CLASSROOM IN A BOOK
DISCIPLESHIP SERIES

Book 2

DESTINY FOR DISCIPLES:
A New Look at the Book of Revelation

by:

William E. Vinson, Jr.

Published by
William E. Vinson, Jr.
Nashville, TN

First Printing

Abridged Version 2009

© 2005 by William E. Vinson, Jr.
All rights reserved

Preface

THE CLASSROOM IN A BOOK
DISCIPLESHIP SERIES

The Classroom in a Book Discipleship Series is a unique approach to education. The author has twenty-five years of experience in classroom teaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Internet teaching. The teachings covered Old Testament, New Testament, Theology, Church History, Hermeneutics, Christian Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Evangelism, and Biblical Backgrounds. In other words, the teacher was a generalist in the world of specialization.

During recent years of teaching, God sent two people into the classrooms that have made this series possible. One student brought in some audio recording gear into the seminary classrooms and recorded everything said by teacher and students. The other person, Helen Agnew, transcribed the tapes into weekly sessions. Finally, Helen put all the weeks together for a course into a book, which became the nucleus for a formal book. Next came the editing phases in which the improper English and sentence construction was corrected. Also, the organization and thought flow was improved in order to facilitate a reader’s comprehension.

Each class session became a chapter that went through several iterations of the editing process. Also, Helen provided computer drawings of the theological charts and models used by the teacher. These models were inserted into the book at the appropriate places.

INFORMAL WRITING STYLE

You should be aware that the chosen style of communication in this series of books is much more informal than the typical. I have worked to retain the folksy way of expression that I use in the classroom and pulpits. In a formal treatise, like my doctoral dissertation, the expression was stiff and formal (one may even say that it was written by a stuffed shirt). So, who is going to read my dissertation because of its stiff formality?

These books are going to be easy reading because they will be what you hear in everyday conversation. In the classroom, I am a great communicator. When reading the transcripts of my audio-recorded classroom lectures, the students have commented that they could actually hear my voice with its inflection and volume in the printed words. These sensory experiences add to the impact and learning by the reader. So, I want you to know that the folksy level of communication was purposefully chosen in order to enhance your learning experience.

Dear saint, you are in for a treat. There will be points of time in which your mind will be so absorbed into thinking new and analytical thoughts of our Most Wonderful Lord, that you will be unable to resist sharing them with a loved one. In my editing passes of the various drafts, I found myself reliving the classrooms and all the high emotion and drama. My pulse rate would quicken and convictions and tears would return.

CLASS PROCESS

Each book is a semester-long class. The subject matter is explored very thoroughly because all the students are participating in the questioning and answering. You will have the next best thing to being in the classroom. In fact, there will be times in your reading in which you will be in the classroom through imagination.

BENEFITS

Discipleship has been declared by many to be the greatest need in Southern Baptist life today. In my many years of teaching, I have had churches to bus in many of their members to take my classes at Southwestern Seminary. The reason that was given, was that it was a very good source for discipleship training. This discipleship training is a step up from Sunday School and other training because it involves seminary training at the lay level. Armed with this new discipleship training, the new lay ministers are fulfilling their calls and impacting the Kingdom of God in a very positive way. Pastors are benefiting by having some new lay ministers to help them minister. Churches and society are benefiting by receiving positive help that is theologically sound and practical.

For you, the busy Christian of today, this series is a rare opportunity to actually participate in a seminary classroom to learn from the teacher and your peers in high impact and focused studies that are not available in any other books. The teacher’s experience of teaching as a generalist will provide interconnected insights and truths that are not available in specialization. The student interactions in these books will create a relevancy that is unheard of outside the classroom. The quality of the class dynamics will lift you, the reader, up into unparalleled densely packed teachings that will greatly improve the efficiency of your learning. You owe it to yourself to jump into this series because you can get an education that is the next best thing to actually going to seminary.

In addition to the student interactions recorded in each chapter, the major points that I made which would be the source of the tests given to the classroom students are stated in the text, and the test questions are stated at the end of each chapter (class session). The answers to those tests are given at the end of the book for you to check yourself. If you seriously want to know that you have accomplished the goals of each chapter and to be able to teach a course like this, answer those questions to the point that you can do so without going back into the chapter itself— i.e. memorize those points and charts.

Introduction

I want you to know that my observations are general in nature. I am not singling you, your family, your church, your country, your theology, or your anything out for critique. I am pointing out general problems. Now, if the Holy Spirit uses my observations to prick your soul, that issue is between you and God. My job is to put forth God’s Word as clearly as I can. My observations and subsequent analyses are my own opinions. Certainly, I can be wrong in my conclusions, but I do not think that I am. You have every right to discard anything that I say. However, it is my sincere hope that you prayerfully consider my statements and become a real disciple, not of me, but of our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ.

The disciple of Jesus Christ needs to know something of the Church’s destiny. The book of Revelation provides a guide map for the disciple. There are some hard times coming. How do we prepare for them? The Lord gave us a preparation manual so that we will not crash and burn in the critical end times.

There is a significant problem though in studying the book of Revelation. That problem is that it is intended only for the Lord’s slaves (true disciples of Jesus Christ). Unlike current understanding, a Christian is not necessarily a disciple, or a slave. Certainly, every Christian has been purchased, but the chains to the Christian’s heart are not made of iron. They are made of love. Jesus says repeatedly in the book of John that whoever loves Him will obey Him (John 14:15, 21, 23). In reverse, He says that the one who does not obey Him does not love Him (John 14:24). I must then conclude that a great portion of the Lord’s Church is in rebellion.

Instead of obeying the “do not’s” and the “do’s,” which comprise the Lord’s commandments, the average Christian is climbing the ladder of success. We want nice houses, good jobs, good educations, wonderful toys, great vacations, lots of money, fancy cars, the adulations of our acquaintances, power, children to go to the best schools and achieve all of the American dream. We devote ourselves to obtaining these things.

Well what about our religion? We know that the local church is an obligation for us. So, we attend it regularly and give sizable contributions to it. By doing this, we think that God is pleased and swooning over our wonderful Christian walk. We are good citizens of our respective countries, good members of our respective local churches, and obviously moral people. We are doing the best that we can and really cannot think of anything for which we should repent.

Well, my friend, we are in trouble! Christianity calls for our primary devotion to be to Jesus rather than devotion to self, family, or anything else. A Christian cannot even be a disciple unless he first deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34; Luke 14:26-35). In our modern understanding of discipleship, there is little, if any, sacrifice. Many of us are indulging ourselves by following after the American dream. I don’t care how much you or I love Jesus with our sentimental emotions, we are not disciples if we are going after our temporal dreams. Temporal dreams are of treasures in this lifetime, like those described above. Eternal dreams are of treasures in heaven. Paul expressed this principle by saying that temporal treasures are like dung to him. His thinking was that temporal gain for him was really a loss for Christ, and therefore they were dung. His total devotion was toward the excellency of knowing Christ.

We know that the Church in general is in apostasy. How can we know that? Look at 2 Chronicles 7:14. If our land is currently in good shape, then we are not in apostasy. However, it does not take a genius to see that our land is in a mess. Many in the Christian Church cannot figure out right from wrong, good from evil, or light from darkness. Those in Satan’s camp know those differences instantly. They want abortion, pornography, homosexuality, divorce, corrupt government, higher taxes, lotteries, government control of life from the womb to the tomb, homosexual marriage, reversal of the gender roles, exclusion of God’s Name and the Ten Commandments from all of society, inclusion of Santa Claus and Easter bunnies, inclusion of Satanic worship at Halloween, inclusion of other religions and humanism, anything goes because what is right is intuited by each individual (with the exception of Christians), removal of the Law, replacing the law code with the subjective law of robed men, removal of free enterprise, expanding restrictions that will kill all but the politically correct businesses, mandating that all journalism be balanced between liberal and more liberal (without any conservative views allowed), education to be dominated by left-wing America-hating socialists. I could go on and on here, but I think that you get the drift.

Well then how should the Christian then live? The answer to that question is the subject matter of this book. You are on a path toward destiny. Please make sure that your destination is correct and your path is straight.

Warning!

Warning: Please know in advance of reading this book that you could have a huge change to occur in your life. If you do not want to change, then do not read this book. Also on the other hand, this book alone will not change your life. You must mix faith with your knowledge and then be willing to change. Change is difficult and many times painful. This much I know—the cost of discipleship is sacrificial, cross-bearing following of Jesus Christ our Lord.

CONTENTS

Title / Copyright

Preface

Introduction

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5

Lesson 6

Lesson 7

Lesson 8

Lesson 9

Lesson 10

Lesson 11

Lesson 12

Conclusion

Glossary

Answer Section

LESSON 1

THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST

I want to approach this semester by first talking about apocalyptic literature. I will attempt to form some distance between the book of Revelation and apocalyptic literature. The book of Revelation is THE APOCALYPSE, not apocalyptic literature.

APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE

Apocalyptic literature is a name that has been given to non-canonical Jewish writings that have an expectation of some kind of a deliverer who will be political in nature. The Book of Revelation has nothing to do with that kind of approach. The Book of Revelation starts off is with the Greek word, Apocalypsis. Apocalypsis means “an unveiling of something otherwise unknowable by man,” and it comes from God. There are non-canonical materials labeled as “apocalyptic,” but these materials do not have their origin in God.

Revelation is an umbrella word; under this umbrella stands things given to man from God whether it is prophecy, or a letter, or a psalm, or a drama. Revelation is something that comes from God to man. It is a downward moving thing, which means that it comes under the umbrella of the Doctrine of Revelation (see Chart 1.1).

The entire Bible is Revelation. If we begin to fall into that trap of considering the book of Revelation to be within the genre of apocalyptic literature, then we are taking one of the books out of the Bible and lumping it over with this non-canonical apocalyptic literature that deals with political deliverance.

Apocalyptic literature grew out of the hopeful projections of Jews for a strong champion who would deliver them from their persecutors. This literature originated in times of terrible oppression. To classify this book as another in this category is wrong, and it does not do justice to this book that has its origin in God.

Moving the book of Revelation into the non-canonical category will result in falling into some traps. One of those traps is that we could say that the writer of this book is somebody other than the Apostle John. There are, however, some peculiarities about this book that cause it to look different from the Gospel of John. We will need to have some different hermeneutical rules in order to interpret this special book of Revelation. We are going to get some clues from God as to how to interpret this book.

Apocalypsis

The first word in this book is the inarticulate “Apocalypsis of Jesus Christ” which means revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelation is, of course, apocalyptic. It is letterform, some of it is drama form, some of it is vision, and some of it is prophecy (see Chart 1.1). The answer to the question, “Is the Book of Revelation, apocalyptic?” is yes!

We are going to study this book with a reverence because it is a book of the Bible.

Author

This inerrant Book says John is the writer, but God is the author. You don’t have to go read a bunch of commentaries to find out who wrote the Revelation, just read the Bible.

Historical Context

The best date is A.D. 95, which is during the time of Domitian, the Roman Emperor.

Who was Domitian and how does he relate to Revelation? There are two parts.

A. Problem:

Domitian was Emperor of Rome who claimed to be divine, and demanded to be worshipped. Nonconformance was punishable by death. He is the emperor who banished John.

B. Historical context:

Before emperor worship, there was the cult of Rome, in which the empire of Rome was deified as a Goddess (“Dea Roma”).

Julius Caesar implemented emperor worship (before Christ) by putting his statue in the temples.

Augustus Caesar implemented emperor worship in the provinces during Christ (31 B.C. to A.D. 14).

Caligula demanded worship and put his statue in the Jewish temple (A.D. 37 to 41).

Nero exploited emperor worship and blamed the fire in Rome on the Christians (A.D. 54 to 68).

Domitian demanded emperor worship and punished nonconformance (A.D. 81 to 96).

You begin with emperor worship and the demand for it. Then the progression goes to the point of being killed for not conforming to it. This progression is important because it foreshadows the rise of Antichrist in the end times. We need to understand what is coming so that we do not fall into the trap of being deceived, and worshipping someone or something that will endanger the Christian faith.

HISTORICAL APPROACHES

Now that we have the date and the occasion and Domitian’s purpose, we need to look at the historical approaches.

The Preterist approach is where the book applies to John’s contemporaries only.

The Continuous-Historical approach means that the book is a historical laying out the history of the Christian church over a long period of time.

The Futurist approach means that this book applies into the future.

The Philosophical approach is one in which there are principles that God uses to govern history, and this book is a collection of those principles.

It is my choice that we use all of these; I think there is a continuous sweep of history depicted in this book. There is a collection of principles by which God is going to be showing us how He governs history.

We are moving along in God’s history. It is up to us to see how we get there.

REVELATION 1

Okay, let’s open up to Revelation 1.

Revelation

1:1 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:

Revelation For Slaves

Revelation is the apocalypsis. God gave this revelation to show unto his servants (plural). The purpose of this book is for His servants. Servant is slave, doulos. Jesus is the slave owner. You have been purchased as a slave. God has a plan for your life, and He is going to spend you the way He wants to.

If you do your own thing, then you are in rebellion, and there is no wonderful adventure in that. There is going to be eternal loss in that rebellion. Following God is what you do as a slave. If you get in front of God, and ask Him to follow you, you are being a rebel.

The slavery that this book is talking about is when the Lord takes off walking, and He walks through the valley of the shadow of death, you are following right behind Him. You need to know that the present invitation is for you to become a slave. I am going to lead in a prayer right now. Will you surrender all to Jesus Christ, and yield your life in slavery to Him no matter what?

Lord, Jesus, I surrender my life to you because I want to be your slave, just like John was your slave. This book was sent to be shown to your slaves, and I want to see, so God please show me your plan. I am your slave no matter what your plan for my life is—I yield it all to you right now to the glory of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Many Students:   Amen!

HIERARCHY OF REVELATION

Pathway

Now I want you to see where this book came from. This is the pathway of this book (see Chart 1.2). The Father alone knows the times. He gives the revelation to Jesus. Where it says: “which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants” (v. 1). The destination for the information is the Lord’s servants/or slaves. The reason why you do not know anything about the book of Revelation is because most churches are not slaves. They read this book, and they still do not understand it. They come up with all manner of schemes of how to interpret it so that they have no tribulation in their lives. They end up with nothing but blessings for us; they think we are not to have any pain or even any suffering. But this book is really for the true servants/or slaves inside of these churches.

Signs

The first arrow in the hierarchy goes to Jesus. Jesus gives it to an angel who is going to signify (or show by signs) the information to John (see chart 1.3). As you are driving down the highway, you see a sign that says you ought to reduce your speed to 35 miles per hour. That is a word sign. But that is not what came to John. What came to John was a picture sign.

Say that you are driving down the road, and you see a picture sign (Chart 1.4). You should interpret that sign within the context of past interpretations. You look at that and you say, “My road is going to curve to the right, and this diamond means slow down.” An absurdity occurs when someone interprets the sign as follows: “Okay, that diamond means a jewel. According to the arrow, the jewel was shot straight up into the air and curved to the right before its descent. We will go out here on the right hand side of the road and see if we can find that diamond. You see how absurd that is? You didn’t take the true meaning of the sign to heart.

Now John got these pictorial kinds of signs. But he is going to write a description of the picture. He would say, I saw a diamond piece of metal with two holes in it and two things that look like bolts or some kind of fasteners, and it was attached to a metal pole. It had a big black line on the metal diamond. The black line went upwards and over to the right. It is up to you to take what he writes and try to find out what it means.

Do you know how you interpret the sign? by the help of the Holy Spirit. Slaves are the only ones who are going to understand the signs. Let God begin to open up to you the understandings of those signs.

He will show us how to do this interpretation in verse 20. But that is too far ahead of us right now. We need to do verses 2 and 3 next.

Blessing

Revelation

1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
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.

If you read this book and keep it (believe and obey), or if you hear this and keep it, you will be blessed. It is going to change your life, and you will thank God for eternity for this course.

The time (v.3) that we are dealing with here is kairos rather than chronos. Kairos is at hand. Chronos is past, present, and future. Visualize how it all can be encapsulated into a point (see Chart 1.5). That point is kairos, and kairos is where God intersects chronos. He has within Him all of time. He is the I AM. That means wherever you are in chronos time, God is. He is in the past and in the present. He is in the future. You, by faith, can bring the kairos into the chronos.

Seven

Revelation

1:4 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;

Seven is a number that has more than just a numerical value. It has a universal value.

All through this semester I will be giving you my interpretations of what I think the signs are saying. You do not have to believe my interpretations. I give you the freedom that I wish I had had when I was a student.

Beth:   What do you mean when you say seven has a universal designation?

V:   The seven churches would be a statement that it is the universal church. Seven spirits is the universal spirit, the whole thing.

The Three Offices Of Christ

When we come down to verse 5 . . .

Revelation

1:5 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,

I want you to see the three offices of the Lord (prophet, priest, and king). Prophet is the first office exemplified in His being the faithful witness. The second one is priest. When you are dealing with sacrifice you are dealing with the priestly ministry of death, and Jesus paid with His own life as a sacrifice for my sins. The third office is the royal office, which deals with ruling, and there it says that He is “the prince of the kings of the earth.”

Following after the three offices of Jesus the functions of the three offices are given. The first function is that He loved us, and that is the prophetic function. Do you know to whom you are going to witness? To those you love. Jesus loved us. He came to us. That is the prophetic function of love.

The second function is “washed us.” Washing is the kingly or the royal function. He gives that washing to you through the power that He achieved through His sacrificial work. Shedding the blood is a priestly function, and that is third. So you have the three offices and the three functions of those offices delineated all in the same verse.

THE TWO ESCHATOLOGICAL
OFFICES FOR SAINTS

Verse 6 is an interesting change.

Revelation

1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Orientation of Priests and Kings

He did not say priests, kings, and prophets for us. What is going on? He said priests and kings.

Let me tell you what I think this means. Right now when you are encountering people in the world, you are serving as a prophet by telling them what the Lord said. However in the eschaton, you are going to be kings and priests. A king exercises rule. A priest brings the petitions of the people to the ruler.

What is the orientation of a king? A king stands above, and says, “This is what I want you to do. Go, do this, this, and this.” When you go to the Lord as priests in the eschatological kingdom, you are going to bring back the messages and the petitions to the Lord in the same way that the priest does now.

This is a serious business because all throughout the Bible you are prophet, priest, and king, but here the prophet is left out of your assignment. How interesting that is! I want you to ponder these kinds of things.

Wanda:   The priest and king in the heavenlies, would that be conditional upon our being faithful servants here?

V:   Yes, good point!

Betty:   So, do nothing, you get nothing.

V:   That is right. You see there are going to be a lot of peons in heaven. They are going to need some kings to tell them what to do. Your opportunity, then, is to get on board and get right because “to whom much is given, much is required” (Luke 12:48). If you are faithful in the little things, when you go to heaven, much will be given to you.

Wanda:   We have the promise once we are saved, but our doing is necessitated by our relationship to Christ through faith.

V:   That is right! We will pick up in the next lesson at verse 7.

Lesson Questions

Describe the importance of the word slave.

What is the hierarchy of revelation for the book of Revelation?

What are signs, and how are they used in Revelation?

What does the number seven mean in Revelation?

Describe the orientation of priests and kings.

LESSON 2

The Hermeneutical Key for Interpretation

JESUS APPEARS TO JOHN

Revelation 1 (Continued)

We finished verse 6 in the last chapter; we will pick up with verse 7.

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.

This wail is going to be because the One Who is coming back is going to be coming to bring judgment. They have rejected Him, and to look upon Him is to know yourself as sin. This is going to be a great discomfort for the peoples of the earth.

Revelation

Revelation 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

God is describing a time frame that is all encompassing beginning with the past, coming through the present, and going all the way out to the end.

John

Revelation

Revelation 1:9 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.

John has been banned to the Isle of Patmos, an island where criminals are sent. John tells us He was a witness for Jesus Christ. Because he was a witness he was banished to this island. Tradition has it that they attempted to kill him by dropping him in boiling oil, and it did not kill him. As an old man condemned to die, they put him on the island to spend the rest of his life there.

Tribulation

I want to point out for you that John is your brother in three things: (1) tribulation, (2) kingdom, and (3) patience. You do not get to the kingdom in this life apart from tribulation, and you do not stay in the kingdom apart from patience.

Three references for you to note are: 2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22, and Romans 5:1-5. These passages have to do with tribulation, and they clearly say that there is no departure from it if you are going to follow after righteousness.

Patience

Another reference that has to do with patience is Luke 21:8-36 and onward. Luke 21:8 says, “And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived . . ..” We talked about deception last week. Deception is unknown by the one being deceived. The knowing of truth sets us free from deception.

Luke

Luke 21:8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am [Christ]; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 21:9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end [is] not by and by. 21:10 Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 21:11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 21:12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute [you], delivering [you] up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. 21:13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony. 21:14 Settle [it] therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 21:15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 21:16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and [some] of you shall they cause to be put to death. 21:17 And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name's sake. 21:18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls.

Patience is a picture like this in Chart 2.1. If I am going to practice patience, I am going to stand under a burden. Patience is Hupomeno, and it means to abide under (hupo = under, and meno = abide). The great pressing burden is the persecution of Luke 21:12. But patience holds you under it, and you abide under it.

You possess your souls in patience in (Luke 21:19). To possess your soul is to be able to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus.¹ It means to be able to say, “Yes,” to the pain and to the sacrifice. However, the burden becomes light when you are in yoke with Jesus.²

He says that you are not to give thought to what you are going to say. Settle that in your heart! What are you going to say? You are going to say “Yes” to Jesus, and “No” to the fear of death. Settle that in your hearts. Do it now, and when the time comes, God will give you the wisdom and the words that will destroy the arguments of those people.

We have a history full of our forefathers who have done these because it was settled in their hearts. These people overcame their fear of death. Please remember that God does not give dying grace on a non-dying day, but when the dying day arrives, God’s grace will be there for us. The pathway to the kingdom is through tribulation, and patience holds you in that tribulation.

JESUS IS SEEN

In verse 9 John linked himself with us, and in verse 10 he says,

Revelation

Revelation 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, . . ..

John is in the Spirit walking with Jesus. He is worshipping the Lord, and as he draws close to the Lord, the Lord draws close to him and speaks to him, and it is a voice that sounds like a trumpet. Verse 11 says that the voice identifies Himself as the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. The voice gives him a commandment and says:

Revelation

Revelation 1:11 . . . What thou seest, write in a book, and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

The number “seven” gives the idea of being the whole of a thing. The seven churches of God is the whole church. There are seven specific churches, but together they represent the whole church.

Revelation

Revelation 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 1:13 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.

The Church Is Seen First

Focus your attention here on the fact that the Lord is behind John speaking to him; when John turns, he does not see the Lord. He sees the church. He turns and sees the candlesticks, and then he sees One walking among the candlesticks. When the world looks at you, they see you first, and then they see Who is walking among you

This is not the Jewish candlestick that has the seven arms that come up (as in Chart 2.2).

It is seven independent candlesticks. Each church stands on its own, and has not a corporate destiny but an individual destiny. There is both unity and distinction in the destiny just as there is in individual Christians.

Many people dislike hearing about distinctions in heaven. They want to think they are going to have crowns and mansions and all this glory. To be sure, there is going to be perfection in heaven, but I want you to know what perfection means. If you have a 40-watt light bulb, and a 100-watt light bulb, both of them are perfect, but when you turn them on, the 100-watt light bulb is brighter. Thus you have distinctions among perfection.

Bob: That was an interesting point that you brought out when you said that the whole world sees us first. When they look at us, what does the world see? What we do reflects on Jesus and our relationship with Christ. That is why some in the world do not want to come to church. The world does not see a difference.

Mary: Do you have a reference for perfection in heaven?

V: No, I do not have a specific reference; I have a principle. Telos is the Greek word for perfect. It means also “end point.” Heaven is our end point. Therefore, we will be perfect in heaven.

Lord Described

A description of the Lord begins with his priestly garment. This garment is also described in Exodus 28. Let us now move on to His hair, verse 14.

Revelation

Revelation 1:14 His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire; 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

John saw a white-headed man whose eyes burned like fire, a fire that lights, consumes, evaluates, and does the purification. Amazingly, John looks down at His feet. His feet are like burnished bronze that has been burned in the oven, and it is bright and shiny, because it has come through the fire.

Beautiful Feet

Our Lord has given us an example to follow so that we will walk through the fire. Somewhere it says something about beautiful are the feet.³ Beautiful feet belong to those who take the message of hope to the people. Stay under the burden no matter what comes against you. When you go through the fire on your way to heaven, the people of heaven will look at your feet, and say, “He has been through the fire, beautiful feet.”

We need to get our feet burnished. Keep pressing forward, stay under the burden, do not let anything stop you. It is for sure that you will be persecuted. The Bible says that, but settle it in your hearts ahead of time that you are not going to run from the burden.

Many people want to have no pain, no suffering, easy life, Christianity as a bed of roses, continuous celebration, name it and claim it prayers. When all this suffering comes down, how are you going to react?

Kenosis

Life is made up of the temporal and the eternal. When you can see with the eyes of wisdom and faith, you can see the difference. Philippians 2 tells us about the kenotic walk, the walk of denying yourself, picking up your cross, and going after the Lord even unto death. Jesus came down. He humbled Himself. He was a servant. He became a man even though He was equal to God. That equality with God was no theft because that was who He was. He had no temporal reputation, and He became obedient even unto death on the cross. This is the kenotic pathway (see Chart 2.3).

Jesus died on the cross. He left His first estate and came down as a man and a servant, and He met His death. Because He was obedient to the Father, He was exalted. The same principle applies to us. The Scriptures about suffering also apply to us. The way to the kingdom is through suffering and patience. He did what God’s Word tells us.

What is your path? It is identical to the Lord’s path. God commands us in Philippians 2:5 to have this kenotic mind that was demonstrated by Jesus. He is our model. Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost. He did it through death. Guess what you have to do? You are going to do the same thing. “As my Father has sent me, so send I you.”⁴

You can’t be a disciple apart from selfdenial. You can see the cross ahead, but you stay on the path and keep going toward it. Your whole psychology, your whole soul, every part of our being says, “throw the burden off, get out of here.” But if you are patient, you will go to the cross.

We travel the kenotic path. If you lose your life, you will have it.⁵ Whoever is last shall be first.⁶ He says, “Not a hair of your head will perish.”⁷

Upside Down Kenosis

The reverse of the kenosis is a horrible and deceptive thing, but we all are caught up in it. Instead of denying yourself, you indulge yourself. Instead of sacrificing and becoming humble, you become proud and arrogant. Instead of going to the death, you climb to life, and pretty soon you get a throne.

But there is another side to this upsidedown kenosis. If you achieve your exaltation on the temporal side, you will be humbled in eternity (see Chart 2.4). So there are eternal consequences for what we are talking about.

If you can begin to see across this chasm from the temporal to the eternal on Chart 2.3, you will gain much wisdom. It takes the eye of faith.

Jack: I have always been told that patience is a virtue, and what you are saying here, enduring the kenosis, you are being patient all the way through to reach your just reward?

V: Yes. Patience means you stay with it. Hupomeno. Hupo means under, and meno means to abide. You abide under it.

Sybil: What does kenosis mean?

V: It means to empty yourself. And that is why this starts off “He emptied Himself.” Philippians 2:7: “Made himself of no reputation” (KJV).

Henry: It says we will be joint heirs with Him in the by and by.⁸ That means we have to join in on His path to be joint heirs.

V: There will be no joint heirs apart from the joint walk. Without the walk, only the destination of heaven will be joint.

Let us go to verse 16.

Revelation

Revelation 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.

He has brilliance around His countenance, in His right hand are the seven stars, and out of His mouth comes the two-edged sword. The two-edged sword is the Word of God, and the seven stars are, as we are going to see in verse 20, the seven angels.

Revelation

Revelation 1:17 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: 1:18 I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Fear

“Fear not” is a volitional thing. Fearing when you see with your eyes, fearing when you hear with your ears, fearing when you feel with the touch are all spontaneous. It is involuntary because it comes with the senses. What the Lord does here is to command you to take hold of that fear, and then, bring it under your will. He wants you to move it from the sensory, or perceptory sensation, to the rational. Fear will move you off the kenosis. Fear is the enemy of faith. Peter walked on water until fear gripped his soul, and then he began to sink.

You have to move to the rational. You must grab hold of that fear, bring it under your will, and then use reason to hold it there and conquer it.

If you can begin to see with the eyes of faith, you will not fear the temporal because the exaltation has to come through the gateway of the cross. Bring that fear under your will and reason and seal it with your faith. That has to be done by observing Jesus. Jesus bridges the chasm from the temporal to the eternal. By looking at Him, you can bridge the chasm, too.

Jill: You know Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is telling the disciples and everybody not to worry. When we focus on the temporal or the fear, it takes away our zeal to do the will of God. If we focus on Him, He is going to abide in us and give us the strength to get through whatever it is.

Tim: I was thinking about the Scripture that says, “God has not given us the spirit of fear” (2 Timothy 1:7). The spirit of fear then comes from Satan.

Bob: Sound-mindedness is the spirit He has given us. We have to use that soundmindedness to subdue those fears.

V: You are in a war, and fear is one of the weapons being used against you. You can take hold of it and bring it under your rational faith and stay on path.

Revelation

Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

Now here is a statement where He wants John to write down what he has seen in the context of time. It is linear in scope. You have the past, the present, and the future. The Lord, then, put Himself on our kind of timeline, and He is saying to John, This is what I want you to write about, and it is a sweep of history. So now He gives him the hermeneutic in verse 20.

HERMENEUTIC

Revelation

Revelation 1:20 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.

Stars, then, are angels, and the candlesticks are churches. That is a hermeneutic that we can take hold of. The Lord gave it to us in the first chapter, and we are going to take it the rest of the way in this course.

Jack: Since there are angels appointed unto the churches, I know that we have read in other commentaries where demons are appointed to the nations and people. Is that the same context?

V: Yes, exact same context.

Joe: Is not the reference to angels here the pastors of the churches?

V: There are a lot of commentaries that say that. As a matter of fact, most of the commentaries say that. I am going to come down on this idea right here. In the book of Revelation you have the symbol, and the stars refer to angels. If star refers to pastors, then you have another or third thing. I am going to stop at this point with the way the Lord said it. But you do not have to agree with me! You have every right to be wrong (whole class laughs).

I am not becoming literalistic because this whole book is a drama using images, and the images are symbols. The Lord, then, is going to give us instruction throughout the entire book in this realm, but He is giving us a hermeneutic here about how to get down to the real thing that He is talking about.

Paul: You have freed my mind to look at symbols in Revelation for symbols sake. The way I see it now, God through Jesus Christ sends an angel to the church and empowers that angel to thereby empower the pastors thereby to empower the people.

V: We reach an absurdity with departing from God’s hermeneutic which says that the stars are angels. If we should insist that the angel is not an angel but a pastor, then we have a pastor giving the signs to the Apostle John. This would put a pastor in the hierarchy of Chart 1.2

Now before I move to Chapter 2 of Revelation, let’s review our hermeneutic. God is speaking in signs. John is describing the signs, and we are to interpret the signs from the descriptions. God interpreted the first two signs for us so that we could see how to do it. God says that candlesticks are churches and that stars are angels. Therefore throughout this book references to stars and candlesticks will mean angels and churches respectively.

REVELATION 2

John took his commission from the Lord seriously, and he started writing. Now that is neat. Kind of different now, is it not? He has to beg us, and then He cannot get half of us to do what He wants us to do.

That is why we had the prayer last week of commitment of ourselves to be slaves. This book is only for slaves. If you are not a slave, you are not going to get the understanding. As a slave, you have to know what God is saying to you when He says, “Follow me.”

EPHESUS

Chapter two starts off with the first church he is going to address, the church at Ephesus.

Revelation

Revelation 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 2:3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 2:4 Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

I have done a detailed analysis of the material discussed in the passages dealing with the seven churches. The chart for Ephesus is Chart 2.5.

The name, Ephesus, means desirable. The Bride of Christ is desirable to Christ.

Description of Jesus

The description of Jesus is twofold:

He holds the seven stars

He walks among the seven candlesticks

Commendations

Work, labor, and patience

No bearing evil

Tried false apostles

Borne with patience

Labored without fainting

Hate Nicholaitanism.

You see what I am doing, taking the descriptions just like they are in the Scriptures, so that I can begin to see a picture of this kind of church. God says that He (singular pronoun) that has an ear should hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Every one of us is going to get categorized into one of these seven churches here. When you determine which category you are, hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and do what He tells you to do.

Homer: Are you implying that the exhortation applies to the individual Christian?

V: You bet. We are not dealing with institutions. We are dealing with kinds of Christians within the universal church. If you have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. That is a command. We prayed that we would have ears. The sad thing is that I have preached in churches filled with people that have solid bone on each side of their heads.

Joe: The Nicolaitans are gnostics or something like that are they not?

V: You can read the commentaries and choose whether to believe them or believe me. I cannot find an authority for Nicolaitanism. The way I see it, “Nico” is to fight or do battle with, to conquer. “Laitanism” is the laity or laymen. This means hierarchicalism in the church. Clericalism. Nicolaitanism is for somebody to get between you and the Lord.

Paul: It is kind of like how the institutional church has it set out, the church is the only way to true salvation according to their doctrine.

V: Exactly. And God hates that kind of deal. It dethrones Jesus Christ as Lord. You follow Jesus Christ because He is your Lord —nobody else. My job as teacher is to get your hand and His hand hooked together and get out of the way. If I can do that, you will be on the greatest adventure your life can have, but if you follow me, it will be humdrum and disaster.

Steve: Amen! (Whole class begins to laugh).

V: Touché!

Reprimand for Ephesus

The reprimand column has one—left first love. Ephesus was the church where John spent some time. The church had the Apostle Paul and Timothy there for a while. When Paul went to Macedonia he left Timothy there. After Paul was executed in Rome, Timothy came back to Ephesus, and they grabbed him and executed Timothy in honor of the goddess, Artemis. John was banished to Patmos from there. Now he is writing back to his church. He was the last bishop there.

Notice this: The Apostle John is known as the apostle of love. The book of John will tell you all about love. Here he is writing to his church where he taught love, and they have left their first love. At His very strength is where they departed. That is a hurting thing.

Exhortations for Ephesus

The exhortation and or else for Ephesus are:

Remember

Repent

Resume works (or else get candlestick removed)

Many people think that Gospel and grace precludes works, but I am going to tell you right now, works are very much a part of our salvation. You are saved unto good works.

The “Else” is that your candlestick will be removed.

Promise for Ephesus

We come to the promise: Eat of the tree of life in the midst of paradise.

If you will re-examine Chart 2.5, you will see how these items are related. Jesus is described as holding the seven stars. That tells me of His power. He also walks among the seven candlesticks. That describes fellowship. Why do you think He described Himself in terms of power and fellowship to this church? He is describing Himself in terms of what that church needs.

Who of you in here are Ephesus? You need to see the power of your Lord, and you need to see the fear of losing your fellowship with Him.

Paul feared that he could be set aside, not to lose his salvation, but to be set aside and not called on to bring glory to the Lord. Can you think of a worse fate in this life? Remember, repent, and then step out. That is what He wants of this church. Draw close to Him; He will draw close to you.

Sybil: Just like with Jeremiah. Repent or lose your office.

V: That is right.

SMYRNA

John had disciples around him including Polycarp, Papias and Ignatius. These guys became famous in their own right, because lions ate them, they were burned at the stake, and they suffered with patience all the way to the end.

