiel 1:1-4, 24-28 to 2:2 Introduction I wonder if there anybody here that is 25 years old? Anybody turning 25 this year? How about those who wished they were turning 25 this year? Imagine you are a 25 year old and being trained for the family business. Then suddenly your enemies invade your city and take you away to a foreign land. That's what happened to Ezekiel 5 years before this passage of Scripture, when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar in 597BC took 3000 Jews back to Babylon. This was the first deportation. 1. Ezekiel - who was he and how did he get there? His name means "God is strong" He was training to be a priest Now 30 years of age, if he had been in Jerusalem, he would have been ministering in the Temple. He was married to the woman who is described as the "delight of his eyes". The reason that God had allowed His people to be taken into exile was because of their wickedness, utter disobedience and the dishonouring of His holy name. We know from other Old Testament passages that the people of Israel at the time, reacted in four different ways: There were those blaming the sins of their parents for their predicament and were totally pessimistic about life and everything. Others had abandoned their God, and given over to worshipping the Babylonian gods Some were false optimists saying, be happy it will be fine. We will soon be back in Jerusalem and God will be nice to us again. So just continue living as you are! Finally some were truly repentant of their own sins and yet had abandoned hope that God would rescue them. This is the first of five visions that Ezekiel has. This vision is similar to that found in Revelation 1 where John writes while in exile on Patmos. It is also similar to that portrayed by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4v16 when God will return again, Jesus will come to judge the antichrist and his followers (Revelation 16v12-16, 19v11-16), bind Satan (Revelation 20v1-3) and judge the nations (Matthew 25v31-46; Joel 3v11-17). When people find out that I am a Christian, some say "Oh I don't believe in a God or Gods". I generally ask them "What kind of God don't you believe in?" They then go on to describe what sort of God they don't believe in and they are generally surprised when I agree with them that I don't believe in the kind of God who they describe as being remote, impersonal, judgemental and delighting in the suffering He or she has probably caused. And I think Ezekiel at this time was out having his picnic at the river and maybe starting to think through all the things that had occurred leaving him in exile. Possibly he was starting to question God and then he sees what appears to be a storm approaching at speed. He just stands there, looking at it approach him. I don't know about you, but if that had been me, I would have run in the opposite direction as fast as I could! But he just stands there and looks. Amazing. So what was this vision and what does it tell us today, some 2500 years later! It is very easy with this passage to just concentrate on the cherubim angels, which is what the strange creatures are that Ezekiel describes in v4 to v24. You only have to go to your local bookstore and find a plethora of books on angels and so called angel worship. But that would be stop at verse 24 and not proceed further. We would then miss out on the God these angels are worshipping and obeying. However in order to satisfy any curiosity you may have about these cherubim, for that is what these creatures are, let me explain what the faces mean: . They each have four faces and each face is symbolic of a characteristic of a cherubim.. The human face is to the front. This is to show that mankind is the pinnacle of creation. This shows the cherubim as being intelligent. The lion face is to the right and this reflects that the lion is the king of the wild animals. This shows the cherubim as being they are very strong and powerful. The ox face is to the left and this shows that the ox is the best of the animals that farmers keep. This shows the cherubim as being strong and patient. The eagle face is at the back for the eagle is the leader among the birds of the air. This shows the cherubim as being extremely quick. 2. How does Ezekiel describe this vision of God? Ezekiel's first impression is the hearing of a voice from above the expanse over their heads. This voice came from a figure on the throne (v26). This figure was like that of a man. This should come as no surprise because mankind is made in the image of God. In the Old Testament, whenever God wanted to talk to man He took on the shape of a man such as when He appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3). This is what is called a theophany, which is an appearance of God in visible form, temporary and not necessarily material. Ezekiel describes what he saw as "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (v28). For he knew that nobody could actually see God and live, such is the nature of God's holiness and glory. Sometimes, even in the evangelical church, we like to put God in a box. God must act only in this way or in this manner. Perhaps Ezekiel was thinking like that. Thinking that God is far away in the Temple of Jerusalem and has abandoned his chosen people. We can see from this passage that God is holy, universal, mission-minded and personal. 3. Holy God This is seen in the fire, light and radiance described in v27. Because God is Holy, He is full of glory and majesty. However, it is not without some difficulty that we try to define what holiness is. Here are some of the things holiness is: Holiness is what separates God from all His creation. For God alone is holy and full of glory. Exodus 15v2 "Who is like you, O God, glorious in holiness!" Or Isaiah 60v25 "To whom will you liken me, or shall I be equal?" says the Holy One. Holiness is also a moral attribute of God, of purity and freedom from the stain of sin. Habakkuk 1v13 "of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look upon sin. Holiness is still more than that! It is in fact the sum of all His attributes! Perfect holiness, while to us is inconceivable, has been revealed. Revealed in the sinless man, Jesus Christ. 4. Universal God He is universal, not just in presence but in absolute sovereign power and knowledge. In this vision of Ezekiel's, you can feel the power and presence of God. It must have been quite a sight! God's presence and power are seen in the throne! This is the climax of the vision and it seems it is only now that Ezekiel realizes what he is looking at! He collapses face down! Omnipresent - God is wholly present everywhere. God fills the universe in all it's parts without division Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24. God was not only in the Temple in Jerusalem, but God was also in Babylon! Omnipotent - God has power to do all things that are the object of power. With God all things are possible Luke 1:37. He is El Shaddai or God Almighty. Jerermiah 32:17-18 Nothing is too hard for you. Omnipotence is an essential to God. If God were not all-powerful then He would not be God and not be worthy of worship. This is the God who created the universe with His eternal and infinite power! This God bids his angels to obey and they do! Just as he is fully present everywhere, He is also all powerful and unlimited in power. This is the God who parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape the Egyptians army. This is the God who stopped the sun during Joshua's time. This is the God who made iron to swim by Elisha's hands. His power is evident in that the visible works of creation are His handiwork. He made everything around us, out of nothing! That is power. He not only created it, but He sustains it and gives it life! All things are possible with God and nothing impossible. But there are of course things God cannot do. He cannot do anything contrary to His own nature. He cannot for instance declare something infinite if it is finite. Omniscient - God has perfect knowledge of all things - actual, past, present, future and possible. O Lord, you have searched me and you know me, You know when I sit and when I rise...You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways (Ps. 139:1-2a & 3). He knows all things, past, present, and future, and therefore he knows all that we do (which includes the remembrance of all that we have done), all that we think (and the record of those thoughts), and all that we say. The Baptist Confession of 1689, describes God as: "The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection...", that God is in "every way infinite" and that His knowledge is "infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain." God knows all things, and is able to accomplish all of his most holy will. Israel had forgotten these things about their God: He is not confined to just the Temple in Jerusalem. He is all-powerful and able to do all things according to His will. He is all knowing and can see even the hidden sins of His people. That is why they were in exile in Babylon, because they had not given God the honour due His name. They had sinned and actively disobeyed Him and the following chapters, God reveals through the visions, words and actions of Ezekiel, just how wicked Israel had become! Mission minded God He is on a mission. He came to Ezekiel to call him and use him as His spokesperson or prophet to those who were in exile. Ever since Genesis 3 and the fall of man, God has been on a mission to bring and call people back to Himself. That was the purpose of the nation of Israel, to be a light to all nations of the goodness and glory of God! That was purpose when God, who is outside of time and space, entered human history taking on human flesh and restricted Himself in a human body as the man we know as Jesus Christ. Jesus whole mission was one of calling people back to life in God. Personal God. God is personal! He speaks and commands with authority (2v1)! So often in the church today, God is seen as a father figure or as wanting to be friends. These things are true, yet of themselves, they are not a full picture and sometimes the stress laid on this approach tends to bring God as a person down to the same level we are - weak, feeble and pitiable. As we have seen here, God is full of divine majesty and wonder. Yes God is personal, but He is also great. Remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! Jimmy Bakker, the disgraced US televangelists was interviewed in jail, and was asked the question "When did you stop loving the Lord?" To which he replied, "I never stopped loving him. But I did stop fearing him!" 5. What does all this mean? We have seen through the vision of Ezekiel that God is holy, all-powerful, mission-minded and personal. Israel had forgotten these things and was now in exile because of it. What does this mean for us, as God's people today, some 2,500 years after Ezekiel? When you go back to work or to college or where ever you interact with others, what does all this mean? We are to actively worship our God. By worship I mean living a life worthy of God 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Worship is not just singing songs on a Sunday but is a whole life devoted in obedience to the God we serve. Borne out of this worship and obedience, we also are on a mission. We are to honour the name of this all powerful God by living entirely for Him. That is what evangelism is, and we are all called to do the work of an evangelist, just as Ezekiel was called to speak God's word to people. What is evangelism? Evangelism is showing and telling others of God's message of reconciliation to all people of all time. It is not forcing people to adopt Church standards (1 Corinthians 5v12) and nor is it simply a message of join the church as a symbol of good works (Ephesians 2vv8-10). This gospel says that everybody has sinned against God (Isaiah 53v6; Romans 3vv10-11); nobody can earn their reconciliation with God (Ephesians 2v9); that God sent His Son Jesus to be born, crucified and resurrected so that salvation can be had for all people of all time (John 3v16; 1 Timothy 1v15); and that it is by acquiescing to God by faith in Jesus alone that people are saved (John 5v24; Acts 16v31). Why evangelize? The prime motivation for evangelism is out of gratitude for what God has done, in that we love because He loved us first. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5v14, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." As His servants we are to tell and live of God's reconciling message As I said before, we are all to do the work of an evangelist, following the example of Timothy (2 Timothy 4v5). Scripture dictates several reasons for members of His church to share their faith. Jesus commands us to tell others of God's reconciling message. In the last words of Jesus' earthly ministry, His church was commanded to be witnesses for Him (Acts 1v8). Evangelism is an expression of love for God, through obeying His commands (John 14v15). So we worship with a life of obedience, which is an act of witness to the Great God we serve and live for, telling others about Him. We also teach and speak His word. The authority of the Bible is what we read and teach. 6. We speak God's word. The Bible is the Word of God, and is the instrument of the Holy Spirit to bring people to faith (Ephesians 1v13) and ongoing sanctification (Ephesians 5v26). Paul writes that all of it is "God Breathed" (2 Timothy 3v16), in that it is inspired by God and has its origins in God. It is not just the ideas, but also the words that are inspired by God (1 Corinthians 2v13). The Bible is capable of being understood by all God's people. God the Holy Spirit enlightens Christians minds, so that they can understand spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2vv10-16). Through interacting with the Bible, the church teaches, rebukes, corrects and trains people for the purpose of righteousness (2 Timothy 3v16). By interacting with the Bible, Christians keep from sinning (Psalm 119v11), are comforted (Psalm 119v52), have their minds focused on God (Psalm 43v3) and are sustained in a daily spiritual life (Deuteronomy 8v3). The church also interacts with Bible, as the Bible is a link to the apostles and prophets, who are the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2v20). There are five main ways in which members of the Church can interact with the Bible. Public reading of Scripture was regular in Israel and in the early church (Nehemiah 8v3). Presently due to high literacy, Scripture can easily be read in private as well as corporately. Memorization of the Bible was commended to "lay up His words in your heart" (Job 22v22). By reading and memorizing the Bible, meditating on it helps understand the implications of life's occurrences and God's blessings (Joshua 1v8). These three interactions lead to a fourth, obedience. By obeying the Bible, the Christian learns to obey God, because it is His authoritative word (Deuteronomy 31v12) The teaching of the Bible receives the main emphasis in the New Testament, such as at the Church's birth and Peter's address to the crowd (Acts 2). After they were dispersed due to persecution, the Apostles continued preaching and teaching (Acts 8v4). Luke gives thirteen different words for preaching, and over thirty are used in the entire New Testament. Conclusion I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I am in exile. I don't mean as an Australian living in England, the mother country! Although sometimes it does feel like I am in exile! We are living in a country, which despite its Christian heritage, evangelical non-compromising Christians are being increasingly marginalized by a society, which decrees that, all religions or none are equal, and that to declare otherwise is simply arrogance and divisive. How are we to react? When you are faced with a crisis or some trouble, how do you react? Are you like the ancient Israelites that Ezekiel was sent to? Do you trust in the holy, all-powerful, all knowing, personal God or do you trust in other things? God is coming again! Be Holy and be obedient! Live a life worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Trust fully in the God of your salvation Go tell somebody! Finally, if you need prayer for something related to what I have said today, then find somebody to pray for you. And if you cant find somebody to pray for you, then come and find me. Right mouse click or tap here to download the MP3 of this sermon

Proverbs 27:5-14, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Hebrews 9:1-15. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5-10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1-14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5-10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1-14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

In Part 3 of "Revelation: All Things New," Dr. Jeff and Rev. Brad return to the Book of Revelation, offering profound insights from the perspective of its original audience, the Seven Churches in Asia Minor, who often faced persecution. In this episode, they unveil the symbolism woven throughout the text, shedding light on what these symbols represented and what they continue to signify as we navigate the book's narrative.**Key Symbols and Their Probable Meanings:**1. **Seven Churches (Revelation 1:4):** These were real, historical churches in Asia Minor. The number seven signifies completeness or perfection, suggesting that Revelation's message is intended for the entire Church, extending beyond these specific congregations.2. **Seven Lampstands (Revelation 1:12-13):** These symbolize the seven churches. Lampstands emit light, representing the churches' role in spreading the illumination of Christ within their communities.3. **Son of Man (Revelation 1:13):** This title, attributed to Jesus, draws from the book of Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14) and emphasizes Jesus' divinity and supreme authority.4. **Seven Stars (Revelation 1:16):** These represent the angels or messengers of the seven churches. These "angels" likely served as leaders or messengers responsible for conveying and reading John's letter to each congregation.5. **White Robes (Revelation 3:4-5):** White symbolizes purity and victory. Those who triumph over trials and tribulations are promised white robes, signifying their righteousness and ultimate success.6. **Candlesticks (Revelation 2:5):** Jesus warns that the lampstand will be removed from the church in Ephesus if they do not repent. This symbolizes the potential loss of their spiritual influence unless they return to their initial fervor for Christ.7. **Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6, 2:15):** The Nicolaitans were a heretical group within the church, and their actions and teachings were condemned. The origin and details of their beliefs remain unclear.8. **Throne of Satan (Revelation 2:13):** In Pergamum, this likely referred to the city's connection with emperor worship and various pagan cults, highlighting the spiritual challenges faced by the church there.9. **Jezebel (Revelation 2:20):** This symbolizes a woman in the church of Thyatira who led others into idolatry and sexual immorality, reminiscent of the biblical Jezebel in the Old Testament.10. **New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2):** This represents the future heavenly abode of the redeemed, embodying the hope of a renewed and perfected world where God dwells with His people.11. **The Dragon (Revelation 12:3-9):** The dragon represents Satan, who seeks to persecute and oppose the Church. This imagery may have been understood in the context of Roman oppression and persecution.12. **The Beast (Revelation 13:1-10):** The beast often symbolizes oppressive political powers or rulers, potentially representing the Roman Empire or other tyrannical regimes.13. **666 (Revelation 13:18):** This enigmatic number is associated with the beast and has sparked much speculation. It may have held a specific meaning understood by the original audience, potentially related to numerical codes denoting certain names or titles. Additionally, the use of the number six, juxtaposed with the number seven symbolizing completeness, could undermine claims of divine authority, challenging the emperor's insistence on god-like status.These examples illustrate the rich tapestry of symbolism in Revelation. Interpretations of these symbols may vary among scholars and theologians, but grounding our understanding in the historical and cultural context of the original seven churches provides invaluable insights into their likely meanings.

Save Souls with an OfGod Tshirt: https://sjwellfire.com/shop/ Join our newsletter: https://sjwellfire.com/ Gab: https://gab.com/sjwellfire Support us to save souls via the news: https://sjwellfire.com/support/ or scott@sjwellfire.com paypal Prepare: https://sjwellfire.com/partners/ The question of when the Gog and Magog war, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39, will take place is of great interest to students of biblical prophecy. While some perspectives exist, an absolute case can be made for the Gog and Magog war occurs during the millennial reign of Christ, based on the scriptural passages in Revelation 20, and supported by Luke 21. Ezekiel's Prophecy and the Timing of Gog and Magog: In Ezekiel 38 and 39, we find detailed descriptions of a great and final conflict involving Gog and Magog. The timing of this war is not explicitly mentioned in Ezekiel. However, when we consider the broader biblical context, we see that it aligns remarkably well with the events described in Revelation 20, which centers on the millennial reign of Christ. This vcast goes over why line by line why Ezekiel 38 and 39 or the Gog and Magog war is only possible in the millennial reign of Christ. Revelation 20 and the Release of Satan: Revelation 20:7-8 in the KJV reads, "And 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 whom is as the sand of the sea." This passage unmistakably places the war of Gog and Magog after the thousand-year reign of Christ, during a time when Satan is released. This chronology suggests that the Gog and Magog war is an event that occurs within the context of the millennial reign. The Unwalled City of Jerusalem in Luke 21: Furthermore, in Luke 21:24 in the KJV, Jesus speaks about Jerusalem, saying, "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." This implies a period when Gentiles have dominion over Jerusalem that is the 3.5 years and next Christ will return (post trib rapture). Notably, the Gog and Magog also speaks of Israel being an unwalled during this time. This transformation of Jerusalem into an unwalled city coincides with the millennial reign, reinforcing the idea that the Gog and Magog war is a future event that aligns with the millennial era.

Sunday Morning Expositional Message

Pastors — you have got to start warning your Church that the Jews are The Deceiver's representatives on earth.  Telling people that today's Jews are “God's chosen” is a lie; it is a lie from the Jews, and from their father the devil. The Jews, like their father, come to steal, kill, and deceive. You cannot believe them.  These modern Jews are not even real Jews — Jesus called them liars and the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 3:9).  Christians are the Chosen people of God (Revelation 3:9). Most of modern Jewry are descendants of people who converted to the Talmud — making them twice the sons of hell as the Pharisees were (Matthew 23:15).  Even that old snake, Herod, was from a line of converts (his ancestors were from Esau, who God hated).  Jews are literally antichrist (1 John 2:22). Stop forcing your congregation to worship the antichrist. FACTS: Jews: Murders and liars like their father, the devil. (John 8:44) Jews: Synagogue of Satan (Rev 3:9 and Rev 3:9) Jews: Hostile to all mankind (1 Thes 2:15) Jews: Do NOT believe Moses (John 5:45-46) Judas Iscariot: a true Jew, a traitor, sided with the Jews, from Judea. Apostles: Galileans (Acts 1:11, Acts 2:7) Jesus: Son of God (all Biblical genealogy if patrilineal) God the Father: NOT a Jew. David and Jesus: Acknowledged that “the Lord” is not the Son of David, rather the Son of God (Matthew 22:42-45) Jesus: A Nazarene (Acts 2:22) Jesus: A Galilean Jesus: Hated by the Jews (John 7:19, John 8:40) Jesus: Rejected Jewish tradition (Matthew 15:1-9) John the Baptist: Called Jews a brood of Vipers (Matthew 3:7) Jesus: Called Jews a brood of vipers (Matthew 12:34) Brood of Vipers: See of the Serpent (Genesis 3:15) Moses: Not a Jew Moses: Will accuse the Jews in the Judgement Day (John 5:45) Abraham: Not a Jew Isaac: Not a Jew Jacob (renamed Israel): Not a Jew Jews: Whore, Whore of Babylon (Ezekiel 16 and Revelation 18) Jews: Whore of Babylon, drunk with the blood of Christians (Rev 17:6) Jews: A curse (Isaiah 65:15) Christian: The new name of God's Chosen (Acts 11:26 and Isaiah 65:15) Jews: Murdered the prophets and Jesus Christ (Acts 7:52, Matt 23:31-33) The Jews murder Christians. They have been doing this since they started murdering the Prophets (all who believe in Jesus Christ and saw Jesus Christ — for no man saw the Father). The Jews will continue to murder Christians (Revelation 17:6) who do not convert (as many already have) to a Judeo-Christian religion who call Jews “God's Chosen.”  We are already way deep into this American-made anti-Christ religion (Judeo-Christianity).  Siding with Jews is the Biblical definition of treason against Jesus Christ (see Judas Iscariot).

