Revelation 1 Verse by Verse Preaching

Revelation 1 Verse by Verse Preaching

Video

July 8, 2013

..trying to start something new, dear God, and please just bless us this year in 2007, dear God. Bless this new series on Wednesday night. And use it in the lives of your people in such an important subject, dear God. Please speak to every heart tonight and in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

All right. So we are starting a brand new book tonight, the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible. And I want to just give a few notes before begin and delve into this great chapter, chapter one of the book of Revelation. I want to tell you a little bit about what we are going to be learning. Now, when you are studying the book of Revelation, obviously we are dealing with 90% of this book is future events. And so because we are dealing with future events there are some things that people speculate about, some things that people guess about and have ideas about that are their opinions. Now the purpose of this study is similar to all the studies that we do on Wednesday night going through the Bible. We are not going to focus on what we don’t know. We will focus on what we do know. And so there is so much in the book of Revelation that is so clear and so obvious. This isn’t going to be about speculating about how this is going to play out in our world and what year it is going to happen and all these kinds of things. It is just going to be looking at what the Bible says. And the goal is that at the end of the series you have a mastery of the book of Revelation to where you understand the book of Revelation, you understand what each chapter is about. You understand the flow of the chronology. And so look, if you would, at the last verse one chapter one. This is still by way of introduction. But the Bible says, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand,”[1] Jesus Christ speaking of course, “and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”[2]

Now what I want to point out is that throughout the book of Revelation God doesn’t make you wonder what things mean. God doesn’t leave you in the dark about what things mean. He says here, “The mystery of the seven stars.” And then he says, “Let me tell you what they are. You know, the mystery of the seven golden candlesticks. Let me tell you exactly what the candlesticks are. They are seven churches.”

Now throughout the whole book of Revelation you will see this more than any other prophetic book in the Bible, all the Old Testament prophetic books. The book is explained as it goes. I mean God tells you, “This is what this means.” John is scratching his head in a few places in the book wondering what something means. Immediately someone comes and tells him what it means.

Now the only reason that people don’t understand the book of Revelation is because they are unwilling sometimes to accept the obvious truths that are put forth. And so they find a way to explain them away. They find a way to change and twist what it means. And they call it their interpretation. Whenever people talk about their interpretation it makes me nervous right away because the Bible says that the Word of God is not of any private interpretation.[3] It says, “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”[4] Every word in this Bible is exactly what God means. It is exactly what he wants it to say. And so you don’t need to interpret the Bible. Read the Bible. And take it literally for what it says.

And so the problem that people have understanding the book of Revelation is their unwillingness to take the book literally or their unwillingness to accept the obvious truths that are taught here.

Verse 20 of chapter one makes it very clear that God is not going to keep us in the dark throughout this book. He says, “It is a mystery, but it is not a mystery to you because I am telling you what it means. It is a mystery to people who are not privy to this information.”

Look at verse number three. He says, “Blessed is he that readeth.”[5] Revelation 1:3. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”[6] He says, “Blessed are you that read because you that read will understand the mystery of the seven stars. You will understand the mystery of the seven golden candlesticks. You will understand the great unfolding of events that is going to take place in the end of the world.”

And so that is what I want you to know right away is that this book is not as difficult to understand as people make it. It is very simple actually. And we will see that.

I want you to decide right now that you are going to try to be here for all 22 weeks of this series. I want you to really try and make a point to be here. This is so important and if you miss a week, obviously you can jump right back in. But you are missing a lot if you miss a week in this particular series especially. And so decide right now instead of maybe “Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy,”[7] blessed is he that comes on Wednesday night and hears this book preached, ok, because you are going to understand it. God has manifested his Word through preaching the Bible says,[8] in Titus 1:3.

And so let’s look at this and let’s begin right away. The Bible says in Revelation 1:1... And, by the way, chapters one, two and three are introductory. Ok. Chapter one gives us the scenario, the events. Chapters two and three are Jesus Christ’s exhortations for the seven main churches in Asia at that time. And then he gets into the events of the book of Revelation in chapter four.

But look at verse number one. The Bible reads, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:”[9]

Now what I love about the books that the apostle John wrote is that he always tells us what the purpose of the book is. In the book of John, for example, at the end of the book—and you don’t have to turn there. I will read this for you—at the end of John 20 the Bible reads in the final verse, “But these are written,”[10] talking about the things that are written in the book of John. “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”[11]

So in John 20:31 God says here that the purpose of the book of John—and this is the only book that really claims this—is so that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing you would have life through his name.

When you get to the book of 1 John he says, “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.[12] He says, “I am going to explain to you now that you are saved how to have fullness of joy in the Christian life.” And he explains that that is by walking in the light and not walking in the darkness because your fellowship with Jesus Christ is when you are walking in the light.

Well in the book of Revelation he says in verse one what the purpose of the book is. It is to show unto his servants those things which must shortly come to pass.[13]

So who is the book of Revelation primarily written to? Is it written to an unsaved world warning them of the doom and destruction that is coming? No. The primary purpose of the book of Revelation is written to God’s people, saved born again Christians to show unto them the things which must shortly come to pass so that they can be ready for these things when they do come to pass. That is the purpose of the book of Revelation.

So notice that the audience is God’s people. It is you. You are the one who needs to be reading this book. You are the one that needs to be ready as Jesus Christ admonished you to be at so many places in the gospels.

Look at verse two. The Bible says, “Who bare record of the word of God,”[14] speaking of John:

“Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne[15]

Now look if you would at chapter number three. See, notice that phrase, “the seven Spirits which are before his throne.”[16] Look at chapter three of Revelation. Flip over if you would and look at—let’s see here, I lost my place—look at verse number one of chapter three. The Bible says, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write;”[17] This is Jesus Christ speaking to each of the seven churches, “These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God.”[18]

Ok. So who has the seven Spirits of God? Jesus Christ is what the Bible is saying.

Look back at chapter number one and verse number four. The Bible says that...so we know that Jesus Christ is speaking. He says:

From him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.[19]

If you were here a couple of weeks ago you know that that “and” there is not talking about two different people. It is restating who that person is. The person who is and was and is to come who has the seven Spirits before his throne is Jesus Christ. It is clear from English grammar if you understand what that word “and” means. It is a restatement of who he is.

Now we studied a few weeks ago, also, the eternal preexistence of Jesus Christ. Remember in Micah 5:2 the Bible says that in Bethlehem was going to be born someone whose goings forth were of old from everlasting.[20]

Somebody asked me the other day, actually just on Sunday when I was out soul winning. I won this guy to the Lord and he said...and his brother was there listening and his brother did not get saved. And his brother said to me, he said, “Well, who made God? I mean, where did God come from? I mean, if everything came from God, where did God come from?”

And I said, “Well, God always was.”

And, see, that is what he means here. He says he was, he is and he is to come. We are talking about the eternality of Jesus Christ. See, Jesus Christ is as eternal as God is. He has no beginning. He is from everlasting.

By the way, those two words “from everlasting” only in the King James Bible will you find that concept of the eternal preexistence of Jesus Christ from everlasting. And so he says he is, he was and he is to come...

....and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father[21]

Do you see the word “and” there again? “Unto God and his Father”?[22] Are those two different people? Are God and Jesus Christ’s Father two different people? No. So you have to understand the English language here. He says, “Unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”[23]

Now when we see the word “Amen” there at the end of verse six we are ending a phase, ok. The first six verses is the introduction, telling us what the book is, telling us who the book is written to. Then we get into verse number seven which is the quintessential verse, I feel, of the entire book of Revelation. This is the key verse. And it is set apart by amens to give it a place preeminence here. Revelation 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”[24]

Now this is the theme of the book of Revelation. The theme of Revelation is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Now there are certain things that note the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Number one, he is coming in the clouds.

Now, we know that from Acts chapter one. Remember when the 11 disciples beheld as Jesus was taken up from them in a cloud the Bible says? He was... “a cloud received him out of their sight.”[25] And then the two men stood there in white apparel which said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”[26]

So when he left...now in order to understand the Second Coming you have got to understand the ascension. When he left he was ascending up to heaven in the clouds and people were watching him, right? Eleven men stood up gazing into heaven the Bible says as he went up in a cloud into heaven. Well he is going to come back the same way. That is exactly what this says here. “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”[27]

So picture this. Jesus Christ is going to return in the clouds. Every one is going to see Jesus Christ in the clouds and, I mean, think about this, world wide. He says, “All kindreds of the earth.”[28] I mean, people in Africa, people in Asia, people in North America, South America, Australia in one moment of time are going to see the heavens rolled back as a scroll and they are going to see Jesus Christ descending in the clouds of heaven. “Every eye shall see him,”[29] the Bible says.

