Well, we're going to be doing a review today, so I know that the last session we ended with the review from the previous session as it ended. So this is going to be like a re-review, rehearsing all the stuff that we know. We want to be able to, you know, just for the sake of knowing the content of the book of Revelations, we definitely want to be able to kind of outline what's contained in each chapter.

But some of the details of, let's say, what are the sequence of the six seals, the sequence of the six trumpets, I mean, we encourage you guys to study that, but I think also learning at least the names and the spiritual state of the seven churches in the book of Revelations is really important as we review this first section, this first half of the book, chapters 1 through 11, okay?

So please turn your Bibles there and you can kind of like glance at it as we do this. It's going to be review in the beginning. And as we look at it, remember in chapter 1, verse 1, it talked about how the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservant the things which must soon take place, and he sent and communicated by his angel to his bondservant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all he saw.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near. So by way of review, I want to ask the question about the purpose and setting of the book. You guys recall that around that time there was so much persecution.

There is a question of where is Christ? What's going to happen? And believe it or not, although yes, this book is in many ways, in many ways devastating to read, in many ways gloom, destruction, and judgment, it was for the purpose actually of blessing those who'd read it. It was an encouragement to those who are suffering, okay?

But also it was an encouragement to prepare for the coming of Christ. So let's see. Oops, my bad. I didn't turn it on. Here we have the passage in Revelations chapter 16, verse 15, and the scripture says, "Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed." Being ready, being prepared, that was actually the teaching of Christ through the Gospels, and that is the message of the last book of the Bible.

The coming of Christ is truly eminent, and that we need to be prepared in every way, okay? So as we think about this, as I go through each chapter, try to remember what was contained, okay? What was contained? And if you recall it, go ahead and shout it out, all right?

So what was contained in chapter 1 of Revelation? And I have the picture. Vision of Christ, yes, you are right. Vision of Christ amidst the seven lampstands, okay? Vision of Christ in the midst of the seven lampstands. So I'll give you guys that first one. I know it's always a little bit hard to speak up in front of a big group, but let's all say it together.

And then chapter 2 and 3 was? Excellent, the seven churches, okay, the seven churches. So chapter 2 and 3 together, you have the message to the seven churches, okay? Message to the seven churches. Remember that they were warnings. They were a call, there was a call to repentance. First a commendation of what they were doing well, but then Jesus would say, "But this I know.

I know your deeds. This I have against you." Okay, good. What was contained in chapter 4? That's right, throne. Vision of worship, okay? And the glory of Christ is seen in this vision. And you can put actually chapter 4 and chapter 5 almost together as chapter 5 contains then?

I think I heard, huh? Excellent, worship of the Lamb. You can write Lion and the Lamb, okay? Worship of the Lion and the Lamb. If you recall the story, John was in tears. Like in the vision, he was just in tears because there was no one worthy, no one worthy to take the scroll, no one worthy to open the seals.

And in chapter 5, there was a vision of the Lion and the Lamb who was worthy, okay? And then chapter 6 is? Great, the seals. As the Lamb opens and breaks the seals, you have the first sequence of the judgments that come through. Chapter 6 is seals 1 through 6, okay?

Chapter 6 is seals 1 through 6. And then chapter 7 is not the seventh seal but? Excellent, the great multitude and the? 144,000, okay? So you can write the great multitude and the 144,000. They were worshiping, okay? They were worshiping. So you can just write 144,000, multitude and worship.

In the midst of the sequence of the seals, as each seal opens, there's devastating judgment. But in almost a sequential pattern, almost like alternating, you will see that pattern of there's judgment and then there's a scene in heaven. There's judgment and a scene in heaven constantly showing that God is in control and that there's worship of the glorious One who is sovereign, okay?

Chapter 8. Excellent. So the seventh seal introduces the first trumpets, the first four trumpets. There you go. Oh, sorry, that was chapter 7. And then chapter 8, okay? With the trumpets come a sequence of like worldwide catastrophic judgment, right? A third of this, a third of that, a third of the world, okay?

And then afterwards comes the next trumpets, trumpets 5 and 6. Trumpets 5 and 6, the description was intense. It talks about the smoke, smoke of locusts with power of scorpions, inflicting pain, okay? So you can write just trumpets 5 and 6, right? Trumpets 5 and 6 as judgment. So as chapter 8 was seventh seal to seventh trumpet, first four trumpets, chapter 9, trumpets 5 and 6, okay?

