God, thank you so much. God, that you have kept us through spring break. So often we forget that you are our sustaining life, that every breath we take is a gift from you and indeed something that is to be treasured and considered precious. Father, we know our days are numbered and God, you give us each one.

And so tonight, would every moment that goes by be seized as an opportunity to worship you, yes, but in this specific method of going into your word and encountering who you are and what you're like in this book of Revelation. So God, help us through a book like this.

Thank you, God, for the great message that's within it, that we as a church can turn our eyes urgently and even pleadingly to this world as we look to the coming of Christ to share this message to those who are in need of it and that it too would sober us, taking our eyes off of the things that might entrap us and ensnare us.

And Father, that we would learn what it means and what it looks like to lay aside every weight and every sin which clings so closely and that we would begin to run this race with endurance. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Okay, so if you could turn with me to Revelation chapter 11.

And if you were not here with us last week, because I know a lot of you weren't able to because of spring break, or not last week, two weeks ago, we made a decision to go ahead and go through this one chapter at a time. So meaning we probably won't be able to finish this book by the end of this quarter.

I'm not sure if we're going to be going through it over the summer, probably not. But what that does mean is you get kind of a head start now into a study of Revelation yourself. So you could be studying it even if we don't finish on your own. That'd be kind of a cool thing to do as well.

I do encourage you guys, if you do have time, come early to grab one of those sheets and study through the text beforehand. Here's a secondary reason for that, so that you can kind of get here on time too. I know that's hard. I know it's not easy to do that.

So if you guys are able to come a little bit early and kind of study through the text together, even pray together, and then come down and prepare your hearts for worship, I think it would benefit greatly for many of us. Revelation 11 is where we're at, but let's review first.

If you look at that box up above, chapter 1, remember we saw John and the Son of Man, the Son of Man who we know to be the risen Christ. He comes and he begins to speak to John and says, "Write down all these things that I'm saying to you and then deliver this message to the seven churches." And that's what we see in chapters 2 and 3, the seven churches.

And then from chapters 4 through 7, we see a vision in heaven. We see the great throne room. We see everything worshiping God, everyone worshiping God there in that throne room. And then all eyes turn their attentions to this Jesus who is described as the slain lamb. And he's given this scroll that all of heaven is hoping would be opened.

And only Jesus, only the slain lamb is able to open up this scroll that is the title or the deed to the earth, that God might redeem the earth once it's opened. And with the opening of every seal, we saw God's wrath poured down upon the earth. Then when seal 7 was opened, we heard silence and then we see these trumpets begin to blow.

We went through the first six trumpets and then two weeks ago, we went into that interlude. So today what we're going to be doing is going into this second part of the interlude into the seventh and final trumpets. So just to give you a snapshot of the future as well, what we see, a lot of the action is going to center around three sets of seven.

So there's the seven seals, seven trumpets, and then the seven bowls. What you see in between are interludes and things happening. There are kind of breaks in the action to describe whether it be in the future or in the past, things that have happened or are going to happen.

And then it continues the narrative of how it all unravels. So that's it. If you look down at chapter 11, verse 1, we'll read from verse 1 through 3. It says, "Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and I was told, 'Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there.

But do not measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out for it is given over to the nations and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth." So in verse 1 there, we see we're introduced to this thing called the measuring rod.

And then this is what's told to him. "Take this measuring rod and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there." So for those of you who are able to kind of take a look at this, the big question is, what is that? What is this measuring rod and why are we doing it?

Or why is he being called to measure the temple? If you look at that first bullet point, a measuring rod was usually a hollow reed-like plant light enough to be used to measure. So if you guys have ever had like one of those sticks that are hollow inside and it's like almost like a bamboo type thing, very light.

And so this was something used during this time, very ideal for measuring anything. And many times buildings would need to be measured and so they would use these reeds. And so that's what this is. God asked John to measure the temple. So here's a question built in for you guys.

You guys can turn to your neighbor and ask this of each other. Why do you think God asked John to measure the temple? Make your best guess at this with your neighbor. (chairs clacking) (audience chattering) (chairs clacking) (audience laughing) (audience chattering) (audience laughing) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience laughing) It's tough, here's a hint.

Think about what the temple is for, and like why, yeah. Sorry, go ahead. Are you guys done? Did I just cut it? Okay. So let's talk about that a little bit. The next bullet point down there. The temple and altar were seen as a presence of God with Israel.

