0:01 Welcome once again to words of life. We've been studying through the Bible and we started in Genesis many sessions ago. And now we have reached the last book of 0:18 the Bible, Revelation. This is a book which many Christians don't read because they feel they can't understand it. But this is the one book that describes 0:36 the final defeat of Satan and I'm sure that Satan doesn't want people to read that. And even if we don't understand everything, we can still be benefited from this book 0:57 if we read it. Because it doesn't say here in verse three, "Blessed is the one who understands but the one who reads and obeys what's written here." Whatever you find in here to obey, that 1:22 is more important than whether you understand. Now, first of all, it's called a revelation. A revelation is like an unveiling. You see what is behind the curtain. 1:47 And it's not a revelation of the future. The first line says it's a revelation of Jesus Christ. So, it's primarily a revelation of Jesus Christ. Which God gave him to show to his 2:06 bondservants. So, it's an unveiling of Christ and his kingdom. Chapter one is an unveiling of Christ himself. Chapter two and three is an unveiling of 2:29 the condition of the churches in those days. Chapter four to 22 is an unveiling of Christ and his kingdom. And here it says that God has given it 2:49 to him to show to his bondservants or slaves. And the correct word here is slaves, those who've given themselves totally to Christ. A slave is one who's got no right on his 3:08 life. Christ has got absolute right over a slave's life. He says, "Whatever Lord, you want me to do, I'll do. Whatever you you want me to go, I go." If you have that attitude, you'll 3:31 understand Revelation better than anybody else. And we read here that Jesus Christ is called the ruler, verse five, of the kings of the earth. It's very important to get that 3:54 revelation of Christ before we go into the book of Revelation and see what the kings of the earth do. He's Lord of all authority in heaven and earth. He's conquered death. 4:14 He's called the firstborn of the dead. He is the first one to conquer death. And above all, he is one who loves us and has released us from our sins by his blood. And John describes himself in verse nine 4:36 as a brother and fellow partaker of this tribulation. John is the seniormost apostle, the only living one among the 12 now. All the others have died. 4:59 In fact, many of them had died more than 20 years before this. He's been very faithful. He still calls himself a brother. He doesn't say, "I John, your pope or your bishop 5:21 or archbishop or Reverend John your brother." He told his disciples, "Call yourselves brothers." John obeyed it till the end of his life. And 5:42 also a fellow partaker in the tribulation. He could not write about persecution if he had not gone through it himself. He himself was exiled to the Isle of Patmos for the sake of the word of God 6:00 and the testimony of Christ. And he says he was in the spirit on the Lord's day and he heard a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. They can't hear the Lord speaking. 6:23 But we can't hear anything if you are not tuned to that frequency. See, right now in this room, there are many sounds. You can't hear all of them. 6:41 Where you are listening to this message. You are listening to it because you have tuned to this frequency. If you change the channel, you will not be able to see it. So, we have to be tuned 7:03 to the Lord's frequency to be able to hear his voice. And when we are tuned, it can be very clear. Just like you're hearing this message very clearly. So, 7:26 we should never say that God is not speaking. It's better to say we are not tuned to listen. When he saw Jesus, fell at his feet as a dead man. He was the one who leaned upon Jesus' 7:45 breast at the last supper. But when he sees the Lord, he falls like a dead man. 17. That is always what happens when we have really seen the Lord. When we have 8:05 really seen the Lord, we fall on our face. We become nothing. We fall on our face. And it says here that Jesus laid his right hand on him and raised him up. Jesus never pushes people down. He always lifts people up. 8:28 When we see people being pushed down today, it's not Jesus. We've seen demons cast people down. And the other thing is whenever people worshipped God or Jesus, they always fell with 8:46 their face forward to towards him. That is a mark of respect and worship. Everybody knows that showing the feet to somebody is an insult. And that is where the devil has a big 9:10 laugh at all these people insulting God like that. In chapter one, verse 19, we see the three-fold division of this book. And that is the things which you have 9:30 seen, the things which are, and the things which shall take place in the future. And then uh we'll come to that in a moment. And the seven lampstands that 9:51 John saw is a picture of the seven churches. He saw Jesus standing in the midst of the seven lampstands. In verse 13. But each lampstand was separate. Showing that each church is independent. 