Revelation: The Next Dimension

[Music] the Bible tells us in the wonderful Book of Revelation have had to endure terrorist attacks we are in end times ladies and gentlemen whether you like it or not rate of HIV in the US capital is higher than any other live footage of Mii as the tsunami essence of the bur wall doesn't mean anything anymore are having microchips impeding Somalia already knew it like a expion people started running it was just chaos everywhere it's difficult to imagine PR how this thing will manifest itself no one had expected that something like this was about to happen well need to say today we're starting a brand new series in the Book of Revelation so why don't you grab your bible and take a hard right and uh let's head on over to the last book of the New Testament and the title of my message is Revelation the next Dimension why don't we begin with a word of prayer father we pray now that you will bless this time as we open your word give us eyes to see and ears to hear what scripture says about our future and how close these events that we're about to look at really are help us to live with a sense of anticipation and uh excitement as we look for forward to your return speak to us from your word we would ask now in jesus' name amen hey um how many of you have ever been to a 3D movie raise up your hand okay 3D movie I went to one uh a while ago I I took my granddaughters there with me uh Stella was a little afraid of some of those images because they seemed a little too real to her and so she started crying and she went out into the lobby with her mom and grandma when this was an animated film I should point out but the problem was I was engrossed in the film at this point and grandpa had to see the entire film from beginning to end but it's an interesting thing because when you take your seat in a theater showing a 3D film before you put your glasses on it's actually out of register it doesn't look quite right so you have to put on those 3D glasses that they give to you and they are so dorky looking aren't they I actually have a pair right here to demonstrate right you know nobody can look good in 3D glasses right you just and and then as you sit there you know if you've ever looked back it's strange to watch all the people wearing the glasses and you find yourself you know reaching out trying to touch the things I'm thinking of wearing these the whole time what do you think cuz you know what don't take a picture of that that's that's a blackmail stop it stop with the cameras that's a blackmail shot if I've ever seen one should have taken them off sooner that said next week you all have to wear them and I'll take a picture of you but the interesting thing is through the technology of 3D when you look to these glasses uh it seems like there is another dimension it's also similar with polarized glasses right that I prefer polarize myself now my wife she could care less about the lenses she's all about the you know the frames you know do these look cool and then I'll get her a pair and a nice little case and before I know it they're floating around in her purse getting all scratched up where I keep my polarized glasses in their little case and before I wear them I like to clean them so they're very clear if there's one little speck it drives me crazy and the reason I like polarized glasses is it gives you Clarity it obviously reduces glare but uh it's a special filter that blocks intense reflected light reducing glare but what's interesting about polarized glass if you're on the water on a lake or the ocean it reduces the glare but it almost is it's as though you can look into the water a little bit better and and see things you could not see otherwise so you're able to make out detail well looking at the Book of Revelation is a bit like putting on 3D or polarized glasses because we are given a glimpse into another dimension that's why I've called this series is revelation uh the next Dimension because the Book of Revelation shows us another world that coexists with our world we see the supernatural world as well as the natural world the world of God and Satan the world of Angels and Demons we also in the Book of Revelation see across time as though it does not exist God being Almighty being eternal lives in a realm where yesterday is as today and tomorrow is as yesterday it's like a Continuum to him so he doesn't see time the way that we see time God can see the future and speak of it with as much accuracy as we can speak of the past in fact more accuracy because my recollection seems to fade with the passing of time uh but God's recollection is perfect and also his look into the future future is perfect as well well that's what we're looking at here in Revelation it's the next Dimension and one day we will all enter into that Dimension as well everyone believer and nonbeliever into the realm of Eternity the believer who has put their faith in Christ will go to heaven the non-believer who has rejected the offer of eternal life will spend eternity separated from God In Hell The Book of Revelation this is a book that tells us about the future of mankind and the future of the world and we wonder about that especially with the way things are going right now I'm amazed at how much traction this Mayan calendar has gotten uh where they've said 2012 it's supposed to be the end of the world year and there are people that are actually alarmed by that they're concerned by that or they'll get all worked up as some person comes along and says they know the exact date of the return of Jesus Christ or whatever and in the process of this they will completely ignore the Bible that deals with all of these issues yet the Bible and the Bible alone has an impeccable track record on the subject of predicting the future the Bible is the only book that predicts the future with 100% accuracy now other religious books do not do this why because if they were to and then to be proven wrong as they would be it would reveal that they were never inspired by God as the scripture is so God gives us this