[0:00] We are going to continue a theme of review that we began. Actually, so far as familiar material is concerned, we have gotten through Chapter 7.
[0:12] We are approaching Chapter 8. And in our last session, we decided to spend some time in review, but I was only able to review half of what we'd intended. So today, we will take the other half.
[0:24] And if we are fortunate, we will be able to encompass Chapter 6 and 7 in review, and then be prepared for Chapter 8 the next time we meet together.
[0:36] And that will, of course, be new material. And to just give you a little bit of a heads up, Chapter 8 is the beginning of everything really breaking loose.
[0:52] It is followed by a time of intense suspense in heaven. We are told in Chapter 8 opens, when we get there, Chapter 8 opens with, There was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour.
[1:13] I have no reason to take that in any way other than literally, because a half an hour just doesn't communicate anything to us, unless it is 30 minutes.
[1:26] And the only thing that I can conclude is that that 30 minutes is literally used as an incredible suspense builder.
[1:39] 30 minutes of silence while everybody who is there is watching and waiting and wondering and silent.
[1:51] There is just a deathly pall of silence that encompasses all of the beings who are there present before the throne. For 30 minutes, it must have seemed like an eternity.
[2:02] And at the end of the 30 minutes, everything erupts. And it is going to be amazing. So we are heading up to that now.
[2:14] But before we look at Chapter 6 and 7, I want you to turn just briefly to Psalm 110, if you have your Bibles there. I know some of you do. Psalm 110.
[2:25] Very familiar Messianic portion. This is a psalm of David. And when we say it is a Messianic psalm, that means that the writer is in actuality speaking of the Messiah who is to come.
[2:47] And at the time, David was inspired to pen these words, Jesus Christ would not be born in Bethlehem for approximately a thousand years.
[3:01] So when you read this psalm and understand that it is spoken, written by David the king, a thousand years before the Messiah was ever born, you can understand, I think, how it was such a puzzlement to the Jews who were contemporary to David when he wrote this.
[3:25] And they would read this and it would just absolutely defy any real understanding. Put yourself back, if you will, a thousand years before Jesus Christ was ever born and you are in the company of David the king.
[3:43] And here is what he writes in this Psalm 110. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
[3:57] Now the curious expressions that are used there has to do with the word Lord. And if you look carefully at the text, you will see that Lord, L-O-R-D, spelled the same way in both places, but the first is all capital letters.
[4:14] And the second is not. That indicates that in the Hebrew, this is two different words for the word Lord. The first one is capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D.
[4:32] That is the typical expression in the English Bibles for the word Yahweh, or Jehovah. And it is referring to the Father.
[4:44] The second word, however, that is used is capital L and a small O-R-D. The tendency is to think they're one and the same. Well, they're not.
[4:54] And what we're, of course, referring to and inferring is that this is an expression that is answerable only to the triune nature of God.
[5:06] Here we have two of the three persons of the Godhead active and speaking. It is, in effect, this. The Father said to the Son.
[5:18] That's the meaning. And I think the context bears that out. Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
[5:30] This is not only messianic, but it is highly prophetic. And what he is saying in reference has to do with not only after the coming of Christ, but this has to do with after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and the ascension of Christ.
[5:49] And where is he? After his death, burial, and ascension, he goes to be with the Father where he is seated at the right hand of the Father. And the Father says to the Son, sit at my right hand.
[6:05] That is the position of authority, the position of power, the position of prominence. We even use the expression of someone being a right hand man. That means he is his chief person.
[6:18] He doesn't say sit at my left hand, but sit at my right hand. That's the position of authority. And when the Father says this to the Son, he is simply acknowledging the work of redemption that he has accomplished, and he is saying, good job, Son.
[6:37] Now have a seat, and I am going to set about making the nations subject to you and reducing all of your enemies to a position of being your footstool.
[6:53] A footstool is what we would call footstool, an ottoman. When you sit down in an easy chair, you prop your feet up on a footstool or an ottoman.
[7:04] an expression that is given here is one that sets forth the idea of complete supremacy and autonomy so that everything is put under his feet.
[7:20] And the Father says to the Son, you have accomplished the work of redemption. You and you alone are the one who is qualified to open the scroll and to loose the seals thereof that has to do with the title deed of the earth, and now I am going to set about the business of reducing all of your enemies to a position of subservience and obedience to you.