Now there are several mentions in the New Testament of Jesus Christ coming in the clouds, ok. Let’s look at them quickly. Turn to Matthew 24. We are just going to look at these very quickly. Some of them I will read to you. Some of them you can look at because there is so much information that I want to give tonight and there is not a lot of time.

But look at Matthew 24 and we will look at every mention that speaks of Jesus Christ returning in the clouds. Look at Matthew 24 and look at verse number 29. Actually, look at verse number 24. Matthew 24:24. The Bible reads, For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible,”[30] you see, it is not possible, but if it were possible, “they shall deceive the very elect.”[31]or saved, God’s people, born again.

Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.[32]

Now, look. From those two verses if somebody tells you that Jesus Christ’s coming is in some way a secret are we supposed to believe it? No way.

He says, if somebody tells you, “Oh, look he came over here it is a secret, he is over here, he is over here.” And see it says, “There shall arise false Christs.”[33] Is that coming from up or coming from down? That’s coming from down. They are arriving, these false Christs from the earth. And it is a secret, shh.

But, no. That’s not what the Bible says. It says, “Believe it not.” “For as the lightning,”[34] verse 27, “cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”[35] He said it is going to be like a bolt of lightning that if it flashed over here you would see the brightness over here. You could see a bolt of lightning anywhere you are looking in the sky. You could see the shine, the flash from it.

And the Bible says:

So shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.[36]

Verse 29.

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven:[37]

Now the word “appear,” that is a visual word. He says the sun is going to turn to darkness. The moon shall not give her light and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man. So then there is going to be an appearance in the sky. I am trying to describe for you what Revelation one describes here, the Second Coming, that it is going to be an appearance of Jesus Christ coming. See that is a verb that means he is in the process of coming. So while he is while he is on his way down people are going to see him. He is going to appear in the sky, in the clouds of heaven. “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.”[38]

Now let me read for you Revelation one again. He said, “And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.”[39]

Ok. And then in Matthew 24 we see, “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.”[40] So people, when it says “wailed” it is kind of like the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that is going to be in hell. It is people wailing, crying out saying, “Oh, no. Woe unto us,” they are saying. “Good night.”

Now is this positive feeling that the world is feeling when the see Jesus Christ coming on the cloud? They are saying, “Whoa.” They are wailing. Do you know what wailing means? Wailing is like if you have babies or toddlers you understand what wailing is. Wailing is not just weeping or crying. Weeping could be just sniffling. Wailing is like... That’s right. We know. It is a familiar sound in our house with John here, you know, 10 years old. John, would you please demonstrate for us wailing? Would you demonstrate gnashing of teeth and weeping and wailing?

But anyway, the Bible says, “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn.”[41] They are crying. They are wailing. They are scared to death. “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds,”[42] very important “in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”[43]

And so they blow a trumpet and Jesus Christ gathers his elect. He gathers all of his people. It is the rapture and they come up together to meet him in the clouds. And he will send forth his angels to “gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”[44]

Look down if you would to verse number 40. Look at verse number 40.

Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.[45]

And so, basically, the Bible is saying here that it is going to be a certain order of events here. First, the tribulation. After the tribulation the sun and the moon are darkened which is going to be at the opening of the sixth seal when we get into chapter six of Revelation. The sun and moon will be darkened. Then there is going to be an appearance in heaven of Jesus Christ coming in the clouds of heaven. Then there is going to be great weeping and wailing on the earth and mourning and shock. And then it is going to be two people in the field working together, grinding at the mill, doing their work, men, women, working. One is going to be taken, one is going to be left. That is the way it is going to be when God gathers his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

And so flip back, if you would, to Revelation one. And while you are turning there I will read to you another account of this quickly. And I am reading you every single time, every single time that Jesus Christ coming in the clouds is mentioned, every time. I am not leaving anything out. And this is what it says. The Bible reads in 1 Thessalonians chapter four, “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord...”[46]

Now stop for a second. Are the saved, born again Christians going to be alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord? Absolutely. He says, “That’s who I am writing to.” It could be us for all we know in 2007. We might be the generation in which Jesus Christ will return. And so he says, “unto you that are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord,”[47] so right there we see that born again Christians are going to remain unto the coming of the Lord. He said that, “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent,”[48] or go before, “them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God...”[49] There is the trumpet. “And the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.”[50] Notice, two times we have seen the clouds mentioned. “...to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.[51]

And so that is 1 Thessalonians chapter four. A little bit further down, well, I’ll skip for the sake of time. And then, of course, there is another mention of Jesus Christ coming in the clouds in 1 Corinthians 15. I will read that for you. 1 Corinthians 15 the Bible reads:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.[52]

And so we see here the coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds several times mentioned, always consistent. Jesus comes down in the clouds, blows a trumpet. We are caught up together to meet him “in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”[53]

Now look, if you would, at verse...Revelation 14. Revelation 14 is the final mention that actually mentions the clouds in this Second Coming of Jesus Christ which is what I am trying to illustrate for you. Revelation 14, the Bible reads in verse number 13 of Revelation 14.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple.[54]

See, there is always that other angel mentioned. There is the archangel and Jesus mentioned always with the coming in the clouds.

“And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud,”[55] which is the Son of man, Jesus Christ, “Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”[56]

So here we have, again, Jesus Christ coming in the clouds of heaven with the archangel and he reaps the earth. What do you think he is scooping up when reaps the earth? Us if we are here. So, you see, he is basically reaping the earth of the elect, of God’s people. He is gathering them from one end of heaven to the other. He says, “The harvest of the earth is ripe.”[57]

Remember Jesus said that the field is white unto harvest?[58] Ok, so the harvest pictures the end of the world, the Bible says. “He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man.”[59] He that soweth the tares is the wicked one.[60] He says, “The reapers are the angels.”[61] The field is the world. He says, “[And] the harvest is the end of the world.”[62] This is all found in Matthew chapter 13. He explains very clearly what this means. And so you have to compare Scripture with Scripture. And you will see that the reaping that takes place in Revelation 14 is the rapture of God’s people who have been saved and born again according to Matthew chapter 13. It doesn’t take a genius. The Son of Man comes in the clouds, thrusts in a sickle, reaps the earth. And then he reaps...and then another angel comes and reaps the earth and casts it into the winepress of the wrath of God.[63]

And so back to Revelation one. Actually, let’s look at one more place quickly. Look at Revelation six at the end of Revelation six. The Bible says at the end of Revelation six...and let’s start with verse number 12. This is where I said about the sixth seal. Look at Revelation 6:12. “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,”[64] just like in Matthew 24, remember the sun and moon darkened.

....the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.[65]

And look at this. This is the key, verse 15. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man...”[66] Do you see how it is the whole world wide here? Every single person on the face of the earth.

.... every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the [face] of the Lamb.[67]

So you see the...they see the face of the Lamb. Right after the sun and moon are darkened, boom, they look up and they see the face of the Lamb and they are weeping and they are weeping and wailing. And what are they saying when they weep and wail like we saw that they were weeping in Matthew 24? We saw that they were wailing in Revelation one. This is what they are wailing. They are crying out to the mountains:

Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the [face] of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?[68]

So we see here that the initiating of God’s wrath is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds. Do we see that? When Jesus Christ comes in the clouds people are weeping and wailing because the day of his great wrath has come.

And then what is the next step? We know from Matthew 24, from 1 Thessalonians four, from 1 Corinthians 15, from Revelation 14 the next step after the weeping and wailing and “the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”[69] He sounds the trumpet and gathers, “his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”[70]

So let me ask you something. Is the rapture going to take you by surprise? Not at all. The Bible says, “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief,”[71] in 1 Thessalonians five.

Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.[72]

He says, “Be sober, be ready. Look up, for your redemption draweth nigh,”[73] he says in Luke 21. You will see, my friend, if you are alive on this earth to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we that are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord are going to look up and see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory. That is what you are looking for, my friend. And when you see that, when you see the sun and moon darkened, when you see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great glory, then, he says, “Look up…for your redemption draweth nigh”[74] He says, “Any second now you are going to be taken and the other that you are with that is unsaved is going to be left.”

