1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,040 Good morning, Calvary Chapel. Amen. 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:07,520 What a blessed morning it is little, little cold, little 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:11,920 chilly, but it's but it's a blessing. 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,960 You know, I, I was just thinking this morning, you know, you 5 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,120 know, about all this cold. And then I was talking to a 6 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,360 brother and, and he said that for the next couple weeks, we're 7 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:23,600 actually going to be experiencing this, this cold 8 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,760 weather. And I'm thinking to myself, wow, 9 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:28,800 for the next couple weeks. I mean, it's hard for me to deal 10 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:32,640 with it, but but then I was thinking, I said, you know, God 11 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,800 has a reason for doing this. I'm wondering what it is he's 12 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:41,440 trying to kill off. And then the thought came, is he 13 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:45,760 trying to kill me off? And because this is hard to deal 14 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:47,240 with. But anyway, it's a blessing. 15 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,400 We thank God for him being in control of everything, even the 16 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:57,120 weather. I just want to extend also a, an 17 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,640 acknowledgement to the Hamley family as they are in dealing 18 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:04,920 with the loss of their father. And I got a chance to actually 19 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,760 meet that brother at one time and we we got a chance to spend 20 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,920 a little bit of time together. He was the very dear brother. 21 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,800 He was delightful brother, love the Lord, love the Lord. 22 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:15,320 There was no question about that. 23 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:21,400 So we know where he's going. But we do extend our condolences 24 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,360 and obviously, we want to give our support and our prayers for 25 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,840 the Hamley family as they deal with this significant loss. 26 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,520 Our sister Diane dealt with all the welcomes and all that really 27 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,280 sufficiently. So we're not going to go through 28 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:36,520 all that. We're just going to go ahead and 29 00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:37,640 get into the word. Amen. 30 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:42,560 So let's turn our Bibles today to the Book of Revelation 31 00:01:42,960 --> 00:01:49,000 chapter 1. And you know, it's 22 chapters 32 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,320 in the Book of Revelation. So I'm not even sure that we're 33 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:59,600 going to be here. By the time we finish this book, 34 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:05,280 in fact, I hope we're not, but in the event that we are, it is 35 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,520 22 verses. But to keep in mind, and this is 36 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,720 just a message for all of those that you know, the things that 37 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:17,080 are written in this book are so significant that it is, I mean, 38 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,280 it is truly life changing. I'm obviously for believers, 39 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,600 it's very good news and it's encouraging and all those 40 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,920 things. But but for those who are not 41 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:30,280 believers, I mean, this is not a scare tactic. 42 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,400 It's not anything to try to unnerve you, but it is a 43 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:37,920 warning. It is a warning. 44 00:02:37,920 --> 00:02:42,160 He is taking us behind the veil and he's saying, look, this is 45 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:45,720 what is coming down the road. This is what's going to happen, 46 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:49,440 not what might happen. This is what's going to happen 47 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:51,840 and he's the one that's qualified to do it. 48 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,040 So I just wanted to put that out there. 49 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,440 And from time to time as we go through this book, I want to 50 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,440 give opportunities and make an appeal for anyone who wants to 51 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,120 come to Christ. If you've heard something 52 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,600 throughout the time that we we go through this book and there's 53 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,200 something that you hear that that touched your heart and you 54 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:14,400 say, OK, that was it. I want to come to Christ. 55 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,000 I want to have that salvation. We will do it. 56 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,040 I will give that appeal from time to time. 57 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,080 It is that serious. It's that serious. 58 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,000 So anyway, with that being said, let's go to prayer before the 59 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,400 Father and let's get into the Book of Revelation. 60 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,000 Put my phone on silence so I won't be the one violating that 61 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,320 policy. Oh boy, I messed up. 62 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:53,800 OK, let's pray. Father, I can't even express how 63 00:03:55,440 --> 00:04:00,880 good it is for you to give us a book like this that we are able 64 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:04,680 to read, that we're to know the things that are going to be 65 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:06,440 coming. Father, you're giving us that 66 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:12,240 sneak preview and you're saying to us, Lord, that you love us 67 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,880 and that's why you're sharing this with us. 68 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:21,240 Father, what a grace it is for you, Lord, to do that for us, 69 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:27,000 and we're so grateful. And Father, I know that me 70 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:33,040 myself, I'm not qualified, Lord, to stand here and teach any of 71 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,400 this word, let alone this particular book. 72 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:42,560 But Father, you are the teacher. Your Holy Spirit is the one that 73 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:48,440 You sent to teach us all things. So Father, we just ask that You 74 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,720 would enlighten us this morning, that You would open our eyes, 75 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:57,840 open our hearts, open our minds, Lord, and cause us to receive 76 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:03,080 this. Let it change us, let it equip 77 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:10,680 us, let it encourage us, let it comfort us, but also let it warn 78 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,800 us and let it convict us in the areas where we need to be 79 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:21,920 convicted. So Father, we ask now that you 80 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,880 would just fill us with your spirit and help us to be able to 81 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,800 understand what it is that you want to share with us today. 82 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:34,480 Lord, if you don't speak, I won't have anything to say. 83 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,040 So I ask these things. We all ask these things in the 84 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:45,040 name of our Savior and our Lord. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. 85 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,120 I think it's also important to note that over the last couple 86 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,960 weeks as we're listening to Pastor Clark take us through the 87 00:05:55,080 --> 00:06:00,040 15th chapter, the book of First Corinthians, how timely that was 88 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:05,520 as we bout to go into the Book of Revelation and the the detail 89 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:06,800 in which he took us through that. 90 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,000 And I'll probably be referring to some of that or making 91 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,600 reference to some of that as we go through this book because 92 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,960 some of those things do overlap. But it was such a blessing. 93 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,560 I could have just let him go on and continue to complete the 94 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,000 whole book. He could have went into Second 95 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,400 Corinthians and I would have sat down and would have been ready 96 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:29,840 to listen to that, too. But as we go into this book of 97 00:06:29,840 --> 00:06:36,040 Revelations, let us be reminded of just how true, first of all, 98 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,360 how true this is because a lot of people look at this and say, 99 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,520 well, maybe this isn't actually true. 100 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:43,880 It's symbolic. And we're going to talk a little 101 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,360 about about the ways to interpret the book of 102 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,800 Revelations. But this is literal. 