Revelation 4 // After These Things

let's get going Revelation chapter 4 Revelation chapter 4 and let's let's pray Lord you said that we're blessed if we go through and we read this book and we hear it and we pay attention to those things that are written and Lord we want that blessing we want you to have your hand on us as we're going through we want you to be the one who speaks and lord I just pray that you'd help money my teaching to be something that's just a view Oracles of God that kind of thing and that I'd be clear and that your people would be blessed you know we just give you this time and pray that you bless it now in Jesus name Amen okay before we get into revelation 4 let me do one more thing with revelation 2 and 3 how many letters to the churches did Jesus give John it was 7 in in Matthew chapter 13 there are Kingdom parables how many are there 7 you even need to go through count them you know the answer Paul the Apostle wrote how many letters wrong 14 14 if you count if you count hebrews hebrews wasn't signed and so we're gonna leave that one out he wrote letters to individuals and so he wrote to Timothy twice and he wrote to Titus once and he wrote to Philemon once and so that's 1 2 3 4 5 5 letters off the 14 so now we're but down at 9 okay and then he wrote to the Romans and he wrote to the Corinthians twice but he wrote to the Corinthian church and so that's only one church so he wrote to the Corinthian church and then he wrote to the Galatians and Ephesians and the Philippians and the Colossians and 2 and then he wrote first and second Thessalonians but that's only one so you take one off and how many you got yeah you got you got seven it's seven and so what's interesting about the seven letters for the seven churches is they match they go along really well with the kingdom parables and so first kingdom parable is about the parable was sower first letter in the book of Revelation is to Ephesus and it's about you know if we if we go with the historic interpretation of Revelation two and three in the sense that we may be looking at something that's looking at church history then obviously Ephesus would be all around all about the beginning and at the beginning of the church what you had is a church going out and sowing seed right sowing the Word of God the second letter is or the second parable is the parable of the wheat and the tares and I'm not going to make this a big study I could I could get way into this but the second parable is the wheat and the tares and what's notable about it is that there's an there was an enemy that went into a guy's field and sow sow sow tares among the wheat and specifically in the passage it says an enemy has done this and in the letter to Smyrna it's the church under persecution and specifically the synagogue of Satan is mentioned as being an enemy of the church in that passage so that's kind of interesting and so Smyrna would go with wheat and tares pergamus remember pergamus is about compromise it's about an infiltration of the world basically into the church pergamus itself means mixed marriage and the next Kingdom parable is a kid is the parable of the mustard seed and I would just submit to you that that parable is usually taught wrong what how that parable goes is the kingdom of heaven is like a man who planted a mustard seed and it became a tree and then the birds of the air came and roosted in it and people people look at that parable and go oh that's the expansion of the church it's getting so big and you know although all the peoples of the Earth's are coming and resting in it well in the first Kingdom parable that Jesus gave the birds were not good they were bad the birds the the birds remember that he throws seed on the ground and on the pathway birds of the air come and steal it away and what Jesus said was that the that that's the the Word of God planted on or given to somebody and it doesn't take root and Satan comes and takes it away and so if birds are bad in the first parable birds are probably bad in the third parable and what you have there is a church mustard seed isn't something that gets as big as a tree gets to be a big bush but not a tree and so it's it's oversized and it's got the birds of the air which and the first one is demons coming and resting inside it so that's interesting that kind of goes Thyatira is about the woman who sews or who sews 11 actually puts 11 in three measures of meal okay so Kingdom of Heaven Jesus said it's like a woman who put 11 and three measures of meal until the meal was all leavened till the the dough was all leavened and leaven in the Bible is a type of sin it's always a type of sin always a top a type of false doctrine you know what three measures of meal is it's the fellowship offering and it was never to have living in it a Jew hearing that would go you know they would have a real problem with that and so that again is an interesting thing that's a picture of again compromise and the world coming in and specifically a woman is mentioned well the next letter that Jesus wrote was Thyatira right and there's a woman mentioned in Thyatira and she's but specifically spoken of as bringing idolatry and sexual immorality into the church and so that's interesting Sardis or Sardis would be the next letter and the two next parables are about the hidden treasure in the pearl of great price and they're they're similar the the hidden treasure man goes out finds a treasure hidden in a field he goes out goes out and sells everything that he has so they can go and buy it and then the next one is pearl of great price as a merchant finds a pearl of great price goes and sells everything that he has so they can buy this pearl of great price again I would submit to you that most times that's been taught exactly backwards because usually the way that it's taught is the hidden treasure is Jesus and I need to go out and sell everything that I have to go and get Jesus is that really how the gospel works how the gospel really works is a God sold everything that he had so that he could get you and you were a treasure hidden in the field and the field was the earth right and so you have that and what's interesting about the letter to Sardis is if this whole historical thing works out then Sardis is a picture of the Protestant church and the fact that the church came out and began recognizing exactly what the gospel was and that Jesus calls that church a treasure by the way the hidden treasure goes really well with Jewish thinking the next one is a pearl of great price where do pearls come from oysters and oysters are they clean or unclean they're unclaimed Jews did not use pearls as items of adornment Jews used pearls to sell to Gentiles they didn't wear them themselves because they were unclean they're a jewel but the Jews don't they consider them to be unclean and so a merchant goes out and buys a pearl of great price and again the pearl is a Gentile Jew or a Gentile jewel can't have a Gentile I don't think that works and so it's a Gentile jewel and so in the parable of the hidden treasure you know that's a picture of Jesus going after the the Jewish nation and then the pearl of great price it's