So to measure them was to measure the standard by which God would dwell with his people. There were terms to his presence. God would not dwell with people who did not measure up to his law. And so the temple was the very means by which God would dwell with his people.

Remember what would happen if you think back to the top of the mountain when Moses, during the time of Moses, there'd be crazy things going on as God descended upon the mountain, and it says that if anybody touches the mountain, what happens to them? They die. If they touch the mountain, they die.

That's weird, right? But you touch it, and you're gone. Why? Because the very presence of God is that great. That is the biggest problem of humanity, that God's presence has to be removed from humanity. If his presence is not removed from humanity, what happens to sinful people before a holy God?

You're obliterated. You're annihilated. And so the temple was almost God's redeeming solution as to how he would bring his presence to people because God's presence is the only means to life itself. And so this temple was given to them. Now, if the temple and the altar within it, which was a special part of it, was this understanding of the presence of God with Israel, to measure it was to make sure that it needs to be done exactly the way God dictates it to be done.

So for a little bit more clues as to what we're looking at here, if you could turn in your Bibles with me to Ezekiel chapter 43. Ezekiel chapter 43. Ezekiel 43. Ezekiel 43. All right, and it says in 43 verse six, "While the man was standing beside me, "I heard one speaking to me out of the temple.

"And he said to me, 'Son of man, "'this is the place of my throne "'and the place of the soles of my feet "'where I will dwell in the midst "'of the people of Israel forever.' "And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, "neither they nor their kings, "by their whoring and by the dead bodies of their kings "at their high places.

"By setting their threshold by my threshold "and their doorpost beside my doorpost, "with only a wall between me and them, "they have defiled my holy name "by their abominations that they have committed, "so I have consumed them in my anger. "Now let them put away their whoring "and the dead bodies of their kings far from me, "and I will dwell in their midst forever.'" Verse 10, "As for you, son of man, "describe to the house of Israel, the temple, "that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, "and they shall measure the plan.

"And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, "make known to them the design of the temple, "its arrangements, its exits and its entrances, "that is, its whole design, "and make known to them as well all its statutes "and its whole design and all its laws, "and write it down in their sight "so that they may observe all its laws "and all its statutes and carry them out.

"This is the law of the temple. "The whole territory on the top of the mountain "all around shall be most holy. "Behold, this is the law of the temple." Now, if you guys can just scan through the remaining chapters in Ezekiel after that, chapter 43, 44, look at some of the headings, 45, 46, all the way through 47, what you're gonna be seeing is very specific measurements of the temple and everything that goes along with the temple.

Why? Because this is the way God's presence is going to come to his people. And so you need to come very carefully before the presence of God. There are a few things that kinda go along with this. What that means is that there are standards to access his presence.

There are people, even during this time in Ezekiel, he's saying that these people are not doing it the way they're supposed to be doing it. He's saying, "They're living right next door to me, "and because they're living in this abomination-like way, "he will destroy them." Now, I know we're New Testament people, and I know we are post-Christ in terms of what we saw on the cross in that gracious and loving and merciful work that Jesus did, and yet this is the exact same God that we serve.

That if these standards are set, and these are the standards by which we're called to go into the presence of God, then think about how are we, it says this in Hebrews chapter four, right, that we are now able to enter into the presence of God, into his throne room of grace, we're able to enter that.

Think about what must have been done, what was accomplished by this man named Jesus that we can now, through him, have access to God's presence. Now, I was at AA this past weekend, they asked me to preach on the Holy Spirit, and so I've been thinking about the Holy Spirit a lot, but that understanding that not only are we able to have access into the presence of God, but that the very presence of God himself is sealed into our hearts.

(silence) See, access to God is what gives life for people and for us. I think it brings another question to us. God is the one by which we receive life and access to life, but I think so many times we take it, we take it so flippantly, right? Yeah, we know we have God now, and so what inevitably happens is, we think because we have this and we can kind of live however we would want to live, that now we can go to some other things that this world would offer to give us life.

I think we go to the things of this world for life very, very often, and we seek it in different places. And what we see here in Revelation chapter 11, if you could go back to the original text, he says, "Rise and measure the temple of God "and the altar and those who worship there." In verse two it says, "But do not measure the court outside the temple.

"Leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, "and they will trample the holy city for 42 months." So we're seeing something interesting here, that God's presence comes, and he's saying that the only way that you're going to be able to have my presence forevermore is by doing this correctly.