103 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:52,880 This is true. This is not something that's 104 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,640 just symbolic. This is real. 105 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:57,120 And this has come from the mouth of Jesus. 106 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,560 This is the revelation of Jesus Christ that he gave. 107 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:05,000 So as we go through this, please keep in mind this is the Word of 108 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:06,960 God. This isn't somebody's opinion. 109 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:08,600 This isn't somebody's imagination. 110 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,960 This is the word of God and everything that it says, it's 111 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:13,400 going to do, that's going to happen. 112 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:18,720 It will indeed happen. So just to give a little 113 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,680 background first, you know, this is Revelation. 114 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:25,080 It's not Revelations. I know I used to say that. 115 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:26,920 I used to say that myself. You know, the book of 116 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,720 Revelations, the book of Revelations, it's not the book 117 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,200 of revelations. There's no S on that. 118 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,960 It is revelation. This is a composite revelation 119 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:40,520 of everything that Jesus Christ was sharing with the apostle 120 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,360 John. The author of this. 121 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,240 Now I said that the author of this is Jesus Christ because it 122 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:48,280 is Jesus who gave this revelation. 123 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,080 Now the but the writer is the apostle John. 124 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,320 Now John tended, but make no mistake about it. 125 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,400 This is about Jesus and it's from Jesus. 126 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:03,720 Make no mistake about it. Now you know, John wrote as we 127 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,160 know this, this is about the, this is the 5th book in the New 128 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:07,560 Testament that John actually wrote. 129 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,520 He wrote the, the Gospel of John, first John, second John, 130 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:12,960 third John, and now the Book of Revelation. 131 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,080 He's very consistent in his writing because John, probably 132 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:20,120 more than any other apostle, always expresses and emphasizes 133 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,960 the deity of Jesus Christ. And then this first chapter in 134 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,360 this introduction, we're going to be doing a lot of that as 135 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:31,160 John talks about the deity of Jesus Christ. 136 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:36,000 The recipients of this letter is the seven churches that are in 137 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:37,919 Asia. And we're going to talk more 138 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:42,919 about that as we move throughout this this chapter date. 139 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:47,160 This book is written is AD 95. That's what the scholars have 140 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,800 kind of agreed. That's about when it was was 141 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:51,840 written. And that's actually about how 142 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,320 old John was at the time that he wrote this book. 143 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,040 Now, now, John was a very young man when he first started 144 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:00,280 hanging out with Jesus and the other apostles. 145 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:04,440 He's a very young man, but now he's the only living apostle at 146 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,880 that particular time that he wrote this and he was up in age. 147 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:13,160 He was about 95 years years old at the time that he wrote it. 148 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,720 He had been exiled to the island of Patmos, which once we get to 149 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,960 verse 9 and beyond that, we will start to talk more about that He 150 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:24,080 was exiled. Now, you know, during this 151 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,800 particular time, the church was going through very heavy 152 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:31,840 persecution, you know, much worse persecution than what we 153 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:32,800 are going through here. Now. 154 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,160 There's some people around the world that are going through the 155 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,960 kind of martyrdom and persecution that this particular 156 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,360 church was going through at that time, but it was being 157 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:47,640 persecuted by a number of different Roman emperors. 158 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:55,120 You know, Nero vas passion and his son Titus was one of the 159 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:58,000 ones who were persecuting. In fact, he was under the 160 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:03,960 command of Titus that the that the temple was burned down. 161 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:08,160 And then of course, Domitian, who was actually the one who 162 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:13,240 exiled or the one that exiled John to the island of Patmos, It 163 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,440 was the the emperor Domitian. Now Nero, when he went through 164 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,160 his persecution, he persecuted those that were around the city 165 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,400 of Rome. So it was kind of local. 166 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,840 But Domitian, when he started persecuting, he persecuted 167 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:30,880 Christians all over the Roman province. 168 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:32,880 I mean, he extended it everywhere. 169 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:37,360 And that's when he decided that it was time that John, who was 170 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:43,320 probably one of the the loudest voices for Jesus Christ at that 171 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:48,480 particular time, he exiled him. Now, the church was going 172 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:50,160 through a lot of different things. 173 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:53,320 They were being pressured from without through the persecution 174 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:57,400 and those things and outside pressures that they were 175 00:10:57,400 --> 00:10:59,880 feeling. But they were also dealing with 176 00:10:59,880 --> 00:11:02,040 a lot of suffering. They were dealing with a lot of 177 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,240 spiritual warfare at that particular time. 178 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:08,360 And even internal, they were dealing with a lot of 179 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,720 challenges. They were, they were dealing 180 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,680 with heretical teaching, they were dealing with heretical 181 00:11:13,680 --> 00:11:17,320 practices as well as spiritual apathy. 182 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,320 And that's one of the things that happens whenever you are 183 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:24,840 dealing with heretical teaching. Spiritual apathy can be born out 184 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:27,800 of that. People become very apathetic 185 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,120 about the things of the Lord because they're not getting the 186 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,680 truth of the gospel, they're not getting the truth of the Word of 187 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:35,600 God. So they can become very 188 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,840 apathetic about things. So they were dealing with that 189 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,600 as well. I mean, after all, Jesus had 190 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,440 promised he was coming back and they were wondering, well, 191 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,840 when's that going to happen? When's it going to happen? 192 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,440 We've been waiting and we've been persecuted and it hasn't 193 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:56,760 happened yet. When and when it does happen, 194 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,240 what is it? You know, how's he going to 195 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,320 return? What's going to happen when he 196 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:04,680 does return? So the revelation is this 197 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:06,960 promise that he gives the church. 