Doug Batchelor - An Overview of Revelation Apocalypse Synopsis - Part 2

you it's been 2,000 years since the glorious light of the cross illuminated a world veiled and darkness and confusion about the character of God and still today the greatest need of mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of Christ amazing thanks presents the everlasting gospel with Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento Central Church in sunny California discover hidden treasures in God's Word today prophecy is best understood looking back this is what Jesus said when these things happen then you will know that I have spoken them and so the now some of what we're going to say now is a little bit of a review when you talk about the book of Revelation and we study Revelation most people think it's a revelation of the beast or the mark of the beast or 666 or Armageddon or some of these hot-button words primarily Revelation is a revelation of Jesus and all the different pictures in the Bible are giving different perspectives are like the facets of a precious jewel that are reflecting different facets of Christ in some way Jesus appears through a variety of names and images all through the book it's helping us to better understand God and prophecy as a whole is not designed to just show us the future prophecy is really - its redemptive in nature prophecy is the redeemed because if you understand all the details of prophecy and what all these different visions represent and you're not saved what good does it do you ultimately prophecy is there to redeem us maybe we should review what some of the primary purposes for prophecy are prophecy of course gives us evidence for the existence of an omnipotent God secondly prophecy gives evidence demonstrating that the Bible is reliable one of the first things an evangelist will do to introduce a seminar is he'll take prophecy because nothing will strengthen your faith in the dependability of the word like Daniel chapter 2 or one of these prophecies that is clearly written before it happened and then you see the fulfillment of it thirdly prophecy provides the evidence that there's a purpose in life when you think about it I mean most of us live on a very razor-thin moment of the present everything else is in the past or in the future and when God in prophecy tells us I can go back in time I can go forward in time I can see the future as perfectly as you see the present that tells you that things are not just haphazard that we're not living in these serendipity lives where they're just there's just no purpose and no design and everything is fate and there is a plan and that God is on the throne fourthly prophecy unfolds the creator secrets regarding how we should live prophecy is instructive because of how God responds in the future and even in the past it tells us something about his nature and how he wants us to live now when you think about Bible prophecy and especially prophecies like revelation that are what we call keep in mind the word revelation means apocalypse owes apocalypse in Greek we think of the apocalyptic prophecies they're the ones who are given the prophecies that are given in symbols and signs like Zachariah and the zekiel and some in Amos and of course Daniel revelation why does God use all these signs and symbols why doesn't he speak plainly well these symbols are given for one thing because you have to read the rest of the Bible to unlock prophecy it's filled with symbols there and keep in mind john was a prisoner of rome in the salt mines of Patmos there Rome was going to be destroyed Revelation talks about the destruction in the evil of Rome it identifies it as Babylon and because of that in order to preserve that message of God had just said in Revelation Rome is an evil empire that's going to be destroyed what would the Roman leaders think of the book of Revelation wouldn't they seek to destroy the book so to preserve the message it's given in code in the same way Daniel he in Chapter two in Chapter seven he talks about Babel and is going to fall so if he had just said Babylon is going to fall and Nebuchadnezzar wanted it to last forever they would have destroyed the manuscript so to protect the writings it's given in code and in the Bible you'll find that there are symbols and if you understand your Bible you'll understand most of the symbols now some of them are very easy for you to understand when I say to you there's a dragon how many know who that dragon represents this is a little bit of review from last week revelation 12 says that old serpent called the devil and Satan he's the dragon can't misunderstand that and what it says in the middle of the throne we'll talk about that today there's a lamb as it had been slain do we have to guess about who that lamb is Jesus is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb and so we know through the Bible symbols what that represents but then you get to Revelation 12 there's a woman revelation 17 another woman these are just prominent women and and they don't ever speak and say hi my name is Sally and this is who I represent you say well what does that represent going through the Bible there are a lot of these symbols that appear other places and prophecy that help you understand now this is a chart of Bible symbols and their meaning and it gives the scripture to understand them you can get this from that website called Bible prophecy truth amazing facts develop this website this year I thought it was just as fast for me to google it I just typed in Bible prophecy on the first page out of over 700,000 possible sites this was a first page it was the third website in that exciting would you like to see it go to first place then you tell all your friends you link to it put Bible prophecy truth at your website it'll go to first place that effect when y'all go home from church log on that'll boost it in the ratings at Google it talks about millennium and Armageddon the mark of the beast and all these different really exciting subjects and it's got a lot of material there but you can also get the Bible symbols in there meaning you can print this out their Bible numbers remember we told you certain numbers appear many times in Revelation those numbers also have a meaning and you can look at that so that's one reason the symbols were given to protect the message I remember during World War two I don't remember because I wasn't