Adrian Rogers: The Golden Key to the Book of the Revelation #2338

[Music] thanks for joining us for today's program the plain-spoken biblical wisdom and timeless teaching of Adrian Rogers has gone around the world and has been described by thousands of people he is touched as profound truth simply stated and today he'll be bringing us a timely message from the book of Revelation as we continue our series the triumph of the Lamb are you afraid to dig in to the book of Revelation because you think it's difficult to understand remember God's purpose is not to conceal but to reveal and in this lesson Adrian Rogers shows us the key to unlocking this book you want a key if you'd unlock this book and understand this book now remember it's the blessing book God says you're going to be blessed if you read and heed this book well wire is the golden key well it's hanging on the front door it's right here in the first chapter is found in verse 19 write the things which thou seen and the things which are and the things which shall be here after have your Bibles open to the book of Revelation and stay with us for today's message and don't forget you can listen to this message again and other messages in this series and download pastor Rogers outline notes and a transcript of this message all at lwf dot org now let's join Aven rogers take God's Word and define Revelation chapter 1 and when you've found it look up here the book of the revelation is sometimes hard to understand because when we look at this display this chart that I have behind me it looks very involved very convoluted and we say is there is there a key to help us to understand the book of the revelation well friend there is and the title of our message today is the golden key the golden key to the book of Revelation you want a key tell if you don't lock this book and understand this book now remember it's the blessing book God says you're going to be blessed if you read and heed this book well wire is the golden key well it's hanging on the front door it's right here in the first chapter it's found in verse 19 here is John's Commission to write the book of the revelation the Apostle John hears the Lord Jesus say to him right all right here it is now watch it write the things which thou has seen and the things which are and the things which shall be here after now God is not trying to conceal God is trying to reveal God is trying to make it plain John must have been a Baptist preacher at least he he was given a three-point outline and what you're going to see here in the book of the revelation first of all this division right over here is called look right up at the top things thou has seen and what had John seen he had seen a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ we've already talked to you about that in last few Sundays and so John said write it Jesus said write it and John wrote it and we read it and preached about it and then he said right things which are and the things which are is the church age we're living in the time of the things which are and there is a message in the book of the revelation to seven churches Ephesus sumona Pergamus thyra Tyrus artists Philadelphia and Laodicea now we're going to see that these while they're literal churches in Asia Minor they're also representative churches of all churches through all ages talk more about that later on but that's the second division first division relatively small one chapter second division relatively small chapters two and three and then the rest of the book things which shall be Hereafter all right so most of the book is prophecy it is a book of prophecy so you've got a three-point outline the first division relatively small chapter one John saw the vision Jesus said right at John and John wrote it so we could call this past things and then things which are we can call that what present things and things which shall be Hereafter we call that what prophetic things now I wish I had time to get down deep and talk about each one of these divisions this morning but we'll go back and lap back and do that in a moment not in a moment today but in a moment next several weeks months years but we'll talk about those things that are coming or we'll talk about the seven churches especially in more depth we've already talked about the vision that John saw of the Lord Jesus Christ but what I really hope to do this morning is to deal primarily with the things which shall be Hereafter prophetic things you see this shows us that Jesus has come he is the living risen resurrected Savior King of Kings Lord of lords that's the past he has come things which are he is here now he is shown in chapters 2 and 3 in the midst of the churches Jesus is here today with us he's here where two or three are gathered together in my name watch their mind the midst of them so yeah things which are are things which have been are things which you've seen that's passed things are things which are that's present things he's alive and well in this church today he has come he is here but in a very special sense he is coming again things which shall be Hereafter now let me say folks we're dealing primarily with prophecy now today the devil doesn't know prophecy don't get the idea that the devil knows the future he doesn't the Devils a knucklehead he's a knucklehead or you say I thought it was brilliant yes he's brilliantly stupid and I thought it was attractive an angel of life yes but he is hideously beautiful the devil is is perverted he doesn't understand these things can you imagine the unmitigated gall the audacity to think that he could overthrow God no only God knows the future by the way there are a lot of soothsayers and prophets and prognosticators and people today who who try to tell you the future we have enough gullible people in America today to keep 10,000 Australis astrologers working full-time and another 175,000 working part-time trying to tell gullible people the future as a matter of fact you can pay $75 an hour and have somebody across the nation just project healing thoughts to you if you if you that stupid and rich at the same time they will reveal to you hidden secrets about your love your life your career your money your luck your marriage your healthy future your personal problems and and