What was contained in chapter 10? Little scroll and the huge angel, okay? The strange angel who had one foot on the land, one foot on the sea. So you can just write maybe huge angel, teeny scroll, okay? Easy way to remember. Huge and tiny. Huge angel, tiny scroll, okay?

Remember the tiny scroll, John was commanded to eat of it and it was sweet in the mouth but it was bitter in his stomach, right? Sweet in the mouth and bitter in his stomach. And then lastly in chapter 11, what happens in chapter 11? Excellent. Measuring the temple and, oh wait, did I go in too far?

I did. And the two witnesses, okay? So you can write measuring the temple, two witnesses. Measuring the temple, two witnesses, okay? Good. I hope that refreshed your memory a bit going through. Again, we're not trying to memorize an outline just for the sake of it but knowing the content and flow, again, you're going to actually see themes and patterns as you read the passage, okay?

As you read through the book. Now one of the things I said was that as important it is to know the content of the book, there are some key details I think that we should know, things that are very convicting, right? And one of the key elements is that because this is a message to the churches to be prepared, because this is a message to the churches to be encouraged, the letters to the seven churches is actually I think very important for people to be familiar with as they study the book of Revelation, okay?

So in thinking about the seven churches, notice I have the three letters there. We're going to go down and try to remember their names but for me, the way that I memorized their names was just to say ESP, TSP, you know? ESP, TSP and then L, I don't know what to do with.

ESP, TSP and then L, right? So let's go through the names real fast. E stands for? Ephesus. Ephesus. And who recalls what their, you know, rebuke was? Who recalls the problem that existed in the church of Ephesus? They forgot their first love. They're the first on the list, they forgot their first love.

That's kind of the way I remembered it, okay? And it was a strong, that's a strong rebuke in the midst of a church that was doing well. So just on the next of it, description-wise, you can just write church that lost its first love, okay? The second church starts with an S and that church is?

Smyrna, okay? Smyrna. You can think of this church as the suffering church. So it begins with an S and it began the description with an S, suffering church. This is a church where Christ admonishes them, persevere even unto death. And He started to warn them, there's going to come such a testing in your day, okay?

And then the church that starts with P, good, Pergamum or Pergamos, okay? This I didn't have anything really creative for, sorry. But this was a compromising church. They believe in doctrines of the Nicolaitans, okay? Doctrines of Nicolaitans, okay? Doctrines of Nicolaitans. The next church that starts with a T, that church is?

Good, Thyatira. And that church's rebuke was? I think I just used the word Jezebel, okay? Jezebel. Because once you hear that word, you already know it's an adulterous church, okay? Adulterous church. And Christ rebukes them for tolerating that kind of immorality and adultery, okay? Jezebel. And then the next church that starts with an S is?

Sardis, okay? Sardis. And that church was described as the? Dead church. He says, "You have a name of being alive, but you are actually dead." Okay? You are actually dead. And then the last church, or not the last, second to last church that starts with a P is? Philadelphia, okay?

Philadelphia. And you can just describe that church as a loving church, okay? That was the one church, Smyrna and Philadelphia were the churches where Christ gave commendation, commendation for who they were, okay? That -- okay. And then the last church, Laodicea, lukewarm, okay? Starts with an L, description starts with an L, lukewarm.

All right. Whew. Good. So we got there so far. That kind of review sometimes, I know it's -- what's the word? Kind of monotonous, you know? But I recommend that, again, on your own time, try to review some of that, like, just knowing the content and going through what's contained.

Because sometimes, actually, those are the times when you're going to have -- you're going to be able to read other parts of Scripture and then have immediate references because you're familiar with the content of the book. Especially I would say, again, if you want to review chapters two and three and go through the churches and listen, listen to the tone, listen to the admonition to those churches, listen to what Christ is challenging them with, you know?

And those are all things, actually, again, that are absolutely relevant to our day and our time, okay? All right. Now, having done that, okay, having done the review in terms of just going over the content of the text, let's talk about some major themes, okay? And today we're going to do a review by way of talking about some major thematics of the book of Revelation, especially in chapters one through 11, okay?

Point one, the very first thing -- let's see, I think I have a slide. Oh, whoops. I totally forgot about those slides. There we go. The first thematic that we want to focus on and bring our attention to is a theme of the revelation of Jesus. Here is this intense, intense drawing that someone drew of Christ, where His eyes are a blaze of fire.

