Participants: James Rafferty
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000087
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00:12 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from the 3ABN Worship Center.
00:17 Decoding Apocalyptic Prophecy with James Rafferty. 00:23 Hello friends and welcome to another Anchors Of Truth series 00:26 here at the 3ABN Worship Center in snowy icy southern Illinois. 00:32 Thank you for taking the time to tune in. 00:34 We hope you have on your snow shoes as you're sitting 00:36 in your comfortable homes there in Florida. 00:39 We're kind of a little jealous tonight because it's 00:42 freezing here, but we're going to pray that the Lord 00:44 will warm our hearts through His Holy Spirit 00:48 and through the preaching of the Word. 00:49 Can we all say amen to that? 00:51 And so for the next hour, we'd like to encourage you to 00:54 sit down and listen as James Rafferty, 00:58 co-director and speaker of Light Bearers Ministry, 01:01 continues where he left off last night; 01:03 the book of Revelation. 01:04 But the most central theme of the book of Revelation 01:07 is Jesus Christ, the Lamb. 01:09 Without the Lamb, all the beasts in symbols will just 01:12 awaken our hearts fear. 01:14 But where we find the Lord, there will be perfect love. 01:18 And perfect love casts out all fear. 01:21 So stay tuned tonight, whether by radio or by 01:23 television, or whatever media. 01:25 We thank you for tuning in. 01:26 Before we go any further though, tonight's music. 01:29 I'll have a chance to share again the song, 01:31 There Is a Savior. 01:33 But before we do anything, let's open our hearts through prayer. 01:36 Let's bow our heads together. 01:38 Our gracious Father, we thank You for tonight for this 01:40 wonderful opportunity. 01:42 The Word goes forth, the seed always gets sown. 01:47 But Father, we pray that the hearts that receive it 01:50 will be good soil tonight. 01:52 Not stony grounds, not thorny grounds, 01:54 not shallow grounds. 01:56 And so we send Your Holy Spirit forth by the power of the Word 02:00 to reach those hearts that need to know about the Savior 02:03 in this world that's gone awry. 02:06 We need to know that the Lamb still lives 02:08 and He still makes intercession for us. 02:11 So Lord, tonight, bless not only the message, 02:14 but also bless Your messenger. 02:16 And may hearts be transformed and changed. 02:18 We pray in Jesus' name, amen. 02:33 There is a Savior, 02:41 what joys express. 02:48 His eyes are mercy, 02:54 His word is rest. 03:00 For each tomorrow, 03:08 for yesterday, 03:14 there is a Savior 03:22 who lights our way. 03:30 Are there burdens in your heart? 03:34 Is your past a memory that binds you? 03:43 Is there a pain that you've carried far too long? 03:55 Well strengthen your heart with this good news. 04:06 There is a Savior 04:12 and He's forgiven you. 04:20 There is a Savior, 04:28 what joys express. 04:34 His eyes are mercy, 04:40 His word is rest. 04:46 For each tomorrow, 04:54 for yesterday, 05:00 there is a Savior 05:07 who lights our way. 05:14 There is a Savior, 05:21 what joys express. 05:28 In His eyes there's mercy, 05:34 in His word you'll find rest. 05:40 For each tomorrow, 05:48 and for yesterday, 05:55 there is a Savior 06:02 who lights our way. 06:09 There is a Savior 06:17 who lights our way. 06:41 Amen, thank you John. 06:44 I love those words. Don't you? 06:47 There is a Savior who lights our way. 06:51 That is very appropriate for our focus in the book of Revelation. 06:56 Because we need, according to a lot of people, 07:01 this very dark book, we need a Savior who will light our way. 07:06 So last night, we talked about a mystery number. 07:11 145, 715, 2122 07:17 And I know you figured it out. 07:19 Caleb figured it out. 07:21 I know others figured it out. 07:23 What is the mystery number all about? 07:28 That mystery number has to do with 07:32 reading the book of Revelation. 07:35 If you read Revelation chapter 1, chapters 4 and 5, 07:40 chapter 7, chapter 15, and chapter 21 and chapter 22, 07:45 you read those chapters and you're going to get the picture 07:49 of Christ and the plan of salvation that is powerful. 07:53 You're going to see that all the way through the book of 07:56 Revelation there is this theme of the Lamb, there is this theme 08:01 of salvation, this theme of the the everlasting gospel. 08:03 So that was the mystery number. 08:06 It wasn't a telephone number. 08:08 It wasn't a number to dial and call. 08:10 You were going to get an answer that was going to say, 08:12 "You have dialed this number that cannot be connected. 08:14 And if you have misdialed, please dial again." 08:18 And as you keep dialing that number, well 145, 715, 2122 08:23 is not going to get you anywhere as far as dialing a number. 08:25 But it's going to get you a lot of places 08:27 if you're looking for Jesus in the book of Revelation. 08:31 Now tonight we're suppose to be talking about 08:33 beasts and dragons, but guess what. 08:35 We're not going to do that quite yet. 08:38 I have spent many hours developing a list 08:42 of Bible verses in the book of Revelation that focus on Jesus. 08:46 I just was curious, I'm a curious person. 08:48 I think curiosity is good. 08:49 I think God wrote the book of Revelation 08:52 so that He could reach curious people. 08:55 Not just Christians. 08:56 Many Christians don't even read it. 08:58 But people in the world. 08:59 Before I was ever a Christian, there was one book that 09:02 I had an interest in as I would sit around with my friends. 09:05 It was the book of Revelation. 09:08 Ooh, it was spooky, it was strange; 09:10 the symbols and that number 666. 09:13 I really wanted to figure it out. 09:15 And even today, I have asked... 