And so look back, if you would, to Revelation chapter one. See, the Bible is very clear. It is very consistent. It is very easy to understand. And so we saw, of course, the introductory verses one through six and in verse number seven, the quintessential verse of the book of Revelation, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”[75]

Here we have the dichotomy of the book of Revelation, the dichotomy of the great day of the Lord, the day of Christ. The dichotomy is that for those of us that are saved it is a very exciting day. It is a glorious day. Now, that is why he says here people are going to be wailing because of it, but he says, “Even so, Amen.”[76] Because he is writing it. He is not in that crowd. And so that is why in Revelation 22—don’t turn there—but he says, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”[77] He said, “[Behold] I come quickly.”[78] And then John says. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”[79] You see, it is going to be a great day of excitement and rejoicing for those of us that are saved, those of us that are watching, those of us that are ready to meet Christ at his coming. Boy, it is going to be nothing more exciting in the world than to see men...the sun and the moon darkened, Jesus Christ, the face of the Lamb coming in the clouds.

You know, like the song, It is Well with My Soul, “And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled as a scroll. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul.”

Now let me ask you something. Did the person that wrote, It is Well with My Soul believe in the pretribulation rapture? No. Because they said, “Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, even so it is well with me soul.” The person who wrote that song knew that Jesus Christ coming in the clouds, the blessed hope, when the trump resounds and the Lord descends is going to be at the same time as the clouds, as the heavens are rolled back as a scroll.

Now, when are the heavens rolled back as a scroll? In Revelation six when the sixth seal is opened the sun turns back, the moon turns dark, the stars fall out of the sky. Then the heavens are rolled back as a scroll. Then Jesus Christ comes in the clouds and blows the trumpet.

You see, the person who wrote that song understood this great truth. They understood the book of Revelation. And so that is why I like the old hymns, the old songs in the hymnal because they are not filled with false doctrine like the new songs are that are shallow and they come out of Nashville, Tennessee. This didn’t come out of Nashville, Tennessee. No, this came from somebody who studied the Bible and understood the book of Revelation and understood the things that we are talking about. It is a great song, by the way.

And so we see this verse that describes the dichotomy of this day of the Lord. To us it is known as the day of Christ when we see Jesus Christ come in the clouds. But to the unsaved it is called the day of the Lord.

Now, as you are reading in the Old Testament, you know, you are reading through the Bible cover to cover, God willing. And so as you read through the Bible always look for that phrase, “the day of the Lord.” Ok, look for those words right there. I am talking about the capital LORD, the all caps in the Old Testament. You will see it a lot in the book of Isaiah. You will see it a lot in the book of Joel. You will see it all throughout the Old Testament. And the Bible says in the book of Joel:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered.[80]

And then that is quoted again in Acts chapter two, you know:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.[81]

That is what it says in Acts chapter two.

And so all throughout the Bible you will see that the day of the Lord is a day of clouds and of thick darkness the Bible says. He says it is going to be a terrible day. It is going to be a dreadful day. It is going to be a horrible day is what he says. But to those of us who are saved it is a glorious day. That is the day of the Lamb of God’s great wrath. But to us it is a glorious day because it is our deliverance. It is our salvation. It is the redemption of our body. It is the first resurrection when we will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye and caught up together with Jesus Christ in the clouds to be ever with the Lord.

Boy, so you see the dichotomy—is what I am trying to say—of the book of Revelation? Extremely negative and extremely positive depending on whether you are saved is the deciding factor there.

So that is verse numbers seven. Isn’t that a great verse? What a powerful verse in the Bible. This is my favorite verse in the whole book of Revelation, bar none, hands down, Revelation 1:7. I mean I quote this verse all the time it is such a fantastic verse. Understand verse seven in order to understand the whole book of Revelation.

Look at verse eight. The Bible reads, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord,”[82] talking about Jesus Christ, “which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”[83]

Now, of course, the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus is God. And this is what they will say. They will say, “Jesus is a mighty God. But he is not the almighty God.” Like, for example, in verse number six of Isaiah chapter nine the Bible calls Jesus Christ, “the everlasting Father, the mighty God.”[84]

And I have shown that to Jehovah’s Witnesses and said, “Look. Jesus Christ is the everlasting Father, the mighty God,”[85] because even in their Bible, their Bible perverts a lot of things and tries to remove every reference to Jesus being God. But even in the New World translation of the Bible, Isaiah 9:6 is not tampered with. It is left as “the mighty God.”[86] And they will say, “Well, he may be the mighty God, but he is not the almighty God.” That is what I have been told by literally in excess of 10 Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

But here we have Jesus Christ called the almighty. Do you see that? And he is called the beginning and the ending. He is the beginning. See, there was nothing before Jesus Christ because he is the beginning. I mean, by him, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”[87] And so he says, “I am Alpha and Omega.”[88] Those are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. He is saying, like, “I am the A to the Z.” He says, “I encompass the past, the present, the future.” “By him all things consist,”[89] the Bible says in Colossians.

You know, people don’t even understand what holds an atom together. You know, the proton and the neutron and the electron? Did you know that if you were to put things to scale? Let’s say you made a proton be the size of a marble, then the electron would be thousands and thousands of miles away, literally. I mean, they are both far smaller than that and so they are very close together in our mind, you know, within an atom I am talking about, a single atom. And, of course, even a penny is made out of just quadrillions of atoms, right? But if you go down to the smallest unit, an atom, the electron is so tiny and the proton is so tiny that they are literally...it is like they are millions of miles apart, I’ll put it that way, even though they are close together. But in relation to their size, do you follow what I am saying?

What holds them together? What keeps that electron in orbit around the proton? Am I going to deep here? I mean what keeps the electron in orbit around the proton?

You say, “Gravity.”

Gravity? Things that are that small? I thought only big things had gravity, otherwise I would be attracted to things in this room by gravity. But my density is too low, my mass is too low and things have to be close together and they have to have a lot of mass.

Now, does an atom have a lot of mass? Not at all. Tiny. What keeps it together? What keeps it in orbit?

And you think about the planets. They spin around other planets. I’m sorry, the planets spin around the sun. The moon spins around the planet. What keeps it spinning?

You say, “Gravity.”

Well, then why does it spin the exact same way in the atom?

You see, “By him all things consist.”[90] Jesus Christ is the one who keeps the whole universe together. He is the one that keeps that electron and the proton and the neutron in that balance. And no one can ever understand it. The world doesn’t understand it. All they know is that if they split that atom they can create an explosion that could level a city like that. See, that is the power of God, my friend.

And so Jesus Christ is the end all, be all is what he is saying when he says, “I am alpha and omega.” He says, “I am the beginning and the ending.” And he says, “I am the Almighty.”[91]

And then look at verse number nine. Here we have John speaking.

I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.[92]

So John, who is writing this book, is actually being punished because it says that he is in the Isle of Patmos for the testimony of Jesus Christ and for the Word of God. Why was he put on the Isle of Patmos? Because he maintained a testimony, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Because he took a stand for the Word of God he was sent to this Isle of Patmos as a punishment, as exile. Instead of being killed or thrown in jail, they decided to punish him by throwing him on this deserted island. You know, I don’t know if he was all by himself. I don’t know if he was in some kind of a prison colony. I am not really sure if anybody was there with him. But he was probably not with any other believers or anything like that. He is just kind of on his own on this desert island, so to speak, the Isle of Patmos, “for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”[93]

Now, I love what he says here. “I John, who also am your brother.”[94] Ok. And he says, “And companion in tribulation.”[95]

Now the word “tribulation” is a word that everyone knows, a very commonly used word when dealing with the book of Revelation. But did you know that it is used very little in the book of Revelation? It is used in Revelation chapter number one. It is used in Revelation chapter number two. And then it is used in Revelation chapter number seven. And that’s it. It is used very little, ok? It says in verse number nine here. He says, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation.”[96]

Now what is the tribulation that John is enduring in verse nine? The tribulation that he is enduring is persecution for what he believes as we see the first time that the word tribulation is used in the New Testament in Matthew 13 when the Bible says, “For when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word...”[97] Ok. “For when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.”[98]

And so here we have, again, the tribulation is because of the testimony of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Tribulation is a result of taking a stand for the Word of God. Do you understand why I am saying that? The Bible says, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”[99] “For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.”[100] He says we will suffer tribulation for what we believe. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”[101] You will be persecuted for what you believe. If you take a stand, not just for the testimony of Jesus Christ, that might not get you persecuted, but when you take a stand for the testimony of Jesus Christ and for the Word of God, now you are into some tribulation. Now you are going to get some persecution. You see, when persecution and tribulation ariseth because of the word.[102]

You say, “Well, you know, people aren’t persecuting me because I am a Christian.”