Before going into the Scripture, I want to talk about Polycarp. He was the bishop at Smyrna. He was the disciple of the Apostle John in the same way that Timothy was the disciple of the Apostle Paul. This is the story of Polycarp’s arrest and his martyrdom. It is an example worth following.

MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP
The Bishop of Smyrna
A.D. 155
Written by the church at Smyrna
Taken from
Documents of the Christian Church
edited by Henry Bettenson,
1963 edition, Oxford University Press.

During the games of pitting Christians against wild beasts in Smyrna, the people desired Polycarp to be brought among the atheists.

Note: The reason they called Christians atheists was because they would not adopt all of the polytheism that the Roman Empire had adopted. The Roman Empire, every time they conquered a nation, adopted the gods of that nation, and so they just kept adding on, adding on, adding on; pretty soon they had this whole bunch of gods. And then here are these Christians saying, “We aren’t going to worship all of those gods.” So Christians were called atheists by the Romans.

When Polycarp was apprehended, the sheriff tried to persuade him to confess Caesar as Lord and thereby save himself. When Polycarp refused to confess Caesar as Lord, he was taken to the stadium. As Polycarp entered the stadium, a voice from heaven was heard by Polycarp and the Christian witnesses to tell Polycarp to “be strong and play the man.” (p. 10) But the Proconsul urged him, “Swear and I will release thee; curse the Christ.” (p.10) And Polycarp said, “Eighty and six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how can I blaspheme my king who saved me?” (p. 10)

When the Proconsul continued to persist, Polycarp answered “If thou dost vainly imagine that I will swear by the genius of Caesar as thou sayest, pretending not to know what I am, hear plainly that I am a Christian. And if thou art willing to learn the doctrine of Christianity, grant me a day and hearken to me.” (p. 10)

After the fire was laid and about to be lit, they were about to nail Polycarp to the stake, when he said, “Let me be as I am. He that granted me to endure the fire will grant me also to remain at the pyre unmoved without being secured with nails.” (p. 11)

“All the people were amazed at the great difference between unbelievers and the elect. . .” (pp. 11-12)

Class! Polycarp is a great example of solid Christianity. There is a difference between the kenotic Christian and those on the upside down kenosis, and if you can just settle it in your heart, the world will see that difference. Polycarp was the bishop of the church to receive the second letter. We will deal with the contents of that letter in the next chapter.

Lesson Questions

Explain how Jesus is seen after the church is seen?

Describe the hermeneutic, and under it, what are the stars and the candlesticks?

Describe the Lord’s appearance to John.

What is the relationship between fear and faith?

Who was Polycarp and how did he die?

Lesson 3

LETTERS TO CHURCHES

SMYRNA

We had the introduction to Smyrna in the last chapter, with the pastor of Smyrna being burned; that was Polycarp. Now we are going to look at the church. See Chart 3.1 for this church.

Revelation

2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;
2:9 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.
2:10 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.
2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Smyrna, is named after its chief product, myrrh. Myrrh is incense that can give a good odor to something. It is also used for embalming the dead.

The Jews, the synagogue of Satan, were the people zealous in the building of the fire and bringing of Polycarp to the stake for him to burn. The synagogue of Satan is any synagogue that rejects Jesus.

Commendations for Smyrna

These Christians are noted for their works doing all phases of the Missio Dei. God commends their tribulation and poverty. They are actually rich in the spiritual realm. They have laid up treasure in heaven.

God commands these Christians not to fear. Fear is volitional. It is countered by a sound, rational mind. We must use our minds to use our faith and hope to conquer fear. Fear is spontaneous, and it arises with perceived suffering, but God says to fear not what we shall suffer.

Tribulation Ten Days

There is a statement here: “ye shall have tribulation ten days.” I think this is once again a signing of a truth. That ten days indicates to me that it is like the whole thing in the same way that “seven” gives a universal concept.

Betty: Dr. Vinson, you lost me on the ten-day thing.

V: If we take the quantitative and the signing together, then the signing of ten means the whole thing. We are going to get to some more of that when we get to the beast and the ten horns.

Wanda: Compared to eternity, our lifetime would be a short period of time.

V: Yes, compared to eternity it would be, but I do not think we need to stop and haggle over these issues because it is strictly up to you. I am giving you mine. Take it and throw it out if you want.

Ten days is a temporal whole. It ends with your death. Those of you, then, that are of this church are going to suffer the rest of your lives. If you are of Smyrna, Polycarp then would be a typical model for you. Polycarp got the crown of life. Guess what you are going to get if you persevere unto death? The crown of life!

Make sure you have an ear to hear. If you overcome, if you stand under the burden, if you go to the end, you, too, will have the promise: “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” This is a double negative in Greek that does not convert to a positive. It is a confirmed negative. There is no way under the sun that the Smyrna Christian can be touched by the second death, and there is also the promise of the crown of life.

Description of Jesus

The description of Jesus to Smyrna is that He is the first and the last, and He was dead and is alive. I am not the authority in what we are talking about here in this description of Jesus. I took my best shot, and I decided that the description interpreted here is that Jesus is the total timeline and our hope. Because the “first and the last” means the first in the beginning and the last at the end and everything in between.

How do you perceive Jesus? How you perceive Jesus indicates how you behave. How you behave is who you are. Who you are is what you are going to do. That means then, that you can analyze yourself in these passages. If you are in this church, you are going to go the distance in suffering. Polycarp is your model.

Smyrna Needs Hope

In drawing the lines on the chart, “being faithful unto death” would have a line drawn to hope from it (Chart 3.1). “Fear not future sufferings” and “tribulations” would also go to hope. “The crown of life” and “no second death” goes to hope.

The need that the Smyrna Christian has in my opinion is hope. Anybody going through suffering has to have hope. Hope that goes beyond the veil is the anchor of our souls (Hebrews 6:18-20).

You remember how we looked at the kenosis? You must look across the gap and see the future resurrection. Jesus will bring you into that category of Christians receiving the Crown of Life, but you have to have hope. Otherwise you cannot go to that cross. You have to view Jesus as the resurrected Lord without beginning and without end. Once dead, but now alive, and you are going to follow the same model.

Smyrna needs that hope even though there is not one reprimand. But there is the challenge: Persevere all the way unto the death.

Make sure your hope is not in the temporal realm. Look across the chasm. Look at Jesus who was dead in the temporal but alive in the eternal. There is your hope.

Being able to see the hope takes the eyes of faith. Look past the ten days. Look over into eternity. Look at the resurrected Lord. That is how you have that hope.

PERGAMOS

An interesting thing about Pergamos is that it is made up of two words. Gamos means marriage. I do not know what the “per” means.

Revelation

2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;
2:13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, [even] where Satan's seat [is]: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas [was] my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth [it].

Description of Jesus

Jesus is described as wielding a sharp sword with two edges. He wants to cut this church loose from its bondage to the world.

Commendations for Pergamos

God commends these Christians for their works. They are persevering in ministry in a hostile environment. They are ministering in Satan’s seat. In other words, they are ministering where it is not politically correct to do so.

They hold fast to Jesus’ name, and they do not deny the faith. They are going all the way to the death because of their faith. Jesus mentions a specific man as an example of a faithful martyr. Antipas was that martyr.

In verse 13 is the word “dwellest.” That word does not indicate something good! You tie that to the word gamos, marriage, and you have a marriage of this church and the world.

Dwelling means that it has driven down its stakes, its roots are down deep. Satan’s seat is there, and that is the world. Satan’s seat is the world. Here is a church that is dwelling in the world. It is married to the world.

This church has a great commendation. They have not denied their faith, and they have had martyrs like Antipas. There are some good things going on in this church. But there are some serious reprimands for this church as well.

Reprimands for Pergamos

Revelation

2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, . . .

Balaam is the profit prophet. The profit prophet is a person who does his prophecy for gain. In order to bring about a curse to Israel, he taught Balac how to lead Israel into marrying Moabite women. That comes back to the word, marriage. The people of Israel intermarried women from Canaan, and the women brought in Baal worship.

You and I may bypass the literal part and marry the world attitudinally. That is a big problem that the church is having today.

Here is Balaam, the false prophet. He is the preview of the false prophet who will come up in the later chapters of Revelation. We must get it into our hearts and our minds that we are dedicated all the way, that we are not going to dwell, and that we are not going to marry the world.

Jill: This church is being attacked not for where they are, but because they are not making a difference. They are lukewarm and have become like the world instead of being set apart?

V: Yes, there is not much difference between them and the world. Pergamos is a Caesar-worshipping town. To worship Caesar is to ask for his blessings. That would be striving for political correctness.

I want you to discern where you are as an individual, which of the spiritual churches describes you so you can know what you are supposed to do, what is the exhortation for you. We cannot say everybody under this steeple and in this room belongs to Philadelphia because we are a good church. Every time I go somewhere to preach, they think they are Philadelphia. I have found a few Smyrna’s but these other churches do not seem to exist. No one will confess that they are Laodicea.

The Two-Edged Sword

Let me go back to Pergamos (see Chart 3.2). The two-edged sword is Law and Gospel. An edge is on both sides. The Law and Gospel are supposed to help us. The meaning of the doctrine of Balaam has to do with mercenary ministry and marrying the world. This business of Balaam needs to come under the edge of the sword that deals with the Law of restraint or removal, which means to cut it loose from the world.

Doctrine of Nicolaitans

The doctrine of the Nicolaitans has to do with the hierarchy in the church where you have the clergy above the laity, and the clergy telling the laity what to do. Nicolaitanism is a top-down approach. “Nico” means fight or conquer, and “laitans” means the laity. The laity is supposed to follow Jesus. The Gospel edge of the sword needs to apply to this problem by freeing the people to follow Jesus.

The Promise for Pergamos

The good part, the Gospel part, looks at the promise, the hidden manna. God comes to nourish you in the form of spiritual manna, and enables you to go all the way even like God did for Polycarp.

The white stone with the new name is the salvation thing. When you get born again, you are a new person, a new creature, with a new character and that deserves a new name. But there is going to be, I believe, something significant about this stone with your name written on it. When you have gone the distance in this church and you come out of it and do the repentance, then there is something else beyond just having the new birth. There is going to be something between God and you that nobody else is going to know. It will be your name that He calls you by.

All of the part under reprimand connects with Law except the Nicolaitanism. Nicolaitanism connects with Gospel. The two promises, hidden manna and white stone connect with Gospel.

The repentance required is to be separate from the world. If you who are in this church succeed, you will receive manna for the trial, and a new name. These come because of your being at war with the world. However, if you do not repent, you will be at war with God. Please know that all of us are in a war with the world or with God. Some of you are on God’s side. The rest are on the world’s side. Which side are you on, really?

THYATIRA

Revelation

2:18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet [are] like fine brass;
2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last [to be] more than the first.
2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.
2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
2:24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.
2:25 But that which ye have [already] hold fast till I come.
2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
2:28 And I will give him the morning star.
2:29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

“Promise” goes to Sonship, “repent” goes to purity, and “hold fast and keep works” goes to sacrificial walk (see Chart 3.3).

Description of Jesus

This church is loaded down with all kinds of good and all kinds of bad. Jesus is described as the Son of God with eyes of fire and feet of fine brass. I translate these descriptives as follows in Chart 3.3a:

Commendations for Thyatira

Now this church has many good works of love, service, faith, and patience. You remember we talked about patience, standing under the burden. Here is this church standing under the burden and growing in works. This is a fabulous church but they have some serious problems.

Reprimands for Thyatira

The first problem is that they have this Jezebel in there who is teaching and seducing the flock. Jezebel is the one that brought Baalism into Israel.

What is the power that enables Jezebel to bring in all that we have here? Her power is being given to her by a passive church that is not exercising any control over where its doctrine is coming from. That church is loosy-goosy in the name of big-tent theology and political correctness.

God says, “I have a problem with that.” Look at the four parties: Jezebel, the fornicators, the children of that combination, and then you have the rest of the church. Jezebel brings in the false doctrine. Fornicators are the members of the church who open up their arms to Jezebel wanting her to teach them that sweet kind of doctrine: “We are tired of this kenosis stuff. We want some ear-tickling doctrine.

Then there are the children, off-spring disciples of Jezebel and the fornicators. Jezebel brings in death, but she does not get death. The fornicators do not get death. They get tribulation. The Lord says to Jezebel, “Repent,” and gave her a ten-day kind of time, but she does not repent. She goes to the bed, not to the grave. The fornicators get an opportunity to check their doctrine, but they do not. The Lord pulls out His belt and starts wearing them out and they get tribulation. But those poor people who are bred from that relationship of Jezebel and the fornicators get death.

Here we have the death sentence on the fruit of Jezebel and the fornicators. The fornicators, Jezebel, and their children are looking with temporal eyes, the eyes of flesh.

But the rest of the church are the saints who are doing all the good part here. You have to look with spiritual eyes, and then, you can perceive what is good.

Exhortations for Thyatira

Then He says, “You must repent and hold fast and keep your works.” That means get out of this fornicating business. Hold fast to good doctrine and keep your works. If you exercise resistance in the church and stand against Jezebel and the fornicators He will give you a position of leadership to run the nations the way they are supposed to be run.

Pete: When you commented on Jezebel, are you alluding to the fact that she gets to lay in the bed that she brought in?

V: No. I think that Jezebel is saved. I think Jezebel is bringing in some kind of false doctrine that is going to be wedded between her position and these fornicators that is going to create death. That means, then, that the offspring are not saved.

Pete: So could it have been a false doctrine?

V: That is correct, and it can create death.

Ted: A good example of that maybe would be the prosperity Gospel today that says you do not have to deny yourself, you are a child of Abraham. You should receive Abraham’s blessing and live like a high hog here on earth.

V: Exactly. I am not sure that would create dead childrenI am not sure, but that is leaning in the right direction.

Wanda: Jezebel here is one that compromises the truth. She is watering it down to fit her own agenda and the itching ears of these other people.

V: That is right, and she has fornicators that are coming with her saying, “Man, this is great.” The fornicators, you see, are the massive amount of the church population. Jezebel is just one. It just takes one to bring in a false seed. The fornicators start sowing that seed (planting tares in the wheat field), the Lord pulls out his belt, wham, wham, wham. Then you get these children (tares) that are stillborn. That, of course, is the tragedy.

Joe: The watchman certainly comes into my mind here.

V: Man! That is good! We need watchmen.¹ Isaiah speaks of the watchers on the wall, watching for the enemy and sounding a sure and certain alarm when the enemy is coming in.

We have in history this concept in which the church becomes so perverted that what they call salvation is not salvation.

Now I think that in all of these churches there are saved people because some of these people believe enough to die for their faith. Where is our church? Are there saved people in our churches? Are you and I saved? Will we die for our faith?

You need to evaluate where you are—if you have an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I want to hear everything that He is saying to the churches.

Promise

Part of the promise is to be given the Morning Star. Jesus is the Morning Star. To be given Jesus is to receive His heritage. What an awesome privilege! You will be given the authority and power to actually rule some of the nations.

SARDIS

Revelation

3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
3:4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Description of Jesus

In Sardis’ interpretation of Jesus, I put down here that it is spiritual life and power (Chart 3.4).

Under the commendation there is a remnant who have not defiled their garments. Under the reprimand, how would you like to be seen as dead? That is a hard reprimand, and their works are not full and complete.

Basically the seven means all. Thus the seven spirits means the Holy Spirit. The seven stars means then all of the angels. The function of the angel is primarily to be a messenger. Bringing these two descriptions together, I see that God gives you life through the Holy Spirit and provides messenger power through the angels.

Exhortation for Sardis

The exhortation is “awaken” (that means be watchful, get your watchman on the wall), strengthen the remnant, remember the salvation process, hold fast, and repent. There are five statements in exhortation.

Justification is the new birth. The rest of your life process is called sanctification, and then you go to glorification. It is a larger model than is typically bantered about in our churches today. Salvation in churches today has become a punctiliar salvation, a dot salvation (see Chart 3.5). You go through justification and no other responsibility is expected of you. You have it, or you do not have it. If you have it, it is over with, just cool it. This punctiliar salvation describes a dead Christian.

If this dot is your sanctification, you are dead because this is an ontological picture of salvation. There is no process, there is no function, there is no ministry.

God says, “Why do you not awaken?” Ephesians describes the process as awake, arise and walk?² Justification is the beginning, the door. Once you walk through the door, you have your whole life to live, and it is very challenging. He is saying, wake up, get in there and do all these five things: awaken, strengthen the remnant, remember the process, hold fast to it, and repent.

Sardis is a punctiliar church, very much like our churches today. You walk the aisle, and it is over with.

Henry: Does the sanctification part also sanctify us for glory?

V: Yes, sir, you bet. Sanctification is the verbal of holiness, the same thing. It means to be made holy. You are made holy at justification, but that is an ontological holiness. There follows a process of holiness. There is still a holy life that needs to be lived. Holiness means to be set aside for God’s use.

Jill: Sanctification is for you to utilize your spiritual gifts.

V: Yes, and everything that you are and have in a self-denial process of living out your life in sacrifice just like Jesus did.

Jill: Will you explain to us the “I will not blot out his name”?

V: It is the same thing as the double negative that we had a while ago in one of the other churches. There is not a chance under heaven, not a prayer of blotting your name out. The question arises in my mind, does that mean that every person’s name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and then blotted out when you reject Jesus?

Paul: I think it is.

Pete: I think it is saying that once your name is in the Book of Life, it cannot be blotted out.

Oscar: God knows what you are going to do before you are born, before you have lived your life, and before your death. But once your name is in the Book of Life, it is not coming out. So if God has put your name in the Book of Life, it is there to stay.

V: And that is a good opinion, but it is only an opinion. Where there is a multitude of Christians you are going to have a multitude of opinions. It may be that when Jesus died, He had everybody’s name put in there. Then you reject Him, it is taken out. Another option could be that it comes out at the age of accountability. The third option is that the name is never in the book until you get saved.

Promises for Sardis

The promise is to be worthy to walk with Jesus in white. What color do you think the clothes in heaven are going to be?

Many Students: White.

V: Okay, are there going to be any that have a different color of clothes in heaven? When we get to the end of the book, we are going to have to deal with the issue of self-indulgence. There is going to be some naked people in heaven. Ohhh, you do not want to be naked. I want all of you to be worthy to walk in heaven with Jesus in white clothes. Overcome this punctiliar salvation! If you can get on God’s path and follow Jesus, under the burden through self-denial, on the path of holiness, then you will be worthy to walk with Jesus in clothes of white.

The second promise is “clothed in white,” and number three is “no blotting out.” We have already talked about that. Number four, “He will confess your name before God and the angels.” I want Him to confess my name before the Father and the angels. I want Him to call me by name, not “Hey, you!”

Sybil: I want Him to call me by that private name.

V: Whatever He calls me, I am saying, “Yes, Sir, I am coming.”

The “dead” part should have an arrow down to life, so under “works” draw the arrow to power. For “awaken” under exhortation, draw the arrow down to life. Numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5 under exhortation draw that arrow over to power. The first two promises go to power. The last two promises go to life.

Tim: This one is complicated.

V: Sardis has a lot of stuff going on in it. The more arrows there are, the more teaching there is for the church. The teaching for Sardis is because of the dot salvation and lack of life. Without the sanctification process there is not much there.

PHILADELPHIA

Revelation

3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
3:8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, [which is] new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and [I will write upon him] my new name.
3:13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Even Jesus received a new name, and He is going to write that name on the Philadelphia saints.

Description of Jesus

The interpretation of the description that I put down is transcendence plus moral integrity of life and ministry plus power (see Chart 3.6). Holy has two parts in its definition.

1. It means to be set aside or transcendent.

You have been set aside for the Lord’s purpose. That is what transcendent means (Chart 3.7).

Ecclesia means the called out ones. When you are taken out of the world, He reaches into the world, gets you and puts you in His part of the Kingdom. That is to be transcendent. You are no longer dwelling in the world. You are dwelling in His kingdom, and you are there for His purpose.

2. You are going to be moral. Morality is part two of holiness.

Jesus was set aside for the Father’s use, and He was absolutely moral. Being set aside for His use means that while you are being moral, you are looking at the Lord, and He says, “Hey, you, follow me.” You follow Him wherever He goes. Since He says, “Pick up that cross,” you pick it up. Since He says “deny yourself,” you deny yourself.

The path of sacrifice keeps on going like the kenosis until the right number of you who have been sacrificed meets that exact number He has called for. There are many of us that have to die yet for His purposes. You must make sure that you are in line with Him, following Him, not following your own ideas.

Beth: I was wondering why there is no admonishment, you know, about the wrong they did in this church and the church at Smyrna.

V: There are only two churches that have no admonishments because they are doing it right. Smyrna is the suffering church and Philadelphia is the powerful church.

Commendation

He says that they had their works, they have an open door and they have a little strength. I like the way He says a “little” strength. This church has a ton of strength, but when you look at it from the Lord’s perception, it is a little strength. They are keeping His Word, and they have not denied His name.

Exhortation for Philadelphia

There is, though, an exhortation. You must hang on to your crown or you are going to lose it.

If you have not settled it within your heart like we talked about last week, you may look at the cross and the fire and start thinking how much that fire is going to burn. If that should happen, you may not be able to say like Polycarp said, “I will go into the fire that burns for an hour, but I will not be in the fire that burns for eternity.”

Where is your crown? It is gone. Hold fast! Hang on to your crown. Go for the gold. Go all the way. Settle it in your heart. Deny yourself.

Polycarp was ready when he went to the stadium. When you are ready, and it is settled in your mind, you are going to have strength come upon you and hear the voice from heaven that says, “Be the man.” Would you not like to hear a voice from heaven that says, “Be the man for me?” You can have it. Hang in there. Get tough.

Questions for Lesson 3

On separate paper draw a chart for each of the five churches discussed in this chapter. A form is given for you to follow. Be sure to include all the items in each block including the bottom block. Draw arrows from the elements to the descriptive words in the bottom block.

CHURCH NAME | DESCRIPTION OF JESUS | COMMENDATION | REPRIMAND | EXHORTATION & OR ELSE | PROMISE

Lesson 4

WORSHIP IN HEAVEN

LAODICEA

Revelation

3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Laodicea the Wealthy Church

Laodicea is a wealthy church, yet they are not very successful. By human standards and perception it looks like this church is a good and very prosperous church. They have no problems and everything that they tackle they conquer.

They are not like Smyrna who is being persecuted unto death. This is a church that has no persecution. All God has to say about this church is bad. God does not look with the same kind of view as we do. He says that he knows this church’s works.

Two Judgments for Christians

Here is the thing about our Christianity. It is made up of two parts: one part is your personhood, and the other part is your works. You are going to be judged on both things. It is your personhood that takes you to heaven. That judgment on personhood is where you are decreed as righteous and that is what gets you into heaven. But there is something else that is going to be judged, and that is going to be your works. God is not a respecter of persons.¹ He is going to judge your works just as He is going to judge the works of the evil people who are going to go to the lake of fire.

Just because you have been given a washed personhood does not mean that the Lord is proud of you. He is looking for you to walk the walk that He has before you. It will not be the kind that is rich, increased with goods, and having it made like Laodicea. It is going to involve tribulation, suffering, self-denial and sacrifice. If you cannot do that, then Laodicea is your church. If you can do that, there will be some crowns and some rewards that you will be given.

When He looks at you, He not only knows you, He also knows your works. Our works are going to be judged. We are going to be required to give an account of our stewardship, our time, our opportunities, and what we do with the gifts that He has given to us. “To whom much is given, much is required.”² He has given you much. What are you going to do with what He has given you?

In Matthew there were three stewards.³ One steward just saved his talent/gift, kept it clean, tucked it away, even buried it so nobody could get it. When the time of judgment came he brought that talent/gift back. It was unused, it was still brand, spanking new, and he said, “Here is what you gave me. I give it back to you.” God said, “You sorry, unfaithful steward.”

There are some folks who are going to have even less than that steward because they sully their gifts and their opportunities. Instead of using them for God or not using them at all, they use them for the devil. The steward did not use his for the devil, all he did was just make sure it was unsullied, and brought it back intact to the Lord.

We are going to be accountable for everything that we have been given. Everything that we have is entrusted to us by God to bring profit to His Kingdom.

Here is this church, and they are basking in their earthly glory, and they have need of nothing. God gives this statement to them that is on the negative side: “Because you say this, I say that you are wretched, you are miserable, you are poor, you are blind, and worst of all, you are naked.”

Works Purchase Clothes

Clothes come with works. Understand that. Cleansing of your body comes at justification because when you get saved you are cleaned up. Your personhood is clean. It is your job to put on some clothes and to earn a crown.

We have a church today that thinks that everybody is going to have all these crowns, mansions, beautiful clothes, and everything is going to be wonderful through eternity. If they are not doing anything now, what makes them think this?

Nakedness is something I want you to be afraid of. I want you to go into heaven not ashamed and come out of the judgment of works with clothes.

Sybil: The naked in verse 17 signifies people who do not want to do anything?

V: That is right. You are saved so you can give away what you have been freely given. We earn a trust. What is our track record? Is it self-indulgence? Do not expect to be given more to be used in His Kingdom if you are going to use it for yourself.

Jack: I think that is why God does not give us more because that is all He can trust us with.

Beth: I think that part of the reason why people want all the benefits but do not want any of the responsibilities is that they are used to doing things in a worldly way. They assign worldly attributes to God like giving Him Santa Claus attributes.

V: Yes, and every day is Christmas.

Reprimands and Exhortations for Laodicea

I need for you to look at the Laodicea Chart (see Chart 4.1). On the reprimand he has lukewarm, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. On the exhortation he says, “Since you are this, why not buy some gold tried in the fire.”

Gold equals faith, and faith that is not tried is seed faith. Faith tried in the fire is a faith that holds up through the fire, through your walk and through tribulations. Any other faith will just be consumed in an instant when it meets the fire.

What is buying gold tried in the fire? To buy something, you pay something, and then you get something. You give your life. If you cannot deny yourself, pick up your cross and sacrifice, you are not buying true faith. Going all the way is where it is tried in the fire.

You have to pay the whole price or you never own it. A down payment is not good enough.

Henry: You have to be faithful unto death.

V: Yes. I want you to start denying yourself on the little things. Sacrifice now so that when the time comes, these little sacrifices will have built some muscle in you so that you can go the distance. If you do not go to boot camp, do not expect to fight the war.

The Lord will take you where you think you cannot go another step, then He eases off. He takes you to the breaking point again and then He eases off. The next thing you know, you will hear somebody say, “I have watched that guy mature.” You will not be able to see it. But the people around you will. They are saying, “Man, that guy is growing!” It is God’s plan to grow you, maturing you to your maximum.

Bob: When you say we have to pay all our payments or we do not get the gold we are shooting for, you know how we travel up that line (sanctification) towards glorification; our actual line is zigzagging (see Chart 4.2). If our line falls off, does that mean we have to start a new finance plan in order to get back up to our line?

V: Yes, you take it from where you are, and there is a new path drawn because sometimes opportunities are lost forever. God is the one in charge of marking out a new path for you. You just take the best opportunity you are given and have at it. Just remember, you have only one time at bat. Do not let the pitches go by. Swing!

Carl: I look at these verses here, the attributes, the miserable, poor, blind, and naked, you know, and that is a description that none of us want to have, but the description that this church is being given.

V: That is right, you must go against the grain. If you become like this church, you are going to regress and there will not be sacrifice. There will not be kenosis. Instead there will be indulgence, pride, and self-centeredness.

Buying Clothes

The second thing He tells them to do is buy some white clothes. The buying of clothes takes some work, so as you begin to work and minister sacrificially, you are buying both gold and clothes of white.

He exhorts us to buy some clothes so that we will not receive the shame of nakedness that appears at the judgment of works. And, folks, I am telling you that this is a horrifying thought. There are many saints who think salvation is only about personhood, and that it has nothing to do with your works. But works has a ton to do with salvation. You are born again as a free gift, but from that point on, folks, it is about sacrificial, self-denying kind of work, the work of the kenosis.

It is imperative that you teach this. If you do not, I do not want to be standing close to you at the judgment.

Jill: I think that this touches on one of the problems in our churches nowadays. Many church members think, “I am saved, and I do not need anything else. I think that is why God does not send revival to our churches because of that attitude.

V: That is a perception that I find across the board, everywhere I go. It is prevalent. Look at the various ministries. What is our seniors’ ministry? It is entertaining and indulging our seniors. The greatest available work force in God’s army is the seniors. There are literally millions of them. But, instead of them being taught and trained for ministry, they are being coddled, indulged, and entertained by spending additional resources on them. We take them on trips, hold parties for them, and generally keep them idle. What is our youth ministry? What is our young marrieds ministry? (etc., etc.)

Homer: The proper response of becoming a believer is worship, commitment, and service. All of that involves work.

V: Yes! You are on the money!

Joe: Dr. Vinson, I would like for you to talk a little bit about the transaction of buying white clothes.

V: There is this overemphasis of the Lord’s part in salvation, and you wonder, “How can you overemphasize the Lord’s part in the doctrine of salvation when He did it all? The answer is by underestimating your responsibility in having such a precious gift.

Works Must Be Worthy

When the Titanic sank, there were people that gave up their seat in a lifeboat for someone else. Put yourself in this situation: you are on that ship. There is a seat for you, and you are supposed to get in there, but you do not. You step back and allow someone else to take that seat. You expect that person to at least be grateful and lead a decent life. But if that person uses up your seat and then squanders his life, what kind of deal is that? If you could come out of the grave and get hold of him, you would wring his neck. How do you think the Lord feels? He gave His seat to you! You have a free passage. Now live your life, and make it count because it cost Him dearly.

When it comes to the transaction, do not just kick back and say, Jesus did it all, sing praises to Him, and then when there is work to be done, you say, “Oh, Lord, come do this over here.” He says, “I am sending you; as my Father sent me, so send I you.”⁴

Jesus is counting on you to do something with what He gave you. The book of Acts was written to show the continuing work of Jesus Christ “through” the church.

Pete: I listened to David Jeremiah coming in to school this morning. He said the deception that has been unleashed by the enemy is unreal, and we have had a deception go across our churches to where people are complacent.

V: In the book of Jeremiah it is called drunkenness.⁵

Mary: The Lord right now is sending a wake-up call to Christians. And notice that coming from the majority of the pulpits today is nothing more than sermons for itchy ears.⁶

Tom: Everybody gets the same warning in Revelation 16:15, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”

Wake Up

V: This is a wake-up call for us. You are people who have been chosen to carry the message.

You must know that you will be going against the grain. Many of you have been fooled into thinking that if it is uncomfortable, it is not of God’s will. So when you are preaching and teaching, and they jump back at you, you think, “Oh, I must have been out of God’s will,” and you shrink from the task.

You will also receive persecution, and when it breaks out, do not let that deter you. Hang in there, go the distance even if they nail you to a cross and light the fires around you.

Now every one of you is going to be faced with the issue of political correctness and it is going to deteriorate to the point where you are going to be required to do something that you cannot do. When that happens you are going to be faced with going there against your conscience or going to prison or to death. That is where this society is going. We are going to get there in this book. You need to clearly understand that. If you do not put up a road block, something to impede this slide down into oblivion, this is where we are going.

Eye Salve

“Anoint your eyes with eye salve.” This is a faithfulness. When you begin to be faithful, you will have the understanding that comes with it. John 7:17 gives you a promise, and that promise is that if you will do the truth, you will know the right doctrine.⁷

But if you know it, and you do not do it, you will not know right doctrine. If you want some eye salve do what you know. If you do, there will be an additional vision with which you will be able to see more clearly. The minute you stop doing what you know, then your knowledge is going to become perverted. Understand that.

The reason we have a doctrinal immaturity in our churches today is because the churches are not practicing even the little things that they know. John 7:17 is the ointment. That is how you anoint your eyes. You buy the eye salve by doing what you know.

He is laying the law down on this church. He is not mincing His Words, and He says in verse 19 the reason He does it is because He loves them.

Revelation

3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

That is their charge, to be zealous. Run to repentance. Do not let anything stop you from achieving that repentance. It is your choice. If you will yield your will to God, do it right now. Pray to God and repent of the specific thing that the Holy Spirit is pointing at. Confess it, turn from it, and follow Jesus in the kenosis.

Promise for Laodicea

It seems to me that this is the highest promise of all the seven churches. Why do you think that He offers such a high promise for overcoming to this kind of church?

Joe: In this church it would be the hardest to do this thing.

V: There you go. It will be the most difficult to stand up and go against the tide of this church because they have all the human evidence that their way is working. They have the growing church and here you are saying, “Repent!” Your voice is going to tell them to throw everything away and go to the kenosis.

It is the most difficult church situation. If you overcome, you will receive the highest promise, to sit with the Lord in His throne. “If you have an ear, then hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

REVELATION 4

Heaven

Revelation

4:1 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; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne.
4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

I cannot comment much about the one sitting on the throne. I think that this was God the Father sitting on the throne, and the scene was in heaven. He has given some description. I would rather not comment about these descriptions, just let it be for what it is.

Joe: I have a question on verse 6 that says that before the throne there was a sea of glass. Do you think that is talking about a sea that was in front of the holy place?

The Sea and Water

V: We have not read that part yet. But let me tell you what the signs are, my interpretations of the signs in Chart 4.3.

Water is religion (the religious people). Sea is Christian religion and its people, and the fresh waters, the rivers, are the clergy and leaders of the church. So when you see “many waters,” then it is going to be not just Christianity, but a lot of different kinds of religions. When you see the water coming from Satan, it is going to be a false religion, and it will consume the people. I usually wait until the 19th chapter before I let people know this. But I will just go ahead and let you have it right now. Then as you read, I want you to start looking for the water, the seas, the fresh waters.

When you get to the crystal sea, it is the refined and glorified church. There will not be any impurities in these saints who make up the crystal sea, and it is going to be completely clear. You can see right through it. There will not be any impurities, no mask, no agendas, no guile—a pure, crystal sea. We will get there in a minute.

Revelation

4:4 And round about the throne [were] four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

Catch that white raiment; these guys have been doing some work.

Crowns

Now a good student came to me several years ago and brought me a paper on crowns. It included five crowns which you can see in Chart 4.4. It would be good for you to preach or teach a series on these crowns.

Twenty-four Elders

Here are these twenty-four elders, and they are sitting in twenty-four seats around the throne of God. Twenty-four of these guys, and they all have on white clothes, and they all have on crowns. What I think is that there are twelve representing the tribes of Israel and then twelve representing the twelve apostles.

Here though is the interesting thing. John, the apostle, is escorted into heaven. He is standing there, and he looks and sees that there are twenty-four of these guys. He sees that they are wearing white clothes and a crown. He looks at these people, and he either does not recognize himself, or he does not see himself.

Now, that poses this question: If these positions are earned, then you could be one of them. You could be one of them, or John cannot recognize himself in the glorified state. You pay your dollar, and take your pick.

Pete: That makes a little bit of sense because remember that when Jesus was resurrected, and Mary did not recognize who He was, and the two walking on the road to Emmaus did not recognize who He was because He was in His glorified body.

Tom: That scene was in kairos time, not in chronos.

V: Yes, under kairos time. See that is another thing we have to remember. Once he moved into heaven, he is in a new kind of time, vertical time. It is no longer linear, but in John’s perception, it is present time. Once he comes back down, I can envision him telling everybody: “Man, you are not going to believe this. I went up here, went all the way to the end, and I saw God there, and the twenty-four elders.” And everybody says, “Man, how could he get that far in advance out there in time.” He is going to reply, “In the spirit.”