a picture of Jesus going after their Gentiles and so that's a cool thing and the pearl of great price would match up with the church at Philadelphia Jesus says has a little strength I'm coming for you I'm going to deliver for you from the hour that's to come to try the whole earth and last Kingdom parable is a parable about judgment the dragnet goes out and drags out a bunch of fish and Jesus and and the fisherman takes take the bad fish and it specifically talks about the fact that the bad fish are taken out first and the good fish are kept and so a promise of judgment there and that goes right well with Laodicea okay and so when you start matching them these letters seven letters of seven churches to the letters that Paul wrote the first letter was by Jesus was to Ephesus so which letter that Paul wrote would that match that would be Ephesians that's pretty straight across parallel and then the church at Smyrna was again under persecution and there's a letter that speaks about joy through suffering and that's Philippians or Philippians then Pergamus again is all about a church that's beginning to compromise a church that's becoming worldly and there are two letters that are written to a worldly Church what would that be first Corinthians second Corinthians yeah then you have the church at Thyatira and the church at Thyatira is being condemned for again compromise religious externalism that kind of stuff false doctrine creeping into the church so that the gospel is being opposed that that kind of thing and there's a letter that's written - actually it's a group of churches it's like that and that's the Galatians book of the book of Galatians the church at Sardis if we're talking about the Sardis being something that pictures the the at least the early Protestant church and now the Protestant Church in the end times there is a book that caused the Protestant Reformation guys know what that is what book causes the Protestant Reformation Romans the book of Romans so just so you know the history there behind that is that Martin Luther began studying and teaching through the book of Romans and it's where he found the whole idea of salvation by by faith through grace and so you have that so that matches pretty well and then you have the Church of Philadelphia that again is told that Jesus is coming quickly and a warning not to lose their crown and there again is a promise to deliver them from the hour of trial that's coming on the whole earth and there is a book actually there's two books and so I just gave it away there's two books that are all about that in every chapter of those two books the coming of Christ is mentioned so first and second Thessalonians right yeah and then finally a little family Laodicea late I see it happens to be a suburb of Colossae and not only that but the book of Colossians has idioms like phrasing that matches up with a letter to Laodicea so one of them that's really notable is the the phrase that Jesus is the beginning of the creation of God it's right that's right out of the book of Colossians and what cut the book of Colossians is known for is worldly doctrine again it's creeping in that people are taking off within this worldly philosophy is ending up turning the church away from a from a true witness a true walk with God you have exactly the same thing in Laodicea you know we talked about that last time it's all this worldly philosophy that enters in when you have the attitude that I'm rich and I'm wealthy and I have need of nothing that is not a biblical attitude that is a worldly attitude and so that goes along with the Church of Laodicea and none interesting so seven Kingdom pair the Jesus taught seven letters two to seven churches actually you know again it's nine letters to seven churches but seven churches that Paul wrote to all inspired by the Holy Spirit and they all match up pretty well and I could go through and talk some more about that but I'm not going to okay in Revelation chapter 4 it says let's go through and read it says after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven and the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this immediately I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and one sat on the throne and he was sat there was like a Jasper and a sardine stone in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne and appearance like an emerald around the throne were twenty-four Thrones and on the Thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold on their heads and from the throne proceeded lightnings thunderings and voices seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back the first living creature was like a lion the second living creature like a calf the third living creature had a face like a man and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle and the four living creatures each having six wings were full of eyes he's around and within and they do not breast day or night saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne who lives forever and ever the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying you are worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will they exist and were created and so we have a picture here of the throne room of God and one of the things that's interesting in this passage is how it starts it starts off with after these things and if you'll remember all way back to Revelation chapter 1 I told you that the book of Revelation is divided up as far as as far as a simple outline by Jesus himself and if you turn back to Revelation chapter 1 let's do that in verse 19 Jesus is speaking to John and he says write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this and then he goes through and describes some other things and so when when John got told that Jesus had just appeared to him and when Jesus is speaking to him and says write the things which you have seen what he adds what had John seen up until that point and what he had seen was the appearance of Jesus right and so you have him faithfully penning down in chapter 1 this vision of Jesus where Jesus has white hair and eyes that are burning like fire and feet like you know they're burning like torches and and clothed in white and all that stuff and so he does that then he says I want I want you to write the things which are the things which are and that's kind of nebulous cuz you don't really know what the things which are AR you don't know you don't know what he's talking about there but then what he says is then I want you to write the things which will take place after this and that phrasing after this is meta tada in Greek and that's what chapter 4 starts with meta tada and so that is the third division by Jesus in the book of Revelation so chapter 1 is the vision of Jesus if chapter 4 on are the things that are going to take place after these things met etana like it says in the passage then that's the third division and the second division would have to do with the things which are and that's where we said at the time that Jesus gave the book of Revelation to John the Apostle we were in a period of time called the church age and here we are two thousand years later