Well, start talking about this book and see. Start preaching the things that are in this book. Start talking about the Word of God. And you are going to find yourself in a heap of tribulation right away. Ok, that is the difference. It is not just the testimony of Jesus that gets you tribulation, but when you take it a step further and say, “I am going to take a stand for the whole book. I believe everything in this book and I am going to preach it from the housetops.” That is where you are going to endure tribulation and persecution because of the Word.

So John says, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation...”[103] He says, “I hope as you are reading this, that you are enduring tribulation like I am. I hope you are not leaving me on this island of Patmos in suffering and persecution, tribulation as well while you don’t take a stand for Jesus Christ, while you are living some namby pamby Christian life, while you are in the in feel good, psycho babble church, while you are in some lame church, while you are not taking a stand, while you are not out soul winning, while you are not taking a stand for the things of God, while you are some liberal preacher that won’t stand up and preach right, because I am in tribulation and persecution and the people that I am writing to,” as we saw in verse one, “are his servants. I am writing this to show unto his servants those things which must shortly come to pass. And his servants are enduring tribulation.” And he says, “If you are not my brother, if you are not my companion in tribulation, you are reading the wrong book. This is written to people who love God, who take a stand for God, who are my companions in tribulation.”

Would you like to be a companion of the apostle John? Would you like to be a companion of those that are like him? Then you are going to have to endure a little bit of persecution for what you believe. And if you are not enduring any persecution for what you believe, you are probably not living godly in Christ Jesus, because otherwise the Bible is not true.

And so tribulation and persecution will come to those who believe. The other mention of tribulation...I am just going to show you the three mentions quickly. I am hurrying to get done with the chapter. But look at verse number nine of chapter two, Revelation 2:9. This is written to a church in Smyrna. The Bible says:

I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.[104]

Now, let me ask you something. Is the book of Revelation hard to understand? Or is it very consistent? Because here we see John in tribulation because of the Word of God and he is in prison, so to speak, because he is on the Isle of Patmos. That is exactly what he says here to this church. He says, “You are going to have tribulation 10 days.” He says, “The devil is going to case some of you into prison.” He says, “Be thou faithful unto death and I shall give thee a crown of life.”[105] So the Word is very consistent.

And then look down, if you would, here is another mention of tribulation, verse number 21 and 22 of chapter number two. The Bible says:

And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death.[106]

So what does tribulation mean here? Well, here it is God saying...and this is...keep in mind these are written to seven literal churches back in the time of John’s day, these seven churches. He writes to another church and says, “You know what? This woman who is an adulteress, who is seducing my servants to commit adultery and to commit fornication,” he says, “I am going to cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation.” And he says, “I am going to kill her children with death.” He says, “I am going to go around and persecute her myself.”[107] And so tribulation always means in the Bible persecution. Nine times out of 10 it is the world and the devil and the evil crowd persecuting God’s people. Here is one of the 10% of the times where it is actually God persecuting an unbeliever, you know, or an ungodly person. Here it is probably a person that is saved, but that is living ungodly because he says she is seducing his servants to commit adultery. And he is persecuting her. He is killing her children. Do you see that is a persecution? That is a tribulation.

And then the last mention in the book of Revelation is in chapter seven, Revelation chapter number seven and look, if you would, at verse number 14.

And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.[108]

You see how it is the...basically the same people that...remember, “So shall we ever be with the Lord”?[109] Remember that? Well, these people that have come out of great tribulation and washed their robes, he says that they are with the Lamb day and night. You know, later on we will see that they follow the lamb whithersoever he goeth.[110] And so they are right with him.

And so that is the last mention in the book of Revelation of tribulation. It is not mentioned that much. But there is a great deal of tribulation mentioned in the book of Revelation, mainly the antichrist persecuting God’s people for what they believe, for the testimony of Jesus Christ and for the Word of God.

So verse number nine, again, where we were in chapter number one he said:

[I am your] companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.[111]

Now, was the voice that he heard a trumpet? No. He says it was as a trumpet. See, the Bible is always careful to tell you when it is literal a trumpet and when it just sounds like a trumpet. That is what “as” means. It wasn’t a trumpet. It was a voice that was like a trumpet.

What is a trumpet like? A trumpet is very loud. And so he says with a very loud voice. It was a voice as of a trumpet saying, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia.”[112] Of course, that is the book that we are reading, the book of Revelation is what he wrote.

He lists the seven churches there.

Verse number 12.

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.[113]

Now Jesus Christ here is standing in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. Now what are the seven golden candlesticks according to verse 20? The seven churches, right? So those candlesticks... Now remember this verse? “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”[114] So here we have a...it said here that Jesus Christ is in the midst of his churches. So in this church right here is Jesus Christ here in the midst of us? Is he with us? Absolutely. And that is what he is saying here. He is saying, “I am standing in the midst of these particular seven golden candlesticks because these are the seven golden candlesticks that I happen to be addressing right now, that I happen to be writing to right now.”

And he says in verse number 13, it says that he is:

...clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire.[115]

Boy, isn’t this a dreadful picture? Can you imagine seeing a man whose face is pure white as snow. His hair on his head is as white as snow. And his eyes are like burning flames of fire. Can you imagine this? And it says, “His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.[116]

So two illustrations of what his voice is like. He said it is like a trumpet. “I heard Jesus talk to me,” he said, “It sounded like a trumpet.” And he said, “And it sounded like many waters.” I mean I was thinking about this. Every time I go to the ocean I think about this. I was standing by the ocean not too long ago and just the waves crashing in and I thought of this verse. This is the verse that popped into my head. “His voice as the sound of many waters.”[117] I just thought about that loud sound. I mean you get right next to the water and just hear those waves crash. And that is what his voice sounded like. It is a powerful voice.

The voice of the Lord is so powerful, the Bible says, that it can break cedar tree in half with his voice when he speaks.[118] And so he has a powerful voice.

And, of course, his voice, this is what he speaks. When he speaks he speaks the Word of God, the Bible. And so he says, “His voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword.”[119] Of course the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword.”[120] “The Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God,”[121] it says in Ephesians six.

It says, “And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance...”[122] his face is what countenance means. “His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.”[123] When it says the sun shineth in his strength it means...it is...go back to the Greek. It says. It says, “The sun shineth in Phoenix, Arizona.” Ok, that is what it says. “The sun shineth in its strength.”

Now, you can be on the brightest day of the year, for example, in Chicago. Like let’s say in January in Chicago and it is noon and sometimes, boy, I remember when I was there blue skies. The sun is bright and it is like negative three outside. And it was weird because you would look out the window and it looks—is this true?—I mean it looks sunny. It looks nice. You walk out there... because what happens is at different seasons the sun is at different angles with the earth’s atmosphere. And when it is shining straight down it has the shortest distance through the atmosphere to the earth. So when the sun is directly above you it shines just straight down and there is not as much resistance of air. But if the sun is coming at you diagonally like this, well, then it has to go through the hypotenuse of that triangle is a lot longer. It has to go through a lot more atmosphere and so the sun gets weaker. That is why sometimes in the winter...have you ever noticed that the sun goes up like this? It doesn’t really ever get above your head. You know, in the winter it kind of goes up. Unless you live in Phoenix. Then it is always just beating down on you. But go somewhere else sometime, see the world, ok? And you can see the sun sometimes will rise...it will rise over here and it will go up. And it will never get up in the sky. I mean it will just kind of rise over here and then just go down because...and it has got that angle. And that is why.

That is why if you go out at noon you are more likely to get a sunburn than if you go out at, you know, six AM it might be just as sunny, but it is not shining in its strength.

So he is saying here that when you look at the face of Jesus Christ here it is like looking at the sun. But not only is it like looking at the sun. He says it is like looking at the sun when it is straight up in the sky at noon time in Phoenix, Arizona and you look straight up in the air. He says, “That is how bright.”

Probably just the only way that he can describe it, because what is brighter than that? I don’t think there is anything brighter on the face of the earth than the sun shining in its strength.

And so he says, “That is what Jesus Christ’s face looks like.” It is no wonder that in verse 17, “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last.”[124]

Here, another time read Daniel chapter seven. Daniel chapter seven and, again, in Daniel chapter 10 this is alluded to. If you read Daniel chapter seven you will see this exact same description of the white hair, the eyes that are a flame of fire, the throne of God. He calls him there the Ancient of Days and talks about God on his throne. Of course, Jesus is God, the same person. And it makes it very clear that...let me see here. Where it says he...it is the same thing happens, really, because this man appears to him in Daniel chapter 10, actually it is...look at seven and look at 10. But in Daniel chapter 10 this man appears to him and, again, Daniel falls on his face like he is dead. And then an angel actually comes and lays his hand upon him and tells him, you know, “Fear not, Daniel, Though thou beloved of the Lord,”[125] or whatever it actually says.