Revelation

4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Seven Lamps

This is an interesting thing that is happening here. The Holy Spirit is going to be described as lamps in this case, and as eyes in another case, so it appears to me that whenever you come up with the seven something’s to describe the Holy Spirit, like the seven Spirits, the seven lamps, and the seven eyes, it is necessary to have several descriptions to understand something of the Spirit.

The Spirit gives light. There is no seeing the truth except from divine light. If you have had my Systematic Theology or How to Understand the Bible courses, then you will know about illumination.

Jack: The fire burning does not have any great meaning?

V: Okay, let us talk about the fire. Fire in Greek is puros. Puros is to purify, and also puros gives light for understanding, so the Holy Spirit has this help for you, to purify you, and to give you illumination so you can understand something of God.

Apart from the work of the Spirit, the things of God are foolishness. We have to be lifted up to understand, because the human mind is down here, and for the human mind to understand something divine, it has to be lifted up.

A good example of puros understanding is the kenosis. How can anyone understand the kenosis when you have been brainwashed from the day you were born to press to the upward call, and the upward call is grandiose: applause of men, recognition, fame, fun, and fortune.

That is what you are brainwashed with, and now the Lord comes along and says, “Let My mind be in you. Instead of my clutching and grabbing for equality with God (I already had it) I emptied myself, humbled myself, became a servant, became a man, and became obedient, obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”⁸

In order for you to understand that and receive it as truth you have to be lifted up by the puros, the lamps of fire of God’s Holy Spirit so that you can say, “Ohhh!” There are some so embedded in sin, so entrenched in strongholds, that if you preach this, they will think you are crazy.

Bob: People in church do not want to hear it.

V: No, I will tell you that it is not only that some do not want to hear it, but also that they cannot hear it. They do not have ears. In Revelation chapters 2-3, the Spirit keeps saying: “He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

Homer: The problem is sin wax.

V: In order to do the kenosis you have to yield your life to the Holy Spirit. That is meekness. The person that goes down to the bottom may be one of these elders.

If you get all the way to the bottom, all the way to the cross, you may become an elder. You guys got it?

Now, lets all bow our heads in prayer. “Lord, Jesus, please accept me as a living sacrifice to you. Search my heart and purge me of any impediments to the kenosis. I give your Holy Spirit free access and free reign over my life. I love you, Jesus. Amen.

Lesson Questions

Draw the chart for Laodicea.

What does it take to buy clothes?

Describe the wake-up call.

What does it take to buy eye salve?

Why is the promise to the Laodicean overcomers so great?

What is the crystal sea?

What are the seven lamps?

Lesson 5

THE FIRST FIVE SEALS

REVELATION 4: HEAVEN

Revelation

4:1 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; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne.
4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
4:4 And round about the throne [were] four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
4:6 And before the throne [there was] a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, [were] four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
4:7 And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle.
4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

John is transported in the spirit to heaven to be shown this scene. This is not the rapture as some think. We will deal with the rapture in a later chapter.

Four Beasts

V: We had four beasts that are angelic living creatures. They are described here as having a lot of eyes before and behind, so this gives indication that they know everything that is going on in the world. Their descriptions also links them to the created order like lion, calf, man, and eagle. I think that there is some correlation between these four angelic beings and the four horsemen that we are going to see when we get to the seals. I am going to give you my estimation.

I think that man has to do with government, calf has to do with economics, the lion has to do with war, and the eagle has to do with death. That is how I correlate to the four horsemen. When we get to the four horsemen, we will dig in a little bit deeper here.

These four beasts are leading the worship before the throne, and they are saying day and night “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). This description spreads completely over the full scope of time. All of that horizontal time is vertical time to God, kairotic time. It is not horizontal time, but when we are looking at time, we have to see it horizontally because we cannot see kairotic time like God does. He is the I AM. In the past HE IS, in the present HE IS, and in the future HE IS. But we are not “is” in the past or in the future. The only time we are “is” is now.

Oscar: Someone was saying that since they are filled with the Spirit, they are eternal beings, and they were in the past and the present and the future. Do you think they are just misunderstanding the concept?

V: Humankind is limited to the now but by faith you can bring the future into the present, so in a sense you can operate in the future. By faith! That is a spiritual thing.

Utterances by Beasts and Elders

4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

There is a distinction between the three things said by the angels (beasts) and the three things said by the elders. The difference is in the third thing said: one says thanks and the other says power.

When you go to heaven, and you have a crown, you are actually going to exercise power. Jesus has inherited all power, and He is going to hand that power to the ones who are crowned. Only the elder-types are going to have power, and that power will be for your use with your own discretion. He will tell you what He wants to accomplish in the universe, and the elders will see to it that it happens.

This is why there is gratitude from the angels, and there is worthiness of power from the elders who take their crowns off and cast them before the throne, saying “You are worthy of power.” They have power to return to the Lord.

The angels, who are messengers, do not have that power. An angel takes orders from the Lord. But when you are receiving power from God like the elders here, you can say, “Worthy is the Lamb to receive power,” and that is an honorable position to be in. I am going to tell you right now, every one of you wants to be there. There is a lot at stake— eternity. Everybody is not going to get power—do not make that mistake.

You are on trial right now. This is testing time. If you will use the little bit that has been entrusted to you, much will be given to you in heaven. If He gives you a little bit of power and you do not use it, do not expect a ton of power in heaven because you have squandered your opportunity right here.

If you cannot use the authority now that God has given into your hands, the Word of God, then do not expect authority in the eschaton. When you put on the crown in the eschaton, you will have the authority because the Lord is going to give it to you. You will reign.

Jerry: The Bible says that you reap what you sow.¹ Is this talking about not only in the present sense?

V: Then we will reap identically, yes. God will not be mocked. We will, on the certainty of God’s Word, reap what we sow. So let us sow to the spirit, not to the flesh, not to the wind.

REVELATION 5

5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

I wonder if John was talking to Himself here.

Seven Seals

The number seven means universally sealed. The primary meaning of the seven seals is that they are completely sealed in the same way as we were talking about the seven Spirits being the Holy Spirit of God, the whole, one Spirit. The seven seals make one complete whole sealing. But when you enumerate them, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, there is a progressive nature and a quantity to the seals beyond the completeness of the sealing. John’s tears is because of the complete sealing of time. God sealed it, and only God can unseal it.

The Lord Jesus as a Lamb

5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

Now here is another example of how the Lord is not seen until after seeing His creation. When John looks up, he sees the throne where God is, the four angels (beasts), and around them the twenty-four elders, and before the throne the crystal sea, and all of the angels are singing. Standing in the midst of all this crowd is our Lord.

John looking at this wonderful spectacle is filled with awe. He is weeping because “No man is worthy.” He is weeping because nothing can happen and he does not even see the Lord until the elder says, “Look, behold, the Lamb who was slain.”

His attention turns, and what does he see? He does not see pomp and circumstance we would expect. Our desire is for people to look at us and say, “Look! Wow! Look at him!” The Lamb is standing right there, and the Scripture describes Him as having seven horns and seven eyes. Here again is absolute completeness, this number seven. Here are seven horns indicating absolute, total power. Seven eyes indicate absolute and total knowledge, understanding and comprehension. Then, he relates the seven horns with the seven eyes. Omnipotence and omniscience are put together. The Scriptures indicate those two together are the Holy Spirit because it says they are the seven Spirits.

Here is the Lamb as He had been slain. John sees the markings of the slaying. They are actually the marks of “glory” for the Lord. What are your marks of glory? Are you going to carry any wounds? Do you have suffering?

Let us make sure that we understand that the victory we have from the Lord came through suffering and dying. Victory that comes from Satan comes through self-indulgence and killing. When you are winning your victories, it is to be through suffering and dying. Your victory, then, like the Lord’s victory, carries your marks into heaven, your sufferings into heaven. That is going to be your glory! No pain, no glory! As you go down into kenosis, as you sacrifice, you are going to be exalted after death. But if you do not have that suffering, where is your exaltation?

If you just slide through and everybody gives you the applause, and you have it made, what have you done that is so tough? Anybody can slide through on a big soft chair and just be applauded. It takes a real man to live out the kenosis, bearing his burden (Chart 5.1). Stand under that burden. Then when you are in heaven He will give you a crown. You will put it on. Ultimately, you will cast it back to His feet as an offering to the Lord. Man! It is going to be time for you to shout and carry on.

Jerry: The scars remind me of people when they share their war stories.

V: Yes, but we have to have some stories to share. We are going to go out there and ask the Lord, “What did you write in the sand when you bent down? I want to be able to get close enough to hear what He says. I do not want to be way out there on the fringes.

Jerry: When John is standing here in heaven, is He on God’s time, the kairos time, the vertical time? I was thinking that maybe that is why he could not see Jesus.

V: He is on both God’s kairotic time, and man’s chronotic time. That means past, present, and future are present to John because he is standing in the intersection of chronos and kairos. Perhaps John expected Jesus to appear more like a ruler than a lamb. However I think it comes back to this propensity right now that people cannot see Jesus apart from looking at you. You need to witness, not just in word but also in your life, ethics, behavior, countenance, and in your treatment of others.

Prayers of the Saints

Revelation

5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

Now I think that every prayer by a saint is collected and either acted upon at the time, or if it is a wait, I think it goes into the vial. When the right time comes, out comes the prayer, when the Lord says, “Now.” Here is a collection of prayers, and these are the sweet smelling odors to the Lord, and we will eventually see that they are incensed later in another chapter.

A New Song

Revelation

5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

The model of reigning through death is repeated over and over again. Worthiness comes only through dying. Now, watch what these elders say. “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.”

Do you want to be worthy? The model describes giving our life for the purpose of redeeming others. Your life, everything that you have and that you are, are God’s assets. You are His spending money and resources to spend on this earth to purchase something with. Purchase means redeem, to redeem people who have no hope. You are going to go to heaven. Heaven is the minimum that you are going to get. What you are doing now is determining what is going to happen to you in heaven.

Do you want to hear the words, “Worthy are you?” If you follow in the footsteps of Jesus, then your life will be sacrificed for others. Being redeemed and having hope, you have the same mission as our Lord Jesus Christ. So, is he going to say, “You are worthy, you good and faithful servant,” or are you indulging yourself and saying, “The Lord gave me all of this, and I am going to live forever, and I am going to have crowns and mansions and everything, and God is going to swoon when I walk on the scene?” That is how we think these days, but it is not like that. Worthiness comes under the same model as that of Jesus Christ—to die. If you want your life, give it.

Henry: We are always thinking about dying, and then living on the other side, but Paul said, “I die daily.” As we die, He resurrects.

V: Resurrects you in the spiritual life. We confuse that resurrection life with temporal exaltation. But it is not like that!

Paul: Giving up our reputation?

V: Yes. When you sacrifice your reputation, you are following the footsteps of the Lord since that is what He did. That is why there is a new song: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.” Chart 5.2 pictures someone following a false kenosis by climbing up and seeking the applause of men, seeking a throne, seeking to climb further into heaven, but he is not worthy. Do not follow that path.

Wanda: Maybe you can straighten this out for me. When Jesus was on the cross dying for our sins, one on one side of Him hurled insults at Him, but the one on the other side said, “Remember me in your Father’s Kingdom.” And Jesus said, “Today you will be in my Father’s Kingdom.” Now he did not live a life like Jesus, he did not get to do good deeds, but Jesus forgave. He said, “Today you shall be in paradise.” Is he going to be naked?

V: No, he testified! He had one opportunity to hit a home run and he hit it out of the park.

Bob: You know it is interesting, the gentleman back here said we are preaching heaven as the maximum and not the minimum. We have all been deceived by that fact.

V: That is why an angel of light is so deceptive. He is putting error in the middle and coating it with truth and sweetness, and we just gobble it down.

Kenosis is a Living Sacrifice

Bob: According to your graph (Chart 5.2) that you have, you remember Satan says, “I will exalt my throne above the most High.”² Where Christ turned around and said, “I will be the servant of all.” Exact opposite.

Joe: We are to be a living sacrifice³ which is the kenosis. But people do not understand what a living sacrifice is.

V: I know it. It is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. It is continuous sacrifice. However, in order to get those brasen feet, you will have to go through the fire. What usually happens is that we see everybody else enjoying themselves and saying, “You must be in sin over there because you are in pain. Why not come on over here with the rest of us real holy saints because we have it made.”

If you can just submit to the Lord and let Him spend you on what He wants to spend you, then you will stay in the fire. But it is very difficult to stay in the fire!

Humiliation, suffering, obedience, and self-sacrifice are the pathway down, and exaltation is not prior to death. Exaltation comes after death, which follows a life time of suffering and sacrifice. Get that in your mind, settle it in your heart, go all the way to your death.

Old Song

We have this new song, and why is it a new song? Deuteronomic theology declares that the better you are the more blessings you will have, and these blessings are interpreted materially. That is exactly the way it is interpreted by most! Every saint seeks maximum blessing but “blessing” is usually interpreted incorrectly.

When James and John asked the Lord, “We want to sit on your right and left,” and the Lord said, “Do you think you can do what it takes to get maximum blessing?” “Oh, yes, strap it on us” is what they said. They did not know what they were asking for.

Well, maximum blessing comes in at the maximum bottom of the kenosis. You must go to the bottom if you want to go to the top. What we want is maximum blessing right now, and this maximum blessing does not even hold a candle to what we will get later. Friends, it is very difficult! Maximum blessing comes from maximum sacrifice.

Worthy is the Lamb

Revelation

5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

I believe that the Lamb is going to turn around and say, “Worthy is my saint who was slain.” Everything that the Lord gets, He is going to give to the church. You are the church, so He is going to share what He receives with you. Everybody is going to say, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”

The guy who was not slain, who cooled it all the way through life, like a rich Christian who had the wonderful life will not hear Jesus say, “Come up here man, you are worthy.”

The one who loved Him enough to be slain rather than recant his faith will be worthy. When that sacrificial guy is compared to the materialistic guy who indulged himself, He will say, “Worthy is my saint who glorified Me at his expense. The other guy glorified himself, and got his reward. His reward is over with because great is the fall of the house built on the sand.

Revelation

5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, [be] unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four [and] twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

This is quite a scene, and I am going to be in this group saying these praises.

We are going to be starting in the seals.

REVELATION 6: SEAL #1—HUMAN KING

Revelation

6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Coronation of Saul

My interpretation of this seal is that this is the beginning of earthly government by a king, and it started with the coronation of Saul.

1 Samuel

8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
8:8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day,wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
8:9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
8:10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
8:11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint [them] for himself, for his chariots, and [to be] his horsemen; and [some] shall run before his chariots.
8:12 And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and [will set them] to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
8:13 And he will take your daughters [to be] confectionaries, and [to be] cooks, and [to be] bakers.
8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, [even] the best [of them], and give [them] to his servants.
8:15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
8:16 And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put [them] to his work.
8:17 He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.
8:18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.
8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
8:20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.
8:22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

Here is the beginning of a broken seal that is going to end with Antichrist. As a seal breaks it is not causative, it is descriptive. Once the seal is loosed, the people then have the freedom to move toward their destiny. They are then loosed from their restraints and He looses them to their own devices. God does not cause this. He allows this.

God is restraining the evil, holding it back. The people say, “We want a king,” and Samuel the prophet says, “No, no, you do not want a king: let God continue to be your king.” The people insist, “No we have to have a king.” Samuel goes to the Lord and says, “They want a king.” God says, “Give them a king. They are not rejecting you, Samuel; they are rejecting me.”

They wanted to see and touch their king. God is invisible. We want us a big king, a giant of a man who is visible who will go out and fight our battles for us. The seal is broken. The judgment time is the final result that occurs at the end of Chart 5.4 where the seal reaches total maturity.

Seal #1 is broken in Samuel’s day and goes all the way out to the judgment time. Just prior to judgment time, Antichrist will arise to the throne. He is going to finally be coronated as the king. Antichrist is going to be perceived as a great king. People are clamoring right now, looking for him. “We need us a king. One of those good kings to bring universal peace.”

Pete: So is this coming of the Antichrist indicative of the fact that we, in contemporary times, have the same type of wicked inclination as they did then?

V: Same type, and the world is clamoring for a king who will take control of this planet. This planet is in chaos. We think that we need a king who is going to bring peace to the Middle East, who is not going to have all these wars occurring all around. It comes out of that same mentality from seal #1.

Beth: Does Catholicism fall into this mold?

V: Anytime you have people who want a headship that is between you and God, it is the same inclination.

Steve: It talks about being bent on conquest. As I remember in church history, that is how the Roman church grew—through military conquest, especially through that of Charlemagne.

V: Church and state are going to come along side by side. We are going to see church and state right on through the book of Revelation. Every time you see “earth” that is state. Every time you see “sea” that is church. Side by side, going all the way to the end.

Here is that first seal, and you can pick your seal to be whatever you want it to be. I am clearly going public with mine. It is going to usher in Antichrist, but look at Chart 5.4. We are going to have David who is coming off of that line on a parallel line. He is part of that line, but he is a man after God’s own heart. Jesus is going to come out of the root of David. This second line is the Davidic line out of which Jesus comes. Jesus, now, will be the true king and judge at the end times. The whole issue of Seal #1 is who is your king?

A man king brings absolute devastation. However, God will resume His kingship at the end as a man through His Son, Jesus, the God-man.

If you can see that when the Lord is your king, and He spends you how He wants to, then you can see how the kenosis makes much more sense. When you are in the trappings of this upper kingly line, when you are seeing that, the upside-down kenosis is the only thing that makes sense to you. People on the upper line will be climbing. Those on the lower line will be sacrificing.

However, when we see Him, who will we see? We will see Him as the Lamb that was slain, carrying the marks of martyrdom. You can see, then, the two different aspects depicted by the parallel paths all the way through history beginning with seal #1 and going all the way.

SEAL #2—WAR

Revelation

6:3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
6:4 And there went out another horse [that was] red: and [power] was given to 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.

There are going to be ramifications all the way through this seal as well. This depicts the war in the world that is already going on. The great weapon is the nuclear devices that have been developed and have been continuing to multiply (see Chart 5.5).

The nuclear bomb is a great sword. Which kingly line are the weapons of war going to be on? The weapons of war, the carnal weapons are going to be on Saul’s line. The spiritual weapons are going to be on David’s line. How do you Christians fight? You win by dying. That is how the Lord fought. “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.” How does Saul’s line fight? Long distance with a bow. How does the Lord fight? Personally, close up with the sword of the Lord, Scripture. It is personal, the Word of God. How do you fight? You do so with a sword coming out of your mouth (Chart 5.6).

Each Seal is Progressive

V: I want you to also see the progressive nature of the seals. When you break the seal, it is not an instantaneous result. All of this that is described does not happen in an instant. It is progressive. It is seminal, like a seed. The germinated seed pops up out of the ground, and you see the little plant that is coming up, but all through history you see it growing and becoming fully matured. When you get out to the end, you get Antichrist, the mature plant that came from the seed of a human king.

The seal is a very progressive kind of thing. So when you see the description that is given, like this great weapon, which is going to be all of the nuclear power in the hands of Antichrist, it did not happen at the instant the seal was broken. In the past bows and spears were great weapons and caused a lot of death and destruction. This is a description of a progressive development here of that great sword, the great weapon.

As we get into the trumpets and bowls, you are going to see how they are going to grow and magnify because the Lord’s wrath is going to be added later. The current time we are talking about is not His wrath. What we are talking about here is His restraining of the evil power. The people wanted God’s restraint removed.

Joe: We know that a bomb is physical, and the alternative is a spiritual weapon. Spiritual war is difficult.

Henry: Going along with what this fellow back here said, could the great weapon be weapons of mass destruction?

V: Yes, weapons have progressively gotten more and more depersonalized and long range, but at the beginning it was hand-to-hand sort of stuff.

SEAL #3––ECONOMICS

Revelation

6:5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6:6 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; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

This seal is describing economics, and, of course, I am harkening back now to the four angelic creatures. You can correlate these. This seal is progressive also. By the time you get to the judgment time, all you will be able to earn economically with a man’s labor will be one day’s food (see Chart 5.7).

Tim: A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny. That is a man’s work for one day.

V: Yes, that is a man’s daily wage. When you get to the judgment time that is the way it is going to be. But remember it is a progressive thing. We are in it right now. The breaking of the seal starts the process which will fully mature only at the judgment. By the time we get out here to the judgment, there is going to be not only the scarcity of food, it is going to not only be hard to come by, but you will have to have a mark to get it.

Mary: You took the words right out of my mouth.

Homer: This is a set-up for receiving the mark of the beast.

V: Yes, sir. But look at the good news here. A lot of people do not see this as good news, but I want you to see this as good news. That good news is that the oil and wine will not be hindered by economic distress. The oil is grace, the wine is Gospel. The Gospel and God’s grace will not be hindered by economics. If it is being hindered today, it is a problem in the way we are handling it. Economics do not hinder God’s grace nor His Gospel. Grace and Gospel are all gift! And they even grow under persecution. The oil and the wine, then, will not be hindered—not by the king, not by war, and not by economics. They will go forth and bring in that harvest that God intended them to bring.

Beth: You said Dr. Vinson that Gospel and grace are gifts. That is why the church is thriving in China under communism. It does not matter about the politics.

V: Gifts yes, and during the time of the first century church when the Christians were being fed to the lions and burned at the stake and all like that, the Gospel and Grace swept the world like a tidal wave.

Wanda: Dr. Vinson, if you want grace and Gospel to grow, throw persecution and hard times on people. If you want to see it diminish and people walk away, throw good times, money, and everything else at them.

V: I know it. We prosper under pressure, and we just fall apart when we have it made. It is uncanny.

SEAL #4––DEATH

Revelation

6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Here is death restrained by the fourth seal. The breaking of this seal will loose death over the world (see Chart 5.8). Judgment time will see 1/4 of the world die under this one. Take a look at the elements: sword, hunger, death, and beasts of the earth. The beasts of the earth are more than just lions, tigers, alligators and things like that. I think it is also the beastly element of man that is going to be involved here.

We are moving into an era of society now in which there is no honor. A hero is a person who drives by and shoots an innocent person just standing on the street. They come in as heroes because they killed somebody. It is beastly. It does not make any sense to me. It is like an “insane” beast because even a tiger does not kill for the sake of killing.

Steve: Do you think that it is going to be men and animals?

V: Yes, men and animals. I think that animals are going to be worse and worse, but I think men are going to be the primary parts of this beast business.

Betty: You do not think this refers to any specific thing that has happened in time?

Point in Time

V: Yes, but I cannot pinpoint the event. All the seals have already been opened. We are progressing in the maturing process to the ends being described by these Scriptures. We have pushed against the stops. We have kicked against the prods. Now of our own free will, we are doing things that are absurd. God has held back and we have clamored for more progress.

Our prophets have come to say, “You do not want this,” and we have said, “Oh, yes, we cannot progress if we do not get this. Shut up, prophet.” And the Lord says, “Okay, snap” (He breaks the seal of restraint). We run through the barrier and just keep running down the line until we come to another stop. “Oh, this must be Satan stopping us out here. Oh, God, open up the door and let us through.” The prophets say, “You do not want this.” But we manage to get the restraints removed yet once again. For example, the prophets warn that if you take prayer out of schools, you are going to have some bad things happen in schools. The people clamor: “Oh, we cannot have prayer in schools. Oh, God, bless our schools, take this prayer out.” Runnnnn through. “Oh, we must have homosexuality. We do not want to be a bunch of homophobes. Oh, God, we know that you love these homosexuals. They are heroes, and we must allow them to be married.” We run through. This scenario repeats over and over again.

When someone preaches repentance and restraint, the congregation says, “We need a new pastor.” If you say anything about sin, they say, “You are judging us!” It just goes on and on.

God is doing His part. He is sending His prophets. Many of us have pushed and pushed against God’s restraining influence through our ignorance, but you are not ignorant any more.

Wanda: Lord, help us all.

V: That is right, help us, Oh, God.

Jill: Revelation says things will happen at the end times. We run through stop signs that tell us that we are going in the wrong direction. I think Revelation is a warning. We are going to suffer for being stubborn and hardheaded for not heeding the warning signs.

V: You are right. God gives us clear warnings here in this book. What does Satan do? He comes along and says, “You do not want to study the book of Revelation. You do not want to even read this book. It will give you nightmares, and you cannot understand it. Nobody can understand it, so do not read it.”

Friends, the warning signs are clear, but they are covered up. Nobody can see them because only the Lord’s slaves can see them. Some will understand a lot more than others, but those who understand just a little bit should take that little bit and run with it. That is what we are trying to do here.

The first four seals were the four horsemen, and they correlate to the four angelic beasts.

SEAL #5—PERSECUTION OF THE SAINTS

Revelation

6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they [were], should be fulfilled.

Jesus went this route. These saints that are going to be under the altar are going to be crying out, “How long are you going to wait, Lord, until you avenge our blood.” The saints who are crying out are the ones who die for their faith. When you are under Jesus’ reign, you are confessing Jesus Christ as Lord, and you are imitating Him, but you are going to get your head whacked off. It is going to happen.

Carl: This is not when the Antichrist is taking off the heads because they will not receive the mark?

V: No, you are describing only the endpoint of Seal # 5, the reign of Antichrist (see Chart 5.9). The fifth seal began with Christian martyrdom and comes out to the judgment. When the fifth seal is broken, it is not fulfilled at the instant that it is broken. It is a descriptive process. By the time they get out to the judgment, then the full description will have taken place. And it is not where God says, “Okay, if you do not listen to me I am going to put this on you.” He is not putting anything on anybody. They are self-destructing. We are self-destructing.

Paul: Would it be accurate to say, then, that all of the seven seals come to their end at the same time?

V: Yes, sir, all the seals are going to come all the way out to the end times, to that great day. As a matter of fact, all the trumpets and the bowls, everything.

Paul: Is martyrdom the same as going through the kenosis?

V: Yes, sir, going through the kenosis.

Seal #5 in Chart 5.9 is the persecution of the saints, and I want you to see that martyrdom is set before you as a predetermined thing. Martyr is the Greek word for witness. History is going to usher in sacrifice, suffering, and death for witnessing. It is already happening around the world. Thousands of Christians are being slaughtered by Muslims. It is going to get much worse.

You see the Lord has died. He has purchased for you new life, but the dying and the purchasing is not over with. Now it is our turn to die and purchase with our witness additional life for others. It is not that we have anything meritorious in us. Our dying is through sacrificial service to propagate the great gift that the Lord bought with his death. Can you see that distinction there?

Beth: These saints under the altar have been accumulating as long as Christians have been persecuted, right?

V: That is correct.

Beth: And martyrdom can be achieved also by dying to self and dying to sin and that kind of thing?

V: That is correct. It includes a spiritual martyrdom. Even the testimony, when you are witnessing, that is martyria. That is witnessing, martyrdom. So it comes even just out of your mouth, martyrdom.

Lesson Questions

1. Duplicate the Seal Chart from memory. Describe each seal.

Lesson 6

THREE TRUMPETS

This lesson will continue with the seals and begin the trumpets.

SEAL #6—INJUSTICE

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, and the moon became as blood;
6:13 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.
6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
6:15 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, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
6:16 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 wrath of the Lamb:
6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

When we come into the sixth seal, we now look at some new images.

Now there are many people who are looking for these things to be literal. But if you are going to interpret the book of Revelation in that way, then you are denying what God has already said, and that is that these are signs. The angel is to communicate everything in this book by signs through John. John writes the description of the signs that he sees. It is up to us to see the truth in the signs, and that is what we are doing here.

Earthquakes

When you are dealing with the earth, there are two general categories down where we are: earth and sea. Earth has to do with the secular part of the scheme on earth. I am seeing here in the sixth seal that there is going to be a disruption, a quaking of this earth and the political scene, the society that is here in place. The events of this seal will have repercussions that are going to be worldwide, and dealing with every form of institution and tradition, and we will look at some of these towards the end of this section on the sixth seal (Chart 6.1).

Sun Darkening

The sun is the source of light for us, and I take the sun as a sign of justice and truth. If you have a darkening of justice and truth, people lack the capability of making wise decisions, and we see that happening today. There is darkening. There are still some justice and truth available today. But when the sixth seal is fully matured, we will get to the point where there are no justice and truth because the sun will be totally blackened.

Moon Turns to Blood

The sun blackens and the moon turns to blood. What comes out of the Lord’s mouth, the Word of God, is the absolute source of justice and truth, and that is considered the sun. When you talk about the moon, you are talking about what comes out of your mouth. If the sun is the source and you are the reflectors, you are supposed to be witnesses of the Lord in bringing forth justice and truth in a testimony. If you are turning to blood, and your source is darkening, then truth and justice are lessening in the land. I think the moon’s turning to blood is also coming from the persecution of the saints.

Blood coagulates and putrefies quickly when it quits circulating. Thus the Lord’s witnesses quit circulating and become putrid. The church’s witness is no longer bringing light into the darkness. I take that to mean that our witness is going to be cut off because we are going to shut up in order to keep our tax exemption and prevent persecution. Persecution may possibly quiet down your testimony and your reflection of justice and truth.

But eventually we will be executed because our silence will expedite the advance of darkness (injustice). We will be taking a look at that execution when we look at the great tribulation.

Stars Fall to Earth

God has already told us the stars are angels (Revelation 1:20). The angels come falling out of heaven.¹

I see this to mean there is a kicking out of heaven of the fallen angels. Now Satan has no access to the throne of God as he did during Job’s time because he and all of his angels have been kicked out. They have hit the ground like a bunch of figs coming out of a tree that is being blown by the wind. They scurry off like a crab, running to find a hiding place. If a fallen angel is found by one of God’s angels, there will be war.

Student: This is a result of the chapter that says there was war in heaven?²

V: Yes, and one-third of the angels were thrown out. Here is that event in Seal #6. They come hitting the ground, and they do not have access to heaven any more.

Wanda: This has already happened, has it not?

V: This has already happened. You can reject my opinion, but I will be anxious to hear yours. They are now confined to earth, and they need an occupation and a refuge. Where are they going to get refuge? They can come into your home. They do not need a verbal invitation. If you have something evil in your house it is like having a neon sign outside welcoming them. If the head of the house invites the demons in and the second in command in that household says, “Demons get out,” they do not have to leave. They have permission of the strong man of the house. So beware, you fathers, you husbands, you head of the house, get your house in order.

When you live godly, they cannot abide in your house if it is a sanctified house. But if you bring something evil in there, it is no longer sanctified.

Betty: Would it be things like pornography and drugs . . . ?

V: Those are good examples. It could be music, it could be things that are seemingly innocent.

Henry: Could you not say evil is anything that is not pleasing to God.

V: Yes, you sure could.

Tim: The Bible says if we resist the devil that includes demons, he will flee.

V: Right, but their fleeing does not preclude further attacks. When you are acting in foolishness, they will come against you in strength. When these stars hit the earth, they have to find refuge. It can be into your house or into your church. Once they have that refuge, they are untouchable by God’s angels unless the head guy says, “Get out,” and cleans up his own place. When that happens then God’s angels can come in there and enforce that.

I do not know if you have figured it out yet or not, but I think all the seals have been loosed, and we are well into the trumpets, and I will show you where we are in the trumpets here in a little while.

We are in a progressive state of darkening. These seals are linear, and they all come out to the end point, one after another. (See Chart 6.3.)

The heaven departing as a scroll when it is rolled together means that there is a separation now between heaven and earth. This separation is going to have some important consequences.

Also the earthquake is so severe that the mountains and islands are moved out of their places. Mountains are institutions on the earth, and islands are institutions in the sea. Can you hear what I am saying?

Years ago since I started teaching this course, and I came to the point that I declared that mountains are institutions, I have been seeing an advertisement on television about First Union Bank being called a mountain.

Paul: The mountain will come to you.

V: Yes. The first time I heard that, it just shocked me because there on television came agreement with my interpretation from the secular world!

All of these rich men, kings, chief captains, bondsmen, freemen, want to hide themselves in the institutions of the earth. They are looking for money, security, insurance, IRA’s anything to hide themselves and give themselves security. They are not looking for security in the Lord, and it is a

shame because many church members are looking for the mountains to fall upon them and give them security.

Jill: Give us an example of institutions in the sea.

V: Denominations, associations, churches, the cooperative program, the annuity board, the tract society, a lot of institutions in religion. Your security is not to be in institutions. It is only in Jesus Christ.

Jill: And when they say the mountains fell on them, you are saying they want security?

V: That is right. They are looking to be hidden from spiritual insecurity, and they are trying to cover themselves in material security. We see this a lot in the wealthy, the powerful, and the famous.

Pete: In Matthew 24 I notice that it says, “The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.”³ Is this the same thing that He is talking about?

V: Yes.

Pete: Also in that discourse there, He is talking about how there will be earthquakes and famines. Now these are literal things in Matthew.

V: No, not totally. There is a double entendre in some of these signs. Sometimes the sign needs to be recognizable by either the lukewarm saint or the lost person. I think that in God’s grace there are going to be literal fulfillments of some of these signs while most of them require the eyes of faith.

Famine can be double entendre: (1) it can be lack of wheat bread and stuff like that, but more importantly (2) lack of spiritual bread, the bread of life. We are already in the midst of famine.

Pete: Famine in hearing the Words of the Lord?

V: Man shall not live by bread alone.⁴

Okay, let us discuss God’s wrath. The wrath of the Lamb is coming next in verse 17. There is at the end of Seal #6 the opening of the trumpets, which is the next seal. So at the end of Seal #6, the trumpets will commence to warn of the coming of the Lamb’s wrath. That is Seal #7, which opens up all the trumpets.

When we get to Seal #7, then we are going to start a series of trumpets that are going to have the same parallel progressions and the same ending point as does the seals.

The following passage is a parenthetical following Seal #6. It is a reflection of what is going to begin to happen much later in the sixth seal.

REVELATION 7

Revelation

7:1 And after these things 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.
7:2 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,
7:3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Then there is an enumeration of the tribes.

Four Angels

We have, now, these four angels holding the four winds away from the earth, the sea, and the trees. The earth, of course, is the general, secular planet earth. The sea is the religious planet earth. The trees are the economic planet earth. The four winds are, I think, winds of doctrine, and I believe that these doctrines are going to come out of this darkening of the sun.

The four angels are going to loose the winds of doctrines to sweep this earth with destructive results. This is not one of those kinds of symbolic numbers like seven and ten—this is a specific number which means four. I do not know how you want to read that.

Sealing the 144,000

The angel with God’s seal says, “Do not loosen them until we seal God’s servants.” He is going to come in, and he is going to seal the 144,000 servants in the foreheads. I believe now that these are servants who do the Word of God, and if you do the Word of God, you will know the truth of the doctrine.⁵ That knowledge of true doctrine is the seal. When the four new doctrines come sweeping around the world, these servants will not be fazed by it. They will say, “That is a bunch of junk.”

Beth: I am really trying to find out if you have any inside thought on the significance of God’s angel who puts the seal in the Christian’s foreheads coming from the east.

Ted: In answer to your question, the sun rises in the east. Truth comes from the east. That is where the angel of God is from.

V: Oh, yes. Man! That is good!

Ted: Okay, what you said about the truth, is that when Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.⁶

V: Yes, exactly.

Paul: could these four doctrines be related to the forming of the one-world religion that comes upon the earth in this time?

V: Yes, to form the one-world government, religion, and economy because it is talking about earth and sea and trees here, too. So the winds of doctrines are going to touch on all three of those areas.

Pete: The only people who are going to get the seal in their foreheads are the 144,000?

