FAITH BIBLE CHURCH - www.faithbiblechurch.net

SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 46

TITLE: FROM CELEBRATION TO TREPIDATION

TEXT: REVELATION 11:11-14

INTRODUCTION: (1) IN DANIEL CHAPTER 5, BELSHAZZAR, THE KING OF BABYLON, THE SON, LIT. THE GRANDSON OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR, THROWS A BIG PARTY.

* IT WAS A HUGE EVENT, FOR 1000 OF BELSHAZZAR’S NOBLES WERE THERE TO CELEBRATE, IT WAS PARTY TIME, IT WAS THE PLACE TO BE, THE EVENT.

** NOW IN THE WORLD’S PARTIES, DRINKING IS A PART OF WHAT HAPPENS, AND NO DIFFERENT AT THIS ONE.

*** IN FACT AT THIS PARTY, BELSHAZZAR GAVE AN ORDER.

**** HE ORDERED THAT THE GOLD AND SILVER GOBLETS THAT NEBUCHADNEZZAR HAD STOLEN FROM THE JERUSALEM TEMPLE, BE BROUGHT INTO THE PARTY ROOM SO THE ASSEMBLED REVELERS MIGHT DRINK FROM THEM.

***** AND IN AN ACT OF SHOWING CONTEMPT FOR THEIR GOD, THIS POWERFUL HUMAN KING USED THOSE SACRED GOBLETS TO GET DRUNK AND TO HONOR FALSE GODS, THE GODS OF GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE, IRON, WOOD AND STONE.

(2) THAT WAS HIS WAY TO SHOW HIS NOBLES WHO WAS MOST POWERFUL AND TO LEAD PEOPLE INTO HIS RELIGION – IDOLATRY.

* WELL, THEY WERE PROBABLY GOING CRAZY IN THEIR CELEBRATION AND REVELRY. AT THIS POINT THINGS WERE GOING GREAT!

** BUT QUICKLY IT CHANGED. SUDDENLY THE HILARITY OF THE REVELRY GAVE WAY TO HUSHED FEAR.

*** FOR NEAR ONE OF THE LAMP STANDS THAT ILLUMINATED THE GREAT PARTY ROOM, FINGERS OF A HUMAN HAND WERE SEEN WRITING ON THE PLASTERED WALL.

**** THE TERRIFIED KING WATCHED AS THE HAND WROTE A MESSAGE. NOW WHY A HAND?

(3) WELL, THEIR HANDS HAD TAKEN GOD’S VESSELS MENTIONED TWICE IN THIS PASSAGE, AND HELD GOD’S VESSELS IN CONTEMPT TO DISHONOR AND CHALLENGE HIM.

* NOW THE SOVEREIGN HAND OF GOD THAT CONTROLS ALL MEN, WHICH NONE CAN RESTRAIN GIVES THEM AND THIS WICKED KING A MESSAGE.

** AT THIS POINT, IT SAYS IN DANIEL 5:6 –“THEN THE KING’S FACE GREW PALE AND HIS THOUGHTS ALARMED HIM, AND HIS HIP JOINTS WENT SLACK AND HIS KNEES BEGAN KNOCKING TOGETHER.”

*** NOW IN OUR LANGUAGE TODAY, WE WOULD SAY THIS KING WAS SCARED TO DEATH, HE WAS TERRIFIED, HE WAS WHITE AS A GHOST IN SHOCK.

**** AND LATER ON IN DANIEL THE MESSAGE OF THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL WAS INTERPRETED BY DANIEL.

(4) AND AS GOD ALMIGHTY JUDGED NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S PRIDE BY REMOVING HIM FROM THE THRONE, SO HE WOULD JUDGE BELSHAZZAR’S PRIDE BY TAKING HIS KINGDOM FROM HIM.

* IN FACT, THAT VERY NIGHT BELSHAZZAR WAS KILLED AND DARIUS THE MEDE TOOK OVER.

** WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS. THE PARTY DIDN’T LAST LONG. IT WENT FROM ECSTASY TO AGONY, AND BELSHAZZAR WENT FROM THE PINNACLE TO THE PIT.