alive but I'm never reading in World War two my dad was in World War two and then we lived among the Navajo Indians in New Mexico and many of them were code operators because the Japanese had broken every American code and they said we got to get something else and so there was actually the son of a missionary who had grown up on the reservation and he was in the Marines and he went to them and said I know the answer for your code so you just need to draft some Navajos it is the most difficult language my father's been working for years to try and translate the New Testament into Navajo it is the most complicated language and it doesn't follow any rules so the cryptographers can't decipher it let them talk to each other on the radio and they'll never figure out what they're saying well they did some tests and said you're right we can't figure it out and so what they did is they had Navajo radio operators scattered throughout the Marines that were the communicators but not only would they communicate with each other and Nevo they were given coded messages they communicate in Navajo and they'd use these pictures and they'd say oh we've got 15 tortoises coming over the hill and they knew a Hmong and they'd say it Navajo those tortoises meant tanks and so they had you said oh they've got you know a bunch of crows flying in or something like that that meant planes it and so they had all these different they give the code in the language and that further complicated it so sometimes to understand revelation you not only read what it says in Revelation you go to other places in the Bible you find out what the symbols mean and then you look how were they used back then so we're going to do a little bit of that this morning so you can just understand why we're studying it the way we study it so these symbols all had meaning jesus said in Luke chapter 8 verse 10 to you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God but to the rest it's given in parables that's seen they may not see and hearing they may not understand so some of the enemies of Christ spiritual things are spiritually discerned 1st Corinthians 2:14 one of the best ways to understand prophecy is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God will give you understanding you know the people in the world when they hear some of these evangelists started explaining prophecy on TV they think they're on drugs don't they and you probably have thought that too and matter of fact the way I've heard some interpretations I think they're on drugs too I mean let's face it you've heard some really squirrely ideas about prophecy in Revelation in particular but when you have the Holy Spirit and you're comparing Scripture with Scripture here a little there a little line upon line it begins to click there's a consistency there's a science to it but you still must have the Holy Spirit to understand it revelation we ended last week reminding you it's a book that you will be blessed in studying that is not just something I'm saying the book itself says it revelation chapter 1 verse 3 blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy matter of fact he says the words of this prophecy and keep the things that are written therein for the time is at hand so it's telling you in the opening chapter there's something to do about what you hear blessed are those that keep so you're not only to read it and understand it you'll be blessed if you keep it blessing at the end of the book makes it clear also revelation 22 7 jesus said behold I am coming quickly it is he who keeps the words of this prophecy and so there's a blessing pronounced on those who hear it and keep it you'll be blessed in studying it can't keep it until you read it right so that's where we've got to start and these are the words of Jesus notice the time is at hand it starts the book by saying the time is at hand it ends the book by Jesus saying behold I come quickly so revelation covers a time span from the first coming of Jesus to the second coming of Jesus and I and of course beyond into the eternity it takes us beyond the millennium into the time of eternity after the 1,000 years now when we left off we were talking about the sevens in Revelation and in particular the seven churches this represents seven stages and ages and those churches represent cycles that eight church may go through from its inception until it's sort of atrophies and Laodicea it represents an experience an individual may go through many people accept the Lord and they're like Ephesus and it's all about theology they may even lose the first love and people can be at any stage along the way but most most of all this represents the cycle of time 7 when you think of 7 in the Bible where do you find 7 what does that number mean where's it first appear in creation matter of fact first time any number appears three times in the Bible it's in number 7 it says on the seventh day the seventh day the seventh day in Revelation in Genesis chapter two it's a cycle of time a cycle of time the seven churches represent the cycle of the church's history from the first coming to the second coming now the book of Revelation is a lot of sevens in it but there are three prominent visions of seven you get the seven churches the seven seals we'll probably get into that today then you've got the seven trumpets and you've also there's also seven plagues the seven churches represents the Spirit history of the church from the first coming to the second coming the seven seals represent a political history of the church from the first coming to the second coming the seven trumpets represent don't they blow trumpets in battle doesn't Paul say giving the trumpet a serpent certain sound they know how to prepare for the battle military history of the church from the first coming to the second coming but the prophecies of God are not flat and single-dimensional the prophecies of God and when you study Revelation you need to think it is multi-dimensional you will find that one prophecy while it will perfectly give you for instance that like I said the cycle of the church's history there's a lot of depth to it you know I might speak to you and I'm just I've got one meaning in what I say I'm immortal we're kind of we kind of speak and think on one dimension we're more linear in when we communicate God's Word is not confined or restricted the way we are in our communication God can say