[7:48] And this ties in with the Philippians 2 passage, that at the name of Christ every knee shall bow of things in heaven and under the earth and so on and so forth, and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[8:00] What is taking place right now as we speak, what has been taking place ever since Genesis 3 and the fall occurred is that God is in the business of righting the wrong that have been induced upon the world by sin.
[8:20] Now most of us would say from our humanness and our limited standpoint, well he sure is going about in a slow way. This thing has been going on for thousands and thousands of years.
[8:32] But I just remind you that God has his own timetable and what he has set in motion ever since that promise of redemption back in Genesis 3 15 is turning things around.
[8:44] God is right now turning things around. Our problem is we look for more dramatic and obvious progress than what we're seeing. And sometimes we don't think there's any progress being made at all.
[8:56] Sometimes we think we are in regress not progress. And in some ways we are. So far as man is concerned he is taking us down deeper and deeper and deeper into the man of sin and all of that involved.
[9:11] But at the same time I want you to keep track of this and keep this in mind that even though things may seem sometimes pretty dark and pretty bleak and we say things like how can it get any worse and so on I want you to understand God is at work maybe ever so slowly but nonetheless in accordance with a perfect timetable as only he can define perfection.
[9:38] He is orchestrated behind the scenes right now working all things after the counsel of his own good will. He is bringing to pass he rises up kings he sets down kings he gives the kingdom to whomsoever he will he is active in all of this he is at work God is doing his thing whether we think so or not or whether he does it the way we want it done or not he is doing his thing but what the revelation is about is the intensification of the process the book of the revelation is about the wrap up we are right now in process but the progress seems ever so slow when we come to the book of the revelation and in particular chapter 6 7 and 8 and the balance of the book God really pushes the fast forward button and things are going to be popping like they have never popped before this is the meaning of that expression that is found a number of times in the revelation when John was first called up from
[10:54] Patmos into heaven come up hither and I will show thee things that must shortly come to pass and we've made a point of this repeatedly and I want to do it again when John says the things which must shortly come to pass we look back on that and we say well good grief he said that 2,000 years ago and they haven't come to pass yet what's shortly about that and you must bear in mind what this means in the Greek mind and the Greek thinking and the expression that is used there in the original and what it means is I will show you things that when they come to pass they will be in very short rapid fire order that's the meaning John didn't say and John didn't mean these things are going to start happening day after tomorrow shortly it means that when these things start unfolding they are going to do so with such rapidity and such such a a manner that will just make your head swim every day's newspaper will be a new glaring headline you will not have recuperated from yesterday's news yet and there will be another catastrophe upon us and it's going to be bang bang bang bang bang bang that's what's happening with
[12:20] Revelation 6 and let's get into it now and get our review underway and I'm on page 1208 of the 26 translation that we are following chapter 6 in the middle John says I saw when the lamb and this of course is referring to Christ when the lamb opened one of the seals this is the seven sealed scroll we told you that the scroll is long scroll we don't know how long it was maybe maybe 20 feet long just one great big long scroll and it's rolled up like this and here there is a seal that binds it together then it's rolled a little bit more and another seal then it's rolled a little bit more and another seal is there rolled a little bit more until there are seven seals and the idea is when you break the first seal you open it up and you're able to read so much then you have to break the second seal and you open it up and read a little bit more and then you break the third seal and so on through the seven seals this is a seven sealed scroll he's talking about most of the translations render this a book and that's completely wrong it isn't a book at all it's a scroll and when you understand that you can appreciate how it is sealed the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were the noise of thunder he doesn't say it is thunder but he says that's the closest thing that I can describe it to it was an awesome sound sounded kind of like a peal of thunder and one of the four beasts sang and we'll not spend any more time on the four beasts and their identity that materials on previous sessions one of the four beasts or one of the four living creatures is a better way to render it saying come and see and the frames do a version translates this saying go and
[14:27] I think that is probably a better rendering the idea isn't that John isn't being told to come and see he's already there and he is seeing so I think we've got a translation problem here and I think the rings do a version is probably more accurate in simply saying go and here's what's happening one of the four beasts is saying regarding these riders on these different horses horses he isn't saying come he's saying go he is releasing him it is as though he is standing there on this white horse seated on this mountain and waiting the signal and the signal comes go and when he hears the signal he takes off on this white horse and in verse 2 we are told the white horse he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer and we've made a point that many take this white horse and the rider to be