V: Yes, the 144,000 servants of God, and these are converted Jews. There seems to be enough significance in the enumeration of the tribes to indicate that these are 12,000 actual people from each of those tribes.

Paul: Do you know what the emblem or logo on that seal that will be placed on the forehead?

V: I do not think that it is going to be a literal seal. I am thinking that it is a spiritual seal that is achieved only for those who are totally radical “servants.” It is similar to but greater than the seal that you and I are getting today when we do the Word of God that we know.

They are going to know what the kenosis is, what sacrifice is and they are going to know what they are supposed to be doing, and how important witnessing is. Then there is going to be the strong witness that is going to sweep the world simultaneously with the sweeping of the world by the winds of evil doctrines.

Mary: Could the tribulation come as a result of their witness?

V: Yes. Tribulation is going to progress. Now these 144,000 Jews I think are going to have some kind of protection, and it may be geographic. That protection is not going to extend to any who are outside the arena of protection. It could be that they are witnessing on the other side of the planet, but they are protected wherever they are. They could be using the internet. But look what happens to all their converts.

Countless Martyrs

Revelation

7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of 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;
7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
7:11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and [about] the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
7:12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, [be] unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
7:14 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.
7:15 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.
7:16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
7:17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Now here is a promise, but I want you to see that Seal #6 is going to bring great tribulation on this planet. When you have the darkening of truth and justice, and a reddening (darkening as it turns to putrefied blood) of the reflection of the witness or the prophetic word of the church, as it continues to putrefy, then there will be no witness of truth and justice. As a result of that lack there is going to be great persecution across the entire globe of everyone who is being saved. For each one there will be the requirement to make a public profession of faith. When that happens, off comes the head.

We walk down the aisle today, and we pray to receive Christ. But these people will walk down the aisle to spiritual life but also to physical death. When we go into baptism, we say that we are buried with Christ in His death, but raised to walk in newness of life. These people will do it literally. They will go down into death, and come up and walk in heaven with a palm in their hand, a white robe and be right there in the temple of God, and they will not ever have to leave because they showed their love enough to God by demonstrating absolute loyalty to Him. If you demonstrate your loyalty to Him, He will demonstrate loyalty to you.

White Robes

Ted: In verse 14 it says, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes.”⁷ Are the robes souls and do the palms signify martyrdom?

V: No, you are washed from your sin by the blood of Christ. That cleansing of your soul is a free gift, but it does not dress you up. The robes are clothes that you achieve through works. Your clothes are earned via works, and washed via martyrdom. That is up to you, and even the crown is up to you.

Betty: Dr. Vinson, in Isaiah it talks about the garments of salvation⁸ and the robes of righteousness. When they say the garments of salvation, does that have to do with the one piece that was under the robe?

V: I would not count on it. The garments of salvation could very well be the garments of sanctification part of salvation. This would be then a parallel to the robes of righteousness. Sometimes when the Lord describes someone as being naked, it does not mean that the person was naked without the undergarments. So there is hope for us in that area.

Tribulation

The tribulation would be another highlight of chapter 7. Those saints came out of the tribulation. I want you to see what “ek” or “out of” means. One concept of tribulation is that you bypass it, the wonderful escapist mentality that most of us have that says we are going to escape tribulation. We are just going to be raptured or pulled out, and we do not have any stress put on us because we are such favored people (see Chart 6.2.1).

There is another idea. Out of tribulation means that the saints were in it, then they escaped out of it, and that is what these saints did. They came out of great tribulation (see Chart 6.2.2).

What I want you to see here is that these who have the palms came out of tribulation so that means they were in it. These are the saints who have endured tribulation and died in it. Death is how the exit is made.

Mary: The ones with the palms?

V: The palms indicate that tribulation cost them their lives. In order to be considered a disciple it costs you your life through self-denial. It is supposed to cost us our lives as well—if not through actual death, then through sacrifice and selfdenial.

Then there is the third concept right here, which is through tribulation (see Chart 6.2.3). In this case, the saints passed all the way through tribulation and came out of it on the other side. These are the three ideas that abound.

Why do we think we are so special that we are immune to tribulation, and that God is swooning over us, and He just thinks, “Man! What a wonderful bunch of saints down here!” If we are escaping because we are so special, how come Paul did not escape? He was more special than we are! Why did not Polycarp or Michael Sattler escape? Why didn’t all those saints that were tortured to death escape throughout church history?

Tim: I think that what people fail to realize is that if you look from Genesis all the way through, there is not an incident of anybody that was in tribulation that did not go through it. Look at Noah, did he get the easy way out? No, he was on a boat for thirteen months.

Wanda: What about the three Hebrews, did they escape? No, they got thrown into the furnace. All of them went through it; you do not get out of it.

Jack: Facing the cross, Jesus said, “Is there any way to remove this cup?” And the Lord sent an angel to minister to Him, but He went through that cross. It is our turn to go through it.

Mary: It seems to me, Dr. Vinson, that to die a martyr’s death is a very special thing to an individual, and it is almost like a blessing.

V: It is an honor signified by the palms in Scripture.

Paul: So when the sky is rolled back, that is not Ichabod, is it? The Holy Spirit removed?

V: No, the Holy Spirit is still here and in place. The Holy Spirit is always going to be in place; the restrainer is the law, not the Holy Spirit.

REVELATION 8

Revelation

8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Seal #7 (or the releasing of the trumpets.)

This means that we are about to move from an active kind of resistance here where the Lord is holding the seals, and we are about to move now to a more passive action from God. It is going to be a trumpet. He is going to sound the trumpet, and He is going to say, “All right, if you have ears to hear this trumpet, look at the signs and see what I am saying.”

Tim: What is the significance of the half hour?

V: I think it is to call attention to God changing his action from restraint to calling the attention of the people for repentance. We are making a move, a transition.

Prayers of the Saints

Revelation

8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer [it] with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

You need to see here that the incense is the spiritual addition to the prayers of the saints to make those prayers acceptable to God. This is significant here because sometimes Christians may pray, “God, kill that guy; he is being mean to me.” When that kind of prayer goes up to God, He does not want to hear that because He is a redeeming God. The Holy Spirit, then, comes in and incenses that prayer, and makes it acceptable to God.

Ted: Then God kills him. (Laughter throughout the class.) The incense makes that prayer acceptable?

V: Yes, it is spiritual addition that makes the prayers acceptable.

Ted: So it kind of changes our prayers.

V: Yes, it makes them acceptable by sanctifying them. It makes it a prayer that God Himself would pray. When you pray, God does not say yes to your prayers unless they are acceptable. He does not say yes just because you are saved.

Henry: It is like the Bible says, “The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us because we do not know how . . . .”⁹

V: We do not know how to pray. We sometimes just moan and carry on. So the Holy Spirit comes along and takes that and fixes it up, and God says, “Yes, that is a good prayer. I will do that.”

Revelation

8:4 And the smoke of the incense, [which came] with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

Now the angels are even involved and the incense represents the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit, God the Father, the angels, and the saint on the planet all participating in this scene. The saint on the planet does not know what is going on. He cannot see unless He has the eyes of faith and has read this book. He, then, may have an idea that there are angels involved, and these prayers are being incensed, and the Holy Spirit is involved.

But most of the time the saints on the earth are just praying, “Oh, God, I want this, and I want that. I am going to do such and such. Come and bless me over here. Hey, God where are you? You see how it works? Most of the time the saints on the earth do not even know what is going on. But what we are supposed to do is read this Scripture and then know that this is the kind of thing that is going on.

Precursors to the Trumpets

Revelation

8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast [it] into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
8:6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

When you have thunderings and lightnings and voices and earthquakes, then you have a repetition of what was happening in the book of Exodus when Moses was going to the mountain. God descended to the mountain, and there was an earthquake, lightning and thunder. When you hear thunder and see lightning, there is significance. By reading this significance you ought to be able to say, “God is speaking to the earth.” You may not know what He is saying, but you ought to be able to look at that and say by faith, that God is speaking to the earth.

Joe: The earthquake here is to draw our attention to something that is about to happen?

V: Yes. And all this quaking business has to do with your society, your institutions, the tremblings of what is secure on the secular part of our planet. It is not a seaquake, it is an earthquake.

Purpose of Trumpets

Now when we come to the trumpets it is going to be a different idea. God is saying I want your attention, and now the trumpet has a different significance. It means “look to me.” It is to announce a message. That is why a trumpet is blown. It is to get everybody to turn around and look at the warning signs. If you do not turn, you are going to suffer what I am describing in these trumpets. When we go through these trumpet blasts, He is saying, “Repent, people, repent.” He is no longer removing barriers because all the stops have been released. Now we can run all the way to no truth and justice at all on the planet.

That is where we are headed, but He is going to continue to call us back. He is going to blow the trumpet. Some have ears to hear, and they are going to look around and say, “See that sign?” They are going to hear the trumpet, and they will say, “God is trying to tell us something here.” When a saint does that, everybody else is going to jump on that saint. They will criticize you and downplay God’s actions in history. As they criticize there is going to be a quenching of the Spirit for the saints especially when persecution begins.

TRUMPET #1, ECONOMICS

Revelation

8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

On the first trumpet when it is matured, one-third of economic systems (trees), the larger economic systems, are going to go down the tubes. They are going to burn up. The economy of the little people (grass) is going to be burned up. Across this planet, then, when this trumpet is sounded, and it is matured (it begins the process at the sounding, but at the end point, at the point of judgment, there will be economic chaos), the little man, the private businesses are going to be swallowed up and be destroyed. There is not going to be any profitability for the little man to try to be an entrepreneur. That is going to be gone. The only ones that will survive are two-thirds of your General Motors, Fords, AT&T, and that kind of thing. One-third of them are going to go down the tube at the maturation of this trumpet.

Joe: Could that be what is going on now with all these companies merging together?

V: It is happening right now. This trumpet has blown.

Jack: Is this grass in this chapter, meaning little people, a universal sign?

V: Yes, universal.

Student: Is there any significance in the fact that it says green grass?

V: Yes, green grass indicates that they are growing, doing good, and profitable. Pretty soon we are going to be so “wise” that we will pass more restrictive laws and taxes. Next OSHA will add further restrictions as will the Labor Relations boards, and pretty soon nobody can make a penny.

TRUMPET #2, INSTITUTIONALISM

Revelation

8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
8:9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

Here is the sea, now it is time for the church. The great mountain burning with fire is the thrust of institutionalism that lands in the church. Institutionalism in the church turns the church into an idol, and one-third of the people in the church are going to die spiritually.

Jill: They are going to die spiritually?

V: Yes, spiritually.

Tim: The church will no longer worship?

V: No, they are going to be in there worshipping that institution and that is the source of death. There will be dead people in the church worshipping away. Instead of following Jesus, the members follow the institution.

Wanda: Sort of like Catholicism?

V: I think so. Anyway this trumpet has blown and institutionalism is running rampant.

TRUMPET #3, FALSE PREACHING

Revelation

8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star . . .

You know what the stars are.

8:10 . . . from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, . .

Seems like it gives off light.

8:10... and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
8:11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.

Now the fresh water are the clergy, the source of the waters that go into the sea and bring life and refreshment to the sea. Wormwood, though, comes down and you can see wormwood in Jeremiah 23. God is going to be pointing His hostility and anger and retribution upon the clergy.

Jeremiah

23:9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.
23:10 For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force [is] not right.
23:11 For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
23:12 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery [ways] in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, [even] the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
23:13 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err.
23:14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
23:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.
23:16 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, [and] not out of the mouth of the LORD.
23:17 They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

It just goes on and on and on about these prophets. These are the clergy. This is Jeremiah preaching to Judah just before the Babylonian captivity. Judah is in apostasy, and they think they are in revival. But they are worshipping like you would not believe, going into the temple, and they are preaching, “The Temple of the Lord, The Temple of the Lord, The Temple of the Lord.” That makes them righteous just because they are in the temple of the Lord. This is institutionalism in Judah prior to Christ and the Church.

Jill: Worship of the place rather than the Lord.

V: There is the burning mountain, and here are the clergy, the fresh water, the fountain of waters, and what are they doing? They are strengthening the hands of evildoers. They are not calling the people to repentance. They are being fed wormwood, and their preaching of institutionalism is causing many to die. Many men will die out of wormwood, drinking the bitter waters, and God says, “These are my prophets, people do not listen to them.” Man! They are preaching out of the imaginations of their hearts. They are saying that peace is going to come upon you if you are coming to church and tithing. When you preach peace and no evil going to come upon you without hardship, there is something wrong with that. God said later in Jeremiah that a true prophet always preaches repentance. If there is no repentance, do not listen to them.

In Malachi God said that my prophets are going to have their blessings turn to curses.¹⁰ That means that when you are under the teaching of a false prophet, and he gives a blessing to you, you are going to receive a curse. Do not even sit under the false prophet because you will receive a curse guaranteed by the Word of God. Wormwood is going to come down here in the third trumpet, and it is going to land on the clergy, the fresh waters, and that wormwood is an evil angel. He is going to convince the clergy to preach this weak-livered gospel. Their message has no call for repentance, and they are going to strengthen the hands of evildoers. There is not going to be any changing and stepping up and becoming the men of God that you need to be. You are going to receive nothing but praise as you sink into depravity.

Jill: Turn on the TV and listen to the evangelists there.

Bob: Love, joy, fulfillment, and no worry. Name it and claim it.

Beth: No persecution, no cross.

V: No cross, nothing but peace and good prosperity coming and no call for repentance.

Steve: Did you say what the ships were in verse 9 because I did not catch that.

V: Yes, I think I did. When you are in the general church, which is the sea, guess what the ships are?

Steve: Individual churches.

V: There, you have it.

Homer: In verse 9 it says the creatures, which were in the sea and had life, is that just a reiteration of verse 8 where it says that a third of the sea became blood?

V: Yes, those in verse 8 are the people who are becoming putrid, and verse 9 describes them as dying. This death in verses 10 and 11 is by the wormwood.

Ted: Wormwood is pretty much being false prophets?

V: I think that wormwood is a false preaching. This is a trumpet that is going to mature all the way out here to the end, where there will be nothing but those politically correct preachers who are preaching that homosexuals are wonderful, that we ought to ordain them, we ought to marry them. That is no call for repentance. As a matter of fact we are going to get to the point where the only way you can be wrong is to be right.

Paul: The people that reject God’s Word are looking toward this type of teaching, the tickling of the ears type of stuff.

V: That is what I am saying. What is going to be your protection? Protection comes in doing the Word of God. When you are doing the Word of God, you will be sealed just like the 144,000. It does not mean that you are not going to get killed. It means you are going to know the truth.

Steve: I want you to talk to us a little about us making decisions about going to a place and listening to this false prophet. Talk to us a little about it, about discerning that.

V: Okay. Whenever you participate as a a member in a church, you are a partner there. Any kind of corporate punishment that comes down on that church gets every partner in it. If you are going to be in a false church, or a church that has the burning mountain in it, or wormwood in it, you had better be a missionary. As a missionary, you are going to be the prophet of the Lord saying, “Turn this thing around,” and if they are going to repent, they will. If they are not, they are going to throw you out. Your tenure is going to be short lived.

Paul: A prime example of the opposite was Moses in the desert where he had the waters that were bitter, and he turned them sweet because Israel had come out of Egypt with false doctrine, false gods and false beliefs. Moses put forth the truth, turning bitterness or wormwood into sweet water.

V: Yes!! Absolutely! And that is what the prophet does. If we do not, we have the same problem. We are, then, spouting out wormwood, and it will kill the people.

Lesson Questions

Describe Seals #6 and #7.

Differentiate God’s actions when moving from seals to trumpets.

Describe the 144,000.

Describe the martyrs.

Describe the 3 methods of saints bypassing, coming out of, or going through tribulation.

Describe the first 3 trumpets.

Lesson 7

MORE TRUMPETS

TRUMPET #4, DIMINISHED WITNESS

Revelation 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
8:13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

When we looked into Seal #6 it revealed a darkening of the sun and moon. There is going to be an advancing darkness all the way to a total blackness when you get out to the end times. You remember how I drew an end time, and all the various seals are going in that direction (see Chart 7.2).

The seals acted as God’s restraints and the trumpets are now calls to repentance. God was using the seals, contrary to the trumpets, as restraints of evil on the earth to keep the light, truth and justice in place. The church was supposed to be watchmen on the walls, and calling out with a prophetic voice, “Do not go through this seal, this restraint. Make man’s laws come right out of God’s laws so that they will be true and just.” The people have not heard, plus the voice of God’s people has been quieted down to the point where it is just a little squeak now. The people are doing what they want to do and ruling on what norms they desire. One of the things that they are demanding is homosexuality. Laws favoring homosexuality are in place. There will soon be laws against saying bad things about that homosexuality. This situation means that darkness is closing in around us.

The church being reflectors of God’s light, are basically like the moon. We reflect light from the source, and we bring light into darkness. But Trumpet #4 is to alert you that you are darkening, and you may not even perceive the fact.

A trumpet is to get your attention. It is a loud sound that is calling the church, the ones that have an ear to hear, to hear the trumpet blast. You hear the trumpet by looking around and seeing the condition of our society. The darkening is in a progressive state (see Chart 7.1).

At this trumpet blast we are one-third of the way to the completeness of Seal #6. The church holds in its hand the deliverance of the world. That means that if the church can hear the trumpet blast, there is hope for the lost world. Seeing this kind of darkening, you should redouble your efforts to be the prophetic voice calling for repentance among our people and get the people to stop their progression into apostasy. If you do not, we will progress in a rapid order all the way to the end of Seal #6.

You have to be deaf and blind not to hear the trumpet blast after having read what we have read in the book of Revelation. When we are fully dark, right is going to be wrong, and wrong is going to be right. If we are not already getting there, folks, I do not know how to read a newspaper.

A Look at the Clergy

Ministers are not teaching and preaching the truth or mission from God’s Word. Instead they are teaching fluff, churchianity, institutionalism and “grow my own little empire.”

John the Baptist showed us how to do it. He was standing there with his disciples, and when the Lamb walked by, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God,”¹ and his disciples left him and went with Jesus. Now friends, that is a real minister.

Describing Our Job

The church of Jesus Christ can turn the tide. We hold the key in our hand: “If my people who are called by my name.”² That is a big “if.” The first requirement is to humble yourself. In my opinion, there is not a chance that will happen. The church sees itself as the wonderful, great bride of Christ with unspotted garments. How can you repent when you think there is nothing wrong with you? You cannot even humble yourself much less repent, seek His face, and turn from your wicked ways. All those actions are impossible for your present-day kind of church.

Your job then, is to rescue the perishing one by one. Go to your loved ones, coworkers and neighbors. Tract all over the place, pray for those people and for everyone’s sake, vote and vote right. That is what all of us as disciples are required to do. When we get down to the end, and it is coming quickly, there is going to be an underground church at work. You will be sneaking over to your neighbor’s house while the police are not watching and talking to them and witnessing and giving an invitation, praying that they will not turn you in. That is the way it is going to be.

Use the Bible

Bob: My older brother lives in California. He is complaining because there are many preachers who do not want to preach against sin for fear of offending their members. A church once invited him to preach for a special service. They only used him for one night because the pastor of that church told him that he should not have said what he said because a lot of the members were angry. The pastor told him, “You stepped on a lot of toes tonight.” My brother said, “Well, I am sorry, but I was not aiming for the toes. I was aiming for their hearts.”

V: We have to get over it and be faithful!

REVELATION 9

Trumpet #5, Woe #1: Love of Death

Here we have this angel flying through and saying, “Woe, Woe, Woe.” We have three woes. The first woe is the fifth trumpet.

Revelation 9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
9:2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
9:3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
9:4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.
9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment [was] as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
9:6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
9:7 And the shapes of the locusts [were] like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads [were] as it were crowns like gold, and their faces [were] as the faces of men.
9:8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions.
9:9 And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings [was] as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
9:10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power [was] to hurt men five months.
9:11 And they had a king over them, [which is] the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue [is] Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath [his] name Apollyon.
9:12 One woe is past; [and], behold, there come two woes more hereafter.

Trumpet #5 is a blast calling your attention to suicide, euthanasia, and abortion. Here is a situation in which people desire death. Who is the angel of death? Apollyon, Abaddon. That angel is the star that fell from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit.³

You remember that the stars are angels.⁴ The star comes down, he opens up the pit, and out comes this great smoke.

Massive Demonic Activity

All the demonic activity is obscured by this smoke screen so that you cannot discern what is coming at you. I am using “you” loosely, of course. It is generally the public including the church. It is composed of spirits spreading a darkening propaganda. All of this propaganda is coming at you from every direction. It further says that this demonic activity is not going to affect our economy at all—not the little man at the green grass level and not going to affect the big company at the green tree level. It is going to affect people, but if you have the seal of God in your forehead, it is not going to affect you.

That demonic activity sounds threatening and some folks ought to listen to what I am saying. If there is no seal of God in the forehead, you are open season to this activity and it will be worldwide.

There will be a rush of all of these locusts swarming all over the place, and it has a driving torment which is already present. If you try to start talking about taking the right of abortion away, you are going to get your head knocked off. I have stood out here on the sidewalk and taken abuse just holding up a sign that says, “Abortion is murder.” I have held that sign up, and people have driven by and cursed me, and if it had not been beside a six-lane city street that was filled up with cars, they would have stopped and beaten me to a pulp. That is how bad it is.

There is also a clamoring for it to progress because these locusts have a driving compulsion like a scorpion sting. When a scorpion stings, you cannot stand still. You are going to move. That is what these demons do. They are going to move the people that do not have the seal on their foreheads to clamor for suicide, abortion, and euthanasia.

Government

As we look at verse 7, the demons are described as having crowns of gold. I take that to mean the resulting influence is going to be from our government. The people in our government are going to be the pawns in Satan’s hands to be a driving force throughout the land. The government officials are described as having faces of men. I believe they are going to be men, rulers in high places, but they are going to have the hair of women. They are going to come across as nurturing and caring. They will persuade the citizenry that we need suicide, abortion, and euthanasia because of their compassion for us. We will assume that they love us and begin to think that we need to have euthanasia, suicide, and abortion. The smoke will be blinding.

You who have the seal of God in your forehead can still see, and the torment will not get you. The torment gets the people that do not have the seal of God, but the smoke can still obscure some of your vision.

Abortion, Suicide, and Euthanasia

This torment is demonic-driven, and it is top down from the government to the people, and the people are herded up and driven like cattle. They are being influenced around the world. Abortion, suicide, and euthanasia are everywhere. I believe the five months has to do presently with the first two trimesters. You can freely abort in the first two trimesters, but not in the third. Around the world—abortion within the first five months is possible, but it could be extended to five months after birth. You might have opportunity to examine that child for five months and then you can abort—it will not be called killing, just aborting. This is a suggested interpretation of this trumpet in its mature state. I believe it now has to do with the gestation period.

Beth: This may be sort of reaching out there, but this seems to fall into place with cloning.

V: Yes, it could hook up to the “clone and kill” practice of harvesting stem cells.

Tom: A lot of this talking about the government and what they have done, is not easily detected. We have horse blinders on our eyes, because we are so busy and have not been able to see. We focus on our work, paying bills and surviving that we have not been able to pull the blinders off.

Carl: If you get a presidential candidate who says abortion is against the law, he will be put out because our government has made it legal.

V: It is going on today; that is why this trumpet has blown. Suicide is rampant among Islamic terrorists who practice suicide bombings. Suicide is taking many lives around the world because of lost hope. Abortion has taken the lives of an entire generation. Euthanasia is being considered in cases of death selection for people deemed useless in society. The withholding of treatment in order to bring about death for people over fifty years of age is already being practiced in other countries. This is a form of passive euthanasia. This trumpet has blown and is progressing.

Joe: One of the ways that the blindness is there is that sex is emphasized everywhere. It is causing the practice of premarital sex. You see you would not need abortion if you were not having the sex.

V: That is right.

Henry: When you mentioned the five months and stuff, it reminded me of just this last week seeing the show about a new philosophy professor that was hired at [an unnamed prestigious] university. He has three or four books that are advocating euthanasia, and he is advocating abortion at any time, and one of the books was going to talk about killing a child after it has been born.

Pete: Clinton I believe just vetoed a bill that would outlaw late-term abortions. It caused a big uproar.

V: Oh, yes, partial birth abortions, I think.

Mary: Does the teeth like lions refer to partial birth abortion because they use a hook to go in there and abort the child.

V: No, I think the teeth like lions is referring back to these people with crowns and the faces of men and the long hair. They are going to be irresistible and will bite through any of your defenses. I believe this trumpet has blown—the lions are out there chewing away. Not only that, but they are going to have the breastplates of iron on their chests, so that their defenses are impenetrable. But to whom are they going to have access? It will only be the people that do not have the seal.

The smoke that comes up from the furnace is going to fill the air, and that is what you have to be able to see through. Sharpen your eyes and look through that smoke screen. It is there to get you to shut up and be dazzled so that you cannot give your witness, your prophetic voice, and therefore Trumpet #4 is darkening by 1/3 the moon which is reflected light. It all connects together.

Ted: Who are the men that seek death and cannot find it?

V: They are the people that want to die—seeking euthanasia. Some have a terminal disease. They are people who want to die now, and they are hiring Dr. Death whoever that joker is. Some have ruined their lives and are in despair. Some are Islamic terrorists seeking a quick trip to heaven.

Trumpet #6, Woe #2: War with Middle East

This is where we are in time. Do you get that? Trumpet #6 has blown, but Trumpet #7 has not blown.

Revelation 9:13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen [were] two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses [were] as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
9:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
9:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.
9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

This Trumpet #6 describes a great war involving the Middle East. It starts there near the river Euphrates, and I believe that those angels who were bound inside the river Euphrates have been loosed for the purpose of destroying 1/3 of mankind.

Death for 1/3 of Mankind

The killing that we spoke of earlier dealing with wormwood and the fiery mountain that landed in the sea, were spiritual killings, killing of the church through institutionalism. After a third of the church died from institutionalism, the spoiling of a third of the clergy through wormwood caused many more to die. That is spiritual death dealing with the church.

The war in Trumpet #6 is dealing with the planet and it is going to kill 1/3 of the people. I believe that this is the kind of killing that comes from bullets and bombs, not spiritual things here. Those four angels have been loosed. I believe Trumpet #6 occurred on September 11, 2001. War was declared on America by Muslim terrorists. America has declared war on terrorists. The war of Trumpet #6 is on and is in process.

All but the last trumpet, as you can see, have already blown. All the seals have been opened. Everything is on “go,” but here we are waiting. We are standing here at the end of verse 12 having just heard that two woes are past. Behold there comes one more woe. That is what we heard. There is one more woe to come: that woe is the last trumpet, the rapture.

Homer: In verse 20 it says that the rest of mankind that was not killed by these plagues still did not repent. Is that to imply . . .?

V: That implies that everybody that is still left alive will not repent because they are not “hearing” the trumpet blast. The ones who “heard” are the saved who have ears to hear. The saved without ears and the unsaved are not repenting because they have not “heard.” The unsaved can still be saved by hearing the Gospel, but their salvation does not come as a result of hearing the trumpet.

It is going to be worldwide war, and 1/3 of this planet is going to be killed. It could be us that get killed. It may not be, but it could be. It may be just some of us who get killed. It may be. It may not be. I do not know. But I am ready.

Steve: You are saying that this world war precedes the rapture.

V: Right because the rapture is at the last trumpet.⁵

Jill: The last woe is the rapture?

V: That is correct. Get ready for it and get your people ready for it. I do know this much: 1/3 of the planet is going to be killed. God said it.

I need to go back to the fifth trumpet so you can get a better understanding. We are dealing with this euthanasia and abortion and all this driving force of locusts and the blinding smoke.

Luke 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Mark this verse. This is a reference to the stars falling from heaven like the figs falling off the fig tree in a strong wind that we talked about earlier in this course. Here is the reference to him falling, coming down out of heaven onto earth, and it says:

Luke 10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

You are sealed. If you have the seal of God in your forehead, neither Satan nor any of the serpents or the scorpions has any power over you. These are demonic forces. When it says serpents and scorpions, it is not talking about literal serpents and scorpions. It is talking about the demonic. He says further,

Luke 10:20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.

Here is the promise in Luke that because of who you are, God has sealed you up as His possession. There is not going to be a problem with our having these demonic scorpions driving us to commit this kind of thing.

Your problem instead is going to be in wisdom and the ability to see through the smoke. If you will use the glasses that God has given you through the Word of God and analyze what is coming at you through the smoke, you will be able to discard all this junk and get down to the root issues and make some proper decisions. John 7:17 is the eyeglasses that you need.

Do What You Know

John 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or [whether] I speak of myself.
7:18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

If you will just do the truth, then your eyes will sharpen up, and you will be able to see through all this smoke screen that is trying to fool you and to get you off guard and to give you confusion. If you do the little that you know, you will have additional truth. You spiral up by doing what you know to be the truth. But on the other hand, if you do not do the little truth that you have, you will be darkened, and you will spiral down.

If you are the preacher or the pastor, and God gives you a sermon, and you start to prepare that sermon, and you think, “Oh, my land, we are having such a hard time meeting the budget. If I preach this, some of the families will get mad because they have been committing these sins. You will be useless. You are spiraling down, folks.

Please pause for a few moments and reflect on what you need to do to bring Truth and Justice from the Lord. (pause . . . . . . .) Will you do it? Please pray with me now: “Lord Jesus, I know one thing that I should do to be your disciple. I commit now to yield myself to you in the area of my ______. Please work in me and accomplish your will on earth by using me to do that thing. Please search my life and determine all other changes that you want to make in me. In your name and for your glory, Amen.”

The Rapture is Coming

Mark 13:24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

That verse in Mark describes the maturing of Seal #6.

Mark 13:25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, . . .

You know that verse 25 is describing one of the seals in which the fallen angels are kicked out of heaven.

Mark 13:25 . . . and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
13:26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
13:27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

That passage describes the rapture which we are nearing and will be discussing in the next trumpet.

Mark 13:28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
13:29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, [even] at the doors.
13:30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
13:31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
13:32 But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Now this passage is a warning to us. The rapture is at the door. But none of us can tell you when it is going to happen. We cannot say it is going to happen next week or next year. We can say this: we can look at the budding fig tree, and say that summer is at hand. If we cannot look at these trumpets and these seals and see the evidence in our society, then we cannot even look at a budding fig tree and tell what season it is. Look around; the end is at the door.

The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 14:25 And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,
14:26 If any [man] come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
14:28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have [sufficient] to finish [it]?
14:29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish [it], all that behold [it] begin to mock him,
14:30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
14:31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
14:32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Let me repeat verse 33.

14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

The cost of discipleship is everything! God is calling out His disciples today. Will you be His disciple? Will you run this race all the way to the end? Many of us have never had to sacrifice. We just celebrate. We go to church to sing, pray, feel good and get blessed. But every bit of that worship is for a purpose. That purpose is for you to realize that Jesus is Lord. He is calling for you to be His disciple, not just his cheerleader. A disciple is required to sacrifice everything.

We are coming to the end now. It is time for the church to stand up and be counted. You are the ones who are called. You have been called very clearly in these words. Will you take a stand?

I know that there are some of you who are going through some hard times right now. You question, “Am I right? Is the pain that I am suffering an indication that I am on the wrong path?” That is the kind of question that is going to come into your mind. This smoke that is pouring out of this pit is blinding us.

I want you to know that Jesus does not mince words, and He does not beg people to come after Him. This passage started by saying, “A great multitude was coming after Him and He turned and he said, ‘If you are not ready to forsake all that you have, you cannot be my disciple.’”⁶ He does not beg anybody. He is telling you, “Deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus.”⁷ Just go back to this idea that if there is no pain and suffering in it, you are on the wrong path. If you are on the glory-now path, then that is the wrong path.

The Rewards of Discipleship

Mary: I am reminded of Paul’s words in the book of Romans where he said, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”⁸ I am going to back up to verse 17 of chapter 8 in Romans where it says, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” The more I read Scripture the more this message just pops out at me.

Ted: Jesus says blessed are you when you are persecuted.⁹ Did He ever say, Blessed are you when you are not persecuted?

V: No, only when you are persecuted. If being a disciple were easy, anyone could do it. Agape is a love that contains sacrifice. “Greater love has no man than that he lay down his life for his friends.”¹⁰

REVELATION 10

Trumpet #7, Woe #3: The Rapture

Revelation 10:1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [was] upon his head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
10:2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and [his] left [foot] on the earth,
10:3 And cried with a loud voice, as [when] a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
10:4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
10:5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:
10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
10:8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go [and] take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
10:9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take [it], and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
10:10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
10:11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.

The Little Book

Here is the angel with one foot on secular society—the earth, and the other foot on the sea—the church. You have both church and state, covered by the two feet. His hand is reaching up to heaven. That means that He is uniting heaven with the earth and with the sea, with secular society and with the church. All is blended together here. All this comes under the rule of the little book in His other hand.

The Bitterness in Discipleship

The church cannot swallow that bitter pill today because it is not being preached. We need you to be out there modeling, preaching, and teaching real discipleship. The people need to know that there is a cost to discipleship, though the gift of eternal life has no cost. Jesus paid the whole price. It comes to you as a gift, you receive that in your mouth, and it is like honey. But once you swallow it, there is a changing of your character, there is a desire to please the Lord, there is a hunger to hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,”¹¹ But what is the alternative? To go against your Lord? The faithful cannot stand that idea. You have to press on. Discipleship contains the sweetness of forgiveness and the difficult sacrifice of followship. But it is sacrifice that bears fruit.

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
12:25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will [my] Father honour.
12:27 Now is my soul troubled; . . .

Jesus had the same passions here. It cost Jesus His life. It will cost us the same kind of self-denial—the giving of our lives to Jesus to live through us.

John 12:27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.
12:28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, [saying], I have both glorified [it], and will glorify [it] again.
12:29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard [it], said that it thundered; others said, An angel spake to him.
12:30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all [men] unto me.

This is the forgotten plan! You must die in order to bear fruit. You cannot bear fruit by standing up here and living your life. We are talking about dying to self. Your will must be surrendered! If there is no surrender you cannot be a disciple. If you cannot be a disciple, there is no fruit. The only active fruit that counts to your credit is the fruit from discipleship. You become a vehicle for Jesus to do His work when you are surrendered. But if it is left up to us, we are going to build ourselves a temporal mansion and have all of our eternal rewards right now.

Now here is the battle. If Jesus can do what He is telling us to do, He is saying, “I am going to give you the model to follow.” He set His face for Jerusalem. He knew that He was going to the death. He was going to die, and in His death He was going to bring forth victory. This kind of spiritual warfare is what you are to do, and that is to win through death. You do not win by killing. Rather you win by dying.

The Rapture

When this last trumpet sounds, all living believers will be raptured out of the earth. Without the salt and light from the presence of believers, the earth will have no restraints and no more light. Its apostasy will accelerate precipitously.

We have looked at the angel that unites heaven, church, and state. The little book held by the angel is the Gospel. The true disciple is to eat the Gospel. Thus the disciple will be concerned with bringing both church and state under God’s rules. The work to accomplish this goal will cost you your lives because only God can accomplish it. You must die to yourself (deny yourself) follow Jesus (letting Him live His life in your body) and carry your cross (the altar of sacrifice) with you at all times.

Chapter Questions

List and describe the trumpets.

What are the three woes?

Describe the cost of discipleship.

What is the Little Book, and what does it mean?

Lesson 8

TWO WITNESSES, RAPTURE, AND ANTICHRIST

REVELATION 11

Measuring The Temple

Before we get to the Seventh Trumpet we have these verses about the measuring of the temple.