book that predicts the future not once not twice but hundreds of times it's worth noting that 2third of the Bible is prophecy and one half of those prophecies have already come to take place therefore if half of them have happened exactly as God said they would should I have any reason to doubt that the others will not be fulfilled as the Lord has said listen when God says something is going to happen it's not like he's going out on a limb you can take it to the bank it's as good as done and one of the interesting signs of the last days is that there will be a renewed interest in Bible prophecy in fact the Prophet Daniel wrote in the 12th chapter of his book he was very disturbed about some Visions he had seen and he couldn't understand them but the angel reveal these Visions to Daniel responded in Daniel 12:4 you Daniel keep this prophecy a secret seal up the book until the time of the end many will Rush here and there and knowledge will increase effectively Daniel was told that these Visions he was having were prophetic in nature and they would not be understood Until the End of the Age The Angel was saying when the End of the Age approaches the knowledge about and understanding of Bible prophecy will increase folks I believe we are living in that time as we look at revelation we realize that many of the things that John speaks of could not have even happened until the last 100 years much of Revelation is written in figurative language uh that's because the predictions of these books were so far removed from the language of John's day that ordinary Greek would not do in other words how could John and his day describ what we would know today as a nuclear war now it would seem to me as we dig in deeper into this book that there is nuclear exchange because many of these things that happen sound so much like uh what would happen in the wake of a nuclear confrontation and exchange um the only thing that would even approach this kind of cataclysmic destruction in John's day would be if a volcano erupted uh like when vvus uh broke open covering the entire city of Pompei where they were effectively Frozen in time but now mankind could do this at will mankind could effectively bring about some of these events we read about in Revelation at the push of a button if you will and then we read about John's predictions of mass death and disease and famine and the ability of one man to not allow people to buy or sell without his mark when would that have been possible except in the last 100 years and perhaps even in the last uh 10 to 20 years and then we read about a an army marching uh into the valley of MTO for the battle of Armageddon that numbers 200 million folks there weren't 200 million people in the face of the earth when Revelation was written not only do we have far more than that now but there is indeed an army that could feel that many soldiers that we'll talk about later yet there are people today who are afraid to dig into this great book they say well it's just too complex it's too hard to understand reminds me of a statement that Winston Churchill made years ago as he sought to uh explain the Soviet Union he described her as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma and that's how many people view Revelation it's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma well would beg to differ I don't think it is that at all I think Revelation is understandable in fact what does the word revelation mean oh just a quick word it's not Revelations it's Revelation people often say well we're going to read the book of Revelations no that it's Revelation singular just a little thing kind of bugs me when people say Revelations Revelation and what does revelation mean it means an unveiling it means an uncovering if you go to a car show and they have the latest model they have it under a cover and the lights are moving around and the music is playing and Bam the cover is pulled and there you see the brand new model and that's what Revelation is it's an uncovering a revealing of things to come well what does revelation reveal well it reveals heaven in a way we've never seen it before in Scripture it reveals the final judgment hell it reveals demons and angels and the future yes it reveals Armageddon and the Antichrist but the objective of Revelation is not to reveal antir Christ it is given to us to reveal Jesus Christ that's the point of the book even a cursory look at this book reveals that Jesus is the star if you will he's the main theme he's the faithful witness in Revelation 1: 5 he's the firstborn of the Dead Again 15 he's the Alpha and Omega Revelation 18216 as well he is the one who is and who was and is to come Revelation 18 he's the almighty Revelation 18 there are eight references to Jesus in the first chapter alone so this book was written not to hide but to reveal Jesus Revelation is also unique in that it also comes with its own outline you know when you are teaching a book of the Bible uh you you'll try to find the outline and some books are easier to break down into sections than others Revelation comes complete with its own outline to guide us through it it's found in Revelation 11:19 where John is told to write the things that you've seen the things which are and the things that will take place after this so three sections section number one the things that you have seen that's what we're going to look at today uh the resurrected and glorified Jesus who has power over Heaven and Earth the glorified Lord who is in control of all things that are happening the things which are uh and then we have the things or the things you have seen then there are the things which are section number two that's primarily Revelation chapters 2 to three where we read the seven messages or excuse me the message of Jes Jesus rather to the seven churches there and we'll explain what that means later but basically it's a flyover of church history and then number three we have the things that will take place after these things these are the future events that unfold in Revelation 4-22 so to sum