10:17 And the Lord says to John, "Don't be afraid. I have the keys of death and Hades." And the Lord tells him to send a message to the elders of the seven churches. And as we look through these seven 10:37 churches, we find five of them are in a very backslidden condition. Two of them were in a good condition. One better than the other. So, let's look at the messages to these 10:56 seven churches. The letters were sent to the messengers of each of the churches. Each church had elders. But one of the elders was the messenger. That is the one who probably brought 11:19 God's word. And the message to the elder is also the message to the church. Showing that the spiritual state of the elder determine the spiritual state of that 11:37 church. So, if the elder was a wholehearted brother, the church became wholehearted. If the elder was a compromiser, then the church became compromised. Here it says 12:00 first of all, the message to the messenger the church in Ephesus. What is the message that he conveyed there to him? First of all, the Lord appreciates all the good things that he has done. He says, "I know that your deeds and 12:22 your toil and your perseverance and all that." Many good things. You exposed false apostles. But I have something against you. You have left your first love. Even where there's something's wrong in 12:43 a church, the Lord still appreciates what is good first. Here was a good church, very active with a lot of activity, but it lost its first love. This is the big danger we face as 13:05 Christian workers and in churches. We can serve and serve and serve and lose our initial devotion for Christ. Just like a husband and wife may have 13:25 been very much in love with each other when they first got married. And everything the wife does for her husband is out of love. You go to that home 20 years later and wife is still working, doing many things, but the love is gone. 13:49 That is what happened to this church. That they were still serving the Lord. But the initial devotion to Christ had gone. Is this a serious thing or a unimportant thing? In fact, it is so important that the 14:09 Lord said, "If you don't set it right, I'll have to come and remove the lampstand from your midst." So, losing our first love is a very, very serious thing. And in the church, the Lord speaks to 14:26 the overcomers. In verse seven. That some of you may overcome this spirit. You have reported to me. Those who have such a ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit is saying. The message to the second church 14:51 for the church in Smyrna. This is a good church. There's nothing that the Lord has to criticize there. They were a poor church. They were a suffering church. And there were people who were persecuting them. The Jewish people. 15:11 And the Lord calls them a synagogue of Satan, verse nine. And he tells them he wants them in advance that the devil will cast some of you into prison. Does a defeated Satan have power to put 15:31 God's children into prison? This verse definitely says yes. But not without God's permission. Job is the first book written in the Bible. Even before Genesis. 15:52 The first chapter of that book we read the devil cannot touch any of God's children without taking permission from God. So, it's definitely with God's permission that the devil allows these that the devil is permitted to put these people 16:08 in prison. From the book of Job we see the devil go to God and say, "Can I put some of these people in Smyrna in prison?" God says yes. 16:28 Can I give them some tribulation? Yes, but only for 10 days. So, that's all. After that, the devil has to move out. So, why does God allow it? So that you may be tested, it says in verse 10. But it will only be for 10 days. 16:52 And then, if you're faithful I will give you a crown of life. So, it's only a test. God has to test his people. God uses the devil for that. And again, a message to the overcomers. Don't you don't be afraid if somebody 17:10 kills you. If you overcome, you won't be hurt by the second death, which is worse. That is the lake of fire. Then, a message to the third church. And to the leader in the third church. 17:29 This is another backslidden church. And the Lord says, "I know where you dwell." First of all, like in every case, he appreciates the good things. I know that Satan has got his throne there. That means it was like Satan's earthly 17:51 headquarters. And you have held fast to my name. You have not denied my faith. You have not denied my faith. Well, in a community such as Antipas, 18:11 everyone could have done. All this is good. But I've got some things against you. There are some people there holding to the teaching of Balaam. Now, we don't know exactly what that was. It could be like Balaam serving for money. 18:32 Or it could be compromising with worldly people like Balaam taught Balak to get the Israelites to compromise with the Moabite women. And thus the Israelites went into 18:52 idolatry like it says here. And immorality. So, it's some type of compromise there that was coming in that church. And also another teaching you have which 19:08 God hates, teaching of the Nicolaitans. That was in verse six also with in church in Ephesus. We don't know exactly what that teaching is. Unless you go by the word Nicolaitan, means the ruler of the people. They are ruling others. 19:32 He says, "Repent. Otherwise, I'll come to you quickly and make war against you with the sword of my mouth." Then, the fourth church is the church in Thyatira. Where the Lord says Again, he says, "I know all your deeds 19:49 and your patience and all that." But he's telling the leader, "You allow your He's telling the leader, "You allow your wife, that is translated like that, your wife Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to lead my servants astray." 