Revelation

11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty [and] two months.

Here is a measuring rod that is going to be used to measure the temple, the Holy Place, and those who worship in that Holy Place. The Greek word canon means reed, which means measuring rod, and the canon is the Bible, God’s Word. We are not going to be measured by our own traditions or any other good estimation by man. We are going to be measured by God’s Word. That is what we want to look at, and that is what we want to measure up to.

He is, then, going to measure the inner court of the temple and those inside who are worshiping. If you are going to measure up or even be standing there to be measured, you will have to be a true worshipper of Jesus Christ. Being a true worshipper of Jesus Christ means you have to worship in the real temple where the Word of God is the rule.

At this time I am not going to get into the temple of God, whether it is your body or that kind of thing. What I want to focus on are two things: (1) the real worshipper who is going to be measured by the ‘Word of God,’ and (2) the false worshipper.

The true worshippers of God are going to be measured. Some of us are going to come up short in areas because we are going to be measured in everything that we are, we have, we do, and by every relationship. I am encouraging you to measure up, but you have to know the Word of God in order to measure up.

For those not worshipping in the inner court, He says do not even measure them. In the outer court are the worshippers who have only a semblance of true Christianity. They will be tread under foot by the “Gentiles” (Revelation 11:2).

Salt Without Flavor

Matthew

5:13 says that if salt has lost its savor, what good is it? It is good for nothing but to be cast out and tread under foot. This means now that the people who have a semblance of Christianity are really hypocrites. They want to have their cake and eat it, too. They want to have the blessings of God by having an appearance of Christianity, but while doing their own thing. This is not self-denial, folks. This does not work.

A true Christian will have a savor built in, as far as ontology goes, but can lose their savor when it comes to behavior. When your behavior does not measure up, it is going to be cast out. But you are going to be saved because once you are born again that is an ontological conversion. But you can come in naked, not having a crown or clothes, and you are disgraceful. There is a lot that is at risk here.

Homer: Talk to us about that measuring.

V: Let us look at Matthew 15.

Matthew

15:7 [Ye] hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with [their] lips; but their heart is far from me.
15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.

This is the complaint originally issued by Isaiah against Judah, while they were in the midst of revival. We are a bunch of hypocrites when we draw close to the Lord with our mouths, but our hearts are far from Him.

We are going to be measured in the same way as the servants were judged in Matthew 25, the parable of the talents, and rewarded accordingly. You are going to be judged on what you do with your works, what kind of profitability you livewas it a profitability for yourself or was it a profitability for God. If it was for you, you have your reward, and it is over with. If it was for God, it is eternal, and you participate in the reward for eternity.

Measuring Up

In Revelation 11 He is definitely dealing with a situation in which there are two kinds of “Christians.” One kind is measured, every facet of his life, ontology, everything about him is going to be measured against the Word of God, and he will be rewarded where he measures up and suffer loss where he does not measure up. Those who do not get measured are those who are hypocritical. Even though they have given lip service, they are not real Christians in their behavior, and their hearts are far from Him. That is the group that is going to be cast out because it is basically salt that has no flavor.

Homer: In one passage Jesus says, “Not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, will enter My kingdom.”¹ Is this part of the second group?

V: Yes, that would be part of them as well. All of the people in that category would be “Lord, Lord, lip-service Christians.” They would include both lost and saved. The saved in this case, however, are not doers of the Word.

Jerry: I just wanted to ask you about that group of saved hypocrites. If we are measured on certain areas of our life, are they the ones that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3:15, “He himself will be saved but as one escaping through the flames.”² Is that when our works are burned up? Whatever is left is in this category?

V: Yes. Whatever is left is in this category of flavorless salt. The rest of this category of flavorless salt is lost people pretending.

Forty-Two Months

Pete: I have a question about the significance of the forty-two months. Is that literal?

V: I think it is, and I think it is going to be forty-two months of the harlot being trampled under foot by the entire world. We are not there yet. This is a look forward. When we get there you will hear what I am saying.

Here is what I would like for you to do: hang onto the forty-two months, 1,260 days, but put it over to the side and see if you cannot draw some conciliation between that and the flow of the story.

Jill: What does trodden under foot mean? Does that mean persecution?

V: No, the church is going to be despised in the last days. I am not talking about you guys who are real disciples because you are going to be killed or raptured.

THE TWO WITNESSES ARE CHURCHES

Revelation

11:3 And I will give [power] unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

Here the two witnesses are candlesticks. God said in Revelation 1:21 that candlesticks are churches. A lot of people think there are going to be two people and suggest Isaiah, Elijah, Moses or whatever. There are many theories here, but God has already told us that the candlesticks are churches. Guess how many churches did not get reprimanded? Two: Smyrna and Philadelphia because they measure up.

The two witnesses are going to be prophesying for a period of time that is equal to forty-two months. We are holding those numbers now to the side, and we will see if we cannot come up with a harmonization. There are times when I can reconcile, and there are times when I cannot. If any of you come up with some good answers, I would be interested in hearing them.

Fire from the Mouths

Now we are coming to the business of the fire coming out of their mouths and devouring their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. When you look in Jeremiah you have all these professional prophets, the school of the prophets that are on the king’s payroll. They have been ordained, have official status and are the profit prophets. Jeremiah did not apply for a job, do a resume, and do all that kind of stuff, so that does not count as official in the eyes of Judah’s religious leadership. Jeremiah was only ordained by God and comes out of nowhere. He was called while in the womb. That is pretty official, is it not?

But in Jeremiah 5:13 it says,

Jeremiah

5:13 And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is] not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
5:14 Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

This is what He is talking about in Revelation 11:5. He is not talking about flamethrowers or dragon stuff. God has already said this before. He told Jeremiah that the paid prophet guys are going to be nothing but wind, but I am going to make my Words in your mouth fire, and the people are going to be wood. You will devour them. It says in

Revelation

11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies; . . .

We cannot take this literally because it is supposed to be signs, you know, signification.

There are people who will say, “Oh, you have to take that literal.” God, though, is saying clearly to us, “I have given you a hermeneutic, use it.” It is the same kind of killing that Jeremiah did.

When you proclaim the Word of God, it is like a two-edged sword, and it will penetrate even bone, to the marrow, and it will kill the

sinner out there. I mean, God’s words will go straight into the sinner’s heart. The Word of God has the power to do that. That is what He is talking about.

Power Over Water

Revelation

11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

You also have the ability to bring rain from heaven. We are not talking about watering somebody’s grass. We are talking about the refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit coming down in the Words of God as you proclaim them. If you shut your mouth, the rain cuts off. Who is going to bring rain, the refreshing, cooling rain if it is not the prophets? The rain will not come if you do not open your mouths. If you turn to tradition and start teaching the traditions of man and close your Bible, then you turn the water into blood and many men will die.

We have too much blood. The plagues are popping up all over the place. We see all manner of things happening in our environment: storms, floods, droughts, locusts. We need to open up our mouths and bring the refreshing rains.

Death for the Two Witnesses

Revelation

11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
11:8 And their dead bodies [shall lie] in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11:11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
11:13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
11:14 The second woe is past; [and], behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Let us now look at the dead bodies. I do not know exactly how to come down on this one. Do you want to call the bodies the buildings with the steeples on them, or do you want to call them Smyrna and Philadelphia Christian dead bodies, corpses just lying out on the sidewalks? You get to choose how you interpret what the bodies are. God has already decided what the meaning is, and it is our job to find out what He means.

It could be either way, but many saints are going to be dead because Satan is going to come out and wage war against them and kill them. He is already out waging war.

Tom: In other words you are saying that regarding the souls that are under the altar, these are the ones they are waiting for to be martyred. So the completion of this is the completion of the martyrs of the church. The church no longer exists.

V: Except that we have in verse 13 a remnant. You Smyrna and Philadelphia guys, are the ones that get killed. You Pergamos, Thyatira, etc., get to be affrighted and are the remnant (verse 13). You give glory to God of heaven. This is a kind of shaking down here, and so it is that remnant bunch that is going to be raptured, but it is that glorious Smyrna and Philadelphia bunch that gets clobbered or killed. That brings us back to where we began this class, where we said who gets what.

I think these two woes come close together. As soon as Woe #2 is past, Woe #3 is right there. The resurrection of the two dead churches occurs near the end of Woe #2. This group is going to be resurrected from the dead, and they are going to be taken up to heaven, and we who are alive at the time will catch up with them (Woe #3). It will be a blink away from the first group going up; the second group comes right behind them. That is where I see the rapture, Trumpet #7.

TRUMPET #7, THE RAPTURE

The declaration of victory is declared right here.

Revelation

11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants . . .

That word, servants, is slaves

Revelation

11:18 . . . the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

1 Corinthians

15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
15:52 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.
15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.
15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be

brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 15:55 O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? 15:56 The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. 15:57 But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Where is the trumpet? It is Trumpet #7, and it is the last trump, which is the rapture.

Joe: I do not know how many times I have read that passage and even read the book of Revelation, but I have been stumbling around here like a blind dog in a meat factory. I am serious!

V: It is exciting! Man, oh man, this is good!

Matthew

24:31 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.

1 Thessalonians

4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
4:17 Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Here is what we have here: we have all the strong Christians being killed and then resurrected from the dead, plus those who remain alive being raptured up.

Now sadly what we want to do is go out with a bang without any costs and to live in our comfort zones. We want to be in that group of those two witnesses, but we don’t want to die with them. We want to have an imaginary list out here, upon which we can sign our choices when we die or when we are raptured. You sign which one you want to beSmyrna or Philadelphiabut everybody needs to sign up now, not later. Living a life of sacrifice, following the kenosis makes you a member of Smyrna or Philadelphia.

When these events happen there is going to be all kinds of evil that is going to break out. This evil is going to be the wrath of God that is going to come upon the earth. Trumpet #7 is Woe #3. Why is it a woe? Because the earth without the salt and flavor of the Christian Church is headed for self-destruction.

Sybil: When this happens that means the presence of the Holy Spirit is not going to be existent on the face of the earth any more.

V: No that is not what it means. The Holy Spirit will still be here because we are going to have people saved after this time, but the restraining flavor and the salting down of society by you Christians who are especially of the Smyrna and Philadelphia flavor are going to be removed.

This removal of Christian influence will have the same effect as the Christians being run out of France in the past. When the Christians were run out of France, then came the French Revolution. Many people had their heads cut off on the guillotine, even good people. It was indiscriminate anarchy, chaos, all of that evil. All of that happened because of the lack of Christian influence for good.

REVELATION 12

In Revelation 11 you are inside of history, but when you get to Revelation 12 you step outside of history and look at a sweeping synopsis or summary of history. It is kind of like a parenthetical statement put in to help you get the overall picture of where we have been and where we are going, and then we will pick up again in history with Revelation 13.

The woman and the child

Revelation

12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.
12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days.

This sweeping of history begins with the woman. Israel is being pictured here as the birthing mother of Christ. Christ came right straight out of Israel. He is the child.

Dragon

The dragon is Satan and he has seven heads. In my interpretation heads are nations, and horns are kings or powers. Those seven heads are seven nations. Since seven is the all inclusive number, all nations come under the sway of the dragon including America.

Ten Horns

The ten horns are the ten powers or ten kings, all kings wielding the power. These ten are temporal powers. The crowns are the glorious statements of power, and they go on the nations at this point right here. We are going to see that vestment move from the nations to the kings when Antichrist ascends.

Angelic War

Revelation

12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

You remember the fig tree and the figs coming down. Here it is. This is a sweeping view of history here in one chapter.

Revelation

12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

The scene is of a war in heaven. Michael and the good angels are fighting against Satan and the other angels. Satan and his angels lose and are cast into the earth and no longer have access in heaven. This then goes back to when we dealt with the figs dropping out of the trees, one third of the stars falling down onto earth. They came down here angry and there is going to be a war down here then. They are going to fight some more. Guess who is going to fight against them? We are, the church.

Spiritual Weapons

The church is going to win for a while, overcoming Satan using two weapons, the

blood of the Lamb, and the word of their testimony. That is all you have.

You do not fight with guns or knives. You do not have any kind of carnal weapons. You cannot escape by calling for the mountains to fall down upon you, i.e. escaping through institutionalism. You are going to win with these two spiritual weapons: the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. The method of your warfare, however, is quite strange because it is going to be with reckless abandonment. Look at the end of verse 11: “and they loved not their lives unto the death.” That means that you are not going to try to hang onto your life. You are going to yield your life. This is the life of the kenosis, a life of self-denial.

Joe: Is this where Satan gets his free reign?

V: Yes, he is going to have free reign except where the church is whipping up on him. The church is going to be beating the stew out of this guy for a while.

Paul: Zechariah 4:6 is the Scripture that comes to my mind where you are talking about the word of the testimony and the blood of the Lamb.

Zechariah

4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

V: You do not have a chance, if you go against him with carnal weapons. You can have all the carnal weapons, money, power, position and all the temporal stuff that you want, but you will not have a chance against Satan. If you are going to have a chance against Satan, it has to be using spiritual weapons.

Homer: Paul says that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but it is against the spiritual powers and principalities in the heavenly realm.³ That heavenly armor⁴ that we put on . . .

V: Yes, this is the war we are in.

Beth: Are you talking about this fight that is breaking out is during the tribulation time?

V: This is the sweep of history. We are in tribulation already though most of us do not know it. The Laodicean bunch do not know it because they think everything is made for their own enjoyment. But the folks of Smyrna and Philadelphia know it. Pergamos and the rest of them are still wondering about it, still looking around thinking, “I do not know, it might be coming any minute.”

Satan’s Time is Short

Revelation

12:12 Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

From the time he gets thrown out of heaven, Satan realizes that his time is short. He has been down here for a while, and he has been fighting against us for a while. He has already lost one war, and he is losing another war. God’s Word says he is going to lose the final war. We are in here just scrapping away trying to bring glory to the Lord using spiritual weapons and fighting the same way Jesus did. Do you remember that victory for a Christian soldier is through death? You die to win. For a person that is carnal, a person of Satan’s stripe kills to win. You need to hang on to that because the kenosis is the way you die. We talked about patience, and settling it

in your heart, going all the way to the cross is applicable here.

The Woman

Revelation

12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man [child].
12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Now there are a lot of people that attach this time, times, and half a time as three and a half years. This time is not chronos, not horizontal time. It is vertical time. There is this intervention into the affairs of man by God Himself, and that is kairos. Time, times, and half a time are special interventions of God in the sustaining of Israel.

The Flood of Satanic Religion

Revelation

12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

What is this water business? That is religion. You know how we have been dealing with water. Now here comes a flood of water out of Satan’s mouth: Islam. Here is the dragon, and he wants to flood the woman and destroy her with false religion. Islam is poured out, and guess who stops it? The earth, the secular world swallows up this thing, and puts a barrier between Islam and Israel. The rulers of the earth here have rescued Israel. When that did not work, what does Satan do next?

Revelation

12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

We are her seed. He comes at you. He is dealing with the sweep of history here. It has to do with the woman who is the central point. The child, Jesus, comes out of the woman, and the remnant of her seed is you. The dragon is one of the main players. All of this warfare that was in heaven now comes against the church that is fighting with spiritual weapons. There is the woman with the flood of religion against her, and then the attack on the remnant.

REVELATION 13

Antichrist: The Beast from the Sea

Revelation

13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns,

V: He is rising up out of the sea. What is the sea?

Joe: The church.

V: Here comes the beast out of the church. Antichrist is coming out of the church.

Ten Horns on Seven Heads

Heads are nations so he has universal power. The ten horns are limited to time. Seven means that the heads go through eternity, but the ten means the horns are temporal.

Crowns Upon the Horns

Revelation

13:1 . . . and upon his horns ten crowns, . . .

Over in 12:3 the crowns were upon the heads, but now the crowns are on the horns. Let me tell you something: You remember that we talked about as you grow into the likeness of Christ how He will give you more and more responsibility. He expects you to be a warrior and have the mind of Christ and to live the kenosis. As He trusts you to do that, and you perform those things and meet His expectations, that is trusting you with a little. In eternity He is going to trust you with a ton. That same maturation process occurs with Satan’s people.

Satan Uses Nations

Satan is working through the nations giving glory and power to the nations. He is assigning all of his demons to these nations, and they are working within the population of the nations. They are working and trying to put somebody of like mind in charge.

Satan Gets the Nation Through the King

He is working hard to acquire horns, leaders of nations, because it is through the nations that he is now working. He is working hard to bring that power into a horn. If they can get somebody in charge of a nation like an Ayatollah Khoumeini or Saddam Hussein or somebody like that, it will guarantee that the nation and its citizens follow Satan.

Once he gets a nation under the power of a horn, then he can redistribute his demons to the spots giving him the most trouble. He can then bring to bear individual persecution on those that are giving him trouble, citizens who are not yet politically correct. He spots a Christian and assigns 17 demons to him. No matter what that Christian does, they are just going to beat on him wherever he goes.

That passage describes the scenario here. Satan achieves success by bringing his person up and he becomes proud of that horn just like Jesus is so proud of you. Satan puts a crown of authority on that leader, which gives him earthly authority, having the mind and will of Satan, which is the opposite of the kenosis.⁵ His actions are to climb up and indulge himself and help the people to climb up and indulge themselves, doing whatever they want and calling it good. That is what is happening hereRevelation 12:3–13:1. You can see the transition of how the crown moves from the head, which is a nation, to the horn, which is a national leader.

Revelation

13:1 . . . and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

When that satanic horn, that man ascends up to the crown, you can write blasphemy on the nation. Blasphemy!

Description of Antichrist

Revelation

13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Now this beast is going to be a world ruler who is going to be in charge of all the nations in the world, and he is going to be the head horn of all the horns in the world. In Daniel you can see the fight that is going to break out between the ten horns,⁶ and there are going to be three of them uprooted by a little horn. There will be some fighting between the horns to find out who will be the head horn. The head horn is going to be this beast that comes up out of the sea. He is going to be a little horn, which means he is going to be insignificant and have the appearance of being benign and meek and mild and a very wonderful, sweet-spirited person, not a war-type person. This wonderful, nice, lovely person will take over, and he

is going to be the head horn after he uproots those three horns. He is going to pull them out by the roots. Like a Leopard

This beast is going to be like a leopard, but he is going to have the feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. I watched a documentary on leopards and it changed my understanding of leopards. I thought leopards were a lightning fast kind of animal that attacked fiercely but they are not like that at all. Leopards like stalking and are very patient. When stalking an impala, the leopard got a tree between himself and the impala, and he would move, move, move. When the impala moved out from behind the tree, the leopard had to wait for the wind to blow the grass and moved only when the grass moved. It took an hour for the leopard to get close enough to spring upon the impala but he did not do so because the impala was facing the leopard with his long, razor-sharp horns. The leopard kept waiting with great patience for the impala to turn, so his victory would be assured.

God described the Antichrist like a leopard. He is going to stalk, he is going to be very cautious, and you are not going to discern his moving toward you because he is going to move when you cannot see. Antichrist will move in conjunction with other things happening so that you cannot discern him stalking you. He is coming after you, folks. Feet of a Bear and Mouth of a Lion

Antichrist has the feet of a bear, which means he can crush you with a single blow. He has the mouth of a lion and that has a horrifying roar to it, but worse than that is the bite. The lion can bite through anything. This, then, is how God describes the Antichrist as being like. This little horn is going to be this kind of stalking, awesomely powerful, and totally destructive kind of person. He is going to be given all of his power, his seat, and great authority by Satan himself.

Joe: With the description of the leopard as being a stalker, the Antichrist may be out there right now stalking.

V: He sure could, looking to see which horns he is going to defeat.

Now I am going to shock you: the Antichrist is not going to know he is the Antichrist. He is going to come out of the sea.

Jerry: He is deceived.

Jack: So you are saying this man is coming out of some kind of a church, and people are going to think that he is a saint.

V: He is deceived. The Antichrist is more deceived than you are. He is coming out thinking that he is following God. Smoke that one for a while, folks.

Oscar: There is that Scripture that says there will come a time when man will think he is serving God.⁷

V: When he kills you, a true Christian, he will think that he is serving God.

Wounded Head

Revelation

13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

All right, the head is a nation that is wounded to death, and we are going to find out later that it is a blow by a sword. That means that in some kind of war, the nation is thought to be completely wiped out, but it is going to come back to life. Now what nation is it? Is

it Germany? Germany has played such a tremendous role in all of church history. Or it could be the Roman Empire which, of course, has died, and that is what most of your theologians say. Who would have ever thought the Iron Curtain would come down, and the wall of Berlin would come down. So which country is it? Is it one of them, or is there another one yet to be wounded by the sword and restored to life.

Tim: How about Russia?

V: How about Russia. It could be Russia. Look at how Russia was killed by the cold war. It could be. I have often thought that it was, but ever since I started rethinking about Germany, I do not know.

Joe: All through history almost all of your so-called Holy Roman Emperors are German.

V: You are right. Charlemagne was one of the greatest.

Betty: Could the descriptions up there of the leopard, bear, and lion be the description of the country?

V: Could the descriptions in Daniel be those of countries? That could be. I do not know.

Betty: Germany is considered the leopard. Russia is considered the bear, and Great Britain is the lion.

V: Wow! That is pretty good.

Satan Gives His Power to Antichrist

Revelation

13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who [is] like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months.

We have the forty-two months occurring here. We had forty-two months occurring earlier, we have the 1,260 days occurring here and there, as well. We need to bring those things into play somewhere.

I feel comfortable with all the forty-two month pieces except in the sweep of history in Revelation 12. In the sweep of history, the 1,260 days of Israel, I do not know how to reconcile that. I see Israel being in the dispersion at that time, and that was certainly more than 1,260 days. That could be 1,260 years. But I do not have to since all of you are going to help me do this, since I have introduced the question in your minds. You will not get any sleep at night until you figure it out.

Wanda: We can just call you at 4 a.m.

V: No, that is not good! (Laughter everywhere.)

Antichrist Wars with the Saints

Revelation

13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, . . .

Well, we have some saints down here at this point. We have already had the killing of the saints, and the rapture of what was left; now we have others coming to Christ and some born during this period of time in which Antichrist is reigning.

Revelation

13:7 . . . and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

As Antichrist rules, the whole world is going to worship him except for those who have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He can do whatever he wants to the saints but we are not signing up for the mark.

Can You Hear This Message?

Revelation

13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

We have to have some ears to hear and you need to start laying some land mines to get people saved. These saints have got to come from somewhere. That means nothing but Bibles, tracts and your testimony are going to be residing in the hearts of unsaved people. They are going to be pondering: “How could he go to the death just believing in somebody he could not even see?”

That same question came up during the time of Rome when the saints went to their death in the arena with the lions, to being burned at the stake, being tortured and mutilated. The people watched that and said, “How can that be?” The seed of revival is the blood of the saints. When they see your

1. Discuss measuring the temple. 2. Identify the two witnesses. 3. What is the fire from the mouths of the two witnesses? 4. When is the rapture? 5. Identify the woman. 6. Identify the child. 7. Identify the dragon. 8. What is the flood of water? 9. Identify the Beast from the sea. 10. What are heads and horns? 11. What is the measuring rod of the temple? 12. Those people who have a semblance of Christianity are in truth . 13. In Revelation 11, the two witnesses are churches because they are called . 14. The flames that come out of the mouth of the two witnesses refers to

just as the “two-edged sword” refers to the words that come from the Lord. 15. Explain the meaning of Revelation 11:6: “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the

days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” as it applies to the Christian. blood, and your testimony, they are going to do the same thing that Menno Simons did.

Menno Simons was a Roman Catholic Priest who saw 350 Anabaptists stormed, surrounded, killed. None of them recanted their faith in Jesus Christ. He pondered that, because they died for their testimony. Here he is with his faith in church. Eventually he surrendered to Christ and became an Anabaptist himself. He spent the rest of his life on the run. That is the way it is going to be with these saints. They are going to be running for their lives from Antichrist.

We have had these stories of tribulation all through history, and there are people today who say, “Oh, tribulation is for the future.” Well, why did not all these people in history escape the tribulation? Why were these two churches destroyed and all the members killed? How did they get out of tribulation? By dying. That is how you get out of the tribulation.

If you have an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Chapter Questions

Discuss measuring the temple.

Identify the two witnesses.

What is the fire from the mouths of the two witnesses?

When is the rapture?

Identify the woman.

Identify the child.

Identify the dragon.

What is the flood of water?

Identify the Beast from the sea.

What are heads and horns?

What is the measuring rod of the temple?

Those people who have a semblance of Christianity are in truth .

In Revelation 11, the two witnesses are churches because they are called .

The flames that come out of the mouth of the two witnesses refers to just as the “two-edged sword” refers to the words that come from the Lord.

Explain the meaning of Revelation 11:6: “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” as it applies to the Christian.

Lesson 9

THE MARK OF THE BEAST

REVELATION 13

Two Approaches to Chapters 12–14

I want to suggest two approaches to chapters 12-14. Previously in Revelation 12 we had a survey of history, a sweeping approach about how Israel was attacked by Satan, the war in the heavens, and all of his angels being cast out. Then Satan attacks the remnant of the woman’s seed, the faithful ones that believe in and obey Jesus Christ. Following that, we have the opening of Revelation 13 that has the beast coming up out of the sea. After that comes the beast coming up out of the earth.

Following those events of the beasts, we have Revelation 14 which will be a review of the 144,000 of converted Jews, the announcement of the falling of Babylon, and the thrusting in of the sickle to reap the harvest.

For our starting point I want you to see that there are two ways you can look at the survey of history. Depending upon the way that you choose, you will make some determinations.

1) Historical Survey Includes Chapters 12–14

The trumpets progress to Trumpet #7, with the announcement of the rapture. Then if you take chapters 12 – 14 as a block, it becomes a much larger summary of history. It would reach way back in time to the beginning of Israel and walk forward all the way through the beast coming up out of the sea, the beast coming out of the earth, the 144,000, and the mark of the beast. After these events chronological time would pick back up again with the bowls.

2) Historical Survey Stops in Chapter 13

On the other hand, the survey of history could end with the war being waged against the remnant by the devil and demons. If that is the case, then the beast coming up out of the sea follows Trumpet #7 in the continuance of chronology. This would mean that the Antichrist would not be known until after the rapture.

If you choose #2, having chronological time picking back up again in Revelation 13, then we can all breathe a sigh of relief because we will not be here when the Antichrist arises out of the sea.

I have introduced a chronological issue for you to resolve.

Rapture Occurs at Last Trumpet

The certainty of what we have in chronology is that the rapture will not be before the last trumpet. We know that. God said that. If, then, the last trumpet cuts off in chronology, then God says, “Let me give you a sweeping review of history.” He reaches back from Israel and He goes all the way to the fall of Babylon in Revelation 14. If that is the survey of history, then the rising of Antichrist is just somewhere within that survey. It does not place it chronologically after Trumpet #7 specifically.

The survey of history is not event oriented as closely as the seals and the trumpets and the bowls. Those are very precise, having a very punctiliar beginning point, and you can begin to locate them. But this sweeping survey is very general, and it covers many centuries. Where in the sweeping view of history the Antichrist actually arises we do not know, we just know that it is after Satan begins to wage war against the remnant.

To summarize, if the survey of history covers the rise of Antichrist, then we cannot determine the specific location of Antichrist’s rising in regard to Trumpet #7. However, if the survey ends before the rise of Antichrist, then he arises after the Rapture.

Carnal Weapons

Revelation

13:10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

This is referring to the wrong way to wage war back against Satan. Using the sword will be very tempting as you approach the end times, but you cannot fight Satan with carnal weapons. When Satan mounts an attack against you, it will not necessarily be a spiritual attack. He is going to use carnal weapons against Christians. It could be a government attack or through political correctness, sending the troops out to get you the same way they did with Jesus. Now that is demonic in its context, but it is a carnal attack. If we try to fight back using carnal weapons, then we fall into the trap of Peter whipping out the sword and whacking the guy’s ear off. If you are going to have a chance against Satan, it has to be through patience and faith as cited in this verse.

Fighting with Spiritual Weapons

Steve: It would do us all well to really go in and study that 6th chapter of Ephesians. Paul talks about the spiritual battle in the heavenly armor because that lays out our battle plan, our weapons, our everything. We should look at that very carefully because we need to know our plan and weapons to endure suffering. If we do not have patience, we will accept the mark. Here it is right here in this verse.

V: If we do not fight with the spiritual weapons, folks, we are going to get clobbered. The worst possible defeat would be to take the mark of the beast in order to save our physical lives.

Having set the stage for how you want to interpret this, will establish whether you are looking to see the Antichrist. It depends upon how you see this survey of history. Are you looking and being careful and cautious in your walk? Or are you being careless and taking everything for granted? The way I am looking at it is that I attach the rising of the Antichrist and the rising of the False Prophet in the survey of history, not in the chronos of the events as we have studied to this point. That is where I come down.

Sybil: If Revelations 12, 13, and 14 are a sweeping of history, then the Antichrist comes after the rapture?

V: Not necessarily. He could be already on the scene. If the beasts arise in the survey of history, then all we know for sure is that they arise before the judgment. If the beasts enter the scene as a chronological event after Trumpet #7, then the rapture will prevent saints who are currently alive from enduring any additional tribulation dished out specifically by Antichrist.

Paul: Peter, in one of his epistles, says we need to be alert for the devil. He is like a roaring lion.¹ Always be ready. That way you do not have to get ready.

Tim: What occurs to me on what Paul just said: the people who are getting ready have not settled it in their hearts. People that are ready have settled it in their hearts.

V: That is a good point. It needs to be a fully thought-out, done deal.

Patience

Remember what I said about patience. It is being under the burden, and settling in your heart that you are going to go the distance, perhaps even to death. In order to endure the physical death, you should not have this debate raging in your mind as you are heading in that direction: Am I going to die? Does God want me to die? You must settle it in your heart that you are going to speak a word for the Lord no matter what it costs. The patience is enduring the death.

The faith is the commitment which comes from being able to see across the chasm in the kenosis (see Chart 9.1). Remember that you must look across on the other side of the grave in order to see the glory and the resurrection and the exaltation as faith. Patience is going down, faith is seeing your sacrifice as a future going up. Glory to God.

Escapist Rapture?

Wanda: I am trying to understand, because you know everybody is saying the saints will be raptured out. Now you indicate that other people are getting saved in the tribulation, and that is what is confusing me. My understanding of the restrainer is that it is the church and it will be raptured out. These people under the altar that have been beheaded, were beheaded during the tribulation because they did not go in the rapture. Am I right?

V: No, ma’am. Here is the hooker on all of this. This is a tradition that has been taught and grounded into our brains and it is that we are too good to have to suffer anything.

Many of our forefathers had to suffer and there are people today suffering for their testimony. There needs to be a re-evaluation of all of that suffering, and quit looking at this history in terms of escapism. Many pre-tribbers say: “I do not have to worry about any of this. I am just going to live and have a good time. It is all roses for me, and then I am out of here. It will be all those other sorry people that did not get saved that are going to go through the tribulation.”

This is problematic because it often creates a lukewarm saint today with an escapist mentality. A person uncommitted and not willing to hold up that burden in patience cannot hear what I am saying. Escapism is a wrong approach to this issue. You must see that there is not going to be any rapture prior to the last Trumpet. I look in the Bible for trumpets. I find the last one, and guess what. That is where the rapture is. Therefore, prior to Trumpet #7, you will find people being martyred. What are you going to do with that tribulation?

If you base your whole life on the yearning in your heart that you will escape all the troubles, what is going to happen to you when trouble and Antichrist comes? You think, “Antichrist will make it so I cannot buy or sell if I do not take the mark. He is forcing me to take the mark though I don’t want to. What shall I do, what choice do I have? Okay I will take the mark!” Here you are taking the mark, and God says in His Word that anybody that has the mark is not going to heaven. Get tough and stay under the burden, prepare yourselves now people!

Beast Out of the Earth (The False Prophet)

Now we will get back to Revelation 13.

Revelation

13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by [the means of] those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.

False Prophet

The dragon gives power, prestige, and charisma to Antichrist. It is the same kind of stuff that he tried to entice our Lord with when he said, “Bow down to me, and I will give you all these nations.”² He has that capability to give you power and wealth. All you have to do is give allegiance. He will give it to you. The Antichrist is going to turn around and give power to the False Prophet. The False Prophet is going to be a minister to Antichrist by bringing the population and devotion of the world to him.

The False Prophet is going to be a person that is in charge of two people. In verse 11, we see the two horns are two men. The two will be the minister of education and the minister of information or journalism. Both are things that have to do with words. This beast is going to have a benign, gentle appearance like a lamb, but he is going to speak like a dragon. That means his words are going to betray him. Do not look at the countenance or at the gentleness, listen to the words. The words of journalism and education are shaping society to be politically correct and ready and willing and desiring to worship the first beast. The False prophet will use education and journalism, the two horns, to bring that to pass.

Mark of the Beast

Television propagates information and actions that are politically correct and people are agreeing with it. There are people today taking the invisible mark on the head or on the hand. Around the world they are ready, willing, and desirous of a physical mark to follow that up. They will be first in line to turn you in, if you resist or give a testimony to your faith. You need to see this, now. We are in a terrible situation.

Taking the Mark

The visible mark is the second step. There is going to be a stress on taking the mark. Here is the way it is going to go if you do not get the mark: it will first be a passive kind of take the mark. It will be a campaign of television, education, newspapers, magazines, books, art, everything included in journalism to be persuading the people to voluntarily take the mark. They will tell you to get in line and get your mark, and show your allegiance to the king. The people who have the invisible mark will swoop in there to get the visible mark and they will show it off with pride. They have taken the mark, and believe it is making the world operate so much better. They will say, “What is wrong with you? Why don’t you take the mark?” You cannot buy or sell unless you take the mark.

Then that group of people that have been holding out because they know something about the book of Revelation will take the rationalistic approach. They are going to say, “We are being forced to take the mark.” Let me tell you what being forced is. It is when a team of people come and grab you and throw you down. Tying your hands, feet, and head down, they brand you against your will while you are kicking and screaming for all you are worth. But when they say, “If you do not take the mark, you are going to die,” and you say, “Okay, it is forced on me, I am going to take the mark.” That is not being forced; it is a voluntary “yes!” That is a choice.

Joe: That mark on the hand is what I have always known it to be. You take it for convenience of “I want the food, I want the pleasures, I want whatever.” But you take it nonetheless. You know Nike’s big motto is “Just do it.” You could see them using that campaign for propaganda purposes.

V: Yeah, I can hear it now: “Just do it. It is not going to hurt you.”

False Revival

II Thessalonians

2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

The church is looking for revival, and revival is going to come, but it is going to be a false revival. That counterfeit revival is going to be some kind of opposite of the kenosis, and the church is going to praise the Lord for it. That is how Satan operates! He offers you power and wealth for your allegiance.

The closer we come to Antichrist himself, the more false revival is going to begin sweeping the land. There is going to be the trading in of the faithful, patient endurance for emotional, carnal satisfaction. We are already trading in the hard-nosed, self-denying, crossbearing Christianity of following Jesus that is required of a true disciple.

Discipleship costs you greatly. I want you to know that when Jesus faced the cross, He wept, He sweated, He was in agony, and guess who was there. The Father was there, and the angels were there nurturing Him and giving Him strength to go through it.

I do not want all of you trading in true discipleship and going with all this hysterical stuff that is being passed off as revival because there is nothing that counts except self-denial, cross-bearing, followship. That is revival. It will be with tears running down your cheeks and a hurting in your gut and fear and trembling as you go.