or so and guess where we still are in a period of time called the church age and so revelation 2 and 3 are all about the church all about what Jesus thinks about the church and there's an exhortation throughout that both those chapters in every single one of the letters that we pay attention to what the Spirit is saying to the churches not to the church to the churches so these are designed to be a teaching implement for every single believer all the way through the church age we're supposed to be paying attention to what Jesus has to say about these things and you know we've gone through it pretty extensively so I'm not gonna beat that beat that one up anymore but I would just submit that revelation two and three are about the things which are the things that we're in the middle of but the things that Jesus is worried about as far as the church goes and then after these things after the things of the church we get into revelation 4 and then we move on through the rest of the book and it's specifically at that point after the things of the church and one of the things that you're gonna find is we're going through the rest of the book of Revelation is that the church is no longer mentioned the term Church is no longer mentioned throughout the rest of the book it's mentioned a ton of times up until this point but after this point whenever the church is referenced it's not referenced as the church its referent referenced in Jewish terms it's called the Bride of Christ actually it's called the wife of Christ we're gonna be going through and looking at the 24 elders we're gonna be looking at the phrasing where the elders call themselves kings and priests Jesus made us a group of kings and priests and those are terms that come straight out of the Old Testament but they're they're terms that have been given over to the church specifically because the Jewish nation in the in the in the context of kings and priests took that title and they put it aside they didn't want to have anything to do with it and it was given to the church I want to get to theological on you but what I'm telling you is that you go through the rest of the book of Revelation the church is mentioned but it's never called the church again it's called the wife of the Lamb it's called the Bride of Christ it's connected with the New Jerusalem you have all kinds of cool things there's the marriage Feast of the Lamb and all those things are Jewish idiom and so from this point on church is pictured with a with a Jewish tinge to it basically and again there's a reason for that because the time of the church is over as far as on the earth goes it's really interesting that at the very beginning of chapter 4 you have this this situation it says Mehta Tata or after these things I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven ok so let's just think about that John's on on the island of Patmos and apparently he is either in a house a lot of people believed that he was housed in a cave at that time he was under exile at the time and he's having this vision and in this vision Jesus is showing him all these things Jesus is speaking to him about all these things and in this vision he looks up and when he looks up to the heavens and I don't know if he's outside when he's doing it or if he's inside but he looks up and he sees the heavens and there's an opening there's a door in the heavens so you got a picture that so John looks up there's an opening in the heavens there's a door and then what happens is the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet so he hears a voice like a trumpet I don't you know I I'm not I play guitar but I'm not really that musical I don't know if you can make a trumpet sound like a voice that would be interesting to do anybody know yeah Zak close Kenya okay so anyway you got a voice that sounds like a trumpet so it looks up there's an opening into heaven there's a there's a voice that sounds like a trumpet and what it says is come up here so what would happen at that point what do you think what do you think happened with John at that point yeah he would be coming up interesting yeah what's that a picture of because there's coming a time the Bible says when you're gonna hear the voice of the Archangel the trumpet of God and Jesus is gonna take you and he's going to snatch you away literally is what it says in Greek he's gonna take you away by force he says come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this immediately he says I was in the spirit and behold a throne set in heaven and so this guy has been transferred at this point so immediately he sees this throne in heaven and he's in the heavenly realm which tells you where the door led to right door open in heaven come up here I'm going to show you what it what it's gonna be taking place after this and John is immediately in the spirit at that point and so really interesting stuff so I think that that is at the very least a type or a picture of the rapture I don't think it's necessarily the rapture itself but I think that that language is all very interesting turn over to the Book of Isaiah Isaiah chapter 26 as a as a 'as in the Old Testament it's after Psalms Psalms is the biggest you know one of the biggest books in the Old Testament if you go to the if you find Psalms it's right in the middle of your Bible and turn right you'll find Isaiah not too far off Isaiah chapter 26 and check this out starting in verse 19 Isaiah 26 19 and this is what it says you're dead shall live together with my dead body they shall arise so we're talking about a resurrection here okay awaken sing you who dwell in dust and again people who are dead dwell in the dust for your do is like the dew of herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead so you're talking again about a resurrection then he says come my people enter your chambers and shut your doors behind you hide yourself as it were for a little moment until the indignation is passed you know what the indignation is in the Old Testament specifically in the Book of Isaiah you know where it is it's the tribulation period it's called the indignation till the indignation has passed for behold the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity the earth will also disclose her blood and will no more cover her slain so in the Old Testament you have you have this this command of God that people be raised from the dead and their dead bodies come alive and then you have this call to the people to come up and enter into their chambers shut the doors behind them until the indignation is over so what's that talking about and here's what the rapture of the church is let's go through and just look at a couple of passages that deal with this first passage I want to show you is in Matthew chapter 24 why don't you turn there real quick Matthew chapter 24 first book in the New Testament 24th chapter 36 verse and it says this but if that day an hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven but my father only but as the days of Noah were so also will be the coming of the will the coming of the Son of man be for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the Son of Man be