20:09 uh adulterous church where spiritually they were in adultery. A woman had power by controlling her husband, the elder, from behind the scenes. I gave her time to repent, but she 20:29 didn't want to repent. And so the Lord says, "I'll come down and punish you." Again, a message to the overcomer. Each church, he says, "Overcomers, listen. This is a message for you." Whether good church or bad church, 20:50 and then we come to the next church, which is the church in Sardis, number five. Chapter 3, verse 1. Here again, there were some good things, but you you only got a name, he says. 21:08 There were a few things that were not dead, according to verse 2. Most things had already died, but there were a few things which are about to die. Very little good here. 21:26 Most of it is all bad. And the Lord says, "I will come and punish you." And he says, "But there are a few people in Sardis, verse 4, who have not soiled their garments. They are the overcomers. 21:48 The message to them is, if you overcome, your name will be not be erased from the Book of Life, verse 3." Which teaches us that a man's name can be erased from the Book of Life, otherwise that threat is meaningless. Many people don't like to accept the 22:10 truths of scripture. They think they know about the Book of Life even better than Jesus, who spoke these words. Your name can be erased from the Book of Life, according to Jesus' words. The sixth is Philadelphia, the faithful 22:31 church. And there the Lord says, "I put before you an open door, verse 8, nobody can shut it. You have a little power and you kept my word and have not denied my name. Hold fast, verse 11, what you have 22:54 so that no one takes your crown." Again, a message to the overcomer. Then the last church, the church in Laodicea. And this is a proud church, proud of all their wealth and achievements, they were lukewarm, 23:19 not ready for God to spit them out of His mouth. The Lord says, "I will come and punish you." Does God want us to be lukewarm? No. You must be either hot on fire for God or out and out worldly. Not half and half. But 23:41 half and half. We see here in verse 18 there are certain things which we have to buy from God. Certain things are free, like forgiveness of sins, baptism in the Holy Spirit. Certain things 24:03 we have to buy from the Lord. You have to pay a price. And that's what we see here. And then he says to them, "It's because I love you, I reprove you and discipline you." And here are those famous words, 24:21 "I stand at the door and knock." He's outside the church. Inside the meetings are going on, but he's outside. But everyone hears my voice. Individuals are being invited. Be an overcomer. So in all these churches, 24:39 the Lord's message is to the overcomer. All the five backslidden churches, he says, "Repent." And so, repent and overcome is the message the Lord has for the church today. May we listen to that. 25:03 Amen. Welcome once again to Words of Life. We have now come to Revelation chapter 4 in our study of the Bible. These are the things that are going to take place in the future. Notice that before God shows him all 25:25 that, he first showed showed him a vision of Jesus. To see a fresh vision of Jesus before we see the terrible things that will happen in the world. We see that Jesus is in control. He's 25:43 the ruler of the kings of the earth. If you don't have that revelation, then of course it's dangerous to look into the future. You'll be frightened and you'll be discouraged. So the Lord says now, "Come up here 26:04 again in chapter 4, verse 1. Come up higher. The Lord always asks us to come up higher from to look at things from His standpoint. As soon as he heard that voice, he was 26:21 in the spirit. And then he was standing in heaven, watching the Lord. And he saw a glimpse there of God on the throne and people worshipping Him. There's seven glimpses of worship in the 26:41 Book of Revelation. This is one of them. We see here people falling down and saying, "Holy, holy, holy." And every glimpse we have of heaven is 26:59 one of praise. And worship. Showing us what heaven is like. And from that position of worship and praise, God shows John the rest of the future. And the main theme of the song in 27:24 heaven, verse 8, is holiness. Holy, holy, holy. And then we see in chapter 5, a sealed book. 27:47 You see Adam handed the earth over to Satan in Genesis chapter 3. God had given the earth to Adam. But when Adam disobeyed God, he handed 28:06 over the earth to Satan. That's why Satan could tell Jesus, "All this has been handed over to me." Jesus came to redeem the earth back to God. And in a vision, John sees that nobody is 28:26 worthy to open the book and its seals to redeem the earth. And then finally, when he was weeping and he saw that, one of the elders said, "Don't weep. 28:44 The lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome. Jesus can open the seals." And he turns around to see who is this lion. And he sees a lamb. Jesus is a lion and a lamb. 29:07 The servant of God must be like a lion and a lamb. The lion in the pulpit when he stands for God and a lamb outside. When you're dealing with people, and he's persecuted, 29:28 and Jesus came and took the book from the right hand of God the Father. And all the people fall down and worship. And all the people fall down and worship. And again, we see a loud 29:47 voice of thousands of people shouting and praising God. Every glimpse we have of heaven is one of praise. Only Christ is the center. 