*** NOW THAT BIBLICAL ACCOUNT FROM CELEBRATION TO TREPIDATION CLEARLY REMINDS ME OF OUR TEXT TODAY.

**** FOR IN REVELATION 11 THE WORLD AT THIS POINT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION GOES FROM CELEBRATION TO TREPIDATION FOR IT SAYS IN REVELATION 11:11 THAT “GREAT FEAR” FELL UPON THEM AND IN REVELATION 11:13 THAT PEOPLE WERE “TERRIFIED.”

(5) AND LAST WEEK AFTER THE KING OF THE EARTH, ANTICHRIST, KILLED THE TWO POWERFUL WITNESSES OF GOD, THE WORLD BROKE OUT INTO A PARTY, THEY WERE CELEBRATING THEIR DEATHS, IT WAS LIKE CHRISTMAS-TIME AS THEY WERE SENDING GIFTS TO ONE ANOTHER.

* FOR THE TWO WITNESSES HAD TORMENTED THEM FOR 3 ½ YEARS BY PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM AND PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO TAKE THEM DOWN WERE INCINERATED.

** BUT NOW THESE WHO TORMENTED THEM WERE DEAD, SO THERE WAS A WORLDWIDE HOLIDAY, MARDI GRAS WAS ALIVE AND WELL WORLD WIDE.

*** 3 ½ YEARS OF TORMENT AND GOD’S JUDGMENT WAS OVER, THE BEAST WON, THE BEAST IS NOW IN CONTROL, IT WAS PARTY TIME.

**** BUT AS WE’LL SEE IN OUR TEXT TODAY, THE PARTY ONLY LASTED 3 ½ DAYS. THUS THE TITLE OF OUR STUDY TODAY, “FROM CELEBRATION TO TREPIDATION.”

(6) BELOVED THE PARTY’S OVER AND GOD IS STILL ALIVE AND ON THE THRONE, THE HANDWRITING IS ON THE WALL, WHAT A TURN OF EVENTS.

* WELL, TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THIS REVERSAL IN REVELATION 11:11-14, WE’LL LOOK AT 4 POINTS.

** NO. 1 THE SHOCK OF THE WORLD AS THESE TWO WITNESSES ARE RESURRECTED, REAL SHOCK AND AWE, V. 11.

*** NO. 2 THE SUMMONS OF THESE TWO WITNESSES TO HEAVEN IN V. 12; NO. 3 THE SURVIVORS OF GOD’S JUDGMENT ON JERUSALEM THAT FOLLOWS, V. 13; AND NO. 4 THE SHIFT FROM THE 2’D WOE TO THE 3’D WOE, V. 14.

**** AND WITH THOSE POINTS TO HANG YOUR THOUGHTS ON, LOOK AT V. 11 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE SHOCK. LOOK AT REVELATION 11:11 PLEASE.

I. THE SHOCK, (READ V. 11)

A. NOW THE WORLD-WIDE PARTY AND CHRISTMAS-LIKE GIFT GIVING WILL BE SUDDENLY AND DRAMATICALLY BROUGHT TO A SCREECHING HALT BY A MOST SHOCKING EVENT.

* AND THAT EVENT IS THE LIT. RESURRECTION OF THE TWO WITNESSES FROM THE DEAD.

** FOR AFTER 3 ½ DAYS, DURING WHICH THEIR DEAD BODIES WERE LYING AND ROTTING IN DISGRACE IN THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM, GOD THE GIVER OF LIFE BREATHES THE BREATH OF LIFE INTO THEM.

*** AND THIS PHRASE “THE BREATH OF LIFE” REMINDS ME OF GOD’S ACTS OF CREATING MAN AND BREATHING LIFE INTO HIM ALL THE WAY BACK IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS, FOR GENESIS 2:7 SAYS: (READ IT).

**** AND BELOVED, LET ME REMIND YOU, THAT WITHOUT THAT BREATH OF LIFE FROM GOD, OUR BODIES ARE DEAD, AND THE LORD GOD IS NOT ONLY OUR CREATOR BUT THE ONE WHO SUSTAINS US.