it up we have the Lord's person then we have the Lord's people then we of the Lord's program here's sort of the big picture of the whole book of Revelation in chapters 1 we have the glorified Lord chapters 2 to 3 the church history as I said four and five we have the church taken up to heaven in chapter 6 to 19 we have the Great Tribulation period in chapter 20 we of the Millennium in chapters 21 to 22 the new Heaven and the new Earth this book will explain terms that we wonder about like the Rapture the abomination of desolation the Antichrist Beast as he is called uh we'll look at this Great Tribulation period that lasts for 7 years we'll see who the 144,000 are uh sneak preview they're not Jehovah's Witnesses we will examine the when and the why the Jews will be rebuilding their temple in the last days we see the emergence of and the ultimate destruction of Babylon we'll see the battle of Armageddon and who will be in it and that may surprise you and then of course the second coming of Christ and his kingdom he establishes on the earth another thing I would point out about Revelation is it's Unique because the book was sent and given by Angels uh as we read in Revelation uh 22:16 I Jesus have sent my angel to testify to you of the things for the churches in fact Angels appear in every chapter of Revelation except for chapter 4 and13 and the word Angels or angel are used 71 times in this book more than any other book of the Bible so if you've ever wondered about angels we'll be exploring them together as well Revelation was obviously inspired by God and delivered to the Apostle John just a few words about this beloved Apostle as he is often called uh we all remember Peter James and John James and John of course were brothers and fishermen along with Peter along the shores of Galilee but John sort of stands apart from all of the other disciples he seemed to be more perceptive uh to his eternal credit it was John that stood at the foot of the cross when all of the other men were in hiding it was because of that that Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to this Apostle saying son behold your mother and then woman behold your son after the news went out that Christ was risen again John and Peter ran to the tomb and John outran Peter well that's in the Gospel of John maybe that's one of the perks of writing your own Gospel you can throw in little details like that but more to the point when John and Peter come and see the same thing that is the empty tomb and the mummified bandages or the bandages wrapped in a mummy like shape around what once was the body of Christ John looked in saw it and believed on the Spot while Peter Peter walked away wondering what was happening so John would see things he would get things he would believe things often more quickly the others did John uh is described by himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved now that was not boastful by the way he could have described himself as a disciple that loved Jesus but instead he said no I'm just the one the Lord loved I think that's a beautiful description we would often read of John leaning his head on the chest of Christ he wanted to be as close as possible so as not to miss a single word now John wrote a number of books of the New Testament five books in total uh he wrote the Gospel of John of course that stands apart from the other gospels and its unique insights and why did he write that gospel he said so we might believe that Jesus is the son of God then John also wrote first second and third John that we might have ET eternal life and finally The Book of Revelation so John wrote the Gospel that we might believe he wrote the Epistles that we might be sure and then he wrote Revelation then we might be ready now where did this come to him the Book of Revelation was given to John as he was banished to the island of Patmos he points it out in the first chapter Patmos says don't think of a beautiful little Hawaiian island like Maui or something or even Catalina I think of a deserted island very small uh not a lot of vegetation cold windy out in the Mediterranean how did he end up on Patmos Well church tradition tells us that they tried to boil John in oil and he wouldn't cook go figure that out a god somehow miraculously preserved him so while all the other Apostles according to church tradition and history died the death of a martyr John alone was spared he was banished to the island of pmos where they thought well we'll never hear from that old man again many uh believe that he was around 90 at the time that God gave him this Revelation so that's a time when people effectively say well you're done you have nothing left to say to us and it was here that God gave him this amazing book that we study together now this is because there was a persecution against the church during this time and the Christians had effectively become the scapegoat for everything that had gone wrong in fact the third Century Church leader tertullian wrote and I quote if there is a famine if there's a plague the cry at once is Christians to the Lions end quote and other words when anything went wrong in culture they blamed it on the Christians sound familiar doesn't that remind you of today whatever is wrong in our culture it's the fall of the Christians you puritanical n narrow-minded bigot why can't you be open to our new definitions of the family and our new morality and our new rules that are in reality no rules at all yeah even back in these days that was happening so the Believers were persecuted to understand the context of Revelation Believers were wondering what's happening loved ones were being taken away and sent off to prison or maybe even to be fed to the Lions and other wild animals and the col seeum uh Christians were being tortured families were being split apart there was an uncertainty so God gives John the Revelation and in chapter one we have the glorified Christ who is saying I'm in control I'm coming back again and it's all according to plan now while John is on the island of Patmos he's put