[15:45] Christ and we are convinced that that will not fit the context and it does not fit the overall plan and program of God we need to bear in mind that this is a counterfeit Christ this is a depiction of the antichrist now we are not saying that this is the antichrist what he is saying is the rider on the white horse represents the antichrist doesn't say he is the antichrist he says that's the meaning of the symbol and it is significant that a crown was given unto him a crown almost always in scripture speaks of power or authority or regal nature and he is he has a bow and yet no arrow and when you stop and think about the characteristics of the coming antichrist and I have no idea who he is or whether he's on the scene today or not but one of the chief characteristics of the antichrist is that he will be the absolute ultimate diplomat negotiator the world will have never seen a smooth talker like this guy nations are going to be enraptured by his logic by his positions by his suggestions by his plans that he is going to implement and he is going to be characterized as an individual of peace and the nations of the world are going to put a great deal of confidence trust and authority in this individual many opened verse 3 opened the second seal
[17:35] I heard the second beast say come and see or again go in other words he's releasing this rider he's saying okay now it's your turn go and the rider on the red horse comes out power was given unto him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great sword so the rider on the white horse seemingly does not have the capacity to make war but the rider on the red horse is going to take peace that has been provided by the rider on the first horse the rider on the red horse is going to take peace from the earth so we've got a time of tranquility of hope of promise of peacefulness and it is going to be changed overnight into a time of war peace will be taken and red of course is the color of war peace from the earth and significance of blood that they should kill one another it was given unto him a great sword and when they opened the third seal
[18:50] I heard the third beast say again this is go it's your turn and I beheld and lo a black horse and keep in mind these are all symbolic of what is going to transpire and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand and I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say a measure of wheat for a penny and three measures of barley for a penny what is that all about this is talking about world economic conditions there is going to be economic chaos during this time what is always invariably a consequence of war it's always economic chaos nations are in an uproar economically because resources have been depleted during war everything is out of kilter everything is scarce everything is abnormal during a time of war and that which always follows war is economic disaster and huge shortages there will be a depletion of the world's resources of food stuff even of water and the basic things that hold life together and what the writer is saying is weymouth renders it a whole day's wage for a loaf of bread good speech says wheat at a dollar a quart barley three quarts four dollars essentially this means that people will have to labor under normal working conditions a full day in order to earn enough money to buy food for one person for that one day we do not know what that is like we do not plan on experiencing this because we will have been removed but it will be a very devastating time for those left being up and then he says and see thou heard not the oil and the wine this is a problematic passage
[20:58] I'm not comfortable with any interpretation that I've read of it but I think the thing that seems to make the most sense is oil and wine are reminiscent I think throughout the Bible of prosperity of wealth of plenty and I think that this might be the scriptures way of saying that there is going to be economic deprivation throughout the whole earth and people are going to be starving and doing without and working an inordinate amount of time in order to earn a very little bit of money to buy food but you know what you're still going to have the wealthy class they are going to be there there will still be the got bucks people there will still be the oil and the wine and there will be those who will be less impacted by this severity than others and we all know that even here in our own country 80 years ago when we suffered the great depression and people lost fortunes and all the rest of it but we also know that during that time there were fortunes made and there were a lot of people who were very wealthy whose lifestyle was not altered one iota because of the depression because they were well healed enough going into it and they could support their lifestyle that may very well mean be the meaning of this and then the fourth seal i heard the voice of the fourth beast say again go and i look and behold a pale horse now you can see a natural progression here white horse peace prosperity red horse war now we've got this in the black horse in verse five and what follows war famine deprivation and of course what follows that is the pale horse and the pale horse is descriptive and symbolic of death that's the only thing left and death is going to be on a scale and a magnitude that we cannot even begin to mention he is further identified in verse eight as his name that sat on him with death and hades followed with him and power authority was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth we do not know what fourth part that is but the scripture do say fourth part of the earth to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and with the beast of the earth this is of course intensely tribulation material this is going to be ruinous it's going to be catastrophic all throughout the earth or at least this period of time and they cried out and then in verse nine we must look at the fifth seal there are seven seals all involved and the fifth seal