folks all it will cost you is three dollars and 99 cents a minute plus your soul get wrapped up in the occult and all this devilish hellish business and you if you're into astrology print if you have any astrological charts or books go home this afternoon and put them in the garbage yeah just put them in the garden get them out of your house you say well I just amuse myself with it well you're gonna amuse yourself into hell just get rid of it only God knows the future put this first down Isaiah 46 verses 9 and 10 God says remember the former things of old for I am God and there is none else I am God there's none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all of my pleasure what is God saying God says is none that knows the future only God knows the future and those to whom God reveals the future one of the great ways that we know that the Bible is the inspired inerrant infallible Word of God is fulfilled prophecy you see what God has already fulfilled is enough to tell us that what God has already fulfilled is an indicator of the fact that he will fulfill the rest Peter stoner is a mathematician who is a who deals with the science of probabilities which is a real science and he took Peter stoner just took 8 of the prophecies of the Old Testament referring to Jesus coming the first time just eight prophecies just eight now the scores and scores of them but either just eight and mathematically he said what is that what is the probability that all eight of these prophecies could be accurately fulfilled in one man mathematically he said it is one in a septillion one in a septillion that just eight of these prophecies could be fulfilled now we don't know what a septillion is we don't even have an idea so he said let me tell you what that would be like he said take a stack of Dimes edge-to-edge and fill up a space of 80,000 cubic miles all right 80,000 cubic miles 80,000 miles this way that way up and so forth and put in there all the dimes it will hold 80,000 cubic mile miles then he said mark one dime blindfold a man and drop him down in the pile and if he comes up with that one dime by chance that's one in a septillion it is absolutely impossible that these scriptures that have already been fulfilled could have been fulfilled by chance now you only takes eight out of the scores if you would take all the Scriptures a Peter stoner says there's no work we don't have a word in language that describes that kind of a number now God says I am the one that knows the future we're looking at things past things present things and future things we're going to be looking at these things from the eyes of God not our guests but what God Almighty has said now what I want to do this morning is to give you what I'm gonna call a panorama panorama of prophecy we've already dealt pretty much with chapter 1 we will later on deal with chapters 2 and 3 but what I want to do is to start right here and go through this morning the end of this chart to give you a panorama to give you an overview and then we'll come back and and put the limbs and the twigs and the leaves on okay but what I want to do right now is just to show you the great major branches of prophecy I want to talk to you about seven major things that I believe are about to begin are you ready for them number one the rapture of the church and the departure of the Saints the rapture of the church and the departure of the Saints now in chapter four verse one John says after this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said come up hither and I will show thee things which must be Hereafter now you remember in chapter 1 verse 19 he said the third division were things which must be Hereafter so that's that's where this begins chapter 4 verse 1 from chapter 4 verse 1 we're looking at the hereafter from chapter 4 verse 1 the word church drops out because why well the church is going to be raptured it's going up and so in the rest of this we're not here friend we're up here going through the judgment seat of Christ the marriage of the lamb down here on earth is what the Great Tribulation so at this point at the end of the church age there's going to be a voice like a trumpet who says come up hither and friend I'm leaving I'm going I'm heaven born I'm heaven bound and when the trumpet sounds in count color me gone I'm out of here now are you saved get right or be left now friend I'm telling you the trumpets going to sound and the dead in Christ will rise first put in your margin 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 16 and 18 for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the Archangel and with the Trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord wherefore comfort one another with these words now that's the rapture that's the first thing that's going to happen when we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air revelation 4:1 come up hither when will the rapture take place at any moment we're not looking for some sign we're not looking for some prophecy to be fulfilled before Jesus can come for his church at any moment perhaps this afternoon be therefore ready for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh he is coming like a thief in the night the thief never writes a note and says I'll be here tonight no Jesus is coming at any moment you believe that say men all right now if you really believe it you be ready all right now here's the second thing first of all the rapture of the church and the departure of the Saints number two the rise of the Beast and the deceptions of the devil when the church is taken out we are the salt of the earth salt preserves salt heals salt restrains they don't like us they wish we were gone well one day we will be and then corruption will set in and to lead that corruption will be a man call the Beast he's also called the man of sin he's called the Antichrist and in the revelation he's called the Beast revelation 13 verses 1 through 3 John says and I stood upon the sand of the sea and in Bible prophecy the sea represents peoples and nations and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea that is out of these nations in turmoil having seven heads seven the perfect number ten the complete number heads speak of wisdom tinhorn speak of power and upon his horns ten