09:17 I've taught several classes with young people, Bible classes 09:20 on the book of Revelation. 09:22 And I'll ask young people, academy and high school kids, 09:24 I'll say, "Now, when you look at the book of Revelation, 09:27 what kind of book is it?" 09:28 Think about media today. 09:30 Think about the way the media isolates different types of 09:35 movies, for example. 09:37 What kind of movie would Revelation be? 09:39 Would it be a romance? 09:41 Well yes, there's romance in the book of Revelation. 09:43 There's a marriage that takes place. 09:45 Would it be horror? 09:46 Well actually, there is some horror 09:48 in the book of Revelation. 09:50 What about Sci-Fi? 09:51 Well yeah, there's Sci-Fi in the book of Revelation. 09:52 I mean, you've got a beast with seven heads and ten horns. 09:57 What about drama? 10:00 Or action? 10:02 How about family? 10:04 It's all there. 10:05 Everything is in the book of Revelation. 10:07 This book is written by a God who knew the future, 10:12 knew what we were going to be facing, 10:14 understood the environment that we would be living in today 10:18 as well as down through the years, and He put this 10:20 book together calculated to reach out, even to me 10:24 when I was out there in darkness, to reach out 10:26 to a lost world with one major theme or focus. 10:31 And that is the everlasting gospel, Jesus Christ. 10:35 Revelation chapter 1. 10:37 Do you have your Bibles? 10:38 And you viewers at home tonight, I want to encourage you; 10:42 get your Bibles out, put them down in front of you, 10:47 and get ready to start turning pages. 10:49 You're going to want to mark these verses 10:50 or you're going to want to have a piece of 10:54 paper and write them down. 10:55 We're going to be looking at... 10:57 I'm not going to tell you how many verses. 10:59 Maybe you can count them and when we get done 11:01 you can tell me how many verses we've looked at. 11:03 But we're going to be looking at a lot of verses. 11:05 We're going to back up just a little bit. 11:08 We left off last night in Revelation 6. 11:10 We're going to go back to Revelation chapter 1. 11:12 And I'm going to just give you some one-liners. 11:14 I want you to think about these, because these one-liners 11:16 are going to speak to you specifically and individually. 11:20 Some of us are going to be very touched by the 11:23 truths that we're going to be looking at tonight. 11:26 Some of us are going to say, "Oh, that is so significant 11:28 for me specifically." 11:30 So look at these verses, these one-liners, 11:33 in the book of Revelation. 11:34 Count them if you can. 11:36 And when we get done, we're going to look at some 11:38 comparisons with other books in the Bible. 11:41 Revelation chapter 1 verse 1, the book of Revelation 11:45 is the revelation of Jesus. 11:50 Revelation 1 verse 5, the one who loved us and 11:53 washed us from our sins is Jesus. 11:57 Revelation 1 verse 7, the one who was pierced 12:01 for our sins is Jesus. 12:05 Revelation 1:10, the Lord whose day John was in the Spirit 12:11 is Jesus. 12:13 Revelation 1:11, the Alpha and Omega, 12:17 the first and the last, is Jesus. 12:20 Revelation 1:13, the Son of man among the lamp stands is Jesus. 12:27 Revelation 1:14, He whose head and hair is white 12:31 like wool is Jesus. 12:33 Revelation 1:15, He whose feet were like fine brass is Jesus. 12:41 Revelation 1:16, He whose countenance was like 12:44 the sun is Jesus. 12:47 Revelation 1:17, He who touches John and says, 12:51 "Do not be afraid," is Jesus. 12:56 Revelation 1:18, He who has the keys of Hades 13:01 and death is Jesus. 13:05 Revelation 1:19, He who tells John to write 13:08 past, present, and future is Jesus. 13:13 Revelation 1:20, He who unlocks the mystery 13:17 of the symbols is Jesus. 13:20 Revelation 2:1, He who holds the seven stars is Jesus. 13:26 Revelation 2:8, the one who was dead and came to life is Jesus. 13:33 Revelation 2:12, He who has a sharp two-edged sword is Jesus. 13:39 Revelation 2:18, the Son of God is Jesus. 13:43 Revelation 3:1, He who has the seven Spirits of God is Jesus. 13:49 Revelation 3:7, He who is holy, He who is true, is Jesus. 13:57 Revelation 3:14, the Amen, the faithful and 14:00 true Witness is Jesus. 14:03 Revelation 4:1, the voice like a trumpet 14:05 speaking with John is Jesus. 14:09 Revelation 5:5, the Lion of Judah is Jesus. 14:14 Revelation 5:6, the Lamb as though it had 14:17 been slain is Jesus. 14:20 Revelation 6:1, 3, 5, 7, 14:28 9, 12, and 8:1, 14:34 the Lamb opening the seals is Jesus. 14:42 So that's where we left off last night. 14:44 That is the first page. 14:47 We have three left. 14:53 Is Jesus in the book of Revelation, or what? 14:57 Now there's something really powerful about this. 14:59 As I was going through, I was just 15:01 reading through the book of Revelation. 15:03 I knew some of these, but some of them I did not know. 15:04 I was just looking, so I just started going 15:06 through the book of Revelation. 15:07 I spent several hours today adding to the list. 15:10 And I started going through. 15:11 I started getting a picture that I'd never seen before 15:15 that makes it very clear that what Jesus says 15:18 in the beginning of the book and what He says 15:19 in the end of the book is true. 15:21 Jesus says in the beginning, "I am the first and the last, 15:24 the Alpha and the Omega." 15:25 "I'm the first and the last. 15:27 I am A to Z." 15:28 You know, you've heard of A To Z Rentals, right? 15:30 A To Z Rentals, you can just get anything at A To Z Rentals. 15:33 Well, Jesus is saying, "I'm the first and the last. 15:36 I'm the beginning and the end. 15:37 I am A to Z. 15:39 I'm everything and anything that you need Me to be. 15:43 I'm here for you." 15:45 I love that. 15:46 I love this picture of Christ. 