1. AS PAUL SAID IN ATHENS IN ACTS 17:24-26 & 28A –

ACTS 17:24 – “THE GOD WHO MADE THE WORLD AND ALL THINGS IN IT, SINCE HE IS LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, DOES NOT DWELL IN TEMPLES MADE WITH HANDS;

V. 25 – NOR IS HE SERVED BY HUMAN HANDS, AS THOUGH HE NEEDED ANYTHING, SINCE HE HIMSELF GIVES TO ALL PEOPLE LIFE AND BREATH AND ALL THINGS;

V. 26 – AND HE MADE FROM ONE MAN EVERY NATION OF MANKIND TO LIVE ON ALL THE FACE OF THE EARTH, HAVING DETERMINED THEIR APPOINTED TIMES AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THEIR HABITATION.”

V. 28A – “FOR IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND EXIST.”

* AND THEN IN JOHN 15:5 JESUS SAID: (READ IT)

** NOW MY POINT IS, WE LIVE ONLY BECAUSE GOD HAS ORDAINED IT, AND EVERY BREATH WE HAVE IS A GIFT FROM HIM.

*** WELL, AS WE GO BACK TO V. 11 OF REVELATION 11:11, GOD BREATHES LIFE BACK INTO THE BODIES OF THE TWO WITNESSES WHOSE BODIES HAD ALREADY STARTED TO DECOMPOSE AFTER 3 ½ DAYS OF BEING OUTSIDE EXPOSED TO THE SUN DURING THE DAY.

**** SO IN A SENSE, BREATHING LIFE INTO ALSO MEANS RESTORING ORGANS AND TISSUE THAT HAD BEEN ROTTING, A MIRACLE OF RE-CREATION IN THE BODY.

2. AND WHEN GOD DOES THIS, THEY STAND TO THEIR FEET.

* NOW REMEMBER THE WORLD IS WATCHING, FOR V. 9 SAYS: “THOSE FROM THE PEOPLES AND TRIBES AND TONGUES AND NATIONS WILL LOOK AT THEIR DEAD BODIES FOR THREE AND A HALF DAYS, AND WILL NOT PERMIT THEIR DEAD BODIES TO BE LAID IN A TOMB.”

** AND MOST LIKELY THE WORLD IS WATCHING ON T.V. FROM LIVE SATELLITE FEEDS AS THIS CELEBRATION IS GOING ON OVER THESE HATED MEN.

*** AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, THESE TWO DEAD MEN STAND UP!!

**** THAT WOULD BE A NEWS MAKER, AND MOST LIKELY THIS PICTURE, THIS SCENE IS FLASHED AS A HEADLINE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND THE DEAD WITNESSES PARTY ENDS.

3. AND CAN YOU IMAGINE THE SHOCK, AND IT SAYS AT THE END OF V. 11 “AND GREAT FEAR FELL UPON THOSE WHO WERE WATCHING THEM.”

* I’LL BET. AND THE WORD “GREAT” IS THE GREEK WORD MEGAS WHICH LIT. MEANS BIG, HUGE, LARGE.

** AND THE GREEK WORD FOR FEAR IS FOB-OS FROM WHICH WE GET OUR ENGLISH WORD PHOBIA AND THIS WORD LIT. MEANS DREAD, THAT WHICH STRIKES TERROR, THAT WHICH STRIKES PANIC.

*** SO MEGAS FOB-OS STRIKES THE PEOPLE THAT ARE WATCHING WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TWO WITNESSES.

**** AND CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW MANY TIMES THIS WILL BE REPLAYED ON NETWORK TV AND WILL BE THE HEADLINE PICTURE ON EVERY MAJOR NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD.

- THE WORLD WILL BE IN SHOCK WHICH LEADS US TO MORE SHOCK IN V. 12 WHEN THESE TWO WITNESSES ARE SUMMONED TO HEAVEN, OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE SUMMONS, LOOK AT V. 12 PLEASE.