[24:03] John says I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held these are martyred saints people who down through the ages and I take it probably going all the way back from the first century if you want to say this is limited to the body of Christ I would not quarrel with that it may very well go all the way back to the time of the apostles and those who were martyred for the sake of Christ and they are of course in heaven with the Lord and they are they are under the altar they are the souls that were slain for the word of God they cried with a loud voice saying how long oh Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth you know what these people are looking for justice vengeance but they nor you and I are not permitted to extract vengeance why not because vengeance belongs to the Lord he will repay and one of the reasons that we are not allowed to provide vengeance is because we do not know the proper quantity if we ever go to get even with somebody for something that they did to us we want to do something in return that will equal the harm they did to us plus a little bit more for good measure don't we do not have the capability of administering real and true justice and may I just inject something here
[25:53] I've taken this position for years and I'm more confirmed in it now than I've ever been and that is mankind and any system of government that he devises including a representative democracy a republic such as we have mankind in any form of government he may devise is incapable of governing himself with equity and justice we just can't do it and that's due to our fallen nature I don't care who you send off to congress or who you put in the oval office they are flawed individuals and their findings will be no better than their own flaws and it doesn't make any difference what country you're from or what your background doesn't make any difference whether you're a Christian you are not capable of administering on a consistent basis equity and justice that's one of the things that
[26:54] Jesus Christ is going to put into practice when he comes and justice will prevail throughout the earth so these are crying out for justice because they know their martyrdom is extreme wrong doing and white robes were given unto them and it was told unto them that they should rest yet for a little season and this little season from the time they are told this this little season is going to be encompassed in the upcoming chapters of the revelation and these are going to have their justice that is until their fellow servants and their brethren should be killed as they were should be fulfilled and I think that the context requires these being tribulation saints added to the saints that have been martyred throughout human history from the time of Christ on constituting the body of Christ and then we read the heaven verse I'm sorry verse 13 verse 12 and I beheld and here's the sixth seal remember there are seven seals the sixth seal there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became as blood and he doesn't say that the moon became blood he said it became as blood it reminded you of that when you look at it and the sun
[28:19] I don't think is required to undergo any changes at all but the sun is going to look like it's blackened out because of what's taking place in the earth's atmosphere and if this is what I think it is when you have severe earthquakes especially of a great magnitude and in multiple places throughout the earth you may be certain that there will be enormous volcanic disturbance all of these things go together it is just incredible how the earth's crust and the tectonic plates are connected with the with the volcanoes and we know some of them to be active throughout the earth this is going to be an upheaval of unparalleled proportions and one of the consequences is going to be fallout ash it is going to be just incredible we cannot imagine how well you know just recently how where was this last earthquake that affected
[29:34] Iceland yeah in Iceland right in Iceland that affected air transportation Heathrow Airport in London shut them down planes couldn't fly and that's just a drop in the bucket compared to what it's going to be because this stuff is going to envelop the earth and you are going to be gasping air trying to find decent air to breathe because this is going to be all over and it's going to be cosmic not only earthly in verse 13 the stars of heaven fell unto the earth I don't know exactly again this is involving the cosmos and I don't know if these are going to be meteors meteorites or whatever but it is going to be a conflagration the likes of which the earth has never seen it will be like a fig tree casting her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together cannot fathom that
[30:39] I don't know about you but let's look over to the next page then every mountain and island were moved out of their places this is going to be tectonic movement great land masses are going to quiver and quake and shake like they have never been shaken before Isaiah describes this time as the earth reeling to and fro staggering like a drunken man trying to maintain his balance as he walks down the street the whole earth the globe is going to be subjected to this the kings of the earth the great men the rich men chief captains mighty men every bond man and every free man people of every description every background every ethnic group every sociological status they are going to hide themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sit upon the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand
[31:53] I think the most significant thing about this is they are going to know the source of this they are not going to be saying this is all natural this is all natural they are going to know supernatural right can these last few verses be jumping to the second coming well I would put you know I would put the second coming further along in fact the second coming is going to be in revelation 19 but it is they recognize this as the beginning of the end I don't think there's any doubt about that because when it talks about the great day of his wrath has come it doesn't simply mean that Christ is coming but it means that everything that he is bringing upon this earth payback time has arrived and they're going to know this they are not going to be ignorant about this they are not going to be saying I wonder what's happening