then two men will be in the field one will be taken and the other left two women will be grinding at the mill one will be taken and the other left watch therefore for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming but know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched not allowed his house to be broken into therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming in an hour you do not expect who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing assuredly I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods but if that evil servant says in his heart my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards the master of that servant will come on a date when he's not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth and so Jesus when he's talking about this event there's this event that he's speaking about that is a judgment on one group of people and a deliverance of another group of people and he says it's going to be just like in the days of Noah okay so in the days of Noah before the flood came were there any judgments going on no everybody was just eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage that's it that's not the idea actually it's not the idea of of even being evil there was a lot of evil that was happening before the flood the Bible says that the reason that the flood came is because man's heart was continually evil within him and so God saw that displeased him there were some other things that were going on as far as sexual immorality and that kind of stuff and so there was that kind of thing going on but the point that Jesus is making in his passage is that the flood came as an unexpected event on the whole world they had no idea it was coming no idea at all there was nothing in nature there was nothing in you know as far as the world went that would would show them that the world was about to be destroyed it happened suddenly and unexpectedly in fact they were doing business as usual when this event came and Jesus says his coming specifically for us is going to be the same thing okay so this is where the difference between the rapture and the second coming come in because when you're talking about the second coming of Jesus before the second coming of Jesus there are all kinds of events that are judgments straight from God that are taking place and so there's not going to be anybody who is unaware of the fact that Jesus is coming at the second coming in fact the Bible teaches and we're going to see this as we're going through the book of Revelation that when Jesus comes back at the second coming and it talks about him coming back with us when he comes back at the second coming the Antichrist is there the the kings of the ten nations are there the kings of the East are there and a king from the north is there and they're all waiting for the second coming of Christ they're battling with each other but they're all aware of this in fact the Bible says that Satan sends out demons to gather the armies together for the final battle at the Battle of Armageddon it's a battle specifically designed to resist the second coming of Christ and so the unbelievers know about it the demons know about it why wouldn't the Christians know about it right and so there's there there's nothing that's unexpected about the second coming in fact all the way through the book of Revelation when we are talking about the judgments that are coming down you have people understanding that these judgments are from God and cursing God because of them and because of the things that they know are that are coming and so you have that by the time that you get to the Second Coming you have the earth depopulate by the time you get to the Second Coming there there are two judgments specifically in one judgement a quarter of the population of the earth is killed in another judgment another third of the population of the earth is killed that's half the population when you do the math when you do fractions that is half the population in two judgments alone or wiped out before Jesus comes back is that business as usual is that going to be something that when that takes place that people are going to take note of and go gosh I wonder if something's different here if half the population of the earth is has been destroyed or is being destroyed or are you gonna be planning your wedding you're gonna be having a barbecue you know you see what I mean and so when Jesus is talking about this event it's a vent that's absolutely unexpected the world doesn't know that it's coming and it's so unexpected that even believers are looking at that event and they're going well I don't know if it's gonna happen I don't know if it's gonna happen in my lifetime and again when you're talking about the second coming of Christ there are a series of judgments that take place that if you take them seriously on any kind of level they are their judgments that would make you know you know these action thriller horror movies where the earth is gonna be destroyed every single one of the judgments and there's a number of them that take place would be a movie all by itself so you know that's a lot of people like those kind of action movies they're gonna be living through it yeah and so over and over and over and over again these things are happening and what believer on the planet is going to be going I think the Lord's Lang is coming and so it can't be a situation this cannot be something that takes place after the Tribulation Period it doesn't go unless you want to take the whole book of Revelation water it down and say that those judgments aren't actually the judgments that they say they are you know what the that's what the church has historically done because it was too fantastic for them wiping out a third of the earth like seriously how are you going to have any battle that wipes out a third of the earth wiping out a quarter the population seriously how are you gonna have any bad bows and arrows rifles and cannons how are you gonna wipe out a third of the population of the earth you could you could take an army and start trying to kill everybody off and just march through the earth and by the time you got around the earth 25,000 miles it would be repopulated you can't do it just with armies so it has to be something else going on and obviously I'm being facetious because we all know how you can wipe out 1/3 of the earth we all know how you can wipe out another quarter of the earth we all know how and and we have the ability to do it right now where that ability wasn't there a hundred years ago and so again you you have this situation so they did not know for as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered the Ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away so also will the coming of the Son of Man be and then he says to will be in the field one will be taken the other left two will be grinding at the mill one will be taken and the other left and this isn't the only place that Jesus taught this this is in the context of the Olivet discourse there's another passage in the Book of Luke in chapter 17 completely different context where he taught exactly the same thing and