in what we might describe not literally but figuratively into a time machine we've all seen these movies movies like Back to the Future there they had a DeLorean as a time machine but um you know we love that premise so you get in the time machine of course you set the date you know and and then you can go forward in time well in a sense John was in this Vision given a glimpse into the future almost as though he was put into a spiritual time machine and catapulted into the future and the 21st century or perhaps Beyond and really as we read the things that he writes it reminds us that Revelation is like the ultimate action thriller if you love novels you'll love this book it has drama suspense mystery horror it tells of rebellion unprecedented economic collapse the ultimate war of history but despite these ominous occurrences it bursts with joy and hope it climaxes with a happy ending as Sin and death are banished forever Revelation 21:4 says God will wipe away every tear from their eyes there'll be no more death nor sorrow nor crying they'll be no more pain for the former things have passed away Revelation reminds us we win in the end it's good news isn't it so now here's something else you need to know about Revelation there is a special blessing promised to the person who reads it and keeps the words in it and lives accordingly now by the way there's no other book in the Bible that has anything like that of the 66 books of the Bible no other book has an attached blessing but here it is revelation 1:3 blessed is he that reads and who hears the words of this prophecy and keeps the things that are written in it for the time is near so there's three prerequisites to receive the a promised blessing but before I tell you what they are let me take a quick poll how many of you want to be blessed raise your hand up okay good right how many of you do not want to be blessed raise your hand up okay good nobody raise their hand happy to see that how do you get the blessing from Revelation number one blessed is he that reads and by the this way by the way this word read means to read out loud there's something powerful about reading scripture out loud have you noticed that love to do that just read it out loud and we're going to read it out loud in just a few moments so we must read it for ourselves it starts there but it doesn't stop there number two you must hear the words of the prophecy blessed is he that reads and hears the words of the prophecy Jesus would often say he that has ears to hear let him listen if you merely look at the Book of Revelation is a great work of literature or some religious writing you're not going to get a lot out of it but if the holy spirit opens your spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear what God is saying it can make all the difference in the world and thirdly the blessing of Revelation is promised to those that keep the things that are written in it keeping the things so you hear it you read it rather you hear it and then you must keep it so you apply the truths that we will find therein and uh there's a lot here that we need to apply in our lives so the reason we want to learn about the future is to motivate us to live right in the present that's why we study Bible prophecy the reason I want to know about the future so I will know how to live in the present now before we read Revelation out loud uh let me give you a flyover of what I believe are is the big picture of the prophetic events to come my opinion is that the next event on the prophetic calendar most likely will be the Rapture of the church that could happen at any moment yep I agree it could happen at any moment where all True Believers are caught up to meet the Lord in the air in the moment in the twinkling of an eye either right before or right after the Rapture I believe that MOG that we'll talk about later will attack Israel uh after the church is removed a charismatic world leader comes on the scene called the Antichrist or the Beast and he inaugurates that time that we now call the tribulation period and also at his side is the false prophet and uh and so they are in charge in the first three and a half years of the tribulation are times of economic prosperity and World Peace uh having help the Jews rebuild their Temple the Antichrist leads as a man of greatness in the eyes of many but at the Midway point of tribulation the tribulation the abomination of desolation takes place where the Antichrist erects an image of himself and commands people to worship it this is the time when the Judgment of God begins to fall on the earth it all culminates in the final battles of Armageddon fought in the valley of megiddo Christ returns to the Earth in the second coming so we who have been caught up to meet the Lord in the Rapture come back with him again what goes up must come down right so in the rapture we are caught up to meet the Lord in the air and the second coming we come back with Christ to the Earth then the Lord establishes the Millennium which means 1,000 that's a 1,000-year reign of Christ followed by uh the New Jerusalem coming down to our planet as Heaven and Earth effectively become one so that's the big picture let's read now Revelation chapter 1 I'm going to be reading a number of verses the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place he sent and signified by his Angel to his servant John Who Bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ that the things which he saw blessed is he that reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things that are written in it for the time is near John of the seven churches which are in Asia grace to you and peace from him who was him who is and who is to come and from the seven spirits are before his throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the firstborn from the dead over all the kings of the earth to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and made his Kings and Priests to his God and Father uh to him be glory and Dominion forever amen behold he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him