[32:57] I don't know exactly what God is going to do or how he is going to do it to demonstrate to the inhabitants of the earth that this is his doing and there's nothing natural about it he is organizing he is orchestrating he is bringing this upon the earth and here is something we're going to find throughout the rest of the revelation and this is remarkable this is remarkable they are going to know from whom this is coming and there is not going to be one ounce of repentance or submission or regret they're going to shake their fist at the God of heaven now that is remarkable because the basis for repentance has always been information you are given good and adequate reason for changing your position or changing your mind based on the information that you are given these people are going to be living the information and they will still not repent we will find that thing throughout the revelation and despite all of this those that dwell on the earth that's another expression that is used peculiarly to revelation says those that dwell on the earth well where else would they dwell what does that mean no it means those whose only place of habitation and their only desire for any place of habitation is here on this earth they are earth bound this is all they want they want nothing to do with heaven or the God of heaven they are just locked in to the earth and this is the world system this is what
[34:48] God meant when he said love not the world these are people who love the world and this world is their home for the believer this world is not our home we're strangers and pilgrims passing through but for these unbelievers who are repentant this is their world it's the only one they have it's the only one they want it's the only one they have any interest in and that is boiled down in the expression them that dwell on the earth you might think you are included as believers among them that dwell on the earth but you're not you're not you may be living here on planet earth but you are not one of them that dwell on the earth we are strangers and children to this earth so this great day of his wrath has come and it is going to be incorporated in the other seals that are going to be the trumpets and the vials that are forthcoming so let's get into chapter 7 and yes we need to hurry on after these things
[35:50] I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree and that too is significant but not take time to go into it and I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea in other words these four angels have been given supernatural power to bring the devastation upon the earth that is coming as I said these are not going to be natural events they are going to be supernatural events both in their timing and in their magnitude these angels are ready to act ready to do their thing with angels that were sent for the destruction of
[36:51] Sodom and Gomorrah and the devastation was just absolutely incredible we don't know much about angels we know that in many respects they are superior to humans in some respects they are inferior to humans but they are a special order of created beings and they have powers that human beings do not have these angels who are eager and ready and willing to carry out their assignments are given a giving a hold off hold off hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God in their forehead and when we have done that then you can do your thing then you are released and I heard the number of them which were sealed and they were sealed 140 and 4 thousand all the tribes of the children of Israel and I'm not going to read all of this except to just say that it is there before you all of these tribes and it is it is difficult to find anything in the revelation that is more clear than what we have here these are identified as the number
[38:10] I believe the 12,000 means 12,000 there's no reason to take it for anything else when they are identified as recipients of the tribes of Israel there's certainly no justification for making these anything other than Jewish people and if you have done much study in the revelation you will understand that it is an intensely Jewish book it really is the revelation and the book of Genesis are inseparably connected and well they might be because one represents the beginning the other represents the end and what is in between is everything that transpires between those so when we read about these 12,000 of each of the 12 tribes it goes all the way back to the promises that God made to Abraham and I do not think that we can divorce that from you it's a fascinating thing if you visit
[39:13] Israel today I know some of you have I just it just kind of kind of grabbed me when we were riding along in one of the vans we saw a sign over there and said you are now entering the tribe of Nezah just like just like over here you drive down one of our county roads and it says you are now entering or leaving Clark County and over there you are now entering the tribe of John or Asher or Reuben and it just kind of sends them to show up your spine and you look at the geography of where you are and go back to the book of Judges and you can see that this is the precise place where God assigned the various tribes and he gave the tribe of Asher this land from this river to this mountain and so along the border and that's where they are today fascinating there are those who will try to tell you that they are the 144,000 it's just so much stuff and nonsense this has been one of the ploys of Jehovah's
[40:17] Witnesses for years and you would be surprised if you see people out knocking on doors and recruiting and selling Jehovah's Witness literature and I do not impug these people at all for their sincerity for their earnestness they really believe this stuff and you know what they are doing if you pin them down and talk to them they are trying to knock on enough doors and sell enough literature and gain enough approval that they might be dubbed one of the 144,000 and they are fed this kind of nonsense by their headquarters and their theology and I think this text makes it very clear that these are Jews now we've got problems with it sure I don't think there are any Jews today that know which tribe they're from I know the Kohans know that they're from the priestly tribe of Levi and if you know any Jews today who are named Levi L-E-V-I or L-E-V-Y some pronounce the Levi some pronounce the Levi they are of the priestly tribe and that has been maintained but all of the others they don't know but do you know something it's not a problem with