And so you will see almost the exact same scenario as this in the book of Daniel. “I am he that liveth, and was dead,”[126] a very important doctrinal statement there. He was dead. Understand the resurrection of Jesus Christ was that Jesus died and that he was buried and that he rose again. He didn’t...it is very important to understand that he was dead for three days and three nights, ok.

A lot of people don’t really comprehend that. Some people think that just was up in heaven during that time or something. No, he was dead. I mean he was in hell. Ok, he was dead for three days and three nights. He was dead and he says:

Behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.[127]

So you see the past, present and future. He says, “Some of the things that you are writing in the book of Revelation are things that are present day,” which is chapters two and three. Chapters one, two and three are all present day for him. Some of chapter 12 is also present day for him. And he says, “Some of the things that you have seen is past,” you know, some past events are described in Revelation 12, the birth of Christ, the ascension of Christ which John has physically seen, the ascension of Jesus Christ. He says, “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.”[128] That’s the bulk of the book of Revelation, the future events.

And then, of course, the verse we already read, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”[129]

So let’s quickly review this and just get a grasp of chapter one. I want you to understand the book of Revelation by the end of this series. I want you to have a firm grasp of it so that it doesn’t daunt you and you say, “Boy, the book of Revelation, wow, it is over my head. It is complicated. It is cryptic. It is mysterious.”

He says, “It is mysterious and let me tell you what it means.” It is mysterious to those that are not reading it and that aren’t saved or that haven’t had it explained to them, perhaps. But, really, you don’t even need it explained to you as long as you have the Holy Spirit living inside of you. He will explain it to you. Don’t be daunted by it.

Let’s go over it quickly. Verse number one through six was an introduction, John explaining to you the purpose of this book. It is written to you that are saved. It is written to the servants of God, “to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.”[130] Now, look. It is even shorter now than it was back then. Every day it gets closer. Every day it is drawing nearer. And so he says in verse number one through six, he explains to us who Jesus Christ is, what the book is about, who it is written to.

Verse number seven, the quintessential verse to understanding the book of Revelation, Revelation 1:7, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”[131]

Then we see in verse number eight Jesus Christ stating who he is.

Verse number nine, John explaining that he is on the Isle of Patmos. Here he is minding his own business. He is in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. It is Sunday. He is reading the Bible. He is in prayer. He is fellowshipping with God. All of the sudden he hears a voice behind him that sounds like a trumpet, that sounds like many waters. This great voice behind him stating, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last,” you know, all of that. And then he turns around to see who it is that is talking to him and he looks to see who is talking to him and what does he see? He sees:

...“seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.[132]

And it described the same description as in the book of Daniel and Jesus Christ as he looks face to face at Jesus Christ like the sun shining in his strength. Jesus instructs him. He says, “I want you to write everything that I show you, some things that you have already seen. But you are going to see everything else that I show you, you are going to write it in this book and you are going to send it out and mail it out to these seven churches.” He says, “You are going to write the book of Revelation and seven copies and send it out to these seven churches.”

Now think about this. Why was it sent to seven churches? Why did he write seven copies of the book? Well, if he wrote one copy somebody might tamper with it, right? Think about this. And this is why it is so easy to believe that the King James Bible is the Word of God and that these other Bibles are wrong. If he just wrote the book of Revelation one time and just mailed it out somewhere, who knows if it is going to get lost in the mail? You know, who knows somebody is going to mess with it?

Ok, so he says, “Write it seven times and send it to the seven churches.”

Now think about this. If he wrote it seven times and sent it to seven different churches it is going to be pretty easy to tell the accuracy of the book because all you have to do is compare the seven side by side and if they all match up, you know, you have got an accurate copy. That is what the basis of the King James Bible is that it is the majority text. It is the text that is based on the hundreds and millions of copies throughout history. And so he sent...that is why he sends it out to seven churches. He sent out seven copies of it. He said, “Don’t add to it. Don’t take from it.”[133] He says, “Compare the seven. They will be the same. They will match up.”

And so these are the seven copies that he sends out. And he explains what he is sending out.

And then look at verse number one of chapter four in closing, verse number one of chapter four. So we saw John. So far the book of Revelation is pretty easy to understand, right? John is being persecuted for what he believes. He is thrown on this island, but God sees fit to appear unto him and give him this great vision of the things that are going to be hereafter.

Look at verse number one. This is what picks up the story of chapter number one. The Bible says, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.”[134] Now, did he hear a trumpet? No. He said, “The first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet,”[135] the same word that we saw earlier, “as of many waters.”[136] Did he hear many waters?

Oh, it was because he was on the Isle of Patmos. It was the tide came in and he thought it was Jesus.

No. When it says his voice was as waters, it means it was like waters. It was not literally waters. Again, we see not literal, not literal trumpet here. He says, “The first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.’[137] “It sounded like a trumpet talking with me.” And he says:

Which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set.”[138]

Where? In heaven. So after Jesus appears to him on the Isle of Patmos, gives him some special instructions for these seven churches in chapters two and three. When it picks up the story in chapter number four verse one he says he looks up and a door opens in heaven and he hears a loud voice, the same voice that he just heard, the one that sounds like a trumpet, the voice of Jesus Christ saying, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”[139]

Everything in the book of Revelation is not just what Jesus told John about, but it was things that he was shown. I mean, he literally saw everything we are going to read about in the book of Revelation. Have you noticed how that has been emphasized. On and on he says, “I am a witness to these things.” He says, “I have seen these things.”

Everything in the book of Revelation John saw and so that’s chapter one.

Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer.

God, thank you so much for the Bible and thank you so much for the book of Revelation. What a fascinating book, what a phenomenal book in the Bible, dear God, so interesting to study. And it is so clear, dear God. And please just give us understanding in these coming weeks, dear God, as we delve into this book of the Bible. Help us to understand what we read and, boy, what an exciting book, what a thrill to think about Jesus Christ coming in the clouds. How exciting to look up in the sky and to see Jesus Christ come in the clouds. Imagine how our hearts are going to be pounding when we know that any second now we are going to be caught up to be with him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. “ Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus,” is our prayer tonight. And we love you and thank you so much for everything that you do for us, dear God and in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

2 Thessalonians 1 Verse-by-Verse Bible Study

2 Thessalonians 1 Verse-by-Verse Bible Study

Video

August 12, 2015

Second Thessalonians, Chapter number one, the bible read, "Paul and Sylvanus and Timothius, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our father and the lord Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace from God our father, lord Jesus Christ." Now this book starts out with pretty much the identical wording that first Thessalonians started out with, it's from the same people, to the same people. In fact a lot of the same subjects are discussed in both books. Both books have a big emphasis on end times bible prophecy. They talk a lot about tribulation, they talk a lot about the second coming of Jesus Christ, and this chapter is no exception.

Now notice in verse number two it says, "Grace unto you and peace from God our father and the lord, Jesus Christ." When you read Paul's epistles, over and over again, you'll see something similar to that. Grace unto you and peace. It's interesting because it's always in that order, it's always grace and then peace. Why? Because the Bible teaches, for example, in Romans 5:1 it says, "therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ." So the Bible says by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast them. Before we're saved the Bible says that we're at amity with God, the wrath of God abides on those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. But, we have peace with God through salvation, which is through faith, which is by grace. That's why it's always in that order. Grace unto you, and peace, because you're never going to have peace without the grace of the lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says there's no grace to the wicked.

So the Bible says in verse number three, "we are bound to thank God always for you brethren, as it is neat, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of everyone of you toward each other abounded." Now, we all have faith, and obviously without faith, you wouldn't even be a child of God, you couldn't even be saved, because we're saved by faith. But, our faith grows after we're saved. The bible talks about how me move form faith to faith in Romans chapter one. So getting saved is easy, the bible says that if thou shalt confess by mouth to Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Some people wonder, did I believe enough, how much faith do you need? There was a guy who came to Jesus and said, "Lord I believe, help thou, mine unbelief. So that guy has a doubt, and yet Jesus came through for him, even though he had that doubt.

So the question is, how much do you have to believe. Jesus talks about the fact that even if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you would be able to say to this mountain, be removed and cast into the sea and it would be done for you. So it's not the quantity of our faith that matters, it's not how much did you believe or how much faith did you have. The thing that matters is whether all of your faith is on Jesus. The bible says in Act 8:37, "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayeth." So it's not how much faith you have, it's just whether you choose to put all of your faith in Jesus. You can't be saved by having part of your faith in Jesus, and part of your faith in Buddha, or part of your faith in Jesus and part of your faith is in your own works, your own deeds. Rituals that you've gone through at your church, or the fact that you go to church. No, it has to all be the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and all of your faith is in him that saves you.