crowns that speaks of Dominion and upon his heads the names of blasphemy that speaks of his character he blasphemes God and the Beast I saw which was like was like unto a leopard and his feet were like the feet of a bear and his mouth was as the mouth of a lion and the dragon the dragon Satan himself gave him his power and his seat that means his throne and great Authority and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed and all the world wondered after the Beast well you say what does all that mean well we'll get to that later on in our study this is only an overview but I'm telling you that Satan's Superman the Antichrist the counterfeit Christ is coming to this world and when he does he's going to turn the world into a vast concentration camp with all of the inmates numbered nobody will be able to buy or sell and unless they have the mark of this man the mark of the beast John Phillips Bible scholar describes the beast this way he will be a most attractive person a veritable Savior to a world careening like an express train without throttle wide open out-of-control and without a man at the helm no doubt his personal charm will be great his intellectual genius immense his wealth and influence proverbial his authority overpowering his passions and hatreds extraordinary his organizing skill unsurpassed his techniques superb men will follow him to death women will swoon at his feet and children will say his name as savior of the world and the hope of mankind yet for all of that he will be totally and thoroughly bad he is the man of sin all right so after the church the Christ the true Christ comes for his bride then the Antichrist the Beast will arrive third thing that will happen the third thing is the Great Tribulation and the devastation of the earth look in Chapter six and begin in verse 12 John says and I behold when when he had opened the sixth seal and there was a great earthquake and the Sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood and the stars of heaven fell to the earth even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together and every mountain and Island were moved out of their places and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb can you imagine a phrase like that the wrath of the Lamb look at that sacrificial land will always be that way the Lamb becomes the lion hide us from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand in the tribulation period not only will the Antichrist hold sway and deceive the nation's but God will pour out his wrath upon this world the Bible says it will be so terrible that men will desire to die and will not be able to die death will flee from them alright number four the next thing is going to happen and what I'm trying to do now is just give you an overview of the book of the revelation I'm trying to give you seven major things that we can look for first of all the rapture secondly the rise of the Beast thirdly the Great Tribulation the devastation that's going to come upon this earth that'll never be a time like Hell will have a holiday it's a horrible time even if there were no hell you would not want to be left behind to go into the great tribulation number 4 Armageddon and the defeat of the Beast and his armies now this rip this tribulation period will last for seven years the last three and a half years will be the most horrifying the most horrific we'll talk about that later on but the this period this Great Tribulation will end with a battle called Armageddon and there at this battle the Beast and his armies will be defeated put for your verses Revelation 16 verses 13 through 16 John said and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon of course that's Satan himself and out of the mouth of the Beast that's the Antichrist and out of the mouth of the false prophet that's the sinister minister of propaganda who will who counterfeits the holy spirit for they are spirits of Devil's working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the Battle of that great day of God Almighty behold Jesus said I come as a thief blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked lest they see his shame and he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon I'm again if you've been with me traveling this rail we've grown up on Mountain Megiddo and looked out over that vast plain where this battle will take place demon spirits are going to draw all the world leaders to this place to come against Jerusalem and how's the battle going to be fought revelation 19 verse 11 and I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and speaking of Jesus and in righteousness he doth judge and make war his eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies which we're in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen white and clean and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword remember we told you last week that sharp sword is his word that with it he should smite the nation's and he shall rule them with a rod of iron he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of lords and what a day when Jesus comes friend that's at this time the church has been taken up we go up at the rapture then there's the Great Tribulation and all of these tribulation calamities happen hail fire blood a burning mountain cast into the sea bitter star named wormwood that poisoned the waters cosmic darkness locusts which are really demon spirits horsemen that ride forth to bring pestilence and the worship of the Antichrist and then the vials of God's wrath are poured out and boils and and the sea will turn to blood and the rivers of blood and great heat and great darkness and the river Euphrates dries up and those Asian armies come across against Israel and hail like great stones and God is going to begin to judge the world and Mystery Babylon and Babylon the Great will be judged and then all of the antichrists coming in all this power is coming now against God's ancient people against Israel all nations of the world would be gathered together against this rule but what has happened the church has gone up here we're up there with the Lord Jesus Christ at the judgment seat of Christ the marriage of the land and now Jesus comes not at the rapture but at the revelation now he comes in power