15:47 Revelation 7:9 and 10, the Lamb giving salvation to a 15:51 countless number is Jesus. 15:54 That's Revelation 7:9 and 10. 15:57 Revelation 7:17, the Lamb leading to living 16:00 fountain of waters is Jesus. 16:03 Anyone know how many we have so far? 16:05 Anyone been counting? 16:10 I'm not going to count them right now. 16:11 I know the total. 16:13 When we get done, I'll tell you the total. 16:14 The total is fantastic. 16:16 Revelation 8:3 and 4, the angel and the incense 16:22 in Revelation 8:3 and 4 are symbols of the mediation 16:25 and sacrifice of Jesus. 16:28 Revelation 8:5, the angel throwing fire from the altar 16:32 into the earth is Jesus. 16:34 Revelation 10:1, the mighty angel clothed with a cloud 16:37 is a symbol of Jesus. 16:41 Revelation 10 verse 2, the one who opens the 16:44 little book is Jesus. 16:48 Revelation 10 verse 3, the one who cries like a 16:51 lion roars is Jesus. 16:56 Revelation 10 verse 5, the one raised up 16:58 His hand to heaven is Jesus. 17:01 Revelation 10:6, the one who swore that there should be 17:04 time no longer is Jesus. 17:08 Revelation 10:7, the one who said the mystery of God 17:11 would be finished is Jesus. 17:16 Revelation 10 verse 9, the one who told John to 17:18 take the little book is Jesus. 17:22 Revelation 10:11, the one who told John he must 17:28 prophecy again is Jesus. 17:32 Revelation 11:1, the altar is a symbol of the 17:35 sacrifice of Jesus. 17:38 Revelation 11:8, the Lord who was crucified is Jesus. 17:44 Revelation 11:15, the kingdoms of the world are given to Jesus. 17:49 Revelation 12:1, the sun that clothes the woman is a symbol 17:54 of the righteousness of Jesus. 17:57 Revelation 12:2, the child of the woman is Jesus. 18:02 Revelation 12:4, the one who the dragon seeks to devour is Jesus. 18:08 Revelation 12:5, the child born and caught up to God is Jesus. 18:14 Revelation 12:13, the male child of the woman is Jesus. 18:19 Revelation 12:7-9, Michael who casts Satan 18:22 from heaven is Jesus. 18:26 Revelation 12:10, the accuser is cast down by Jesus. 18:33 Revelation 12:11, the blood of the Lamb by which 18:36 we overcome is the sacrifice of Jesus. 18:40 Revelation 12:17, the woman's offspring have the 18:44 testimony of Jesus. 18:47 Revelation 13:8, the Lamb slain from the foundation 18:50 of the world is Jesus. 18:54 Revelation 13:11, the two horns like a lamb represent the 18:59 religious and civil liberty of Jesus. 19:04 Revelation 14:1, the Lamb on Mount Zion is Jesus. 19:10 Revelation 14:4, the Lamb the redeemed follow 19:16 wherever He goes is Jesus. 19:20 Are you keeping up with me? 19:22 Am I going too fast? 19:23 I don't want to go too fast. 19:25 I don't want to lose anyone here. 19:26 Because I believe that every single one of these verses, 19:29 every single one of these thoughts is foundational. 19:33 Before we meet the dragons and the beasts, 19:35 we have to have Jesus. 19:38 Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go. 19:41 And so as we see Jesus moving through the book of Revelation, 19:44 He's everywhere. 19:46 He's in every chapter, every major prophecy. 19:50 Every major vision, there He is, we can safely venture 19:54 into that section of prophecy and understand it in the context 19:58 of what Jesus is doing, what He's accomplishing 20:01 in that prophecy for His people and for the plan of salvation. 20:07 Alright, we're almost done. 20:08 We're more than half way through. 20:10 Revelation 14:10, the Lamb, in His presence the lost 20:15 feel tormented, is Jesus. 20:18 Revelation 14:12, the faith of the saints is the 20:20 faith of Jesus. 20:23 Revelation 14:14, the Son of man on a cloud with a 20:27 crown and a sickle is Jesus. 20:31 Revelation 15:3, the Lamb whose song the redeemed sing is Jesus. 20:39 Revelation 16:15, the one who comes as a thief is Jesus. 20:46 Revelation 17:6, the one for whom many people 20:50 die as martyrs is Jesus. 20:54 Revelation 17:14, the Lamb who is warred against 20:58 but overcomes is Jesus. 21:02 Revelation 18:1, the glory that illuminates the world 21:07 is the glory of Jesus. 21:11 Revelation 18:4, the people who are called out of Babylon 21:14 are the people of Jesus. 21:18 Revelation 19:7, the marriage of the Lamb is the 21:20 marriage of Jesus. 21:23 Revelation 19:9, the marriage supper of the Lamb is 21:26 the marriage supper of Jesus. 21:30 I mean, what's a wedding without food, right? 21:34 Revelation 19:10, the spirit of prophecy is the 21:37 testimony of Jesus. 21:39 Revelation 19:11, the faithful and true 21:42 white horse rider is Jesus. 21:47 Revelation 19:12, the one with many crowns is Jesus. 21:52 Revelation 19:13, the one who is the Word of God is Jesus. 21:58 Revelation 19:14, the one who leads the armies 22:01 in heaven is Jesus. 22:04 Revelation 19:15, the one who has a sharp sword is Jesus. 22:09 Revelation 19:16, the one who is King of kings and 22:12 Lord of lords... 22:16 You guessed it. 22:17 It's Jesus. 22:19 Revelation 19:15... I did it already. 22:22 Revelation 19:19, the one who the armies of earth 22:27 war against is Jesus. 22:30 Revelation 19:21, the one who defeats the armies 22:33 of earth is Jesus. 22:36 Revelation 21:9, the groom of the Lamb's wife is Jesus. 22:42 Revelation 21:22, the Lamb or the temple of the 22:46 New Jerusalem is Jesus. 22:49 Revelation 21:23, the Lamb or light of the 22:52 New Jerusalem is Jesus. 22:56 Revelation 21:27, the Lamb's Book of Life is the 22:59 book of Jesus. 23:02 Revelation 22:1, the throne of the Lamb is the throne of Jesus. 23:07 Revelation 22:3, there is no more curse because 23:10 we serve Jesus. 