And Israel hasn't done it correctly, neither has the world, right? The world has not been abiding by the law of God. And so what we're seeing out through Revelation is the wrath poured out against lawbreakers. And so what he's trying to do in redeeming the earth as he opened up every seal, as he's been trying to bring redemption to the earth, he is making a way for the earth to look the way he calls it to be.

And actually there is going to be a time where the new Jerusalem is going to be brought. That's the next bullet point there. We see in Revelation chapter 21, verse 15 through 17, that a measurement would be taken again at the end, at the end, at the new Jerusalem.

And it says this in Revelation chapter 21, verse 15 through 17. And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold. That's an upgrade, right? From a reed-like thing to gold, to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies four square, its length the same as its width.

And he measured the city with this rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. We'll talk about that more if we ever get there, which we probably won't, so we won't talk about it.

But whatever the case, God is bringing the world into a place where everything is going to fall under his standard. Everything is gonna be brought to completion. Everything is gonna be brought to perfection. Every person is going to fall in line with that. And there's this understanding that every tongue is going to confess Christ as Lord.

It doesn't matter in heaven and also in hell. Everyone is gonna know that Christ is Lord. And we're gonna see a little bit of that later on in Revelation as well, that there are people who are proclaiming God and his glory, even though they haven't repented and brought a submissive heart before him.

So the next bullet point down there, John is told not to measure the court outside the temple, which is the court of the Gentiles. This describes the fact that unbelievers will trample on a true worship of God. God will continue to keep Israel under his protection. I think we see a glimpse of this in today's world, that the world is trampling on the law of God, right?

The standards that God has set. Man, we are so good. Society has been so good at trampling on it and saying, you know, God, not by your standards, not by your law, not by your word, but what we set as good and evil. We see it in the homosexual agenda.

We see it on the attack against marriage. We see it in all these different places of government and things that are being brought to light now about what we think is right or wrong. When we went on campus evangelism a few weeks ago, you know, Brandon, Brandon and I, I don't know if Brandon's here, but Brandon and I, we went out and we were talking to this person who believed in no absolute truth.

And we've talked to people like that before. They don't believe in absolute truth. And as we're talking, you know, you realize, so what this guy was saying was, you know, like I'm a Catholic and I believe in God, but if people don't believe in God, then yeah, for them, God doesn't exist.

And I was like, so you're saying that you can believe that God doesn't exist and that'll make him not exist. I said, I said like, so if I were not a Christian, if I were like a Hindu and I was coming to you and I said that your God doesn't exist, you'll say, yeah, you're right, meaning that you're wrong.

And he would say, yeah, but in me, I'm right. And, you know, I was thinking, how does someone get to a point where you start talking in circles like that? And yet this is deeply rooted into the way, not only the world thinks, but even some of how we think.

What is right, what is wrong, how we set the standards that we say, yes, this, but we're actually saying something completely different. And in that, we're changing the measurements of this temple. We're changing the law and the standards by which God would say, this is how you receive life.

This is how you receive my presence. This is how you receive my presence. This is how you receive my presence. Law, standards, this book that we have in front of us and everything, the parameters by which it bounds us in is God's grace on us, that we might know what is good, what is evil.

Before I became a believer, I thought that the law was the most restricting thing. It was so many rules, that was so, it was such a killjoy. Okay, it says all these things that I have to do. And yet, once I became a believer, the law became so sweet to me.

It gives us parameters. It's clear communication as to what God is saying. This is who I am. And this is how you enter into my house. I don't touch hair dryers. That's my son, he just turned a year, or he's almost a year. He's a year tomorrow. Yes, everybody turns a year at one point in time in life.

So he's a year soon, and then one of the things we don't let him do is a hair dryer that's kind of near to the ground because there's like this little slot for it. And we taught him not to touch it. But you know, what if Hudson was going after this hair dryer and we had never told him that it was off limits, that we had never done that, right?

And then with Hudson, anytime he touches something dangerous, we give this tiny little flick on the hand and he doesn't like it, right? It doesn't hurt at all, it just hurts his heart. So like, we do that little flick like that. But let's say that he, I never told him about the hair dryer.

I never said it was off limits. And he crawls towards it and he puts his hand on it and I flick his hand, I say, "No!" That's messed up of me, right? But it is in my goodness and my grace to Hudson to say, "Before he touches it, don't touch that." You touch that, you could pull on it, you could get electrocuted, you could do some dangerous things when you nod and he nods on everything.