II. THE SUMMONS, (READ V. 12)

A. NOW THE SUMMONS TO THESE TWO WITNESSES IS “COME UP HERE.”

* AND THIS IS THE SAME SUMMONS THAT JOHN RECEIVED IN REVELATION 4:1&2 WHERE IT SAYS:

V. 1 – AFTER THESE THINGS I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD, A DOOR STANDING OPEN IN HEAVEN, AND THE FIRST VOICE WHICH I HAD HEARD, LIKE THE SOUND OF A TRUMPET SPEAKING WITH ME, SAID, “COME UP HERE, AND I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT MUST TAKE PLACE AFTER THESE THINGS.”

V. 2 – IMMEDIATELY I WAS IN THE SPIRIT; AND BEHOLD, A THRONE WAS STANDING IN HEAVEN, AND ONE SITTING ON THE THRONE.

** NOW IN REVELATION 4:1&2 JOHN WAS TRANSPORTED TO HEAVEN IN THE SPIRIT AND WOULD BE GIVEN VISIONS OF THINGS TO COME.

*** BUT HERE IN REVELATION 11:12, THESE TWO WITNESSES GO UP INTO HEAVEN BODILY IN A RAPTURE-LIKE EVENT.

**** NOW I SAY RAPTURE-LIKE BECAUSE I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT V. 12 COMMUNICATES A MID-TRIB RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH.

1. NO. 1 THESE MEN ARE TWO LITERAL MEN, NOT THE CHURCH.

* NO. 2 I DON’T BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE MID-POINT OF THE TRIBULATION, BUT TOWARDS THE END, FOR JOHN IS TELESCOPING AHEAD HERE FOR THE BEAST IS IN GREAT POWER AT THIS TIME, WHICH ACCORDING TO REVELATION 13:5, THE BEAST HAS 3 ½ YEARS OF AUTHORITY, WHICH WILL BE THE GREAT TRIBULATION, AS HE BREAKS THE TREATY WITH ISRAEL, BUT BREAKS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK IN DANIEL 9:27 AND STOPS THE SACRIFICES AND GRAIN OFFERINGS IN THE TEMPLE.

** AND THE HOLY CITY OF JERUSALEM IS TRODDEN DOWN BY THE GENTILES FOR THE LAST 3 ½ YEARS.

*** AND NO. 3, IN THIS RAPTURE OF TWO MEN TO HEAVEN, IT DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE DEAD IN CHRIST RISING FIRST AND THAT EVERYONE MEETS THE LORD IN THE AIR IN I THESSALONIANS 4:16&17.

**** AND NO. 4 THE WORDS “CHURCH” OR “CHURCHES” HAVE BEEN USED 20 TIMES IN CHAPTERS 1-3, BUT NO MENTION OF THE CHURCH FROM CHAPTER 4:1 TO OUR PRESENT PASSAGE, NOT ONE USE, FOR I BELIEVE THE CHURCH IS NOT HERE, BUT WAS RAPTURED OUT.

2. NOW AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 11:12, THESE TWO LITERAL WITNESSES WHO HAVE BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD ARE SUMMONED TO HEAVEN.

* AND NOTICE AS THEY GO UP INTO HEAVEN IN A CLOUD (MUCH LIKE JESUS DID IN HIS ASCENSION IN ACTS 1:9) THESE WITNESSES ENEMIES WATCHED THEM.

** AND THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR, GOD IS NOT DEAD, THE BEAST IS NOT SOVEREIGN AND HIS DEMISE WILL TAKE PLACE SHORTLY.

*** BUT THE TWO WITNESSES ARE TRANSPORTED TO HEAVEN, THE CAMERAS PROBABLY ROLLING, BECAUSE THEIR TESTIMONY WAS FINISHED, THEIR JOB DONE ACCORDING TO REVELATION 11:7.

**** AND ONE MAY WONDER WHY THEY WERE NOT PERMITTED TO PREACH AGAIN, CERTAINLY THIS MIRACLE WOULD OPEN UP HEARTS TO THE REALITY OF GOD. (AND IT APPEARS THAT THERE WILL BE A REMNANT SAVED IN V. 13.)

3. BUT THE TRUTH I WANT TO CONVEY IS SIGNS AND WARNINGS DO NOT NORMALLY CHANGE PEOPLE’S HEARTS, ONLY A SOVEREIGN WORK OF ELECTING GRACE CHANGES THE HEART.