23:13 Revelation 22:4, we shall see the face and bear the 23:17 name of Jesus. 23:21 Revelation 22:7, the one who is coming quickly is Jesus. 23:27 Revelation 22:12, the one who rewards according to 23:32 our works is Jesus. 23:36 Revelation 22:16, the one who sent His angel to John is Jesus. 23:44 And finally, Revelation 22:20, the one who testifies 23:51 to these things is Jesus. 23:58 How many verses all together? 24:01 Approximately, I'm not going to nail this down, 24:05 ninety-three. 24:07 93 verses in the book of Revelation with direct 24:10 reference to Jesus. 24:11 Now that does not include references to God 24:13 or to the Spirit or to angels or to God's people. 24:17 That's just references to Jesus either literally 24:20 or symbolically. 24:21 93 references. 24:23 So what I decided to do is I decided to look up 24:25 the direct references to Jesus in the gospels. 24:28 Because I thought, "Hey, the book of Revelation, 24:31 scary book, people don't want to read it. 24:32 What about the gospels? People love reading the gospels. 24:35 And I found that in the gospel of Mark... 24:37 Okay, it's the smallest gospel. True enough. 24:39 In the gospel of Mark, 16 chapters, there are exactly... 24:43 Guess how many. 24:44 93 references to Jesus Christ. 24:47 Exactly. 24:49 Now there are other references like "the Son of man," 24:52 which appears about 13 times in the gospel of Mark. 24:55 There are 93 references to Jesus Christ 24:58 in the gospel of Mark. 25:00 There are 93 references to Jesus Christ 25:02 in the book of Revelation. 25:04 Now we've got to recognize that in the book of Revelation, 25:07 some of these references are veiled in symbols, 25:10 like for example, the lamb, an angel, a lion 25:15 or the word of God. 25:17 And these symbols identify a certain attribute or focus 25:23 that Jesus has in that particular prophecy. 25:27 Nevertheless, Mark has 93 references to Jesus, 25:31 and it's a gospel. 25:33 Revelation has 93 references to Jesus, and it is... 25:37 ...a scary book. 25:39 I don't think so. 25:41 It is time, friends, it is time for us and for the world 25:45 to recognize that the book of Revelation 25:49 is talking about Jesus. 25:52 We can no longer continue to promote the idea 25:55 that the book of Revelation is about beasts and dragons 25:58 and plagues, when in reality Revelation has as much to 26:01 say about Jesus as does the gospel of Mark. 26:05 In some ways, it has more to say about Jesus 26:10 than the gospel of Mark. 26:13 In fact, when I think about this, I think about other books 26:16 like the book of Romans. 26:18 I just decided to do a little quick word check. 26:19 Because a lot of people believe that Romans is 26:21 the clearest gospel. 26:22 How many references to Jesus are in the book of Romans? 26:26 Thirty-eight. 26:28 Thirty-eight. 26:30 Now if Romans is the clearest gospel and there's 26:31 38 references there... 26:34 Revelation, oh... 26:39 You know what I call Revelation? 26:40 This is my own thing that I have decided. 26:43 I call Revelation, the fifth gospel of the Bible. 26:47 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ. 26:51 It's a prophetic gospel. 26:54 It's a prophetic gospel. 26:55 Every gospel is unique in its emphasis. 26:58 And the book of Revelation is a prophetic gospel of Jesus. 27:03 It's talking about Jesus in relation to prophecy. 27:07 And it's powerful when you think about it, 27:09 because once we realize that Jesus is the theme 27:13 of the book of Revelation, then we can kind of, 27:17 well in a sense we can relax a little bit. 27:20 Now we need to be careful there because the book of 27:25 Revelation also gives us a warning. 27:30 A warning about a power... 27:32 And I say a power because this power works through 27:34 many different means, but it has one core center. 27:39 And that is, the dragon. 27:41 ...who is seeking to undermine what has been accomplished 27:45 for us by Jesus Christ. 27:48 Let me give you an example. 27:50 And we're searching now for beasts and dragons, in a sense. 27:53 That's our topic tonight, though I didn't want to 27:55 venture there until we actually nailed down 27:58 this whole foundation of Jesus Christ. 28:01 But look in Revelation chapter 12. 28:06 When we look in Revelation chapter 12, many times 28:09 we find that the very context of Revelation; 28:13 a chapter or the verses somewhere else in the book, 28:17 will give us an identification of a 28:20 symbol that we're looking at. 28:22 For example, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 7 28:26 tells us about a war that is taking place in heaven. 28:29 And the dragon has already been introduced in 28:33 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 3. 28:36 But when this war is described, Revelation 12 and verse 7, 28:40 it pits Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon 28:45 and his angels. 28:47 Now we know, according to Revelation 19, 28:49 that Jesus is the leader of the armies of heaven. 28:52 We know that, so we know Michael is another name for Jesus. 28:57 Jesus, the one who is like God. 28:59 And some people struggle with that because they think, 29:01 "Well Michael is a created being. 29:03 Michael is the arch angel." 29:04 Well the arch angel, that word, that term means 29:07 He's the chief of the angels. 29:09 He is Commander-in-Chief of the angels. 29:11 It doesn't mean He's a created being. 29:14 Calling Jesus "Michael" and then assuming that He's a 29:18 created being is like saying, "Well Jesus became a man. 29:20 Therefore, He must be created." 