And then so if he touches it again, then it's like, I said, "No!" Don't do that, you're gonna get hurt. And that's how you learn. And that's what standards and laws are given to us for. And when you see the perfection that we are called to, that we cannot be even an inch off of these measurements, that we cannot even mess up a teeny little bit, that we begin to see the gravity as to what Christ did for us on the cross.

What it means that a perfect man died on the cross for our sin so that we might have access to the presence of God. So I love John 1:14 that talks about Jesus, this word who became flesh and he pitched a tent among us, he tabernacled among us, that the presence of God might be with us.

And so we're introduced to these two witnesses. We'll get to some of these numbers, by the way. But in verse three it says, "And I will grant authority to my witnesses, "and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, "clothed in sackcloth. "These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands "that stand before the Lord of the earth." Verse five, "And if anyone would harm them, "fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes.

"If anyone would harm them, "this is how he is doomed to be killed." So there's these two guys that kind of appear, really amazing people. This is kind of, they're like crazy people. And these people are sent to witness to a world that is trampling upon the law of God.

And so what we saw, that the court of the Gentiles, well it was a place that God allowed to be trampled. And he kept the court of the Jews, the middle part of the temple, unfaced. That he was protecting Israel in a sense. And that the world is coming closer and closer into this attack of a true worship of God.

And we're gonna talk a little bit more about that, but these two witnesses appear in this manner. And as they're described as two olive trees and two lampstands, let's describe what those mean. Lampstands are lights that will proclaim truth. And olive trees are the source of oil by which lampstands are lit.

Next bullet point there. Since they are both the lampstand and the olive tree, it shows that there is a constant flow of oil to the lampstand. Their power comes directly from God. (pages rustling) These guys are prophesying. It says that in verse three. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

Now here's a question for you guys to turn to a neighbor and ask each other this question. What does it mean to prophesy? So go ahead and have a conversation about that. Don't look. (audience laughing) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) All right, so prophesying answers right there.

To speak forth, to proclaim, or to preach it is not primarily used to describe a foretelling of future events. That might happen, and that has happened if you look in the Old Testament and you see these prophets and things like that. However, their job is to be the mouthpiece of God, saying the words of God to a generation of people who need to hear it.

And these two witnesses are prophesying. And their clothed in sackcloth. Sackcloth, that's the next bullet point down, is mourning and distress. That's when people would wear it. Mourning and distress. And I have some passages there. You can look on your own if you wanna see some examples of that.

These times where a lot of these prophets even will come in sackcloths and pour out this mourning, lamenting type of prophecy of God, that God is saying that you are going to be extinguished if you do not follow my commands, my laws. If you do not stop going after idols.

And extinguishing, that we always see with that, that God is saying that I am going to be faithful to preserve you even in the midst of that. So these guys are doing that, these two men. And they're doing it for 42 months. So note that number there. Note the number, 42 months in chapter 11 verse two with the numbers given in chapter 11 verse three, chapter 12 verse six, chapter 12 verse 14, and chapter 13 verse five.

What I'm gonna ask you to do is to kinda look at those passages on your own right now if you can. But just note the numbers. Chapter 11 verse two with the 11 three, 12 six, 12 14, and 13 five. (throat clearing) (throat clearing) (throat clearing) So all of these numbers, if you haven't caught on, is actually the same number.

So in chapter 11 verse two, 42 months, what is that? How many years is that? Three and a half years, right? 12 times three is 36, plus six. So that's three and a half years. If you look at chapter 11 verse three, 1,260 days. If you divide that by 30, do you know how many you get?

Math majors, 42. 30 days, huh, no, am I wrong? It is, right? 1,260 days divided by 30 is 42, 42 months. And then if you look at chapter 12 verse six, what number is given there? It's 1,260 days again. And chapter 12 verse 14, we see it for time and times and half a time.

That's directly taken from the book of Daniel. But that is, a time is a year. Times is two year, and half a time is half a year. One plus two plus half is three and a half. Okay, cool. And then chapter 13 verse five, you see 42 months yet again.

This number, if you look at that bullet point down, correlates with the last half of a seven year tribulation called the Great Tribulation. Now the seven year tribulation time is something we've already been seeing the first half of. And the second half is going to be called the Great Tribulation.

Okay, so the whole thing is a tribulation, but the second half is just even worse. And God will continue, here are the blanks, preserving Israel until he fulfills his promises to them. That's what's happening in chapter 11 with these two witnesses who are coming in the midst of a world that is trampling, trampling the world.