In this sermon we look at the climax of one of the main themes of the book of Revelation: Jesus destroys Satan. 

Bible Study with Jairus- - Revelation 3 Part 1 The Epistles to the Seven Churches Reveal Seven Spirit-Filled Stages of the Church and Individual   The Letter to the Church in Sardis Reveals God's Expectation for the Church to Live in Righteousness   The letter to the church in Sardis reveals God's expectation for the church to live righteously. As we learned in our last study, the letter to Thyatira reveals God's expectation that the church members become Spirit-filled kings who can rule the nations with a rod of iron. The letter to Sardis describes the outward manifestation of the inward reality revealed in the letter to Sardis. The infilling of the Holy Spirit (Sardis) and its outworking in righteous living (Thyatira) are two sides of the same coin. Without the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly manifest the righteousness of God in our actions. We can only live righteously if we are righteous on the inside. If we claim to have the infilling of the Holy Spirit but do not demonstrate any outward righteousness, then our infilling is unreliable. We need to be justified by faith as well as by works. The letter to Sardis contains some phrases that refer symbolically to people who live in righteousness: Those who have “not soiled their garments" (v. 3) Those “clothed in white” (v. 4) walking with the Lord Those who overcome are clothed in “white raiment.” The imagery reminds us of the description of the righteous Bride in Revelation 19:8, who is clothed in "clean and white fine linen.” The Bible says that "the fine linen is the righteous works of the saints" (Revelation 19:8). The righteous works of these saints are the righteous deeds that they naturally live out and demonstrate after experiencing the infilling of the Holy Spirit. From this letter, we can see that God's judgment on the church has produced positive fruits. The church is growing into the spotless Bride of Christ. The stage of growth described in the letter to Sardis will lead naturally to the next stage of God's work on the church, God's work in the Philadelphia church. The purpose of the Philadelphia stage is to produce the prototype of the New Jerusalem.   The Progressive Spiritual Relationship of the Seven Churches In our last study, I mentioned that the letters to the seven churches are not limited to describing God's work in seven different chronological periods of church history. Nor are they limited to revealing God's different ways of working in the same time period. Instead, it describes the seven stages of spiritual growth as God helps the church grow toward maturity. I believe the letters reveal a pattern of continuous and progressive spiritual growth. As I read the book of Revelation, God enlightened me about this message of progressive growth. I believe that Satan and his evil spirits work differently in every church mentioned in Revelation. But God has given each church unique provisions that help it combat the work of Satan. In this way, each letter exposes a different aspect of the work of evil spirits, and also reveals an aspect of the Lord's provision. God's provision helps the individual church escape the deceptions of evil spirits and “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15) To recap what we have learned, let's briefly review the ways God provided for the unique struggle in each church. In the church of Ephesus, the evil spirit of indifference tempts the Ephesians to abandon the love they had at first. But the Lord reveals Himself as the High Priest who trims the lamps, removes the charred wicks, and anoints the church with oil (the Holy Spirit) to help them return to their first love. After the churches and believers return to their first love, Satan raises up the evil spirit of death to persecute them. This is what was happening in the church of Smyrna. The Lord reveals Himself as the resurrection who could strengthen the church to be victorious over the attacks of the evil spirit of death. When Satan sees that persecution fails to weaken the faith of the church, he sends false teachers (the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicolaitans). Just as Balaam tempted the Israelites to sin, these false teachers tempt the church to commit sexual immorality and leave their position of God's blessing. As a response to this temptation, the Lord reveals himself as "the sharp two-edged sword" (Rev 2:12). His word is powerful in discerning and defeating the wiles of the enemy in the church of Pergamum. In the church at Thyatira, Satan raises up the spirit of Jezebel, which is the spirit of the false prophet, to confuse believers. To combat his schemes, the Lord releases the spirit of Elijah to defeat Jezebel. Elijah foretold the death of Jezebel and anointed Jehu to kill Jezebel. In the same way, as believers defeat the evil spirit of Jezebel, they will grow into spiritual kings. God will give them authority to rule over all nations and they will “reign in life.” (Romans 5:17) In this way, the church will mature to such an extent that it can be “filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19) This fullness will naturally be manifested in outward righteousness, which is the work that God is accomplishing in the church in Sardis. The work of God in the church in Philadelphia is to produce the precursor of the New Jerusalem. God's work in the church of Laodicea is to achieve an ultimate victory, allowing us to sit on the throne and reign together with Christ. Each of these letters reveals a stage of spiritual growth, a stepping stone toward God's ultimate purpose for the church. It also represents the seven stages of trials that the Lord sends to the church, the seven ways that evil spirits work, and the seven provisions of God to combat these evil spirits. The Lord's epistles to the seven churches represent God's responses to the seven aspects of the work of evil spirits, helping the church to overcome them. In this way, the Church as a whole (the Bride of Christ) continues to grow in all things into Him who is the head, Christ. God's judgment begins with the house of God (1 Peter 4:17). Only after the house of God has endured judgment can God continue to judge the rest of the world. This is why the seven seals and seven trumpets (Revelation 5-11) are not revealed until after the Lord's letter to the seven churches. The seven seals and the seven trumpets represent God's continued judgment and cleansing of the world, which must take place after God's judgment and cleansing of the church. I believe the letters to the seven churches are the seven stages of God's judgment and cleansing which purify the church and prepare it to enter the next stage of God's work.   Our spiritual growth and skill prepare us to “level up” in our ability to withstand trials. A video game player can only advance to the second level after gaining sufficient skills and abilities to “win” the first level. In the second level, there will be even stronger enemies which will help the player prepare to face the challenges of the third level. Similarly, a child is only allowed on certain Disneyland rides after he has reached a certain height. In the same way, our level of growth or spiritual stature determines whether or not God will allow us to enter the next stage of his work. Only when God's church is mature and cleansed will God be able to begin the process of cleansing the world. In this age, the church is experiencing judgment, cleansing, and trials. The church's degree of maturity determines the timing in which God begins to cleanse the world. If we fail to mature spiritually, God cannot allow us to advance to the next stage of His work, which is judging the world. Just as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years, many churches and believers are wandering in circles. But we must mature spiritually so we can cooperate with God's work and enter the spiritual land of Canaan.   The Hologram Theory: The Seven Churches are a Microcosm of the Entire Kingdom of God Through an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I understood that the Lord's epistles to the seven churches not only reveal seven stages of growth in the worldwide church, but also reveal a microcosm of God's work in the entire book of Revelation. The church is a microcosm of the kingdom of God. In the future, the whole earth will become the kingdom of our Lord and Christ (Revelation 11:15). But before this can be accomplished, the church must first become the kingdom of our Lord and of Christ, which is why the Lord wrote epistles to the seven churches. He wanted to purify the church and defeat the deeds of evil spirits in the church so the church could fully embrace its status as the kingdom of God. What is the Hologram Theory? In Chinese medicine, the Hologram Theory says that the acupuncture points of our feet correspond to all the acupuncture points on our bodies. If you go for a foot massage, as long as you find the right acupuncture points, you can treat the diseases of the whole body. Similarly, the abdomen also has acupuncture points that correspond to the acupuncture points of the whole body. All diseases in the whole body can be treated by doing acupuncture on the torso. An acupuncturist from our church frequently administers abdominal acupuncture on me, and it works every time to heal my body. What's even more amazing is that the ears also contain acupuncture points that correspond to the acupuncture points on the entire body. Another Christian brother in Christ gives me ear acupuncture to help me regulate my entire body and health. This principle is not only true of Chinese medicine. In Western medicine, understanding one cell can help scientists decipher the mysteries of the human body. The Hologram Theory means a partial and tiny thing, which can reflect a whole and entire picture. As I read the Bible, I realized that the seven stages of God's work in the churches are a microcosm of the work of God in the entire book of the Book of Revelation. Here are a few examples of this phenomenon. The Lord's letter to Laodicea says that the one who overcomes will sit on the throne with the Lord, just as Jesus overcame and sat on the throne with the Father (Rev 3:21). This mirrors the "throne of God and of the Lamb" mentioned in Revelation 22 (22:1). The Lord's epistle to the church at Philadelphia mentions “being a pillar in the temple of God” and that “the name of God and the name of the city of God (that is, New Jerusalem) are written on the overcomers,” both of which are reflected in Revelation 21 as the "new Jerusalem came down from heaven" (21:2). The believers in Sardis are "clothed in white,” walk with the Lord and live righteous lives. This concept is reflected in the bride in Revelation 19. The bride wears fine white linen, which represents the righteous acts of the saints. Jesus' letter to the church in Thyatira mentions an iron rod that governs the nations. This reflects the male child in Revelation 12 who “will rule the nations with an iron rod.” In the letter to Pergamos, Jesus rebuked the evil spirit of Jezebel and sent the spirit of Elijah. This mention can remind us of the two witnesses and prophets released by God in Revelation 10 and 11. The epistle to Smyrna reveals the work of the spirit of death, which can remind us of Revelation 9, where it says, "In those days men desired death, but never died; they longed for death, but death shunned them" (9:6). Not only is life in the hands of God, but death is also in the hands of God. In the letter to Ephesus, Jesus mentions leaving our first love. Perhaps this reference can remind us of the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments, the purpose of which was to encourage humans to return to The One who created them. Humans were created by God, but they have left their first love. These judgments will make them return to God Himself. These examples show that the letters to the churches are a microcosm of the book of Revelation as a whole. In the book of Revelation, God's purpose is to ultimately reveal the male child, the Bride, and the New Jerusalem. But God must first produce a prototype in the microcosm of the church. When all the prophecies of the Book of Revelation are fulfilled, Christ will publicly return to earth in the Parousia. But God has already returned in a hidden way to his body, the church, in a miniature Parousia. Parousia means the appearance and coming of Christ. Before the Lord's public appearance to the whole world, He has already made a hidden, early appearance in the church. The word Parousia has a two-level meaning which includes both the public coming of Christ and the hidden coming of Christ.  For the people of the world, the Lord Jesus has not appeared publicly. But for those who walk with the Lord as Enoch did, God has already appeared to us like the morning star appears before the dawn (2 Peter 1:17). Those of us who walk with God have already experienced the appearance of Jesus. I once heard the story of Miss Margaret E. Barber who was very eager for the Lord's appearance. She lived in the constant hope of the Lord's coming. One day, as she and Watchman Nee were walking along the street, she said to him, "Perhaps, when we reach the corner of that street, the Lord will return.” She lived in great anticipation of the Lord's Parousia (the appearance of the Lord). I believe that because of her love for the Lord, she was already experiencing an internal manifestation of the kingdom of Christ. She already had a practical experience of living in Christ's heavenly kingdom. The epistles to the seven churches demonstrate the seven stages of the Lord's work in the church as he perfects his body so we can enter his heavenly kingdom. How is today's church doing in its spiritual growth? How is your church doing? How are you doing? Can you say that you are already living in the spiritual reality of the kingdom of the Lord? That you are living in the reality of the New Jerusalem? This is the question that we Christians must ask ourselves today. God Wants Us to Live in Righteousness. The Lord's letter to the church in Sardis reveals that God wants us to live in righteousness. How do we live in righteousness? We must experience the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is exactly what God did for the church in Thyatira. The filling of the Holy Spirit and a life of righteousness are two sides of the same coin, as demonstrated in this personal testimony. When I was in the Local Church Movement, I was encouraged to pursue the filling of the Holy Spirit. I was taught that only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit can we be greatly used by the Lord. Only when individual believers experience revival can the church as a whole experience revival. And revival comes from the filling of the Holy Spirit. As a result of this teaching, I began to pray for the filling of the Holy Spirit. First, in order to experience the filling of the Holy Spirit, we must confess our sins. As I sought God's infilling, I confessed my sins, repented of the weaknesses of my flesh, and removed the spiritual impurity brought about by the filth of the world. Since sin hinders us from receiving the filling of the Holy Spirit, we must deal with our sins before we can please God. We must deal with our sins because they hinder our fellowship with God and pull us away from our first love, our love for God. Jesus addressed the sin of the church at Ephesus, and we must address our sins as well. Second, in order to experience the filling of the Holy Spirit, we must overcome spiritual death. For example, watching worldly TV programs is not necessarily a sin, but it can bring us spiritual death. After watching TV for a long time, our prayers feel dry and dull. We feel like we are far from God and it is difficult to get into the spirit of prayer. This is the work of the spirit of death. Just like God overcame the spirit of death in the church at Smyrna, God can resurrect us from our spiritual death. Spiritual death comes from our sin and from our exposure to the world. The third thing we have to deal with is the influence of the world. The church in Pergamos was a church that was married to the world. The word "Pergamum" means "married, united, and strong tower.” This symbolizes that the church and believers were united with the world, and even allowed God's dwelling place to become "Satan's seat" (Revelation 2:13). We must rid ourselves of worldly influence so we can experience more of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Fourth, to experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit, we must defeat the fleshly strongholds that allow the evil spirits and false prophets to flourish in our midst. Through our strongholds, we allow false prophets like Jezebel to teach "the depths of Satan" (Revelation 2:24) to the church and to believers. Israel's entry into the land of Canaan is a picture of the filling of the Holy Spirit. If we want to experience the filling of the Holy Spirit, we need to defeat the evil spirits and the strongholds they establish, just like Israel under Joshua defeated the Canaanites. Only then can we have victory in the land of Canaan. Fifth, after experiencing the former stages of growth, we can experience God's work in the church at Sardis. That is, we can manifest outwardly through righteous deeds what God has already filled us with inwardly. Jesus said, "A good tree brings forth good fruit" (Matthew 7:17).  Just like a cup only spills the contents that are already inside it, we can only manifest the things that are already filling us. As we “level up” to later stages of growth, we face more direct attacks and challenges from evil spirits. While I was in the Local Church Movement, I experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit to an extent, but I did not experience the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the subsequent manifestation that is described in Acts 2. God led me to join the Charismatic movement, where I received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. According to Brother Derek Prince, the most obvious sign of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not tongues or gifts, but increased troubles. After receiving the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, I began to experience more attacks from evil spirits and observed more acts of evil spirits, neither of which I had experienced in the past. When we advance in our experience of the filling of the Holy Spirit, we will definitely experience more attacks from evil spirits. Through these attacks, God is training us to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3). God's work in Philadelphia and Laodicea also demonstrates the continued work of God through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, allowing us to become the “New Jerusalem” (the manifestation of God) and to sit “on the throne together with the Lord” (reigning with Christ). Conclusion: The spiritual experience revealed by the letters to the churches not only describes the seven stages of the church's spiritual growth, but also the seven stages that every individual Christian can experience as they encounter the filling of the Holy Spirit. These seven letters represent a microcosm of the entire book of Revelation. We must see these letters from a new perspective. This inspiration from the Holy Spirit is a timely message for this generation. Both the church as a whole and individual Christians urgently need to grow and mature in their spiritual lives.    

a) The Song of Victory (Revelation 19:1-10)b) The Defeat of God's Adversaries (Revelation 19:11-21)c) The Doom of Satan (Revelation 20:1-10)d) The Judgment of the Dead (Revelation 20:11-15)

Ephesians 2-13 informs us that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ destroys the barriers between a holy God and sinful humans as well as the barriers that divide us from one another.--Had the Lord Jesus been killed without shedding his blood, we would not have our sins washed away.--People are forbidden to eat blood -Genesis 9-4- Leviticus 3-17- 7-26- 17-10-14- 19-26- Deuteronomy 12-16, 23- 1 Samuel 14-34-, and this prohibition is singled out at the Council of Jerusalem as something binding on the new Gentile believers -Acts 15-20, 29- 21-25-.--It was part of pagan worship, as were the other actions they were warned against. 1 Kings 18-28 records the custom of pagan worship- humans cutting themselves.--Cultic prostitution was also part of their worship as can be seen in Deuteronomy 23-17-18, with the kadoshah -q-d---, ---------- and the kadosh -q-d--, --------. People believed they were having intercourse with gods who would give them prosperity.--1 Corinthians 10-20 warns us that -the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons.---But it is the BLOOD of the Lord Jesus Christ that washes away sin, breaks down barriers and defeats Satan -Revelation 12-11-.

Ephesians 2-13 informs us that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ destroys the barriers between a holy God and sinful humans as well as the barriers that divide us from one another.--Had the Lord Jesus been killed without shedding his blood, we would not have our sins washed away.--People are forbidden to eat blood -Genesis 9-4- Leviticus 3-17- 7-26- 17-10-14- 19-26- Deuteronomy 12-16, 23- 1 Samuel 14-34-, and this prohibition is singled out at the Council of Jerusalem as something binding on the new Gentile believers -Acts 15-20, 29- 21-25-.--It was part of pagan worship, as were the other actions they were warned against. 1 Kings 18-28 records the custom of pagan worship- humans cutting themselves.--Cultic prostitution was also part of their worship as can be seen in Deuteronomy 23-17-18, with the kadoshah -q-d---, ---------- and the kadosh -q-d--, --------. People believed they were having intercourse with gods who would give them prosperity.--1 Corinthians 10-20 warns us that -the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons.---But it is the BLOOD of the Lord Jesus Christ that washes away sin, breaks down barriers and defeats Satan -Revelation 12-11-.

Ephesians 2:13 informs us that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ destroys the barriers between a holy God and sinful humans as well as the barriers that divide us from one another.Had the Lord Jesus been killed without shedding his blood, we would not have our sins washed away.People are forbidden to eat blood (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14; 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:16, 23; 1 Samuel 14:34), and this prohibition is singled out at the Council of Jerusalem as something binding on the new Gentile believers (Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25).It was part of pagan worship, as were the other actions they were warned against. 1 Kings 18:28 records the custom of pagan worship: humans cutting themselves.Cultic prostitution was also part of their worship as can be seen in Deuteronomy 23:17-18, with the kadoshah (qᵉdēšā, קְדֵשָׁ֖ה) and the kadosh (qādēš, קָדֵ֖שׁ). People believed they were having intercourse with gods who would give them prosperity.1 Corinthians 10:20 warns us that "the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons."But it is the BLOOD of the Lord Jesus Christ that washes away sin, breaks down barriers and defeats Satan (Revelation 12:11).

In todays sermon I share that God has defeated Satan and there is no fear of him.