even so amen I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end says the Lord who is who was and who is to come the Almighty I John both your brother and companion in the tribulation and Kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was on the island that is called patmas for the word of God for the testimony of Jesus Christ I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voices a trumpet saying I am Alpha and the Omega the first and the last and what you see right in a book and send it to the seven churches that are in Asia to Ephesus Smyrna pergamus thyrus Sardis Philadelphia and the Le oysa then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands one was like the son of man clothed with a garment down to his feet and gted about the chest with a golden band his head and hair were like wool and white as snow his eyes were like flame of fire his feet were like fine brass as if refining a furnace and his voice sounded like many Waters he had in his right hand Seven Stars and out of his mouth one a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength and when I saw him I fell as dead before his feet and he laid his right hand on me saying do not be afraid I am the first and the last I am he that lives and was dead and behold I am alive forever more and I have the keys of Hades and death write the things that you've seen the things which are and the things which will take place after this that's good isn't it Revelation chap chapter 1 so what do we learn from this number one Revelation reveals the events of the last days are closely linked together look at verse one it says that these things will shortly take place or another translation what must speedily happen now there's some confusion about this verse because you might interpret this to say it will happen at any moment yet how long ago was Revelation given to us well about 2,000 years ago but understand this verse is not referring to sunness but to the quickness of execution when once there is a beginning in fact the word shortness could better be translated must come to pass with rapidity in other words the word that is used here is the word we get our English word tachometer from and that is the instrument that measures the speed of an engine so the idea is once it starts and it happens in Rapid succession sort of like Domino's shall I demonstrate you probably were wondering what this is we need some more light here if we can get some but uh you see these dominoes are all closely stacked together and we can almost say that this first Domino is uh the Rapture of the church and this next Domino is the revelation of antichrist and then we have following the Antichrist the Great Tribulation period and MOG is in here somewhere attacking Israel where God interv and then we have the a tribulation period the abomination of desolation then moving on down we have the two witnesses of appearing in Revelation so once the first Domino Falls with uh rapidity with quickness they all go shall we so you tip the first one and it's just like that you see that's all you're going to remember from this sermon isn't it that was cool with the dominoes the rest H that gives you an illustration so it's not sunness like sunness and John's time but once it starts it doesn't stop so that's what we read straight away is that it's going to reveal or unleash a series of events that are closely linked together number two Revelation is from Jesus Christ revealing himself to us who's a better Source on Jesus than Jesus right you know sometimes people will tell stories of mine oh Greg I remember the time this happened and as they tell the story I said well actually that that's not exactly right because I was there um this is the way it happened and uh I'll go back to the record cuz you have recollection you remember certain things so Jesus is telling us about Jesus there's no better Source than Christ himself is there uh you remember when he walked with those disciples on the emus Road who were discouraged and downhearted and he asked them what had been happening lately and they said well haven't you heard about Jesus a prophet Mighty indeed and we were hoping would have been the one to deliver Israel and he said no tell me about him well they had it all confused and then Jes Jesus told them about Jesus and effectively took them by the hand and gave them a guided tour throughout the Old Testament of all the passages that pertain to his death for the sins of the world so here is Jesus now in Revelation telling us about Jesus as I said earlier it's a portrait of Christ verse 5 it's from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the faithful witness now not every witness is faith ful are they sometimes when you're in a court of law and you'll have a a witness change their story or maybe they spin it or even lie that's called perjury they perjure thems and so the objective of the prosecuting attorney is to punch holes in the story of the witness if they're representing someone uh that this person is testifying against and so what you want is a faithful witness and a faithful witness will tell the story the same every time when police officers are doing interrogation that's one of the ways they find out if the truth is being told they separate the principles and they have them go over the story again and again and again when it's true you don't have to worry about it you remember it as it happened Jesus is the faithful witness he tells the truth to all of us Jesus is the only one who's truly in the no Spin Zone you see and he tells the truth about us he tells the truth as we'll see in our next message about the church he tells the truth about the future but he does it in a loving way you know telling the truth well it's always good but there's the right and wrong way to tell the truth I mean you shouldn't say everything that comes into your mind even if it's true Did you know that there's inside thoughts and outside thoughts like maybe you see someone and you think they're ugly don't look at me that way you thought it