They have come, and if you could think about the presence of God, if it's found in the holy city of Jerusalem, like everything is starting to get, it's shrinking in on them, right? Like the world has become so evil to the point that God is preserving just the center point of the temple.

That the whole city of Jerusalem to the center point of the temple has now been trampled over by the Gentiles. And that God is preserving them. Now the next bullet point down, if you look at verses four through six, we see some of the power that these two witnesses have.

Listen to this, in verse five it says, if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they desire.

The identity of two witnesses is up for speculation, however, a good guess might be that this is describing two Moses and Elijah-like figures. And we're not gonna go too deeply into trying to figure out the identity of these people or are they gonna be actual, like these two actual people and all this kind of stuff.

We're not gonna talk about that today. However, we do know they do mimic Moses and Elijah very similarly. Bullet point in everything there. They would destroy enemies with fire, we saw that with Elijah. Withhold rain, Elijah did that. Turn water into blood, Moses did that. Strike the earth with plagues, Moses was there with that.

These were all judgments inflicted upon hard hearts in the Old Testament to enact the justice of God and discipline to repentance. These were two individuals who also appeared in the transfiguration. If you remember that moment where Peter and John and James are taken and Jesus says, "Wait here," and they go and they see Moses and Elijah come.

And this is speculation, and it's quite a big speculation, but I just thought it was interesting. Could they possibly represent the law and the prophets? Now, some people think that maybe Enoch could be one of these men, an Enoch-like figure. There are some others, but I personally thought that Moses and Elijah were the most likely figures.

So these men are here, and they are prophesying, and they are preaching, and they are showing the wrath of God upon this world. They are saying, "Constantly repent." They are saying constantly who God is. And as they're doing that, people are trying to get at them, to kill them, and God's wrath is unleashed upon people because they can't kill them.

People can't kill these two men. Instead, they are dying. And you'll see that a lot in Scripture. You're gonna see power of God. You're gonna see it with both Elijah and Moses, but you'll also see it all through the Gospels. Every time Jesus performs a miracle, right around it, you're going to see that Jesus was teaching and preaching.

Every time these acts and powerful works, miracles and things that were happening with healings and these kinds of things was always accompanied to show the power by which these words are spoken. It was proof and evidence of the power of the words. So God is doing that here through these two witnesses.

Now in the middle of this, the beast comes out. Look down at verse seven. It says, "And when they have finished their testimony, "the beast that rises from the bottomless pit "will make war on them and conquer them and kill them. "And their dead bodies will lie in the street "of the great city that symbolically "is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified." Now this beast, we have to try to figure out who this is.

This is probably not Satan for two reasons. Number one, Satan is described as a fallen star and a dragon in Revelation. Chapter nine, verse one, we see the star. Chapter 12, verse three, we see the dragon. And number two, Satan is given the key to the bottomless pit from the outside, but this beast comes from the pit itself.

So to answer it quickly is, he is the Antichrist, as described in Revelation chapter 13, verse one through 10. A world ruler empowered by Satan. So we're gonna get to him later on in chapter 13. Now if you could turn with me to 1 John 2, verse 18. Let's talk a little bit about this Antichrist.

1 John, it's just a couple books before Revelation. 1 John 2, verse 18 through 22 is what we read. And it says, "There are children, it is the last hour. "And as you have heard that Antichrist is coming, "so now many Antichrists have come. "Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

"They went out from us, but they were not of us, "for if they had been of us, "they would have continued with us. "But they went out that it might become plain "that they all are not of us. "But you have been anointed by the Holy One, "and you all have knowledge.

"I write to you not because you do not know the truth, "but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth." Verse 22, "Who is the liar but he who denies "that Jesus is the Christ? "This is the Antichrist, "he who denies the Father and the Son." Interestingly, the person who wrote Revelation was the Apostle John.

Who wrote 1 John? It was the Apostle John. And so as he's describing this Antichrist, he's showing the spirit of the Antichrist, that the Antichrist is someone who would deny Jesus as the Messiah and say that there are other ways to salvation, that I am the Savior. The crazy thing about these Antichrists, and the spirit of the Antichrist exists even today.

We saw that in the earlier verses there, that that spirit can exist, that it can deny Jesus as the true Christ. Antichrists and false prophets come out from churches. They come out from people who claim to be religious and who may very well look godly and have forms of godliness.