one thing that is so profound that it is truth and it does not conflict with the other meanings but it has multi-dimensional meanings to it I always like to go back and take Jesus for instance the disciple come to Jesus and ask him a simple question when will these things be Jesus had just referred to the destruction of the temple and what will be the sign of your coming in the end of the world Matthew 24 they kind of asked him three questions he then gives them this incredibly deep and profound answer in Matthew 24 you'll also find in mark 13 Luke 17 Luke 21 where you find his answer explaining the signs about his return in that one answer without carving it up for us he answered those who are living that day what they were asking what was going to happen to the Jews he also told the church what they could expect in their history so every Christian in any age can read Matthew 24 and it was relevant to them that day he talked about the great time of trouble the Jews would go through just before Jerusalem was destroyed he talked about a time of trouble the church would go through during the age of Thyatira a great persecution and he talked about the great time of trouble before the seven last plagues in the end of the world for those of us living in this generation one answer many dimensions to that one answer how many of you already knew that read revelation realizing that God's Word is not restricted the way we think and I think everyone here knows there's more about Revelation that I don't know than I do know it is a book of God it is so deep and it is so profound that there are people who have I heard one Lesley Harding a theology teacher at Andrews dear man he said you can't even begin to understand revelation until you've read it 50 times just some of these great minds I remember Joe Maniscalco I was his pastor he was an art teacher traveled around teaching revelation they had his Bible at his funeral he had absolutely worn out the top 70 percent or twenty percent of his rifle and revelation does warn the pages right off he had read it through so many times and so for us to do this overview of Revelation I'm just trying to whet your appetite that's all I'm doing I'm not going to be able to give you all the answers for these things you realize that I'm making I'm trying to create within you a desire to make you want to study it because if there was ever an age when these things are applicable it's now I mean now is the time for us to understand these things a lot of it has happened in the past but there's still a lot of it that's going to concentrate in the last days all right to the seven churches let's put that map up there so we've got these seven churches and they were the churches of Asia John was a prisoner in the isle of patmos from rome this was not all the churches why just those seven supposedly John especially ministered to the churches and seven he took Mary with him the mother of Jesus when he moved up to Asia Minor and ostensibly her house is there I believe it's in Ephesus and he can look right across the messages in the churches you they go in order as though you're going on the mail route they had roads the Romans you know had good roads and you could go from Ephesus to Samara to Pergamum or Pergamos Thyatira to Sardis to Philadelphia to Laodicea that would be the end of the route and so it's almost like he has a bird's-eye view as he's doing this circle there's an incredible sequence and order that's given now the seven churches and I'll name them for you each word has meaning and each Church has a unique characteristic you've got Ephesus that means desirable this is the church that had lost its ardor it has lost its passion for Jesus they love the truth and they loved the doctrine but when you've got the doctrine you don't have the love you can become legalistic and so the Lord commended them for their passion for the truth and that they were trying to maintain the discipline and the holiness of the church but they were losing their first that initial love then you've got the Church of Smyrna this is a church that was persecuted and the word summer night it's related to the word myrrh which is an incense or fragrance and it was like their lives were an offering this was a time of great persecution that the church went through then you got the Church of Pergamos or Pergamum and that was Heights or elevation this was the tolerant Church Thyatira it means perfume it was the age of compromise in the church that's synonymous with that woman in Revelation chapter 17 mentions Jezebel in Thyatira by the way all the proper names in Revelation are symbolic that's a pretty sweeping statement pastor Doug all of the proper names in Revelation are symbolic the numbers have a value you that is real there really were seven ages of the church there really are 12 foundations in the New Jerusalem there really are 12 different kinds of fruit and so see what I'm saying when it tells about the size of the New Jerusalem real numbers prophetic ages that are given in Revelation there's a value that value means something that's just a not a nebulous ethereal number but the names are spiritual when it talks about Balaam and again I mentioned this you got to go back in the Old Testament to know what's it talking about or Jezebel or it talks about apollyon or some of these other things then you've got to Sardis Prince of joy this was a nominal church had a name that you live but you are dead then you had Philadelphia the age of brotherly love the church that was doing evangelism and missionary work everywhere and the final age of the church Laodicea and that means a judged people are the judging of the people we are living in that final age of the church it was the lukewarm church had you know figured a rich increased with goods like that man in the parable in Luke feasting sumptuously on the truth we've got the truth Jewish nation time of Christ we've got the truth feasting on it beggars laying at their gate full of sores desiring the crumbs if we're not sharing were those that are lost then we've got a problem all right so that represented the message of the seven churches now you transition from God talking about the condition of the church below then all of a sudden and go with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 4 so it's real important that we read this because you're going to run into it and if you haven't already verse 