He's coming in riding on a horse. It's like, "Behold, I am Alpha and Omega," right? Well, as you think about the book entirely, actually, the whole book can be outlined thematically according to Christ. For example, let me give you an outline with Christ's theme. In chapter one, there is clearly a depiction of a vision of Christ.

And I actually challenge you, and we're going to do a little bit later, to periodically read that, because whatever we get thrown in terms of a picture, a visualization of Christ, I'm pretty sure it's not this, right? Like if you were to just answer the question of, "Okay, word association, Jesus," and then the first image that pops up in your head, it's not this.

It's typically like a very soft, long-haired, beautiful man with like perfect beard. You know what I mean? Like that's what you would think. So chapter one, vision of Christ. Chapter two to four, Christ's authority over the church. I mean, the description that you see in chapters two, three, and four, He's enthroned.

He's standing in the middle amongst the lampstands, and He's commanding the church, saying, "Repent. I know your deeds. Do this. Do what you already know," right? And He speaks as one who has vast, vast authority. Next, chapter five through 19, all of it, okay, the huge chunk of it, you could actually summarize by saying it's Christ's authority to judge the world.

Christ's authority to judge the world. I mean, think about every worship scene, and then think about what John is saying. Like, "Oh, who," like Christ is crying, "Who is worthy?" and then everyone's worshiping, and they're crying out, "The Lamb is worthy. Glory to the Lamb." It's a depiction of how much authority He has over the entire created universe.

And then finally, chapter 20 to 22, Christ's future reign, okay? Christ's future reign. So as we think about the thematics of the book, I mean, we cannot escape the fact that this is truly a revelation of Christ's glory. The whole book is chock full of His power, His wisdom, His reign, His justice, you know, like everything pertaining to the majesty of Jesus Christ.

I actually have in your handout a little ongoing list, right? If you look at your handout, there's this long list of various depictions and descriptions of Jesus. And we're not going to go through every single one, but just like, you know, just kind of scanning down to some of those, it's quite profound how vastly in so many angles and attributes of Christ, the book of Revelation reveals to us about who He is, right?

So going down again, the faithful witness, the firstborn, the ruler over kings of the earth, the Son of Man, the first and the last, the living one, right? And we can just go on and on, and the rest of the book will have more depictions of Jesus Christ. So there's a sense to which I am so glad that we were studying the book of Revelation, because if we really want to know Jesus as He is, then we should be studying the book of Revelation, right?

If we really want to see and like perceive of Him as He actually is in reality, especially now, then we better be studying the book of Revelation, okay? So here's an interesting question that I want to ask you, okay? How do you think you will react when you finally see Jesus face to face?

So take a moment to think about that, okay? You could even close your eyes if you want to, okay? And you start to picture it and fantasize. You know, I definitely feel like the end is coming close, right? And Jesus appears in the sky, coming down with His host.

How would you react? Would you have the like, "Yes!" You know, He says, "Run to Him! I love you!" You know? Or would you just be like stunned and awe and shock, and you just like, "Gasp!" You know? Or would you be running scared, I don't know, bowing on the floor?

Like how would you picture yourself reacting and responding to your first actual physical vision of Christ? Where we're no longer seeing in faith, but we're seeing Him with our eyes. Take a moment to envision that. Well, as you envision that, I want to read some passages about Christ. So just flip along with, together, and this will be our form of review by reading several passages together, okay?

Or yeah. So starting from chapter 1, verse 5. Okay, chapter 1, verse 5. Okay, got my paper here. In chapter 1, verse 5, it says, "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to Him who loves us and released us from our sin by His blood." And in chapter 1, verse 8, it says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Okay?

So already, there are revelation of certain titles, certain elements of who He is. And then starting from verse 12 is where we see the vision of Christ. So let's turn our eyes there, and I'll restart reading for us. It says, "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me.

And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed in a robe, reaching to the feet and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like wool, like snow, and His eye was a flame of fire.

His feet were like burnished bronze when it had been made to glow in a furnace. And His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand, He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. And His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man." Let's take a moment to just pause right there, okay? So clearly, clearly, Christ is one who would embrace those who love Him. Christ is one who would pour out and lavish with His unending love, yes? Christ is one who would sacrifice Himself so He's seen as the slain Lamb, humble and meek, yes?