* FOR IF YOU RECALL WHAT ABRAHAM SAID TO THE RICH MAN IN HELL IN LUKE 16:31, WHEN THE RICH MAN REQUESTED THAT LAZARUS BE SENT BACK TO WARN HIS 5 BROTHERS SO THEY WOULDN’T COME TO THIS PLACE OF TORMENT.

** AND ABRAHAM SAID IN LUKE 16:31 – BUT HE SAID TO HIM, “IF THEY DO NOT LISTEN TO MOSES AND THE PROPHETS, THEY WILL NOT BE PERSUADED EVEN IF SOMEONE RISES FROM THE DEAD.”

*** AND BELOVED, MY POINT IS SIGNS AND WONDERS ARE NOT THE ELEMENTS USED TO CHANGE THE HEART, THE WORD OF GOD BY THE GRACE OF GOD USED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS WHAT CHANGES A HEART.

**** LISTEN, MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE SAW JESUS PERFORM ALL KINDS OF SIGNS AND WONDERS AND ON THE WHOLE REJECTED HIM AND KILLED HIM AND ATTRIBUTED HIS POWER TO SATAN.

4. SO UNBELIEF LOOKING TO BE CONVINCED BY SIGHT DOES NOT NORMALLY CHANGE THE HEART, THE GOSPEL ITSELF IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION, READ ROMANS 1:16, I PETER 1:23 &25.

* AND THEN JESUS SAID IN JOHN 6:63 – “IT IS THE SPIRIT WHO GIVES LIFE; THE FLESH PROFITS NOTHING; THE WORDS THAT I HAVE SPOKEN TO YOU ARE SPIRIT AND ARE LIFE.”

** AND HERE IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO GET, HARDENED SINFUL DEAD SINNERS DO NOT COME TO LIFE BY SEEING SIGNS AND WONDERS, BUT THROUGH THE QUICKENING REGENERATING WORK OF GOD THAT ENABLES THROUGH A SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION TO BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD SPIRITUALLY, READ EPHESIANS 2:1.

*** COLOSSIANS 2:13 SAYS: “WHEN YOU WERE DEAD IN YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS AND THE UNCIRCUMCISION OF YOUR FLESH, HE MADE YOU ALIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM, HAVING FORGIVEN US ALL OUR TRANSGRESSIONS.”

**** AND THEN I GO BACK TO JOHN 6 AGAIN, AND JESUS SAID THIS IN JOHN 6:44 AND JOHN 6:65 –

JOHN 6:44 – “NO ONE CAN COME TO ME UNLESS THE FATHER WHO SENT ME DRAWS HIM; AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP ON THE LAST DAY.”

JOHN 6:65 – AND HE WAS SAYING, “FOR THIS REASON I HAVE SAID TO YOU, THAT NO ONE CAN COME TO ME UNLESS IT HAS BEEN GRANTED HIM FROM THE FATHER.”

(5) NOW HUMAN DEADNESS IS NOT CHANGED BY WHAT PEOPLE SEE UNLESS GOD DRAWS AND QUICKENS, UNTIL THEN THERE IS TOTAL INABILITY BECAUSE OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY.

* NOW THE ONE WHO GIVES LIFE SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY, GIVES PHYSICAL LIFE BACK TO HIS TWO WITNESSES IN VV. 11&12 AND THEY ARE TRANSPORTED TO HEAVEN BECAUSE THEIR TESTIMONY WAS FINISHED, NOTHING MORE NEEDED TO BE SAID.

** SO SHOCK LEADS TO A SUMMONS WHICH LEADS US TO OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE SURVIVORS, LOOK AT V. 13 PLEASE.

III. THE SURVIVORS, (READ V. 13)

A. NOW A GREAT EARTHQUAKE OCCURS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ASCENT OF THE TWO WITNESSES.

* FOR IN THE SAME HOUR THAT THESE WITNESSES ARE RESURRECTED AND TAKEN TO HEAVEN THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE.

** AND AS A RESULT OF THIS GREAT EARTHQUAKE, A TENTH OF THE CITY FELL, AND THE CITY IN THIS CONTEXT IS JERUSALEM, IDENTIFIED CLEARLY IN VERSES THAT PRECEDE VERSE 13.