1 chapter 4 verse 1 after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying come up here and I will show you things that must take place after this and so he goes through the churches and he says now I want to show you in a special way things that must take a lot of our evangelical friends not all of them but a lot of our evangelical friends read this and when he says come up here they write down next to that rapture so they take everything from Chapter four on and I told you last week that's where it gets the name futurism they say this is all in the future because you don't hear the word Church mentioned much until you get down towards the end that means the church has caught up it's out of the world and everything else that's happening in Revelation is happening beyond our time I think the devil loves for people to think that because Jesus actually says the time is it he and you're supposed to trace chapter 4 from the time of John on to the time of the second coming and they take it may toss it all off into the future just because he's had come up because it says there's a here - voice like a trumpet they said that's the trumpet Oh Gabriel I just the trumpet just means loud their trumpets announce things trumpets not all equated with the second coming the voice of the Lord like a trumpet trumpets in the Bible had to do with crossing over the Jordan River when Jericho fell trumpets had to do with the military decisions so I think it's really a leap and logic to say because he said come up and they hear a trumpet that means that this is now the second coming of Jesus everything else that's happening in Revelation is in the future another important principle when you study Bible prophecy Bible prophecy is not given in chronological order like you might write down your autobiography I was born while I was very young you know and then you go from there in sequence this happened this year and this happened this year and you do it sequentially the way the prophecy works it goes like this and the Bible is written like this first in the beginning God created the heavens the earth so he takes you that far so now let me back up and tell you what happened when he created and it goes like this and he takes it a little further so now I'm going to tell you about what happened on the sixth day when Adam couldn't find a wife and he started looking around the animals weren't going to work and then he goes back now let me give you the genealogies about them and he backs up and it overlaps it keeps going back and it keeps going overlapping it's not written sequentially Daniel chapter 2 how many of you sort of understand that covers the history of the kingdoms of the world and when you get the end of the Daniel chapter two that's the end of the book right now he covers the panorama of the world's kingdoms through this one vision it says now I'm going to show you the same time period but I'm going to use another vision I'm going to go around this side and now we're going to talk about a goat and RAM and we're going to go over here we're going to talk about a lion and a leopard and a bear and backing up and covering a lot of the same territory in layers so there's no question about what it's saying and let's face it some of us like to think about it in the metals where you know we're tangible we like the minerals we like Daniel chapter 2 some of us we like animals we like to think about the lion in the bear God gives it all in different pictures so that if you don't get it one time around you might get it another time around and so it appeals to everybody and so when you're reading through revelation it is not written sequentially so my heart breaks for these dear people to get to chapter 4 and say that's all in the future I don't know what's going to happen and they can't they're missing so much I'd like to study revelation 17 with those people because you can't read that without saying WOW a revelation 12 it fits perfectly with history how can they miss it much of it past history and so a lot of dear people say come up all he's doing he said look I've shown you things that are relating on earth now I'm going to take you off into heaven and I'm going to give you a vision of how heaven is dealing with what's happening with the church on earth and all of a sudden he's brought into this throne view in heaven I looked and behold a door standing open he says I'll show you things that must come and I was in the spirit and I beheld a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne y'see in the spirit because God's a spirit and angels are ministering spirits he's surrounded with spiritual so he has to be in the spirit that's so before he's on the Isle of petals and he's kind of looking across the Aegean Sea and God is showing him this vision of Jesus among his churches on earth now he's showing him Jesus interceding in heaven and so that's all that's meant there and it tells us I saw throne and one sat on the throne and he that said was like Jasper and Sardis in appearance and a rainbow around his throne he begins to describe God the father on his throne and God the Son is described in the same chapter you go to Daniel there's only a couple places in the Bible you find God the Father and the son and it talks about two Thrones Daniel chapter 7 has that in that great judgment scene I saw the Ancient of Days and one like the Son of Man was brought before me who is the son of man Jesus then who's the Ancient of Days must be God the Father so here you've got this picture of these Thrones in heaven and then it talks about around the throne of God you've got these creatures you've got these four beasts around the throne of God in in Revelation chapter 4 Revelation chapter 4 it says in the first beast was like a lion the second beast was like a calf the third had the face of a man the fourth was flying like an eagle now you know that's exactly like what you're going to find in Ezekiel chapter 1 verse 10 to understand Revelation you got to go back Ezekiel 1 verse 10 the likeness of their faces for they had four faces of a man the face of a lion the they had the four they had the face of an OPS the face of an eagle so there's a consistency here zekiel makes it sound like this four creatures in each one has four faces and in John makes it sound like this four creatures and each one has one face but they're all different what does this mean is God surrounded