Okay. But when John turns around and he like, you know, captures a glimpse, this vision of Christ, his immediate reaction, his immediate reaction is he is so in terror, he falls to the ground and he describes himself as a dead man. But I want you to think about for that moment, just for a moment, like in context, who is it that is writing this?

It's John. Do you recall that John was called the beloved disciple? Do you recall that when John walked with Jesus, John would recline and he would like lean on Him? He would be so close and intimate, he would actually like as they're reclining at the table, he would be like in arms with Him?

This was the beloved disciple. And yet his reaction to seeing Christ, man, I mean he was completely, completely shocked, right? So here's the interesting question. I mean, this is how profound and deep Christ is because the book of Revelation paints this picture like you see Him as the Lion and the Lamb.

So what's very interesting about this is the question being is, well, do we have a then balanced view of Jesus now? Is our view of Christ primarily and first and foremost loving, comforting, embracing? Or does our vision of Christ actually involve this as well? And here's an interesting question too is, do you typically, do you typically have this vision of Christ only for the future?

You do realize John experienced this vision in the past, so is this vision of Jesus accurate in the past, present now, or the future? You see what I'm asking? Like this was written 2,000 years ago and Christ is the same. Today, today, and tomorrow. There is an element to which like even Christ in His earthly form, do you realize that even demons when they first caught a glimpse of Christ walking the earth, do you know what demons would do?

They would shudder. Demons would beg for mercy. Demons would ask Him, "Don't do this now, don't do this now." So again, it really radically transformed if we have again been maybe given, given a picture of Christ that is entirely lopsided, where it's like altogether plush, you know? We really have to answer the question, is this picture that John experiences, is this long, long time ago only?

Is this long, long in the future only? Or is this actually an accurate picture of Christ now? And that should radically kind of affect us in terms of the way we think and behave towards Christ. Well, let's continue on. I pause like right in the middle of it. It says, "And He placed His right hand on me saying, 'Do not be afraid.

I am the first and the last and the living one. And I was dead and behold, I am alive forever. And I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore, write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after these things.

As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lamps are the seven lampstands are the seven churches.'" Okay? So I love the fact that Christ again is seen as so entirely powerful and yet He reaches out His hand and says, "Do not be afraid." Okay?

Let's turn also to chapter 4 verse 8. Chapter 4 verse 8. Let's read the passage here. Please follow along as I read. Chapter 4 verse 8, it says, "And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. And day and night they do not cease to say, 'Holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and is and who is to come.' And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast down their crowns before the throne saying, 'Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory, honor, and power.

For you created all things and because of your will they existed and were created.' Saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, might and honor and glory and blessing. And every created thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them, I heard saying, 'To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing, honor, and glory and dominion forever and ever.' And the four living creatures kept saying, 'Amen.' And the elders fell down and worshipped." Okay?

In review of, you know, in review of the chapters that we've been studying, I find this to be truly so convicting. There is a sense to which, you know, Pastor Peter, I recall when he was preaching through this passage, I remember him saying, "If the glory of Christ in this fashion is not attractive to you, Christianity has very little to offer you." You guys remember that?

When he was saying, "If this worship of God is not enticing, is not satisfying your desire, is not an ambition for you, Christianity as a whole would really be a mood point for you." Right? Because truly in terms of the worth, the value of all that we're doing, where is it contained?

It's contained in the glory of Christ. And so that whole worship scene where all things just as it is given to God the Father in both glory, honor, and worship is given to the Lamb who was slain, to us, to us. I pray and hope that would be the most satisfying thing.

Amen? When we think about our Christian endeavor, when we think about our Christian involvement, when we think about what am I doing as a Christian in this life, the most satisfying thing would be to experience and see the glory of Christ. The most satisfying thing would be then also be used by God to honor Him more, to give more thanks to Him, to give more glory to our Savior.

So by way of application, I want to ask again, how do you picture Jesus specifically today? Right? Specifically today? Are we thinking about Jesus Christ in one lopsided facet or are we thinking about Him holistically? What's more, are we thinking about Him with the kind of majesty, splendor, and reverential fashion that is dictated by who He is in Revelation?