and great glory and at this point there is the Battle of Armageddon our Armageddon takes place when Jesus comes again this time not for his Saints but when Jesus Christ comes with his Saints and the armies of Antichrist are defeated at Armageddon and the tribulation has ended we'll talk about Armageddon later on but oh I can hardly wait to be there and I will be there for that battle but I'm going to be behind the Lord Jesus and he's going to fight the battle and he's gonna do it with one weapon the sword in his mouth God gives us pictures all through the Bible so we can understand things Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane praying the Anna Judas and the Roman so and the priests are coming to take Jesus and Jesus is praying just like Jesus right now is interceding for us he's in the glory interceding and here comes Judas Judas is a type of picture of Antichrist Judas is called the son of perdition the Antichrist is called the son of perdition the Bible says that Satan entered into Judas that doesn't say that about any other person in the Bible nowhere else in the Bible is to say the Satan and it entered into a person a people maybe possessed of demons but it says of Judas that Satan entered into him you know people say I've been wrestling with a devil all day you're not that important scotty littlest demon could deal with you and me you see but Judas was really filled with the devil he so represents the Antichrist anti means against and it means instead of and so here comes Judas and he's leading these people against the Lord Jesus Christ and here's this army here they are they've got the torches they've got this piers they've got this swords they have their authority they have all of this stuff and here's the Lord Jesus over here and they come and looks at them and say who you're looking for we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth are you Jesus I am and they fall down like did man just his word I am just the word out of his mouth and they drop now of course he allows them to get back up because that's a part of his plan but what a demonstration of his mighty power friend I tell you what the only thing that held Jesus to the cross was not spikes but golden cords of love did you know that he said no man taking my life from me I lay it down of myself and so how is this battle going to be fought this battle is going to be fought by the sword that goes out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ what is the next thing that we're going to see the next thing on God's event is the millennium after the Battle of Armageddon we're going to have the millennial reign of peace and the Dominion of Jesus now look if you will in Revelation 20 verses 1 through 6 and I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand and he laid hold on the dragon that old serpent which is the devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years what is a thousand years a thousand years is a millennium and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him he would get the longest prison wreck prison sentence in history and I hope it's with hard labor that he should deceive the nation's No More till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season we'll talk about that when we get to it and I'm going to skip on down to verse 5 but the rest of the Dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished this is the first resurrection blessed in Holies he that hath part in the first resurrection on such the second death had no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years now that's what we call the millennium 1,000 years now this looks much longer but that's only seven years here this period from here to here is a thousand years how long was this period be well it looks narrow here but so far it's been 2,000 years from the time that Jesus went up to this time so this chart does not signify length of time but events but this millennium milli annum merely meaning a thousand and a meaning year a thousand years speaks of the reign of Christ when the lamb and the lion will lie down together and the lamb won't be inside the lion that it's going to be peace and the Bible says that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as waters that cover the sea and Men shall beat their spears into pruning hooks and and their swords into plowshares and nation shall not lift up sword against nation there will only be ultimate peace in the middle when Jesus comes to rule and to reign and how we need to pray for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ can you imagine what the Millennium will be like no war no disease peace on earth during this millennial reign of the Lord Jesus now we'll talk about that a little bit later but now the sixth event and what I'm trying to do is just give you a panorama the sixth event is the final judgment and the doom of the Lost revelation 20 beginning in verse 11 and I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and there was found no place for them I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works and the sea gave up the Dead which were in it and death and he'll delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works and death and hell death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death and whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire and so how does the Millenium in with the final judgment there's coming a time when every unsaved man woman boy and girl will stand before the great white throne who is sitting upon that throne Jesus Christ the Bible says the father judges no man he has committed all judgment unto the son and and the the resurrection of the unsaved Dead will take place and I saw the dead small and great stand before God the sea gave up the Dead which were in it death and he'll delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every man well why didn't why do we wait why do we wait until here for the judgment because you see the the waves of sin have not yet hit the shores of eternity you drop a pedal a pebble in a lake and it concentric circles begin to go out to the shore let's take a person like Hugh Hefner who has corrupted so many people but he corrupts somebody who corrupts somebody who corrupts somebody who corrupts somebody who corrupts