198 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:10,600 You know, you know, God decided that it was time to encourage 199 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,840 these people who were failing spiritually, they were failing 200 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,120 emotionally, they were becoming weary and well doing. 201 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:19,560 And God said it's time to encourage them. 202 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,800 So the Book of Revelation comes as a a reminder to them or 203 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:29,840 encouragement to them that they are protected from the judgment 204 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:31,920 that's going to come on the world. 205 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:37,320 And we need to understand that as Christians, as believers, we 206 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:42,040 are protected from the judgments that's coming on the world. 207 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,560 In fact, the church won't even be here when when the great 208 00:12:46,560 --> 00:12:53,240 tribulation happens. So this is an exhortation and an 209 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:57,960 encouragement for believers and a big, massive warning for 210 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,520 unbelievers. So no matter what things we're 211 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,520 going through, no matter what we're dealing with, no matter 212 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:08,120 what kind of pressures you are, you are currently experiencing, 213 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:12,520 this book comes to let us know that we have a good outcome. 214 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:15,240 It comes to let us know we have a good outcome. 215 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,280 Regardless of what we see in our political, because what we see 216 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,240 in social, because what we see going on in our own personal 217 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:24,880 lives, our own hardships, what we see with medical problems and 218 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,480 health problems and all those things, we have a good outcome. 219 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,720 We have a good outcome. It's going to work out good in 220 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:34,840 our favor. Now there's a number of 221 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:38,720 different ways that people interpret this book. 222 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,120 They interpret it allegorically. We, we, we kind of, you know, 223 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:44,560 touched on that a little bit. That means that they think all 224 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:48,320 these things are just symbols. There's nothing true about it. 225 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:50,560 It's just symbols of real things. 226 00:13:50,560 --> 00:13:54,360 And some people look at it from a historical standpoint, what 227 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,080 they believe that this has already happened. 228 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:57,960 You know, we, they've already missed it. 229 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,800 It happened already. So we don't have to worry about 230 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:05,400 that coming ahead of us. But I, and I believe that most 231 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,200 scholars kind of look at it as a literal in a literal 232 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,760 translation, which means that these are prophecies of future 233 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,480 events. It's coming, it's coming. 234 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,320 Jesus Christ is coming back. I think it's interesting because 235 00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:24,640 a lot of the, a lot of the Jews who haven't, who are not believe 236 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,680 or don't believe, they, they're waiting for Jesus to come back. 237 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,200 The first time. We're waiting for him to come 238 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,320 back. He was already here once. 239 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,000 We're waiting for him to come back. 240 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,360 So as we go through this, let's now start to open this up a 241 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:44,000 little bit. Let's look at verse one. 242 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:49,000 Verse one says the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him 243 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:53,680 to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. 244 00:14:54,320 --> 00:15:00,120 And he sent and signified it by his Angel to his servant John, 245 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,960 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of 246 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:08,000 Jesus Christ to all things that he saw. 247 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:14,920 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this 248 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:19,360 prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the 249 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:24,080 time is short. So now the word revelation is 250 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:30,080 actually comes from the Greek word apocalypsis or apocalypse 251 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,560 is our English word for it. And usually when people hear 252 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:35,960 that, they think about doom, you know, there's something 253 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:38,280 horrible. You know, when people make 254 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:41,440 movies and call it the apocalypse, I mean, it's like, 255 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,920 oh, the, the world's coming to an end and people don't have 256 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:45,080 food, don't have money, don't have nothing. 257 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,200 I mean, I mean, something obviously when we get to into 258 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,640 the, the, the more and the deeper part of the prophecies, 259 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,120 we're going to hear about some of those things that come from 260 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:57,280 the seals. But, but the word apocalypse 261 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:00,760 itself actually means the unveiling. 262 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,920 It means the revealing of something that has been hidden. 263 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,200 It's the uncovering. So it's like, you know, again, 264 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,720 like I said, Earl, it's like Jesus has opened up, opened up 265 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,440 the, the curtains and showing us what's behind the curtain. 266 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,800 It's, it's, it's the, it's the revealing of a, of a hidden 267 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,880 truth or mystery that was not revealed previously. 268 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,280 So the Book of Revelation basically reveals that that was 269 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:30,760 unknown. Now, Jesus gave this revelation 270 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:35,800 to John to show his servant. So he gave it to John to show 271 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:41,240 Jesus's serve to show us of those things which must shortly 272 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:44,600 take place. Now, when you talk about shortly 273 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:48,040 take place, he doesn't mean that it's going to take place in a 274 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:50,720 short amount of time. That's not what he said. 275 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:54,080 He's not saying, hey, look what, we're here today and next week 276 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:56,520 or tomorrow or next week. This is going to happen. 277 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:01,120 It could, because we don't know when Jesus is coming back, but 278 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,520 that's not exactly what he's emphasizing here. 279 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,119 What he's saying here is that when these things start to 280 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:13,119 unfold, when these things start to happen, it's going to unfold 281 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,640 quickly. It's going to happen suddenly, 282 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:20,200 so it's going to unfold quickly. So when you hear people talk 283 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,640 about, well, I'll wait until I see Jesus come back, and then 284 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:24,960 I'll, and then I'll repent. And no, no, no, no, you ain't 285 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,119 gonna have time to do that. These things are going to happen 286 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:34,040 quickly. So then he goes on and, and when 287 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:36,960 he talks about the, that he said he signified it. 288 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:39,880 And that word signified it. When he, when he uses that 289 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,200 phrase, that just simply means that he, it was made known. 290 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,120 He made it known. Jesus made it known and 291 00:17:46,120 --> 00:17:48,360 communicated it. And how did he do it? 292 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:53,040 He did it by his Angel and possibly Gabriel. 