Carl: Talking about this reminds me of a couple of things that have been going on here the last few years. It started off in Toronto where they had that so-called Toronto blessing revival which went to Pensacola, Florida, and then to Brownsville, Texas. They talk about slaying in the spirit. Christ never slayed anybody. He lifted them up and healed them. But these people are so-called slain, laid out, or laughing uncontrollably. They think this is genuine revival.

V: And it is going to get worse, this kind is the obvious kind. Anybody can see the fallacy of that. There are some subtle revivals going on—watch it. Get your ears and antennas up. Be ready now because it is coming. I mean even to the deceiving of the elect. Be careful. If it does not hurt, then you are on the wrong path. Kenosis! Sacrifice! Pain! Giving your life!

Tom: What you are saying is that we have to be ready.

V: It is critical. We are losing a lot of people in this combat.

Ted: What I teach to my son is selfdenial. I told my 20-year old son, “Look, here is the deal. If someone comes up and says, ‘You can eat if you take the mark,’ then your choice must be to die. You have to be ready. If someone asks, ‘What is the extent you will go for Jesus,’ the answer is Death!”

V: Amen! You are right on the money.

Jill: Over in Ezekiel God says that the minister, the pastor, the prophet will have the blood of the people on his hands if he does not blow the trumpet. If I blow the trumpet, and they still perish, that blood is on their heads, but if I do not blow the trumpet, if I do not tell them what they need to be warned about, their blood, when they die or become casualties in the war, will be on my hands. I cannot stand that.

V: I know it. I cannot either. We have to get it right.

Son of Perdition (The Man of Lawlessness)

II Thessalonians

2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Now this is the son of perdition who is revealed. This parallels the Antichrist in Revelation 13 where the False Prophet, using the two information methods of education and journalism, is going to promote the worship of this son of perdition.

II Thessalonians

2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

The Restrainer

2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

There is something stopping the son of perdition right now. That something is not the Holy Spirit because if the Holy Spirit is going to stop him, he is stopped. According to verse 6, something is holding him back.

II Thessalonians

2:7 For the mystery of iniquity . . .

Or the mystery of lawlessness.

II Thessalonians

2:7 . . . doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way.

Let me give you my theory of the restrainer. The restrainer has a masculine ending, so the restrainer is masculine. I think that it is law that is restraining the lawless one while the mystery of “lawlessness” is at work. It is law that is restraining lawlessness.

Law is masculine. The Greek word “Anomos” (lawless one) ends in “os” which is masculine. If you were going to substitute a pronoun in Greek for law (nomos), it would be “he” instead of “it.” So I think that what is holding back lawlessness is law. If that is the case, if I am right, then friends we are closer than you ever dreamed because law is changing by the day.

Antichrist Revealed

II Thessalonians

2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2:9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Now watch this next verse.

2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Man! We have to hang onto the truth. We have to have pleasure in righteousness. We have to be focused on the banner of Jesus Christ. If we allow any of this lawlessness or the mystery of iniquity or the mystery of lawlessness come into us through political correctness, then we are part of the darkening of truth and justice in this world. Stand in the light and be a reflector of the light. Take the light into the darkness. If you do not, we are going to get darker and darker and darker. Remember that 1/3 of your light is already gone.

Betty: Are you saying that when it says, “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders?” This is going to be happening in the church?

V: Yes, it is going to be all over the world and especially in the church. Many in the church vote for lawlessness. They think that abortion is okay.

Homer: It was something like this in Romans 1:28.³ People who do that, it says God gave them over to a debased mind. Is that what we are talking about? Their minds are twisted and...

Strong Deception

V: Well, that Romans passage may be even worse than what we are talking about here. Romans is describing a process that goes to the depths of degradation, even past homosexuality. That degradation is a place in which you have lost your orientation between right and wrong. There are going to be many people here with good intentions who are deceived. The great masses of society that are going to fall in line with Satan are good folks. They are going to be your relatives and your neighbors and your co-workers. They are going to be decent people.

Beth: They are going to be trying to convince us that what they are doing is right.

V: And that we are wrong. Almost the elect will be deceived.⁴ That means, then, that even the Christian is going to have a hard time seeing through this darkness, a very hard time.

Spiritual Mark and Deception

We have come to the point of receiving the mark, and I want you to dedicate yourselves to not receive the invisible mark. It is being received today. The visible mark you will recognize right away because I believe all the elect who have been rejecting the spiritual mark are going to recognize the physical mark and say, “No. If I have to die, I die.”

Please understand that it is the invisible mark that is very difficult to recognize, and you must start your training right now.

There is another thing that I think is going to be connected to this mark. As you heighten your sensitivity you must look through the darkness and see the errors that are sweeping across the country, i.e. false revivals, false psychology’s, false theologies, false prophecies and the false teachings in the pulpit. There is also the escapist mentality, the me first idea, the self indulgence of the church, the upside down kenosis, and the lack of serious sacrifice among the saints. By being sensitive to these things, you will discern the mystery of iniquity far sooner than the masses.

The masses are not going to catch on. They are going to follow Antichrist, and they are going to take the invisible mark and eventually the physical mark. Ultimately, they are going to the lake of fire. But the lukewarm saints will also go along with them thinking they are on the correct path until they hit the wall. Then they will wake up and say, “Oh, no!” They are not going to take the physical mark if they are truly elect.

There will be a lot of rationalizing going on in the thinking of the saints. I have already heard some. There are saints today that if you talk to them about the possibility that your social security or your retirement might be cut off unless you take the “government-is-oursavior” mark on your hand or your forehead, what are you going to do? They said, “I am going to take the mark. I must have my social security. Without that I will die. I would starve to death. I will take the mark.” So, friend, beware! This is a very subtle thing. “This is not Antichrist. This is the government.” That kind of thought pattern is already taking the invisible mark, and it is getting you ready to take a governmental mark.

Wanda: Are the people who go all the way to the wall the remnant?

V: Yes, the remnant after the rapture. Basically we are the remnant now. What I want is for you to be discerning right now. There is going to be a lukewarm group of Christians who are escapist. They think that it cannot happen to them, even when it is going on right now. Some Christians think that it has to be good because God will not let them have a day without food or suffer any tribulation. That is the kind of Christian who is going to hit the wall. Only then will they come to their senses.

Oscar: I think big debts are going to be in that, too. People that owe a lot of money are going to have a hard time resisting that mark. They will propose to forgive your debt if you will take the mark.

V: Yes, they will declare then that you are a good citizen, and all good citizens come out equal.

Revelation

13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.

I confess to you that I do not qualify as “he that has wisdom.” I do not know what the number 666 means. I have come up with so many answers that I now have answers describing the answers. I do not know how to interpret that so I will go on to Revelation 14.

REVELATION 14

The Physical Mark

Revelation

14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

Notice that elsewhere the mark of Satan is written in the forehead, but here is the mark of God written in the forehead. It is mark against mark. I am taking the mark of God in my forehead because I am trying to think the thoughts of God. He gave His only begotten Son, and I am to give myself.

Get the mark of God, the invisible mark of God on your forehead and in your thought life. Then go out and start helping people, handing out tracts, and get the invisible mark of God on your right hand. Make your actions the same as God’s actions. Make your thoughts be the same as God’s thoughts. Jesus said in Philippians 2, “Let this mind be in you.”⁵ That is where we are: taking those invisible marks. I am sealed with the mark of God. There is a spiritual mark on me! And when Satan comes, he sees PROPERTY OF ALMIGHTY GOD in the middle of my forehead. The only way he can mess with me is if I give him permission. When I give him permission, he can come in and do all manner of evil in my life until I take that permission back and say, “Hold it! Get out of here, because this is the property of God—bought, paid for, signed, sealed, and delivered to God.”

Many Waters

Revelation

14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:

Notice that, there are a lot of different kinds of waters. There is some truth in a lot of different denominations and none of us has a lock on the whole thing. When you hear God, it is going to sound like lots of waters, not just the little dribble that you are carrying around now.

We have already talked about thunder in here so I want you to know that a harp brings cooperation and a harmony together. This is talking about how God acts through His people in harmony. We all come together, hearing the voice of many waters, and act in harmony together, not in chaos and not in self interpretation or private interpretation but in the harmony of God.

New Song by 144,000

Revelation

14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

The 144,000 have the big mark, the name of God written across their foreheads, and they are singing this new song. They are in heaven right in front of the throne with the beasts and the elders. These people were redeemed from the earth. You have been redeemed from the earth, but there is a new song being sung by this 144,000 that you cannot sing. We have a song to sing, and it is a new song, but it is not this song.

It is a special kind of redemption that we are looking at here.

Revelation

14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

This kind of redemption is for a kind of man who has no ties at all to the earth. They are not worrying about how they are going to make money, where they go on vacation, or where to build their houses. They are not worrying about other kinds of problems that are going to come along.

When these people were redeemed from the earth the umbilical cord was whacked off, and this is the kind that Paul was talking about when he said “I would rather you not marry,”⁶ because if you marry, you will have to please a wife. These guys do not have a wife or any of those earthly concerns.

Revelation

14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

When these 144,000 get saved, they are going to get radically saved, living a life of sacrifice without regard to other things. It is going to be like Jeremiah and Isaiah. Isaiah went around naked.⁷ Jeremiah was lowered down into a cesspool,⁸ and had to stand leaning against the wall and sleep standing up or he would have drowned in that stuff. He did not care. Bring it on. That is the attitude He wants from us. The 144,000 do exactly what He wants. All we can do is approximate it because we live in the context of marriage and a career.

Present Life Context

How are you going to make the best? It looks to me that you have to do the best you can in the context where you are. Paul says, “If you are a slave, stay a slave.”⁹ I am not trying to get you to change out from where you are, stay where you are and maximize it. But you also have a call on your life of sacrifice and kenosis so you must pull the two together without destroying either one. You cannot destroy your marriage, and you cannot say no to God. So, what are you going to do? You must hang on to both of them, and it is like a huge boulder on your back.

Ted: Most of us in here are married, so the Word of God is saying, “Make the best possible situation for what you have for the glory of God.”

Tim: Paul said if you do not care for your own household, you have denied the faith.¹⁰

V: Yes, so it takes some wisdom to pull the two together, and it almost seems like it cannot be done. But with God all things are possible.¹¹

Notice that there is no guile in the 144,000. Guile means that there is an agenda, and you are being deceptive.

Carl: “No guile” means you have no agenda.

V: Right, you have no agenda with which you are trying to manipulate somebody.

Revelation 14:6 begins with “And I.” “And I” is a place where chronology could pick up again. I am not saying that it does at this point, only that it could.

Babylon is Fallen (Babylon, the World System)

Revelation

14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

God puts on the one side Babylon as the city of the world, which represents the earth or world system, and Jerusalem on the other side as the Lord’s system. Those two are put forward as the dichotomy of the entire universe. If the world system is brought into the church, Mystery Babylon gets written on the harlot’s brow (This is just an introduction here). The fall of Babylon and the judgment of Babylon are going to occur. I believe that after the rapture, there is this statement in 14:7 that is going to say, “Now here comes the judgment of the world.” Not only are there the works judgments of the saints, but both the person and the works judgment of the entire world are coming up next. So the announcement that Babylon is fallen means that the world system has climaxed, the time of the Gentiles walking all over God’s people is coming to the end. Now God is about to step onto the scene and bring judgment against them with His wrath. The world system has drunk the wine of the wrath of fornication.

Worshiping the Beast

Revelation

14:9 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,
14:10 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:
14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Let me stop there for a minute. Worshipping the beast is not going to appear like worship. Worshipping the beast is being done now and it is going to have devastating effects. It is a mentality. So if the beast is over in Europe somewhere, setting the laws for the world community, and the people say, “Oh, he is so good to us to give us the great laws to get rid of these mean-spirited Christians who have hindered us. Now we can get rid of these laws that have been stopping us from having our complete fulfillment.” That is worship. It is not necessarily where you get down on your knees and pray to the beast. It is going to be a kind of mental acceptance. It is going to be to affirm what the beast is saying and then ratifying it by taking the mark.

Henry: It is a matter of having the least little appreciation of anything that he does.

Mary: Daniel 7:25 verifies exactly what you are saying. It says here that He is going to wear out the saints of the most High because it has to do with the changing times and laws.¹² You mentioned laws.

Jack: Law and lawless being in the masculine, then all of a sudden there is a her.¹³ Is that significant? It is calling Babylon her.

V: Yes, this would be the bride of Antichrist. It is a she. Babylon is a she.

Revelation

14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Your patience is to get under God’s burden, keep His commandments, grit your teeth, get tough and stay under it. It is a commandment to you.

Chapter Questions

The rapture will occur (choose one)

after the last Seal is opened

prior to the last Seal

at Trumpet #5

at Trumpet #7

The person in charge of education and journalism will be (choose one)

the false prophet

the Antichrist

Satan

not yet known

What is escapism thinking?

Who is the Beast of the Earth?

Explain the spiritual mark of the Beast.

Describe the 144,000.

Lesson 10

THE FIRST SIX VIALS

REVELATION 14

Talking Image

We had gotten to verse 12 in Revelation 14, but there is something in 13:15 that I forgot to mention, and that is the talking image. You remember the two horns had to do with journalism and education. This is a method of communication for the false prophet. John described what he saw which was something he had never seen before. The field of journalism utilizes television in which the image moves and talks. If you want to see a talking image, just turn on the TV and you will see a head sitting there just talking away.

Joe: How would a person worship that because the fact is everybody watches TV?

V: Yes, and when the image is that of Antichrist, the people will worship him. Already people worship movie stars whose images appear on the big screen and on TV.

Taking the Spiritual Mark

Last week we talked about taking the mark spiritually. As you turn on the television today, your family is being invaded with political correctness, and if they accept it, that is taking the spiritual mark on the forehead. If they put that political correctness into effect, it is taking the spiritual mark on the hand. There is going to come a time, however, when a physical mark is going to be required to prove ones devotion to political correctness. Those who have been politically aligned with this talking image being used by the false prophet will come to a point where they have to make a decision: Do I take the physical mark? If they are saved they are going to come to their senses at that point, and they are going to say, “Oh, no, my God, how could I have let you down?” because they have taken the spiritual mark in their thinking and in their behavior. They have followed the crowd, the popular crowd all the way to the point—in the other chapter I said to the wall—of making that final decision of whether to take a physical mark.

If they are not saved, the propensity for the spiritual mark is going to lead right into the physical mark.

Political Correctness

Taking the spiritual mark is happening today. Even if you do not watch that talking image, political correctness is going to come at you in a variety of ways, and it is going to be highly persuasive. It is going to come at you in economics. For example, the politically correct church will hold to its tax exemption at the cost of not being able to express the truth in politics. Thus its witness is darkening further (trumpet #4).

Political correctness is going to come at you in relationships. If you are going to be spiritually exclusive to the point of following Jesus alone, then your community or society will not accept you. You cannot preach against the abominations because the majority of society will already be involved in them, accepting them as normal.

Or political correctness is going to come at you in religious overtones like you are an exclusionist or you are a reactionist. Your theology may not be broad enough to admit the other religions.

There are many ways that political correctness is coming at us right now. The false prophet is getting that message out there. It is bombarding the people in subtle ways too. Even entertainment shows its position by introducing homosexuality as just an alternative life style.

When people run for political office they give out one message when running for office, and then think and do something entirely different once elected. Satan is propagating all kinds of political correctness. But you are being encouraged to get on board and get politically correct.

Joe: This worship of the beast, I think I follow you, but these are people just going along with all this political correctness.

V: Yes, it is an attitude, and that is the spiritual mark. To take the spiritual mark on your forehead is to agree with the world’s politically correct system.

Jerry: I think that we have to keep in mind what Jesus said. Jesus said that our eyes are the lamp of the body, and if our eyes are full of light, then our whole body is going to be full of light. But if our eyes are full of darkness, how dark we will be. Think about what we take in through our eyes and what we take in through our ears. It will have an effect on our lives because it affects our heart condition.

Tom: Jesus said that it is not what a man takes into his mouth (Matthew 15:11) that makes him unclean, but it is what comes out of the desires and the nature of the heart like murder and evil thoughts. We are taking in all the politically correct garbage and music via TV. What we watch and listen to may affect our hearts.

V: Yes. I think the mark, the spiritual mark that we are talking about here makes your heart become like that. Then everything that comes out of you agrees with that heart which agrees with that mark. Your deeds, then, become the same as your thoughts.

This business about the spiritual mark is some serious stuff, people, and I want to encourage you to resist going along with the crowd because the crowd is like a stampede going over a cliff. If you are looking for comfort in numbers, it is over with for you. But every one of us will take a beating on the way we stand if we are going to stand true.

We left off last week in verse 12. Here is the patience of the saints.

Patience of the Saints

Revelation

14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Your flesh is not going to want to stand under the burden. But the saints stand with keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The burden is kenotic sacrifice, patience. Today’s kind of patience (the popular definition) is not to lose your temper. The patience that he is talking about is hupo-meno which is to abide under.

The lure is about taking the mark and worshipping the beast, joining up with Babylon, the world system, which is the opposite of the kenosis. Standing against those things in the arena and staying under the burden, not shying away from sacrifice, suffering, and pain is the patience which saints of today must endure. If you accept the world system, then you are getting out from under the burden. Then you will be free to have a good time in life just like all the other people, and just run right through life with the crowd and have it made.

Tim: I found out how the masses are doing this. People do not know the Word of God. The whole fight is against the Word. We do not have to wonder about what is right to do. The Word of God has told us. But what the politically correct “Christians” do, is look at the Word and say, “Well, that does not mean that.” So, like you said, your burden is the standing there by yourself because they want to take the doctrine and twist it or make it appear like it means something else. Their opinions do not matter because the Word of God has already given what is right and wrong.

V. and students: Amen.

The Martyrs under Antichrist

Revelation

14:13 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.

This verse describes people getting saved after the rapture and after the beast is on the throne and after there has been an implementation of a policy of killing Christians. Those not taking the mark must die. These people are going to get saved, stand up, and say, “I am not going to take the mark.” They will get their heads whacked off.

Jack: After the Christians were raptured, I can imagine them saying, “Well, you know what? They were telling us the truth. From this point on, I am standing up for God.”

V: Yes, and notice what their decision is going to be. They are going to die if they accept the Lord, but they will accept Him anyway. They look death right in the face and accept the Lord. So God said, “Write it down, blessed are these.”

Jack: What are their works?

V: It is the same kind of works as the thief who testified on the cross. They will say, “I have faith in Jesus Christ, and I will not recant that faith even if you kill me.” Man that is big-league works right there. Their sacrifice is going to have the same effect as the blood of the martyrs had in the Middle Ages, their blood became the seed for revival. As these new martyrs say, “Count me in. I am going for the Lord,” they will be executed. Those observing these new martyrs are going to think, “Man, he is giving his life. There is some reality to this thing. Count me in, too.” They are going to be a very blessed group of people.

The Harvest of the Earth

Revelation

14:14 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.
14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
14:16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast [it] into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.

Two Kinds of Reapings

This refers back, for me, to the Law of the Harvest. Two kinds of sowing and reaping will occur in this kind of harvest:

The Law of the Harvest

Galatians

6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Reaping Christians

The first kind of reaping is by the Son of man (14:14), and that is the Lord. The Lord is going to reap that group of people who are going to die here, and who are described in verse 13. Those Christians who die after the rapture are the Lord’s reaping out of the earth. He is swinging that sickle into the earth, and here come more saints into the Kingdom. We are going to be up there, and as they enter we are going to be shouting and glorifying the Lord, and grabbing them and saying, “Man, you did good!”

Reaping Unbelievers to God’s Wrath

But there is another reaping that is to the flesh. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption…”¹

Revelation

14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, . . .

Now here comes an angel with a sickle that is going to be reaping the harvest to the flesh. It is described as the vine of the grapes that are fully ripe. The angel thrusts in the sickle and gathers the vine. The grapes of wrath are being reaped and cast into a winepress. These grapes are going to be trodden down outside the city. The blood will run 200 miles and as high as a horse’s bridle.

Those who received the mark are going to have God’s wrath poured out on them, and that is the kind of wrath that is being described here. This is analogical description. They are not going to be put into some kind of press and then stomped. That is a description of grapes.

You have complete freedom to disagree with me, but here is where I am coming down on this. This stuff is being signed to John. So, he writes what he sees. He sees grapes being harvested, put in a container, and they were trodden down. It was the wrath of God trodding it down. How that was pictured, I think, is an angel not saying, “Oh, you wonderful grapes,” but “you sorry grapes” and stomping down hard. Then he saw blood that was 200 miles long and six feet deep.

Double Entendre

That is the picture that I want to bring to your mind—but what does it mean? Now if you take the signs literally, and are looking for the exact signs, the only way that is going to work is that there is a double entendre. If there is not a double entendre, then you are looking for something that is not going to be there. Double entendre means both literal and sign interpretations are valid. But you have to come back to how this whole book is set up.

What God said in the beginning of the book is that it is a book of signs, not a book of words. If the signs have a double entendre, and sometimes I find myself saying, “Yes, it is a double entendre,” and then I will read a little, then I run to the opposite and say, “No, it is only a sign.”

Taking it literally I could have said, “Man, there is blood 200 miles long and 6 feet deep. That means they are going to grab these people and put them in the press and stomp the blood right out of them.” Then I think, “If I am looking for the blood, if I am looking for these little things as if they were words that came to John, then I could be deceived, and I will miss the signs.”

I want you to be thinking now because I do not have a lock on the truth. None of us have that. We are all searchers together.

Most of the Bible is words from God. This particular book, however, is signs from God. All the words of John used in describing the sign are under the guidance of the Spirit. So the Spirit is using John’s vocabulary, and He is bringing out the words that are consistently true all the way through. You are not going to see this zigzag stuff where the sign changes meanings in this book because that would lead to chaos. It is constant in meaning.

Paul: God has always used visions for His prophets, though. He did it with Amos, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. God often gave visions and used symbolism.

V: Absolutely. These visions are about things that are coming. It is visual, and it comes in through our eyes. Here is John looking at this scene, like a drama, and it unfolds in front of him. He is seeing all this weird stuff, and he describes it. Then we look at it and we have people that talk about the two witnesses blowing fire out of their mouths, and they start interpreting the book as if it were a wordbook rather than a sign book.

Henry: Basically 14:20 is saying that the amount of blood would mean that there were an immense number of people killed.

V: Yes, that is the interpretation that I am landing on today. Do not hold me to it tomorrow. The people’s lives are being sucked out of them by the oppressive society that is lacking in justice and light because the church has been raptured.

It would practically be the whole population of the earth that is suffering from the terrible rules of Antichrist. The people getting saved are being killed by Antichrist, but these people are not the ones described as grapes of wrath.

Joe: It is interesting where this takes place in the Bible. He is describing these grapes of wrath and the sickle that the angel uses to reap the harvest of the flesh, and we are getting ready to hit the seven plagues last. The complete wrath of God in this stuff is . . .

V: It is going to come down on all unbelievers. All unbelievers are going to participate in this second reaping.

Oscar: You think the second sickle reaps the grapes. That is like foretelling the seven plagues that will kill all the rest of the people?

V: Yes, if killing means sucking the life out of the people via suffering under Antichrist. The part about the Son of man sickleing is going to fulfill verse 13. There is going to be a big harvest of tremendous Christians who are willing to die for their faith. All those will die in the Lord from this point on are going to be our superiors.

Who Gives the Orders, and Who Does the Work?

Before we leave this chapter, let me tell you this part. This is an exciting thing. I want you to see how much God’s servants are doing. God is doling out responsibility to angels, to the four elders, to all of the saints. You see there is a delegated responsibility. Now that is not something new, this is God’s operating style right now. This is not a change of activity that is suddenly taking place over here in the future. You are God’s hands, His feet, His mouth, everything. When God does something on this planet, guess who does it? You!

Now when you start reversing that, you get up in the morning, you say, ”Oh, Lord, I have Your work orders all lined out for You today. Here is what I need for You to do. I need . . . .” And you give Him His working orders, and you go about living your life. You say, “Have You got all that done, God?”

The world’s brainwashing has already ruined us because we have this thing so backward! I catch myself saying, “Lord, This is what I need” instead of relating to God as God, and saying, “What is the adventure that you have for me today? In that adventure will you please help me to follow you?” God has already done His part. He is the one that gives out the orders. By all means take your requests to God, but you must receive your orders from Him also. We must turn our perception around and see that God gives the orders, and you do the work. Our churches need to be told this.

Tom: Henry Blackaby says that prayer is not the means of getting God adjusted to us but a means of getting us adjusted to God.

V: Yes. The faithful prayers of the saints come up as the incense, the sweet smell in His nostrils, and the angels even play a part in that (Revelation 8:3ff). They bring the incense in, and they open it up, and the incense rises and God says, “Okay, I agree.” It is time for the harvest to take place.” I wanted to bring that out before we left the Law of the Harvest because it is very good.

REVELATION 15

Revelation

15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.
15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous [are] thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true [are] thy ways, thou King of saints.
15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for [thou] only [art] holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

Sea of Glass

Here is this sea of glass that is the perfect church. That church is the church that is made up of those who have died. There are no waves; it is crystal clear. Do you know what fire is? The Word of God, the puros, the purity is there in the sea. It has no filthy ingredients in it.

So here is the perfect sea, and standing on the sea are those who were martyred. The one who goes down in humility and self-denial is the person who is going to be elevated in the end. Here are these people who gave all including their lives in order to receive Christ and glorified Him with their stance. Listen! They are on top of the sea! They are going to be our bosses. You see the people who get the furthest down in the kenosis are going to be elevated the highest up. Jesus Christ went all the way to the cross. He is going to be right smack dab at the top. Way down near the bottom there is going to be Tim. (Laughter.)

Tim: Dr. V. will be close by, too. Then Dr. V. is going to have his hands full. (Much laughter.)

V: Touché.

Beth: There is probably going to be a lot of us down there.

Victory through Death

V: We have a victory described here. Those who have gotten the victory over the beast and his image and his mark and the numbers of his name have victory, but it cost them their lives.

Now at this point in time under Antichrist, it is going to be an actual physical death, but right now for you to have victory, you have to declare a death sentence on your desires, your plans and your wants. Hear what I am saying! It may not be a physical death for you, but it will include the privations that you may encounter for your body in doing the things God is doing.

You need to be wise in how you invest your life. Please do not burn out on unprofitable busy work. Make your life count because that is the only one you have. Bring in a profit because you are going to be judged on your works. Your works will follow you the same way the works of these martyrs followed them.

Before we leave this I want you to see the Song of Moses and the Song of the Servant of God and the Song of the Lamb unite the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints, and the Lord here. These saints who are singing these songs have to do with both Testaments. I also want you to see that these martyrs who are standing on the glass have the harps of God, and the harpers are the ones who lead in the harmonizing of the saints. It would be wonderful, to be in that first layer under the Lord, having a harp and to be able to lead in the harmonizing of the saints. All of that is up there for you and God gives you a commandment to pursue it. He says, “Lay up treasure in heaven.”²

I want you to see one more thing before we leave this: When they bless God in verse 3 they say, “Thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways.”³ Just and true.

You remember how we talked about the light, the sun and the moon being darkened by 1/3? That is truth and justice, and now the song is Truth and Justice. The light is going to be brilliantly clear because we are going to be standing in the presence of that perfect light.

Announcing the Seven Plagues

Revelation

15:5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened:
15:6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
15:8 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, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

Now here again is a delegated responsibility for the angels are going to dispense the wrath of God. God is using His servants over and over again, which is consistent throughout Scripture, and He is looking to do that with us today.

REVELATION 16

Revelation

16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

I expect that this is a voice coming from God delegating work to the angels having the bowls. They have the Word now, and they are going to do the work.

Vial 1: Grievous Sores

Revelation

16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and [upon] them which worshipped his image.

Now the first vial is going to land on everyone that has the mark of the beast on them. Those people are worshipping the beast. This is a grievous sore. I suspect that what John saw was a visible sore.

I think that it is going to be a disease that is specifically pertaining to political correctness. One that comes to my mind today is AIDS. I do not know if that is the only one, but they are manifested to John as sores.

In the Old Testament the plagues that were done on Egypt were visible, and they are preparing us for another look at the end of the New Testament. The meaning is left for you and me to discern.

Henry: Why did John was use the words noisome and grievous in reference to the sore?

V: I looked up that word. It is an old English word, and it has a Sixteenth Century interpretation of a Greek word that means evil and troubling. And so it is an evil disease.

Jerry: The first thing God always mentions is sexual immorality when He describes evil.

V: I really think that AIDS and herpes are represented here. But I think there are several kinds of diseases that may be applicable because he uses the word sores.

Vial 2: Death of Souls in the Sea

Revelation

16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead [man]: and every living soul died in the sea.

The penalty on the apostate church is that it is going to become putrid, nothing alive in it. Every person in that worldwide institutional church will be spiritually dead. This church is going to come up under the Antichrist, and it is going to be a politically correct church where there is a multitude of ways into salvation. It is going to be an ecumenical kind of approach. It is not going to have all this stuff about “you must be saved by Jesus alone.”

Jerry: It is going on now. This apostate church, are these going to be the lost members of the church?

V: Yes, because by this time the only saved people will be those who are not acceptable in that church. They are going to be in the streets running for their lives and seeking food and shelter because they do not have a mark in order to buy and sell. They are going to be perceived as the scum of the earth just like it describes the heroes of faith in the book of Hebrews where it says, “They lived in holes in the earth, despised by all men,” and it says of them that the “world was not worthy.”⁴ Those so-called “Christians” in the institutional church are not going to be suffering like the true saints. I know of good saints not accepted by churches today. It is going to come to the point where to confess Jesus Christ openly and to follow Him will mark you as a person unfit for the church. When that vial of God’s wrath comes out, that church is going to be turned into a dead and putrefied institution that will result from a total exodus of all true saints. It is going to become an institution of Antichrist.

Now let us get a commentary from the angels about the clergy.

Vial 3: Rivers and Fountains Became Blood

Revelation

16:4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
16:5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
16:6 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
16:7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous [are] thy judgments.

Indictment of the Clergy

Vial number one is on those who are just the population of the earth. Vial number two is on the church, and vial number three is on the clergy.

All of your paid vocational ministers in this church have become putrid and their hands are bloody. The vocational clergy have participated in the physical killings of the true clergy, and they participate in the spiritual killings of their church members. They have blood on their hands and blood to drink.

You need to take Church History to see about this shedding of blood of the saints and the prophets because our history is filled up with this. It will break your heart.

Sybil: This would be through the ministers that are on earth that are leading the oneworld religion that have persecuted those that were left after the rapture, and said, “They are teaching theology that is not politically correct. Send them to Antichrist.”

V: Right, and so there is going to be this great shedding of blood and the turning in of the people by their neighbors, by their relatives, and by everybody that knows them. They are the ones that stand on top of the sea with their harps.

These others in the institutional church though are in their nice, wonderful robes. They receive a good fat payroll, they have a great pension working, they are not going to say anything against the accepted doctrine of the beast, and everybody is going to “amen, my wonderful brother.” The only way you can tell the difference between that person in that church and that person out there in the world is by their robes. Their behavior is going to be identical, marching to the same drummer. Even today, there is a lot of difficulty in distinguishing between a Christian and a non-Christian.

Tim: There is the one book that everybody might want to read, The Woman Who Rides the Beast.

V: Yes, that is a good one. Dave Hunt is the author of The Woman Who Rides the Beast. You read that book, and you are going to wonder how he managed to stay alive.

Vial 4: Scorching Fire from the Sun

Revelation

16:8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

All right, you remember how we talked about the sun and the moon darkening? Truth and justice are going to be totally taken out of this world. But here there is going to be such a darkness in the people’s minds, that truth is going to be a lie, and a lie is going to be truth. Good is going to be bad, and bad is going to be good. This angel in his wrath is going to pour out his vial on the sun and the light is going to increase.

Now here is what the light is. It is not that the sun is going to just start scalding you, and you are going to start blistering all over. We are talking about the truth and justice coming into the minds of the people who have decided to walk in darkness and join in the darkness. It is now penalty time. Here is one with AIDS who is going to say: “I joined in with the crowd, and it was considered the good and noble thing to do, and now I am dying. Why did I do that? But what I did has to be right because the beast declared it so. I cannot repent of that.”

You see, they are going to continue in their blasphemy, but they are going to be scorched with truth and justice because truth and justice is the Law of the Harvest. When you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption.⁵

They are going to be caught in the dilemma of seeing the truth, the scorching, brilliant justice coming in, and they are continue to hold to this abominable confession and allegiance to the Antichrist because their minds are darkened. But the realization of justice and retribution is becoming crystal clear. They are caught in that coming together of those two immovable forces.

Jill: Could it be that at this particular time God has withdrawn from them the ability to repent?

V: No, they have the ability, but it is a willful choice. I have experienced these people. I have actually seen them.

Jill: Are there really people like that?

V: Oh, when the scorching truth of reality comes down on them, they turn away from it. They are caught in the dilemma between two immovable things. One is their allegiance to the lie, and the other one is the undeniable truth that you are reaping corruption.

Joe: Paul says that they were going to be sent a powerful delusion⁶ that will sear their consciences. But when they see the actual truth and justice it is going to be like a crushing blow to them. But they still are not going to repent because of the powerful delusion. Would you say that here is the verdict that light comes into the world, but men hated the light and would not come to the light because their deeds were evil.⁷

V: Right, they loved darkness.

Vial 5: Darkness

Revelation

16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

So in the midst of this light, anybody who follows the beast is in total darkness reaching the end of seal #6. Yet the brilliant light is scorching the people. Then it says they gnawed their tongues for pain because they are caught in the dilemma.

They are caught in the jaws of a dilemma, and they cannot get out because they want to hold both sides together. So, they blame God, blaspheme Him, and maintain their current paths of lies and destruction.

Henry: That is the worldly sorrow that leads to death is it not?⁸

V: Yes, the worldly sorrow that leads to death is a sorrow for suffering the consequences but without a true repentance. Their behavior is not going to change. Thus their persistence in the destructive behavior will result in death.

Vial 6: Drying up the Euphrates

Revelation

16:12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.

You know what the Euphrates is? It is a river. You know what river means? Clergy. You know what the clergy of the east is? Islam. And so Islam, the clergy, and the preaching of Islam are going to dry up enough to allow Islam to join all the other religions and they are even going to join the apostate church of Christ. The harlot is going to be joined with Islam so “Christianity” and Islam are going to join together. If you want to know how, read A Woman Who Rides the beast. Mary is the uniting factor between Islam and Christianity. They are going to then come against the real people of Christ.

Now we come to a parenthetical, and after it we will stop and pick up in the next chapter.

Unclean Spirits Like Frogs

Revelation

16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16:16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

Frogs are amphibians that are at home on earth and in water. Frogs are the demonic influences with the same message in the earth and in the church. They are equally at home in the government/society and in the church. They have only one message, but I do not know what that message is. I cannot discern that. The message is equally relevant for the earth as it is for the sea. It is going to unite them both tightly together in a common cause.

There are a lot of amphibians today because we are bringing the world’s methods into our churches—bring it on, bring it on. Does it make money? Bring it in here!

Sybil: One-world government coming together with one-world religion.

V: Let me just warn you one more time! Watch! Keep your clothes. Some of you have worked hard and denied yourselves. You have some clothes. Work and be diligent to keep your clothes because, folks, you can end up naked. I do not care how well you have done, you can end up naked. Watch! Be careful! Keep your clothes.