sadly some of you are thinking of right now because you're looking at your mirror powdering your nose no kidding and sadly that's a man no I'm kidding okay no but you know you look at someone and you say they're fat they're skinny they're ugly they're tall they're short they're this they're that you know you you look and the thought comes into your mind now that's just a thought and it may be true but you don't want to go and say to them hey how's it going you're ugly well that's true but is it helpful no it's offenseive sense of it it hurts you wouldn't want to say that to someone well Jesus tells the truth but he always tells it in love verse five because he loved us a better translation of this would be he keeps on loving us if you forget everything else I've said today remember this God loves you he's always loved you and he always will love you that's good news isn't it he always loves you there's nothing nothing that you have to do to earn his love just know this you have it even when you disappoint him he still loves you and that's why he's disappointed if if someone does something I don't like and I don't love him I'm not disappointed I'm just irritated but when I love them it disappoints me it makes me sad why because indeed I love them God says I've loved you with an everlasting love in Jeremiah 31:3 the scripture reminds us of verse John 3:1 behold what man manner of love the father has given to us that we should be called the sons of God this is in stark contrast to the love of our world the love of our culture this world loves you when you're young and beautiful right and when you've served your purpose you're set aside for the next young and beautiful person contrast God loves you when you're plain or elderly our world loves a famous celebrity God loves the unknown nobody our world loves the rich and the powerful the lord loves the poor and the weak our world loves the talented and extraordinary God loves the untalented and the ordinary God loves people like you and for me not only am I loved as a Christian but I'm cleansed from my sins and that's how God showed his love toward me while we were yet sinners Christ died for us greater love as no man than this and he laid on his life for his friend so we are cleansed verse 5 washed from our sins in his own blood want you to notice that is in the past tense it's already done you are washed from your sins in his blood number three Revelation tells us repeatedly that Jesus is coming back again verse 7 behold he is coming with clouds this great truth of the iminent return of Christ chist is repeated 500 times throughout the Bible it's been estimated that one out of every 25 verses in the New Testament refer to the second coming now this gives us hope in a hopeless world there's so many things that could cause us to despair but we have the hope of the Lord's return SEC uh Titus 2:13 says looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ but he's coming with clouds what does that mean well might be speaking literally just of the fact that he comes in the sky and the clouds but the clouds then again may be uh alluding to Believers coming with him I remember over in Hebrews 12 we read that we're surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and so we also know that when Christ who is our life shall appear we shall also appear with him in glory we return with Christ at the second coming so this word clouds may be referring to us returning with the Lord number four when Christ returns all the world will know when Christ returns all the world will know verse 7even every eye will see him including those who have pierced him Jesus said in Matthew 24 as the lightning shines from the East to the West so will the coming of the son of man be including those who have pierced him and will finally be revealed to the Jewish people that Jesus was and is their Messiah Zechariah 12 says I'll look upon Him whom they have pierced and mourn for one as One Mourns for their only son Zechariah 13:6 says and they'll ask him in that day where did you get those wounds he will say at the house of my friends so the wounded crucified risen and glorified Lord comes back again and fulfillment of Bible prophecy number five Revelation reveals Jesus as God in incarnate because in verse 8 he says I'm the alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end uh who was who is and who is to come this is clearly a claim of deity some would say well Jesus never claimed to be God well nothing could be further from the truth he claimed on many occasions including this one here before us that he was God to say I am Alpha and Omega is to say the same thing that God says of himself Isaiah 44:6 God says I am the first and the last and beside me there is no God Jesus effectively says the same thing Jesus not only claimed to be God but he accepted worship on many occasions and Christ himself pointed out that we should Worship the Lord God only so here now on this lonely Little Island John is given this message verse 10 I was on in the spirit on the Lord's day or a better translation would be unto the day of the Lord now something this might be referring to Sunday Sunday being the first day of the week Sunday being the day the early church met because that was the day the Lord rose again from the dead right so maybe John was just saying it happened on a Sunday that's possible another interpretation is he's speaking of the day of the Lord's return and I tend to favor that he was sort of catapulted into the future to the day of the Lord's return and he was taken into the presence of the Lord verse 12 I turned his to see the voice that spoke with me he sought to turn and see this voice and see the Lord that was speaking to him at that very point which brings us to point number seven or Point number uh six I got my notes out the Border this is a mess okay wait 13 12 11 okay so just telling you what's going on up here we're okay and I would hope that as we look at Revelation that we too will see the Lord that will see him in a way we have never seen him before you