This is a great danger, that it comes from supposed Christ followers. It's something we have to think about. You know, when we think about all of these different attacks upon the gospel and the church, that we are not exempt from this, that Berean, that we as a church, we're not exempt from attacks of false prophets, of Antichrist-like spirits, people who will say that Jesus is not enough, that his work was not enough, that we must do, people who will say the exact opposite, that says Jesus is everything, we just point to him and we don't need to do anything.

We see it in the prosperity gospel, that says these false things, that ultimately salvation is not from anything more than the bad things that this world might throw at us. There's a lot of things that can kind of go with this, spirit of the Antichrist. We see that in 2 Timothy 3, verse one through five.

You don't have to turn there. 2 Timothy 3, verse one through five, it says, about godlessness in the last days. It says, "But understand this, that in the last days, "there will come times of difficulty, "for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, "proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to the parents, "ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, "slanderous, without self-control, brutal, "not loving good, treacherous, reckless, "swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure "rather than lovers of God." Listen to this.

All of that sounds so terrible, right? But listen to verse five. "Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power." And it says, "Avoid such people." It continues in chapter four, verse three to four. Listen to this. "For the time is coming when people "will not endure sound teaching, "but having itching ears, they will accumulate "for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, "and will turn away from listening to the truth "and wander off into myths." Now if you go to Revelation chapter 11, and you see this beast that kind of comes out from this bottomless pit, it says that he's gonna make war on these two witnesses and conquer them and kill them.

These two witnesses are people who are speaking the truth of God. And here comes this antichrist, who comes and says the exact opposite in deceptive ways. He is going to look extremely attractive, even to very, very religious people. And we need to learn as a church to beware of this.

That's why we need to know our doctrine. That's why we need to understand what we believe. That's why you need to know scripture. Not just the basics of like, you know, like I think somewhere in the Bible it says something about, you know, stealing is wrong. But really understanding where and why we believe these things.

That we need to be, if you want to be able to fight off the attacks, the false prophets, the antichrist spirits against the church, you need to be very sharp in these things. And so pursue that on your own. Don't let it become a daily exercise of just reading a text and thinking like, I'm gonna take out one application.

But dive deeply into it and begin to dissect scripture and see what God would have to say to us. That we might be approved workmen. That we might know how to go, you know, if we go into evangelizing on campus or like a Jehovah's Witness comes to you. I know some people have said that, like, like I don't know what to say to them.

You know, they came and threw all this Bible at me and I was like, oh man, I was a little bit ashamed. But to really know these things, we need to be able to know the truth of God. And so what does this beast do? This beast kills them and it says that their bodies are left down in the street of the great city.

Now the next bullet point down there, the great city refers to Jerusalem, since that is where he was crucified. And the fact that Jerusalem is called Sodom in Egypt shows the extent of wickedness that has consumed the world. Jerusalem is the holy city. This is headquarters. (audience laughing) It's called Sodom.

If you know that story of Sodom and Gomorrah, terrible, wicked city in Egypt. This was a nation that was known for its heinous darkness and religious acts. (audience laughing) Next bullet point down there, the fact that they're left there for a few days before being resurrected shows something. They have been pouring out God's judgment message to the world, accompanied by miracles and terrors, yet people's hearts were still hardened.

Isn't it crazy that people can see the powerful work of God and still not believe in him? And as we've been talking, isn't it amazing that we ourselves have seen the power of God's work? We know who God is and how powerful he is, but our own hearts are prone to be the same way and it's hard-heartedness.

And so what God does in verse 11 and 12, if you look at the text, it says, but after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come up here.

And they went up to heaven in a cloud. And listen to this, this is just a funny sight, right? Their enemies were watching. Three and a half days, they were leaving their bodies out. And if you read carefully at this text, it says that they were exchanging presents with each other.

You know what they were doing? They made it into a holiday. And for all this time, these two witnesses were talking about God and everyone was like, oh, stop talking about this God. We don't want to hear. They're plugging their ears and gritting their teeth and saying, we don't want you.

And so they're trying to kill these guys and they're not dying. And so finally, when this beast comes out and kills them, first of all, the beast becomes this mythical person, right? Man, this is the person, he did it. He got to these guys. In three and a half days, they just leave him there celebrating the death of these two men.

And then they rise from the dead. And not only that, but the enemies are watching them float up into heaven just the way Jesus left and the way Jesus will return. It says after that in verse 13 to 14, "And at that hour, there was a great earthquake "and a tent of the city fell.