29:21 And there are some people who believe that, 29:23 some churches who teach that. 29:25 But we know the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God. 29:29 He is God the Son. 29:31 And He can take the form of a man and still be God. 29:34 He can take the form of an angel and still be God. 29:37 God the Spirit can take the form of a dove and still be God. 29:40 God the Father can take the form of a burning bush 29:42 and still be God. 29:45 And so Jesus here is represented in these different forms 29:49 because He is in fact the Commander-in-Chief 29:53 of the angels of heaven. 29:55 And He's the one that fought. 29:56 He's the leader of the armies, Revelation 19, 29:58 that fought against the dragon and his angels. 30:01 And He prevailed, verse 8. 30:03 And no place was found any more in heaven for them. 30:06 Now verse 9 is the key verse here. 30:08 It says, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, 30:12 called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world. 30:19 He was cast out into the earth, and his angels 30:22 were cast out with him." 30:24 Now this tells us very clearly and succinctly 30:27 who the dragon is. 30:29 As soon as we identify a symbol in literal terms, 30:35 we can drop the symbolism. 30:38 The dragon is Satan. 30:39 Whenever we see that word in the book of Revelation; 30:42 dragon, dragon, dragon, and actually in other places 30:46 in the Bible, we can understand that it's a symbol for Satan. 30:48 And we can do the same thing with the beast. 30:50 A beast in prophecy represents a kingdom or a power. 30:56 Now we see this in another prophetic book in 30:59 the Old Testament, and that is the book of Daniel. 31:01 If you look in Daniel chapter 7 at verses 17 and 23, 31:09 you're going to find here that Daniel was told by an angel, 31:14 Daniel 7:17 and 23, what a beast symbolizes or represents. 31:20 Daniel had a dream in chapter 7 and he saw in this dream 31:24 different beasts rising up out of the sea 31:27 different from one another. 31:28 The first was like a lion. 31:30 And then there was a bear. 31:32 And then there was a leopard. 31:34 And then there was a strange beast. 31:39 And he wanted to understand what these beasts represented. 31:42 And so someone came and stood near him, 31:45 in verse 16 of Daniel 7. 31:48 And he made him know the interpretation of these things. 31:52 And he said in verse 17, "These great beasts which are four, 31:55 are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth." 31:59 So once we identify a symbol, we can drop the symbolism. 32:05 Why is this important? 32:07 Well because people can be easily offended 32:09 if you identify them as a beast. 32:16 Try it sometime and see. 32:21 It's not nice to be called a beast. 32:25 That's one reason why it's important for us to drop the 32:29 symbols once we identify the literalism of this truth. 32:34 Another reason is because... 32:35 Well God is communicating to us in the language even of our day. 32:39 In other words, beasts have all along through history 32:43 always represented or symbolized powers or nations. 32:46 For example today, when we think about an eagle, 32:49 what nation do we think of? 32:51 United States of America. 32:52 What about a dragon? China. 32:55 What about a lion? 32:59 Great Britain. 33:00 You're good, you're good. 33:01 What about, one more, a bear? 33:04 Russia. 33:05 So we don't go, notice this, we don't go to the symbols 33:09 of today and try to place them into the Bible. 33:12 In other words, because a bear today represents Russia, 33:15 I don't go back now to Daniel 7 and say, 33:17 "Oh, one of these beasts was a bear. 33:18 That must be Russia." 33:20 That would be using current events to interpret 33:23 Bible prophecy. 33:24 A lot of people make that mistake. 33:26 We don't want to do that. 33:27 We allow the Bible to interpret itself, 33:30 and then we look for that fulfillment in history. 33:34 And we've seen the fulfillment of these beasts 33:36 in Daniel chapter 7 in history past; Babylon, Medo-Persia, 33:40 Greece and Rome. 33:42 Then we have the ten kingdoms under which 33:45 we're living right now. 33:46 But here's the key. 33:48 In the book of Revelation, we have these two beasts; 33:51 one that arises out of the sea, Revelation chapter 13 33:56 and verse 1, and the other one that arises out of the earth. 34:00 These two beasts come together to enforce what is called, 34:04 the mark of the beast... 34:05 We'll be talking about that later. 34:07 ...on all of the earth. 34:10 These two beasts are supported by the dragon, Satan. 34:15 These two beasts represent kingdoms, powers, or nations. 34:20 There's two of them. 34:21 Two kingdoms, earthly powers or nations, that come together 34:24 to enforce a mark upon all of the world. 34:28 So we can drop the symbolism of the beasts 34:31 and we can identify these two powers as kingdoms or nations. 34:35 We're not calling a certain nation or kingdom a beast. 34:39 They are a nation, they are a kingdom. 34:41 And they are identified as such in the symbols 34:44 of the book of Revelation. 34:47 Now here's something else we want to look at 34:48 that I think is really important for us when we study 34:52 dragons and beasts. 34:55 Have you ever felt like you were a little dragon-like 35:00 on certain days? 35:03 Or a little beast-like in the way that you related to 35:06 your wife or another certain person? 35:10 Maybe you stayed up a little late, maybe you were a little 35:13 stressed out, a little nervous. 35:16 Today, I ventured out in the car. 35:21 I had some dry cleaning to pick up just down the road in Benton. 35:24 And it was 4:30, they close at 5:00 and I just thought 35:27 I've waited as long as I can wait for the ice and 35:30 the snow to melt. 35:32 It's not melting, it's getting worse. 35:34 I need to go. 35:35 If I'm going to go, I need to go. 35:36 Now I spent 30 years of my life driving in ice and snow, 35:39 so I have a little bit of experience. 