[41:24] God he knows exactly what tribe all of these Jews belong to he's got the DNA thing all sorted out and it is not a puzzle I have no idea how he is going to coordinate and bring all these people together for the ceiling and I don't know what the ceiling is going to be because we are told that they are going to be sealed and that let's see verse 3 until we have sealed the servants of our God in their forehead I don't know what this seal is going to be it would appear that it's going to be something that is visible and rather obvious otherwise it would seem to defeat the purpose of it and it almost sounds like they're going to be branded and they're for it we don't know what the seal is going to consist of but we do know that that seal is going to make them virtually immune to death and we kind of get the impression that if it were not for that seal it wouldn't last 15 minutes but in order that they may carry out their assignment which is going to be the evangelization of the earth not only of their fellow
[42:44] Jews who will be coming to faith in Jesus as the Messiah by the droves going to be a huge time of evangelization on the one hand and intense persecution on the other believers are going to be put to death right and left and one of the things that this martyrdom is going to propel will be more believers because it has always been the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church it has always been that way and people will get a real wake up call when they see those who are willing to suffer death rather than deny their Christ and that is going to recruit even more people wow what is it that these people have that is worth dying for I want that and that is going to provide a tremendous impetus to evangelism this is the meaning of that verse in Matthew 25 or 24 that I think many misinterpret when it says this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached throughout the whole earth before the end comes many believers interpret that to mean that the whole world is going to be evangelized before the rapture that's not what it's saying at all there is no rapture in Matthew 24 and 25 this is all second coming content not rapture and when he says this gospel will be preached throughout the whole earth before the end comes he means the gospel of the kingdom which is basically repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand it's the gospel that
[44:26] John preached it's the gospel that Christ preached it's going to come back in vogue again and it's going to be preached after the church is gone we're raptured the gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole earth before the end comes and the end is the second coming not the rapture so during the tribulation the world will undergo a time of evangelism like it has never known before and people are going to be martyred for it right and left under the authority of the antichrist these are not only going to be evangelizing jews they're going to be evangelizing everybody and it is going to be just absolutely incredible after this verse 9 I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number nowhere in the bible are we ever told how many people a multitude is it's used it's used in the gospels that Christ fed the multitude we don't know if it's talking about 500 or 5000 we know well feeding the 5000 but we're never told exactly what a multitude is but we've got multitudes to deal with here which no man could number
[45:39] I suspect we are talking about billions of people not millions but the billions of people and someone has mathematically defined the distinction and I won't try to go into it mainly because I can't remember it but the distinction between a billion and a million but you know a billion is a thousand million so a billionaire is a man who has become a millionaire a thousand times and of course a trillionaire is a thousand billion and we just can't deal with those kind of numbers not even congress can deal with those kind they try to don't they no man could number them all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands there is a soccer stadium in San Paulo Brazil that is reportedly the largest arena in the world and it can seat one quarter of a million people imagine it the horseshoe the horseshoe over in
[46:55] Columbus when they jam packed that thing full for one of their autumn football games is what maybe 105,000 something like that max well this soccer stadium in Brazil is double that plus some and that is just a drop in the bucket compared to what this is going to be can you imagine what this sea of humanity is going to be like are all these people going to just be standing there before the throne that's what it seems to say we can't imagine that we just can't we just can't identify with something like that clothed with white robes and palms in their hands and cried with a loud voice must be thunderous salvation to our God which sits upon the throne and unto the land all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four living creatures fell before their throne on their faces and worship
[48:00] God say amen blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever all of these accolades are dispensed toward the throne and the throne is worthy of receiving them one of the elders answered saying unto me what are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they and I said unto them sir thou know us and he said to me these are they which came out of great tribulation have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the land that's a beautiful expression there think about washing robes they come out blood red whatever you wash them in but that's the metaphor that is used they come out white just a beautiful beautiful thing wash the robes white in the blood of the lamb therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple we read something like that and we say good grief that must be a real boring existence can you imagine that just being there before the throne and serving him day what kind of service and are we going to become tired and fatigued and bored or hungry or what hey this is a whole new quality of being this is a manner of life that we cannot even begin to identify with