Here's another way of asking that question. Just by way of like, again, taking a quick moment to do a self-evaluation. What would your best friends who know you, what would your parents, what would your brother, what would your sister, whoever lives with you and sees you all the time, what would they deduce about your view of Christ?

Right? What would people deduce about your view of Christ? By how you speak to Him, how you treat Him, how you respond to His commandments? See, for me, it has been my own personal conviction. Like, going through the book of Revelations, like I was really, really just wowed as I did some self-examination.

I really felt like I only pictured Christ in this fashion way in the distant future. You know what I mean? Like, only in that time when He comes, He's going to be like, "Bada!" You know? And then show Himself to be that powerful, show Himself to be that glorious.

But it didn't, like, it just blew my mind and it didn't strike me that that's His picture now. If there is a more accurate way to view Him, He is not dressed with the waiter's, you know, the apron and all that kind of stuff now. Rather, He is this glorious Christ receiving worship, and that's the way we ought to picture Him now.

Okay? So later on in your discussion time, please, I know some of these questions can be kind of like, I don't know, it's a big question, like, "How do you view Jesus?" I mean, that's a huge question, but take a moment to examine your heart and share what your personal thoughts about that question are in your discussion groups, okay?

Alright. So then, the next major theme, obviously, okay, obviously is judgment. The vast, you know, chunk of real estate in the book of Revelation is about judgment. And I found this picture of a man who is really, really scared, okay? Really, really scared. Because again, the whole book can be summarized and outlined by way of the thematics of judgment, okay?

Let me go through this outline with you. Chapters 1 through 3, you can think of as warnings of the judgment to come, right? Warnings of the judgment. And what's appropriate for us now is actually that. You know, I want to challenge you, just take a moment, quick application, okay?

Going from just that to application, really quick. I have been challenged about the methodology I use to evangelize. Because there has been methodologies, and I have been taught many strategies of how to get to the truth of the gospel when I share the gospel with an unbeliever. I had yellow packets called the four spiritual laws, the four keys, I used Romans Road, I used lots of different things, and that's good.

That's very good, okay? But thinking about what's really relevant, think about what actually makes a lot of sense, is actually warning people. Warning people of the consequences that our faith in Christ or our rejection of that faith has dire consequences, right? We absolutely live in a generation where all these like young people expect to try this, test that, go about their own way, you know, learn by trial by error, but experience no consequences.

But it is actually good, realistic, and appropriate to warn individuals. What you do with your life now, what you choose to believe has immediate and eternal and weighty consequences, right? So I think about that even in terms of the way I share the gospel. Do I ever share the gospel where I challenge individuals like, you know, the way Christ would even as He appeared on scene, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

I mean, think about what that means. Would He do it the same way when I preached on Sunday in John chapter 11, where He has an opportunity to teach all these individuals, thousands of individuals, and the first thing He wants to say is, "You need to be ready. You need to be ready.

Do you have oil? Are you dressed?" And I think that's something that, again, we can be challenged with in the way that we communicate truth as well. Next part of the outline, chapter 4 through 5, okay? In chapter 4 through 5, there is, again, the release of the judgment, the vision of – let me see what I wrote.

Okay, here. It's a little bit long. The vision of Jesus who has authority to open the seal or open the judgment, right? Because He has the right to the deed, meaning He has the right to the earth. He has a right to judge it as well. And then going down, these are all review, okay?

And this is by way of review for you. Chapter 6 is the first sequence of the seal – oh, sorry. Yeah, chapter 6 is a seal judgment. Chapter 7 is those individuals who are saved out of judgment. So if you actually read chapter 7 carefully, it'll say the great multitudes, but it'll say the great multitudes out of the tribulation, okay?

Out of the tribulation. So it's still in relationship to the judgment. Chapter 8 through 9, the transition from seal judgments to the trumpet judgments, okay? Transition from the seal judgments to the trumpet judgments. Here's another way also of seeing chapter 10 and 11. Chapter 10 and 11 actually is the 3.5 years of the tribulation judgment, okay?

The passage calls it the great tribulation judgment. And I want to take that opportunity of talking about the great tribulation judgment to highlight something about the judgment, okay? I think it's one thing for us to know like, "Yes, I believe in hell." It's another thing for us to be like, "Yes, I believe there's going to come a time when Christ will come and He's going to give – He's going to make people give an account for their lives," right?