"7,000 people were killed in the earthquake "and the rest were terrified and gave glory "to the God of heaven." This is not to say, and this is one of your bullet points, that they repented. This is clear from the text. They simply gave glory to where it was due.

They had no choice. And that bullet point there is you can acknowledge God's power and might and yet stay unrepentant and rebellious. I was trying to think of examples of this. I don't know if you guys were into the whole Harry Potter series and stuff, but somewhere in that story, there's a guiding, there's this house elf.

And these house elves are like the servants of these wizards. This house elf's name is Creature. It's spelled like preacher with a K. And so he's there and then the old masters of the house are gone. This was an evil household. There were just bad wizards, there were dark wizards and things like that.

But there was a black sheep of the family. A black sheep of an evil family would be a good sheep. So there's a black sheep there. And because everybody else is gone and he's the only one remaining, this little house elf is like his servant. And he has to do whatever he says.

But it's so funny that this house elf is walking around and he has to do whatever this guy says, this wizard says. Wizard says, "Go clean that up." He has to go and clean it up. But everywhere he's going, he's muttering under his breath. "You filthy wizard, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Everything he does, he does it begrudgingly.

Everything he does, he's muttering under his breath and he's doing it hatefully. And it's such a funny picture. And yet I think it's a good picture of what a hard heart can look like when it sees and acknowledges God's power and might and yet stays unrepentant and rebellious. I have a friend who, it's so sad when I think about it, but he was extremely sexually active in college, extremely sexually active.

And he later on ended up getting married and committing adultery and then continued on in that kind of lifestyle. And as he was living like that, because of his lifestyle, he contracted AIDS and he lost everything. Like he's estranged, not just from his ex-wife, but his kids who he loved a lot because of his lifestyle.

And what's crazy is, the last time I talked to him about six years ago, he was saying like, "You know, "I think God is doing this to teach me a lesson." And then he said, he was like saying like, "Yeah, God is definitely, "it's so clear that God is showing me all these things." And he said something so striking at the end of our conversation.

He said, "I hate God." And it's this understanding, I think this is the type of people that we're seeing here in verse 13. That people see and are terrified and they gave glory to the God of heaven and yet their hearts remain unrepentant and unsubmissive to God. Now verse 14 at the bottom, before we get into the seventh trumpet, the second woe has passed, behold the third woe is soon to come.

If you remember the first woe was, the first two woes, wait, hold on. The second woe has passed, behold the third woe is soon to come. It was trumpets five and six. Okay, those were the first two woes. And remember, there are three woes. And so everything that's gonna happen with the unleashing of the seventh trumpet, namely the seven bowls of wrath that are gonna be taken out in a few chapters, that is the seventh woe that we're seeing here.

So two, trumpet number seven. And this part goes fast. Trumpet number seven, it says in verse 15, then the seventh angel blew his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.

And the 24 elders who sits on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God. Now what happens here, the kingdom of the world, it says, has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. That means that God reclaims his world. God reclaims the world.

And again, we see these elders worshiping and falling before the throne. Remember, that's all we saw in chapters four and five. It's happening again. And the next bullet point down, though there are many kingdoms in the world, they are described as being one kingdom. Isn't that interesting? So it's the kingdom of the world.

It should say the kingdoms of the world, right? But it says the kingdom, singular, showing that there might be many beliefs in this world. It could be Catholicism or atheism or Hinduism, but at the end, they are all of the same kingdom, rebellious against God. There are only two camps.

It's either God's kingdom or it's the kingdom of this world. And it says that kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. God reclaims the world. Third bullet point, has become. This is called a proleptic heiress. And we're not trying to just be intellectual here, but proleptic heiress is a really interesting, interesting grammatical choice here by John.

And this is a future event that is so certain that it can be spoken of as already having taken place. So heiress is past tense. Okay, sorry, I forgot to mention that. Heir is this past tense. So it's so strong. And basically what this means is that it's only a matter of time for this certain conclusion.

Emphasizing that this will happen. So strongly that's used in the past tense. Verse 17 and 18 says, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, "who is and who was, for you have taken your great power "and begun to reign. "The nations raged, but your wrath came, "and the time for the dead to be judged, "and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, "and those who fear your name, both small and great, "and for destroying the destroyers of the earth." The bullet point there is God reigns in his sovereignty today but the fullness of his reign is to come during this time.