Proverbs 27:5-14, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Hebrews 9:1-15. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5-10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1–14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5-10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1-14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Apocalypse: The Binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-3)

[00:30] Joe Biden Health Concerns (11 minutes) Joe Biden said yesterday that he has cancer because of oil refineries in Delaware. Three months ago, Biden said the oil refineries gave him asthma. Whichever it is, one thing is for sure, the quadruple-boosted fake president has tested positive for COVID-19. [11:41] Buy Electric Cars … Powered by Fossil Fuels (16 minutes)The climate change czars plan to end fossil fuel dependence by switching to vehicles that run on electricity—electricity that is generated by fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the U.S. is subsidizing Chinese companies to mine the lithium necessary for EV batteries from mines within the United States! [28:00] ‘Trump's Return' (13 minutes)“Trump's return” is the cover story of this weekend's Spectator magazine. The article highlights Donald Trump's impressive domestic and international accomplishments. It says, “If Trump announces he is running for the Republican nomination, he'll be almost impossible to stop.” [41:23] Half of Americans Expect a Second Civil War (5 minutes)An article from the Daily Mail reports that 50 percent of Americans believe that “in the next few years, there will be a civil war in the U.S.” The U.S. is also facing a crime wave, partially due to the effects of COVID lockdowns. [46:30] Understand the Depths of Satan (9 minutes)If we understand the “depths of Satan” (Revelation 2:24), we will not be blindsided by the extent of the evil in our nation's government. In a world that is quickly falling apart, we must renew God's endless hope in our minds every day.

“I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” Revelation 2:9 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dan-owusu3/message

Sunday Worship: February 6, 2022 Preacher: Pastor Nathan Ruble

In summary of the chapters 17-19, the beast has devoured Babylon as ordained by God, Jesus has come from heaven with His spiritual armies to destroy the beast and the false prophet, casting them into the lake of fire.  Now Jesus has satan bound for 1000 years so he cannot deceive the nations. I confess I vacillate on my understanding of the 1000 yer reign of Christ, the reign of the saints, and the final binding, then loosening of Satan after the 1000 years.  Let us decode this mystery that has given rise to numerous theories from Augustine to Wesley to modern prophets. Satan is finally defeated and cast into the lake of fire.  The great white throne judgment comes against all those not written in the book of life  This is a great comfort to all of us who are in the book of life.  We need to celebrate this victory and hold fast to it in our times of persecution.

Songs of victory in heaven: Revelation 19:1-10, The Rider on the white horse: Revelation 19:11-21; The thousand years: Revelation 20:1-6; The defeat of Satan: Revelation 20:7-10; The final judgment: Revelation 20:11-15; The new Jerusalem: Revelation 21:1-22:6; Jesus is coming: Revelation 22:7-21

Series: Colossians: Supreme!Title: “What's the Big Deal about Jesus Christ?”Scripture: Colossians 1:19-23; John 1:1-8, 14:9; Heb 1:3(Commentary helps listed at the end)Bottom line last week: Jesus Christ deserves our highest praise (worship) and deepest devotion (way, work, witness) because he supreme over all things creating us from nothing and redeeming us from sin and death, shame and guilt, hell itself.Bottom line this week: Jesus is supreme because he reveals God to us and reconciles us to God.INTRODUCTIONOpening story:“On April 15, 1912, the white star liner Titanic raised her stern high above the frigid waters of the North Atlantic and began a slow, seemingly calibrated descent as her lighted portholes and towering stern slid silently toward the ocean floor. That famous night saw the extremes of human behavior – from abysmal cowardice to the terrible beauties of sacrificial love. But with the Titanic gone and her lifeboats spread upon the icy waters among the crying, drowning swimmers, the story was almost totally devoted to self-serving cowardice, for of the 1,600 people who were not able to get into the lifeboats, only 13 were picked up by the 18 half-empty boats that hovered nearby.“In boat #5, when third officer Pittman heard the anguish cries, he turned the boat around and shouted, “now, men, we will pull toward the wreck!“ But the passengers protested, “why should we lose all our lives in a useless attempt to save others from the ship?“ Pittman gave in. And for the next hour boat number five, with 40 people on board and a capacity of 65, heaved gently on the calm Atlantic, while the 40 listened to the fading cries of swimmers 300 yards away. The story was much the same on the other boats.In boat #2, fourth Officer Boxhall asked the ladies, “shall we go back?“ They said no, so boat number two, about 60% full, likewise drifted while her people callously listened.On boat #6, the situation was reversed as the women begged quartermaster Hitchens to return, but he refused, painting a vivid picture of the drowning overturning the boat. The women pleaded as the cries grew fewer. Of the 18 boats, only one boat, number 14, returned to help – and this was an hour after the titanic's sinking, when the thrashing crowd had “thinned out.”“To me, the personal drama of the sinking of the titanic is a parable of the world gone wrong. Following humanity is adrift on the unfriendly seek, alienated, unable to help one another despite some furtive individual attempts. The wrongness of everything points to the fundamental problem of peoples estrangement from each other and from creation by sin. It is a picture of the world desperately in need of reconciliation and the harmony and rightness that brings.AccessIt's Who You KnowDuring the American Civil War, as a result of a family tragedy, a soldier was granted permission to seek a hearing from the President. He wanted to request exemption from military service. However, when he arrived at the White House, he was refused entry and sent away. He went and sat in a nearby park.A young boy came across him and remarked how unhappy he looked. The soldier found himself telling the young boy everything. Eventually the boy said, ‘Come with me.' He led the dejected soldier back to the White House. They went around the back, none of the guards stopped them. Even the generals and high-ranking government officials stood to attention and let them pass through.The soldier was amazed. Finally, they came to the presidential office. Without knocking, the young boy opened the door and walked straight in. Abraham Lincoln, standing there, turned from his conversation with the Secretary of State and said, ‘What can I do for you, Tad?'Tad said, ‘Dad, this soldier needs to talk to you.'The soldier had access to the President ‘through the son'. According to the New Testament, in an even more amazing way, you have access to God ‘through the son' – Jesus.Many people pray, but not all prayer is Christian. Christian prayer is distinctive – it is Trinitarian. St Paul writes, ‘Through him [Jesus] we have access to the Father by one Spirit' (Ephesians 2:18).This is why prayer is such an immense privilege. You are able to speak to God, the creator of the universe, as your Father. You come to him through Jesus, the man who is God, our Lord, brother and friend. Your prayers are inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, who lives within your heart.Bible in One Year 2021 With Nicky Gumbel: Day 310 • DevotionalExcess versus:John 14:6Romans 5:1-2James 4:8OUTLINEBetter questions: What's the big deal about Jesus Christ?Because Christ is supreme. Why?He contains and revealed the fullness of God to us. (19)He reconciled us to God. (20-23)Bottom line this week: Jesus is supreme because he reveals God to us and reconciles us to God.Who is God? (1:15) He is our actual Creator sent by his Father to reveal the Triune God to us. (15)What has God done? (Or is doing?) (1:16–23)As Supreme Lord…(In regard to creation)He created us. He sustains us. He is reconciling “all things” to himself.As Supreme Head…(in regard to the Church) (18-23)He started and heads the Church. (18)He revealed God to us. (19)He reconciled to himself us to God, by making peace through is blood, shed on the cross. (20-22a)He is presenting us to himself holy and blameless forever. (22b)Who am I?A rebel, traitor and sinner reconciled to God by the blood Jesus Christ. (20, 22)A fellow servant of Paul to the gospel mission of Christ. (23)What do I get to do?Live accepted, forgiven and with eternal access to my creator and redeemer. (20-22)Serve in and through the Church of Christ the gospel mission of Jesus where I live, work, and play. (23)Who should I share this with?NeighborsCo-workers, fellow students, facultyFamily and friendsIII. Jesus is the (supreme) Savior of the Cross (19-23)A. He reveals the Father to us (19-20a)God the Father found pleasure and having all of his fullness dwell in Christ. Fullness means that the totality of divine power and attributes is in Christ. “This means that we need to look to no one except Jesus for the full revelation of God‘s character. If God could only be perceived in closely Dash?? reasoned theological language, only the most brilliant could understand him. But the fullness was in Christ, and all we have to do is look at him. As we see him in the gospels and hear him preached, we can know what God is like.”“It was God's pleasure to “reconcile to himself all things weather on earth or in heaven. God means to reconcile creation to himself. Reconciliation to God is an explicitly one-sided process! He does virtually everything. All we have to do is respond.”B. He reconciles us to God (20-23). “The Father's method of reconciliation is seen in two parallel clauses from verses 20 and 22:“making peace by the blood of his cross“;‘he has now reconciled [you] to in his body of flesh by his death.' “God‘s method is the death of Christ.”C. We see 4 things about the Father's reconciliation here:The fathers reconciling pleasure 19–20aThe fathers reconciling method 20b, 22aThe fathers reconciling purpose 21–22“When a great 17th century Christian woman and encourager of God‘s servants, lady hunting done, invited one of her friends, the Duchess of Buckingham, to hear George Whitefield preach, she received this reply: ‘it is monstrous to be told, that you have a heart as simple as the common riches that crawl on the earth. This is highly offensive and insulting; and I cannot but wonder that your ladyship should relish any sentiments so much at variance with high rank and good breeding.'”“Paul's pronouncement that we are “alienated… Hostile… Doing evil deeds“ may sound a bit harsh to us too, but it is terribly true. (21) All it takes is a telling difficulty, like floating on the cold Atlantic, to find out what is really there.“Illustration: “Luther used a simple analogy to explain this process. He described the condition of a patient who was mortally ill. The doctor proclaimed that he had medicine that would surely cure the man. The instant the medicine was administered, the doctor declared that the patient was well. At that instance the patient was still sick, but as soon as the medicine passed his lips and entered his body the patient began to get well. So it is with our reconciliation and justification. As soon as we truly believe, that very instant we start to get better (sanctification); the process of becoming pure and holy is underway and its future completion is certain.” We are as good as saved at that moment, however. (Justification)Fathers reconciling condition 23Illustration: “ It is said that years ago in a western city a husband and wife became estranged and chose to separate. They moved away and lived in different parts of the country. The husband happened to return to the city on a matter of business and went out to the cemetery to the grave of their only son. He was standing by the grave in fond reminiscence when he heard a step behind him. Turning, he saw his estranged wife. The initial impulse of both was to turn away. But they had a common – hearted interest in the grave, and instead of turning away they clasped hands over the grave of their son and were reconciled. They were reconciled by death!”Who are you unreconciled with right now? Don't wait for someone else to die to try to be reconciled. If you need a grave, put your self-pity and rights in the grave. Work on what you can control and surrender what you cannot. And you've got a chance to do a miracle of reconciliation in a relationship that you have or don't have right now. God loves to reconcile people. To God and to each other.Application: Christ must be first in our witness.CONCLUSIONBottom line this week: Jesus is supreme because he reveals God to us and reconciles us to God.Who do you need to forgive? Have you asked God to forgive you?Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 11:17-32Who is God? (1:15) He is Father and the one who sent his son to us to reveal himself to us.He is our creator and redeemer.What has God done? (1: 16–23)As Supreme Lord…(In regard to creation)He created us. He sustains us. He is reconciling “all things” to himself.As Supreme Head…(in regard to the Church) (18-23)He started and heads the Church. (18)He revealed God to us. (19)He reconciled to himself us to God, by making peace through is blood, shed on the cross. (20-22a)He is presenting us to himself holy and blameless forever. (22b)Who am I?A rebel, traitor and sinner reconciled to God by the blood Jesus Christ. (20, 22)A fellow servant of Paul to the gospel mission of Christ. (23)What do I get to do?Live accepted, forgiven and with eternal access to my creator and redeemer. (20-22)Serve in and through the Church of Christ the gospel mission of Jesus where I live, work, and play. (23)Who should I share this with?NeighborsCo-workers, fellow students, facultyFamily and friendsOutline BibleI. Christ and the Church at Colossae (1:15-23)A. Who Christ is (1:15): He is the visible image of the invisible God.B. What Christ has done (1:16-23)In regard to creation (1:16-17, 20)He created all things (1:16) PASTHe sustains all things (1:17) PRESENTHe will reconcile all things (1:20) FUTUREIn regard to the Church (1:18-19, 21-23): He has been appointed head of the Church.Scott Pace outline (15-23) modifiedLAST WEEK Part 3a)I. Jesus is the (supreme) Lord of Creation (15-17)A. He is the authority of creation (15)B. He is the agent of creation (16)C. He is the aim of creation (16-17)Application: Christ must be first in our worship.II. Jesus is the (supreme) Head of the Church (18)A. He is the source of the Church (18)B. He is sovereign over the Church (18)Application: Christ must be first in our work.I added “supreme” to last week's points. After all, there are little lords, little heads, and little saviors in our world to contend with. Jesus is supreme in all categories!THIS WEEK (Part 3b)Application: Christ must be first in our witness.NT Wright151617 “And he is ahead (before), prior to all else…18 “And he himself is supreme, the head over the body, the church1920Describes who Jesus Christ is and why he matters to us with respect to authority (work), allegiance (way), and awe (worship).In Hebrew, “head” has several meanings (like in English):Jesus Christ is…“First born” (15 & 18)“Supreme” (17) = “head” or “before all things”“Head” of there body = church (18)“Beginning” = “head” (18)If the Colossians are to grow as Christians, they need to know who Christ is and what he has already done (and does)!God = Jesus Christ3 Things this poem/hymn points us to about Jesus Christ and what God has done in and through him:By looking at Jesus we discover who God is. While nobody has ever seen God, in Jesus God has Come near, andBecome one of usJesus is the mirror image of the invisible God who is there but not normally seenSeeing what Jesus did gives us a better view of who God is. (Rom 5:8)Jesus holds together the old world AND the new, creation, and the new creation.Jesus Christ is the one through whom creation was made, and Jesus Christ is for whom creation was made.When the beauty of our world causes you to catch your breath, remember it's like that because of Jesus. “Firstborn over all creation”Also, he's who heals the world from evil through live, cross, burial, resurrection and ascension. “Firstborn from the dead”Jesus is therefore the blueprint (pattern) for the genuine humanness which is one offered through the gospel.As head of the body, the ChurchAs first to rise again from the deadAs the one through whom cruel death God has dealt with our sins and brought peace and reconciliationAs the one through whom the new creation has now begun.This is when Jesus has summoned us to experience genuine humanity.Other4 Christological passages in the Bible:CHjOP:C - Colossians 1:15-23H - Hebrews 1:1-4jO - John 1:1-18P - Philippians 2:5-11OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS:You Can Resist EvilWith the rise of global terrorism, world leaders have spoken a great deal about vanquishing evil. But, as one writer in the Guardianpointed out, ‘Their rhetoric reveals a failure to accept that cruelty and conflict are basic human traits.' As Albert Einstein said, ‘I do not fear the explosive power of the atom bomb. What I fear is the explosive power of evil in the human heart.Meet Your Blood DonorOur god-daughter's second child, Hazy, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015. Medically, her only hope was a matching donor. A young German man, who has to remain anonymous, sacrificially gave his bone marrow. Wonderfully, his donation saved Hazy's life. Can you imagine what it would be like for Hazy to meet her donor?(Read more of Hazy's story here.)In an even more remarkable way, you can meet your blood donor. Jesus came ‘to give his life as a ransom for many' (Mark 10:45). At the last supper, when Jesus took the cup, he said: ‘This is my bloodof the covenant' (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24). The ‘precious blood of Christ' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:It makes forgiveness possible (Colossians 1:14)It purifies you from every sin (1 John 1:7)Through it, you draw near to God (Ephesians 2:13)It brings peace and reconciliation (Colossians 1:20)It gives life (John 6:53)It enables you to overcome Satan (Revelation 12:11).In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means.OUTLINESNIV Study BiblePerhaps an early Christian Hymn on the supremacy of Christ used here to counteract the false teachings at Colossae.2 Parts:Supremacy of Christ in creation (15-17), andSupremacy of Christ in redemption (18-20).“Image of God” (15) cf. “radiance of God” (Heb 1:3)This figure of image suggests 2 things:God is invisible (“no one has ever seen God” John 1:18)Christ, who is the eternal Son of God and who became the God-man, reflects and reveals him (cf John 1:18, 14:9) “Anyone has seen me has seen the Father”1:15 “firstborn over all creation”—Just as the firstborn son had certain privileges and rights in the Biblical world, so also Christ has certain rights in relation to all creation—PriorityPreeminenceSovereignty1:16 “by him all things were created” (cf John 1:3)—7x in 6 verses Paul mentions “all creation,” “all things” and “everything,” thus stressing that Christ is supreme over all.Including “thrones or powers or rulers or authorities” Colossians heresy includes hierarchy of angelic beings.1:17 “He is before all things” referring to time, as in John 1:1-2, 8:581:18 “Beginning” of the new creation. “Firstborn” Christ was first to rise from teh dead with regular body. Others raised from the dead in the Bible died again. (Raised vs Resurrected)1:19 “fullness”Gnostics = the summation of the supernatural forces controlling the fate of peoplePaul = the totality of God with all his powers and attributesKent Hughes notes:Dominant theme: Absolute supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus Christ as the head of all creation and of the church.3:1 Overall exhortation/application: “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is (for now) seated at the right hand of God.”2:6 Says it another way: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.”Hughes' hope: That our view of Christ will be so expanded and permanently impressed on us that we will as a habit seek those things that are above (as we walk in him).Background and context:80 miles from Ephesus on the coast in western Turkey in the Lycus Valley.A bit in the shadow of Hieropolis and Laodicea.Probably came into being during Paul's 2-year Ministry in Ephesus (Acts 15:10) because it says that during that time, “All the residents of Asia [which included Colossae] heard the word of the Lord.” P. 212Epaphroditus and Philemon came to Christ during this time. Philemon later hosted a church in his home. Epaphras became a lieutenant in evangelizing the Lycus Valley.Gnostics—those who professed superior knowledge—were a group of self-proclaimed spiritual elites who propagated a false gospel.Base doctrine was basically dualism (Platonic) which said anything physical or created was evil and that only the spirit was good.“To the gnostics, Christ was not Creator, the incarnation Was not real, adn Christ was not enough!”This gnostic system was made up of ascetic disciplines (borrowed from Jewish legalism) designed to help you work your way up to God. Secret passwords, astrology and elements of Christianity all mixed up.Very complex and proudly intellectual who looked down on the simple Colossian believers.This is the alarming message Epaphras brought to Paul as he waited in prison.Paul's response presents Christ as Creator and fully sufficient Redeemer! Christ isn't part of the answer—he's all of the answer!MAIN COMMENTARY HELP:Exalting Jesus in Colossians by Scott PacePreaching the Word: Philippians, Colossians and Philemon commentary by R. Kent HughesESV Global Study BibleBible in One Year by Nicky GumbelBible Knowledge CommentaryThe Outline Bible, WilmingtonPaul for Everyone, The Prison Letters, NT Wright's commentary on Philippians and ColossiansGospel Transformation BibleNIV Study Bible

Proverbs 27:5-14, Ezekiel 16:1-63, Hebrews 9:1-15. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5–6,9–10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1–3,6–9,11–14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5–6,9–10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1–3,6–9,11–14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Proverbs 27:5–6,9–10, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 9:1–3,6–9,11–14. The ‘*precious blood of Christ*' (1 Peter 1:19) is stressed throughout the whole New Testament:- It makes *forgiveness* possible (Colossians 1:14)- It *purifies* you from every sin (1 John 1:7)- Through it, you *draw near to God* (Ephesians 2:13)- It brings *peace and reconciliation* (Colossians 1:20)- It *gives life* (John 6:53)- It enables you to *overcome Satan* (Revelation 12:11) In today's passages, we see different aspects of what all of this means