But it's another thing to actually picture it, to have an – almost a preview experience with it. Do you know what I mean? It's one thing to know certain things like when you – for many of you who are in the medical field, you learn through the biology books of like, "Okay, this is how you do a dissection.

This is what the liver looks like. This is what the blood looks like," and yada, yada, yada. It's another thing to actually go to an operation and see blood, right? There was a small, small moment in my life when I thought that maybe I could go down that medical route.

And then I saw blood and I was like, "Blech," and I said, "No," right? The experience taught me very vividly the memory, the reaction that I have is entirely different when there is a vision of it, right? There's a vision of it. So that being said, we should give careful attention to the fact that in the telling, in the revelation of the visions of judgment to come, it's actually very descriptive.

And that's supposed to create an effect in us, right? That's supposed to move us. It's supposed to. If you feel emotional about the book of Revelations, good, right? Very good. If you feel a sense of fear, if you feel a sense of being like shaken by the book of Revelations, good.

That's the way it should be. So in reviewing the thematics of judgment in the book of Revelations, let's talk about the intensity and severity of the judgment. Let's go over to chapter 6, verses 12 through 17. Chapter 6, verses 12 through 17. Okay. So again, I'll take a moment to read for us.

Chapter 6, verse 12 through 17 says this, "I looked and when he broke the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair and the whole moon became like blood. And the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.

The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. When the kings of the earth, the great men and the commanders of the rich and the strong, and every slave and free man hid himself in the caves among the rocks of the mountains.

They said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of the wrath has come and who is able to stand?'" That's crazy to me, right?

I wasn't able to see the solar eclipse. People made a huge deal about it, but I was able to watch some of the subsequent newsreels. I went and watched YouTube of like certain scientists who watched and it was hilarious. They're like, "Oh, it's happening." And then all of a sudden this grown man's like, "Oh my gosh, I'm crying." And then they show like the land surrounding them, the people especially along that, you know, the line or whatever.

The land surrounding them just goes dark and then everyone's like, "Oh!" And you just hear people, you know. Just over a brief four or five minute experience of seeing an eclipse. But we're talking about the sky splitting apart and rolling like a scroll, mountains and islands moved out of their place.

And it's so scary that it doesn't even matter. It's saying it doesn't matter who you are, whether you felt like you were the bomb, whether you felt like you were, you know, powerful, rich and mighty, free or slave, you were in the cave hiding because you were so scared.

Imagine that. Imagine that, you know. Again it's so descriptive of the judgment to come. We should never just like glance over it. It's like, "Okay, there were the seals and then there were the trumpets," you know. So on top of the intensity and the severity of the judgment, there is also the extent, the extent of the judgment.

So turn your Bibles to chapter 9, verse 13 through 21. Okay. Chapter 9, verse 13 through 21. So here the passage says, "Then the sixth angel sounded. I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. One saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.' And the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day by month and year were released so that they would kill a third of mankind.

The number of the armies of the horsemen was 200 million. I heard the number of them and this is how I saw the vision of the horses who sat on them. The riders had breastplates the color of fire and," I don't know how to pronounce that, "siasynth and brimstone," sorry, "and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions and out of the mouths proceed fire, smoke, and brimstone.

A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by fire and smoke and brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails. For their tails are like serpents and have heads and with them they do harm." I just, you know, it's so unfathomable.

You know what I mean? Perhaps the greatest, you know, collection of people that we've seen in one place is maybe like a million people. I don't know. But just to imagine just the armies of the horsemen were 200 million and a third of the entire population. Earth's population, you know, is like 6.8 or something like that, billion or something, getting close to 7 billion.

But I just want you to imagine the extent, the extent of horror, the extent of judgment. It's truly unimaginable, right? Truly unimaginable. So as we take a moment to think about that, we can now kind of quickly turn to questions of application. You know, first assessing again our perception of the judgment to come.

If perhaps, if perhaps, we too have minimized consequences, so to speak. If we minimize, if we minimize the power of God in terms of His wrath, we should be weary. We should be weary. Why? Because Scripture makes it such a big deal for us to understand that for us who believe the first realistic vision we should have of God is one of fear.

That we ought to learn what it means to fear God and His power. When you look at all the Old Testament passages of the admonition for the people of God to learn how to fear God, it talks about God's creative power. It also talks about God's destructive power, right?