So you can have very little faith. But if you have enough faith to confess with your mouth to lord Jesus, just enough to say it, and believe, then that's enough faith to get you saved. But as we go through our Christian lives, hopefully our faith is increasing, we grow in faith. As we go through the Christian life we have less doubt and more faith. That's what the bible is talking about here when it says, in verse number three, it says "your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other abounded." So one of the things that he's complimenting this church for is that they're getting better, they're not backsliding, they're not going backward, but actually they're growing. Their faith is better than it was when he wrote first Thessalonians, their charity, their love one toward another is increasing and abounding as they go.

Look at verse four, "so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God." Now our modern word fro glory there would be bragging. He's saying we boast about, we brag about what a great church the church of Thessalonica is, "so that we ourselves glory in you, in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure." Now, tribulation is a very important word in the Bible, and it is especially important when we're talking about end times bible prophecy, because of course there's going to be the great tribulation that everyone talks so much about. When it comes to the rapture, or the doctrine of us being caught up together in the clouds with Christ when he returns and the trumpet sounds, people will talk a bout a pre-tribulation rapture, meaning a rapture that comes before the tribulation, a rapture that could happen any moment.

Then there are those who, rightly, believe in a post-tribulation rapture, meaning a rapture that comes after the tribulation. But what confuses a lot of people, is that they don't realize that the tribulation is not the same thing as God pouring out his wrath on this earth. Because people have been tricked into thinking that God pouring out his wrath is somehow referred to as the tribulation, they say "well why would God pour out his wrath on his own people?" Not realizing that, yes, the rapture is pre-wrath, but it's nor pre-tribulation. Because tribulation and wrath are two completely different things.

Now, it should be easy for someone to figure that out if they just read the New Testament a few times, because over and over again the New Testament uses this word tribulation, and it's so consistent, the way it's used. By the way, you look it up for yourself, 90% of the time the word tribulation is used in the New Testament, it's talking about believers going through tribulation. So we're not talking about the wrath of god. No, tribulation, simply put, means trouble, or affliction, or persecution. Those are words that are associated with tribulation in the New testament. Right here in this verse we see it coupled with persecution. He says "we thank god for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure." Notice persecution and tribulation are used in the same breath. Let's keep reading.

"Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." So the suffering that they're going through, that's the persecutions and tribulations. Then it says this, "Seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you." Now notice how it's used interchangeably with trouble there, he said they're troubling you, so God's going to give them tribulation in return. This is one of the few verses that refers to unbelievers going through tribulation as well. But of course, anybody can go through tribulation. Everybody has trouble in their life, I mean unsaved people, saved people got through trials, afflictions, troubles. Unsaved people could be persecuted for all manner of reasons, and so that has nothing to do with the great tribulation, except for the fact that the definition of the word applies to the great tribulation. So the tribulation is just a time of trouble, it's a time of affliction, and it's a time of persecution. And it is a time that Christians will be here for, and there's plenty of Scripture to prove that, and I'm going to prove that this evening from this very passage.

But let's keep reading here, it says "Seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled," you see that? So it's used together with tribulation, "to you who are troubled, rest with us when the lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels." So let's look at a few scriptures on tribulation, flip over to second Corinthians chapter one. Second Corinthians one, because remember I told you that tribulation is associated with the word trouble, the word affliction, and the word persecution in the Bible. Look at Second Corinthians, chapter one, verse three, the Bible reads,"who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort, wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." So you see that tribulation and trouble are again used interchangeably again there.

Flip back to Romans, chapter number five, Romans chapter number five. Which is where that great verse is found, in verse one there, "therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," but the Bible reads as we continue in that chapter, "by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of god. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. Now what did Paul say over in second Thessalonians chapter one? He said that he had gloried about them in the churches because of their patience and faith in all their persecutions and tribulations that they endure. So what are they being commended for? Patience and faith in tribulation.

What's he say in Romans five? The same thing, he says, that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope make us not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us for when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. SO what do we see here, tribulation in our live, troubles, trials persecutions, they work patience. Why? Because we learn that we have to put up with these things. We have to go through these rough times, we have to make it through these dark tunnels to get to the light at the other side. So, the more tribulations we go through, the more patience we develop, we learn to be content. We learn to have patience and to wait, but then it says that patience worketh experience. Obviously the more times we patiently go through tribulation, the more experience we have with it.

Then it says that experience worketh hope. And what does hope mean? Hope is when we believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and our hope is increased because of the fact that we've been through tribulations int he past and God always got us through it in the past, so if he always got us through it in the past, he's going to get us through it this time. Why? We have experience. We have patience, and that gives us hope. And he said hope maketh not ashamed. What he means there by being ashamed, if you study the bible on the word ashamed. When people are ashamed, basically it's when they've put their trust in somebody and they're let down. The bible talks about how if we trust in the Lord, we will not be ashamed, we're not going to be let down by him. We're not going to be left with egg on our face that basically God didn't come through for us. So he's saying, hope maketh not ashamed, God's not going to let us down. If we hope in him, if we trust in him, he's going to come through for us, and the more tribulations we go through, the more we know that to be the case.

So let me ask you this, are tribulations good in our live or bad? Well they're good, because they're working patience, he said we glory in tribulations. Does that sound like it's a bad thing? No, he's saying we glory in tribulations because we want patience, we want experience, we want hope. It's like David said in psalm 1:19, "it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might thy word." Afflicted, tribulation, those two words are related. So all throughout the bible we see that this is something that Christians go through, it makes them stronger and it builds their character.

Now back in second Thessalonians, chapter one, it says that "we ourselves glory in you and the churches of god for your patience and faith, and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." Seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. Why is that a righteous thing with god. Well, if someone troubles someone else, then god is going to bring that back around to them. Because the bible says, "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." He that leadeth into captivity shall go away into captivity. He that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Notice those tow words, patience and faith. So all this stuff goes together when you study the bible and put it all together. That was a quote by the way, from Revelation chapter 13, which is an important tribulation chapter.

We see here that the bible is saying that God will punish those who trouble us. That's why the bible says, "vengeance belongeth unto me, sayeth the lord, I will recompense." Which is why is says here that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and on them that obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ. Now this is a key here, because it says in verse seven, to you who are troubled, rest with us when? So we have some timing here, because he's talking about the fact that the believers who today are struggling, going through trials and tribulations, are one day going to have rest from their trials, rest from their troubles, rest from their labels, and the question is, when will they get that rest? Well the bible tells us when that rest will come.

The bible says when the lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ. So is this saying, well you know you're going to have rest with us before the tribulation, you're going to disappear like on the Left Behind movie, and everybody's going to be wondering where is everybody and nobody's going to see Jesus coming in the clouds because it's a secret rapture. Is that what this passage is teaching? No this passage teaches that we will have our rest, we will go to our rest when Jesus is revealed from heaven, meaning that people see him, and when he comes in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not the gospel, or know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ.

You see, Luke 17 makes it crystal clear, that just as the same day Noah entered into the ark, the flood came. And the same day that Lot was removed from Sodom and Gomorrah, God rained fire and brimstone. It's going to be exactly the same, in the day when the son of man shall be revealed, same word. It says when the son of man shall be revealed, then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, the other left, etc. All of this fits together, the only people who don't see it are people who just don't want to see it, because Luke 17 is consistent with first Thessalonians four and five, second Thessalonians one is telling us the same thing. And all the other passages the book of Revelation, it all fits together perfectly once you just read it and take it for what it says. Now stop and think about this, back when we were in first Thessalonians, we nailed down the timing of the rapture right there in first Thessalonians, because it said that the timing of the rapture was basically the same timing as the day of the lord.

He described the rapture and he said, but of the times and seasons brethren, you have no need that I write unto you, for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the lord so cometh as a thief in the night for when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction come up on them, as travail upon a woman with child and they shall not escape. So notice the same day that we're caught up together to be with Christ in the clouds, sudden destruction is coming upon them, those that are the unbelievers. Doesn't that sound like in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not god and obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ. Not only that, but when you go to the book of Revelation and you look up where the day of the lord occurs, easy to find, because the sun and moon are darkened and the stars fall, Revelation six.