Nathaniel Brown

Disciple Up # 228 7 Letters For 7 Churches, Pt. 2 By Louie Marsh   Intro. Last week we did the first three and I shared a nice graph on the letters in the show notes. This week we'll be finishing off the last four.   Next week – I might be focusing on what I preached on September 12th – Gender with a special focus on the end of the message which dealt with why we are thinking the way we are in this culture/   Gender & Sanity: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/christschurchontheriver/02_reThink_-_Gender__Sanity.mp3   Last Four Letters:   Website where I got what's below from: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/end-times/what-do-the-7-churches-in-revelation-represent-summaries-and-explanations.html   Thyatira. The Church that Follows False Prophets (Revelation 2:18-29)   Summary and Explanation: Thyatira was a wealthy commercial city. Jesus' letter to Thyatira praises the church for having grown in faith and service (Revelation 2:19). The church's downfall was its devotion to a false prophet that led some members to commit idolatry and immorality (Revelation 2:20). Although the false prophet remained unrepentant, Jesus affirms that the congregation can still repent by turning away from the prophet's ways (Revelation 2:21-22).   The Lord reminds us in this revelation that He will repay each of us according to our deeds (Revelation 2:23). The payment for sin is death. Those who persevere in faith, however, will receive a share of Christ's messianic authority over all nations and triumph over death (Revelation 2:26-28).   Significance Today: Just as some in Thyatira's church were led astray by a false prophet, Christians today fall prey to cult leaders, occult practices, and other false teachings. To share in Christ's victory, we are to avoid these “so-called deep secrets” of Satan (Revelation 2:24) and hold firm to Christ's teachings.     Sardis. The Church that is Spiritually Dead (Revelation 3:1-6)   Summary and Explanation: Sardis was a city that had endured two surprise attacks despite its fortifications. Our Lord faults the church in Sardis for maintaining an outward appearance of being “alive,” while actually being spiritually dead (Revelation 3:1). Alluding to the city's history of prior surprise attacks, Jesus warns the congregation to “wake up” and repent, lest he “come like a thief” to bestow His judgment (Revelation 3:2-3).   Those in Sardis who heed Christ's warning will be “dressed in white,” a symbol of purity and victory, and will be acknowledged in Heaven's Book of Life (Revelation 3:5).   Significance Today: Today, Christians can fall into the trap that ensnared the church in Sardis if we merely go through the motions of practicing our faith without really feeding our spirit. We can avoid becoming “the living dead” by engaging in our faith through Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.   Philadelphia. The Church that Patiently Endured Despite Weaknesses (Revelation 3:7-13)   Summary and Explanation: Philadelphia was home to a synagogue community hostile to Christians. Christ praises the Philadelphians for remaining faithful in the face of trials despite their limited strength (Rev. 3:8).   Jesus does not reproach this congregation but condemns its persecutors. (Revelation 3:9). Christ promises that if Philadelphia's congregants remain faithful to Him, He will protect them from the “hour of trial” and make them pillars in God's heavenly temple (Revelation 3:10-12).   Significance Today: The message to Philadelphia shows us the blessings that come when we maintain our faith despite life's tribulations. In fact, those who persevere despite weaknesses will stand strong as pillars in Heaven.   Laodicea. The Church with a Lukewarm Faith (Revelation 3:14-22)   Summary and Explanation: Laodicea was a prosperous industrial and commercial center. Jesus' letter to this church wastes no time denouncing the congregation for its lukewarm faith, threatening to “spit” the congregation out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16).   Christ scolds this church for allowing its economic prosperity to cause it spiritual bankruptcy and reveals that, despite its economic wealth, only He can provide spiritual wealth (Revelation 3:17-18). Those in Laodicea's church who open the door to Christ will share in His Heavenly banquet and have the right to sit with Him on His throne (Revelation 3:20-21).   Significance Today: Like the church in Laodicea, it's easy to become complacent in our faith during times of abundance. Christ warns us in this revelation that he will “spit out” lukewarm disciples. Instead, Jesus urges us to keep seeking the Lord's face even after His hand has bestowed riches in our lives.   

MY SONS FIGHT WITH SATAN     For those of you who do not believe that spiritual warfare is real.  It is indeed for real, today I had a frightening experience my son had a seizure that came out of nowhere.   In the process of that seizure, he was very combative very argumentative very vulgar in his language.  But when I told Satan my son will resist him and resists him in the name of Jesus Christ, his voice changed his eyes appear to be bloodshot and I am certain I was not hallucinating every time I called out on the name of Jesus and God for strength for Willie to resist Satan Willie got even more aggressive, he was kicking and biting me?  Zechariah 3:2 tells us that it is the Lord who rebukes Satan. Even Michael, one of the most powerful of the angels, did not dare to accuse Satan, but rather said, "The Lord rebuke you" (Jude 1:9). In response to Satan's attacks, a Christian should appeal to Christ. Instead of focusing on defeating the devil, we should focus on following Christ (Hebrews 12:2) and trust that He will defeat the forces of evil. I want Christians to understand; It is not necessary for a Christian to rebuke Satan because God has given us His full armor to stand against evil (see Ephesians 6:10-18).  The most effective weapons we have against the devil are our faith, wisdom, and knowledge about God and His Word.  Christ, when tempted by Satan, answered him with Scripture (see Matthew 4:1-11). To gain victory in spiritual matters, we must maintain a clear conscience and have control over our thoughts. "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."  (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).   I am just thankful that I was nearby a when I got to the hospital, he was still combative cursing all nurses and security personnel witness all his kicking and screaming that as well, so they decide to call 911 in the police arrived he was still being combative it took three police officers you get him out the car.  then at that time they were even struggling with him to get him out of the car and he was cursing them as well calling them  names, but by the grace of God, I do know that when it's a medical situation such as this a medical assistant by the police that they would not able to arrest him because it was a medical situation but they did write down a case number or a case File in case it is ever needed if for me.  I normally carry blessed oil in my car today I did not. but I think that was a wake-up call for me to always have a blessed oil in my car.  but I'm thankful that I had a guardian angel with me, and I had a multitude of angels around me, And the blood of Jesus Christ upon me.  because he grabbed the steering wheel and I was not able to turn my vehicle because of how hard he was holding it and he was holding the steering wheel with only one hand and I was using two hands trying to turn the car and believe me I'm not small I'm not a small person.  I was doing my best to be calm. and I thank God that I was able to get him to release that steering wheel when I started resiting saying this and Satan you are a liar you cannot have him.  and we were able to get to the hospital safely. My major concern was my PTSD that it would kick in. I am not going to lie to anyone. I was thanking God that my PTSD did not get triggered.  because honestly, I do not know what I would have done. because of that seizure that he had today what is scary did I just want people to know that if you pick up the word of God you will see demons and spiritual warfare is real.  but we are to resist Satan through Jesus Christ:  Resist the devil and he will flee from you!” James 4:7. “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” Romans 16:20.  Clearly, God has allowed Satan significant amounts of power and influence over the earth, at least for now, and always within God's sovereign control. The Bible tells us that Satan prowls around like a lion in search of prey, looking for victims to devour (1 Peter 5:8).  Satan is the power at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God (Ephesians 2:2).  Anyone who is not under the control of the sovereign God is under the control of the devil (Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Born-again Christians are no longer enslaved to Satan or to sin (Romans 6:6-7), but this does not mean we are not immune to the temptations that he puts before us. Demons are fallen angels, as Revelation 12:9 indicates: “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” Satan's fall from heaven is symbolically described in Isaiah 14:12–15 and Ezekiel 28:12–15. When he fell, Satan took some of the angels with him—one-third of them, according to Revelation 12:4. Jude 6 also mentions angels who sinned. So, biblically, demons are fallen angels who, along with Satan, chose to rebel against God. Some of the demons are already locked “in darkness, bound with everlasting chains” (Jude 1:6) for their sin. Others are free to roam and are referred to as “the powers of this dark world and . . . the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” in Ephesians 6:12 (cf. Colossians 2:15). The demons still follow Satan as their leader and do battle with the holy angels in an attempt to thwart God's plan and hinder God's people (Daniel 10:13). Demons, as spirit beings, have the ability to take possession of a physical body. Demonic possession occurs when a person's body is completely controlled by a demon. This cannot happen to a child of God, since the Holy Spirit resides in the heart of the believer in Christ (1 John 4:4). Jesus, during His earthly ministry, encountered many demons. Of course, none of them were a match for the power of Christ: “Many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word” (Matthew 8:16). Jesus' authority over the demons was one of the proofs that He was indeed the Son of God (Luke 11:20). The demons who encountered Jesus knew who He was, and they feared Him: “‘What do you want with us, Son of God?' [the demons] shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?'” (Matthew 8:29). The demons know their end will be one of torment. Satan and his demons now look to destroy the work of God and deceive anyone they can (1 Peter 5:8; 2 Corinthians 11:14–15). The demons are described as evil spirits (Matthew 10:1), unclean spirits (Mark 1:27), lying spirits (1 Kings 22:23), and angels of Satan (Revelation 12:9). Satan and his demons deceive the world (2 Corinthians 4:4), promulgate false doctrine (1 Timothy 4:1), attack Christians (2 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Peter 5:8), and combat the holy angels (Revelation 12:4–9). The demons/fallen angels are enemies of God, but they are defeated, enemies. Christ has “disarmed the powers and authorities,” and He has “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:15). As we submit to God and resist the devil, we have nothing to fear. “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Please keep Willie Leon Ayers in your prayers.  

In Revelation 12 we see St. Michael the Archangel battle ‘the great dragon’, Satan. Why did Lucifer (Satan) rebel against God in the first place? The Cross of Christ is ultimately what defeated the Devil. Cale breaks it all down on this episode of TFE. All show notes at St. Michael the Archangel Defeats Satan (Revelation 12:7-12) - This podcast produced by Relevant Radio

We take a closer look at the verses in Revelation that talk about the end of the wicked. Discover what happens when God is forced away. The End of Sinners in Revelation: The Sixth Seal Revelation 6:12–15 (NIV84) Sinners would prefer to die rather than meet Jesus the Lamb of God. This is a wish for universal suicide. The Destroying Winds Revelation 7:1–3 (NIV84) God's angels hold back the destructive winds of earth until God's people are sealed. These angels harm the earth by letting go of the winds. They do not create the winds. The Torment of Fire and Burning Sulphur Revelation 14:9-11 (NLT) Even the holy angels and the Lamb cannot protect them from their fate. This is what it means to have God's wrath at full strength. God's wrath is letting people experience the consequences of their choices. “Forever and ever” means nothing is left when the fire ends (Isaiah 34:10) The Seventh Bowl Revelation 16:18–21 (NIV84) No living thing can survive this plague or bowl. It is the ultimate ecological destruction of the planet. The Punishment of the Prostitute Revelation 17:16 (NIV84) This is cannibalism. This is the end of the kingdom of selfishness or hedonism or the kingdom of this world. It is self-destruction. Jim Jones is prophetic of the end of sin with the mass killing of his followers. The end of the Jews in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem because of the hardness of their hearts is also prophetic of what will happen on the planet. Hitlers miserable end echo's this final destruction. The armies which turned on each other rather than attack Jerusalem in King Hezekiah's time mirror this final destruction (2 Chronicles 20:22-24). The Fall of Babylon Revelation 18:8 17:16 makes it clear that the beast and the ten horns do the burning. The Battle with the Rider on the White Horse Revelation 19:19–21 (NIV84) The rider has blood on his robe before the battle begins. No soldier holds a sword in his mouth. This symbolic picture is telling us again that Jesus won the battle at Calvary (John 12:31, Revelation 5:6-10). The Doom of Satan Revelation 20:7–10 (NIV84) The End of Death and Sinners Revelation 20:14–15 (NIV84) A literal fire cannot destroy death and the grave (Hades). The meaning is that death and the grave are destroyed. Judas' life and death are prophetic of the end of sinners. Judas threw away his money and confessed he had betrayed an innocent man and ended his life. At the end of time sinners have no use for their possessions, and they confess they are wrong and they corporately wish for death (Revelation 6:15-17).