Mary: When Jesus talks about the signs at the end of the age, he declares that the times of distress will be unequaled. He said, “If God had not cut the times short, not even the elect would survive.” Do you think this is it?

V: This is it; yes, ma’am, this is it right here.

Lesson Questions

What is the spiritual mark?

Describe the patience of the saints.

Who is reaped by the angel’s sickle?

What is the sea of glass?

Describe the first six vials.

Lesson 11

THE HARLOT, BEAST, AND BABYLON

REVELATION 16

Vial 7: Great Earthquake

Revelation

16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
16:18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, [and] so great.
16:19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
16:20 And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
16:21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

This vial goes into the air where the prince and power of the air resides. Therefore, this vial is right at the dominion of Satan.

All the rest of this passage is very difficult. It would be easy to just say 100- pound hunks of ice are falling out of the sky, but it is symbolic of something. There may be a double entendre there as well.

Oscar: I heard at one point that when they were doing nuclear bomb testing, that the dirt and debris was blown so far into the atmosphere that part of the aftermath was 50- pound hailstones.

V: Oh, but you see that is the literal interpretation, and that is the easy part. However, when dealing with signs, what do hailstones mean? Hail being frozen water, could mean a hardened kind of religious credo that is very hurtful when it rains down on us. It is something coming from heaven. What is that something? I do not know. I leave that to you to wrestle with.

The Great City

But let us look at verse 19, the great city. When we are dealing with cities, we are dealing with systems. The great city would be the world system. The world system is exemplified by Babylon, which will be addressed in Revelation 17. Here, though, is an introduction of the great system, and it is divided into three parts: economics, religion, and government. Would that not fit with six, six, six (666) if you put six with each one of the three parts?

Henry: You are talking about dividing it into three. There is a meeting, November 16 in South Africa regarding setting up government, monetary, and religious systems. There are the three elements: government, money and religion.

Mary: If you go over to verse 20, it talks about the islands that fled away, and the mountains cannot be found. Islands are land in the midst of the sea. I see them as denominations of religions. Fleeing away may mean that their distinctions are disappearing. The mountains refer back to institutions. Our institutions of an ordered society are just wiped away and are no more. It is finished. So, man, you are right.

V: I see the islands as being denominations, and of course we have talked about mountains before being institutions. The banking institution is going to collapse, and other institutions as well; even the institution of marriage is going to collapse into a perversion like a one-world religion and a one-world economy. What we know as independent and individual kinds of denominations and institutions are going to cease to exist in this vial.

The great city is divided into three parts, and I think there is some connection with the six, six, six there. That is just a gut feeling. You feel absolutely free to reject it.

This is the last vial, and as soon as it is poured out into the air, the voice from heaven says, “It is done.”¹ It is over with. All of God’s wrath is initiated, and now we are going to see the completion of those things working their way out. The vials come out one by one, and they, too, will climax at the same time as the seals and the trumpets at the Day of the Lord. Everything is progressive.

We are able to observe then where that particular thing is in its status, but we cannot see except by God’s Word what it is going to look like when it gets all the way out to the end point.

Ted: You mentioned six, six, six in regard to the system. Earlier one of the other students mentioned six, six, six being man, man, man, we have man controlled economics, man-centered Gospel, and man for his government.

V: Yes, that fits!

Pete: I think there is something in verses 20 and 21 in Revelation 16. I look at the mountains as institutions, and then you have the fall of government, etc., but when I came down to verse 21 I saw the stones, the weight of the talent. I took the talent to be the denominations of money, and I took that as being the final blow to economics.

The thing that destroyed the trees and the grass, part of that was hail, and what made me think of that was that the hail had something to do with the towns and the money and the final blow.

V: Okay. That is a very good point because you have the trees, the larger economics systems, the grass the lower economy. We should give consideration to that. That is consistent. Consistency is what we are looking for.

REVELATION 17

The Great Whore

Revelation

17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

Let’s look at Jeremiah 2 and 3. Beginning in Jeremiah 2:20 is a statement about how God’s people are being called the harlot.

Jeremiah

2:20 For of old time I have broken thy yoke, [and] burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot.

He is talking about His own people, God’s people who have pledged themselves to God but are transgressing their pledge and using their freedom for self-indulgence (idolatry).

Jeremiah

3:1 . . . but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
3:2 . . . thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

3:6 . . . and under every green tree, and there hath played the harlot.
3:8 . . . Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.
3:9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.

Here it is, you see God’s people being the harlot. Then we come back to Revelation, who is the harlot? It is God’s people! This harlot is committing fornication, it says, with the kings. But look what it says about the people. It says, “. . . and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Revelation 17:2). There is a distinction here where the kings and the harlot are committing fornication directly. There must be, then, some kind of collusion, the desire of the kings and the desires of the harlot are similar in nature.

Drunkenness is when you go into the stupor. Isaiah and Jeremiah are all the time talking about the drunkenness of God’s people. God said they were drunk because they were not focused, they were not alert, and they were stumbling around in life like drunken people. That is drunkenness, and the inhabitants of the world have been given drunkenness through the wine of that fornication.

This woman sits upon many waters. All of these waters come under the harlot’s dominion. Different denominations, different religions come under the domination of the harlot.

Carl: It says the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries. Again, what does the wine signify?

V: It is the lust for self-indulgence (upside down kenosis). The kings and the harlot join together in a climb. The harlot is pledged to God but is fornicating with the kings of the earth. She wants temporal power and riches rather than eternal rewards. The people begin to lose all sensitivity to God and eternal things and seek to emulate the kings and the harlot. They become desensitized to sin, salvation, heaven and hell. Basically when the church becomes like the world, then the people of the world see no distinctions and remain entrenched in political correctness.

None of them know how to go in the right direction, and so they are drunk. If the church is seen to be going in the same direction as they, then there is no incentive for waking up and repenting. They are drunk.

Harlot on the Beast

Revelation

17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: . . .

The wilderness is the same place the good woman was. Where is the harlot? In the wilderness! Both of them are in the same place.

Revelation

17:3... and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

The Beast

The beast has seven heads. Heads are nations. Thus the number seven means all nations, signifying universality. Thus all nations having a king are those under Satan’s sway.

The beast has ten horns. Horns are kings. The number ten means all temporal kings. The only king not under Satan’s sway is King Jesus. His Kingdom is a spiritual kingdom that will be guided by Him without the lust for temporal riches.

Does that cup not sound like the chalice that you take the sacrament through? And then here are the colors, the scarlet and purple colors, and then all of the jewels and all of the riches and finery. Let me tell you that this woman is sitting on a beast, and she is not guiding the beast. She is trading her power to control her own destination for riches and political and secular power. The beast says, “I think I am going to take her into political correctness.” She says, “That is fine, just keep the jewels coming. Keep the money, praise and glory coming, and I will go wherever you want to go!”

Mystery Babylon

There is a statement in Revelation 17:5:

17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, . . .

There is something very mysterious about the apostate church. It stays in place and prospers and grows. So written on her forehead is MYSTERY. Also written on her forehead is

17:5 . . . BABYLON THE GREAT, . .

Opposite the Kenosis - Chart 11.1

So we are looking at two different cities, two different systems, and one system is climbing up to a throne (while the other system is following Jesus down to the cross).

Kenosis - Chart 11.2

There is written on her head, BABYLON THE GREAT. The apostate church looks like Babylon. She is identified with the world system, but she is not this system. She certainly is not identified with the kenotic system. While she is not Babylon, she has BABYLON THE GREAT written on her. Also written on her is . . .

17:5 . . . THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Harlotry in the church breeds harlotry and breeds abominations. Whenever you or I become lukewarm in our followship of Jesus Christ, we become the mother of harlotry and abominations on the earth. When you show a Christian example that is lukewarm and not dedicated to Jesus with your life, you are breeding what we have today. This is a terrible indictment. There ought to be something that distinguishes the church from the world.

Bob: The church is no longer set apart.

V: That is right. Let us go a little further here.

Revelation

17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Please remember that this is a day when John was on the Isle of Patmos in the Spirit worshipping the Lord. Not much time has passed. However it sounds like it has been centuries passing before John. I want you to remember that John is just getting up off his knees, and the angel comes and whisks him away in the Spirit and starts showing him all these signs. Shortly after seeing the signs, he is writing back to the seven churches. Remember Ephesus is his church. The martyrdom that is going on right there in his day is in the context of his life.

Then he is brought to our time and shown the church. It says here, “When I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” Let me tell you what those words mean. When he saw the church, he was stricken to the point of falling down. He is one day away from his context of seeing the church being crucified, martyred, dying, and suffering great persecution. Then he sees us, and he goes “AHHHhhhhhhh, it cannot be!!”

That woman on the beast is where we are. You know how the Lord gets upset about the church He died for? He gave His life for this mess! John has to go back to this Isle of Patmos, and he is thinking, “Man! I have to warn my people, that we are going to fall. We are going to become a harlot on the back of the beast.”

Dear reader, it is your job to warn the people. If you are in this class and do not warn people, I will testify against you. This is absolutely critical. If you do a hermeneutical trick on this, and say, “Oh, this is not us because we are the bride of Christ. We are spotless—He is just swooning over us because we can tie our own shoes.” If we do those hermeneutical tricks that everybody is playing these days, then we can escape our responsibilities. But, brethren, there is going to be that final judgment, and you are not going to escape it. MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. You can become that—you have done that at some time in your life. Some of you are doing it now.

Joe: You know Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through that gate, but small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few will find it.²

V: I pray that God will make you the few that find it. It would be a disaster for me to know that you were in here, and you did not grab hold of it. I am not talking about getting saved. I am talking about sanctification and glorification, all the parts and processes of salvation that come after justification.

Pete: I see a lot of those things coming into our churches that are not supposed to be in there, that we are not supposed to let happen. Many churches have members just like the people in Mystery Babylon.

Jack: This condition hurts the gospel, and it hurts the Kingdom of God, too. It is a stumbling block because I have had people throw it in my face when I witness to them about Jesus. They say, “Why should I go to church, you are doing the same thing we are doing out here.”

V: See, this is called “drunkenness” in Jeremiah. They had no focus. They were not alert. They were just stumbling around. That is a picture of us today.

An Angel Interprets the Woman on the Beast

Revelation

17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Now this beast is not Antichrist. This is Satan and the wonder is the same word as that in verse 6 where John wondered with great admiration. This wonder in verse 8 is the same verb, but it not nearly to the same extent. This beast is Satan, and his seven heads and ten horns are all the nations and kings of his one-world empire. The woman is the church, and she is riding on the beast. This beast has been reigning over the world (was), was cast into the bottomless pit (is not), and then will come out again at the end of the millennium (yet is).

Heads are Mountains

Revelation

17:9 And here [is] the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

Heads are nations, and we know mountains are institutions. Now he says the heads are mountains. This is a mixing of signs, so I take the nations, and I take the institutions, and I put them together, what do I get? I get empires. The seven world empires are: The empire of Assyria, the empire of Babylon, the empire of Persia, the Greek empire, the Roman empire, the present empire, and the empire of Antichrist. These are the seven empires listed in order of their occurrence. We have had, or now have, six of these empires, and we are moving toward the seventh. If you have had Old Testament Survey or Biblical Backgrounds, you have dealt with all of these empires.

Emperors

Revelation

17:10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

That last one will be a short reign I think. That will be the seventh one. That will be the reign of the Antichrist.

Revelation

17:11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, . . .

There is Satan. He is not one of the seven emperor kings running these empires. He stands outside of them because he is an invisible power behind the throne. He is the eighth. “The beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth,” but he is of the seven.

Revelation

17:11and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

He is outside of the empires and their emperors, but Satan is incarnated into Antichrist, and he is of the seven, but he is also the eighth. But now we come to the hard part, the ten horns.

Ten Horns

Revelation

17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

I consider this not to be a one-hour “length” of power, but a “sudden” endowment of power. These ten horns are ten kings, and this means all of the horns in temporal power of the final empire. Right here at this point we have seven empires that you can count, but seven means all, as in universal. The horns also can be counted when you go to Daniel. Daniel has ten horns, and then a little horn coming up. The little horn uproots three of the horns by the roots and becomes the ruler, the greatest horn of all. There seems to be both symbolic and real numbers here, and this is where I struggle. Are we symbolically looking at ten, or is it a real number ten. I leave that to you because I have not resolved that in my own mind.

Homer: Going back to Daniel where you have ten horns, and you have the little horn which is the eleventh, uprooting three, gives you back to the eighth which is also the seventh. This would agree numerically with Revelation that declares the beast to be the eighth.

V: Yes, that is good.

Beth: The seven empires; do they coincide with the seven heads of the dragon?

V: Yes, they could. I am not sure how close they correlate.

Beth: Okay, so do you think that the one that was slain and came back alive would be the present empire?

V: It could be the Roman Empire coming back in the present, or it could be the empire of the Antichrist with the ten kings. It could be the German or Russian nations. I do not know.

Revelation

17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Christians are to be united in mind as well. We are to have the mind of Christ as in Philippians 2. These ten horns, the ten kings are going to be united in mind and be politically correct right down the line. They are going to give their power back to the

Antichrist. The Antichrist is going to be running this united politically correct worldwide system.

Revelation

17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, . . .

And this war is described when we were in the sixth trumpet. It said that the whole world would be gathered to battle. The great day is the battle of Armageddon that goes right into the Great White Throne Judgment which we will look at in the next chapter. This sixth trumpet is being described as war: “These shall make war with the Lamb.”

The Called, Chosen, and Faithful

Revelation

17:14 . . . and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him [are] called, and chosen, and faithful.

You are called. Many are called, but few are chosen. Fewer are faithful. If you want to, look at it this way: If you looked at the called as the call to salvation, and the chosen as those who are saved, and the faithful as those that follow the Lord . . .

That is one way to look at it. But let us look at it in a church environment. All of the true church is saved, so we are not looking for a call to salvation. We are looking for a call to sanctification. Even fewer are faithful and go all the way to the death, and those are going to be glorified. Faithful takes you all the way, meaning sacrifice, death on the cross, the same kenotic path that Jesus followed.

You see, we have the martyrs that are under the altar that were crying out, “How long, Oh, God, how long?” The answer is not only until all those who have been called and chosen for salvation, but also those who follow the Lord until they are dead. They just keep on keeping on. You are being called, some of you are being chosen, fewer of you will be faithful. The ball is in your court. Will you answer the call to be chosen as a disciple, and further yet, will you be faithful?

We are not playing games here. I see many running the wrong way, carrying a banner that says CHRISTIAN. The more the saints run the wrong way, the more harlotry and abominations are being bred in the church. Now we are coming to a time in our life when to be accepted in the church is going to be against your creed. You are not going to be able to accept the apostasy. We are coming to that in this next chapter of Revelation.

The Waters

Revelation

17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

This is not just one language or one race, and it is not just one nation. Waters signify the mixing of all the world religions into a one-world religion.

Ten Horns, Beast, and Woman

Revelation

17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

This harlot, the apostate and politically correct church, is in league with Satan and following and worshipping Antichrist. This church is going to be destroyed by the empire of Antichrist because there is still the mystery of the church within it.

Speckled Bird Analogy of the Church

Consider the speckled bird in Jeremiah 12.³ Jeremiah told the nation of Judah, You are a speckled bird, and you are going to be pecked to death by the surrounding nations that are birds. All of these birds are going to look at you, and you are of a like feather, but there is a little bit of distinction about you. Because of those specks, the other birds are going to peck you to death because you are different.

The same thing happens with the apostate church even though they have been doing exactly what the ten kings and Antichrist wants. It is the speckled bird analogy all over again. The members of this church are worshipping God in their perverted way, and the kings are going to destroy her because of the name of the church, not because of her behavior, not because of her ideology, not because of her credo or doctrine or anything, but because of her name “God’s church.”

If not already, she soon will be up there on that beast reigning and being glorified and carrying all the jewels and wealth and praise of men, but there is coming a time when all of that is going to turn against her.

Satan is going to bring about that destruction because he wants nothing to do with the church of God, even the apostate church that is following him. Right now while she is on the back of the beast. He is using the church to gain his ends. If the church breeds harlots, Satan is going to say, “Bring them on! I will encourage this church as long as harlotry and abominations are being bred by the church.” He will use her as long as she is useful to him. He is going to achieve his ends through the church, through the harlot. But when he is through with her, he will turn against her.

It is a speckled bird analogy. There is identification yet with distinction.

REVELATION 18

Fall of Babylon’s Church

Revelation

18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.
18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

At this point at the beginning of Revelation 18, the harlot is already being called Babylon. Instead of just having the name written on her head, she is identified now as Babylon. However, she is not Babylon. You need to see this. But she is being called Babylon because of her close relationship with Babylon. Soon we will have a description of her committing fornication with the kings of the earth. But now it talks about the merchants, and how the merchants have gotten rich through their relationship with her.

God calls His Saints Out of Babylon’s Church

Revelation

18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Now here is a call for the Christians to come out of her. This is an interesting situation because if you have the world here (see Chart 11.4), and you have Christians in the world who are called out (saved), they make the church. Then the ecclesia is already the called out ones. What if the church becomes the world, then we have need of another calling out. The definition of holiness is separation unto God’s use, called and set apart. When He calls us out of the world to make a new community or a new city, Jerusalem, and we become so perverted that the new city becomes Babylon once again, then there is a need for another call. He says, then, to the real Christians in the apostate church, “Come out of there.” This time the calling will involve death to the saints because they choose to follow God rather than Antichrist. So now you have the called, chosen, faithful, and dead. At this point, you will get your head whacked off.

Revelation

18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Do you hear that today, folks? The harlot says that she will see no sorrow: “If it is true that we will see no sorrow, then we do not have to worry about it. We are going to be raptured. We are not going to see any of this! Do not worry about it. Cool. It is going to be all right. We are not going to have any sorrow and pains and suffering. What kind of Christian are you? Do you not know about the rapture?” But friend, do not listen to the harlot.

Revelation

18:8 Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong [is] the Lord God who judgeth her.
18:9 And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
18:10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

The kings are the first ones to grieve over the harlot’s destruction, mourning and lamenting over her fall. They hate her connection to God, but they loved making money off her. They will be the first ones affected by the loss of the harlot because they will lose her political support.

Merchandising in souls

Revelation

8:11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
18:12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,

18:13 And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Merchandising in souls is what the harlot has been and is going to be doing. How can I get money? Pastors, listen to this. Are you going to trade the souls of your congregation for money? The temptation is going to be there. Temper our sermons, tickle their ears, get yourself some raises and a parsonage and a new car. All you have to do is sell the souls of your congregation. They are church merchants who profit from the church. They are extensions of Balaam, the profit prophet.

Pete: Get those numbers up there.

Paul: Build elaborate buildings, family life centers that will rival any health club facility. No wonder John almost passed out.

V: Sunday school teachers, parents, if you sell the souls of your people, you are going to pay for eternity. This merchandising in the souls of men is a staggering thing to me. Making slaves of your people to your agenda is merchandizing in the souls of men. Get your values right.

Revelation

18:14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

People who begin to see things in relation to their eternity place a diminishing value on the things. In fact, things begin to have no value. Thus, this statement is eternal. Gold will be used as street pavement in heaven.

Revelation

18:15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,

18:16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, . . .

That great harlot, that wonderful church, which made the merchants of the world rich will be in great torment under the persecution of her lover, Antichrist. Those merchants will not come to her aid because of their fear of Antichrist.

Revelation

18:16... that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
18:17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, . . .

Who are the shipmasters?

Tim: Pastors.

Revelation

18:17 . . . and all the company in ships, . . .

All those people in the pews of local churches.

Revelation

18:17 . . . and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18:18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city is] like unto this great city!

Still a mystery, what city could be like this city? The sailors and those who trade by sea are the vocational ministers who derive their income from the church.

Revelation

18:19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
18:20 Rejoice over her, [thou] heaven, and [ye] holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
18:21 And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft [he be], shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;
18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.

Deception came through this false apostate church. She deceived the nations. Her harlotry bred harlotry. Now God’s judgment on the apostate institutional church is going to be delivered via Antichrist. The church fornicated with Antichrist, kings, and merchants. She became a harlot for anyone who could pay her price.

Revelation

18:24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

If you go back in history and look at the most wonderful people who have ever lived, they have been destroyed by the church. It started with Jesus Christ, destroyed by the Jews, by the people of God.

REVELATION 19

Revelation

19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:
19:2 For true and righteous [are] his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.
19:3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

If these people in this apostate church had been saved, we would have had a case for losing your salvation. But, you see, I believe that the true saints will be called out, and that this will be a truly apostate church made up of politically correct people, going to the lake of fire. Their smoke will ascend forever and ever. This apostasy is so extensive that after the saints come out, there is nothing left but politically correct worshippers of Antichrist in the institutional, universal church.

Revelation

19:4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.
19:5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, . . .

The voice of many waters means the saved people of many nations, cultures, races, and denominations. That is us, guys.

Revelation

19:6 . . . and as the voice of mighty thunderings, . . .

That thundering could represent God’s voice as spoken by all the glorified saints.

Revelation

19:6 . . . saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

Now we come to the marriage of the Lamb.

What are the ideas presented under the symbol “marriage of the Lamb?”
1. Rejoicing and honor, verse 7.
2. The bride in fine linen, verse 8.
3. The blessedness of the bride, verse 9.
4. The marriage supper of the Lamb, verse 9.

Those four descriptions or ideas are presented in this marriage of the Lamb. Here is the bride, the original called out ones. Here is the bride, the chosen ones. Here is the bride, the faithful ones. These are the bride who is going to be in that marriage supper along with those who have died along the way.

Lesson Questions

What is the great city?

Who is riding on the beast?

Describe Vial #7.

Describe the scarlet beast.

Describe Mystery Babylon.

Who is the mother of harlots?

What are heads? Mountains?

If there are seven heads on the beast, how can Satan be one of them and the eighth as well?

Interpret the called, chosen, and faithful of Revelation 17:14.

How does Jeremiah’s speckled bird analogy apply to the church?

How does the church merchandise in men’s souls?

Lesson 12

FINAL VICTORY OF THE LAMB

For this lesson I am going to read the Scriptures and talk about them.

I will also correlate some Scripture.

Revelation

19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
19:12 His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
19:13 And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
19:14 And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
19:16 And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

This passage is dealing with the second coming of Christ and the armies composed of the glorified saints. They are clothed in white linen, and that is explained in verse 8 of the same chapter, “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” The Lord is coming to set his throne up on earth, and there is going to be a reign upon the earth by the Lord and the saints. I believe that you and I will be among this group coming back to earth.

Note that wherever the Lord goes, there is going to be war. There is going to be an eruption of some kind of turmoil, conflict, and war leading into the battle of Armageddon.

ARMAGEDDON

Revelation

19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great.
19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

When the Lord does come back to set up reign here with us, there is going to be mounted against Him the world’s armies. There will be many kings and many soldiers having all kinds of carnal weapons and that has been Satan’s strategy since the git-go. They are going to come as if they are going to take the world from the Lord by force.

A bullet can kill your body, but it cannot kill your spirit. Now our power is spiritual. It is a sword that comes out of the Lord’s mouth that wields God’s power that cannot be defeated by the beast which is Antichrist. Then in verse 20 we see the results of the war.

The Beast and False Prophet

Revelation

19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and
them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Pick up on the word “deceived” here. This has been where the saints who have spiritual power are being defeated. Every one of you reading this book and on this planet is deceived. There has been only one perfect theologian. We are not He. Every one of us has some elements of deception in our lives. It is our job to root that out. As you open yourself to the truth, these deceptions will begin to surface, and you can discard them.

We have here the beast and the false prophet, two of the evil trinity, who are defeated in this final battle, Armageddon. They are cast into the lake of fire. There will not be any more problems with them. What about all those kings and armies? It says in verse 21,

Revelation

19:21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

All these kings and armies that were with the beast and the false prophet are going to be killed by the sword that comes out of His mouth. The false prophet and the Antichrist are in the lake of fire. It sounds like it is time for the millennium, but there is one person left that is going to be a problem. If we are going to have the millennium, that thousand- year reign of peace, what are we going to do about Satan himself, the third person of the evil trinity? That comes up in chapter 20.

The Devil

Revelation

20:1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
20:3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Now here is Satan, the mastermind of deception, in the bottomless pit that is sealed up for the thousand years. There is not going to be any more of this deception going on all over the place. Everything will be straight up and down. When you say something, you mean what you say, and you say what you mean. I look forward to that kind of time. Now let’s look at the description of the millennial reign.

The Millennium

And Scripture says,

Revelation

20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

There may be some bad news here for you and me. The souls of those who reign with the Lord could very well be just those who were beheaded because of what it says here. Who is the “they” If it is describing, the ones that are beheaded, then we are looking at a reign comprised of only the martyrs. That is the bad news.

The good news is only my opinion. The “they” may be referring to all those on the white horses that came with Him, and stood against the attack of Antichrist and the armies. So the “they,” in my mind, refers to the masses of saints who wear the white linen. You have to decide.

Be aware that this could very well be a millennial reign by the martyrs, those who have demonstrated a loyalty that is honorable and deserving of reigning with the Lord. Not just an ontological new birth reigning, but it could very well be a reigning only by those who have given much.

Revelation

20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
20:6 Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Could there be two groups of saints? Saints who reign and saints who do not reign? The first resurrection would be for these who will be reigning in the millennium. The other group of saints may not be raised until the last resurrection. It could be. I do not know, but we must make a decision here. My answer is that the martyrs will sit on the thrones. Reporting to them will be the kenotic Christians. The remaining saints will be mere spectators.

By this time the population of the earth over a thousand-year period will have grown like the sands of the sea. There will be all manner of people who are going to be born and raised up in the millennial reign. They are going to have conversations with us. Each one of you will be involved in this millennial reign if I am correct, and you are going to be put in charge of a group of people as part of your reigning with Christ.

With the group I will be in charge of, I am going to teach the history of the church, the history of Israel and Judah. I am going to teach them doctrine, the kenosis, the upside- down kenosis, everything that I know. I will have a thousand years to get it done. I am going to teach with great urgency, hammering it in, continually warning them that Satan is in the bottomless pit, but he will be coming out. I am going to be telling my people, “No matter how much you know, you are going to be deceived just like I was deceived, just like all of our saints, the brotherhood, has been deceived. Now I want you to have this in mind.”

Satan Loosed and the Final War

As we come to this point here in verse 7, we come now to the end of the millennium, and Satan is going to be loosed.

Revelation

20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea.

Satan is going to be the great mastermind deceiver. He is going to go around the nations and deceive everybody on this planet except the resurrected saints. The battle is going to erupt when Satan deceives the people into thinking that Christ and His saints are not running this planet right, and that they need to take over and straighten it out. For some reason, they are going to follow his lead just like you guys are now doing it. Why? Because you are convinced in your mind that it is a good thing. That is what these people will do as well. It is a deception. Here they come in verse 9,

Revelation

20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

I imagine the scene will be something like this (I am going to go literal on you for a minute): all of us have been called by the Lord to a meeting. He says, “All saints on the planet come here to Jerusalem, we are going to have a meeting.” So we all go to the meeting, and at that time when we are all there, Satan is going to say, “Now is our chance. Let us go and get them. Let us surround them (it says “compassed.”) They will have us cornered and ready to be killed. We are going to be standing there, and the Lord’s fire is going to come from heaven and devour them.

How that shakes down into the signs, I do not know. But we need to see these descriptions as signs. To do so, we need to address these questions: What does it mean fire from heaven? What does it mean to “compass” the saints and the Holy City round about? I think that it will be a repeat of what is going on now— secularization and upside down kenosis.

God’s fire from heaven is the end of that attack, and then we have in verse 10,

Revelation

20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The lake of fire is in a specific location. At the end of this final battle, at the end of the millennial reign, Satan himself is cast in there. So all three of the evil trinity are going to burn and be in torment forever.

THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

Now I will to take you on a little trip, drawing a picture in your mind. I want you to give me the freedom to give you a human interpretation of this future historical event because there is not going to be anybody that can get every detail right. I am going to get it as close as I possibly can, and if I get a detail wrong, please forgive me. It is going to be accurate enough for you that when we come to this point in history, you are going to recognize it right away.

The Scene

Now I want you to look at Chart 12.2 and imagine a huge open expanse of territory. Overlooking that ground, lifted way up high and majestic, is a great white throne. Sitting upon that throne is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in His majesty and as Judge. All out in front of this great, open expanse will soon be the people of the earth who are going to be judged. Compassing the whole area will be angels to guarantee the sanctity of what is going to happen and to secure the area against exit.

The people who are going to be judged will be wondering, “What is going on?” because it is going to be a soul-trembling kind of experience. All will sense that this is something that is extremely important, and nerve-wracking.

To the right of the throne, and all out to the left will be the lines of saints, those who are saved. Those saints will be adjacent to the arm of Jesus. His hand could even rest on your shoulder if you are in one of those places of honor. The more you consistently implement the kenosis in your life, the closer you will be to the Lord. The more you live this life for yourself, the further you will be from Him. All out to the right and to the left, way out as far as you can see will be these lines of saints.

There is going to be a sense of expectation on both the people and the saints because you who will be in this line are going to know what is going to happen. There are going to be tears because there are going to be people in that group of unsaved people out front that you know. They will look up at you, and they will be wondering why you are in the line up there and they are down in front. There may even be conversation between you and them.

Up in front there is going to be this big table with one big book called the Book of Life along with many books of works. This is the judgment of works. The angels are going to pull the people from hell and place in front of the throne to be judged. The most evil people to have ever lived will be put there. There will also be some decent people out there, but they are not saved. They will include all manner of good grandmas, grandpas, good Samaritans, good religious people, people that have not robbed and stolen and murdered and done all those bad things.

Revelation

20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

As these people stand in front of the throne; they glance up at the throne, but they cannot look upon holiness because they are unholy. Even heaven and earth cannot look upon absolute holiness because they have fallen. You see the only thing that can look upon holiness is holiness itself. The people know that there is something happening because they cannot look up. They have to divert their eyes. There is no place found for them.

The Process

Please note that everybody goes through two judgments: the judgment of personhood and the judgment of works. When you die saved, your personhood is judged righteous and heaven is your destination. But when you die as a lost person, your personhood is judged, and you are taken to hell. Hell is like jail. You commit a burglary, and the police get you, and they take you to jail. Then they take you to court where they try you, judge you, and then they take you to prison. Jail is hell. The great white throne judgment is court, and the lake of fire is prison.

Revelation

20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

We are going to witness this process of judgment. The small and the great, those who have been good people, and those who have been bad people, their personhood was judged before they died. One at a time each person is going to be called by name and they are going to be judged on the basis of their works (Book of Works). The sentence will be pronounced. “You are condemned to eternity in the lake of fire.”

Revelation

20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; . . .

You remember what the sea is -- these are spiritually dead people in the church. They come out of the church because they are going to be judged.

Revelation

20:13 . . . and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: . . .

When the people die physically, and they are condemned, they go to hell. What about death? Death delivered up the people in it also. Death is composed of the people who are walking around not physically dead but spiritually dead. The dead people in the church realm of life are those in the sea. The sea gives up the dead who are in it. The death area gives up the dead who are in it. They are the secular walking around people, and then hell gives up the dead who are in it. They are the physically dead people. Here are all the dead people from the sea, death, and hell, and that is what composes all of this mass of humanity out in front of the great white throne.

Revelation

20:13 . . . and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

This is a works judgment, and so each one of these that come out of those three realms are judged according to their works, condemned to the lake of fire, and set aside for execution.

The Execution of Death and Hell

Then we come to the time of execution. What is going to happen? Death and hell are going to be executed prior to these people. I do not know if death and hell are locations or if they are angels who are in charge of those realms. It seems that the realms are being personified here. I do not know what the answer is. I leave that to you as another question that needs to be answered. But whatever it is, a location or an angel who is in charge of that location or realm, death and hell are going to be snatched up and cast into the lake of fire. When that happens there is going to be an awakening of those awaiting their execution because when they see death and hell condemned to the lake of fire their anxiety will escalate: “I do not want to go to the lake of fire.” There is going to come a panic. I want you to see this in verse 14.

The Appeals

Revelation

20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

As soon as death and hell go into the lake of fire, these that are awaiting execution are going to look over there and panic. They have been hearing a lot of screaming all of this time from the lake of fire since the beginning of judgment and execution, and it is going to dawn on them that somebody is already in that place. That is the lake of fire! That screaming was from the evil trinity. It is going to be a wailing, eerie scream. Continuous with no let up, and then when death and hell are snatched up and cast in there, all of a sudden this one will say, “Oh, my,” and he is going to run up to the throne, “Oh, Lord, Lord, do you not remember that I was in the church, and I was a deacon, and I did all good things? I fed the poor, and I have a ten-year perfect attendance pin from Sunday school. I did everything right.” These kinds of appeals will come at that panic time when the condemned realize that their eternity is there in that terrible place. That is when it is going to dawn on them: the sheer terror of what lies in front of them. Look at Matthew 7:22-23:

Matthew

7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

This is going to be the appeal process, this is the day of the Lord that is described in Matthew 7, the day of the Lord is this day, the day of the great white throne judgment. Take note that when you see the great white throne judgment, you will remember what we are talking about right here right now. Now is a preview of when all of our eternity will come to a point.

Appeals by Religious People

Here are these religious types. God forbid that one of you be one of these. Don’t be someone that is in one of my classes that could end up out here making an appeal, “I went to seminary. Oh, Lord, Lord, I went to seminary. I did everything. I knew all about the kenosis, I got a hundred on the test!” Beloved, that is not going to count. You have to get it right, now.

These religious people are going to make their appeal based on religion. That does not wash, because Jesus is the basis. One at a time they are going to make this appeal. I believe angels are going to be executing these religious types, and I believe that as they hear the verdict from Matthew 7: “I never knew you; depart from me,” I believe the angels are going to open up the Book of Life, and they will say, “This is where your name should have been, right here in this place reserved for you.” Jesus will say, “My blood bought your salvation, and your name is not in there. You wanted to go your own way, do it your way, but here is where I made a way for you, and your name is not in there.” Each one of these religious types will make that appeal. After a look in the Book of Life, they will hear: “Depart from me, I never knew you.” There will be a spot for your name, but there will be no name written.

Executions of Religious People

The angels will execute each one by casting each into the lake of fire. Over and over again, all of these who think they have a religious appeal. These that have an inside track based on religion are going to make their appeal on a religious basis. They are going to be executed. I believe they are going to be executed by the angels because I think that they have been warned. They have heard the Gospel, they have been in church, they have been in seminary, they have had every opportunity, and they squandered it. They have determined to do it their own way. Therefore, their blood and their execution will be required at the hands of God’s executioners.

Verse 15 of Revelation is based on the appeal.

Revelation

20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

That was the group that appealed. After that group made their appeal and was found not written in the Book of Life, they were cast in, and then come the executions that are so horrifying in my mind.

Executions of Non-religious People

Man, I want to tell you something: this next part gives me the shivers because when we are in line with the saints, we are seeing our loved ones, our friends, our co-workers being executed, and how this first group here are the ones you are sitting beside in church. These are the ones that you are with in Sunday school. These are the ones that you have seen when you have preached your sermons, and you are looking out at the congregation. You are so sure that they are saved. They are not saved because they were depending on the wrong thing.

Now we come to the other part, I know it is coming. I am going to be out here in this line of saints. I will be weeping and agonizing because the first group is hard enough for me. They are the religious ones who have heard the Word, but the next group is the ones that are really going to be hard on me. These are the ones that should have been warned. These are the ones that are our responsibility. These are the ones we were supposed to go tell, but we did not.

