As we move through Revelation, we'll get more details about how they killed them. How intolerant they are of people loving Jesus Christ. The world in their utter spiritual stupidity. will enter into hell with t-shirts to say things like, No fear. and quickly find out.
that that is inadequate. that you can write on your bumper sticker, on your t-shirt. You can post on your blog anything you want. It doesn't mean it will stand in the presence of God. Hmm.
This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now, here's Pastor Rick as he continues teaching through the 11th chapter of Revelation right here on cross-reference radio.
God does confuse his enemies. He tells us several times in Scripture. In fact, those living at this time in the history of Revelation 11. Or the Revelation, the Greek tribulation period, God says, I will send strong delusion because you did not love the truth.
Well, when we think of love, we often think of passion. Do we think that about truth? I think some of us do. I think some of us get emotional. We can feel.
Our love for God's truth. It has not been reduced down to just some sort of a historical setting.
So here The world will be one kingdom under Christ. And mankind, apart from God, has been trying to rebuild this tower of Babel. and he has had some success, in this theolog in this technological age. The internet is man's greatest building block in his effort to rebuild Babel. You can type in something, or you can go to a page to read comments, and if someone has made them in a foreign language, you just click translate.
And very accurately you have the translation. Man does want to rebuild his Tower of Babel, but it won't work. In the end, he shall reign forever and ever. That is something that echoes Luke chapter 1, verse 33, and Ephesians chapter 3, verse 21.
Now for the Bible student. Those verses always are a big part of any sermon. Where'd you get that from?
Well, there's where it comes from. You can look it up yourself, you can enjoy it yourself. But to the carnal churchgoer, In one ear, out the other. Boring When do we get to the part about how special I am?
Well maybe if you look at the cross of Christ that question can begin begin to be answered. In verse 16, he continues, John didn't doubt what he was writing, by the way. And he didn't say, if I write this, they're going to think I'm out of my mind. That wasn't his concern. His concern was to tell what God told him.
In verse 16, and the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, the passion in that. It's not to be missed. It's not there. It's just, let's just fill it in because we've got to get to 22 chapters. These do represent the Old Testament and New Testament saints.
In heaven, from Adam to the rapture. There's no reason to think otherwise. There's nothing in Scripture that would give a hint it means anything else. I've stopped that because I say that because there are.
Some Commentators that scratch their head, who can these be? Luke chapter twenty two verse twenty nine. Jesus speaking. to his disciples. I bestow upon you a kingdom, no.
just as my Father bestowed One upon me. That you may eat and drink at my table and my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Well, I think that delegated authority matches what is being said here in verse 16. And Paul also rings in 1 Corinthians. He says, Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to life? And Paul is saying, get it together.
If God is going to entrust us. With a righteous judgment. of the wicked and even of The angels, the comparison of righteousness and things like that. How much more right now in this life are we to behave ourselves As though this is our destiny. In Christ.
Because they were suing each other. They were dragging each other. They were doing a lot of things that they should not have been doing.
So we have three stages in this process. The Father sits on the throne. Jesus Christ shares that throne. Full authority as God the Son. And the Victorious Saints also share.
in the authority of the throne of God. These in chapter sixteen, casting down their crimes, falling down and worshiping the Lord, they're eager to adore. Every time they show up in Revelation, they are eager to adore God. to worship him. And every time you know, sometimes you may not feel like praising God and admiring Him.
You have so many needs that they press you know, they they push everything out the way and they become Central. I would suggest that when those times come, Just pray with your heart, not with your mouth. Just say what's in your heart. Not with your mouth. You cover a lot of things.
You can say more things from your heart. in in a short period of time than you can with your mouth.
Well, I'm just sharing what's worked for me. I don't mind praying to the Lord, and my lips don't move, but my heart is just covering so many praying for people and things across my mind. Every time we see them, they're worshiping as glorified men, as those now in heaven, which we should not lose sight of. That's where we're going. That's where we're going to be.
Maybe you're going on a vacation. You can just see yourself. at the beach. or in the mountains, wherever you choose to go. Can you ever see yourself in heaven?
where people use turn signals. Instantaneous and devout. Response To the mention of Christ ruling. That's what's going on here. What triggered them?