35:41 But it's been several years since I moved to 35:44 Eugene, Oregon where it rarely snows. 35:47 And so I was nervous. 35:48 I got out of Angel Lane, which was really bad, 35:53 to the main highway, which was somewhat clear. 35:56 I was driving down the highway trying to stay right in the 35:59 tracks of the tires where the wheels of other tires have gone. 36:02 Because that's where it was wet, but it was clear. 36:05 No ice, no slush. 36:08 I made my way to the dry cleaners in Benton, 36:10 picked up my dry cleaning, got back in the car, 36:13 pulled into the parking lot, cleaned off my windshield 36:15 wipers again, and began venturing out onto the highway. 36:20 As I did so, another car just a little ways down from me 36:24 was sitting there. 36:25 And as I pulled out, he pulled out also. 36:27 He was in a hurry. 36:29 And he pulled out in such a way that I thought... 36:32 And I'd just been talking to the dry cleaning lady about this. 36:34 She told me, she said, "My husband drives in this 36:36 kind of weather all the time. 36:38 And he tells me, 'It's not me that I worry about. 36:40 It's the other drivers who are in a hurry.'" 36:42 She had just told me this. 36:44 And as he pulled out, I thought, "Oooh, why did he do that?" 36:51 On any given day, on any other day, it wouldn't have 36:53 bothered me one bit. 36:55 Because, you know, just slow down a little bit. 36:58 But it bothered me this time, or at least it tried to, 37:01 because I thought, you know, this could be dangerous. 37:05 This isn't the weather to pull out in front of people. 37:11 Have you ever had an experience driving down the road 37:15 where the beast and the dragon grab a hold 37:19 of your thoughts and feelings? 37:22 See, sometimes... And this is the danger. 37:25 Sometimes we want to identify this dragon 37:28 and we want to identify this beast as some other 37:31 institution, power, nation, or denomination. 37:34 That puts us in a safe zone. 37:37 "Oh, that's them. That's him. 37:39 That's not us." 37:41 I'm reminded of when Jesus said to Peter, 37:44 "Get thee behind Me, Satan." 37:47 And I recognize the danger that all of us face 37:51 if we're not connected with Jesus. 37:53 And that's why I believe Jesus is... 37:55 Well, in 93 verses in the book of Revelation. 37:58 There are about 470 verses in Revelation, so that means 38:02 He's in at least 25% of them. 38:04 Direct reference. 38:05 Why? Because we need Him all the time in life. 38:08 We need Him all the time through history and through prophecy; 38:11 eschatological prophecy, last day events. 38:14 We need Jesus. 38:17 We have in Revelation chapter 12, well I would 38:21 say about 8 or 9 reasons. 38:22 I'm going to give them to you tonight in relation 38:25 to the beast and the dragon. 38:27 And I want you to write these down if you can. 38:30 Our viewers, I want you to write these down. 38:32 Because before we ever identify the beast or the dragon 38:36 as some kind of power or entity out there, 38:38 we need to recognize that this entity or power is a 38:41 composite of us. 38:44 That any one of us at any given time can become part of this 38:48 dragon beast power, even as we are professing to 38:51 follow Christ, as Peter did. 38:54 And therefore, if we can identify the characteristics 38:58 of the dragon and the beast, we can recognize when we are 39:03 developing the character attributes of that power 39:06 and preparing to stand with that power, 39:09 unconsciously to ourselves. 39:11 Peter was not aware of the fact that he was developing 39:14 these attributes that would cause him to deny his Lord. 39:18 We may not be aware of it either. 39:20 Revelation chapter 12 39:27 verses 12 and 17. 39:31 Attribute number one, Revelation chapter 12 verses 12 and 17. 39:38 "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 39:40 Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea, 39:42 for the devil is come down unto you having great wrath," anger, 39:48 "because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." 39:50 Verse 17, "And the dragon," that is the devil, Satan. 39:53 "And the dragon was angry with the woman, 39:55 and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, 39:57 who keep the commandments of God, and have 40:00 the testimony of Jesus." 40:01 Anger. 40:03 Anger is one of the chief attributes of Satan. 40:05 Now I did a series of meetings not long ago, 40:09 and you can find these on our website, 40:14 about what to do with anger. 40:17 Because all of us to one degree or another 40:19 have to deal with anger. 40:20 And I really like that verse, though I've never understood it 40:23 until recently, in the New Testament that says, 40:26 1 Timothy, "Be angry, and sin not. 40:33 Don't let the sun go down on your wrath." 40:36 Now I didn't understand, "Be angry and don't sin? 40:38 How can you be angry and don't sin?" 40:40 You know that the wrath is bad because you're 40:41 not suppose to let the sun do down on it. 40:44 So how do you... What is that? 40:46 My wife has helped me with this because she always wants 40:49 to talk about it, talk it out, get it off. 40:51 I just want to bury it, bury it, bury it. 40:53 Go to sleep, I'll be good in the morning. 40:55 But it always pops up in some future time. 40:58 "Be angry, and sin not." 40:59 In other words, go ahead and communicate that anger out. 41:02 This is what we find David doing often in the Psalms. 41:06 Have you ever struggled at times with reading some of the psalms 41:11 and some of the anger that you encounter in David? 41:14 For example, look here in Psalm 59. 41:19 This is a powerful Psalm, Psalm 59. 41:23 David, here, is asking for deliverance. 