Scenario:Its morning again in America….Wake up America…morning’s overI was asleep before…that’s how we let it happenThere was a crisis…They blamed terrorists and suspended the constitution…we didn’t wake up then eitherNow I’m awake…----------------------------Those aren’t my words. Those are the words from a superbowl ad that ran last yearAn ad for a story that takes place….in an age of rampant pornography, increasing violence against women, declining morals in America, environmental disaster and decay…Until finally the religious right – a group of Christians takes control of the US Government…it becomes a totalitarian theocracy….and bibles are banned and morality is legislated and forced upon all citizens. It’s a series based on Margaret Atwood’s book – The Handmaids Tale.When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.... -= Ellen White– {LDE 131.1}The “image to the beast” represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the enforcement of their dogmas. The “mark of the beast” still remains to be defined. {GC 445.2}Tale or Truth? The American dream - why is that? Hunted becomes the Hunter – Persecuted becomes the persecutorPersecution of native Americans, of the Japanese, of African Americans I BELIEVE AMERICA….IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN HISTORYAmerica’s future ----how we got here. Empires have ruled the world for thousands of years. as providence saw fit they rose and fall and most often their demise was related with the removal of the freedom of conscience.We can see it in Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Rome…then that moment came when the babe in a manger - you know the one we count time by - i.e. BC and AD? So he comes along and inserts a revolutionary idea that man needs no intermediary to connect with Divinity.Paganism - ie nature worship was the dominant force throughout history.Constantine…. and Romecompromise was the solution. He melds religion and government and the seed of the papacy was born. The papacy would rule the world for 1260 years - well that was according to the prophecy anyway—and in 538 we find it roots and in 1798 we find its fruit - the French Revolution. The Papal Empire had built itself off of persecution, legislating morality, limiting freedom of speech and conscience and especially perverting the teaching of Jesus.Ok so what does this have to do with America? One author put it like this - Once people hated God so much because they thought the papacy was what god was like since the leader of the system claimed to be god on earth - eventually people had enough, they had nothing left to lose - so in the streets of France - they lost it. And as men and women were fleeing the persecution and corruption of the old world, they were doing all they could to get to the stores of America. In the last centuries of the dark ages - think about that - we literally label a time when the religious right got in bed with the government… as the dark ages. And to put the cherry on top - the Jesus in the book of revelation literally called the church a harlot for cheating on him with the empire. Then he says in Revelation 13 - Lucifer. Himself gave them his power and throne. So people are fleeing the old world and into the new - for one thing - I want freedom. I want to worship as I want to. I want to work and reap. The fruit of my labor. Was America perfect? No. But the prophecy foretold of that too. Revelation 13 - is where we find the prophecy of America. Two world powers are symbolized in Revelation chapter 13. Before we look at the second we need to understand and identify the first power?This kingdom would claim to be god and claim to have the power to forgive sins – both of the definitions of blasphemy. It would rule the world for 1260 years….In 1798, French General Berthier inflicted a deadly wound upon the papacy when he took the pope captive. Another Nation would arise Next :“I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon” (Revelation 13:11).Prophecy predicted that America would arise from a sparsely settled area.The papal captivity mentioned in verse 10 took place in 1798, and the new power (verse 11) was seen emerging at that time. The United States declared its independence in 1776, voted the Constitution in 1787, adopted the Bill of Rights in 1791, and was clearly recognized as a world power by 1798. The timing obviously fits America. No other power could possibly qualify.4. What is the significance of the beast “coming up out of the earth”? Answer:   This nation arises "out of the earth" instead of out of the water as did the other nations mentioned in Daniel and Revelation. We know from Revelation that water symbolizes areas of the world that have a large population. "The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Revelation 17:15. Therefore, the earth represents the opposite. It means that this new nation would arise in an area of the world that had been virtually unpopulated before the late 1700s. It could not arise among the crowded and struggling nations of the Old World. It had to come up in a sparsely populated continent. 5. What is symbolized by its two lamb-like horns and absence of crowns? Answer:   Horns represent kings and kingdoms or governments (Daniel 7:24; 8:21). In this case, they represent the United States’ two governing principles: civil and religious liberty. These two principles have also been labeled “republicanism” (a government without a king) and “Protestantism” (a church without a pope). Other nations since ancient times had taxed people to support a state religion. Most had also oppressed religious dissidents. But the United States established something entirely new: freedom to worship without government interference. Absence of crowns signifies a republican form of government, rather than a monarchy. Lamb-like horns denote an innocent, young, non-oppressive, peace-loving, and spiritual nation. (Jesus is referred to as a lamb 28 times in Revelation.)6. What does Revelation 13:11 mean when it says the United States will speak “like a dragon”?Characteristics and behavior of a dragon – Revelation 12:9 – Lucifer is the DragonWhat are characteristics of Jesus – the lamb? What is the opposite?Legend of Dragons eating Lambs…7. What specifically will the United States do that will cause it to speak as a dragon? A. “Exercises all the authority of the first beast” (Revelation 13:12) The United States will become a persecuting power that will force people to go against their conscience, as did papal Rome—which is portrayed in the first half of Revelation chapter 13.B. “Causes (forces) the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed” (Revelation 13:12).Signs of the Times May 6, 1897, “FORCE is the LAST result of every FALSE religion.”The United States will lead the nations of the world in forcing allegiance to the papal antichrist. The issue is always worship. Who will you worship and obey? Will it be Christ, your Creator and Redeemer, or antichrist? Every soul on earth will finally worship one or the other. Satan’s approach will appear to be deeply spiritual, and incredible miracles will be seen (Revelation 13:13, 14)—which will deceive billions (Revelation 13:3). Those who refuse to join this movement will be considered divisive, stubborn, radical, and unpatriotic. Jesus labeled Protestant America of the end time a “false prophet” (Revelation 19:20; 20:10),“I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe” (John 14:29).C. “Telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived” (Revelation 13:14). The United States will make an image to the beast by legislating religious practice. It will pass laws requiring worship and force people to either obey them or face death. This action is a copy—or “image”—of the church-state form of government the papacy ruled with at the height of her power during the Middle Ages, when millions were slain for their faith. The United States will combine civil government and apostate Protestantism in a “marriage” that will support the papacy. It will then influence all the nations of the world to follow her example. Thus, the papacy will gain worldwide support.D. “And cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Revelation 13:15). The United States, as head of this international movement, will next influence the nations of the world to impose a death sentence upon all who refuse to worship the beast or his image. Another name for this worldwide coalition is “Babylon the Great.”8. Over what specific issues will force be utilized and the death sentence passed?“He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:15–17).Answer:   The final points of contention will be worshiping and obeying the beast and receiving his mark—honoring Sunday as a false holy day versus worshiping and obeying Christ and receiving His mark by honoring the holy seventh-day Sabbath. (For details, see Study Guide 20.) When the issues become clear and people are forced to break the Sabbath or be killed, those who then choose Sunday will be, in essence, worshiping the beast. They will have chosen to obey the word of a creature, a man, instead of the word of their Creator, Jesus Christ. Here is the papacy’s own statement: “The church changed Sabbath to Sunday and all the world bows down and worships upon that day in silent obedience to the mandates of the Catholic Church” (Hartford Weekly Call, February 22, 1884).9. Could a government really control buying and selling?Answer:   : During World War II, buying was controlled by requiring ration stamps for such items as sugar, tires, and fuel. Without these stamps, money was worthless. In this computerized age, a similar system would be easy to set up. For instance, unless you agreed to cooperate with the worldwide coalition, your Social Security Number could be entered into a database, showing that you are disqualified to make a purchase. No one knows precisely how all this will come about, but you canbe positive it will happen—because in Revelation 13:16, 17, God says it will.Two Emerging PowersRevelation chapter 13 is clear. Two superpowers will emerge in the end time: the United States of America and the papacy. The United States will support the papacy by leading a drive to force the people of the world to worship the beast power (papacy) and receive his mark or else face death.The next two questions will evaluate the strength of these two superpowers.The papacy is the strongest religio-political power on earth.11. How strong and influential is the United States today?Answer:   The United States is regarded as the world’s most powerful military force and the world’s center of influence. Note the following:A. “In the key categories of power, the U.S. will remain dominant for the foreseeable future.” —Ian Bremmer, Time magazine, May 28, 2015B. “What ultimately makes the difference between war and peace ... is not good intentions, or strong words, or a grand coalition. It is the capability, credibility, and global reach of American hard power.” —Senator John McCain, November 15, 2014C. “The United States is and remains the one indispensable nation. That has been true for the century passed and it will be true for the century to come.” —President Barack Obama, May 28, 2014D. France’s then-foreign minister, Hubert Vérdine, told a Paris audience that he defined“the United States as a ‘hyperpower’ ... a country that is dominant or predominant inall categories.” —The New York Times, February 5, 199912. What other factors could help set the stage for a worldwide law to execute those who refuse to violate conscience?The scenes of Matthew 24 – Climate Disasters, Economic Hardship, Moral Decay, Corruption of the Christian ChurchA backlash against terrorism, lawlessness, immorality, permissiveness, injustice, poverty, ineffective political leaders, and many similar woes could easily precipitate a demand for strong, specific laws to be rigidly enforced.13. As world conditions worsen, what will Satan do to deceive the masses?“He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived” (Revelation 13:13, 14).Answer:   The United States will experience a counterfeit revival and will insist that religiouslaws be passed to force every person to participate (represented by “an image to the beast” in Revelation 13:14). People will be forced to disregard God’s holy seventh-day Sabbath and worship instead on the beast’s “holy” day—Sunday. Some will comply merely for social or economic reasons. World conditions will become so intolerable that a worldwide “back to God” movement, with all joining in worship and prayer on Sunday, will be presented as the only solution. Satan will deceive the world into believing that they must compromise Bible truth and keep Sunday holy. But in reality, obedience to and worship of the beast will indicate the refusal of most people to enter God’s kingdom. No wonder Jesus makes such an issue in Revelation over worshiping the beast and receiving his mark!14. While interest in the counterfeit revival heightens, what will be happening to the genuine worldwide revival sponsored by God’s end-time people? Answer:   The Bible says the entire world will be “illuminated” with glory (Revelation 18:1). Every person on earth will be reached (Mark 16:15) with God’s end-time, three-point message of Revelation 14:6–14. God’s last-day church will grow with amazing speed as millions join God’s people and accept His offer of salvation by grace and faith in Jesus, which transforms them into His obedient servants. Many people and leaders from all countries of the world will refuse to worship the beast nor embrace his false teachings. Instead, they will worship and obey Jesus. They will then receive His holy Sabbath sign, or mark, in their foreheads (Revelation 7:2, 3), thus sealing them for eternity. (See Study Guide 20 for additional information on God’s seal.)Spiraling Growth Infuriates the Counterfeit MovementThis spiraling growth among God’s people will infuriate the counterfeit movement. Its leaders will become fully convinced that those who refuse to cooperate with the worldwide counterfeit revival are the cause of all the world’s woes (Daniel 11:44). They will disqualify them from buying and selling (Revelation 13:16, 17), but the Bible promises that food, water, and protection for God’s people will be sure (Isaiah 33:16; Psalm 34:7).As his crowning miracle, Satan will impersonate Jesus.15. In desperation, the U.S.-led coalition will decide to impose the death sentence on its enemies (Revelation 13:15). What does Revelation 13:13, 14, say its leaders will do to convince people that God is with them?Answer:    They will work miracles—so convincing that everyone except God’s faithful end-time people will be persuaded (Matthew 24:24). Utilizing the spirits (fallen angels) of Satan (Revelation 16:13, 14), they will impersonate dead loved ones (Revelation 18:23) and probablyeven pose as Bible prophets and apostles. These lying (John 8:44) demonic spirits will doubtlessclaim that God has sent them to urge all to cooperate.16. How can we be safe from powerful end-time deceptions? Answer:   A. Test every teaching by the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15; Acts 17:11; Isaiah 8:20).The Bible says, “The time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” (John 16:2).4. As we study the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, it seems apparent that the real enemy is always the devil. Is this true?Absolutely! Satan is always the real enemy. Satan works through earth’s leaders and nationsto hurt God’s people and thus bring heartache to Jesus and the Father. Satan is the one responsible for all evil. Let’s blame him and be careful how we judge people or organizations who hurt God’s people and church. They are sometimes totally unaware that they are harming anyone. But that is never true of Satan. He is always fully aware. He hurts God and His people intentionally.In its prophecies, the term beast is a symbol for a mighty nation. The proof is in Daniel 7, a chapter that parallels Revelation 13. Both Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 refer to beasts, ten horns, a boastful mouth speaking pompous words, and intense warfare against God’s people (compare Daniel 7:3-8, 21 with Revelation 13:1-7). Specifically, Daniel 7 describes four great beasts: a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a dragon-like creature. Embedded in the same chapter, an angelic interpreter confirmed: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom on earth” (Daniel 7:23).So, we can nail this down: According to Daniel 7—which parallels Revelation 13—a beast in Bible prophecy isn’t a computer or super-evil person, but a mighty kingdom or nation. That’s what the angel said. Historically, 98% of reputable Christian Bible commentaries have interpreted Daniel’s four beasts to represent the ancient nations of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. This is a fact.Out of the EarthBut there’s more. Revelation 13:11 continues: “I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.” Thus, John saw a great nation rising into power. From where? “Out of the earth,” the prophet predicted. By way of contrast, all four of the beasts in Daniel 7 “came up from the sea” (Daniel 7:3). What does “water” represent? Again, prophecy pinpoints a clear answer: multitudes of people. We know this because in a parallel prophecy another angel confirmed: “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues”(Revelation 17:15, italics added).True to the facts of history, ancient Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome all arose from the midst of a sea of peoples in Europe and the Middle East. Not so with the beast in Revelation 13:11. It comes from the earth. Thus, Revelation 13:11 points to a great nation rising out of a sparsely inhabited area.Like a Lamb“I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb.” (Revelation 13:11). Each word is significant. The true Lamb of God is Jesus Christ who offered His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world (see John 1:29; 3:16). “Like a lamb” indicates that this nation would have lamblike or Christian features. A lamb is a young animal, a baby sheep. This nation would at one time be youthful and new. Significantly, its “two horns” have no crowns like the first beast described in Revelation 13:2. Crowns represent kingly power. So, in Revelation 13:11 we see a new nation, with gentle, lamblike, Christian features, rising out of a sparsely inhabited area. It is led by a crown-less government, not ruled by kings.Are the pieces coming together yet?SuperpowerHere’s the shocker: Revelation 13 also reveals that this mysterious beast with two horns like a lamb would achieve superpower status near the end of time. Then it would degenerate and, during earth’s closing moments, lead out in the global enforcement of the mark of the beast. God’s Word reports: “He [the lamblike beast] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark” (Revelation 13:16,17).These ominous verses parallel the last part of Revelation 13:11 which describes the final, tragic act of the lamblike beast: he “spoke like a dragon.” Let’s examine it closely. The beast “causes” all to have a mark—it compels or resorts to force. “All” emphasizes its global influence. Finally, the beast’s control of buying and selling clearly indicates that the world’s economy is involved.Putting the Pieces TogetherLet’s put all the pieces together:Revelation 13:11 pinpoints the rising of a great beast.In prophecy, a beast represents a great nation.This nation rises out of the earth, or wilderness area.This nation starts out young, like a baby lamb.This nation has lamblike, Christian characteristics.This nation has horns with no crowns—it has no kings.This nation achieves superpower status near the close of time.This nation influences the world’s economy.This nation finally speaks like a dragon.This nation finally enforces the mark of the beast.Be honest: How many nations on Planet Earth today fit all ten of these clear, unquestionable, Heaven-inspired details?Only one.  ——————————

Pulling Down Shame’s Stronghold.. John 8:2-11 NKJV I. Guilt - Both Good And Bad. 1) Conviction John 16:8 2 Corinthians 7:10 2) Condemnation ( this is the work of Satan) Revelation 12:10 Romans 8:1 II. Living With Shame. III. Pulling Down Shame’s Stronghold. 2 Corinthians 10:4-7 Romans 12:2 Ephesians 6:16-17 Romans 5:20 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

Treasuring Christ Church - Athens, GA. Pastor Boyd Johnson

Monday, October 5, 2020

Monday, October 5, 2020

Friday, October 2, 2020

Friday, October 2, 2020

Who (or what) is the Antichrist? He is a person Spirit of antichrist (1 John 4) 2 Thessalonians 2, Revelation 13, Daniel: most often spoken of in personal terms Not a system, or government, though he will head both He is a counterfeit Christ Matthew 24:4-5, 23-24 Counterfeit religion Counterfeit resurrection Counterfeit Trinity Counterfeit peace He will rise out of a revived Roman Empire Daniel 7 10 horns, 7 heads  Like a Caesar Will he be Jewish? Deuteronomy 18:15-19 He will let them rebuild their temple (part of the covenant in Daniel 9:25-27?) Ascends from the sea of gentile nations (Cp. Revelation 17:15) He will be worshiped by the world 2 Thessalonians 2: Revelation 13: He will be empowered by Satan Revelation 12:, 13:2 A great deceiver (cp. 2 Corinthians 4:4) He (and the false prophet) will require the world's allegiance and participation in his one world government/NWO Revelation 13:16-18 He will unite the world in rebellion against God Revelation 19 Psalm 2

Revelation 12:13-17 Series: Just Conquer #36 # Introduction Good liturgy does more than check the boxes of what someone has said is good to do at church. It's more than well-arranged hooks to hang meat on, though it does give opportunity for content delivery. Good liturgy is like a recipe for making food that tastes good and fills you up, even though you usually don't think about all of the individual ingredients while eating dinner. Good preaching also does more than meet certain standards of public speaking with the additional concern of theological accuracy. Good preaching pleases God as God's Word is proclaimed, good preaching feeds and equips the saints, it even rebukes and corrects. Good preaching consecrates the living sacrifices as it renews the minds of believers, and it should stimulate faith in the Word which promises blessing. On an annual basis I take a break from whatever series I'm preaching through and focus on the subject of corporate worship and liturgy. Most of the time the liturgy just works on us, sometimes we attend to *how* it works on us. I don't remember the last time I got specific about why I preach the way that I do, and what I expect to come from it (interestingly enough, was probably during a message about where preaching fits in the liturgy). For sake of some of you who are new to the flock, or growing up in it, here are some of the things always dancing around my mind. I love studying the Bible. One of my favorite things to do is diagram verses. I love to see the grammatical main point and the syntactical modifiers. I enjoy reading the Bible, reading books about the Bible and commentaries on specific parts of the Bible. I am fanatic about *paragraphs*, about context, and about considering as much as possible what the original readers would have understood before taking advantage of the larger context of all 66 books, a blessing we have, but one that belongs in its place. I got to spend eight and a half years in Bible college and seminary, I have been preaching on a regular basis for over twenty years, I know that I have extra accountability as an elder and as a teacher (James 3:1), and I *still want you to see the Scripture and understand the text and learn how to read it for yourself*. I'm not abdicating my authority, I'm using my authority to get you to see that my authority is attached to the Word, and you can go straight to the Word, too. Some of you have heard me talk about my attitude on this a lot, or at least a long time ago. Some of you are newish to the flock, and that's great, and my goal is to affirm that I want you to get the Word, not get my word. It doesn't mean that you have as much time, or interest, in studying it as I am blessed to do. But we're only five hundred or so years into God's people having their own copies. What an opportunity to read it, whenever you want, *for yourself*. I am responsible to teach, and you are responsible to see if what you're being told is *biblical* (Acts 17:11). When it comes to the book of Revelation, I'm trying to show my work. I'm not offering a special decoder key to understand it. In fact, apart from a dumb amount of reading on coronavirus and capitalism and constitutions, I've been spending most of my weeks reading a variety of options and interpretations to test my perspective, verse by paragraph by seal and trumpet and woe. When we come here together, I'm not sharing my opinion, I'm telling you my *observations* of the text, for sake of interpretation and application. This is true for Revelation, and it is a pattern for whatever you're reading in the Bible. I'm convinced that the prominent challenge comes from the fact that what John describes in Revelation has not happened like John describes. We're either supposed to realize that his language expects a symbolic interpretation or his language expects a future fulfillment. I'm happy giving the benefit of the doubt that we're all on the same side trying to figure that out, and what we share is a common enemy, who is our ancient and angry foe. This foe is the dragon, the ancient serpent, the devil, Satan (Revelation 12:9). He's an adversary who deceives the world and accuses God's people. He desires their destruction, because beings who won't accept their place before God desire to mess with everything God has put in place. In Revelation 12 there are numerous parts to the battle. The dragon was swept out of heaven early, and tried to devour the male child who was prophesied to defeat him (Genesis 3:15). That didn't work, so he went back to heaven and was decisively thrown down again (Revelation 12:7). He's back to attack the woman, and this final paragraph shows not just that he's furious, but that his efforts are futile. See for yourself. # The Woman Protected (verses 13-14) Some people come to grips with a loss by moping in the corner. Others come to grips by looking for a scapegoat, for someone they can take their anger out on. **When the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to earth**, when he had been defeated and bounced by superior power, **he pursued the woman who fled into the wilderness.** We met the **woman** at the beginning of the chapter. John saw her with a crown of twelve stars, clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet (12:1). She is a "sign" of Israel, the community that gave birth to the "male child" who would rule the nations (12:5). After the male child was born, she "fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God" (verse 6), and now we see more explicitly her escape. Initially the dragon targeted the woman to get to the Son, now he targets the woman instead of the Son. The word **pursued** often includes persecuted, as here. **And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman in order to fly into the wilderness, to her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.** (verse 14) The dragon hunts her and God delivers her. **Given** is one of the most common words in Revelation, a divine passive, meaning that this happens by God's effort. She isn't carried by a great eagle (not Gwaihir or Landroval, this isn't _The Hobbit_), she is given **two wings**. What *are* the wings? The Historicist typically takes these as the division of the early church into the east and west. Some take the earth swallowing up the flood in the following verses as a reference to Constantine's conversion and inclusion of Christianity. More likely, the wings are a “yet undisclosed supernatural means for her deliverance” (Thomas). It reminds us of God's message to Moses in the third month after their flight from Egypt. > You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' (Exodus 19:4–6 ESV) The **wilderness** is a place out of the way, a place under the radar, a place of *refuge*. No one wants to go there unless they are trying to escape. But this is **her place**, a “place prepared by God” (verse 6). And she is **nourished**, she is *fed* and kept away from the serpent for three and a half years. A **time** is a year, **times** is two years, and **half a time** is half a year, equalling 42 months, connecting with Daniel 7:25. Think also of the great encouragement in Isaiah 40:28-31, with wings like eagles (verse 31), and various *unfulfilled* promises to Israel (Isaiah 40:27), here fulfilled. Answered in these two verses are Who? When? Where? What? It's *Israel*, during the second half of the Great Tribulation (not the entire church age), taken away (from Jerusalem), for sake of keeping her/them safe from the rage of the dragon. # The Woman Protected - Again (verses 15-16) It looks like she got away, and the serpent isn't satisfied. **The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood.** I didn't realize there was a self-contained (Greek) adjective for "swept away/swallowed up by a river" (ποταμοφόρητος, *potamoforetos*). The serpent wants the adjective to describe the woman; he wants to drown her drowned. What about this **flood from his mouth**? Does the flood of water seem to be liquid, or a flood of lies? Is it H2O, or is it dry, as in, deception? There is an apparent connection with flood and falsehood (Psalm 144:7-8). Other commentators think the flood symbolizes an army. If this was the only description we had for the image, it would be easier to take it mainly in a metaphorical sense. But note how the woman is delivered. **And the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from its mouth.** It's a picture, but if the water part of the picture is of lies, then the earth part of the picture is what? In what way is the earth a symbol of intervention that keeps God's people from being overwhelmed by deception? Why not interpret the **water** as aqua/agua? Why not **the earth opened its mouth** as a crack in the surface? Why not understand it as a physical threat, with physical deliverance? The earth swallowing the water reminds us of the earth swallowing Korah and his fussy followers (Numbers 16:30-32). Either way, physical or figurative, the serpent is frustrated *again*. His devouring fury is drained. He can't win for losing. He can't get his hate on the woman like he so desperately tries to do. # The Woman's Offspring Attacked (verse 17) In this chapter the dragon was mad at the woman, desired to devour her child, was angry with the woman again, and now he targets her other offspring. **And the dragon became furious with the woman and he went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold on to the testimony of Jesus**. If he can't get to the woman, maybe he can hurt her by getting to her kids. Which brings up a necessary observation/interpretation question: if the woman is a community, and a *generational* community at that, who gave birth to the Messiah, including generations *after* the child ascended to heaven (since the dragon attacks her post ascension), then who are her offspring? Is there a certain generation when a generational community starts being considered separately? It's possible that the **rest of her offspring** are Gentiles. It's possible that the offspring are the sealed 144k Jews mentioned in chapter 7. Some think the woman is the “church” but the offspring are individual Christians. That he “made war with” connects the prophecy in Daniel 7:19-28, an end time persecution of Israel. If the woman is Israel (and I believe she is), and Israel is delivered in the wilderness, then these offspring are somehow *not* protected, but accessible to the dragon as a target of attack. To me, it fits to understand these offspring primarily as a reference to the sealed, but that also includes any who repent and turn to the Lamb during the Tribulation. They didn't make it to the wilderness refuge, but they do **keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus**. Most English translations include the final phrase as verse 17, though the RSV counts a verse 18, and the NASB moves it to the start of chapter 13. **And he stood on the sand of the sea**, meaning the dragon is seen positioning himself for another wave of attack, especially as he prepares to call the beast from the sea (13:1). # Conclusion Observations from this paragraph point to a future fulfillment. Application from this paragraph points to presently having no reason to be intimidated. Amidst false teaching and false accusations, amidst trouble, we are comforted that the dragon doesn't win. The dragon is a sore loser. The only thing shorter than his time is his temper. But our refuge is in God and His Son. Even if we don't get the exact same wings as the woman, we can believe the promise for those who wait on the Lord. > Even youths shall faint and be weary, > and young men shall fall exhausted; > but they who wait for the LORD shall > renew their strength; > they shall mount up with wings like eagles; > they shall run and not be weary; > they shall walk and not faint. > (Isaiah 40:30–31, ESV) --- ## Charge The same power that throws down the dragon is the power that has raised you up to walk in newness of life. The only thing you must do is believe in the immeasurable greatness of His power, and then live in it. Of course, even your faith and obedience are by His power. Praise be to His name! ## Benediction: > [May you know] what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:19–23, ESV)