30:04 All worship is focused on Christ. And that is what that is going to be our final home. We must prepare ourselves for that place. Developing a spirit of worship even now. 30:27 Chapter 5, verse 9, we read about a new song. But this doesn't sound like a new song. This not does not sound like a new song. Because they're singing what we know already. Thou was slain and thou has redeemed us by thy blood from every 30:45 tribe. How can this be a new song? Because every time they sing it it is as if it is being sung for the first time. We must pray that the truth of Christ's 31:04 death on the cross must never become stale to us but always fresh. We must not ever uh lose the wonder that Christ died for 31:24 a wretched sinner like me. Then it can be a new song for us every time we sing it even now. And in chapter 6, we read the beginning of this the judgment of the seven seals and the 31:43 seven trumpets. All the way up to chapter 16. First, we are given a glimpse of the whole period of judgment. Then the details are spelled out. The wrath of God does not come 32:07 does not mention until we get to about chapter 16. Before that, what we read of is persecution and many things that Jesus said would happen in the last days on the earth. So, in chapter 6, we read about when the 32:27 first seal was opened, a person goes on a white horse. And this is a picture of someone who tries to imitate Christ. That's a picture of the Antichrist. 32:45 First thing we see. This is the church who still be on the earth. But the Antichrist is going to go forth to conquer and be a ruler of the world. Then we see a second seal. When the second seal is opened, a red horse goes 33:05 forth, verse 4. Chapter 6, verse 4. And that is a picture of war. In that time, there're going to be a lot of wars. And then the third seal was broken, we find a black horse and someone with a 33:24 pair of scales on his hand. And he's describing the price for which various things will be sold. And it says here the oil and the wine will not be touched. 33:43 There will be plenty of luxuries but poor people will find it difficult to get their daily necessities. It's going to be a time of famine. 34:05 And then the fourth seal, when it was broken, another horse came forth with an ashen horse named death. Who goes forth and kills people 34:22 all over the world. 25% of the world being killed with sickness. We're going to see some of these things happen. Wars, famines, widespread sicknesses that will kill 34:39 millions of people. And then the fifth seal, when that is broken, you read about persecution. By that time, when John saw this, very 34:57 few saints had been killed. In 95 AD, when John wrote this, very few saints had been killed. So, they were told, verse 11, rest for a 35:17 little while because more people have to be martyred for the faith in the next 20 centuries. They're asking, "When are you going to establish your kingdom and avenge our blood on all these people?" And the Lord tells them you got to wait. 35:38 Many more people have to be martyred. And I've heard that in the 20th century alone, more people have been martyred for Christ than in all the previous centuries. We are approaching the coming of Christ. 36:01 And the sixth seal, you read the word wrath coming up here for the first time in verse 16. When the sun becomes black and the moon becomes like blood, verse 12. And 36:22 then people fall fall on their face and ask the rocks and all to hide them from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of the wrath has come, verse 17. That is a picture of what was is going 36:39 to come in chapter 16. We can say that chapter 6 is like a preview of all that is going to come in the whole book of Revelation. Then chapter 7 onwards, we get the details. Chapter 7, verse 1 to 8. 37:02 We read about certain people who are sealed from the nation of Israel. In those days, Israel was a captive nation under the Romans. And right up until 1948, Israel was captive in different nations. That was the time when they came back to 37:27 their own nation. And it appears that there will be certain people from Israel who will be saved. And this is probably referring to that group. Of course, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. 37:46 There's no salvation any other way. And then, in verse 9, you read about a great multitude. This is the church, which verses 9 to 17. Who are also saved. And 38:04 they they were their clothes were cleansed in the blood of the lamb. They are clothed in white robes, we read in verse 9. And these are the ones, verse 14, who came out of great tribulation. And they serve God day and night. 38:23 How many people are in this church? Verse 9. A great multitude which could not be counted. Every nation, tribe, people, tongue standing before the throne. that the church is going to comprise of 38:42 a huge multitude of people. But they will all be cleansed by the blood of Christ. Now, this includes all the children who died before they came to an age of 39:01 accountability. And all the millions of babies that have been aborted from mothers' wombs. They will all be here. 39:19 There will be millions. Every baby who dies before he reaches the age of accountability goes to heaven on the basis of Christ's death. Every part of the world from every religion. There's going to be a huge crowd. 