with saw all these strange alien like creatures in heaven first of all Jesus appears in chapter 1 with a sword coming out of his head is Jesus going to come and you're going to see him he's holding a sickle he's got a sword coming out of his mouth holding the sickle means he's harvesting the earth what does the sword represent use the Bible Hebrews chapter 4 the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword fusions chapter 6 the Word of God the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God so no question about what that sword represents in his mouth what was in the mouth of Jesus the Word of God so when we go up to say hi to Jesus in heaven we try and give him a hug we're gonna have to dodge a sword sticking out of his head or is it a symbol so so many of these images and creatures you're seeing you say what does that mean alright what do you think of when you think of a lion in the Bible well lion represents Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah a lion is a picture of strength in the Bible is a picture of majesty and a power and you think about an eagle it represents swiftness God says I bore you on my wings as an eagle does her young Eagles their sight they can see they're like all see nothing escapes an eagle it sees everything happening an eagle up on his spot he can look all the way around him and see then you've got a calf these were humble creatures they were animals of sacrifice they would labor then you've got a man and all the dignity of man made in God's image you know the best explanation I've heard of these four creatures they represent different aspects of who God is you notice there are around the throne of God they're telling us something about God and his character the four Gospels I've heard identified with these four creatures why did God give us four different Gospels same story all a little perspective I have heard mark compared to the Eagle it is the quick gospel have you ever noticed you read the book of Mark how often it will say and immediately and straightway it is your summary it is moving Bing Bing Bing Bing Bing very fast by the way it's a shortest gospel gets right to the point it's the Eagle view then you got the book of Matthew which is the lion in the book of Matthew Jesus is shown to be the Messiah the king the Lion of the tribe of Judah all through the book it's referring back to the prophecies that prove Jesus was the king in the Book of Luke what was Luke's occupation he's a doctor Jesus is portrayed as the Son of Man and he often has a more human perspective in Luke and then in John Jesus is shown to be the great sacrifice the Lamb of God or the calf and so that each one of them is giving these different perspectives now I don't know if you've ever heard this before but it goes all the way back to Aristotle that people are divided up into four primary character characteristics and and most psychologists really agree with this principle you've probably heard it before melancholy sanguine Flagg manic and caloric now it doesn't matter what word you use and I'm not there's nothing sacred about those terms people typically are divided among four major category personality groups that can have different breakup and some are kind of a mixing of all of those things but we've all known people that have these different emphasis in their character who's going to live in the New Jerusalem Church church is composed of how many apostles were there twelve how many gates on each wall each wall has three gates twelve total right and it's kind of telling us that we're all sort of a composite on the breastplate of the high priest Jesus appears as the high priest in Revelation one there were twelve stones and were they all the same we're three of them the same you weren't so sure no two of them are the same are they all precious they are they're all different God's church he's not a cookie cutter up in the sky where all of you have to act exactly the same we all have a little different personality and different gifts that all must be sanctified by Christ how many different combinations you can get when you've got 12 times 12 144 we're all unique in probably 144 thousand out of that anyway so you get these four creatures around God's throne and now they're in the middle of this vision it talks about there's this scroll that appears that has seven seals on it it's a mystery scroll with seven seals and they're wondering who's going to be able to open it oh by the way you know what I jump past I forgot to talk about the 24 elders around the throne I knew this was going to take longer than I thought where did they come from 24 elders I thought that you don't get to heaven till you die and you're the resurrection takes place and yet you get 24 elders and they seem to be human well for one thing when Jesus died and rose doesn't it say there in Matthew 28 and many of the graves of them that slept were opened and they arose and they appeared to many and so this can be some of the firstfruits of the people that came with Christ to heaven why 24 have you read in the Bible that it says here in Revelation we are to be a nation of kings and priests by the way please remember this to understand revelation a lot of it is written in the context of the great Exodus the Exodus was the history of the Israelites it was the backdrop for everything they believed in the God had called them his chosen people the whole Exodus experience God in their midst the ten commandments the covenant the deliverance from slavery it's all salvation isn't it well God says he called them in exodus to be a nation of kings and priests and by the way that 10 plagues had fell on the Egyptians you find seven plagues that are very similar in Revelation knowing Exodus is going to help you understand Revelation there's a lot of similarity well you read in 1st chronicles 23 it talks about 24,000 were appointed to work in the house of the Lord there was a circuit of 24,000 priests during the time of David and Solomon that worked in the temple the Levites that rotated and David had an army 1st chronicles 27 1 the divisions came in and went out month by month throughout each division having 24,000 so you've got 24,000 among the priests and 24,000 among the officers and the military priests and Kings by the way Jesus appears in Revelation as a king and a priest can you think of another king priest in the Bible Melchizedek says there's