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/opendoorlife/~3/ILt6XGKlr7Q/NkREQUZERjNCRQ NkREQUZERjNCRQ Sun, 07 Jun 2020 17:19:20 CDT Revelation: Thy Kingdom Come no The Rise of Satan - Revelation 13 Dwayne Milioni 00:00:00 chris.timmons@opendoorlife.com (Open Door Church)http://www.opendoorlife.com/NkREQUZERjNCRQhttps:/

In contrast to those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus, the third angel points to another class, against whose errors a solemn and fearful warning is uttered: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God." Revelation 14:9, 10. A correct interpretation of the symbols employed is necessary to an understanding of this message. What is represented by the beast, the image, the mark? The line of prophecy in which these symbols are found begins with Revelation 12, with the dragon that sought to destroy Christ at His birth. The dragon is said to be Satan (Revelation 12:9); he it was that moved upon Herod to put the Saviour to death. But the chief agent of Satan in making war upon Christ and His people during the first centuries of the Christian Era was the Roman Empire, in which paganism was the prevailing religion. Thus while the dragon, primarily, represents Satan, it is, in a secondary sense, a symbol of pagan Rome. In chapter 13 (verses 1-10) is described another beast, "like unto a leopard," to which the dragon gave "his power, and his seat, and great authority." This symbol, as most Protestants have believed, represents the papacy, which succeeded to the power and seat and authority once held by the ancient Roman empire. Of the leopardlike beast it is declared: "There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies.... And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." This prophecy, which is nearly identical with the description of the little horn of Daniel 7, unquestionably points to the papacy. GC 438.1 - GC 439.1 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/adventistangelswatchman/message

Sermon Notes Date: 11/24/2019 Preacher: Monty Simao, pastor Series: Revelation Key Text: Revelation 20:7-10 Description: Avg. Guy: “Who is Gog and Magog???” SBC Host: Speak about the book of Revelation for any length of time, and this is a question that will likely arise. Today on Scandia Bible Church Podcast, Pastor Monty Simao shares a section […]

Question: "What is deliverance ministry, and is it biblical?" Answer: The generally agreed-upon definition of “deliverance ministry” will usually focus on the casting out of demons or spirits in an attempt to solve problems related to specific demons. For example, a deliverance minister may seek to help someone overcome anger by casting out a spirit of anger. Deliverance ministries also focus on tearing down spiritual strongholds in one’s life, finding inner healing, and claiming the victory in Christ over all enemies. Many refer to soul ties, curses, and the “legal rights” of demons. Biblically, demons or evil spirits are known to be fallen angels that rebelled in heaven with Satan (Revelation 12:4, 9; Isaiah 14:12–20; Ezekiel 28:1–19). There is certainly quite a bit in Scripture about Satan and his horde of demons. There is little said about deliverance from them, and nothing said about deliverance as a “ministry.” The offices of the church are found in Ephesians 4:11. First were the apostles and prophets, the foundation of the church—with Jesus being the Chief Corner Stone (Ephesians 2:20). Next are listed evangelists, then pastors, and teachers. The ability to cast out demons is not listed as a spiritual gift or a ministerial duty. The Gospels and Acts relate that Jesus and the disciples cast out demons. The teaching portions of the New Testament (Romans through Jude) refer to demonic activity yet do not discuss the method of casting them out, nor are believers exhorted to do so. We are told to put on the whole armor of God to stand against spiritual wickedness (Ephesians 6:10–18). We are told to resist the devil (James 4:7) and not give him room in our lives (Ephesians 4:27). However, we are not told how to cast him or his demons out of others, or that we should even consider doing so. It is interesting that we have no record of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples on how to cast out demons, with the possible exceptions of Matthew

sermon transcript God’s Great Patience Finally Runs Out The End of the World A common phrase, meant to comfort one experiencing affliction, but in effect demonstrating a shallow and flippant lack of compassion, is, “It’s not the end of the world.” Today we will study a prophecy of the end of the world which reveals the truth behind the opposite of that phrase. It is a weighty thing. We see and experience the world around us — blue skies, cold temperatures, the cycle of seasons, the shore and the ocean, mountains and islands. It is difficult to grasp in our minds that some day the ocean will be murdered by human sin and the mountains and islands will flee away. They are not permanent but temporary. Let it settle in your heart and affect the way you see all aspects of life — your education, your job, your marriage, your parenting — all that you do. We are aliens and strangers in this temporary world that will be destroyed by the wrath of God because of human sin. That is the impact of Revelation 16. Worse Than We Can Imagine The end of the world will be worse than we can imagine. It is hard to imagine as we read these prophecies to understand their weightiness. It will be worse than any film can show. It is a prediction, a prophecy of the future. Revelation 17, 18, and the first part of Revelation 19 provide a parenthetical descriptive insight into the wickedness of the world in which we live, called Babylon the Great, which is the reason for the destruction poured out from the bowls. She is described as a whore riding on a beast and as a big city with commerce and trading. Revelation 19 celebrates Babylon’s destruction, then depicts the Second Coming of Christ. The bowl judgments are the last events on earth right before the Second Coming. In Revelation 16, we come to the end of God’s patience waiting for sinners to repent. God’s Matchless Patience Described His patience is immeasurable and matchless but not endless. A day is coming in which God will judge the earth for its sins. Verse 14 says they will go out and gather the kings of the whole world for battle “on the great day of God Almighty” (other Scriptures call it the “day of the Lord”). Why is God patient with us? We must not misunderstand his patience; it is not because he does not care about sin or because he is not holy, or because he is impotent. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. … Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation.” He is waiting for sinners to repent and be saved. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 2, that God’s goodness, kindness, patience, and tolerance are meant to lead us to repentance. God was patient with Paul as he was punishing the church, hardening his own heart, dragging off Christian brothers and sisters, throwing them in prison, breaking up homes, seeing that people were executed for faith in Christ. Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:15-16 “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst [not was]. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” In Romans 9, Paul writes of the astonishing level of patience God shows to vessels of wrath who will never repent, even in the end. Romans 9:22 says, “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath — prepared for destruction?” What if he did this to make the riches of His glory known to us, the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory? God is patient with objects of vessels of wrath to teach us how gracious he was to us in Christ. God is an amazingly patient God. The Scripture reveals this again and again. In Genesis 6, in the days when Noah was building the ark, God waited patiently for sinners to repent even though every thought and inclination of the hearts of humans at that time were only evil all the time. God still waited patiently. He waited 400 years for the sin of the Amorites and the Promised Land to reach its full measure. During that same 400 years he waited for the Egyptians to stop enslaving and beating His chosen people. After the Jews took the Promised Land and started following the ways of the Canaanite nations around them, God waited patiently for them to repent. He sent many prophets, calling them to turn away from following the Canaanite ways. He is a very patient God, every day of human history showing patience towards sinners. Every day is a display of His unlimited patience, because human history is filled with a river of sin we cannot calculate. Every one of us underestimates it. It is a wicked world that we live in, and that wickedness is pouring out from human hearts. Paul describes it plainly in Romans 1:29-32, “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” That is the world we live in. God’s Patience Ends As we come to Revelation 16, we should not be at a loss to understand why God would pour his wrath on the planet. The angels know exactly why God is doing it. His matchless patience will come to an end. The great day of the Lord God Almighty is coming. 2 Peter 3:10 says, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” There will be no further announcements. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the Earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Context in Revelation The Book of Revelation has several purposes. It is a revelation of the future as it states in both the very first verse, 1:1, and the last chapter, 22: “to show his servants what must soon take place.” It is also a revelation of Almighty God seated on His throne ruling the universe (Revelation 4). Everything circles around Him. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ (Revelation 5), the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, a Lamb looking as if it had been slain. He takes a scroll, perhaps representing the title deed of ownership of the earth, from the right hand of Almighty God, the one seated on the throne. The scroll is sealed with seven seals, which the Lamb breaks open, initiating the flow of judgments from Heaven to earth. Thus, it is also a revelation of judgments on earth, the final process of God’s wrath (Revelation 6). It is a revelation of the point of redemptive history (Revelation 7), showing a multitude greater than anyone could count from every tribe and language and people and nation standing before the throne, wearing white robes, waving palm branches, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” They are a great multitude of the redeemed, the glory of God. It is a revelation of the final seven-year period of history (Revelation 8 and 9). It begins with the seven trumpet judgments, overt punishments and wrath never before witnessed or experienced in history. It is not an analogy or metaphor for something in church history, but a vision of the future. A third of the trees and all green growing things and all of the green grass burn up; a third the sea turns to blood, so a third of the living creatures in the sea die. A third of the fresh water turns to poison. A third of the celestial bodies — the sun, the moon, and the stars — is struck in some way, or their light is reduced by a third. A demonic assault ensues as demons come blowing up out of a furnace, afflicting people with stings as of scorpions. A demonic army appears, killing a third of the population of the earth. Judgment continues in Revelation 16 with the seven bowls. On the surface they appear to be a reiteration of the trumpets; however, some significant differences between the trumpets and the bowls indicate that they are a new set of judgments. First, the seven trumpets have a limited effect on the earth, destroying one-third, leaving two-thirds untouched, demonstrating God’s restraint at that point (He still shows restraint with the seven bowls but less so). Second, the seven trumpets do not end human life on the same scale or scope as the bowls. The trumpets seem to provide a final opportunity for repentance, and some do repent, but the text emphasizes through repetition that no one repents following the bowls. Third, there are details — for example, the fourth bowl which intensifies the sun’s power, the fifth bowl which plunges the world into darkness — that have no parallel in the seven trumpets or anything we know in human history. Fourth, the bowls are identified specifically as the last judgments: “These are the last, because with them God’s judgment is finished on the earth.” God finally ends the day of salvation because the time has come; the last elect person has come to faith in Christ. The rest of the world is hardened in their sin. The wickedness has reached such a level it is time to end human history. Revelation 9:20-21 says, “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent to the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood — idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality, or their thefts.” It is a revelation of the dragon Satan (Revelation 12) and the Beast from the Sea, the Antichrist (Revelation 13). The beast is a world ruler who is directly influenced by Satan himself, given power over the entire world. He also becomes a religious figure, worshiped as a god. He becomes the final government and the final religion. The power of the government is overwhelming — the mark of the beast is required to buy or sell anything. Everyone who is not a believer in Christ, sustained and protected by the sovereign grace of God, bows down to this man, receives the mark of the beast, and worships him as God. They go along to get along and so are involved in that system. It is a revelation of incredibly courageous, bold witnessing in this final phase of human history (Revelation 11, 12, 14). It begins with two witnesses with supernatural power, boldness and courage to stand before this wicked ruler. They clearly proclaim the Gospel until he finally kills them. God raises them up three days later and they ascend to heaven. Many other witnesses, servants of God, do not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. They overcome Satan by the word of the Lamb and by their blood; they boldly proclaim the testimony of Jesus. A specific group of men do not defile themselves with women but follow the Lamb wherever he goes. No lie is in their mouths, and they boldly give themselves fully — metaphorically making themselves eunuchs for the kingdom in order to be witnesses. An angel flying in midair, proclaims the Gospel, “Fear God who created the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. Fear God and give him the glory.” All these are witnessing. It will have effect; there are converts during that final phase of human history, but with the bowls, God will wait no longer. The last elect person, chosen before the creation of the world, has been brought to faith in Christ. The rest are hardened and the time has come for judgment. A Command Revelation 16:1 begins the bowl judgments with a command from God: “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth.’” These seven angels are identified in Revelation 15:5-7. They come out of Heaven, receiving from the living creatures these seven bowls of the most toxic spiritual substance ever seen, the wrath of God that will be poured out on the earth. Many evangelical commentators see this as a literary technique of symbolic language, which is not a safe way to approach Revelation. Some link the bowls to the plagues in Exodus. One says that because so much human commerce relies on oceans and seas, the judgment on the ocean is really a judgment on the economy of the world. God will judge the economy of the world, but this is judgment on the ecology of the world and will literally happen as described. From the Garden of Eden, God has linked the planet we walk on and the sin of man through Adam. Adam’s curse was a curse on the ground. Meditate on that. God said to Adam, our father, “Cursed is the ground because of you, because of your sin. It will produce thorns and thistles for you.” That has unfolded since then. Psalm 8:5-8 says, “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.” The earth is judged because of human sin. This makes perfect sense. God is very consistent about this. Romans 8:19-22 says, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” At that time, the world will be resurrected as we will be, but now it is groaning. There is a definite link and it makes sense theologically. The Seven Bowls The First Bowl Revelation 16:2: “The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.” The angel does not hesitate as he pours this poisonous bowl on the land, resulting in a direct assault on human bodies. One translation says “… loathsome and malignant sores.” The Greek word is tied to the English word for ulcer — disgusting, ulcerating, bleeding, running sores on the skin, bleeding, like Job had when he scraped his skin with pottery. Who is judged? Everyone who receives the mark of the beast and worships his image. The saints — those who believe — are excluded. They do not experience the sores. 2 Peter 2:9 says, “…the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.” God rescued Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah; he rescued Noah from the flood; he is able to make a distinction between the wicked and the redeemed. The Second Bowl Revelation 16:3: “The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.” The sea is turned into blood — a red substance, sticky, oozing, thick, dark, coagulated, like the blood of a man who is gunned down, bleeding out on the floor. Some commentators link it to red tide, but that trivializes it. This is far worse than any red tide ever seen, in that every single living creature in the sea dies. That is absolutely mind-boggling. We have no idea how many living creatures are in the sea. Billions? Trillions? Think of all the krill and plankton; the Great Barrier Reef, said to be the largest single living entity, if it is indeed single; all the beautiful tropical fish that swim in schools through the clear water of the Caribbean; all the stingrays and sharks and orcas. Biologists estimate 50% to 80% of all living creatures live in the sea — that is a wide range. How could they possibly give a more precise percentage? We do not know what is in the depths of the sea, but they will all die because of human sin. Let me intensify, because of our sin, they will die. It is incalculable and unimaginable. They did not die in the flood; in fact, they prospered. But at the end of history, they are the first creatures to die. After the sea dies, we die. This must be the end of human history. There is no way to survive if the ocean is dead. From the sea we get 70% of our oxygen and 83% of our rain water. Billions of people cannot survive long without that level of oxygen and rain water. Given the fact that God will soon pollute all the fresh water, we will have no water to drink, no rain, nothing. The end will come quickly. The Third Bowl Revelation 16:4: “The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.” This is an expansion of the third trumpet judgment, which polluted a third of the fresh water and turned it into wormwood. This bowl affects all fresh water — all rivers and springs of fresh water in the world are turned to blood. John MacArthur said, “The destruction of what is left of the earth’s fresh water will cause unthinkable hardship and suffering. There will be no water to drink; no clean water to wash the oozing sores caused by the first bowl judgment; no water to bring cooling relief from the scorching heat that the fourth bowl judgment is about to bring. The scene will be so unimaginably horrible that people will wonder how a God of compassion, mercy, and grace could send such a judgment.” An angel speaks in God’s defense in Revelation 16:5-6: “Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: ‘You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” These devastating judgments are displays of God’s perfect wisdom, justice and righteousness. Note how angels think. As Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” How is God’s will done in Heaven? These angels display how immediately and with great zeal the will of the king is executed in Heaven. There is no hesitation, no squeamishness, just vindication of God. The angel does not shrink back or question; he celebrates what God is doing. “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One…” The process of vindicating God is called theodicy. Both reasons given by the angel are important for vindicating and justifying God. First, everything He does is right, because he does it. He is the standard of justice and righteousness. If a measuring stick is off even by a little, it is not the Bureau of Standards and Measurements that is in error. Our measuring stick is off — we are messed up; we are unjust. How could we judge God who is perfectly just? His character proves the justice of His action. There is no standard of righteousness or holiness above God that He obeys. When Abraham interceded for Sodom and Gomorrah, he said in Genesis 18:25, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The judge of all the earth is right, and everything He does is right. Second, God created angels and humans alike with minds and hearts to evaluate God’s actions and our own. We can see a rightness in what is happening. It lines up. He is just, “…for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” This is appropriate for these blood-thirsty killers. The ground will disclose, as Jesus said [Matthew 23:35], “… all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.” These blood-thirsty killers will be given blood to drink; it is what they deserve. Proverbs 26:27 says, “If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.” There is a rightness to it, like when Haman was made to hang on the gallows he made for Mordecai. Verse 7 says, “… I heard the altar respond: ‘Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.’” The altar is where the martyred saints from the fifth seal are, crying out. Revelation 6:10-11 says, “They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’ Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.” That is complete now. The full number of martyrs is in, and it is time for judgment. The Fourth Bowl Revelation 16:8-9: “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.” The bowl is poured on the sun. The sun is in the hand of God, and He can do whatever He wants with it. The sun has served the earth since the fourth day of creation. It gives us light and heat, which we need for living. All life depends on sunlight because of photosynthesis. Every second the sun puts off the same amount of energy that our human race would consume in 500 million years. The surface of the sun, the outer corona, is 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The core is estimated to be 27 million degrees. NASA is attempting to send a probe to the core of the sun to send a radio signal to find out exactly how hot it is. The sun is 93 million miles from the earth, positioned exactly where it needs to be to sustain our fragile life and our fragile ecosystem. Imagine a scale model of the relationship between the sun and the earth, with the earth here at the podium and the sun at the back. The North Pole was at -24 degrees Fahrenheit this week. Quito, Ecuador was at 66 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a 90 degree difference. The difference overall, percentage-wise from the North Pole to the edge of the Equator at the scale of our model is the thickness of a dime. In other words, a step forward the thickness of a dime will create a difference of 90 degrees. Do you see the precision with which God has set up our world? He will not turn it way up or we would instantly die. The surface of Venus, a third closer to the sun, is 864 degrees Fahrenheit. A minute adjustment will create a searing heat, made more miserable because of lack of drinking water. That will genuinely be global warming. The ice caps will melt and the oceans will rise, meaning the death contained in the seas will flood the coastal cities, bringing unimaginable disease and suffering. The Fifth Bowl Revelation 16:10-11: “The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” God plunges the world into darkness. Light and darkness are metaphors for good and evil, but we also know that God declared light itself good. When He takes light away, it is a tremendous judgment on us, lining up with our spiritually dark hearts. John 3:19 says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” It makes sense that the bowl is poured out on the throne of the beast, plunging this dark kingdom of Antichrist into darkness. The people are powerless to stop it; there is nothing they can do. It reminds us of the 10 plagues in Egypt. The 9th plague, right before the final plague on the first born, is a plague of darkness. Exodus 10:21-23 says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt— darkness that can be felt.’ So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.” God makes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. He also sets limits. The darkness does not continue forever, because history does not unfold in total darkness. The kings of the earth that are coming for the battle of Armageddon must have light to see. Though it is short-lived, it will be like Hell on earth. Matthew 8:12 says that the wicked “will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The world is in total darkness and people are seared with the heat of the sun, crying out in anger and rage, not repenting of their sins. The Sixth Bowl Revelation 16:12-16: “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. ‘Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.’ Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.” This bowl is preparatory. The Euphrates River was the northern boundary of the promised land. Jeremiah saw these invasions referenced in Jeremiah 1, like a boiling pot tipped over from the north and flowing across the Euphrates. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks all come pouring down into Israel by this path. The river is a barrier or a boundary that, given the global warming, the kings of these nations cannot remove nor cross to come to Armageddon. They need help. The night the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, the powerful Egyptian army aimed to slaughter and wipe out the Jews. They streamed after the fleeing nation of Israel but were stopped by a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud, which stood between the Israelites and the Egyptians. The Israelites cried out to God, hemmed in between the army and the Red Sea, when God opened a way through the Red Sea. When the time came for them to go, the pillar moved around to the front and led them through. Pharaoh and his army started into the bed of the Red Sea; the wheels of the chariot became mired and stuck. Only then, even after the ten plagues, did they realize, “the God of the Jews is fighting for them.” The same thing will happen right before the Second Coming of Christ, only much bigger. The kings of the earth under Antichrist will gather together to wipe the believing Jews from the face of the earth. They will come to this place called Armageddon, and they will be gathered, passive voice, for the day of battle. Why are they there? To die. It will not be much of a fight, but they will be gathered. These demonic frog-like spirits go out performing signs and wonders to get them to come, and the Antichrist and all the armies will be there. Joel 3 details how they will be gathered to the valley of Jehoshaphat (“the Lord judges”). He will judge the nations on every side, multitudes in the valley of decision. When they are gathered there, God will pour His wrath out on them. He gives Christians a final warning: “‘Behold, I come like a thief!’ Blessed is he who stays awake [we are not like those who sleep; believers have been forewarned, so be alert] and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed [when Jesus returns].” That is about personal holiness, personal faith in Christ. We are to be like the five wise virgins who have oil for their lamps to keep them burning, to be ready for the Lord to return. We are to be aware of what time is about and how much God hates sin. It is because of such things as sexual immorality and lying and covetousness, and all manner of wickedness described plainly in the Bible that the wrath of God is coming. We are not to violate our conscience. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5 that this day is no secret to us. We know it is coming so we are not to be like those who sleep but rather to be awake and sober. The Seventh Bowl Revelation 16:17-21: “The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘It is finished!’ [Just as Jesus cried out the same phrase from the cross, there is power in this declaration — this is the finish of God’s wrath on the earth.] Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.” The seven bowls are poured out onto the land and the sea, the rivers and springs, the sun, the throne of the beast, the River Euphrates, and into the air. All the realms are covered; everything is touched. God is judging the universe — the end has come. The seventh bowl sets the stage for the Second Coming of Christ. The kings and their armies are all gathered, but not all people, so around the world there will be judgements. A terrifying divine storm rages, with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. The massive earthquake, the likes of which has never occurred, is a judgment on all the great cities of the world. Every city on earth, especially Babylon the Great, will split apart and fall. My family and I experienced an earthquake on January 17th, 1995. Even a smaller scale earthquake is terrifying — there is no escape from it — but this one will shake the whole earth. In addition to the earthquake, 100-pound hailstones fall from the sky. Even small hailstones the size of a marble can cause damage, but these massive ones are killing people. The Cumulative Effect The Worst Part Physically, the worst part of these plagues is that they are cumulative. Spiritually, the worst part is they do not produce repentance. God’s word says again and again that the fear of the Lord is a servant to us as sinners to bring us to Christ. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” John Newton said, “’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” The people affected by the judgments do no fear God — they are angry at Him. Revelation 16:9, 11: “They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. … and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” This is a foretaste of Hell. When they have been there 10,000 years in total darkness, they will be no closer to repenting and giving God glory than the first day they were there. If anything, the bitterness in their hearts will continue to develop. They will not justify God or acknowledge that they deserve their punishment. Revelation 16:21: “…they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.” Do you realize, oh saints, brothers and sisters in Christ, that God has granted you repentance? If you know that you are a sinner, if you have cried out to Jesus to forgive you of your sins and received the gift of forgiveness, and received the gift of the Holy Spirit in your heart testifying that you are a child of God, you have been given an immeasurable gift. He opened his hand through the Spirit and granted to you repentance unto life. None of these judgments will do that for these vessels of wrath. Behold, therefore, in conclusion, the goodness and severity of God — goodness to you, patience to you, and severity to those who will not repent. As we depart, the world will look like it always has. You have to believe by faith that these things will come, or it will be nothing to you, and you will continue in your life as you always have. If you know that you are not a Christian, how much longer will you wait? Today is the day of salvation. Repent of your sins and trust in Christ. Faith comes by hearing. See the wisdom of God in moderately tweaking His judgments — instead of giving us 946 degrees Fahrenheit, he increases his sun just a little bit. God is so wise, even in cursing the earth. He is meticulous and precise. See His holiness and how much He hates sin. Look at your heart, how have you violated your conscience over the last week. Do you yearn to stop violating your conscience over this upcoming year? Will you put sin to death by coming to faith in Christ by the power of the Spirit? In this way, be holy, as God commands. For believers, warn lost people that these days are coming, though they do not think so. You may have an opportunity at work to share what we have studied today. My kids said, “This is a hard, bad story,” I replied, “No, it is a good story.” There is so much glory that comes after all this suffering.” Imagine if Jesus had died in the middle of the night and risen by morning, and he told his disciples, “I died last night, but I am alive again.” He was crucified for our sins; they watched him die, and great was their joy when he came alive. The suffering makes the joy infinitely greater. We will live in a new world that will be perfect. We will remember all this, and we will hate sin as God does and delight in the New Heaven and New Earth that He will make. Closing Prayer Lord, thank you for the things that we have learned in Revelation 16, an intense, long and difficult chapter. Thank you for giving us patience to sit under it and learn from it, and now Lord, give us grace to live according to it. Help us to be holy, to put sin to death, to have garments of holiness, imputed righteousness from Christ around us, help us to love one another, help us to share the Gospel and be bold to warn other sinners of the end that is most certainly coming, and coming soon. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