What set them off? The thought of Christ coming back and ruling, because they know firsthand the story of misery. On earth. Of misery and death and suffering. They know it first hand, and now they know first hand the glory.
Of their eternal salvation. And that's what God is telling us. Look, if I can see that, certainly God has made it, has put it there.
So we notice the contrast of what's happening in Revelation 11. Rebellion on Earth. Adoration in heaven. Whoa on Earth! Crowns in heaven.
Falling and death on earth. falling before the throne of God in heaven. These contrasts are not to be just passed over. This The entire Bible is given to us by the Spirit of God. And it is a passionate story.
If you could sit and read through it. and and not sort of just You know how if you read too long, you read a whole page, nothing's stuck, you gotta go back and read it again. If you could skip that part and just read it with comprehension. Right through the Bible, how powerful. It's a powerful experience.
Now, I've not sat and read through the whole Bible. But I have sat and read through long passages. And it's reading them out loud oftentimes, if some of you say, well, I keep my attention span is that then read it out loud. Stand up and read the Bible out loud. There are things that we can do to combat our flesh.
The weakness that we are all born with in some degree. What about the person who reads well? has no problem. They can read well. But Is it registering?
in their soul? Is it hitting its mark? I mean, could you imagine if someone was for the first time entrusted with the responsibility of proofreading the scripture? And they're just going through it. I don't say mistakes and they're going through.
Well, that means they've fallen short in the presence of God of what they have before them. You would think if a person were reading the scriptures for the first time, You'd like to you'd like to see them Devastated. as a sinner. and delighted as one that can be saved. That's how it worked for me.
I turned to the Bible to find all of its contradictions, and I started in the Gospels. And before I got halfway through that first gospel, I was crying out to the Lord. Just reading his word.
Well, maybe you didn't, it didn't happen that way for you. That's fine. There are certainly other ways. The fact remains is that the Christian life can be lived without passion, but it's better with passion. And a passion that is based on fear.
facts given by God. Versus just how I feel about things. you read the story of Jesus healing people and the blind seeing and the lame walking, when those beautiful stories, you get to the crucifixion, and it seems like the story has turn a turn taken a turn for the negative when in reality, That's what it takes to get us to heaven. that cross of Christ, that is the most powerful part. He could have come and not healed anyone.
Just gone to the cross. we would have been saved. But if he came and just healed everyone and didn't go to the cross, we'd be damned in our sins.
So the perspective counts. And what Satan tries to do is wear us down till we get to the point where perspective is no longer. Doing what it's supposed to do. Yeah, I see it, I get it intellectually, I'm right there, but I'm still. angry or bitter or bored, I'm still restless.
Well, that's okay. You can have all of that going on, but you better still be doing what you're supposed to be doing. That's all it is. Yeah.
Sort of like, Yeah, that's fine, but you better make up your bed. And when I come back and check, it better be made up. And I don't really care how you feel about that.
Now, I'm not saying that's how we should talk to everyone, but. I I know uh you know, in the military a lot of things were not optional. And we should be very glad about that. And we should also understand there are things in Christianity, if you want to be a stronger Christian, there are just things that aren't optional. And one of them is, is you just can't get tired of it and stop doing it.
I mean, you can, but it's not advisable. It's better to plow forward.
Well, verse 17 saying, We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned.
Well, he could have just said, if he was talking about God the Father, the one who is, it could have stopped right there. It would have just said everything. But. By elaborating on it, We see the Christ in this. The one who was.
And is. and is to come. The logical approach to such a verse is is praise or or logical reaction and that's what they're doing. He is about to take full reign. They see it happening.
They are assured. And there's this anticipation. of his coming rule. No doubt. About what moves these twenty-four elders that represent the believers.
We have no doubt about what moves them.
So the question is: do you have an unbeliever in your life? That doesn't know what moves you. That doesn't understand. That's different. I mean, they may not understand.
That's fine. I'd like to fix that. But they should know. They should know if you talk about Jesus to this person, you're not going to be able to shut them up. If you start talking to them about the Bible, They're going to unload on you.