39:41 And then we come to chapter come to chapter 8. And here we read of the seventh seal being broken. And there was silence for half an hour before the seven trumpets were sounded. Silence is an indication of God's 40:04 reluctance to judge people. God is not eager to judge. He waits patiently before he judges anyone. When Jesus stood and preached in the 40:30 synagogue in Nazareth, he said these words in Luke chapter 4. He said I've come to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And he stopped there. But if you go to Isaiah 61, That to proclaim the favorable year of 40:54 the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. So, the year of the time of God's favor is 365 days, one whole year. But vengeance and God's judgment is only one 41:13 day. in Isaiah 61. So, you see the proportion. God is 365 times more eager to bless and forgive than he is to judge. The year of the Lord's favor 41:39 are 365 days of the Lord's favor and one day of vengeance. And Jesus didn't mention that one day because that had not yet come. is beginning 41:57 of that day of See another angel coming down with a golden with holding a golden sensor with much incense in it to be added to the prayers of the 42:15 saints. The name and the merit of Jesus is symbolized by that incense. And the incense, the name and the merit This incense, the name and the merit of Jesus goes up with the prayers of the 42:33 saints before God. sends up to heaven. See, immediately action takes place. It says immediately the angel filled the 42:53 sensor with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth. And there were thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning etc. One of the things we see here is the 43:09 tremendous value of prayers. All the prayers of God's people go up in the name of Jesus. We may think nothing is happening. We may not immediately see the results. But we see here as soon as the prayers 43:30 of God's people went up in the name of Jesus to God, immediately action was taken. And the seven angels had prepared themselves to sound the seven trumpets we read. We can say this is the last trumpet 43:55 that is spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4. The book of Revelation is full of symbols. It's very difficult to interpret the symbols. This seven trumpets we could say is a 44:14 seven-fold last trumpet. You know, in 1 Thessalonians 4 it says that Christ will come with the trumpet of God. And in 1 Corinthians 15 also it says 44:32 that in 1 Corinthians 15 verse and 52. At the last trumpet, the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised. There is a last trumpet. And we see here. 44:55 That's the time when the dead are going to be raised. And the another indication that the church is going to go through the tribulation. So, only Only after that that you come to the 45:13 last trumpet. And when the angel sounds the trumpets, the first sounded and there was hail and fire verse 7 of chapter 8. And the earth was burnt It speaks of a time increase in the 45:33 temperature in the earth. Hot summers. And trees burnt up, grass burnt up. Warmer climates in different places. And then a second angel sounded. 45:56 And a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and the third of the sea became like blood. Now, we don't understand all that this means. type of judgment that's going to take place on the earth to the environment of this earth 46:22 and to the sea and the creatures in the sea where number of them die. Number of the ships destroyed at sea verse 9. And then in verse 10 a third angel 46:41 sounding and something falling down to the earth from the skies, a great star like a meteor or something coming and falling into the water. The water is becoming bitter and perhaps poisonous and many people dying because 46:56 of that. And then a fourth angel sounds. The third of the sun and the third of the moon and third of the stars were all smitten verse 12. And then 47:19 John sees an eagle flying in the heavens in verse 13 saying, "Woe unto the people on the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet that are going to be sounded." Even though God's people will be here, 47:40 that not a hair of our head See, there are many calamities that have taken place on the earth even in the previous centuries and God's people have faced many of them. So, that may happen in the future, too. 47:59 But here it here it speaks an expression is used in verse 13. to the earth dwellers those whose mind is set on the things of earth. They are earth dwellers. 48:26 A even though he lives on earth, he's a dweller in heaven. So, one of the most important things as we approach the end of time is to stop being an earth dweller. If I If you were to ask me what is the most important requirement for the last 48:46 days, say, "Don't be an earth dweller." I would say. Blessed are those whose mind is set on the things above. Colossians chapter 3 verse 2 it says, "Set your 49:06 mind on the things above where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father." That's the requirement for the last days. If we set our mind on earthly things, we're going to have tremendous problems in the last days. We need to 49:24 deliberately set our mind on the things that are above. And Christ Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. And he is our head. He is the ruler of the ruler of the kings of the earth. All authority in heaven and earth is in 49:43 his hand. He is the one who is breaking the seals. These things are not happening accidentally. Everything that happens in nature, God is in control. Spiritually, if you dwell there, you will be at rest even when these 50:01 things happen on the earth. We will not get into a panic. So, these things are written for our comfort. May we take heed to them. Amen. Amen.