Everybody in the line of saints is going to be weeping. You will be weeping because you have heard this, you will be falling down on your face, groveling in the dirt, weeping, agonizing because He is going to call your name! The Lord is going to call your name. He will say, “Bill, come here.” I will have to get up in front of all of you and walk up there, and He is going to say, “That lady right there; that one is yours. You lived next door to her and did not tell her the good news of Christ.” She is going to look at me like I have horns. She will say, “How could you let this happen?” What am I going to say? That I was scared? That will not wash. I did not have time? I did not know what to say?

If you could reverse the scenario: your neighbor is up here in the line of saints, and you are out there standing with the condemned, what are you going to say to him? “What kind of friend are you? What kind of Christian are you? You are a sorry excuse. You lived by me, and you let me go to the lake of fire because you were afraid, or too busy, or didn't care to tell me the gospel?”

You are responsible for your neighbors! What about you fathers? You have a daughter: “Daddy, you mean I have to go there, and you did not do anything for me except take me to church and Sunday school? That is all you did? Daddy, how could you let this happen to me?” What are you going to say to your daughter? You mothers, do you have a son? “Mama, how could you let this happen?” You husbands, you have a wife? Are you going to leave things to chance? Are you just going to take them and pass them through Sunday school and church and hope that something takes, or are you going to tear down the strongholds? Are you going to charge hell? Are you going to get after it and make sure things happen? Are you going to make sure that your loved ones know and have an opportunity? If you love anybody, you had better think about the lake of fire. Help them avoid that before it is too late, because we are talking about eternity. It says here that you are responsible for sharing the gospel with ALL people. Read Ezekiel 3:17-19.

Ezekiel

3:17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
3:19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

The first group made their appeals on religion. They are those whom you have warned, and they have heard, and they have made a choice, and their choice is to reject. They are executed by the angels. But there is the other group, the group that has not heard, that has not made an obvious choice. Those are your responsibility to warn, and they were not warned. They still have to be executed even though they were not warned, but their blood is going to be required at your hands. That execution is a hard thing to face, but you had better face it now while it is easy because this judgment is coming when it will not be this easy. This passage is a requirement that we warn the wicked. We have been given a great and wondrous gift and we are responsible to share the gospel.

When we see this day, you are going to remember everything I have said here. This scene is going to be burned in your mind, and you are going to carry it with you for the rest of your life. I pray that it will be such a serious and sobering thing that you will take steps to make sure that you warn your loved ones.

You make sure your people are notified. You preach to your relatives. You preach to your neighbors, you preach to your co- workers, you get tracts and get them out everywhere. You meet somebody, give them a tract. If you cannot talk to them, give them a tract. If you do not meet them, lay out a tract for someone to discover. You get these people saved because if you do not, they are going to the lake of fire.

Our Overwhelming Grief

So here we are up here near the throne, weeping and still just trembling. The execution has been completed and now all the condemned are in the lake of fire. We hear all this screaming and carrying on. You are up here, and some of you on the ends of the lines have had to make the most treks up to the front, and when you make a trek, you walk in front of those in the line. You have had to run the gauntlet. Remember how it was: here are all the saints. God calls your name, and you come, and you are weeping, and the saints are weeping, and feeling the disgrace of not sharing the gospel as we should have. Everybody is thinking: “Why did you not do something?” That is what they are feeling. Then you make the walk all the way back down to your spot in line. Some of you are going to be worn out walking back and forth up here. I am trying to keep you from having to make those trips. You listen to me!!! Have ears to hear and hearts to listen. Tell the people God puts in your path.

We are at the end of the judgments. Now we are looking at some closure.

A New Heaven and a New Earth

Revelation

21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Beth: No more sea is no more church?

V: That is right, there is no one left but the people of God who inherit the earth. There is no sea now, just the earth because there is no one but saved people on earth. The earth, then, is being redeemed.

The New Jerusalem

Revelation

21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God.
21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; . . .

Now that is you, folks. You are going to be here slobbering around just like me. We are all going to be weeping and carrying on, making puddles and mud down here. Some of us will still be trembling so badly we cannot even stand up, just falling down with our faces down in the mud at that point, and God is going to come up and lift you up, and the healing touch of God is going to go slam through you. You are going to feel the healing love of God and the holiness that comes from His touch. He is going to hold you close. He is going to be your God, and you are going to be His child. He is going to wipe the tears from your eyes. You do not deserve it. None of us deserve it.

Our Tears and Memory Wiped Away

Revelation

21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

You wonder how you can enjoy heaven when you may have witnessed some of your children, your parents thrown into the lake of fire, your uncles, your aunts, your cousins, your brothers and sisters, and even your own spouse. You are weeping, and you are in agony, and the Lord God Himself comes and gives you healing and comfort and wipes away your tears. You think, “How can I enjoy heaven when I know my children are in that terrible place.” This is the miracle that you and I do not deserve! God is going to wipe away your memory. You will not even remember them. They will remember you forever.

Isaiah

65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
65:18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever [in that] which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
65:19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.

He is going to wipe away the memories of these horrible events from your mind, and you will never even think of these former things. They will be gone. There will not be anything left but rejoicing. It is hard for you to hear and understand the grace of God, how far that extends because when I read it now, it is incongruent with what I have just observed about the people being cast into the lake of fire. But through the majesty and miracle of God, He is going to wipe my mind clear, and I am not even going to remember them. Praise God, this is a miracle for us that is totally undeserved.

Revelation

21:5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

We are at the end of chapter 21, and the description here of how the New Jerusalem has come down out of heaven, and there is no temple in it because God and the Lamb are the temple, but in verse 24, there is mention made of nations.

Revelation

21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: . . .

The nations (ethnos in Greek is nations) would be all ethnic groups. You cannot have just one ethnic group, so it is all the ethnic groups that will be walking in the light of this light that God gives out. And then in the last half of that verse it says,

The City of God

Revelation

21:24 . . . and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

All of the people who are in the Book of Life can go in and out of the city. Now we saw in the description of the churches there would be some people that would be pillars in the city, and they would stay in the city, and they would not go out of the city.

I think there is going to be some hierarchy in this final arrangement, and on top of that there are going to be those saints who were right here in the line close to the Lord. I think they will be close to the Lord in the city. Those saints way out near the end of the line, I think, are going to be outside of the city running errands all over the place. Those who were idle in this life when they were given a chance and a command from God to do work for Him, they are going to be idle there too for eternity.

Draw close to the Lord while you can. You have one time at bat. Swing that bat. Do not just take a strike, take another strike, take another strike, and you are out because that kind of idleness will be reflected in your eternity. You go down swinging. You get out there and minister, get up when the Lord calls your name, get on up there. When He calls and sends you out, you go out. If He tells you to do something, you do it. You have only one try. Go do it!!!

Revelation

22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations.

Sounds like some of the nations are going to need some healing even here in the eschaton. That may mean there is going to be mortal man because, you see, when we talked about the judgment awhile ago, we had the sea giving up the dead which were in it. Those were false Christians. Hell gave up the dead, which were in it. Those were the physically dead people who were sent to hell awaiting their judgment. Then death gave up the dead that were in it. Those were the physically alive but spiritually dead people at the time of the great day of the Lord. Think about it. Could there be anybody alive, physically alive, at that time who are saved? If there were a saved person left, that person would not be executed, could there be mortal man here in heaven? I introduce the question because I believe people will be saved during the millennium, after the rapture. Give it some thought. I would be interested in what you have to say. Here is the final description.

Revelation

22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
22:4 And they shall see his face; and his name [shall be] in their foreheads.
22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
22:6 And he said unto me, These sayings [are] faithful and true: and the Lord God of
the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed [is] he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard [them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
22:9 Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Several of you have titled your papers, Blessed Is He That Heareth And Keepeth The Sayings of this Book. We all must know that it is no good to just hear it, we must do it. We must keep it. As you have read through this book of Revelation and this study, your accountability has shot through the roof. You know it. Now it is time to do it. If you do not do it, you will not be blessed. A warning to the wise: if you are a wise man, keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

Revelation

22:10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

Here is the closure.

Revelation

22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

“Oh, God, please awaken your Church, awaken every Christian, while there is still time. Help us all to truly deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow you as our Lord, Jesus. I, for one, surrender myself to you. Please take me and use me as You see fit. In Jesus’ Name and for His glory, I pray. Amen.”

Chapter Questions

Who will reign in the Millennium?

Is it personhood or works that is being judged at the Great White Throne?

How will religious people appeal their convictions?

Who executes the people who have not been warned?

Why will you have tears for God to wipe away?

CONCLUSION

Well, dear saint, can you now see the predicament that we are in? I know that you have been tempted to believe that my interpretations of the signs described in this book of Revelation were too negative, morbid, or extreme. They are not.

You may alternatively think that we are not in the tribulation now. You may find great comfort in thinking that the tribulation is yet in the future beyond your own lifetime. My friend these kinds of thoughts are myopic. Look around the world. Dear saints are dying for their faith every day. That is tribulation for them. Denying the occurrence of tribulation because it is not happening to you is tantamount to being the center of the universe in your own thinking.

You may alternatively think that because I cannot name the beginning event for each seal or trumpet, then my interpretation can be discarded. My friend, I can name the beginning event for seal number 1 and trumpet number 6. I can tell you where in the Scriptures the rapture occurs. I can tell you about the millennium and the Great White Throne Judgment. I can give you the hermeneutic for the book of Revelation, I can show you what the key (beyond the hermeneutic) is for understanding the book of Revelation, and I can show you how to receive special blessings from this book.

Are you a disciple? I did not ask whether or not you are a Christian. I am asking a much more poignant question: are you a disciple? If you are not a disciple, you cannot understand and receive the information being sent to you by God in this book of Revelation. To be a disciple requires that you first deny yourself, second that you pick up your cross, and third that you follow Jesus. The Christian masses are not doing these three things. Thus they cannot understand the things that be of God.

So, what are you going to do? My suggestion is that you act upon this information. Act now! Pray this prayer now:

Dear Lord Jesus, I want desperately to be Your disciple. I choose right now to deny myself. I give my life to You, my hopes, my dreams, my job, my family, my money, my time, my network, my spiritual gifts and talents. All that I am and will be, I give to You. No longer do I count living as my life to live. I count it as Your life to live freely through me. Please spend me as one of Your resources to bring glory and honor to Your Name, my Lord Jesus.

I choose right now to pick up my cross. Lord, Your love for me has been proven for eternity because You died such a horrible and undeserved death just to give me life. Your love for me is therefore completely trustworthy. Thus I throw myself into Your Hands. I am Your sacrifice. See, I have my cross. My life and my death are Yours to use as You see fit in Your Great Wisdom.

I choose to follow You, Jesus. Please let me be in yoke with You. Let me bear Your burden. I want to be near to You during this life so that I can enjoy fellowship with You throughout eternity. I will not follow my dreams or aspirations. I will follow You. I will not follow the traditions of men. I will follow You. I will not follow a sinner, a church, a denomination, a pastor, a great teacher, or even expectations placed on me by anyone else. I will follow You, my blessed Lord Jesus.

Lord, please use me and please wake up the Church before it is too late. I can see that the 7th trumpet is about to blow. Please cause Your people who are called by Your Name (the Church) to humble themselves truly (become slaves), pray real prayers (more than just gimme, gimme, gimme, but kenotic prayers), seek Your real Face (not their Santa Claus thinking of You), and turn from their wicked ways (carnal worship and living) so that the last trumpet can be delayed because of Your wonderful healing bestowed upon our land. Please use me Lord to bless others. Please give me teachers to equip me with the tools to use in worshipful living and ministry. Please count me as Your slave to do Your bidding. I love You, Jesus.

I pray all of these things in the Precious Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, my Savior, my Master, and my God. Amen!

If you prayed this prayer, just say “amen” out loud and sign your name below.

Now, please re-read and study this book. Then, dear saint, please pass it on to a loved one to read and study.

Please sign below to indicate that you have committed yourself into Jesus’ Hands to use as He sees fit and then pass this book on to others who may also make the same commitment by signing below:

A word of caution: If you prayed this prayer above, there must be changes in your life. However, those changes require your willing consent and active pursuits. If these two things do not follow in your life, then do not expect to be blessed for eternity by the Lord Whom you refused to bless in your short time on earth.

GLOSSARY

Apocalypsis—means “an unveiling of something unknowable otherwise by man, and it comes from above.

Apocalyptic literature—a name that has been given to non-canonical Jewish writings that have an expectation of some kind of deliverer who will be political in nature.

Antichrist—beast from the sea.

Babylon—the world system

Banished—to exile somebody from a place, or send somebody to another place officially as a punishment. To forbid or expel something, or put it out of your mind.

Beautiful feet—the feet of a messenger who takes the message of hope to the people.

Candlesticks—churches

Canonical—relating or belonging to the biblical canon. A canon is Greek for reed, a measuring stick. To be canonical is to measure up to the reed.

Chronos—linear time that is past, present, and future.

Cities—systems. The great city would be the world system which is exemplified by Babylon. The world system is divided into three parts: economics, religion, and government.

Clothes—come with works. To be clothed in heaven means you must do works here on earth.

Commendation—praise of somebody’s abilities.

Crown of Glory—being a faithful leader of the church. That means you have to go against the tide. If you will do that, you will receive the crown of glory.

Crown of Righteousness—the crown for the person who has been righteous in his behavior straight through, and he does not fear the Lord’s coming.

Crown of Rejoicing—the promise here is leading others into righteousness. You will rejoice forever.

Crystal sea—the refined and glorified church.

Deterministic—relating to the doctrine or belief that everything including every human act, is caused by something and that there is no real free will. Having an outcome that can be predicted because all of its causes are either known or the same as those of a previous event.

Deuteronomic theology—declares that the better you are the more blessings you will have, and these blessings are interpreted materially.

Doulos—Greek word for slave/servant.

Dragon—Satan. Satan has seven heads which are seven nations.

Earthquake—disruptions in the World’s (manmade) systems.

Ecclesia—to be called out of. The Greek word for church.

Ecstasy—a feeling of intense delight. A mental state, usually caused by intense religious experience, sexual pleasure, or drugs, in which somebody is so dominated by an emotion that self-control and sometimes consciousness are lost (you are outside of yourself’s control). From two words ek and stasis which mean to stand out of.

Entendre—an intentional meaning. Double entendre— both literal and sign interpretations are valid.

Euphrates River, drying up of—river is fresh water, which is clergy, so the drying up of it from the East means the clerical or preaching of Islam is going to dry up enough to allow Islam to join all the other religions to come against the real people of Christ.

Exemplary—so good or admirable that others would do well to copy it. Serving as an illustration or example.

Exhortation—something said or written in order to urge somebody strongly to do something. The giving of earnest advice or encouragement.

Eye salve—faithfulness to do the Truth that you know. Faithfulness gives discernment so that you can see.

False Prophet—beast out of the earth.

Fornicators—sexual intercourse between two consenting adults, who are not married to each other. In the Bible sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married, or any form of sexual behavior is considered to be immoral. Spiritually, Christians who bring in Jezebel, develop a relationship with her, and produce children that have no hope of salvation because of the false doctrine taught by Jezebel and the fornicators. Jezebel and the fornicators may be saved, but the people who come into the church accepting the false doctrine will not be saved.

Four beasts—man has to do with government, calf has to do with economics, the lion has to do with war, and the eagle has to do with death. Correlates with four horsemen.

Four winds—winds of doctrine.

Fresh waters (the rivers)—the clergy and leaders of the church.

Frogs—amphibians. Amphibians are at home on earth and in water. Frogs are the demonic influences with the same message in the earth and in the church.

Gay—homosexual in sexual orientation.

Genre—one of the categories that an archetype can be subdivided into. For example, the basis of form, style, or subject matter can be used to subdivide fiction, i.e., detective novels are a genre of fiction. Thus, a cataclysmic event described in the book of Revelation can be subcategorized as prophecy or drama.

Glorification—the reaching heaven by the Christian and the receiving of rewards and assignments by God. It is the third part of salvation. The first two parts are justification and sanctification.

Glory, marks of—the Lord’s wounds from His service.

Gnostics—relating to knowledge, especially knowledge of spiritual truths. To the Gnostic knowledge is salvific.

Golden vials full of odours—prayers of the saints.

Harlot—the apostate church. A harlot is a person who has a relationship with someone to whom he/she does not belong. A person who belongs to Satan has a relationship with him, but since that person belongs to Satan, that is not harlotry. Spiritually, an unsaved person, then, cannot be a harlot because God will not have an illicit relationship. A harlot then is someone belonging to God but having a relationship with or serving Satan. The harlot is sitting on many waters means that she is from many religions since water is religion. Waters (plural) signify the mixing of various religions.

Harp—when mentioned in the Bible, harping means that God acts through His people in harmony. We come together, and we hear the voice of many waters and act in harmony to bring the whole trust, not in chaos or self or private interpretation, but in harmony with God.

Hermeneutical—relating to or consisting in the interpretation of texts, especially the books of the Bible. Serving to interpret or explain something. The science and methodology of interpreting texts, especially the books of the Bible. The branch of theology that is concerned with explaining or interpreting religious concepts, theories, and principles.

Holy—means to be set aside for God’s use. For people it includes righteous morality also.

Hostile—showing or feeling hatred, enmity, antagonism, or anger toward somebody. Strongly opposed to somebody or something. Relating to, characteristic of, or belonging to an enemy, especially in warfare.

Hybrid—Something made up of a mixture of different elements.

Ichabod—God removes His Spirit from the church (not from individuals). God removes His Spirit from “among” them.

Jezebel—a Christian who brings in false doctrine.

Illumination—the provision of light to make something visible or bright, or the fact of being lit up. The process of clarifying or explaining something. Intellectual or spiritual enlightenment. In hermeneutics it gives understanding of God’s conviction to the hearers. It comes from the Holy Spirit.

Incorruptible crown—to those who can bring themselves under control. When you can say “No” to yourself, and when you can make yourself go where you do not want to go.

Involuntary—required or exacted against somebody’s will or wishes. Spontaneous or automatic, and not controlled or controllable by the mind.

Islands—institutions, i.e. church denominations, mission boards, seminaries, colleges, annuity boards, etc.

Justification—in biblical terms, the new birth. The Christian belief that people are absolved from all sin if they believe in Jesus Christ.

Kairos—vertical time in which God intersects chronos.

Kenosis— to empty oneself.

King—the office which exercises rule.

Law of the harvest—what you sow, you will reap.

Lawlessness—not obedient to law or having no codified law at all.

Lesbians—sexual attraction and sexual relations between women.

Linear in scope (concerning time)—the past, the present, and the future

Many waters—not just Christianity, but a lot of different kinds of religions.

Martyr—the Greek word for witness.

Meekness—yielding your life to the Holy Spirit.

Missio Dei—mission of God.

Moon turning to blood—just as blood coagulates and putrefies when it ceases to circulate, this occurs when Christians become sluggish in their witness. The moon reflects the sun, and when the sun does not shine, the moon does not reflect.

Moral—you do not do the “thou shalt nots,” but you do the “thou shalts.” Relating to issues of right and wrong and to how individuals should behave. Able to distinguish right from wrong and to make decisions based on that knowledge.

Morning Star—Jesus.

Mountains—institutions such as banks and governmental agencies.

Nicolaitanism—hierarchicalism in the church. Clericalism. The doctrine of Nicolaitanism is where you have the clergy above the laity, and the clergy telling the laity what to do. “Nico” means fight or conquer, and “laitans” means the laity.

Oil and wine—oil is grace, wine is Gospel.

Ontological (Ontology)—the most general branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature of being.

Patience—from the Greek word hupomeno that means to abide under (hupo = under, and meno = abide).

Perceived—To notice something, especially something that escapes the notice of others. To understand something in a particular way.

Perfection—comes from the Greek word telos. It means also “end point.” Thus to be perfect means that you reach the end. Heaven is our end point. Therefore, we will be perfect in heaven. However, the perfection of one does not make one equal with another. For example, if you have a 40-watt light bulb, and a 100-watt light bulb, both of them are perfect, but when you turn them on, the 100-watt light bulb is brighter.

Persevere—To persist steadily in an action or belief, usually over a long period and especially despite problems or difficulties.

Perverted—deviating greatly from what is accepted as right, normal, or proper. Relating to or practicing sexual activities considered abnormal (disapproving). Misinterpreted or distorted.

Predestined—to decide in advance what is going to happen. To select in advance who will go to heaven after death and who will not.

Preterist—dealing with prior history. Concerning the book of Revelation, all events described in it would be prior to our times, i.e. dealing with the contemporaries of John.

Priest—the office which brings the petitions of the people to the ruler.

Profit prophet—a person who does his prophecy for gain, a mercenary approach to ministry. For example, Balaam who enticed Israel to stumble.

Prophet—the office which relays God’s message to the people.

Puros—in Greek puros is fire. Puros is to purify, and also puros gives light for understanding.

Rapture—movement of the saints to Glory at the last trumpet

Rational—Governed by, or showing evidence of, clear and sensible thinking and judgment, based on reason rather than emotion or prejudice.

Reprimand—to rebuke somebody for a wrongdoing. A rebuke given for having done something wrong.

Restrainer—the law.

Revelation—something that comes from God to man, and it is a revelation of something that we could not know without God’s help.

Sanctification—the verbal of holiness. It means to be made holy. Holiness means to be set aside for God’s use.

Sea—Christian religion and its people.

Sea of glass—the perfect, glorified church

Seals (seven)—God’s restraints against which people push until a seal is opened (removed) so that the people can do as they wish. Seals are not causative.

Seven—a number that has more than just a numerical value. It has a universal value. For example, the seven Spirits would be the Holy Spirit.

Seven churches of God—the whole church.

Seven eyes—absolute and total knowledge and understanding and comprehension

Seven horns—horns indicate power; horns are people who are bearing power. The seven horns indicate absolute, total power.

Seven horns and seven eyes—omnipotence and omniscience put together. These two indicate the Holy Spirit because they are the seven Spirits. Seven indicates wholeness, completeness, and eternal.

Seven Spirits of God—the Holy Spirit.

Seven stars—all of the angels.

Shipmasters—pastors

Ships—local churches

Six, six, six—being man, man, man; we have man controlled economics, man-centered Gospel, and man for his government.

Slave of the Lord—the Lord tells you what to do, and you do it. A slave has no way to do his own thing.

Speckled bird—a bird like other birds, but having something different. The other birds will attack and destroy that bird if possible. The apostate church will eventually be destroyed when her usefulness to Satan is over because of having the name church. It is the speckled-bird analogy.

Spontaneous—resulting from internal or natural processes, with no apparent external influence. Arising from natural impulse or inclination, rather than from planning or in response to suggestions from others. Naturally unrestrained or uninhibited. Growing without cultivation.

Stars—angels

Stars fall to earth—stars are angels, and when Satan and his angels were kicked out of heaven, they fell to earth.

Stupor—an acute lack of mental alertness brought on, for example, by shock or lack of sleep. A state of near unconsciousness induced by, for example, drugs or alcohol.

Sun darkening—truth and justice are darkening. People have difficulty making wise decisions.

Talking image—television.

Temporal—of this life as opposed to eternal.

Ten days—a temporal whole. It will end upon death. It does not move into eternity.

Transcend—to go beyond a limit or range, for example of thought or belief. To go beyond something in quality or achievement. For example, God’s love transcends the gap between man’s sin and God’s holiness.

Transcendent—to be set aside for the Lord’s purpose.

Trumpets (seven)—calls for repentance. A trumpet calls for attention, and the desired action, as people see the condition the world is in, is that they will change or reverse their direction.

Two-edged sword—Word of God (Law and Gospel).

Vials—God’s wrath poured out on Antichrist and his kingdom.

Volitional—the act of exercising the will. The ability to make conscious choices or decisions.

Water—religion (the religious people).

Water coming from Satan—a false religion.

White stone—the Christians who are worthy receive manna and a white stone, and in the stone a new name is written. The new name on the white stone is a special intimacy between God and the worthy person.

Wormwood—false prophecy. God is going to be pointing His hostility and anger and retribution upon the clergy.

REVELATION          Answers to Questions

Answers to Chapter Questions

Lesson 1

1. Describe the importance of the word slave.

To be a slave of the Lord means that He tells you what to do, and you do it. It is not what you do on your own, and you hope that it pleases Him. A slave has no way to do his own thing. The slave owner uses a slave. Jesus is the slave owner. You have been purchased as a slave.

2. What is the hierarchy of revelation for the book of Revelation?

See Chart 1.2.

Verbal description of the hierarchy: God gave the revelation to Jesus who passed it to the angel. The angel signed it to John and John described the signs to the churches (servants/slaves).

3. What are signs, and how are they used in Revelation?

They are descriptions of picture signs that are given for us to interpret through our signs hermeneutic to understand the meaning of that sign. They are not to be considered literal.

4. What does the number seven mean in Revelation?

Seven has a universal meaning. Whereas ten is temporal, until the end of chronos time, seven is universal through eternity.

5. Describe the orientation of priests, prophets and kings.

A king exercises rule over things; he is a steward. A priest brings the petitions of the people to the ruler (God). A prophet delivers a message from God to the people.

Lesson 2

1. Explain how Jesus is seen after the church is seen?

When the world looks at you, they see you first, and then they see Who is walking among you. That is the Lord among them. Because they are gathered there in the Lord’s name, there He is among them.

2. Describe the hermeneutic, and under it, what are the stars and the candlesticks?

The hermeneutic is that stars are angels and candlesticks are churches.

3. Describe the Lord’s appearance to John.

A white-headed man whose eyes burned like fire, a fire that lights, consumes, evaluates, and does the purification. His feet are like burnished bronze.

4. What is the relationship between fear and faith?

“Fear not” is a volitional thing. Fearing when you see with your eyes, fearing when you hear with your ears, fearing when you feel with the touch are all spontaneous. When you have experienced threats through your senses, fear can just well up in you. It is involuntary because it comes with the senses.

Fear is the enemy of faith. With the eyes of faith, you can look beyond the cross to the eternal. Then you will not fear the temporal because the exaltation has to come through the gateway of the cross. That is the rational overcoming of your fear that can erupt in you involuntarily. But you must bring that fear under your will and reason and seal it with your faith. That has to be done by observing Jesus.

5. Who was Polycarp and how did he die?

He was the bishop at Smyrna. He was the disciple of the Apostle John at Ephesus, and later became the bishop at Smyrna. He was burned at the stake without being bound. He was martyred, and his martyrdom was willing. He is a good example of a Christian who walked the kenotic walk. He died because he would not recant his faith in Jesus Christ.

Lesson 3

On separate paper draw a chart for each of the five churches discussed in this chapter. A form is given for you to follow. Be sure to include all the items in each block including the bottom block. Draw arrows from the elements to the descriptive words in the bottom block.

1. For Smyrna, see Chart 3.1.

2. For Pergamos, see Chart 3.2.

3. For Thyatira, see Chart 3.3.

4. For Sardis, see Chart 3.4.

5. For Philadelphia, see Chart 3.6.

Lesson 4

1. Draw the chart for Laodicea.

See Chart 4.1.

2. What does it take to buy clothes?

Worthy works. Buying of clothes takes works born out of sacrificial faith.

3. Describe the wake-up call.

Chosen to carry the discipleship message, we must hammer, hammer, and hammer even though threatened with death or imprisonment.

4. What does it take to buy eye salve?

To do what you know to do. John 7:17 says “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” Doing brings discernment.

5. Why is the promise to the Laodicean overcomers so great?

The Laodicean Church is a wealthy, comfortable church. Those who are comfortable with numerous blessings are doing no work. Someone in the Laodicean church who does the self-denying, self-sacrificing work will be held up to ridicule and sneering by the comfortable ones. They may even risk being killed because they are doing the will of God. Because they overcome, their rewards will be great.

6. What is the crystal sea?

The refined and glorified church

7. What are the seven lamps?

The Holy Spirit which gives you illumination.

Lesson 5

1. Duplicate the Seal Chart from memory. Describe each seal.

See Chart 5.9

Lesson 6

1. Describe Seals #6 and #7.

Seal #6: Earthquake, stars fell, heaven departed. The sun is a sign of justice and truth, and the darkening means there is a lessening of justice and truth. The moon is a reflection of the sun, and that means that Christians are dimming their reflection of truth and justice. Since stars are angels, they are angels fallen out of heaven which is when Lucifer (Satan) was kicked out of heaven and took with him one third of the angels. Heaven departing as a scroll means there is a separation between heaven and earth

Seal #7: Seven trumpets. All restraints (previous seals) are broken; the restraints are no longer there. The trumpets are to announce a message. The trumpets blow to warn mankind of impending disasters if they will not repent.

2. Differentiate God’s actions when moving from seals to trumpets.

God is no longer restraining man; he has loosed all the restraints, and He is now in a warning stage.

3. Describe the 144,000.

These are converted Jews. Each of the 12 tribes has 12,000 Jews who are witnessing for God. They are under a specific protection that is not described, but the seal on their foreheads protect them from the Antichrist. The Antichrist cannot touch them. The people who accept Christ from their witness will immediately be killed.

4. Describe the martyrs.

The martyrs come out of the great tribulation and have washed their clothes. They have given their life for their Lord. They have clothes of white that gives them special status, and they have palms in their hands.

5. Describe the 3 methods of saints bypassing, coming out of, or going through tribulation.

One concept of tribulation is that you bypass it. You see it in front of you, but you avoid it. Many Christians believe that they are going to escape tribulation because the rapture will pull them out before it occurs. The second method is that a saint is in tribulation, but escapes through death. The third method is that a saint passes all the way through tribulation and comes out on the other side.

6. Describe the first 3 trumpets.

Trumpet #1 is economics. One third of the economic systems (trees) will disappear. The economy of the little people (grass) will be burned up. By judgment time there will be economic chaos.

Trumpet #2 is institutionalism. This time it is the sea (religion) that is affected. The great mountain is institutionalism, which lands in the church and causes it to become a great institution to be idolized. One third of the people in the church are going to die spiritually.

Trumpet #3 is false preaching. The star falls upon the rivers and fountains (fresh water) that are the clergy. A third part of the clergy becomes wormwood, and people will die because they are made bitter through preaching without a call to repentance.

Lesson 7

1. List and describe the trumpets.

See Chart 7.2.

2. What are the three woes?

Trumpets #5 (abortion, suicide and Euthanasia), #6 (war), and #7 (rapture).

3. Describe the cost of discipleship.

Forsaking all, picking up your cross, and following Jesus.

4. What is the Little Book, and what does it mean?

The Gospel is sweet in the mouth (justification), but bitter in the stomach (discipleship).

Lesson 8

1. Discuss measuring the temple.

That is measuring the worshippers in the temple against the measuring rod, which is the Canon or Bible. Those who are not truly worshipping are not measured.

2. Identify the two witnesses.

Two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia.

3. What is the fire from the mouths of the two witnesses.

The words spoken by the witnesses who are really churches. Just as the sword is the Words spoken by Jesus.

4. When is the rapture?

After the sixth trumpet and at the last trump.

5. Identify the woman.

Israel.

6. Identify the child.

Jesus, the Savior.

7. Identify the dragon.

Satan.

8. What is the flood of water?

Islam.

9. Identify the Beast from the sea.

Antichrist.

10. What are heads and horns?

Heads are nations; horns are heads of nations.

11. What is the measuring rod of the temple?

Canon/Bible.

12. Those people who have a semblance of Christianity are in truth... Hypocrites.

13. In Revelation 11, the two witnesses are churches because they are called... Candlesticks.

14. The flames that come out of the mouth of the two witnesses refers to __________________ just as the “two-edged sword” refers to the words that come from the Lord.

The words of judgement spoken by the witnesses.

15. Explain the meaning of Revelation 11:6: “These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will” as it applies to the Christian.

The witnesses can preach God’s Word as a refreshing rain, or they can announce plagues, or they can disclose traditions of men and false religions as putrid blood.

Lesson 9

1. The rapture will occur (choose one)

d. at Trumpet #7.

2. The person in charge of education and journalism will be (choose one)

a. the false prophet.

3. What is escapism thinking?

We will be raptured before enduring any tribulation.

4. Who is the Beast of the Earth?

The False Prophet.

5. Explain the spiritual mark of the beast.

To affirm intellectually political correctness (spiritual mark on the forehead); to act on political correctness (spiritual mark on the hand).

6. Describe the 144,000.

These are the Jewish saints who are completely loose from the world and its concerns (a full-blown kenosis).

Lesson 10

1. What is the spiritual mark?

Political correctness.

2. Describe the patience of the saints.

Keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12)

3. Who is reaped by the angel’s sickle?

Unbelievers are reaped to God’s wrath by the angel’s sickle.

4. What is the sea of glass?

The perfect, glorified church.

5. Describe the first six vials.

(1) Grievous sores: Diseases pertaining to political correctness.

(2) Sea became dead man’s blood: Spiritual death of everyone in the apostate church.

(3) Rivers and springs became blood: Spiritual death of all clergy.

(4) Scorching fire from sun: Truth and justice is recognized by Antichrist’s followers but not accepted.

(5) Darkness over kingdom: Truth and justice are kept inverted by Antichrist.

(6) Drying up of Euphrates River: Big tent theology adopted by Islam, which allows it to join with other religions.

Lesson 11

1. What is the great city?

Babylon (the world system of the upside-down kenosis).

2. Who is riding on the beast?

The harlot (the apostate, institutional church).

3. Describe Vial #7.

Earthquake (dividing the great city into three parts).

4. Describe the scarlet beast.

Great dragon (Satan) with seven heads (all nations) and ten horns (all kings of the nations).

5. Describe Mystery Babylon.

Name written on the harlot church’s head because she has adopted the Babylonian world system.

6. Who is the mother of harlots?

The harlot church

7. What are heads? Mountains?

Heads are nations. Mountains are institutions.

8. If there are seven heads on the beast, how can Satan be one of them and the eighth as well?

Satan exists outside of the seven nations and their kings, but he will also be incarnated as the seventh as Antichrist.

9. Interpret the called, chosen, and faithful of Revelation 17:14.

Christians who are called out of the world end up in the apostate and institutional church of Antichrist. Those Christians who are called out of the apostate church and become real disciples are chosen by God to do His work. These who do God’s work at great cost, even unto death, are the faithful.

10. How does Jeremiah’s speckled bird analogy apply to the church?

The church of Antichrist will be identified with Babylon, but there will still be the distinction of “church.” This distinction will cause the kings of the nations to turn on her and destroy her. This follows the speckled bird analogy in which the other birds turn on the one that is different and peck it to death.

11. How does the church merchandise in men’s souls?

When you use religion to get what you want. God wants to spend His resources for His own purposes (definition of holiness). Pastors, churches, and denominational agencies merchandise in men’s souls when they trade the spiritual well being of church members for material goods or political power.

Lesson 12

1. Who will reign in the Millennium?

The Lord and His real disciples.

2. Is it personhood or works that is being judged at the Great White Throne?

Works.

3. How will religious people appeal their convictions?

The religious unsaved will remind the Lord of what they have done for Him.

4. Who executes the people who have not been warned?

The Christians who have not been faithful watchmen, and who have neglected to fulfill the responsibility to warn the ones they have been in contact with.

5. Why will you have tears for God to wipe away?

You will see all those people to whom you did not testify be condemned to the lake of fire, and some of those may be your loved ones. You may even have to throw them into the lake of fire because of your failure to be a proper watchman.