293 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,000 And we, we, we know in the Scriptures that there's a lot of 294 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:01,560 times where an Angel is used to communicate something from, from 295 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:06,200 heaven and, and he and he used an Angel to communicate this to 296 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:08,840 John. Now we know that historically or 297 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:13,800 in the Old Testament we read about Daniel was approached and 298 00:18:13,800 --> 00:18:18,360 was given information from an Angel, Mary, when she learned 299 00:18:18,360 --> 00:18:22,320 about the, the, her, her birth, her virgin birth that came by 300 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,600 way of an Angel in Zechariah. And then there's other verses 301 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,120 that I want to just look at a couple other verses here in the 302 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:33,040 Book of Revelation. Turn to Revelation chapter 5 and 303 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:39,440 look at verse 2. Revelation chapter 5, verse 2. 304 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:51,240 52 Then I saw a strong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice 305 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:56,280 who is worthy to worship the scrolling to loose the seals and 306 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:00,120 then go to Chapter 7, just a couple I'm going to look at here 307 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:04,920 in Chapter 7 verse two, he says. Then I saw another Angel 308 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:09,520 ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and 309 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:16,280 he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was 310 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,200 granted to harm the earth and the sea. 311 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:24,520 So he communicates quite often in the Book of Revelation by way 312 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,600 of an Angel. And then in here, in verse 2, 313 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:32,080 when he says, here John bore witness to the word of God and 314 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,680 to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw, John 315 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:40,440 declared and he bore witness of the word of God. 316 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,200 It was the Word of God. Like I said, John didn't get 317 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:47,040 this from somebody that he knew. He didn't get this from somebody 318 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:49,720 who gave him this idea. He didn't imagine this. 319 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:52,960 He received this from the Word of God. 320 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:57,320 So he bore witness to the word of God, and he spoke the word of 321 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:03,040 God, and he testified of Jesus Christ, who is the word of God 322 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,520 according to John 1. Jesus is God's message in human 323 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,920 form. And this is exactly who we what 324 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:15,640 we are called to do is to communicate the word of God. 325 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,600 We're not to communicate things that ideas that other people 326 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:22,120 have. We're not we're not called to 327 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:25,080 that to communicate ideas that people have. 328 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,920 We're not called to, you know, read a book that has nothing to 329 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,240 do with the with the with the Holy Bible and get somebody's 330 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,880 philosophy about things and share that with people. 331 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:37,320 That's not what we're called to do. 332 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:44,240 We are called to testify to Jesus Christ and share the Word 333 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:49,920 of God, the word of God. And when we come here today into 334 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:52,640 church and we listen to the Pastor Clark and to the other 335 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,080 teachers as they share the word of God and thank God, we're in a 336 00:20:56,080 --> 00:21:00,160 church that does read the Word of God and we all read it 337 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:02,640 together. So we encourage people to bring 338 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,000 Bible so that you can see it is the word of God and not ours. 339 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,840 It's nothing that we wrote down previously and then came and 340 00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,320 shared it with you. This comes right out of the 341 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,040 Scriptures. It's the word of God. 342 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,440 So we can feel good about sharing these things and they 343 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:22,840 testify of Jesus Christ our Lord. 344 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:26,160 No prophecy of scriptures of any interpretation according to 345 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,240 Peter. Peter tells us that you know, 346 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,640 it's not there is no prophecy that that that's of any private 347 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,960 interpretation, nor is it come from the imagination or the 348 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:43,120 thoughts of men, but holy men spoke as they were moved by the 349 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:46,120 Holy Spirit. Holy man spoke. 350 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:49,880 So I hear somebody say Amen over there. 351 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:54,480 Thank you. I'll give you that piece of 352 00:21:54,480 --> 00:22:04,040 candy after church blessing. So then in verse three, he goes 353 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:09,520 into the blessings and and this is this was exciting for me to 354 00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,280 read this and go into the blessings. 355 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:19,040 In verse three, he says, blessed is he who reads this and who 356 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:24,840 keep those things which are written in it for the time is 357 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,480 near. So blessed are those who read 358 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,400 out loud and he's talking about reading out loud. 359 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,840 So you come into a church and you hear a pastor stand up and 360 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:38,680 he reads these things out loud. And that's another reason why I 361 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,760 love, you know, the way we do things here at Calvary Child, 362 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:45,280 because we read these scriptures out loud in your hearing. 363 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,880 And he says bless it are those who read it. 364 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,680 If you're at home and you're with your family and you're 365 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:56,200 reading these scriptures to your family, that's a blessing. 366 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,880 That's a blessing. So he said blessed are those who 367 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:06,800 reads it and those who hear it. Congregation, whoever it is that 368 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:10,320 you're speaking to, blessed are those who hear the words of this 369 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:16,120 prophecy and keep those things which are written in it. 370 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,720 Those two things go together. Hearing it and keeping those 371 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:22,240 things go together. It's not about just hearing it, 372 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,800 but it's about hearing and keeping those things, guarding 373 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,160 those things, protecting those things, obeying those things 374 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:34,040 which are in it, he said. There's a blessing in that 375 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:36,480 there's a, it's a great blessing. 376 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,040 And that in fact, throughout the whole book of Revelations, 377 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,960 there's about 7 times where he mentions the blessing. 378 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:48,360 And some scholars call this the, the, the, the, the, the seven 379 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,960 beatitudes of Revelation. Just going to look at a couple. 380 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:56,640 We already looked at where it says blessed it, you know, 381 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:01,080 blessed are the ones who read and hear and those who obey or 382 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:02,960 those who keep those things that are written. 383 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:09,240 But if you go over to chapter 14, over to chapter 14, he gives 384 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:14,760 us another blessing 14 verse 13, he says blessed are the dead who 385 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,920 die in the Lord from now on. So for those those who are being 386 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:22,960 martyred that are going to be martyred in the time of the last 387 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,880 days of the tribulation, he said blessed are those people who die 388 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,800 in the Lord. And then in chapter 16, verse 389 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:37,880 15, he gives another blessing. Here he says, blessed is he who 390 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:42,840 watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see 391 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:50,040 his shame. 