warned us that we need to be prepared for his coming for his people and in in that passage he talks about two people will be in one bed one will be taken and the other left he talks about though people grinding at the mill and and working and stuff but then he talks about people in the bed now let's you know it's a worldwide event also lets you know that the world is round because at the same time that some people are working in the field other people are asleep in bed right unless they're teenagers 11 o'clock in the morning whatever I'm goofing around but in any case it's a worldwide event and so you have this in this passage you have it in Luke chapter 17 turn over to John chapter 14 John chapter 14 by the way in that passage that we just read when it says the flood came and took them all away that is a greek verb a ren and it means to take away to kill to destroy and when it talks about to will be in the field one will be taken and the other left that's parallel bono and that's a term that means taken to your side and most often it's a term that means taken to your side as as something that's valuable or taken to your side to be instructed it's it's that kind of term it can be used for you know if somebody comes and takes somebody away but most often it's in a good context Aaron is always in a context that means you're gonna be destroyed and so Jesus changes the verb is what I'm telling you so they says they were destroyed in the flood but the ones who are taken when one's taken and the other ones left the the one who's taken is taken to somebody's side I wonder whose side that would be might be Jesus's John chapter 14 in verse 1 Jesus said let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me for in my father's house are many mansions or dwelling places or chambers and there's a reason I just use the term chambers remember that passage in Isaiah come my people enter your chambers until the indignation has passed so in this passage Jesus says in my father's house are many mansions if I were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also and so Jesus made a promise to the Apostles that he was going home to heaven and he was preparing chambers he was preparing a place for each one of these guys and that's also inclusive of us and that when that whole thing was done he was going to come and receive us to himself right and so that generally speaking people believe is talking about the New Jerusalem that Jesus is preparing a place for us most often when you think of heaven you're not actually thinking of heaven you're thinking of the New Jerusalem and so when you have pearly gates remember what pearls are where did they come from yeah they come from oysters oysters are unclean pearly gates in heaven pearls are unclean jewels you know what's written on the twelve on the twelve pearly gates the actually there's twelve names written on the pearly gates you know what they are the names of Israel so you have the names of the tribes of Israel written on the pearly gates and then you have twelve stones that are the foundation of the New Jerusalem twelve stones and those twelve stones are the same stones that are found in the high priests breastplate in fact in the high priests breastplate he had a hit a plate that was on his chest and there were twelve jewels on it and on each one of the jewels there's twelve of them one of the names of the piece of the tribes of Israel was written on each one of them so names on these jewels but in the New Jerusalem it's not that names of the tribes that written are written on this on the foundation stones that are made of jewels it's the names of the Twelve Apostles and so what's interesting about that is for the most part the church is Gentile so like I was talking about before that hold that hold parable of the pearl of great price is specifically pointed at the fact that God treasures Gentiles and he wants them as a treasure for himself and so you have this whole picture of gentleness in the New Jerusalem but you have Jewish names that are written on those gates and then you have the Apostles names that are written on the stones and what I'm telling you is that's the common dwelling place of the Jews and the Gentiles throughout the ages all the people who follow you know given their love their lives to the Lord fall in love with Jesus and and followed him all of those people that's the place that God's preparing for us and so you have streets of gold and and that kind of thing and when you think of streets of gold you know streets paved with gold you're not thinking about heaven you're thinking about the New Jerusalem okay and that's the place that Jesus went to prepare for us and if he goes and prepares it for us he's gonna come again and he's gonna receive us to himself that where he is we will be also we'll have places to go come my people and Ernie orange into your chambers close your doors as but for a moment until the indignation is passed and so lord takes us there turn over to first Corinthians chapter 15 first Corinthians chapter 15 and this whole chapter is basically a rebuke to the Corinthians because they started teaching that there was no resurrection of the dead and so Paul's going through and he's correcting them on this whole thing and he's talking to them about the fact that there is going to be a resurrection and it's going to some going to be something that actually not only includes those who are in the dust those who are in the ground but it includes those who are living and so he says up in verse 49 he says as we have borne the image of the man of dust talking about Adam we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man talking about Jesus we're gonna have a body just like this is the point that he's making now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God nor does corruption inherit incorruption behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep that means we're not all going to die but we shall all be changed so there gonna be some of us who never die but we are gonna be changed we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption this mortal must put on immortality so when the current this corruptible has put on incorruption this mortal has put on immortality then she'll be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory o death where is your sting oo Hades where is your victory and then the passage goes on and so there's coming a time when there's going to be a trumpet once again we're gonna hear this trumpet and at that moment in the twinkling of an eye some of us are not going to be dead at that moment and we are going to be immediately changed and again you need to hit you need to have that picture that we just hadn't in Revelation chapter 4 there's a door opened up in heaven there's a voice like a trumpet that says come up here and then John is immediately in the spirit in the throne room of God that's the picture that you've gotten okay then you go over to the first thessalonians you guys know where I'm going right first Thessalonians chapter four and you have this description again and what these guys are worried about is that Paul had told them that there was going