41:27 And in the context of this psalm, he says this. 41:31 Verse 13, "Consume them in wrath, consume them, 41:35 that they may not be: and let them know that 41:37 God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth." 41:40 "Just take them out, Lord. 41:41 Just consume them, just destroy them." 41:43 Every feel like that? 41:44 Aargh. 41:50 I like this because this psalm is how David 41:54 deals with his anger. 41:56 Let me explain. 41:59 The context of this psalm finds David being hunted 42:03 by Saul unfairly. 42:05 David is in his house with Michal, 42:09 Saul's daughter, his wife. 42:11 Saul has sent spies to watch the house so that when David leaves 42:16 they would kill him. 42:17 That's the context of the psalm. 42:19 So David is being watched. 42:21 And Michal puts a dummy in the bed with some hair on it, 42:25 and David slips out the back window and takes off. 42:29 He gets out far enough away, enough time away, 42:32 with this dummy coverage to where he gets to safety. 42:37 In this context, David is praying. 42:39 Now you can imagine how David feels. 42:41 This is unfair, it's wrong, it's unjust. 42:44 And he's upset about it. 42:46 He's done nothing negative to Saul. 42:48 He's loved him, he's nurtured him, 42:49 he sung for him, he's fought for him. 42:51 He's given everything for Saul. 42:54 So he says this, number one. 42:57 "Deliver me from mine enemies, oh God." 43:00 I think the first way to deal with anger 43:02 is to ask God to help you. 43:04 This is what David does, step number one; 43:07 "Deliver me from the workers of iniquity." 43:10 Then step two. 43:12 Write these down if you'd like. 43:14 He explains his situation. 43:17 Verse 3, "For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul. 43:20 The mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, 43:23 nor for my sin." 43:25 Verse 4, "They run and prepare themselves without my fault." 43:30 So he asks God for help, number one. 43:32 And then he explains his situation. 43:34 "Here's why I'm angry." 43:35 "This is why I'm angry." 43:36 "This is why I'm upset with my wife. 43:38 I'm upset with my wife because she just doesn't understand." 43:43 Is that okay? 43:45 Or do we need to pretend that we don't ever get angry 43:48 with our wives or husbands. 43:51 Can we be real with God? 43:54 I may not be able to tell my wife that. 43:56 The problem is, many times I will tell my wife that, 43:58 but I won't tell it to God. 43:59 David is reversing that situation. 44:01 He's saying, talk to God about it. 44:03 Tell God how you feel, and why you feel that way. 44:06 And then number three, let God have it. 44:10 In other words, let go of your anger. 44:16 "Oh God, just consume them. Just take them out." 44:19 Vent everything that you feel. 44:21 Just vent all that emotion. 44:22 Just talk about it, just get it out. 44:24 Just tell God exactly how you feel. 44:26 That's what David is doing here. 44:27 He's just venting. 44:30 You know, sometimes we vent to the person 44:32 rather than venting to God. 44:34 We tell people, or even other people who aren't the 44:36 people we should be communicating to, 44:38 but other third party people about our situation. 44:42 And then we get reconciled with the person that 44:44 we're struggling with, but we've got this damage 44:46 that we've done over here to these third party people. 44:50 God says, "Don't talk to these other people about 44:52 what you're struggling with. 44:54 Talk to Me. Let Me have it. 44:57 Be angry, and sin not. 45:00 Be angry toward Me and sin not toward them. 45:03 I understand what you're going through. 45:04 I can relate to your struggle, your situation." 45:08 And then he says, and this is verse 16, 45:11 "But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing 45:13 aloud of thy mercy..." 45:15 Praise God. 45:16 Let the anger go out, and then let the praise of God come in. 45:22 Let the anger out, you're emptying your heart of anger, 45:25 and then let the praise of God come in. 45:28 And this works. This is powerful. 45:29 You go to God and ask for help. 45:31 You tell Him your situation, you vent all your anger 45:34 and frustration, and then He will put praise in your heart. 45:37 And you can praise Him and you can sing aloud. 45:39 You can rejoice, you will have perfect peace with God. 45:44 And you will be surprised. 45:46 Now number five. And this is an extra one. 45:48 It's not in the context of Psalm 59, but it's an extra one. 45:50 You will be surprised at the way God is going to work. 45:53 Now here's the surprise that David had. 45:56 Some time later, as David is hiding in a cave, 45:59 Saul ventures in. 46:03 David's men say to him, "This is it. 46:08 This is the very thing that God has purposed, 46:12 that your enemy would come in here. 46:14 Just say the word, I'll put my sword through that guy. 46:16 I'll put my spear through that guy. 46:18 And I'll only have to do it one time." 46:23 And what does David say? 46:25 "Don't do it." 46:26 Why does he say that? 46:28 Because his heart is at perfect peace. 46:30 He's vented all his frustrations and anger. 46:32 He's given it all to God. God has put praise inside. 46:34 And David treats Saul like he would treat anyone 46:37 with unconditional love. 46:38 That's the gospel, by the way. 46:40 And when Saul goes out of there, David tells him exactly 46:42 what it was that he could have done but didn't do, 46:45 by the grace of God. 46:46 And Saul repents. 46:47 He falls down on his face and he says, 46:49 "You're more righteous than I am." 46:50 This is going to be the experience of God's people 46:52 in the book of Revelation. 46:54 Read it with me, Revelation chapter 13. 46:56 This is the key for us to not receive the mark of the beast. 