What do you see in Revelation six happening? Well first there's silence in heaven about the space of half an hour and then he's raining fire and brimstone, that's the first step to God pouring out his wrath. The first trumpet, and in fact, even before the first trumpet sounds, just when the seventh seal is opened, the angel takes fire from the altar and casts fire into the earth, but then when the first of the seven trumpets sounds, when the first trumpet sounds, it talks about fire and brimstone raining from heaven, and the third part of the trees being burnt up and all of the green grass burnt up. It sounds to me like Jesus Christ in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ. So the when here is key.

Look at Revelation chapter one if you would, Revelation chapter number one because revelation chapter one makes this very clear as well. Right toward the beginning of the book of revelation, while you're turning there I'll read to you verse nine, because verse nine gives us another great mention of tribulation in the bible. It says, "I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom in patience," notice how patience and tribulation are often associated, because it's something that we have to patiently endure, "and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was in the aisle that was called Patmas for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." Back up to verse seven, this is right at the beginning of the book of revelation. I consider this to be the most important verse in the entire book of Revelation, this is the key verse.

The reason I say that, it's given a place of preeminence, notice it has an amen right before it and an amen right after it. It's set off by amens, like it's just a standalone verse there, just its own statement. It reminds me of when you'd write an essay in school and they'd have you give a topic sentence, or some kind of a key sentence. This is the key sentence of the book of revelation it says, "Behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, even so, amen." Again fits perfectly with the day of the lord. Hey, Jesus is coming in the clouds, and the unbelievers will be wailing, they will be weeping, and the trumpet will sound and the believers will be caught up together with Christ and those who are on this earth will have God's wrath poured out upon them, so the pre-tribulation rapture is false. Okay, because this all happens after the tribulation.

The bible says in Matthew 24:29 that after the tribulation the sun and moon are darkened, the stars fall, etc. That's when the day of the lord takes place, that's when the rapture takes place, that is known as the second coming of Jesus Chris, and that is when he begins to pour out his wrath on this earth, pouring out his wrath will take place over the ours of several years, and then at the end of those several years, Jesus Christ will ride in on the white horse at Armageddon and set up an earthly millennial kingdom, Satan will be bound into the bottomless pit, etc. So back to second Thessalonians chapter one here, now that we got that timing nailed down of when our rest will some, and we notice that is fits in perfectly with Matthew 24, mark 13, Luke 21, first Thessalonians four and five, all of the passages fit together perfectly.

Look what it say is verse eight, "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our lord, Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord and for the glory of this power. Now there's a doctrine out there that a lot of people teach that hell is separation from God, and this is a really popular doctrine, the Jehovah's witnesses will take about this, the pope has made statements about this, and even independent baptists will constantly tell you that hell is separation from god. Many even have it in their statement of faith. Now this is a bad doctrine because of the fact that it's used to try to tone down what hell is really like, instead of focusing on what the bible focuses on, that hell is fire, brimstone, torture, torment, no rest day or night, no water, this horrible place. Here's what they say, " Well hell is just being separated form god."

If you would, flip over the Revelation 14, keep your finger there and save Thessalonians one, but go to Revelation 14. I've even heard them say this, "Well the worst part about hell is that you're separated from God." Not the fact that you're on fire, not the fact that you're there forever being tortured, but no, no, no, the worst part is that you are separated from God. Nonsense, here's the thing about that. Unsaved people don't really care if they're separated from God. In fact there are plenty of atheists and plenty of reprobates out there who would be glad to tell you that they would enjoy being separated from God for all eternity. In fact, when you describe the God of the Bible to them, they'll say things like "Well if that's the way God is, then I'd rather just go to hell, just to get away from him. I don't even want to go to heaven if the God of the Bible is real."

We've all heard atheists make statements like that. But the truth of the matter is that those who are in hell are not separated from God. This view is a false doctrine, and it was created by people who wanted to downplay the significance of hell, people like Billy graham, people like the pope, who want to be popular, and they basically would just say, "well hell is just separation from God." I remember when I was a teenager, and you know you do a lot of prank calling when you're a teenager sometimes, but anyway, I was a t a friends house, and we were used to calling 1-800 numbers and whatever as a kid. So he calls the 1-800 number on the Billy Graham crusade. He said, "let's call the Billy graham crusade and see what they say." So he calls the Billy Graham crusade on the 1-800 number and asks them hey what do I need to do to be saved, and of course they gave him a totally wrong answer.

But he asked the operator, and I was sitting there listening with him, he asked the operator he said, "well, what about hell? What do you believe about hell." And he said, "well, I don't want to go beyond what the bible says." Because my friend point blank asked him is hell a place of fire? He said "well the bible doesn't really tell us." He said, "now I don't want to go beyond what the bible says," he said, "but there's one thing we know about hell, is that it's separation from God. That's the one thing we know. Fire, not sure." It's amazing how people still listen to Billy Graham, when he flat out said, "I don't know if there's any fire in hell." Well you're not reading the bible then Billy boy, because the bible says over and over again hellfire, everlasting fire, fire and brimstone, I'm in torment int his flame. Hey just in case you don't understand, fire, flame! I mean just, every possible way of telling you you're on fire in hell, but look at what the bible says in the Revelation 14 and tell me if hell is separation from god according to the Bible.

It says in verse nine, "and the third angel followed them saying, with a loud voice, 'if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation ,and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the lamb.'" So the bible says they'll be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of Jesus, because the lamb is Jesus. Then it says in the next verse, "And the smoke of their torment I sendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." Not only that, but back in the book of Psalms, David said if I ascend into heaven, thou art there, and he said if I make my bed in hell, behold thou are there.

See god is everywhere, he's in heaven, he's in hell He's everywhere. He's omnipresent is the word that we would use to describe that, and right here it specifically tells us, that people who are being tormented in hell are being tormented in the presence of the lamb. So it's not a separation from God, it's torment in his presence. Now keep your finger there in Revelation 14, and back in second Thessalonians one, you'll see a verse that is sometimes misused to state that hell is separation from god, because they'll point to this verse that says, who shall be punished, verse nine, of course the flaming fire was in verse eight, but in verse nine it says "who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power." They interpret that as, away from the presence of the lord, away from the presence of his power.

A big reason for this is because a lot of the new modern perversions of the Bible actually change this verse to something along those lines. This is one of the reasons that it's so important to be reading a King James bible, because the new version have been tampered with. They're being translated from there false manuscripts, the Vaticanist, the Sinaiaticist manuscripts, just all of Westcott and Hort influence, Nestle Allen, all this garbage. The King James is the only bible that has all the verse in it, that's untampered with. That's a whole another subject for another sermon. But one of the main changes that, one of the biggest, most popular versions will make, to this chapter, is that they'll change this verse. So for example, the NIV, the best-selling book in america today in 2015 will change this verse, instead of saying "from the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power," it says that they'll be shut out from the presence of the lord, so they add that in to change the meaning.

Now if we look at the verse for what it actually says, it says they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power. What this is actually saying, and I'm going to prove it to you, what this is actually saying is that the destruction is from the presence of the lord. It's not saying that they're going somewhere away from the presence of the lord. It says they'll be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord, and from the glory of his power. I'll prove it to you, go to Revelation 15, you got your finger there in Revelation 14, and we can compare grammar with grammar. Here's a verse in Revelation 15:8, that uses the same exact grammar as second Thessalonians one, it says "and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no man was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angles were fulfilled.

Now notice the beginning there, the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God. IS that saying away from, shut out from? No, what it's saying here is that the glory is coming from the Lord. So it says, the temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, that's the source. So look back at second Thessalonians one, they'll be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the lord and from the glory of his power. Say word from the glory, from the glory. Both say from the glory and it's both talking about the source of where the destruction's coming form in this passage or where the smoke is coming form int he other passage.

Now go back to the book of Isaiah, because you say, "well how is the destruction coming from the lord?" Well it should be obvious because of the fact that hell was created by God. A lot of people think of hell as being some kind of a kingdom of the devil where he rules and reigns. Go to chapter 30 in Isaiah, but actually hell is a place where the devil himself will be tormented for all eternity. He's not going to be ruling and reigning down there. He's a victim of the punishment of hell. It's actually God who rules over hell. Jesus said "I have the keys of hell and of death." And the angel of the bottomless pit that opens and shuts it, known as Abadon, or Apollion in the book of Revelation is not the devil.