19 and 9, blessed are those who were called to the 392 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:55,600 marriage supper of the Lamb. And then in 20 and verse 6, 393 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:03,000 blessed are blessed are and holy is he who has part in the first 394 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:05,520 resurrection. Pastor Clark was talking about 395 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,040 that about a week ago that that resurrection. 396 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:19,560 And then in verse 22, Chapter 7, 22 and seven, he says bless it 397 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:23,240 is he who keeps the words of this prophecy of this book. 398 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,920 So we see in the 1st chapter he says blessed are those who keeps 399 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,200 this these commandments. And then he says he repeats it 400 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,400 with another blessing in the end of the book. 401 00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,640 At the end of the book in chapter 22, blessed is he who 402 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,800 keeps these words of the prophecy of this book. 403 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:45,160 And then also in 2214, he gives one more blessing. 404 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:52,320 He says blessed are those who do His commandments that they may 405 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:55,760 have the right to the tree of life. 406 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:58,680 Blessed are those who keep his commandments. 407 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,920 They have a right to the tree of life with a blessing that is so 408 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:08,200 John is saying here that there is benefit to those who read and 409 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,600 understand and obey this prophecy. 410 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,600 And then he says that he then he says because the time is near 411 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,840 now. When he says that he is indeed 412 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:25,240 speaking about the time period, he is saying that that time is 413 00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:25,800 near. Now. 414 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:32,400 Our near is not the same as God's near, OK? 415 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:41,920 He tells us that 1000 day, 1000 years is like a day. 416 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:47,800 In the economy of God, 1000 years is a day and a day is like 417 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,040 1000 years. So we look at this from the time 418 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,800 Jesus ascended, it's only been about 2000 years. 419 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,480 I shouldn't say like it's only been about 2000 years, but in 420 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,960 the economy of God, it's only been about two days. 421 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:05,400 That means it's been less than three days that our Savior was 422 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:11,080 actually taken up. So for God, it's been a short 423 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,000 amount of time, but we don't know. 424 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:17,880 We don't know when he's coming back. 425 00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,040 We don't know. So we don't know. 426 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:25,360 So he says when he says the time is near, we should heed that. 427 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:30,160 And unfortunately, you know, when, when you have people who 428 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:35,840 look at what's happening in our in our world, and you look at 429 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:42,600 the people who are unbelievers who like to mock us because we 430 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,560 have decided to live the Christian life and we have 431 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,200 decided to wait on the Lord Jesus Christ. 432 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:52,240 We have put our trust and what he says in his word. 433 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,160 And we're waiting for him to come back so that we can be 434 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,800 glorified with him. But you got mockers who would 435 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,960 say why you keep waiting. I mean, how long you going to 436 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,480 wait? You, you letting your life pass 437 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:05,840 you by. Ain't nothing good. 438 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,440 Ain't nothing happening. You know, he's been saying that 439 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,400 forever over in first Peter, Peter talks about second Peter. 440 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,080 He talks about that over in chapter 3 verse, verse three. 441 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,080 He says, knowing this first, that the scoffers will come in 442 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,360 the last days and they're here. They're here. 443 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,160 There's a lot of people who consider themselves to be 444 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:30,920 atheists who constantly mock us for what we believe, constantly 445 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,640 mock us. You got people who want to be 446 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,680 liberal and they have an issue with the fact that we are living 447 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:43,520 a conservative life guided by the word of God and they mock us 448 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,920 for that. We probably, we might have 449 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,480 friends or family members who mock the way you live. 450 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,240 You don't have no fun, you don't do nothing. 451 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,560 He ain't coming back. Look, you just going to die and 452 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:58,440 you just going to go into the earth and that's going to be it. 453 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:03,040 This is what a lot of them will say, but this is what the word 454 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,800 of God says. The Word of God says, knowing 455 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,640 this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking 456 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,440 according to their own lusts and saying, where's the promise of 457 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:16,800 His coming? For since the fathers fell 458 00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:20,800 asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of 459 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,360 creation. For this they willfully forget. 460 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:29,160 They willfully forget that by the Word of God, which is the 461 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:32,320 word that we're testifying to, which is the word that we 462 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:37,080 believe in, the Word that we trust in, by the Word of God. 463 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:41,120 The heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water 464 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:46,920 and in the water by which the world then that then existed 465 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:50,000 perished. He said it was going to perish, 466 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,440 and it did, being flooded with water. 467 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,160 He said it was going to happen, and it did, and it did. 468 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:03,200 Verse 7. But the heavens and the earth, 469 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:07,640 which are now preserved by the same word, Word of God, are 470 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:12,160 reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition. 471 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,560 That means the destruction of ungodly men. 472 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:19,640 But beloved, do not forget this one thing. 473 00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,120 Take this with you, take this with you. 474 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,880 Do not forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is of 475 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,000 1000 years and 1000 years is as one day. 476 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:35,760 We just talked about that verse 9 says the Lord is not slack 477 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:39,440 concerning his promise. I make you a promise. 478 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,760 I may be slow in delivering it. You make a promise to me. 479 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:47,640 You may be slow in delivering, but he's not slack concerning 480 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:50,920 his promise. If he say he's going, if he 481 00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:52,840 promises it, he's going to do it. 482 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,600 He is not a man that he should lie. 483 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,800 So he goes on. He tells us as some count 484 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,280 slackness, but his long-suffering that means he's 485 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,720 patient. He's patient. 