And so as we think about that, here's an interesting thing. We can immediately dismiss the kind of judgment that we see by saying, "Well, thank God we're safe," right? We could immediately dismiss all that we're reading in terms of the book of Revelation and say, "Well, thank God I'm on the right side." But the fact of the matter is, yes, we are not going to experience the wrath of God because Christ, Christ has already dealt with the wrath of God for us.

But everything we know of this world, everything we know of the world that we know is going to experience a kind of intense, severe, and great extensive punishment. And that's something in of itself to be fearful of. What's more, understanding and knowing that should cause a level of sobriety.

It should cause a level of all kinds of different amifications, which I'm going to ask you guys to discuss in your discussion groups. So here is a question I have for you, okay? Yes, for those of us who have the assurance of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, for those of us who have entrusted our lives into His gracious saving hands, does the knowledge of the judgment that is to come still play a role in our sanctification?

You know what I'm asking? Does an understanding of this pervasive, intense judgment that is to come still have a role in our sanctification as believers, right? Does it only stand as a dire warning for everyone who is unbelieving, or does it actually still stand as a means of sanctifying us as believers?

And if so, why? How? That's the question, okay? So those are some of the questions that I would like you guys to discuss in your discussion groups, but the last thing I want to challenge you with is with this, is the book of Revelation definitely is not like your typical New Testament letter, where it tells you you ought to be loving, you ought to sacrifice, you have to watch your words, you have to be diligent, and you have to be persevering, and all of these didactic teachings, right?

And what's more, I'm pretty sure that many of you have felt going through the book of Revelation is a sense of repetition, yes? It's like, okay, we've read about the judgment, and we read about this fiery testing, and we read about this purging that's going to happen, and it's going to repeat.

But what is that supposed to do to our hearts? Well, I want to reiterate, in all things, when we are approaching Scripture with this kind of theology and teaching of what's to come, we're supposed to grow in our understanding of how to fear God, right? You're supposed to grow in your understanding of how to fear God, because your fear of God is going to affect every single aspect of how you approach God and the things of God.

I talked about it on Sunday a bit, but I feel like this is such a huge, huge topic that we need to keep wrestling with for the rest of our lives. What does it mean to truly fear God as a Christian? And the fear of God is going to affect everything from, yes, our attitude of respect.

If we, let's say, have attitudes of maybe lack of appreciation, you know, where we're not as thankful as we ought to be, there's almost a question of do we really understand how to fear the Lord? Because an individual who genuinely knows how to fear God, who understands, yes, there is this devastating, terrifying, powerful, so incredibly powerful individual, yet he has touched my shoulder and said, "Do not fear.

You will be thankful." And when it comes to your attitudes of flippancy, well, the fear of God is going to teach you to be cautious. The fear of God is going to teach you to carefully do and to carefully obey. Whether it be even your lack of love and concern for others, your fear of God is going to teach you to do that as you wonder how people would fare against such a terrifying God.

Attitudes of urgency, attitudes of discernment, attitudes of how to make a decision that matters, all of this is contingent upon your fear of God. So by way of, again, concluding, I think if anything, if you're striving for any kind of like result and fruitfulness from the study of Revelations, really want to challenge as we kind of review chapters 1 through 11 and the beginning portions of the sequence of judgments that we have to be asking the question, "Am I learning and experiencing and seeing a greater aspect of the fear of my God who is so powerful?" Amen?

Okay. Well, let's take a moment to pray, and then we'll dismiss you guys to your small groups to have discussion. Heavenly Father, we want to begin by saying thank you that God, you have warned us. You have warned us, Father, of what your plans are. You have warned us, Father, of who you are.

And I ask God that just as the Scriptures and your Word advises us to do, I pray, Lord, that we would heed your Word and, God, that we would be desiring to be ready. Lord, I pray that you would give us discernment of wisdom so that first we'd be ready by preparing our hearts.

Lord, that we would be all the more challenged to examine our faith, to see if we really are in belief and trust of Christ, but what's more, eagerly anticipating your coming, Lord. I also pray, Father God, that all the things that we are learning would continue to make its impact in both the way that we think and view the world, but what's more, impact the way that we feel and relate to you.

I ask, Lord, that your Word would continue just to guide every aspect of who we are. We pray for a fruitful time of discussing with each other. I pray, Father God, that you would help us to examine our own hearts, be willing to share where we are in our faith, Lord.

We thank you, it's in Christ, and we pray, amen.