[49:35] I've often told people I'm not real sure about a whole lot of the aspects of heaven and what all that is going to include but I can promise you two things one nobody is going to be disappointed nobody is going to get there and look around and say is this it you mean this is what we've been looking forward to all this time this is the pie in the sky by and by when I die is this it there won't be any of that because God's presence is going to produce an environment the likes of which you cannot imagine I think it is going to be a perpetual kind of ecstasy just being in his presence so you're not going to be disappointed and you're not going to be bored you're not going to say oh another day of this isn't there anything else we can do and like a teenager on a
[50:49] Saturday afternoon when he's out of school I'm bored not going to be any of that it's going to be just absolutely incredible just let me put it this way it's going to be as good as God can make it and that's going to satisfy everyone with something left over wow they shall hunger no more neither thirst any more neither shall the sunlight on them nor any heat or the land which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them into living fountains of waters God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes I don't know what these tears are from I suspect they have something to do of course with past sorrows but at any rate God himself is going to wipe away all tears that's going to be more than that
[51:56] I think that would refer to the memory of loved ones that may very well be Ron people have asked questions like you know well how could heaven possibly be heaven if you're thinking in terms of who's missing and what they may be enduring because of their rebellion and rejection and how could you possibly be in heaven knowing that your loved ones would be somewhere else separated forever from God and it may well be that that will and you know here's something that we have a real problem with we look upon humanity with the only perspective that we have and it's a purely human perspective perspective but we are told that in Revelation 19 that regarding the person of Christ true and righteous are his judgments and you must understand that everyone who is not with us in heaven enjoying the presence of the
[53:07] Lord every one of them who is missing will be a recipient of pure absolute unsullied justice none will have occasion to cry foul none will be able to say I don't deserve this everyone will have to confess you know what this is what I asked for this is what I wanted this is what I deserve and justice sometimes is so hard to come by here in this world we all know that there are courts and there are judges and there are law enforcement officials some of which are corrupt and they pervert justice so that justice is not done we've even had cases of knowingly innocent people being sent to prison to protect the reputation of some prosecutor unthinkable that is as corrupt and unjust as it can be and it goes on all the time man's capable of that but God is not so someone has said that everyone who is not enjoying the presence of God in heaven whatever it is they are subjected to whether the fires of hell are literal or whether they're figurative or whatever everyone will be getting and will have to acknowledge this is what
[54:40] I wanted I did not want God in my life I did not want God running my life and now God is completely totally devoid of my being some have suggested that's the thing that makes hell more hell than anything else it is the utter complete absence of God and this is what they wanted so in essence God is giving them exactly what they asked for there's no basis for complaint and we will see that with the justice of Christ's eyes not with our limited view of justice other comments or questions anyone other thoughts comments don't you think what we've been witnessing in the last year to rapidity of things the downhill slide we've been looking at is my new glimpse of how things are going to go a lot more that may very well be someone said well
[56:24] President Obama has been in office what about a year about a year and a half a year and eight months something like that and we've already witnessed more rapid overnight changes than any of us could fathom and there may be more to come and this could very well be a harbinger of what's coming get ready things are going to happen even more quick and we're also seeing a lot of disasters type things and a lot more rapid earthquakes fires floods really nasty things nasty things seem to be closer and closer together they really do and of course if these things are true and we are we are correct in our estimation then we can conclude safely that there is every reason to believe that the rapture may be a lot closer than anybody thinks it is and I know every generation of
[57:30] Christians in the past has looked upon that as the same way and they thought the things happening in their lifetime as being an indication that the rapture's got to be real close I'm sure they thought that in the 1700s and the 1800s and my safe answer to that as you well know is always the same I don't know when it's going to take place but we are closer than anybody has ever been and with that we have one prayer okay thank you father for the truth that you've been pleased to reveal we understand our weakness and inability to expound the text in a way that is worthy of it we know that we do not always see clearly the things that are there but we are able to see enough clearly to know that you are in charge and we take great comfort for that so thank you for being the God you are for having orchestrated the events that you have and for those that are coming upon the earth because we know you are all in response to your perfect and loving character and nature we thank you for it in Christ's name amen amen you
[58:32] Thank you.