486 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:11,760 So we should all hear that unbelievers don't look at this 487 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,920 that God is weak or he's lying or he's slow about making his 488 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,440 promise good or that he can't make his promise good. 489 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:22,040 Believer, unbelievers, if you're unbelievers that are listening 490 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,480 to me or here, watch. Listen. 491 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:32,840 He is patient. He's not weak, he's patient. 492 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:38,440 He's not unable to do it. He's patient. 493 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:44,880 Why is he patient? It says he's patient toward us, 494 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,000 not willing that any should perish. 495 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,800 He doesn't. He doesn't take no joy in the 496 00:31:53,800 --> 00:32:05,280 death of the unrighteous. He says he desires all men to be 497 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:07,800 saved. He's not willing that any should 498 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,840 perish, but that all come to repentance. 499 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:16,360 Every day that you wake up, every day that you open your 500 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:21,680 eyes, saved or unsaved, it's an opportunity to get it right with 501 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:24,960 God. Every day that you open your 502 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:29,640 eyes, it's an opportunity to get it right with God. 503 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:33,200 For before all these things that are going to be coming that 504 00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,160 we're going to talk about later comes on you. 505 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:44,760 But God is in his faithfulness, God in his loving kindness, that 506 00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:51,440 which is his character, God in his supernatural patience, 507 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,760 because he's a lot more patient than we are. 508 00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,280 He's giving opportunity for repentance. 509 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:06,040 And all I'm asking if you're unsaved, they take it, take it. 510 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:11,360 Don't think that is a it's just another promise. 511 00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:13,160 That's it's a promise that's not going to happen. 512 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,360 I didn't promise it. If I promise it, I don't blame 513 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:22,000 you for doubting it, but he promised it and it will happen. 514 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:28,480 So then verse 4, verse four, he says John to the seven churches 515 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,840 that are in Asia. And we're going to talk about 516 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,800 more about those those churches as we move further into chapter 517 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,160 1. But these seven churches that 518 00:33:37,160 --> 00:33:40,720 are in Asia, he's not talking about China or Japan, he's 519 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,560 talking about Asia Minor. So this is actually current day 520 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,160 Turkey, OK. And that's who he wrote these 521 00:33:48,160 --> 00:33:50,960 two. And he says grace to you and 522 00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,640 peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. 523 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,880 And from the seven spirits who are before his throne. 524 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:03,080 And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born 525 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:07,480 from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth, to him 526 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:13,040 who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and 527 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:19,960 has made us kings and priests to be his to his God and Father, to 528 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,520 him be glory. He he, he praises him to Him be 529 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:25,560 glory and dominion forever and ever. 530 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:28,760 So what he's saying here John is, is talking to these. 531 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,760 He he sent this letter to the seven churches which are in 532 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:37,400 current Turkey and he gives them the, the, the, the, the regular 533 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,199 greeting, which is grace and then peace. 534 00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:43,159 Is this usually always in that order? 535 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,560 Because you need grace before you can never have any peace. 536 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,320 You know, the grace of God is the unmerited favor of God 537 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:54,280 through which every other blessing that he gives us flow. 538 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,560 And if we don't have that, then we're not going to have peace. 539 00:34:58,720 --> 00:35:03,560 So he says grace and peace from him, meaning God the Father who 540 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:08,000 is, who was and who is to come, that's from God the Father. 541 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:11,160 So this peace that he's talking about is the peace that Jesus 542 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,640 left with the disciples, and he leaves it with us. 543 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,560 And this is a peace that we have within. 544 00:35:17,560 --> 00:35:19,320 And this is in the midst of trouble. 545 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:23,040 Not peace because of the absence of trouble or because the 546 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:27,200 absence of conflict, but this is peace even in the midst of it. 547 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,960 So when you're in the midst of whatever it is that you're going 548 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,880 through, God's grace gives you peace to be able to have in 549 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,320 those situations, regardless of what the threat is, regardless 550 00:35:37,320 --> 00:35:40,640 of what the, the, the, the, the turmoil is, regardless of what 551 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:45,400 your challenge is, regardless of the hardship, God can give you 552 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:49,000 peace in those things. How many of you have been laid 553 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,520 off work and you have peace and your coworkers are asking you 554 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:55,200 how, how are you so calm about this? 555 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:56,760 You know, you're, you're laid off. 556 00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:00,680 You lost your job. Well, because your faith wasn't 557 00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,880 in the job, your faith is in the one who was able to provide you 558 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,720 with that job at the time and can provide you with another. 559 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,720 Your faith is in Him. So we have that peace, the same 560 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:15,320 peace that Jesus had on the boat when he was in the middle of the 561 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:17,000 storm. They panicked. 562 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:22,320 He was sleeping because he had peace and we can have that peace 563 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,080 through the grace that is in Jesus Christ. 564 00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:28,200 But he says here and who is who is to come? 565 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,320 That's who was from. So now he's talking about where 566 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,720 that grace and peace came from. And he's actually going to 567 00:36:34,720 --> 00:36:38,440 describe here the triune God. He's going to describe the 568 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,320 Trinity here. And the first one obviously is 569 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:44,760 the God the Father when he says him, meaning God the Father who 570 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:51,400 is, who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who 571 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,600 are before his throne. Now some people look at those 572 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:58,880 seven spirits and they believe that well, 7 angels or it's like 573 00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:03,480 7 spiritual beings. But when you know, actually it's 574 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:07,960 the, the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit, it's the 575 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:12,680 fullness of the Holy Spirit, it's the, the completeness of 576 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:16,120 the Holy Spirit. All throughout the book of, of 577 00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:19,800 Revelation, you are going to see seven being represented many 578 00:37:19,800 --> 00:37:21,360 times. And it's the number for 579 00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,560 completion, the number of fullness of perfection. 580 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:27,680 And when he talks about these seven spirits who are before the 581 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:31,320 throne, that's the presence of the Holy Spirit, the fullness 582 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:35,040 and the completeness, the perfection of the Holy Spirit. 