this king in this priests he appears out of nowhere and he disappears doesn't tell when he's born who his people are doesn't tell when he died where he went or where he's buried without beginning or end he's a type of Christ from eternity to eternity Melchizedek the king and priest who appears there in Genesis chapter 14 verse 18 the king of Salem Salem was the abbreviated form of Jerusalem Salem means peace Jerusalem this King priest and he's the Melchizedek means king of male kill Mel means King Dee's Eck righteousness king of righteousness who was the priest and the King King priest of the Most High God whom Abraham even gave tithe to that says he brought out bread and wine what does Jesus do at the Last Supper our king priest makes a covenant with us what are the emblems of the Covenant bread and wine and grape juice in that bread it's just fantastic and so all of this is incumbent the 24 elders well there's two sets of 24 in the Bible in the leaders and in the priests and so kings and priests all right now I can go to the seven Scrolls now you've got these the scroll that appears here in Revelation chapter 6 and there's a lot of concern because it's in the right hand right hand in the Bible a symbol a favor but nobody is found worthy to open the scroll and so there's a great consternation in John it says he wept much this is he you ever just been dreaming all since something happens in your dream you can't even understand why but you're overcome with a sadness a profound sadness in your dream and I I've woke up a 4-1 J I just got this tremendous sense of said as almost felt like sobbing and John does realize if this scroll cannot be open the world is doomed and there's a great sobbing because this scroll not only unfolds the future by the way do you know how you and I live in the future if I were to tell you you're going to do all your living right now in the present that means your life is over as soon as the present goes by if you don't have a future you don't have life does that yeah my going by confusing you are you aware that in two days tomorrow will be yesterday now that's pretty deep isn't it you're with me this scroll is a school of prophecy prophecies about the future it's about life it's about eternal life and if God can't open this if no one can open this we have no future some of compared it with the book of life but to be more accurate it's really about prophecy you read in Isaiah 29 about another scroll that can't be opened if you want to understand revelation the rules are can't make up your interpretations I've heard some preachers they just say I think it means this anything where'd he get that because that's how we felt that day that's not fair you can't do that we'll all have different interpretations they're called private interpretations are deadly let the Bible interpret itself find another scroll in the Bible that seal and you you'll start to get the clues Isaiah 29 11 and 12 the whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed he's talking about a vision a prophecy which men delivered to one who's literate this person can read and they say read this please says I can't because it's sealed I was one person he says I won't read it because it's sealed then they'd go to another guy who is illiterate and said please read this he says why you asking me I can't even read so here they're making all these excuses for saying we can't we have no power to open the sealed book you either can't read or a seal so we need someone else to open it by the way you read in Daniel 12 verse 4 you want to know what this book is let the Bible interpret itself but you Daniel shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end now what does that mean seal it till the time of the end doesn't that say that at the time at the end it won't be sealed at some point it's going to be open when the time at the end it's no longer sealed until the time at the end it is sealed and by the way more of Revelation has come to understanding during the last age of the church at the time of the end than any other time in history great knowledge prophecies best understood looking back a lot of it's behind us and so it's been unsealed to a great extent and so this is also unsealing our future revelation 22 10 he said do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book so it's talking about the Book of Revelations about to be open that's what sealed with those seven seals the truth is about to be revealed about salvation about God about the battle between good and evil Amos chapter 3 verse 7 surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret to his servants of prophets so through John the Prophet he's revealing his secrets to us and so then they say do not weep John for there's one who can open the book and I want you to go with me to Revelation chapter 6 and here it it tells us about what he sees I'm actually in Revelation chapter fine 5 he said don't weep verse 5 one of the elders said do not weep behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah do we know what that lion represents the root of David he has prevailed to open the scroll prevail why prevail means there was a struggle he struggled with the devil he has the right he lived that sinless life to loose it's seven seals and I looked and behold by the way this is why the sermon takes so long I keep saying incidentally by the way you know there was a sealed scroll that was given to a man that had his own death sentence in it Uriah was handed by David a message given to Joab that contained the death sentence of Uriah even though he was innocent he had to die to cover the sin of others and he delivered his own death sentence in a sealed scroll Jesus that lamb that was slain is the only one that had a right to open that scroll because for you and I to understand these things for us to have a future for us to know the vision he had to die to give us this information does that sort of make sense to you spiritual things are spiritually understood it made sense to me I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain it stands but it had been slain when Jesus rose that he bears scars that he had been slain yes but he stood having seven horns horn in the Bible as a symbol of power if you were a shepherd when they anointed a priest they poured the oil out of a horn him at the power of the Spirit these nations these kingdoms were represented as horns in the