12-14-15 - Lucifer is No Equal to God, God created him - Checkmate Treating "Lucifer" as a name for the devil or Satan, they may use that name when speaking of such accounts of the devil or Satan as in the following references: Satan inciting David to number Israel (1 Chronicles 21:1) Job tested by Satan (Book of Job) Satan ready to accuse the high priest Joshua (Zechariah 3:1–2) Sin brought into the world through the devil's envy (Wisdom 2:24) "The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2) "The god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4). The devil disputing with Michael about the body of Moses (Jude 1:9) The dragon of the Book of Revelation "who is called the devil and Satan" (Revelation 12:9;20:2) They may also use the name Lucifer when speaking of Satan's motive for rebelling and of the nature of his sin, which Origen, Chrysostom, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine attributed to the devil's pride, and Irenaeus, Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Cyprian, and again Augustine attributed to the devil's envy of humanity created in the image of God. Jealousy of humans, created in the divine image and given authority over the world is the motive that a modern writer, who denies that there is any such person as Lucifer, says that Tertullian attributed to the devil, and, while he cited Tertullian and Augustine as giving envy as the motive for the fall, an 18th-century French Capuchin preacher himself described the rebel angel as jealous of Adam's exaltation, which he saw as a diminution of his own status. Everything God has instore for mankind, Satan/Lucifer, is the absolute opposite but is not God's equal, because God created Lucifer, Lucifer can not create anything but havoc. beyondbostonprophecy.com beyondbostonradio@gmail.com #bbostonprophecy Host - Larry Barnett

The End of the Beginning: Revelation 20-22 (6pm)

Recorded Live at Joshua Springs Calvary Chapel of Yucca Valley, CA July 10, 2011. Jerel Hagerman of Joshua Springs Calvary Chapel continues on through the book of Revelation with Chapter 12.