Again, another proleptic heiress there. Your wrath came. Your wrath came. The dead will be judged. And it says two things. Servants will be rewarded, and enemies will be destroyed. Don't lose that, by the way, that fact that servants will be rewarded. That's gonna be happen. When people say like, "Your reward is in heaven," we always think about it as like, "Ah, that's a cop-out," you know, that kind of thing.

But totally, it's true. And trust me, if your rewards are stored in heaven, when you go up there and you see your rewards, you're gonna be like, "Oh my goodness. "That was awesome." I did that with my youth a lot, you know? Like, I would give them like hot Cheetos or like chocolate and things like that.

But sometimes I would forget to buy it. So I'd be like, "Don't worry, your reward's in heaven." They'd go, "Ah!" And we're like that. But it says here specifically, "Rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints." Be excited for that. It's not wrong to desire rewards of heaven. It's actually a very noble thing to pursue.

It is interesting that even though it seems like God was destroying the earth, it is actually humanity that is being accused of the earth's destruction. Did you see that at the end of verse 18? "Destroying the destroyers of the earth." God needs to destroy sinners in order to save the world.

You know, we think we need to save the world, right? Like socially, politically, economically, racially. And we think we're saving it by recycling and things like that. It's true, it's good stuff to do. But actually, we're being accused as being destroyers of the world, and only the gospel can save it.

Let's go to the last bullet point there. The seventh trumpet concludes again with lightning, rumblings, thunder, earthquakes, and hail. We see that in verse 19. And remember where that comes from. It's coming directly from the throne room of God, that God is reminding us again here where all of this stuff is coming from.

Because what we're gonna see coming up now is the worst of it. So we think everything is like so bad, but here we go. From here on forward, we're going to see some crazy stuff happening. But it's also going to be mixed with a lot more joy. Why? Because we're seeing a lot of victory happening.

God is beginning to show us the victory of the angels that we'll be seeing, of his kingdom that's gonna be descending. We're gonna be seeing so much of the fact that God is redeeming his people. I wanna remind us of that. I feel like we have to kind of go through Psalm 2 to end this, so can you turn with me to Psalm chapter 2?

Psalm chapter 2. And I know we weren't deeply able to go into that revelation, the song sung. But it reminded me of this Psalm. Psalm chapter 2, verse 1, it says, "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? "The kings of the earth set themselves, "and the rulers, they come together," it says, "they take counsel together "against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart "and cast away their courts from us." The world, you see this?

It's like these little ants getting together and saying, like pip squeaks, right? Pip squeaks, speaking up at God, saying, "Hey, let's all get together and try to take him down." Verse 4, "He who sits in the heavens laughs. "The Lord holds them in derision. "Then he will speak to them in his wrath "and terrify them in his fury, saying, "As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.

"I will tell of the decree the Lord said to me, "You are my son, today I have begotten you." He's talking to Christ here. "Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage "and the ends of the earth your possession." You see this, the reclamation of the earth.

"You shall break them with a rod of iron, "dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel." You see the wrath of God happening here. Verse 10, "Now therefore, O kings, be wise. "Be warned, O rulers of the earth. "Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. "Kiss the Son lest he be angry and you perish in the way, "for his wrath is quickly kindled.

"Blessed are all who take refuge in him." Let's remember what's happening here in Revelation. As the wrath of God is being unleashed upon the earth, that today again, God is showing that there is time for repentance and there is time for us now to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, to kiss the Son.

Not try to live our own lives the way we've called it to. And especially as believers, I hope that we don't mimic the world, that we don't say, "I'm going to live for myself," that God truly is our King. Let's take a moment to pray. Dear God, we thank you for this book of Revelation that continues to remind us, like a hammer, it's just nailing us down into this understanding, firmer and firmer in the coming judgment, in the wrath that you're gonna unleash upon this world.

And yet in the middle of that, Father, we cry, thank you. I cry, thank you to you that you have sent your Son as your grace and mercy upon this world, that whoever would call upon the name of the Lord would be saved. And that as this hammer is being nailed down in us, as we see our wrath, that constantly we would be looking to Christ on the cross and again and again, remembering the gravity of our sin and what was done on behalf of us.

And then our hearts and our eyes would turn to the throne and that we would fall down on our knees and worship, not only a wrathful and just God, but one who would rescue us by sending his very own Son to die for us. So thank you, Lord. Would our songs be songs of response, of worship towards you because of your power and your grace.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you.