Here's the proof, he throws the devil into hell a few chapters later. So how could they be the same person? Look at Isaiah chapter 30, verse 33. For Tophet, and tophet is a word being used here for Hell. Because tophet is gahenna, the valley of the sun of hennum. If you study the word tophet int he ible, you'll see it's synonymous with the valley of the suns of hennum or Gahenna, which is a picture of hell in the Bible. The bible says in verse 33, "for Tophet is ordained of old. Yay for the king it is prepared, he hath made it deep and large, the pile thereof is fire and much wood, the breath of the lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it." So it is actually the lord's breath that kindles the fires of hell according to Isaiah 30, verse 33. That concept is present throughout the bible that hell is somewhere that God created as a punishment for the devil and his angels. And he created it and it's a place that he rules and reigns over because he rules and reigns over everything and everyone because he's God.

So the bible says in second Thessalonians, chapter one, "In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction form the presence of the Lord and fromt eh glory of his power." Now some people will try to say obey the gospel means you have to work your way to heaven. I've had people pull this out and say, "Well you know you have to obey the gospel." But here's the thing, what is the gospel? The gospel is the good new. Gospel literally means glad tidings. So if the gospel is the good news and if the gospel is defined in first Corinthians 15 as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that Jesus died for our sins and that he was buried and the rose from the dead, if that's what the gospel is, is that Jesus died for our sins, the only way to obey that is to believe that. See the command of the gospel is believe I'm the lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's an imperative by the way, that's a command.

The sentence believe I'm the lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved is an imperative sentence. It's a command, so are you going to obey that command? How do you obey it? By living a good life? No you obey the command to believe on Jesus Christ, you obey the gospel which is the death burial and resurrection by quitting drinking. By turing over a new leaf, by living a good life. Of course not. No you obey the gospel by believing the gospel. So that's all that's referring to when it says obey the gospel. They don't obey the gospel, they're going to be punished in flaming fire. Notice he doesn't say, "hey people who don't live a good enough life are going to be punished." No, it's people that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished and it doesn't matter how good of a person they think they are, or other people think they are, if they know not god, and obey not the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ, they will be punished with flaming fire and with destruction. By the way that destruction is an everlasting destruction.

We saw it in Revelation 14 when it talked about how the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever and they have no rest day or night. Hell is a very scary place. It's a very fearful, scary, terrible place, and that's why people need to be saved, to escape the fires of hell. That's why we go out and try to reach people, and knock every single door in our area over and over again, pleading with people to be saved because we don't want them to go to hell. And God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So the bible says here in verse number 10, "when he shall come to be glorified, in his saints." Now here's another when, and it's the same when as we saw earlier. We're still talking about the same event in all these verses, it's a continuation of the same sentence, in fact.

"When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed I that day." Now again, those who obey the gospel are equated with who? Those who believed, because he said a minute ago, well the people that are getting punished, they obeyed not the gospel. Next verse he says that he's glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe. Watch this, all them that believe. All of them. Not just, well the ones that believed and did other stuff too. The ones that believed and led a good life, and joined the church and got baptized and repented of all their sins, that's not what it says. It says to be admired in all them that believe because our testimony among you was believed in that day. Because of the fact that when Paul came and preached the gospel, they believed it. They obeyed the gospel, they received the lord Jesus Christ their savior.

That's why they're going to be on the right side of things on that day when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds on the day of the lord. They're going to be on the right side. Those who had not believe are on the wrong side. Those who believed are on the right side. Again it comes back to salvation being 100% by faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. Verse 11 says this, "Wherefore also, we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power, that the name of our lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him according to the grace of our God and the lord Jesus Christ."

Now, go if you would to second Timothy, chapter number two, second Timothy, chapter number two. Because they've believed already, he's writing to the saints, he's saying our testimony among you was believed, you're saved, you're going to be on the right side of things. But then he goes on to say that he's praying for them though, that they would walk worthy of that calling. There are a lot of scriptures that say something similar to that in the New Testament. Walk worthy of your calling, and to be worthy, and also he's praying that they would fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power. So it's not that God doesn't want us to work. The bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of god, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. So god has ordained works for us to do, and we should walk in them. What must we do to be saved? Believe, that's it. But what should we do after we're saved? Well we should do works.

So Paul here is saying, "look, you're going to heaven, you're not going to burn in hell, why? Because you believed, but I'm praying for you because I want you to also work, and I want God to work in you, and I want God to fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness in you by the work of faith with power. Why? That the name of our lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God, and the lord Jesus Christ." So he's saying, not only do I want you to be saved, not only do I want you to got o heaven versus hell, but I want you to glorify God, I want you to bring him glory by fulfilling the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith by power. He's saying I want god to be glorified in you, and then one day God can glorify you, because you'll be rewarded with him.

Now in second Timothy, chapter two, it says in verse number 19, "nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity." So does God want us to part from iniquity? Of course, but here's the thing. We don't have to depart from iniquity to be saved, or else, number one, no one would be saved, because no one has completely departed form iniquity, nobody's perfect. And then secondly, that would be salvation by works, because departing from inquity's a lot of work. It takes a lot of effort to live right and do good things and abstain from sin. That's hard work. So the bible says let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity, but in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also avoidant of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. What's he saying? There are children of god, there are vessels of God, vessels of the holy spirit, that bring honor to our lord Jesus Christ, and then there are others that bring dishonor to our lord Jesus Christ.

Think about it, if you're saved and you name the name of Christ and you're a believer, but then you go out and live, according to the course of this world, you go out and live as a heathen, you go out and live just like the ungodly, well then that gives Christianity a bad name, and it gives our lord Jesus and the gospel a band name. You are a bad testimony when you do that, you're a vessel unto dishonor. You're bringing dishonor to the Lord. And he says in a great house there are going to be vessels of honor, and vessels of dishonor, and even amongst God's kingdom and even amongst God's children, there are God's children that make him proud, that honor him and glorify him, and then there are God's children that bring shame and reproach to the name of Jesus Christ.

Now they're both saved. It'd be sort of like if you had children and you had a child who did something right, that would bring honor to you, and then you had a child who disobeyed you, and in fact they embarrassed you publicly, or humiliated you by doing something so stupid. Imagine having a child who went out and got drunk, or a child who went out and got pregnant out of wedlock, or a child who went out and just did some major sin that was as public and visible, that would be dishonoring to you as the parent. Then bible's teaching that we dishonor Christ when we go out and break his commandments and live a life of iniquity, so Paul is praying at the end of second Thessalonians chapter one, that they would be a vessel unto honor, that they would honor and glorify the lord Jesus Christ, and not be a shame and a reproach unto him. That's hwy the bible says there in verse 12 or chapter one of second Thessalonians that the name of our lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God, and the lord Jesus Christ.

We all have God's grace through faith if we believe in the gospel, but we need to walk in that grace, we need to not only take advantage of God's grace that saves us, but we should also take advantage of the grace of God that actually enables us to serve him, and to obey him. The power of the holy spirit that will help us turn from sin, that will help us do great work for him, not in our own strength, not in our own power, not because of our own merits, but by his grace. He allows us the privilege that we don't deserve, of serving him, and of being a better person, and of following his word and succeeding and being able to say like Paul, "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me." That's the grace of God that even gives us the ability to do what's right. Like when Paul said, "I thank Christ Jesus our lord who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." God enables us to do what's right through the power of the holy spirit, through his word, and through the resources he's given us in the local church, pastors, teachers, the word of God itself.

So we can live a life that pleases the Lord, we can live a life that honors and glorifies him, but listen, not every Christian lives a life that brings honor to our savior, some people are a dishonor. It doesn't mean they're not saved, just like if your child dishonored you, they'd still be your child. Even if they humiliated you, and were a shame unto you, you'd still still say, well yeah that's my son. And you'd still love them, just like the prodigal son, as an example, goes out and humiliates the father by going out and living a life of riotous living, wasting his substance, but yet the father is still his father, still his dad, when he comes home he says "Make me as a hired servant." But no, he's a son, once a son, always a son. That's one of the things that we can learn from this passage in second Thessalonians chapter one.

Now in second Thessalonians chapter two, we get really into some of the heavy bible prophecy of second Thessalonians, it's a very key passage, it starts out in verse one, "Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him." So you can see right there, that the chapter is going to deal with the coming of Jesus Christ, and it's going to deal with what we know as the rapture, because it says, "by the coming of our lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him." That's going to be the key in chapter two. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.

Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for this chapter, and for what we can learn from it, please just fill us with your spirit Lord, as we study your word, that we have understanding. Open our eyes lord, that we would see the plain truths or your work, help us not to have preconceived ideas that someone has put in our head about bible prophecy that it's got to be a preacher of rapture, Lord. Help us to be able to see past that, and just read the word for what it says, with the holy spirit as our teacher. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.