This morning, we are looking at Isaiah chapter 11. And it's a good time for it too, because this is the season of grandiose promises, and of visions of a glorious future, because it is a season of a presidential campaign. And it is amazing to listen to all of the promises that are made by the candidates, whether of major parties or minor parties. You really ought to make a list of all the things that are in our immediate future. It's looking quite bright, isn't it? And the fact of a long history of broken campaign promises, not necessarily by these candidates, but just by presidential candidates in, for example, the 20th century, doesn't dim those hopes at all. For example, in 1916 Woodrow Wilson promised to keep the United States out of World War I. And by 1917, we were fighting in World War I. Or in 1928, Herbert Hoover, or at least his campaign around him (I think he later said he never promised any such thing) promised a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. He did promise to eradicate poverty. That was in 1928. You know that what happened in 1929 and the depression that followed put an end to that promise - hence the denial by Herbert Hoover. Or then Franklin Roosevelt's pledge in 1932 to maintain balanced budgets and to decrease government spending by 25%. You can find out whether that happened or not. Or then his pledge in 1940 to keep the United States out of World War II. Or how about Lyndon Johnson's famous promise to win the war on poverty through his Great Society? Someone once said of his presidency that, “He fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” But at any rate, there was a grand and glorious vision of a future society free from poverty. Or Richard Nixon's pledge to get the United States out of the Vietnam War. When pressed on details, he implied that there was some kind of a secret plan. No one was ever sure what the secret plan was. I don't think it included Watergate, his near impeachment, and then the fact that in 1975, finally, we ended, and got out of Vietnam. Or George H W Bush's pledge, "No new taxes, read my lips." Very famous. Of course, at the same time, he was promising to maintain government programs, social programs, and to keep a balanced budget. You can find out how well all of that happened. And so we are in the middle of a presidential campaign, and you are going to hear things like, oh, an end to global warming, or a victory in the war on terror, or the ability to get Republicans and Democrats to work completely together with no discrepancies, or contradictions, or problems whatsoever. Who knows what they are going to promise? It sounds good to me. But as I look at history, I am a bit skeptical. And as I read Isaiah 11, I am yearning for that kingdom to come, and for Christ to reign. But I still think it's fascinating how much we yearn for this kind of thing, and how much we want a glorious future promised to us, and actually fulfilled. I think no myth or legend has been so strong as the legend of Camelot. You remember King Arthur, the English king of lore and legend, who was a wise and righteous man, powerful and mighty in battle with his sword Excalibur, who gathered around him a bunch of gallant Knights of the Round Table, who carried themselves with great dignity, and wisdom, and defended truth, justice, and I guess the British way, at that particular moment. This was a vision of Camelot, of a perfect society, and it extended even in nature, at least in the 1960 musical called "Camelot." There was a song whose lyrics are very well known, and this is what was decreed for Camelot, according to the musical anyway: It's true! It's true! The crown has made it clearThe climate must be perfect all the year A law was made a distant moon ago here July and August cannot be too hot And there's a legal limit to the snow here In Camelot The winter is forbidden till December And exits March the second on the dot By order, summer lingers through September In Camelot Camelot! Camelot! I know it sounds a bit bizarre But in Camelot, Camelot That's how conditions are The rain may never fall till after sundown By eight, the morning fog must disappear In short, there's simply not A more congenial spot For happily-ever-aftering than here In Camelot It is a vision of peace, even extending to nature, of a righteous king who reigns righteously on a throne, of all the people around him doing what is good and right and just - a vision of perfection. And you know what is so amazing? According to scripture, it is too good not to be true. It's too good not to be true, because this is exactly what God has promised us through Jesus Christ. Now, what I think he is doing here in history is letting it be seen plainly that, apart from Christ, and apart from the direct intervention of almighty God, it cannot happen. And so we get to see one form of government, one presidential campaign and rule after another fail, ultimately, so that the ground may be cleared for Jesus Christ, and for the reign of the Messiah on the Davidic throne. And that is the vision that we have in front of us. I. The Humble Beginning of Christ’s Rule Humble Beginning: A Branch from A Stump… Israel like a Felled Tree And it begins humbly. Look at verse one. It says, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." This testifies very plainly to the humble beginnings of Christ's rule, or the rule of the Messiah. Now the image of a stump is one really of hopelessness. There is just nothing left, it seems, of the Davidic line - nothing left of Judah. It is very humble. It says in Isaiah 6:13, "As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land." There is an indication of a termination, but then there is still a vitality to the roots. Branch: Living Image… Israel's promise, then, is of a future restoration and glory to come. The branches are of a living image. The shoot that comes up from the stump of Jesse and a branch bearing fruit, are of a living image. Yes, these are small beginnings, but there is hope for a glorious, a bright future. It reminds me of Isaiah 53, that incredible picture of Christ crucified and resurrected, the fruit of which goes and extends to the salvation of the nations. And this is what that prophecy says at the beginning. Isaiah 53:2, "He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground." Again, we see the idea of sterility, of nothing left of Israel, everything laid low, seems to be nothing going on, and out of it comes life. A branch comes forth and this is the Messiah. And the Messiah is truly Jewish. "Salvation is from the Jews," as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman (John 4:22). The lineage is focused on David, although David isn't mentioned here. Rather, there is a step before that to David's father, Jesse, showing the humble origin even of David. And as you look at the kings in this Davidic line, the kings of Judah have fallen, and it seems, on very hard times. We already have Ahaz, a terribly wicked king who sacrificed his own son to Molech. And after the exile, once the exile comes, there are 14 generations of obscure men who are listed in the genealogies of Matthew and Luke, but we don't know anything about these men. There is nothing significant about them at all, except that God knows that they are in the lineage, from which ultimately will come the Savior of the world, this fruitful branch that is going to come. So it seems for 14 generations as though nothing is coming. Nothing can come from Israel. Nothing can come from the stump of Jesse. But don't you believe it, because the promise has been given concerning David, that one of his descendants will reign on the throne forever. And so we have already seen this fruitful branch. Isaiah 4:2 says, “In that day the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.” I can't hear that prophecy or this one here in Isaiah 11 without thinking about Jesus' analogy in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. And so here is this fruitful branch, Jesus Christ, coming up from the stump of Jesse. The branch is the Messiah. Jeremiah 23:5-6 says, “‘The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’” Oh, any of you who sit there righteous in God's sight today, you can say, "Amen!" to that. The Lord is our righteousness. Jesus is my righteousness. I have no other hope. I am a sinner. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What righteousness do we have, apart from this gift from the righteous branch? He is our righteousness. He is the perfect King. And this is the perfect title for the coming King, because we want to be in his Kingdom. We want to be included, and it is going to be a new heaven and a new earth. 2 Peter 3:13 calls it “the home of righteousness.” How can I be there, except that the Lord give me a gift of righteousness? “The Lord Our Righteousness” - that is the branch. II. The Divine Power of Christ’s rule (vs. 2-3) “Messiah” = Anointed One, Oil Symbolized Holy Spirit Then in verses 2-3, we see the divine power of Christ's coming rule, the power of the Lord on him to bring it about, to make something out of nothing, to make this branch come forth, and then that Jesus would reign in this kind of righteousness and power. Look at verses 2-3. It says, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” Despite these humble origins from Jesse, despite this humble origin, yet there is supernatural power in this branch. He is the Messiah. Now, the word “Messiah” means “anointed one.” And you know that the Davidic kings, in order to be identified as the king, would be anointed by a prophet, or perhaps by a priest. A horn of oil would be poured down on their hair, and it would come down, and trickle down on their beard, or on their hair, and drip down like this. And it was a symbol, a picture, I believe, of the endowing of that Davidic king with the Holy Spirit of God, that the Spirit would come on this individual, and cover him, and enable him to reign wisely and justly. You remember that Saul received that anointing from the prophet Samuel. And the Spirit of God came on him in power, and so it was said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 10:11). It was a surprise. Nobody really expected it. But you know also that things turned in Saul's ministry and the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. We know also that the Spirit of God came on David in power, Saul's successor. But then when David sinned with Bathsheba, he was terrified in Psalm 51:11 where he said, “Do not… take not your Holy Spirit from me,” concerned that the Spirit would leave. And it was a good concern. But this Messiah, this Davidic king, he would be saturated with the Spirit of God. He would be completely covered with the Holy Spirit of God. It says in Isaiah 42:1, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.” “Seven - fold Spirit” – Revelation 1:4-5; 3:1; 4:5 Now, as we look at Isaiah 11:2, there is this picture of a sevenfold aspect of the Spirit of God, sevenfold. There are three couplets, three times two, and then the statement, “Spirit of the Lord.” So that adds up to seven. There is a sevenfold aspect or ministry of the Spirit of God here. It reminds me of the dedication of the book of Revelation. And in that dedication, dedicated to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and given from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, there is mentioned there the sevenfold or “the seven spirits before his throne” (Revelation 1:4). So we have a mention of him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and the sevenfold Spirit before his throne, and Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness. This is the trinitarian picture there in Revelation 1. I think this is an insight, perhaps, into what that means - the sevenfold Spirit or the complete Spirit of God. And so the complete Spirit of God is going to rest on the Messiah, the Spirit of the Lord, “the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (verse 2). All of this is endowment for reigning, for ruling well. You remember the story, of course, about young king Solomon, when the time came for him to take up the mantle of leadership of the people of God, from the greatest king they ever had, David, his father, how daunting that was. And how the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and said, “Ask whatever you wish and I'll give it to you.” And how Solomon, humbly, I think, asked for wisdom to be a wise king, that he would reign over God's people with wisdom. And God was clearly pleased with that request and gave him not only greater wisdom than any man had ever seen up to that point (so great, by the way, that people traveled long distances to just listen to his proverbs, and to talk about science and agriculture. Anything they wanted to talk to the king about, he seemed to have all the answers.), but not only that, God also blessed him with glory and honor and power and prestige, unlike any king there had ever been up to that point. But do you remember what Jesus said about him? He said the Queen of the South “came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). Jesus's wisdom is infinitely greater than that of King Solomon. He was the perfect God, and therefore perfectly endowed with wisdom, through the Spirit of God, to be a righteous king. Now, look what it says, speaking first and foremost about the Spirit of the Lord, that he is endowed with the Spirit of God. This is the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, and Christ was saturated with the Spirit of God. Especially Luke, I think, brings this out. Luke 4:1 says, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where… he was tempted by the devil.” And then at the end of that time of tempting, in Luke 4:14, it says that “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.” By the way, I've often thought about that. The Alpha and the Omega of Jesus's time of testing is a full endowment with the Spirit of God. Oh, that I might always both enter and leave a time of testing filled with the Spirit of God! Both enter and leave that time of testing filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus did that always. He was completely covered with the Spirit of God. And after that it says he went to Nazareth, and as his custom was, he went to the synagogue. And the opportunity came for him to read the scripture. And he opened up to the place in Isaiah where it is written, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me” (Luke 4:18). “I am anointed with the Spirit of God.” He is claiming to be Messiah, because after that reading he says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). He is claiming to be Messiah, the Anointed One, anointed by the Spirit of God. And so he was. But it goes on beyond that, not just the Spirit of the Lord, but also the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Wisdom means that he knows God's character. He knows God's purposes. He knows the right end and the right means to the end. He also shows good understanding. The implication there is more at a human level. He understands man's character and purposes. Jesus had a special perception, an ability to see into people's hearts, and know who they were, and what they wanted. It says in John 2:24,25 that “Jesus knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” And in the chapter before that, in John 1:47, he sees Nathaniel coming toward him and says, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” In whom there is “no guile” (NASB). There is no trickery in his heart. And Nathaniel is amazed. he said, "How do you know me?" he said, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you” (John 1:48). I just looked at you and I knew you. Now, that's Jesus. He is endowed with the Spirit of God, to just know people, to know their hearts. It also says he is filled with “the Spirit of counsel and of power” (Isaiah 11:2). His decisions show practical wisdom. He knows all the proverbs of Solomon and could add 1,000 besides. He knows how to live in this world. And there is also power in Christ. All of that wisdom would mean nothing, if he didn't have the power and the authority to make it happen, to make it stand, to deal with the wicked of the earth. So Jesus has this perfect combination as a king, wise counsel and total power. And so Matthew 28:18 says, “All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to me.” Or it says in Ephesians 1:22 that “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.” And the final couplet is he is filled with “the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2). “The fear of the Lord,” it says in Proverbs 1:7, “is the beginning of knowledge.” Delighting in the Fear of the Lord It's an amazing thing to meditate on Jesus, delighting in the fear of the Lord. And so he does. What an odd combination – “To delight in… fear” (Isaiah 11:3). He himself feared the Lord, and he always did what was right. It was the origin of his perfect wisdom as well, but he also delighted in it. He loved the fear of the Lord. It brought him great joy to walk in the counsel of the fear of the Lord. And he loved bringing that about in other people. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). He delighted in that. He loved that path. And the path was to take sinners like you and me, rebels whose hearts are hard, who are not in any way characterized by these couplets, and to take out our foolish and wayward hearts that do not fear the Lord in any way, and give us instead,a fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom, and the heart of flesh to submit to God's wise rule, to love it, and embrace it for ourselves. He delights in that. It brings him joy to do that to you and me. He delights in bringing fear of the Lord into my heart. He delights in it completely. That was his life's pleasure. III. The Absolute Justice of Christ’s Rule (vs. 3-5) So there, Jesus is described for us. He's characterized. He is fit to rule. Amen? He is going to be a good king for us. Look forward to him. Put your hopes on him, not on some candidate. I'm not saying, “Don't be involved in the political process.” I'm just saying, “Put your hope in Jesus,” because he is the only one endowed like this, to reign and to rule so wisely. And look at the justice of his rule. Isaiah 11:3-5: “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.” Human Judgment: Fleshly and Sense-driven Here, we see a very clear contrast between the rule and the judgment and justice of Jesus, and that of human judges and kings. Human judgment is fleshly and sense driven. There are fleshly motives, such as earthly gain, and power, and prestige, and personal prejudices. There are fleshly methods also. In contrast to Jesus, they do judge by what they see with their eyes, and they do decide by what they hear with their ears. What else can they do? What else can they do? For man looks at the outward appearance, but it's God alone who can look at the heart. And then there is the fleshly manner in the way they carry themselves in authority. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 20:25, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.” It's just the way they carry themselves. Just like in Matthew 23 with the scribes and Pharisee. They love the flowing robes, and they love to be greeted in the marketplace, in the seat of honors, and all of that kind of thing. That's not Jesus' nature, the pomp and circumstance of it all. And perhaps, worst of all, throughout history are those fleshly miscarriages of justice. The innocent condemned, the guilty set free. It's happened again and again. I was reading some time ago of a case concerning this man, Tyrone Gamble, October 25th, 1997. He was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. He willingly gave a blood sample for a DNA test. The sample wasn't sent until 46 days later, waiting for a sample from the victim. Three months later, mid-March, the lab conclusively showed that Mr. Gamble was innocent of this crime. But the county police couldn't reach the state attorney general until a month after that. Finally, in mid-April, six months after the start, Gamble's case was thrown out. Gamble, who had been a poor man, sat in prison that whole time, unable to pay the bond to get out. Well, that's a small case. What about executions? What about other things that have happened again and again? The innocents condemned and the guilty set free. It's happened again and again. That will not happen with Jesus as the judge. It cannot happen. Christ’s Judgment Of course, the real danger for us is we are all guilty. We'll get to that in a moment, but the cross of Jesus Christ is the only answer to that one. But Jesus doesn't decide in a fleshly manner. There is justice to his reign, straight through. “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness, he will judge the needy, with justice, he will give decisions for the poor of the earth” (Isaiah 11:3,4). He is able to search the heart, just like he did with Nathaniel, to know whether there's guile and trickery or not. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). And so he knows exactly what he is doing. Even Jesus' own enemies acknowledged this. You remember, when his enemies came up trying to trick him, and they said to him, the question about taxation, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Mathew 22:17). They wanted to kill him with that one, if they could. But they come with this fawning kind of introduction. “‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.’” (Matthew 22:16). That's it. Even his enemies could see that. He wasn't swayed by men, not intimidated. He is not fooled. He is not tricked. He judges by what he sees inside his heart. He judges by righteousness and perfect judgment, not by what he sees with his eyes. And so righteousness is the foundation of Christ's throne. Righteousness: The foundation of Christ’s Throne Verse 5, “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness, the sash around his waist.” The righteous motive of the glory of God. Jesus said in John 5:30, “My judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” So Jesus' motive, as we talked last week about the Assyrians' motive, Jesus' motive is the glory of God in judgment. The second righteous motive here is the benefit of the poor and needy. “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice, he will give decisions for the poor of the earth” (Isaiah 11:4). Now, Judah’s judges, at this point, wickedly oppressed the poor, and they used their positions of power to do it. In Isaiah 3, we've already seen this. Verses 13-15: “The Lord takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people. The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: ‘It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?’ declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.” Very concerned about this. But Jesus uses his position to benefit the true poor. Now here, I believe we must look to the New Testament to interpret who the poor are. I don't believe this is speaking ultimately of a socioeconomic situation. Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with these words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Those are the ones that benefit from his reign and from his rule, the poor in spirit. The Greek word “poor” is “ptochos,” a beggar, a spiritual beggar. Now, that could be a rich man or it could be a poor man. Now, we know from 1 Corinthians chapter one that not many are wise or influential, or of noble birth. Not many are the rich and wealthy of the world. James 2:5 says God has “chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith.” But the same thing obtains: rich in faith, spiritual beggars. These are the ones that Jesus defends, the ones who know that they have no hope before such a judge, no possibility of surviving judgment day, unless God Almighty moves on their behalf. Those that beg him for salvation, that plead with him by faith, that he would give it to them as a free gift, those are the ones whose judgment he will benefit. And look at the righteous power behind this judgment, the rod of his wrath, with which he will strike the earth. Jesus is the Word of God. He is the great I Am. And when he strikes the earth, it shakes. He has great power. Revelation 19:11-16 gives us a picture of the second coming of Christ in glory and power. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.” That is the coming savior. That is the coming king, the one predicted here in Isaiah 11. With justice, he judges and makes war. And every single human being, every single person, man, woman, and child who is sitting in this sanctuary today, listening to me, every single one of us will appear before Jesus concerning our lives. Every last one of us. Christ, Our Final Judge Let that sink in for a moment. Someday you will give an account to Jesus for your life. In John 5:22,23 Jesus said this: “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-33, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” And to the sheep, he will give them something none of them have deserved, and they know it: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). And to the goats, he will give them what they truly deserve: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). It is Jesus who will do that. It is his judgment that decides. And so we see in Revelation 20:11-12, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small.” That's all of us, friends. “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” What will you do on that day? How will you survive that perfect judgment? His eyes are like blazing fire. How will you survive when the books are open, and you have to give an account for every careless word that you have spoken? Your only hope is that your name is written in the book of life, that through simple faith in Christ, all of that guilt, which we readily acknowledge through the convicting work of the Spirit of God, all of that guilt could be lifted from us, and put on our substitute, on Jesus Christ, and he'd be crushed under the righteous weight of God's wrath and his judgment for our sins. This holy and righteous one, who never committed the least sin, that he would stand in our place, and take all of that wrath on himself. Someday you will stand before him and give an account for your life. Will he say to you, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, blessed freely with a gift of forgiveness, because while you had time, when there was still an opportunity, when it was the day of salvation, you looked by faith to me, and you asked that I would save you, that I would give you my righteousness as a free gift, and I did. And you were confirmed in that with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in that righteousness, you sought to walk the rest of your life. And therefore, I will cover all of your sins, all of them with my blood, and I will accept you into my kingdom.” Will that be you? Or will you hear those dreadful words, “Depart from me, you who are cursed” (Matthew 25:41). Will you receive what you truly deserve, justice meted out by God, based on his law in eternal punishment? I beg you, I plead with you, come to Christ. This is the day of salvation. We are still in it now. The sun came up this morning. We don't know that it will come up tomorrow. We don't know. God will teach us eschatology, friends. We don't know what he plans. We have ideas. We have indications from scripture, but he will come when he comes. Are you ready? Are you ready today, to face the judgment? IV. The Perfect Peace of Christ’s Rule (vs 6-9) Human Government – Constant Strife Now, in verses 6-9, we come to the perfect peace of Christ's rule. Now, in human governments, we see constant strife, one government striving after another for world domination. Within each government, jealous officials striving, petty turf battles one after another, human sin and corruption rife, straight through. But there is also strife between the human race and nature itself. I went back to the cursing of the ground back in Genesis 3:17. God spoke to Adam and said, “Cursed is the ground because of you.” Can you imagine hearing that? “Cursed is the ground because of you.” What you did. “Through painful toil, you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you” (Genesis 3:17,18). It says in Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time.” It's groaning, waiting to “be liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). Death, cycle of death, and food chain. I saw a DVD set my mother gave me as a gift, the Discovery Channel on the planet earth. There are lots of jarring scenes in it. Lots of violence, and there was no warning talking about the violence. It was natural violence though. It was a pride of lions getting after a baby elephant. Thankfully, they cut it off before it got really gory. But it's really dangerous out there in the world. It's dangerous because of us, because we have sinned, because nature is not at peace with itself. There is corruption and there is a cycle of violence. Things are being destroyed. Now, Messiah's rule is going to bring perfect peace, vertical peace with God Almighty, and then horizontal peace with other created beings, and with nature itself. And that, I believe, is predicted here in this passage, a very famous passage. It says, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9). Interpretation Difficulties… Is This the Millennial Kingdom of the Eternal State? Now, this is a difficult passage to interpret, if what you're asking me is, “Is this the millennial reign?” Now, what do we mean by the millennial reign? The millennial reign is a 1,000-year period spoken of in Revelation chapter 20, after the second coming of Christ, when the devil is bound up and cast into a pit for 1,000 years. And some are, it seems, resurrected, and will reign with Christ for 1,000 years. It speaks of the 1,000 years six times in those verses. And in the flow of that book of Revelation, it's after the second coming of Christ, in that passage I just read, Revelation 19, before the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21, before the great white throne judgment that we've already talked about this morning. There it is, this 1,000-year period. All different theories on it, my friends, all different theories. I'm not going to get into them this morning. But let me say this, in this passage itself, there is one indicator, I think, that this is referring to something short of the new heaven and the new earth, the final eternal state. But whether you accept that difference or not, it doesn't make a difference, because I believe that these things will literally be fulfilled at some point in the future, either in the millennial reign, or in the new heaven, and the new earth. Therefore, I do not spiritualize the details here. I don't think we ought to do that. I think we ought to look at them and say this is precisely what Jesus is going to come do. And what a glorious picture of his power, isn't it? Now, what is that one verse? Well, the mention of infants, the mention of children. I don't really know how that fits with Jesus' statement, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). I have a hard time finding procreation in the eternal state. And so, therefore, there is an indication, in terms of the infant playing near the hole of the cobra, and the young child putting his hand into the viper's nest, this speaking of something short of the final eternal state. Even more difficult, friends, is Isaiah 65:17, which says, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.” And a few verses later, it's talking about people who don't live out their years, and if they die at 100, they'll be thought of as young men. I'm saying, “Wait a minute. I thought there would be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain in the new heavens and the new earth.” There it gets very complicated and difficult. My View: This is Speaking of the Full Effects of Christ’s Reign… Including the Millennial Reign on Earth So, what do I make out of it? I think that there will be a millennial reign, a 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth. I respect those that don't see that. I respect them deeply, as long as they're faithful to the text and have biblical reasons for doing it. But I think there's a physical aspect to Christ's future reign. And I think that he is actually going to have the power to change the nature of animals so that they don't rip and tear anymore, and so the wolf can lie down or live with the lamb. Their essential nature can change. Does not Jesus have that kind of power? Aren't you counting on that? Do you want to go to heaven and spend eternity in your present state? I sure don't. I want my essential nature finished. I don't just want work-in-progress - “Please be patient with me. God isn't finished.” I want him to finish me. I want to be perfect as he is perfect. I want that transforming power. I want to yearn for righteousness and have it actually fulfilled. I want to eat a feast of righteousness for all eternity. Don't you? And so, yes, he has this kind of power. He can change wolves. He can change lambs. He can get lions to eat straw like an ox if he wants to. He has that kind of power. And yes, a little child can lead them, and an infant can play near the hole of the cobra. Even the physical snake, hijacked, I think, by that ancient serpent Satan (Revelation 12), can be taken back by God. The snake hijacked for Satan’s wicked purposes, cursed as a result. Even he, the snake, the viper, can be reclaimed and no longer harmful on God's holy mountain. Jesus has that kind of power. And I'm counting on that, aren't you? I'm counting on him to change me and to change this world. And I'm looking forward to that. That's the kind of reign that he has. V. The Universal Reach of Christ’s Rule (vs. 10-12) Now, look at the universal reach of Christ's rule in Isaiah:10-16. I'm going to read verses 10-12: “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.” Look at Verse 12: “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” This is the assembly of the people of God, to spend eternity in the presence of this Messianic king, and they include both Jews and Gentiles from the ends of the earth. Banner for the Nations, a Regathering of the Exiles of Israel It's a powerful thing. First the Gentiles, that Root of Jesse. He is going to stand as a banner for the peoples and the nations will rally to him. These are Gentiles and they're coming to Jesus. That era is going on right now, the gathering of the Gentiles. And why? Because God said to him, God the Father said to God the Son in Isaiah 49:6, “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” And so the Gentiles are coming to faith in Christ. They're going to stand under the Messianic banner of Jesus, and you are going to say, “He's my king. He's my savior,” this Jewish king, this descendant of Jesse. “He is my king” Christ, the rallying point, lifted high and exalted, he will draw all nations to himself. This is all about missions, friends. It's about the advance of the gospel to the ends of the earth, from Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. When the Spirit of God comes, he will gather the elect, the chosen people from all nations of the earth, and they will be people from every tribe and language and people and nation. They will stand around that throne. Glorious Rest! And it says, “His place of rest will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). Oh, it's a place of rest. You are going to enter into God's rest, and there you will rest from all of your labors, just as God rested from his (Hebrews chapter 4). And yes, it's going to be glorious. Revelation 21:10,11: “He carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” Oh, his place of rest is going to be glorious. It's going to be beautiful. Jewish Restoration But there is also a word here of Jewish restoration. It says, “The Lord will reach out his hand a second time” (Isaiah 11:11). Don't miss that detail. The first time was the physical regathering, I think, under the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the rebuilding of the temple at that point. That was the first time that the scattered people of the Jews were regathered. But there is going to be a second regathering. You could spiritualize it and say that this second regathering is just the success of the gospel among the Jews. But frankly, Romans 9-11 says that most of the Jews aren't believing in Christ. There is just a small remnant that have come to faith in Christ, and that's somewhat of a regathering around Jesus. But I believe that there is a far more glorious regathering yet to come. He is going to reach out his hand a second time, at the end of time, while it's still time, and he is going to gather the Jews through faith in Christ. “They will look on… the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,” Zechariah 12:10 tells us. And he is going to reclaim them, and bring them, it says, “From the four quarters of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12). “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26,27). That is what Jesus is going to do to his own people. And he will take away that veil that covers their face. And they will see, at last, Christ in their own scriptures, and they will recognize who the Messiah is, and they will look to Jesus, and they will mourn, but it will be tears mingled with joy because, finally, at last, they have assurance that their sins are forgiven through the shed blood of Christ. And Jesus will gather all of the Jews to himself, he who said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together” (Matthew 23:37). That's his yearning. He wants to gather them, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, “But you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matthew 23: 37-39). But at the end, they will finally say to Jesus, this descendant of Jesse, “Blessed are you, the one who came in the name of the Lord, who died for me and for the Gentiles, and we all now stand under one banner, the banner of Christ.” Verses 13-16 talk about the final effect of that transformation: “Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim. They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them. The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.” The great power of God, even greater than happened during the time of the Exodus, that's the language here. Even greater than that, he is going to deliver his people from bondage to sin, and they are going to come to Christ, and they are going to believe in Christ. And the enemies of the people of God will be crushed and destroyed - I believe that's referring to the second coming - as he swoops down on the enemies of Israel and crushes them, finally, and they are gone forever. Summary: All God’s Chosen People from both Gentiles and Jews to be Gathered into Messiah’s Kingdom And so all of God's chosen people, from both the Gentiles and the Jews, will be gathered together into one kingdom, and there they will live forever and ever. That's our future. Why settle for politics? Why settle for a candidate? Look to Jesus for your true hope. That's where we are heading. We are heading toward a glorious kingdom with a king worth worshipping, who will not disappoint us in any way. Verse 12: “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” VI. Review and Application What we have seen Well, what have we seen? We've seen the humble beginnings of Messiah's rule like a shoot from a stump. We've seen the divine power of Messiah's rule, the sevenfold Spirit of God saturating Jesus. We've seen the absolute justice of Messiah's rule, not a fleshly justice, but righteous. We've seen the perfect peace of Messiah's rule, heart transformation resulting in eternal peace, even extending to nature itself, a transformation of nature that only God could do. And we've seen the universal reach of Messiah's rule, both Gentiles and Jews rallying, being regathered around this one banner. How should we then live? How then should we live? Well, first of all, don't judge God's work by external appearance. The shoot comes up from a sterile stump. It seems like nothing is going on. Learn not to judge a ministry, or a person, or a family by external appearance. Trust in the Lord. Do what is good and right, and let him produce the fruit. Plant good seeds, water them with your tears, and with prayer, and let him do the work. Don't judge it by external appearance. God is at work and he is bringing this kingdom about. Look forward to the perfect reign of Christ. And if God in his wisdom chooses first a millennial reign, short of the eternal state, and then second, eternity, in which these conditions will obtain, praise God. And if he decides to just skip the millennial reign, and go right into the eternal state, none of you who are there enjoying it will complain, I assure you. You'll be delighted and happy to be there. But look forward to it. Feed your minds with it. Put your hope on it. The future is gloriously bright. And allow the sevenfold Spirit of God to saturate your lives, as he saturated Christ's life. John the Baptist said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). Allow Jesus to saturate your day with the sevenfold Spirit of God. And if you lack wisdom, go to Jesus and say, “Send forth now your Spirit of wisdom. I don't know what to do in this situation. I don't know what to do. My husband. My wife. I don't know what to do with my boss, with my employee. I don't know what to do with my financial situation. I don't know what to do with my child. I don't know what to do here, Lord.” Like Jehoshaphat said, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you, [O Lord]” (2 Chronicles 20:12). Look to him, and ask him to give you this kind of wisdom that we talked about today, and delight in the fear of the Lord. Fear him and obey his commands. Walk in his ways. Don't play loose with grace and think that because you're covered in grace you can live however you want. He still upholds his commands. Live in the fear of the Lord. Delight in the fear of the Lord and be blessed in that. And finally, take part in that regathering. It's going on, praise God. Pray for the missionaries that your church supports, for both their internal journey of sanctification and the external journey of the advance of the gospel. And pray for others that you know, that aren't connected with your church, but you know they're doing good ministry of regathering both Jews and Gentiles brought into the Kingdom. Get involved in that.