*** AND CERTAINLY THIS GREAT EARTHQUAKE IS NOT WORLDWIDE AS OTHER EARTHQUAKES ARE IN REVELATION, FOR ONE TENTH OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM IS DESTROYED, IT’S STRUCTURE, IT’S INFRASTRUCTURE, ETC.

**** AND 7,000 PEOPLE ARE KILLED IN THIS EARTHQUAKE, WHICH IS A REASONABLE NUMBER CONSIDERING THAT ONE TENTH OF THE CITY GOES DOWN, NOT KNOWING IF THE TENTH PART IS THE MOST POPULATED PART.

1. FOR THE CURRENT POPULATION OF JERUSALEM IS 724,000 AND UP TO THIS POINT IN REVELATION THROUGH THE JUDGMENTS WE HAVE STUDIED AT LEAST HALF OF THE EARTH’S POPULATION IS KILLED.

* SO IF AT LEAST HALF OF JERUSALEM’S POPULATION IS KILLED UP TO THIS POINT AND MORE IN THE BOWL JUDGMENTS, 7,000 IS A REASONABLE NUMBER, NOT ONE TENTH OF THE POPULATION, BUT THAT WILL VARY AGAIN BY WHAT PART OF THE TOWN IS DESTROYED, BUT 7,000 IS A RATIONAL NUMBER.

** NOW THE REAL INTERPRETIVE CHALLENGE IS THE END OF V. 13 WHERE IT SAYS: “AND THE REST WERE TERRIFIED AND GAVE GLORY TO THE GOD OF HEAVEN.”

*** NOW I WOULD TAKE THE REST TO BE THOSE WHO SURVIVED THE EARTHQUAKE IN JERUSALEM, THE SURVIVORS OF THAT EARTHQUAKE IN THAT CITY.

**** AND THE REST TRANSLATED THE REMNANT IN THE KJV AND THE SURVIVORS IN THE NIV ARE THOSE WHO LIVED THROUGH THE EARTHQUAKE.

2. NOW WE KNOW WHAT THE WORD TERRIFIED MEANS, THEY WERE AFRAID, THROWN INTO FEAR, ALARMED, A FORM OF THE WORD FOB-OS WHICH WAS USED IN V. 11 WITH A PREPOSITION ADDED, EM-FOB-OS.

* AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT RESPONSE FROM EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME.

** BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THEY “GAVE GLORY TO THE GOD OF HEAVEN”?

*** WELL, THERE ARE TWO MAJOR INTERPRETATIONS.

**** ONE IS THIS REMNANT IS NOT CONVERTED TO GOD, BUT RECOGNIZE GOD’S POWER AND ADMIT THAT GOD IS BEHIND THE EARTHQUAKE AND THE RESURRECTION OF THESE TWO WITNESSES.

3. IN OTHER WORDS, GIVING GLORY TO GOD IS GIVING A GRUDGING ADMISSION OF HIS POWER BUT IS NOT WORSHIP AND DOES NOT LEAD TO CONVERSION.

* NOW THE OTHER INTERPRETATION, WHICH IS THE ONE I LEAN TOWARD WITHOUT BEING DOGMATIC IS, “GIVING GLORY TO GOD” IS A POSITIVE SPIRITUAL CONNOTATION THAT RESULTS FROM THE CONVERSION OF ELECT JEWS.

** AND I DON’T BELIEVE THIS IS IN CONTRADICTION TO WHAT I SAID EARLIER ABOUT SIGNS AND WONDERS, FOR GOD’S SOVEREIGNLY IS WHAT OVERRULES HERE AND BRINGS THIS RESPONSE.

*** FOR IN MY UNDERSTANDING, SINCE THE MAJORITY OF INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM TODAY ARE JEWS, ABOUT 80%, 570,000, THE SAVED SURVIVORS OF THE TRIBULATION COULD VERY WELL BE MAKING REFERENCE TO THE REPENTANCE OF ISRAEL AT THE 2’D ADVENT OF CHRIST.