somebody who breaks up a home here who sodomized us somebody here who rapes somebody here who steals the virtue from somebody here and and on and on and on it goes but his influence goes on and on and on and so you wait until the final judgment when God puts the final period upon the final sentence upon the final paragraph upon the final page upon the final book of history then we see cumulative judgment and that's the reason God waits until the final judgment and at the final judgment the unsaved dead are judged and they are cast into the lake of fire which brings us now to the final of these seven great events the final state the final state and the destiny of mankind Revelation chapter 21 verses 6 and 8 and he said unto me it is done that's it it's done I'm Alpha Omega the beginning and the end I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son but the fearful and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all Liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second day ladies and gentlemen when God created you he made you in His image God made you a living soul you could no more cease to exist than God Himself could cease to exist endless timeless dateless measureless your soul will be in existence somewhere either in heaven or hell because God is making new heavens and a new earth and we're going to talk about that later but God brought me here this morning to say to you that you have a life to live a death to die a judgment to face and eternity to endure either in heaven or in hell and you cannot miss hell and go to heaven unless you are twice born now friend we've seen some terrible things and I want to ask you this question when the stars are being run from their sockets well the Sun is darken when as black as sackcloth of hair when the moon hangs in the sky like a clot of blood when mountains are crumbling and nations are shaken when the skies split and Jesus comes in the blood washed armies of heaven when all of these things are going on where will your soul be the wisest thing you could ever do would be to give your heart to Jesus Christ the last invitation the Bible says and who serve as a thirst let him come and take up the water of life freely the last prayer in the Bible is this even so come Lord Jesus do you bow your heads in prayer heads are bowed and eyes are closed now please get quiet and still be very reverent there are souls in the balance this morning there are people who may die and go to hell if they're not saved today this may be God's final public invitation to someone here today and if you're not absolutely certain that you're saved I want you to be saved pastor can I be certain yes you can be pastor is there some way that you could help me I want to right now I want to lead you in a prayer and guide you and you can pray this prayer I call it the sinner's prayer you can pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart and into your life friend to learn the facts of prophecy and not to know Jesus would only increase your judgment so you need to be saved and the surest thing and the sweetest thing would be to be saved today pray this prayer dear God I know that you love me and I know that you want to save me I am a sinner my sin deserves judgment but I need mercy I cannot save myself but Jesus you died to save me you promised to save me if I would trust you I do trust you I believe that you died for my sins I believe you paid my sin debt with your precious blood thank you for the shed blood that cleanses my sin I believe that God raised you from the dead and I now receive you by faith as my Lord and Savior come into my heart forgive my sin save me Jesus pray that friend from your heart save me Jesus save me Jesus did you ask him then don't wait for feeling don't look for a sign just take him at his word if your sincere prayer sincere prayer like this thank you for doing it thank you I receive it by faith and that settles it from now on I belong to you Jesus and you belong to me I'll not be ashamed of you Jesus I'll make it public just give me the strength to get down there this morning and I'll do it your name I pray amen [Music] friend may I say another word to those of you who are watching if you would like to do what these are doing this morning in our worship center I invite you to pray a prayer like this dear God I'm a sinner I'm lost I need to be saved and I want to be saved Lord Jesus come into my heart forgive my sin save me Lord Jesus now you don't have to remember all of those words you can just pray save me Lord Jesus and if you've done that would you write to us and let us know we'll send you some literature to help you get started in your Christian life [Music] we hope that today's program has been an encouragement to you you can listen to this message again listen to other messages in this series or download this message as well as Pastor Rogers outline notes or a transcript of this message all at lwf dot org is there something that God can't stand something that makes him sick if there is what would it be in our next lesson we'll see what God Himself has to say about this from Revelation chapter 3 what God is saying is this there is a sin that nauseates him there is a sin that figuratively speaking makes God feel ill that makes him want to regurgitate what is that sin that is so nauseous to God it's the sin that is probably the most prevailing sin in the modern church today it is the sin of Luke Wallace join us as we continue our series from the book of Revelation the triumph of the Lamb thanks for watching we'll see you next time [Music] love worth finding is a viewer-supported ministry and we need the help of faithful friends like you as we proclaim the gospel each week as thanks for your financial support this month we'll send you the journal tapestry of promises and prophecy this beautiful journey will help guide and grow your faith in Jesus Christ prayerfully consider becoming a monthly partner thank you and may God richly bless you

Channel: Love Worth Finding Ministries

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Keywords: love worth finding, Adrian Rogers, Memphis, salvation, ways to salvation, Christ Jesus

Id: 5yAAdtDK0Kk

Length: 38min 20sec (2300 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 28 2019