to be a resurrection coming and in between the time that Paul had taught this and this letter some people had died and so Paul is addressing that situation so it'd be like um you know we have a church here and actually the the church Thessalonica would probably be about the size of what we've gotten in the sanctuary right now a smaller group of people and so Paul comes in and he begins teaching them about the last days by the way he was only there for a few weeks less than a month probably as little as two weeks and in that two-week period he started teaching them about last day's stuff and so that's kind of an interesting thing because a lot of churches don't want to talk about it you know talk anything about stuff that has to do with the last days and a lot of Christians know nothing about the beginning they don't know anything about Genesis and they know nothing about the end I don't know anything about the book of Revelation they know about some of the stuff in between and they know a lot about the Gospels but Paul taught these people about last day's issues and one of them was the resurrection and so in between Paul's teaching in the time that he wrote this letter some people had died and they're like well what happens to them do they miss it or you know are they done what's gonna happen and so Paul in verse 13 says I do not want you to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep that means died lest you sorrow with others who have no hope for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus okay so let's let's again picture this so people have died where are they in the ground they're in the ground okay but what Paul says here is that if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so God will bring with him where is God where's God heaven he's in heaven God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus so if God is coming he's coming from where heaven if he's bringing them with them where are they where they're with him right there in heaven so how's that work some people teach that when people die they go to sleep they go to sleep in their body and they stay in their body in the ground asleep until Jesus comes back and wakes them up in fact they use the the phrasing here asleep in Christ those who have fallen asleep they use that for a doctrine called soul sleep well if they're asleep in the ground then how is Jesus you know how is God bringing them with him from heaven and we all know the answer to that and the answer to that is when somebody dies their body dies but their spirit leaves their body that's the definition of death in the Bible you're not dead if your spirit is still in your body and so the Bible says that the the body without the Spirit is dead to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord Paul says I would rather depart and be with Christ which is far better but it's needful that I remain in my flesh here with you and so there's a departure that takes place that you die there's a leaving that takes place there's a separation between your spirit and your body and what happens is your spirit goes up to heaven and your body goes in the ground or you know whatever you do with the body you know sometimes we burn the body that's a cheaper option sometimes it goes into the ground being buried that kind of thing but whatever happens with the body the spirits not there the spirit is with God and he brings the spirit of those who have died with him he says in verse 14 if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus for we say this to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep and he's talking about he's told them about the rapture and he's saying we're not going first the people who have died we're not going to precede them up into heaven and he says this verse 16 for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout with a voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God there you have that trumpet again and the dead in Christ will rise first so actually I have friends who have died I have actually older friends who have died and they died hoping that they were gonna go in the rapture and I've had conversations with people where they said ha it's such a bummer so and so ended up dying he went home to be with the Lord and he missed the rapture no he didn't you know the Lord's bringing him it's like he gets a better ride than any of us are gonna get he comes he comes down with the Lord he's reunited with his body that body is raised from the dead and goes to meet the Lord in the air and then afterwards if we're still alive we get in on the whole deal and so those who have died get to go first and so though then it says verse 17 we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds that word caught up there it means to be snatched away by force that's that's what the word means it's a it's a it's a kind of idea of you know if if zach was up here and we were having a talk and he was moving towards the edge of the stage there and he was about to fall over and I saw him going I would reach out and I would grab him and I would snatch him back it's that kind of idea to be snatched away by force and we were alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and that's we shall always be with the Lord therefore comfort one another with these roots so that again is a rapture and that's the that's the event that's gonna be taking place unexpectedly nobody knows when that's going to take place by the way the second coming I could I could write it on a calendar I could write the day of the second coming on a calendar when you get to a certain point in the Tribulation Period the Bible says that Jesus comes 1260 days after the abomination of desolation the Bible identifies the abomination of desolation in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 as the day when the sin walks into the Jewish temple sits down and proclaims himself to be God there's coming a date when he's going to do that this is the the the the last world dictator it's the Antichrist he goes into a rebuilt Jewish temple proclaims himself to be God on that day you could take and mark a calendar you can get on your on your phone you can mark the day you can go 1260 days into the future and that's when that dude ends that's when his life ends and his life ends on the day that Jesus comes back and in fact in in the book of Malachi okay wait a second no zechariah zechariah chapter 14 it says that when g it's a description of the return of christ and it says that the lord comes back and that he touches down on the mount of olives when his foot hits the Mount of Olives it splits in two and then it gives a description of the period of time that it takes place and it says it's in between the evenings and it's a it's a Jewish idiom that means son happened and so he touches down on the Mount of Olives which is in the city the modern city of Jerusalem old city is is down is separate from the Mount of Olives but the city of Jerusalem has spread out it's all over the place and the Mount of Olives includes that and so Jesus touches down in Jerusalem 1260 days after the Antichrist proclaims himself to be God at sundown Jerusalem