**** WHEN THEY WILL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, FOR ZECHARIAH 12:10&11 AND 13:1 SAYS:

V. 10 – “I WILL POUR OUT ON THE HOUSE OF DAVID AND ON THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, THE SPIRIT OF GRACE AND OF SUPPLICATION, SO THAT THEY WILL LOOK ON ME WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED; AND THEY WILL MOURN FOR HIM, AS ONE MOURNS FOR AN ONLY SON, AND THEY WILL WEEP BITTERLY OVER HIM LIKE THE BITTER WEEPING OVER A FIRSTBORN.”

V. 11 – “IN THAT DAY THERE WILL BE GREAT MOURNING IN JERUSALEM, LIKE THE MOURNING OF HADADRIMMON IN THE PLAIN OF MEGIDDO.”

ZECHARIAH 13:1 – “IN THAT DAY A FOUNTAIN WILL BE OPENED FOR THE HOUSE OF DAVID AND FOR THE INHABITANTS OF JERUSALEM, FOR SIN AND FOR IMPURITY.”

4. AND THIS PROPHECY APPEARS TO COINCIDE WITH WHAT PAUL SAID IN ROMANS 11:25-29 –

V. 25 – “FOR I DO NOT WANT YOU, BRETHREN, TO BE UNINFORMED OF THIS MYSTERY – SO THAT YOU WILL NOT BE WISE IN YOUR OWN ESTIMATION – THAT A PARTIAL HARDENING HAS HAPPENED TO ISRAEL UNTIL THE FULLNESS OF THE GENTILES HAS COME IN;

V. 26 – AND SO ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED; JUST AS IT IS WRITTEN, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”

V. 27 – “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.”

V. 28 – FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE GOSPEL THEY ARE ENEMIES FOR YOUR SAKE, BUT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF GOD’S CHOICE THEY ARE BELOVED FOR THE SAKE OF THE FATHERS;

V. 29 – FOR THE GIFTS AND THE CALLING OF GOD ARE IRREVOCABLE.”

* AND AS WE PUT THOSE SCRIPTURES TOGETHER, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT REVELATION 11:13 DESCRIBES THE REALITY OF THE SALVATION OF THE JEWS IN JERUSALEM, AS GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISE OF SAVING HIS CHOSEN NATION ONE DAY.

** THE REMNANT WILL BE SAVED, THE SURVIVORS.

*** WHICH LEADS US TO OUR LAST VERSE AND POINT TODAY.

**** WE’VE SEEN THE SHOCK IN V. 11, THE SUMMONS IN V. 12, THE SURVIVORS IN V. 13, AND NOW THE SHIFT IN V. 14. LOOK AT V. 14 PLEASE.

IV. THE SHIFT, (READ V. 14)

A. NOW ON THE POSITIVE NOTE OF V. 13, THE INTERLUDE, THE PARENTHESIS, THE PAUSE ENDS THAT TAKES US TO THE END OF THE TRIBULATION IN A TELESCOPIC PREVIEW.

* AND THE CHRONOLOGICAL MOVEMENT OF THE TRUMPET JUDGMENTS AND BOWL JUDGMENTS IS NOW RESUMED.

** AND V. 14, LIKE CHAPTER 8:13 WHICH TALKS ABOUT 3 WOES TO COME AND CHAPTER 9:12 THAT TALKS ABOUT THE FIRST ONE IS PAST, TWO WOES ARE COMING AFTER THESE THINGS, V. 14 LIKE THESE VERSES IS TRANSITIONAL.

*** WE HAVE A SHIFT BACK TO THE CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS GOING BACK TO CHAPTERS 8&9.

**** SO TWO OF THE WOES ANNOUNCED BY THE FLYING EAGLE IN REVELATION 8:13 HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED UNDER THE 5TH AND 6TH TRUMPET.

1. NOW THE INTERLUDE, THE PAUSE, THE PARENTHESIS OF REVELATION 10:1 – 11:13 HAS BEEN COMPLETED, AND NOW THE THIRD WOE IS ON IT’S WAY WHICH WILL BE THE BLOWING OF THE 7TH TRUMPET WHICH ROLLS OUT THE BOWL JUDGMENTS RECORDED IN REVELATION 16 AND LEAD TO THE COMING OF CHRIST IN REVELATION 19.