583 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:39,560 And he talks about, he talks about that back in Isaiah 584 00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:44,440 Chapter 11 when he talks about the Holy Spirit there. 585 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,120 And he talks about the completion of the Holy Spirit. 586 00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:53,560 These are like the seven virtues of the Holy Spirit. 587 00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,000 And it's the Spirit of God. Isaiah Chapter 11, verse 2, the 588 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,720 Spirit of the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and 589 00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:04,280 understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of 590 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:08,280 knowledge and the fear of the Lord, Those are the, that's the 591 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:11,400 completeness of the Spirit that is before us. 592 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:15,040 And man, how do we need that? How much we need that? 593 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,440 We need that now. We need that complete Spirit to 594 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:22,040 be upon us even as we're studying this book. 595 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:24,520 Lord, give us the Spirit of understanding. 596 00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,520 Give us the Spirit of wisdom. Allow your Holy Spirit to come 597 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,840 in its fullness and fall fresh on each and every one of us, 598 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:34,360 Amen. So that we can be able to not 599 00:38:34,360 --> 00:38:39,880 only hear, but to obey and to keep those things that are in 600 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,400 this book and that is every day of our life. 601 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:45,840 We should be asking for that and it is the Holy Spirit that 602 00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:50,160 stands before God constantly waits and just waiting for God 603 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:55,000 to to command them to send the Holy Spirit out to wherever he 604 00:38:55,000 --> 00:39:03,040 sends the Holy Spirit to go. So then he also says here that 605 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:06,120 he's the first. He's a faithful witness and 606 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:09,160 Speaking of Jesus Christ because he says and and from Jesus 607 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:13,880 Christ, the faithful witness. Jesus Christ is the true and 608 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,560 faithful witness of God, the true and faithful witness of 609 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:19,800 God. When, when, when you consider 610 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:25,920 that his whole his whole life here in the earth realm was in 611 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:30,120 total obedience to the Father. He did everything that the 612 00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:33,880 Father told him to do. He obeyed every command, even to 613 00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:38,160 the point of death. He was the faithful witness, but 614 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:42,960 he was also the faithful witness because he embodied all of the 615 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,120 virtues of the Godhead. All the virtues of the Godhead 616 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:51,120 in Colossians 2 and 9 says that in him, meaning in Christ Jesus 617 00:39:51,640 --> 00:39:56,760 do us all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, bodily. 618 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:03,880 So he was the faithful witness. John 812 says Jesus said even if 619 00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,600 I bear witness of myself, my witness is true. 620 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,760 From the faithful, he's the faithful witness. 621 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:18,160 And then in Revelations 3 and 14, he he describes Jesus as the 622 00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:21,560 faithful and true witness. Right here in Revelations 623 00:40:21,760 --> 00:40:25,720 chapter 3 and verse 14. He is the true and the faithful 624 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:30,760 and true witness. He's a faithful witness because 625 00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:34,440 he is the only one that was out that was without sin. 626 00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:36,600 And later we're going to find out that when they were looking 627 00:40:36,600 --> 00:40:40,200 for somebody to open the scrolls, Jesus was the only one 628 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:43,000 who could. It was the Lamb that was slain 629 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:48,000 was the only one that was qualified to open the scrolls 630 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:51,640 because He is the faithful witness. 631 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:57,120 Over in Hebrews 4 and 4:15, it says that Jesus was in all 632 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:00,080 points, tempted as we are, yet He was without sin. 633 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:04,800 He's the only one who could have died for us, the only one who 634 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:10,440 could have atone for our sins. Jesus Christ, the faithful 635 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:16,240 witness, the faithful witness. And then we go to the first 636 00:41:16,240 --> 00:41:17,760 born. He's the first born from the 637 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:20,760 dead. If he's the first born from the 638 00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:22,720 dead, that means there's going to be others that come after 639 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:24,520 him. And that's good news for us. 640 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:28,440 That's good news for us. He was the first born from the 641 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:32,040 dead, the first to arise from the dead with a resurrected, 642 00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:37,920 glorified, everlasting body. I love when I heard Clark, I 643 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:41,080 think it was last week, who, when he said that our bodies 644 00:41:41,080 --> 00:41:47,080 that we have here are prepared for Earth, but our bodies would 645 00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:51,400 not be prepared if we went to Mars or Jupiter or any other 646 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:55,040 place, wouldn't be prepared for heaven the way we are. 647 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:57,720 Because corruption cannot enter the Kingdom of God. 648 00:41:58,920 --> 00:42:04,920 And this, this is corruptible. This body is corruptible, but 649 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,720 when Jesus Christ came out of the grave, he came out with a 650 00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:13,760 resurrected body. It was a glorified body when he 651 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:16,280 came out of the grave. Amen. 652 00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:19,680 And it was a blessing for everyone around to see him. 653 00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:25,120 And we too are going to be resurrected after him the same 654 00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:28,960 way we're going to be. Our bodies will be changed the 655 00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:31,840 same way Jesus's body was changed. 656 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:36,480 And then he says that the ruler over all the kings of the earth. 657 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:40,080 And he talks about how, you know, he is the ruler of all the 658 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:41,360 kings. All the kings are going to, 659 00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:43,280 everybody's going to kneel to him. 660 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,640 Everybody's going to bow to him at one point. 661 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:48,560 He is the Lord of Lords and the King of kings. 662 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:51,480 He is He is the Lord of Lord and King of kings. 663 00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:54,520 So He is the ruler of all the kings of the earth. 664 00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:59,760 Even though they may try to rule over Him, they may try to or or 665 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:03,120 believe or convince themselves that they have as much authority 666 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:05,200 or power as He does. They do not. 667 00:43:05,240 --> 00:43:08,640 He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords. 668 00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:14,080 To Him who loved us and washed us and His and washed us from 669 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:18,520 our sins and His own blood, He loved us. 670 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:24,360 I like to change that us to me, I like to make it personal and 671 00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:26,160 I'm asking you to do the same. Make it personal. 672 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:31,640 When you read that He loved me, He loved me. 673 00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:35,840 I don't know how. I don't know why He loved me. 674 00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:38,400 It definitely wasn't because I was lovable. 675 00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,720 That's not why he loved me. But He loved me. 676 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:47,000 And I love the fact that it was past tense because it was a love 677 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:50,400 that He demonstrated on the cross. 678 00:43:51,520 --> 00:43:54,400 He demonstrated it on the cross. He loved me. 679 00:43:55,240 --> 00:43:57,360 Glory to God. So was a path. 680 00:43:57,360 --> 00:43:59,920 He showed it when we were yet sinners. 