time that's the day in the hour and so we can't be talking about the same events when Jesus is talking about coming to get the church because with the church he said no man knows the day or the hour it's an unexpected event you're not gonna be able to mark it on a calendar we know the times and the seasons and so we're people who are pretty much aware of what's going on in our world we can see where things are going and we get expectant because of that but I don't know when Jesus is coming back you know one of the things that is interesting about Jewish feast days is that every single one of the feast days that you have in the Jewish calendar that are the early ones and what I'm talking about is the the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread and the feast of firstfruits and the feast of Pentecost or the feast of weeks is what it's called there has been a biblical fulfillment on every single one of those first four feasts there's seven feasts there's been a biblical fulfillment by by the Lord on each one of those and so Jesus dies on the day of Passover on the day that they eat the Passover he is put in the ground on the first day of unleavened bread he is raised from the dead on the feast of firstfruits we're gonna be talking about that next next Sunday and then 50 days later which is where you get Pentecost from 50 days later you have the giving of the Holy Spirit to the church and those are the first four feasts that the Bible talks about well there's three more feasts that the Bible talks about and so one of them is the Feast of Trumpets and that interesting and then there are 10 days seven of which are called the days of all seven days of awe and then there is the Day of Atonement which is not a feast it's a fast there's the day of atonement and then after that comes the Feast of Tabernacles and so there are a lot of people who think that that next feast is picturing the coming of the Lord for believers the Feast of Trumpets because this is what would happen on the on the Feast of Trumpets everybody would not be out in the field everybody would be doing what they were doing until the the feast day begins and the priests would in the temple begin blowing on trumpets and then everybody who was a believer would leave the field and they would go up to the temple and they would take part in the feast and so this is the picture that you would have because Israel was it wasn't just a a society that had only believers in it you had you had strangers from other countries in it you had immigrants and is and so literal you'd be in the field and if you're Jewish you hear the trumpets on the Feast of the Feast of Trumpets you lay down your rake or whatever you're you've got there you turn around you walk away and two men are working in the field and one leaves and the others left two women would be grinding at a mill and so you could have a Jewish woman and then you could have a Gentile woman who was an unbeliever working in the same mill and they're sitting there working she hears the trumpet and she leaves and this was other woman has left to work at that point and you know it's a great picture and so a lot of people think that that is picturing the rapture of the church and there's a possibility that actually the rapture of the church might be something that takes place on that day and I like that I think that's pretty cool I think that matches really well especially with the first four but I don't know that right and God doesn't have to do that right it can just be a picture and every year Feast of Trumpets comes right around in September September October because of Jewish calendar changes and every year that the Feast of Trumpets comes around somebody starts spouting off about this year's the year that Jesus is coming and he's coming on the day of the Feast of the trumpets and and that kind of thing and when they do that you can know that that's the day that Jesus is not coming just shut up stop predicting days in any case it's really interesting Day of Atonement would be you know the whole the whole point of the Tribulation Period is getting the Jews to turn around you know I told you about the ten day separation so there's Feast of Trumpets 10-day separation and then you have the day of atonement and that 10 day separation is divided up into two parts the high priest on the seven days before the day of atonement would go off by himself and he would begin to cleanse himself to make sure that he was ready to offer the sacrifices that would be offered on the day of atonement and those seven days were called the days of all and what's really interesting that about that is the Bible talks about the Tribulation Period being how many years long seven years and in there there is a reckoning that takes place between Jesus and the Jewish nation and you see that mention in the Old Testament where'd you get these wounds in your hands the house my friends when they see the Sun they're gonna mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and that again is out of the book of zechariah zechariah chapter 12 and so so you have a reconciliation of the jewish nation that's what the day of atonement was all about and then the Feast of Tabernacles is all about remembering when we were wandering in the wilderness Jewish nation remembering when we were wandering in the wilderness we make little booths and we eat dinner out in them and we'd sleep out in these little booths it's 10 camping in your backyard right Jewish tent camping in your backyard and it's remembering wandering through the wilderness and how God provided for them it's a picture of the Millennium during the Millennium one of the feasts that we are absolutely the Bible says going to be keeping is the Feast of Tabernacles because we're gonna be in the Kingdom with Jesus and we're gonna be looking back on the times that you're living in right now and remembering wandering in the wilderness until the Lord came and took us home and so that's a cool thing ok I'm not gonna get much further than this but I want to keep going in chat in first Thessalonians you have the deliverance of the believers and then there is no chapter division in the original letter and so when Paul wrote a letter you didn't write you know 1st Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 1 he didn't do that those were added later and so the letter is just one flowing document and so he talks about our deliverance and in verse 18 he says therefore comfort one another with these words reason I'm doing this is I'm gonna show you the unexpected nature of this event he says but concerning the times and the seasons brethren you have no need that I should write to you for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night and without getting into a lot of stuff there's a difference between the day of the Lord and the rapture the day of the Lord is the time when God begins intervening in human events the day of the Lord includes the Tribulation Period the day of the Lord is a period of time it's at least a thousand seven years long because the the period of time that the that the millennium takes place the the kingdom of God on earth is a thousand