* THE THIRD WOE IS IMMINENT, IS COMING QUICKLY WHICH AGAIN WILL BE THE 7TH TRUMPET.

** AND LORD WILLING NEXT SUNDAY WE WILL PICK UP WITH THE 7TH TRUMPET IN REVELATION 11:15.

IN WRAP UP: (1) ONE MAIN APPLICATION OF OUR THEME TODAY IN OUR STUDY, FROM CELEBRATION TO TREPIDATION.

* AND THAT APPLICATION IS, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT OUR CULTURE TODAY IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A REASON TO PARTY AS THEY DO OVER THE DEATHS OF TWO WITNESSES IN REVELATION 11.

** AND FROM THE EARTH DWELLER’S PERSPECTIVE TO PARTY HARDY IS WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. WORK HARD THROUGH THE WEEK AND PARTY ON THE WEEKEND OR ANY HOLIDAY THAT FALLS IN BETWEEN.

*** AND THE MESSAGE THAT BOMBARDS OUR YOUNG PEOPLE AND OUR CULTURE IS, YOU’RE MISSING OUT IF YOU DON’T PARTY WITH DRINKING AND DANCING AND THINGS THAT STIR UP SENSUAL DESIRES AND LEAD TO FULFILLING THOSE DESIRES.

**** AND WHAT WE’RE TOLD IS, YOU WON’T BE HAPPY UNLESS YOU LIVE THIS WAY, YOU’RE MISSING OUT.

(2) AND I’M HERE TO TELL YOU TODAY, YOU WILL BE MISSING OUT ON SOME THINGS.

* YOU’LL MISS OUT ON CIRRHOSIS OF THE LIVER!

** YOU’LL MISS OUT ON VENEREAL DISEASE!

*** YOU’LL MISS OUT OF HAVING A BROKEN MARRIAGE!

**** YOU’LL MISS OUT OF DRUNK DRIVING AND DRUG DRIVING THAT MAY KILL SOMEONE!

- AND YOU MISS OUT OF AN ETERNITY IN HELL!

(3) BEYOND THAT, YOU’LL MISS OUT ON A LIFE OF HEARTACHE AND REGRET AND NOT HAVING PEACE AND JOY IN LIVING FOR WHAT LASTS AND LIVING FOR CHRIST.

* BROTHERS AND SISTERS, OPEN YOUR HEART AND EARS TO THESE ETERNAL TRUTHS FROM THE WORD OF GOD (BEGINNING WITH WARNINGS FROM THE BOOK OF PROVERBS).

* READ PROVERBS 6:32&33.

*** READ PROVERBS 13:15.

**** READ PROVERBS 23:29-33.

(4) READ PROVERBS 27:20.

* READ ISAIAH 57:20&21.

** IN CONTRAST TO THAT PSALM 107:9 AND PSALM 73:3&17.

*** AND THEN IN JOHN 10:9-11.

**** AND LASTLY IT SAYS IN HEBREWS 11:24-26.

(5) NOW ALTHOUGH THERE IS TEMPORARY PLEASURE IN SIN, SIN DOES NOT SATISFY, YOU ALWAYS WANT MORE AND ARE LOOKING FOR A BIGGER HIGH FROM IT.

* BUT THE REALITY IS THE WAGES OF SIN IS MORE SIN, IT HAS A SNOWBALL EFFECT, AND LEADS TO DESTRUCTION.

** CHRISTIAN, DON’T BE DECEIVED BY THE PARTY ATMOSPHERE OF OUR WORLD, IT WON’T SATISFY YOU, BUT LEADS TO A LIFE OF DISEASE, UNFULFILLED DESIRES AND DAMNATION.

*** REMEMBER THE TRUTH OF OUR STUDY TODAY, FROM CELEBRATION TO TREPIDATION. LET US FEAR GOD AND NOT MAN, AND NOT LIVE WITH GREAT FEARS AND PHOBIAS AND TERROR, BUT GREAT REVERENCE AND SERVICE TO THE CREATOR, SUSTAINER AND SAVIOR OF OUR LIVES. (LET’S PRAY)