know it seems to me that when Bible prophecy is taught as it ought to be taught it will move our hearts toward God you know some people are sort of like Bible prophecy afficianados uh they're always studying you know could this be a fulfillment of Bible prophecy and that's fine there's a place for that but um maybe they go too far you know they're going through the One ads is this this this the Fulfillment of Bible prophecy everything's a fulfillment of Bible prophecy there are some telltale signs you may be obsessed with Bible prophecy here's five quick ones if any of these things are true of you you are obsessed with Bible prophecy number one barcode scanners make you nervous number two you never buy green bananas get it cuz you don't want to wait till they write cu the Lord could come back at any moment number three you know more signs of the times than the Commandments number four you refuse a tax fund re a check because the amount comes to 666 here's the fifth sign you might be obsessed with Bible prophecy you always keep your convertible top down in case the Rapture happens she going to be ready Don't Clap that's weird okay just put your top up especially if it's raining but some people become sort of obsessed with the details and the minutia and they miss the big picture and the big picture is if I really believe that Christ could come back at any moment it should affect me in the way that I live for starters it should motivate me to live a Godly life verse John 3 says dear friends you're God's children we can't even imagine what it will be like when Christ returns but we know when he comes we'll be like him we'll see him as he is and all who believe this will keep themselves pure just as Christ is pure so if I'm teaching about the Lord's return and this sign's fulfilled and this thing's happening fine is it affecting me is it causing me to live a Pure Life if it isn't something is terribly wrong believing Christ is coming back should also motivate us to reach others with the gospel because we're told in second Peter 3 dear friends are waiting for these things that happen make every effort to live a pure and blameless life and be at peace with God and remember the Lord is waiting so people have time to be saved and this is not for us to have a little holy huddle and just feel better about ourselves this is for us to read and say man let's get out there and tell the world that's why we're doing Harvest America that's how we do Evangelistic events around the country this is why we seek to get the gospel out every day because there's an urgency that's how we we all need to do everything we can to tell people about Christ and help them to be ready for his return remember the wise men who were consulted when excuse me the wise men who came searching for the Lord to King Herod there in Jerusalem and Herod called in his scribes and uh theological experts said okay what's going on these guys are from the East and they think some Kings being born and so the scholars go over the scriptures and and to their credit they know exactly what this is all all about they they go to the Book of Micah and they go uh to other passages and they say yes yes Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem which was five miles away so what do the wise men do they go to Bethlehem what a Herod and the theological Scholars do they stay in Jerusalem probably talk about the Potential Threat that sa was to their Throne the point is you can study these things and be unmoved by them oh yes here's this detail oh here's an another interesting detail yeah fine is it moving you personally now John didn't just record data he saw the Risen Lord again he turned and saw Jesus verse 13 in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks one was like the son of man clothed with a garment down to his feet and girded about the chest with a golden band now this is amazing because this is one of the only descriptions or I should restate this that this is the only actual description of Christ to be found in all of the Bible it's amazing that none of the gospel writers took the time to tell us what Jesus looked like would that have been that hard now of course we all think we know what he looks like how else would we know that was Jesus appearing on our tortilla or on the garage door or a piece of toast as I read recently I'm not making any of this up we think we know what Jesus looked like but really we don't here's a description of him verse 14 his head and hair were like wool white white like snow his eyes like a flame of fire his feet were like fine brass as are finding a furnace and his voice as the sound of many Waters now we don't need to read that literally this is speaking symbolically each one of those things speaks of something else the fact that his hair is white is a reminder that he is totally pure uh the fact that he is um in this place feet like fine Brad speaks of judgment and his voice is the sound of many Waters speaks of great power so as I shoot Fire have you ever had someone look at you that way with their eyes almost shot fire they're they're angry it speaks speaks of indignation Christ who knows all things and is aware of all things is indignant at this moment this is how he is looking at the world I'm angry I'm angry at what is happening here uh it's you know important when you talk with someone to look them in the eyes I always taught my sons you know when you meet somebody you look them in the eyes and you shake their hand and you're respectful and you respond to them and uh and so in the same way you know when we meet someone we look him in the eyes it's been said the eyes are the window of the Soul well as you look into the eyes eyes of Jesus he's angry he's full of Wrath because of what is happening and he's looking at what is about to take place and he has things to say number seven Revelation reveals that Jesus is the one who decides who will live and die you don't decide that I don't decide that he says in verse 18 I am the keys of Hades and death Jesus alone possesses the key or authority