681 00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:04,120 The Bible says when we were yet sinners, He died for us. 682 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:10,240 And then he goes on here and he says that He washed us from our 683 00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:14,840 sins in His own blood. You know, the very thing that 684 00:44:14,840 --> 00:44:18,760 used to separate us from our God, which is our sins and our 685 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:22,280 iniquities, Jesus washed away in his blood. 686 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:28,720 Bible, Bible says over in Isaiah 59 that you have been, you're 687 00:44:28,720 --> 00:44:30,720 separated from God. Your your sins and your 688 00:44:30,720 --> 00:44:32,880 iniquities have separated you from your God. 689 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:36,640 But we're not separated from him because Jesus Christ shed his 690 00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:39,440 blood for us. We were not redeemed with 691 00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:43,520 corruptible things like silver or gold, but with the precious 692 00:44:43,520 --> 00:44:48,360 blood of Jesus Christ, precious blood of Jesus Christ. 693 00:44:49,720 --> 00:44:52,680 Hey man, and it and it is precious. 694 00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:57,720 And he made us to be kings and kings and priests to his God, to 695 00:44:57,720 --> 00:45:00,400 him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 696 00:45:00,600 --> 00:45:04,640 We are king that we have changed our position in Christ Jesus. 697 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:06,800 Yeah. We used to be disobedient. 698 00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,000 We used to be a number of things. 699 00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:11,920 We used to be children of disobedience. 700 00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:14,320 We used to be children of the wrath. 701 00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:16,080 We used to be all those old things. 702 00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:19,680 We were sinners. We, we, we were, we were under 703 00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:24,280 the power of Satan, but he changed our position in Christ 704 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:28,800 Jesus and we're no longer under the power of Satan. 705 00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:34,720 We are now under the power of Jesus Christ who loved us and He 706 00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:39,960 gave himself for us. And then over in verse 7, he 707 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:44,560 says, I mean he, well first of all, he gives him a little, you 708 00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:47,960 know, John gives him a little worship, praise and worship 709 00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:51,960 service down here at the bottom of verse 6. 710 00:45:52,240 --> 00:45:55,760 He says to him be glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen. 711 00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:03,320 And then he goes over into verse 7 and we're going to end here 712 00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:07,280 because I don't want to start that verse and have to break it 713 00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:09,000 up. So we're going to end here. 714 00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:16,480 But I just want to say as we end here and prepare for our for our 715 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,240 communion, praise the worship team, you can come forward. 716 00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:24,360 I just want to say that when he has changed us, I mean, he 717 00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:29,520 literally took us from being ruined to being royalty. 718 00:46:31,240 --> 00:46:34,640 Our lives were a mess. Our lives were a mess. 719 00:46:35,360 --> 00:46:38,560 We we were corrupted and corrupted and corruptible. 720 00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:43,320 You know, when when we look at just who it was we were at that 721 00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:50,160 particular time, and you look back at Ephesians chapter 2, it 722 00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:52,920 gives us a really good description of what we used to 723 00:46:52,920 --> 00:46:55,480 be. And I'm just going to share that 724 00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:56,920 with you. Says we were dead in our 725 00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:59,600 trespasses and sins. We were sons of disobedience. 726 00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:01,480 We were children of red. That's what we used to be. 727 00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:07,120 That's what we used to be. But in Christ Jesus, we're now 728 00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:13,160 kings and we're priests to his God, delivered from the Kingdom 729 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:18,040 of darkness, translated to the Kingdom of light, to his dear 730 00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:24,080 Son, Kingdom of his dear Son, redeemed from all of those 731 00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:27,640 things that we used to be. What a blessing it is. 732 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:32,960 So I will say here that we serve the true and living God. 733 00:47:33,080 --> 00:47:36,840 We serve the one who will one day be coming back. 734 00:47:36,840 --> 00:47:40,080 As we talk about next week, He's going to be coming back. 735 00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:43,720 He promised it and He's going to do it. 736 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:48,240 And we all need to be ready. The Bible tells us that we need 737 00:47:48,240 --> 00:47:51,680 to watch and pray. We need to be prepared. 738 00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:55,240 We need to be busy about doing what it is he called us to do 739 00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:59,800 when he's coming back, Not to find a church that's that, that 740 00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:04,280 that's slothful or church that's that's, that's being lazy or 741 00:48:04,280 --> 00:48:07,080 church that has turned away from him. 742 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:12,640 But we need to be a church ready for the, for the groom to come 743 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:18,320 back, church ready to receive him and excited about his 744 00:48:18,320 --> 00:48:19,360 return. Amen. 745 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:27,800 So Jesus, as it's written here, Jesus, not only did he love us, 746 00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:32,120 but he washed us in his own blood. 747 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:38,360 He didn't take a goat or a bowl. He washed us in his blood, the 748 00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:42,360 precious blood of a lamb without spot or a wrinkle. 749 00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,600 And I'm so grateful for him to that flesh sacrifice. 750 00:48:47,200 --> 00:48:53,320 Because of that, I don't have to be judged according to my sins 751 00:48:53,640 --> 00:48:57,160 and my iniquities and the way that I previously lived my life. 752 00:48:57,360 --> 00:49:00,800 And neither do you. Neither do you. 753 00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:07,560 But because of what Jesus Christ did, our sins have been washed. 754 00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,640 And if there's someone here who has not trusted in Jesus Christ 755 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,840 yet, your sins can be washed clean today. 756 00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:22,800 Clean the moment you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. 757 00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:28,040 So the night in which Jesus was betrayed, we thank you, Lord, 758 00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:32,320 for your goodness. We thank you, Father, for all 759 00:49:32,320 --> 00:49:35,760 that you have done for us, your your time on the cross, your 760 00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:42,040 obedience on the cross. We thank you, Father, for the 761 00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:44,760 love that you demonstrated while you were here. 762 00:49:45,560 --> 00:49:48,160 And we thank you, Father, that we can look forward to your 763 00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:51,600 return. We are all looking forward to 764 00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:54,360 your return, Lord, those who trust in you, who fear your 765 00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:58,240 name. So on a night in which Jesus was 766 00:49:58,240 --> 00:50:06,000 betrayed, he took the bread. And after he had given thanks, 767 00:50:06,000 --> 00:50:13,560 he broke it because that body was broken even before he went 768 00:50:13,560 --> 00:50:18,160 to the cross. The body was broken, beat up. 769 00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:27,320 But he said take and eat. This is my body which was broken 770 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:30,480 for you. Eat this in remembrance of me. 771 00:50:37,720 --> 00:50:39,360 In the same manner He also took the cup. 772 00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:47,200 And this cup represents the very blood that Jesus shed, His own 773 00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:51,760 blood that He shed for us, that washed away our sins. 774 00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:59,000 Thank you for the blood, Lord. Thank you for the blood. 775 00:51:01,040 --> 00:51:05,800 He took the cup and he said, this cup is a new covenant in my 776 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:11,920 blood, which was shed for the forgiveness of sins of many. 777 00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:21,040 Drink this in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this 778 00:51:21,040 --> 00:51:25,080 bread and drink this cup. Do show the Lords death till he 779 00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:26,360 come. Amen. 780 00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:31,000 We will get a lot, a lot deeper into the Book of Revelations 781 00:51:31,440 --> 00:51:33,000 next week. The Lord bless you.