Daniel chapter 8 so he's got the seven horns he got seven eyes it represents knowledge knowing which are the seven spirits of God in Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2 it talks about the seven characteristics of God the Spirit said his wisdom and power and knowledge and you'll find that in Isaiah 11 verse 2 so this is Jesus who in companies encompasses all that the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth the gifts of the Spirit are given to all and he took the scroll out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne okay now here you've got Jesus the lamb and someone who sits on the throne can you see the father and the son in this picture you get the lamb taking the scroll out of the hand of one who sits on the throne and now when he had taken the scroll the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb having a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the Saints and they saying here you get the incense so we know what's happening by that altar of incense in the temple they sang a new song saying you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and you've redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth there you have the kings in the priests again that we found in chapter 1 we are the nation of kings and priests but you notice it's not just Israel out of every nation and tongue now this was very important to those that were reading because now you get to chapter seven and it says there's twelve thousand out of twelve tribes or before I get there now let's start opening the seals I'm going to try and make it to Chapter seven anyway so they fall down they worship they say worthy is land you find that exaltation and praise gets mightier and more expanded several times in Revelation the praise and the worship songs become greater crescendos than the one before finally they open the seals now I saw chapter six verse one the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard one of the four living creatures say with me come and see so when the seals are open he sees he understands it's a revelation is what's being given in these seals and he said he opened behold a white horse and one who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given him and he went out conquering and to conquer now you find later in Revelation a rider on a white horse and it's Christ who is the word of God this represents how the Word of God triumphed in the first centuries of the church there's a parallel between the seven seals and the seven churches one is giving spiritual history one is giving the political history again a summary I want you to study three he opened the next seal now you get the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse here we go by the way this is a picture by Joe Maniscalco that I was telling you about who worn out revelation in his Bible and you know this is an artist conception I don't know if it's exactly what John saw probably not but it gives you something to look at so then the next one you've got is this some red horse and he said to him take peace from the earth that they should kill one another and there was given him a sword so then you got this age of great persecution that comes to the church the third seal he opens he says come and see this black horse got a pair of scales in his hand he hears him say a quart of wheat for a Denarius and a quart of barley for a penny a Denarius as a penny do not hurt the oil and the wine is a symbol for the preciousness of the Word of God during that time it had become so scarce and it was eclipsed barley was the cheapest form of food it was given to the animals usually they gave wheat to people barley to the animals number seven he opens the fourth seal you've all heard of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse they are simply the first four of the seven seals opens a fourth seal and I heard the fourth creatures say come and see as I looked and behold a pale horse that word pale there any of you know what a rout looks like when you put a potato near the cupboard it gets a little bit of sunlight and it starts sprouting these pale roots because they're not getting any real light or not green it's like a deathly color that's what it's saying it's like this deathly pale color no chloroform in it this pale horse a time of great death and persecution that comes to the church this is synonymous with the period of persecution of the Dark Ages and then you read through the seals and then he goes on and he opens up the fifth seal and it talks about those who have been slain for the word of God you've got the sign Saints that are under the altar now how many of you think that there are people that are Saints that are saved that are crying right now in heaven who would want to die and go be under an altar and cry how many of you know that's a symbol some have tried to use this to talk about the state of souls after death in some kind of purgatory or Abraham's bosom and they made it literal it's not literal it's a symbol of how God's Saints that have suffered during this time their day of Justice is coming be patient when you read in the Bible when God says the blood of Abel God said to Cain the blood of Abel your brother is crying to me from the ground once those cells the little blood cells going help help help from the ground or as it was God just using a metaphor there that we all understand that his blood was evidence that justice needed to be taken care of and so here is a time where there was great persecution of the same and that there's a crying it is going up because of the prayers that had been recorded now do you know that you can pray a prayer today and you might die and that prayer is recorded and the answer may come after you die let's say you're praying for your children and you might die before you see their salvation or conversion are those prayers stored or does God say nob you're dead non those prayers are all wiped out if you die in your faith he records those prayers doesn't he and so these are all the Saints through the ages their prayers under the altar what was on the altar the prayers of the saints we just read that didn't wait it's talking about their prayers for justice and vindication and deliverance there's not a bunch of souls under the altar crying it's their symbol is that clear well let me at least get through the sixth seal I'm going to have to start with the 