over death no one can die apart from his divine permission but what does he say he says verse 17 do not be afraid and there are many things that we can be afraid of in this life but Christ who is in control says do not be afraid why should I not be afraid because he is the key I'm so glad he is the keys because if I had them they would have been lost by now I'm always losing Keys Jesus never loses them he holds on to them and he is in control of all things one closing thought as we bring this message to an end let's go back for a moment in our imaginations to where John was he was on the island of Patmos he wasn't surrounded by his Christian brothers and sisters or friends he was effectively isolated uh he was banished and maybe you feel like you're on an island of patmo so to speak maybe you've been imprisoned by life circumstances maybe you're in an unhappy marriage or you're confined to a hospital bed or a prison cell but you will find often in the patm Moses of life if you will that God will reveal things to you you would not see otherwise one of the benefits of suffering is you see things that you would not have seen otherwise why is that because you are forced to do one of two things you're either going to turn from God or you're going to to turn to God like you've never turned to him before and as you hold on to him he will reveal things to you about himself things that you need to know thus we can look at the patmas of life or the thorns in the flesh of life or the trials hardships and storms of life and say I didn't enjoy the storm itself but what I learned there was of the greatest value remember the story of Abraham he felt abandoned and forgotten when he was told to sacrifice his son Isaac he didn't want to do it but just as he was ready in obedience to do what God required an angel of the Lord came to him and told him not to do it and then he was reminded that God was with him and he called that place Jehovah Gyra that is the god who sees and provides and sometimes in those Dark Places God will come to you in a special way and so God came to John in this dark hour and gave him this Revelation that we study some two th000 years later and what is John saying because I here's the thing I think that we sometimes get so caught up in all of the big prophetic elements of revelation we missed the essential message why was Revelation given to reveal Jesus to uncover Jesus to show us Jesus and if we miss that we've missed everything if we walk away talking about the Antichrist and the tribulation period those are important details we'll deal with all of them let's not miss that it's all about revealing the Risen glorified powerful Lord who holds the keys to death and life the glorified Lord who is in control of your life he's the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end he that began a work in you will complete it God always finishes what he starts let's not miss that and I hope that you know him in a personal way today because the things that we're going to read are going to happen just like that first Domino falling the others will follow in Rapid succession and I hope that you are ready to meet the Lord listen he's coming back as king of kings and Lord of lords to rule and Reign before it's [Applause] right but when he came to this earth the first time he came as a suffering savior when he went to the cross and instead of wearing a crown of gold he wore a crown of thorns instead of being on a Regal Throne of gold he was hung on a crude Roman cross and bled and died for your sin and for mine and if I will turn from my sin and put my faith in Jesus I can be forgiven and no longer fear death have you asked Christ to come into your life has he forgiven you of your sins if not why don't you respond to this invitation I'll extend right now let's all bow our heads father thank you for your word to us today thank you for this unveiling of Jesus and now I pray for anyone here that does not yet know you anyone listening or watching who does not yet have a relationship with you Lord help them to see their need for Christ and help them to come to you now and receive your forgiveness and while our heads are bowed and her eyes are closed and we're praying if you would like Jesus Christ to come into your life if you would like him to forgive you of your sin if you would like to know that when you die you will go to heaven if you want to be ready for the Lord's return wherever you are I want you to stand to your feet and I'm going to lead you in a prayer of commitment of Christ just stand to your feet if you want Christ to come into your life you want him to forgive you of your sin just stand up and I'm going to lead you in a prayer God bless you just stand up and I'm going to lead you in this prayer God bless you anybody else stand now this is a prayer of committing your life to Christ maybe some of you have drifted away you've Fallen away and you need to come back to him again today I want you to stand as well God bless you just stand up if you're watching me on a video screen and one of the other overflow areas or satellite campuses you stand as well anybody else stand now I'm going to lead you in prayer stand now God bless you anybody else God bless one final moment you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Jesus stand up and we'll pray together one final moment God bless each one of you all right you that are standing pray this prayer after after me out loud again as I pray pray this after me Lord Jesus I believe you died on the cross for my sin and paid the price for the wrongs I've done I turn now from my sin I ask you to come into my life and be my Lord and Savior be my friend and be my God I choose to follow you now in Jesus name we pray amen yeah

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 65,068

Keywords: Greg Laurie, 3-D, Dominoes, destruction, end times, Bible, John, Jesus, coming back, return, jugdement, the unveiling, pain, sorrow, new bodies, heaven, hell, prophecy

Id: 2oJsrYnqpWA

Length: 57min 5sec (3425 seconds)

Published: Mon May 07 2012