They're going to do it in love, but they're going to do it firmly. They're going to tell you you're a sinner and there's only one solution. And they won't be moved away from that because you're passionate about your errors, because they're too passionate about the truth. That hopefully is the way it is. In verse 18, the nations were angry.
And your wrath has come. And the time of the dead. that they should be judged. and that you should reward your servants, the prophets and the saints, And those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. They're talking as though this is happening right there, right now.
Of course, it's been 2,000 years. That the Bible is giving us heaven's perspective. And heaven's perspective is a fact. They We're against his truth. the destroyers who destroy.
And they took it out on the Saints of God. They slaughtered them. And as we move through Revelation, we'll get more details about how they killed them. how intolerant they are of People loving Jesus Christ. The world in their utter spiritual stupidity.
will enter into hell with T shirts to say things like No fear. and quickly find out. That that is inadequate. that you can write on your bumper sticker on your t-shirt. You can post on your blog anything you want.
It doesn't mean it will stand in the presence of God. And so the psalmist wrote Long before the revelation, why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel again Together against the Lord and against His anointed. Remember the last Olympics? Remember the mockery?
Against religion? I I think it was Targeted primarily against Roman Catholicism, but I think any Christian would feel like they were part of the target too. Idolatry is false religion. whose teachings from Satan mock the truth. He's always after that.
Psalm 2, the same Psalm, verse 4: He who sits in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall hold them in derision. God gets the last laugh. And you want to tell the unbeliever, look, it's not worth it. It's not worth whatever bravado you have, thinking that you can make it through life without the Christ, that your sins are somehow going to dissolve at death. And there'll be no accountability.
This entire paragraph is about accountability to God. And he's saying this will be how it is on earth for the nations, but this is how it's always been. for the individual. Elijah, the prophet, he ridiculed the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. Shout out louder.
Maybe he's on a trip. Yeah.
I guess if you were in, if I were preaching in the late 60s, early 70s, and I said maybe he's on a trip, that'd have a different meaning than. than meaning a journey. Jesus gets the last laugh. But will these facts save souls? And that's what gets me.
is to be able to come up and share from the Scripture Facts from the scripture. that I feel are just solid, and then to be haunted by will they save souls Will the saved be strengthened? Will it count? Not you don't want to just make noise. We want casualties on the enemy side.
And it as fa f as far as truth goes. Your wrath has come. That's what they say here in verse 18. Not without ample warning. In fact, sometimes God's warnings and mercy seems excessive.
Like, Lord, okay, enough. Get 'em. We've had enough of this. But it's not. Revelation's message.
is previewed in the Tower of Babel. Indifference and anger of the nations of the people. Is no match for the wrath of God. We know it. How do we tell it?
It's like we have the cure. How do we well Here's how it always is. It's our dependency on the Holy Spirit to do things. As a pastor, if I look at a church, the congregation says, are they growing stale?
Well, the only thing I have to combat that is truth from the scripture. I'm not going to whip people up and bring drama in and try to manipulate them into excitement. It has to be Red Hot Holy Spirit Christianity. That's it. And I know there'll be peaks and there'll be valleys.
But to move people Ritual. To closer to God, to keep them hot on the trail of righteousness, requires the Holy Spirit. and not only in my preparation and delivery, but also in the lives of the people. The Holy Spirit has to move unhindered in a congregation if anything's going to get done, especially long term. And when you feel like it's getting stale, That's where you go.
You go to God. And you say it right out. Lord, I thank I think things are getting stale here. I think the just say it right out to him. And wait for how he will answer you.
That was the story of Habakkuk. I will stand my watch and I will see how he will answer me. And he didn't say it in a defiant tone. But it certainly was one of faith. Here in verse 18, in the time of the dead.
That they should be judged.
Well, judgment's just sure. The very judgment that Satan gets people to laugh at, to think they're going to survive, is not survivable. Daniel 12. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, Some to shame. and everlasting contempt.
I'm going to believe Daniel before I believe a lot of other people. And you should you sh and he continues here, and that you should reward your servants, the prophets and the saints. Your teens, I don't know, are you getting are you understanding the judgment and the grace of God? Does this mean anything to you? Do you see that God is firm and He is serious about judgment, but that He's also gracious and loving, He wants to reach the loss?