years and that is described as the day of the Lord but most of the passages that deal with the day of the Lord are dealing with judgment and the fact that God is beginning to intervene in world events and turning the world around and that kind of thing and that happens to coincide with this event the rapture for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night for when they say not when we say when they say peace and safety then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape so you remember Luke 17 Jesus was talking about the the rapture and he said it's going to be like the days of Noah so Noah's going around preaching floods coming world's gonna get destroyed everybody's like yeah right nobody gets in the boat with him they don't believe him right and it was the same thing Jesus used the illustration not of not only of Noah but of lot remember the story of lot he's in Sodom and Gomorrah the angels come in and say we're about to destroy this place you need to get everybody you need to get your family and anybody who will listen to you I'm paraphrasing there but he says you need to get these people out of here and so lot goes and begins talking to his family and he's got at least two daughters who are married and they're his sons-in-law think he's crazy and they refused to leave and so a lot does is he gathers up his wife and the two daughters that he's got left with him he's also got at least two sons the Bible says the the angel says your sons your daughters your sons-in-law right and he's got at least two sons they also think he's crazy and they don't leave and so he gets out of Dodge and on the way out his wife looks back and she's overcome and she's turned into a pillar of salt that is one of the that is one of the miracles in the Old Testament that I have a hard time figuring out you know a lot of the other miracles you can see how God does things and he kind of gives you hints and and that kind of thing in the and the woman turning the salt I've heard some explanations about that and I've never been able to look at that and see any kind of naturalistic thing that God would do you know like she's overcome and the lava you know takes her body and over a period of time turns her to salt it doesn't do that you know you don't have a chemical process that goes like that and so she just turns to salt man and the the thing that's that's cool about that whole story is Jesus uses it he goes remember Lot's wife don't look back and he said so the the judgment came down on Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them all and he said it's going to be like that in the day when you know when when the Son of Man comes and so the picture that Jesus gives of this event the rapture of the church is that the rapture takes place and then there's sudden destruction that comes down on the earth and actually when we get to Revelation chapter 6 when the tribulation starts there's a battle and in that battle a quarter of the earth is killed that's the beginning of the judgments during the book of Revelation during the time of the Tribulation Period that's the beginning and so these people are going peace and safety it's something along the same lines that would have been taking place during the time of Noah's Flood peace and safety marrying and giving in marriage having feasts that kind of thing there's nothing really problematic that's going on and sudden destruction comes down on them while we're delivered were taken out and boom it begins at that point with a bang and he says sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant women and they shall not escape but you brethren are not in darkness so that that day should overtake you as a thief you're all sons of light and sums of the day we're not of the night nor of the darkness therefore let us not sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober for those who sleep sleep at night those who get drunk or drunk at night but we let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation for God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should love to live together with him therefore comfort each other and edify one another just as you also are doing okay so deliverance what believers destruction of those who are not prepared you have the same thing in Matthew 24 deliverance of believers and destruction of those who are not prepared you have the same thing in Luke 17 deliverance of believers and destruction of those who are not prepared and it's it's a it's a theme that goes all the way through skirts through Scripture when you're looking at the rapture of the church you are looking at specifically two things they have to take place if you're gonna identify something as a rapture there has to be the resurrection of dead believers and there has to be the the immediate translation into resurrection bodies and translations in into heaven we meet the Lord in the air into heaven of living believers those two things have to be taken place if you're gonna identify something as the rapture and there's a reason that I'm telling you that I'll finish it next next time all right we're gonna end it there in that cool stuff yeah look up your Redemption draws near let's pray God again we thank you for your love for us thank you for your provision for us thank you Lord you said that you don't do anything unless you share it with your servants the prophets and Lord you've been faithful down through the ages to tell us things to come you you've told us what our future is going to be and maybe not necessarily our immediate future in every case with us but we we know that you've got a plan and you're implementing that plan as we see things go on around us a lot of times I can I can look at what's going on in the States and and see the the degradation of coal and how everything seems to be going downhill but you're still on the throne and you have a purpose for these things you're you're a god who's sovereign and the things that are going on on this planet are things that you're allowing because you're going in a certain direction or we pray that you'd help us to have our eyes open that we would be aware that we'd be ready at every moment for you to come back I love it Lord that you could come back before I finish this sentence or this one you could come back at any moment Lord and this will be over we'll be standing in your presence at the throne of God say seeing angels casting crowns and worshiping you it's gonna be awesome bless these people go with them and ask that you do this all in Jesus name Amen god bless you guys

Channel: Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities

Views: 9,475

Rating: 4.6610169 out of 5

Keywords: The End of the World in the bible, Truth, Jesus' Return, The rapture, the second coming, The book of Revelation, The Revelation Of Jesus Christ, The last book in the bible, The Bible, Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities, Steve Whinery, Gosphel, God, Biblical Prophecy, The End Times, End Of The World, The Millennial Kingdom, Revelation's meaning, Jesus

Id: 2oSnaJHUrBw

Length: 65min 0sec (3900 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 15 2019