The book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus. John is sharing the Word and testimony of Jesus, so we should expect that the book is full of descriptions of Jesus. The sermon covers the descriptions of Jesus in nearly every chapter, giving us a greater understanding of who Jesus is and of His nature.
"Light came into the world," John the Beloved wrote of Jesus being born. He claims the whole world lies in darkness, but when the Light was born in Bethlehem, everything began to change and would never be the same again. A war between Light and darkness began, the church versus Babylon; but it is no contest. Darkness will never overcome the Light. It was plan within the Holy Trinity which began before there was space or time.
The Bible closes with a promise of blessing to those who keep the words of Revelation. The final stark contrast is between the evil people and the righteous. The theme of the whole book is coming out of the world of evil (Babylon) and entering the glorious kingdom of God with its future glory. That is why John's final cry is, "Come Lord Jesus!"
The first verses in the last chapter of the Bible pull together many of the Bible themes and bring them together in one glorious conclusion. The vision John saw of what we will be and what we will experience is too wonderful to fully grasp. It gives us hope to endure and promises us complete fulfillment.
The second half of Revelation 21 tells us more about the bride of Christ. The bride is the city. The description of the city tells us the glorious clarity of the saints in the heavenly city allows the God's glory to shine through all who are there. We will be worshiping in the very presence of Jesus. Nothing will hurt or destroy in all His holy mountain which is the heavenly kingdom. Everything there is described as being golden which represents the complete holiness of God.
Prayer throughout Scripture is mostly about giving thanks to God. When we realize that every good thing we have has come from God, it should result in us regularly thanking and praising God for all His goodness. Psalm 118 commands us to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, and His love endures forever!
New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, the bride of Christ, adorned in robes of righteousness, as God presents the finished bride to His Son. The new heaven and new earth will never know sin. The atmosphere will be joy and peace forever, with no tears, pain, or sorrow. But the highlight of New Jerusalem is the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, our groom.
Revelation 20 includes the binding of Satan in the abyss, the 1000 year reign of Christ with his followers as judges and priests in the world. Man will find what it is like to live in a world where their only temptation comes from within.
At the end of the age of man ruling over nations, after the great tribulation and the vials of wrath, the armies of the world will gather together to fight against Jesus and His followers. There is no contest. One word from Jesus and the battle is over. The Word of God incarnate is King of kings. Every knee will bow! We choose today what side we will be on.
The message celebrates Reformation Day (October 31) by presenting highlights from two earth-changing decades (1505-1524) in the life of Martin Luther (1483-1546) wherein he challenged the Roman church in a successful quest to find the solution to his sin problem. In so doing, God protected, inspired and prompted him to continue to share these reforms widely.
Sanctification and obedience go hand in hand as God guides us by His Spirit to His heavenly land. Walking in the fear of the Lord, we make a godly stand.
The great confrontation begins! Moses confronts Pharaoh and says, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Let my people go!’” What happens when life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would?
While the world mourns and wails at the fall of Babylon, the bride rejoices. Justice will be served. The saints will be vindicated. And then the wedding feast of the Lamb takes place. We are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. It is the most beautiful wedding dress ever worn. It was provided at great cost by our groom!
The third chapter on crushing the grapes of wrath warns us to come out of Babylon so that we will not partake of her sins or suffer in her judgment. The judgment is so complete that it affects every class of society and ends the world's systems as we know them.
Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and built a city. Cities have become focal points for anti-Christian movements. Babylon represents all of them, as it was the nation that destroyed the temple and took the Jews out of their land. In Revelation, Jesus depicts this spirit as a great prostitute offering satisfaction in the things of the world. She is Satan's counterpart to New Jerusalem. We all choose which city we will be citizens of, determining our future.
After the seals, trumpets, and warnings from angels, the saints are gathered to the Lord before the throne. The seven angels chosen for the task are given seven bowls of wrath and sent to pour them upon the earth. This is the wine press of God's wrath. The souls of the dwellers on the earth are so hardened that nothing will turn them. Their response to the judgments is to curse God. Revelation tells us of the insanity of living for the things of the world and rejecting the grace of God.
This chapter is the introduction to the next three chapters. It begins with the beautiful song of Moses, which will sing before the throne of God as God sends the seven angels to pour out His just wrath to cleanse the earth.
Revelation 14:14-20 presents two harvests. The Antichrist has been revealed and made war on the saints. The trumpets have plagued a third of the earth. Three angels have given final warnings. The harvest of the righteous by Jesus coming in the clouds takes place, followed by the harvest of the wicked, who are compared to grapes thrown into the wine press to be trampled in God's wrath. The latter is the subject of the next four chapters.
Before God sends out the seven angels with the seven bowls of wrath that will affect the whole world, He sends three angels with an invitation and warnings. The first makes certain all have heard the gospel. The second announces the fall of Babylon, and the third warns of eternal punishment for those who take the mark of the beast.
For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How, then, was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well and to make him the father of the circumcise...
The sermon addresses who the 144,000 are on Mount Zion, where Mount Zion is, and the prophecies concerning Zion, plus why the descriptions of virgins and firstborn apply to the faithful.
The second beast arises with two horns like a lamb. Here is another Jesus counterfeit. He is a false prophet who makes the world worship the first beast. Read this sermon to find out how he accomplishes this. Also included are thoughts on the number 666.
In Revelation, we are introduced to the first beast, one that is drawn from Daniel 7. Satan gives him his power and authority so that he causes all who are not in the Lamb's book of life to worship him. The sermon brings out various interpretations of the time period and the of the deadly wound.
The dragon has only a short time, so he pursues the people of God with false teachings and persecution. But we have the Word and the Spirit to crush him under our feet. In the end, the Lamb wins! We just need to rely on the everlasting arms of our mighty Savior and get our directions from His Word.
Satan has served as an adversary to God, even arguing against God's merciful nature. But now that Jesus' blood has paid our sin debt, he has no basis for his accusations. He is now trying to keep people from service to God with temptations, false doctrine, and persecution. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
False teachers have been prevalent throughout Christianity. In today's message, we will address some of the NAR's false teachings and their ties to the New Age. God's word guards us against false teachers because of its sufficiency, inerrancy, clarity, and necessity.
There is a war taking place between the forces of good and evil. The beginning of Revelation 12 describes this ongoing battle between good and evil. The only way for the darkness to fight the light is to keep people from it and try to draw those in light back into darkness. It has been a repeated effort to keep the Messiah from being born, but now that the effort failed, the attack is focused on those who follow the Messiah.
Right in the middle of the book of Revelation, the author writes that it is over. God wins, and Satan loses, and the wicked are judged. How does this come about? Why does this fall in the middle of the book? I offer some interpretive thoughts.
The two witnesses, whether they are Moses and Elijah, or represent the church, are not conquered until they have finished their testimony. We are protected until we have done what God has called us to do. The sermon discusses the different interpretations of the 42 month testimony and the Antichrist reign of the same length.
Chapter eleven of Revelation begins by describing the two witnesses whose ministry is to last 42 months. The sermon covers who these witnesses are, what they may represent, and other references to 42 months and how they may apply in this chapter. It concludes with an application for our lives.