And you have an opportunity in your life. To not wait until you are older and on Medicare. to begin to appreciate the things that you should have appreciated long before. You can get it now. He says, and that you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints.
Well, part of that reward to those of the tribulation era that believe is to see the justice of God on wickedness. Imagine. You die, you go to heaven. And your persecutors are there and they've never repented. And God's good with that.
That'd be terrible. It's like what? These guys are savages. They they have no problem with being savages. And now they're permitted to live forever in what I thought was going to be glory in heaven.
Well, that's not how it's going to happen. They will not be in heaven. There will be. Justice by the hand of God. Symbolically, the crowns of the twenty-four Saints in heaven have already been given.
And this, again, would be an indication that he's addressing those that have suffered through the persecution. That They will be rewarded, and part of their reward is to see the justice of God on the wickedness of man. And those who fear your name, small and great, that's all ages, people that are important, people that are. not so important and people that are unimportant, they are all going to be. A part of God's blessings, and should destroy those who destroy the earth.
The destroyer is destroyed. That alone is worth. seeing and experiencing. This signals what the seventh trumpet, the subsequent outpourings, are going to be doing, destroying those who destroy. Revelation 6:17.
for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand?
Well, there's two ways to look at that. You can look at God as harsh and mean and unforgiving and petty. where you can see the whole story. And say, man, it's amazing that he lets anybody get saved. And that I don't have to be a part of that number.
You know, when the saints go marching in, I want to be a part of that number.
Well, God has made that possible. And those people who ruin everything will finally be ruined themselves, especially the nations who promoted it. Verse 19, Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of his covenant was seen in his temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. And none of the righteous were afraid of any of that.
Such an astounding sight to the trained Believer. Entrained by Scripture. At the mention of the tabernacle, you understand that it's the mercy of God saying, There's a way for me to be in your presence with you and you with me. But it comes by sacrifice, it comes by blood. At the time John wrote this, the Jewish temple was destroyed already.
But it is a picture of the Old Testament. and New Testament saints not detached from God's Word. and the Ark of the Covenant was seen in his temple. The death of Christ, the death of Christ, removed the veil that hid the Ark of the Coven None of the Jewish people except the priest got to see the Ark of the Covenant with their eyes.
So when Christ comes and he dies on the cross, as spoken of in Matthew 27, the veil is torn. Access to God. To all that the Ark stood for, to the presence, to the Holy of Holies, is now a place that all Christians can come boldly. You don't have to make an appointment with the secretary. We come right into it because we're more than saved.
We're family. Hebrews 10, 20, by a new and living way, which he consecrated for us, though, pardon me, through. The veil, that is, his flesh. Through his dying on the cross, he opened this door for Christ, and John sees. As part of the royal priesthood.
He sees the art of The covenant in heaven, and he understands. The symbolism that goes with it, and the promises that go with the symbolism. Uh showcased. In heaven. to remind us that God is mindful of sin.
And he is he does have a plan.
Well, I'm almost done here, so just A few more verses and we'll be. We'll be done. Revelation 21, 22. This is the full cycle of it. But I saw no temple in it, for the LORD God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
The temple's not going to be necessary. Uh in the end. But until we get to that final step, it is a sermon. On site. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.
This prophetic It doesn't have to be literal. It's telling us that there's going to be a dramatic event coming. The drama of the seventh trumpet. And so John sees the wrath of God, ready to be poured out on the wicked, because that's part of the remedy of God for humanity. And I close with this verse from Zephaniah.
Just to look back, Zephaniah wrote probably or maybe five hundred years before the coming of Christ, somewhere like that, Just to show how the prophets saw it. and the revelation develops it. Therefore, wait for me, says Yahweh. until the day I rise up for plunder, My determination is to gather the nations to my assembly of kingdoms, to pour on them my indignation, all my fierce anger. All the earth shall be devoured.
with the fire of my jealousy. But then I will restore to the people a pure language. That they may all call on the name of Yahweh to serve him. with one accord. God says, I'm going to fix all this.
And We say Amen. Uh Uh This has been Cross-Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreferenceradio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings.
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