144,000 so it talks about the the sign Saints and then it transitions to the wailing wicked you go to the sixth seal 12 I'm in chapter 6 verse 12 I looked in the opened the sixth seal and behold there's a great earthquake and the Sun became black as sackcloth by the way there's a great earthquake in history during this time and the moon became like blood and the stars of heaven fell to earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it's shaken by a mighty wind and the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled together now you know what I'd like to tell you we're living historically between their verse 13 and 14 a lot of these things have happened historically the great earthquakes a dark day moon looking like blood the stars appearing to fall from heaven along the continuum of history these things have happened where God's people His Church prominently could see this but ultimately when Jesus said comes the sky will receive as a scroll these things are going to happen again in quick succession at the second coming and every mountain and island is moved out of its place the way things are happening with the earthquakes right now you wonder and here's the wailing of the wicked and the kings of the earth and the great men by the world standard and the rich men and the commanders and the mighty man the people who have the power down here in other words that are persecuting God and every slave man and every free man hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains are these two saved or the laws hiding because the the Saints aren't going to run it's the Blessed hope for them this was the wailing wicked and they say to the mountains in the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath has come and who will be able to stand now typically when you have a nightmare and you see some monster are you I I know some people are terrified of snakes and I remember years ago and I don't recommend this but this was a long time ago I went and saw this movie Jaws I was not a member of the church back then and I'm a scuba diver I was afraid to get in the swimming pool in Palm Springs because he know after all of you know a great white shark it's spooky and I know some people they're terrified of spiders or bears or you name it but I never heard a person say I've got this phobia of lambs I'm so scared of lambs I mean doesn't it sound like an oxymoron to say the wrath of the lamb they're considered the most loving and gentle creatures and who was that they had a children's program for kids and she had the little puppet lamb chops that's back in the howdy-doody days invasion yeah and because it was innocent it was cuddly but it talked about the wrath of the lamb why does Jesus why is he pictured that way because when we see that God gave his lamb his son that everyone could be saved and he poured out his blood to save the world that whosoever believes in might be saved and after we've trampled on that sacrifice if we reject the mercy of the Lamb and the sacrifice of the Lamb if we reject everything good the lamb is left the only thing that is left is the justice of the lamb and you realize the penalty for sin is not just death it's punishment or wrath and death and so in the wrath of the Lamb later is shown in the seven plagues that are poured out and so here it's showing these two groups one group that is going to be saved and God says you're going to be vindicated and then he immediately goes to the other group their persecutors he's got the persecuted and the persecutors as we enter the last days friends you realize everybody here is going to fall into one of those two groups one group is going to have the whole world mad at them and they're going to be persecuted they'll have the seal of God you will be saved God is promising you hang on your prayers will be answered then you got the other group that's living for the world now and they're not thinking about eternity they're the wicked they're the persecutors they'll get the mark of the beast when we get into the next section it's then going to identify those that are singing that are standing on the sea of glass that are redeemed the victors 144,000 are you being at all encouraged hopefully inspired tantalized to study this book more I hope to get to know what's in the future he said that time is at hand there's a blessing for those who read here and keep the things that are in the book I want to be fulfilling all three categories and I want to read it I want to hear it I want to keep it don't you friends there's a blessing for those let's pray for that blessing now dear lord father you are worthy worthy is the lamb and we are so thankful that we are given the privilege of worshiping you that's what it means worth-ship and Lord we pray that we can live lives what will bring glory to you we pray Lord that we will have our eyes open that we'll have the discernment to see what is at hand right now and if ever these things were at the threshold if ever these things were about to be fulfilled we know right now we're in the midst of the fulfillment of the most climatic of events in this book I pray Lord that you'll awaken us to the time in which we live help us to be roused from our lukewarm condition and to be receiving that eyesalve that our eyes might be open those white garments that we might be clothed and that goal that we might be rich bless us Lord that the things in this book will not just be symbols that there'll be reality in our lives be with every person I pray that you'll fill us with your spirit bless us in our fellowship and again we thank you for your goodness help us be ready when the lamb does come in Jesus name we pray amen if you've missed any of our amazing facts programs visit our website at amazing facts org there you'll find an archive of all our television and radio programs including amazing facts presents one location so many possibilities amazing facts org you

Channel: Amazing Mission

Views: 26,102

Rating: 4.7460318 out of 5

Keywords: An, Overview, of, Revelation, Apocalypse, Synopsis, Part, Gospel, Church, Christian, good, faith, hope, sin, love, salvation, christianity, philosophy, lecture, bible, coming soon, gospel, review, reviews, Jesus, Christ, angel, lucifer, devil, dragon, 666, john, 144, 000, blood, preaching, inspirational

Id: -SySuv9orVM

Length: 58min 30sec (3510 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 06 2011