47:01 That we would be able to deal with our anger 47:03 and not allow it to develop a character trait in our 47:06 own hearts; the character trait of the dragon, 47:08 the character trait of the beast. 47:10 Revelation chapter 13. 47:13 It says here in the context of the final crisis, 47:15 "He that leads into captivity," verse 10, 47:19 "shall go into captivity. 47:20 He that kills with the sword..." 47:22 And our words, our mouths, can be like a sword. 47:25 "...must be killed with the sword. 47:27 Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." 47:34 Okay, characteristic number two. 47:37 Revelation 12 verse 10. Characteristic number two. 47:42 Revelation 12 verse 10. 47:46 "And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, 47:48 'Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom 47:53 of our God, and the power of his Christ. 47:57 For the accuser of our brethren..." 48:01 Who is that? Satan. 48:03 "...is cast down, which accused them before God day and night." 48:07 The accuser of our brethren. 48:09 The accuser of our brethren. 48:12 Have you ever been... 48:16 ...tempted to be an accuser? 48:19 I know you don't accuse, because you're Christians. 48:21 We're all Christians here, so we don't accuse. 48:23 But have you ever been tempted to accuse? 48:27 I mean, there are good reasons, right? 48:29 There are times when it's just sitting there. 48:30 I mean obvious, it's so obvious. 48:32 There it is. 48:34 Someone's got to point it out. Might as well be me. 48:37 Right? 48:40 "The gal just isn't dressing the way she should." 48:41 "The guy is just not eating what he should be eating." 48:43 "He's just not acting the way he should be acting." 48:45 "Did you hear the latest?" 48:48 Now Satan is not accusing people of things they didn't do. 48:50 He's accusing people of things they did do. 48:54 And he knows, because he led them to do it. 48:57 Right? 48:59 This is an attribute that Satan wants us to develop. 49:06 And it's one that God wants to get rid of 49:10 so that we would not be part of the beast. 49:15 And we can consider ourselves out of that specific 49:19 belief system, whatever it is. 49:22 It's identified as Babylon in other places in the 49:24 book of Revelation, because it's so confusing. 49:26 It confuses God and His character and His love. 49:30 But as soon as we decide to sit on the throne of judgment, 49:33 as soon as we decide to judge somebody else, 49:36 we put our self in the very seat of antichrist. 49:40 Christ is Judge. He's the only Judge. 49:42 He is the one that we're going to stand before; 49:44 the judgment seat of Christ. 49:46 And as soon as we put someone before our judgment seat, 49:50 we take the place of Christ. 49:51 We become antichrist. 49:54 So the good news about this particular character trait is 49:59 that, well, we're free now. 50:00 Romans chapter 14 tells us that we don't have to 50:04 judge one another anymore. 50:05 Romans 14 says that we're off the hook. 50:07 That God has a judgment, He has a day of judgment, 50:10 and He's going to have an account for every single person. 50:15 Number three, hypocrisy. 50:20 We talked a little bit about this last night. 50:22 God still loves those who are lukewarm. 50:25 God still loves those who profess, but aren't. 50:28 God loved Judas and God loves each one of us. 50:32 But hypocrisy has to go. 50:35 Eventually, hypocrisy will take us down the wrong road. 50:40 God longs for us not to be spewed out. 50:43 He wants us to receive His rebuke. 50:45 He longed for Judas to receive His rebuke. 50:48 And the strongest rebuke that Jesus gave to Judas 50:52 was the one where He washed Judas' feet. 50:56 It was what I call, the rebuke of humility. 50:58 He got down on His knees and He took those dirty betraying feet 51:02 into His hands, and He washed them. 51:05 And Judas was the first to be washed, 51:07 the first to have his feet washed. 51:11 Revelation chapter 13 and verse 11 says 51:14 that there's a beast that comes out of the earth and 51:16 he has two horns like a lamb, but he speaks like a dragon. 51:20 He looks like a lamb. 51:21 A lamb is Christ-like, Christian. 51:23 These are principles of a Christian nation, 51:25 a Christian power, Christianity. 51:27 But speaking like a dragon. 51:29 You profess to be Christ-like, you profess to be Christian, 51:32 but the way that you talk, the way that you act, 51:34 the way that you are, is dragon-like. 51:38 It's hypocrisy. 51:40 God save us from hypocrisy. 51:45 Okay, that was number three. 51:49 I want to look at a couple here that are going to be 51:52 a little bit more difficult, perhaps, for some of us. 51:57 One of them is, control. 52:00 Revelation chapter 13 and verse 17. 52:04 "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, 52:08 or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." 52:11 When we think about control, as a man I think, 52:15 "Whoa, I need to have things in control." 52:17 I need to know what's happening. I need to know what's going on. 52:19 I need to have all my ducks in a row, so to speak. 52:23 We don't like things to be out of control, do we? 52:26 It's hard to deal with a situation or a world 52:29 that's out of control. 52:32 We get antsy, we get uptight, we get stressed. 52:36 That's how I got on my way over here. 52:38 Or at least was tempted to get. 52:39 It was really interesting, I was very tempted, when I 52:41 missed my connection and I felt like, you know, 52:44 United Airlines wasn't accommodating, 52:47 to get a little bit stressed. 52:50 And I prayed about it and I said, "You know, 52:53 the most important thing that I have right now is peace." 52:58 And God gave me that peace. 53:01 As we allow God's peace to replace this anxiety, 53:06 this desire to be in control of everything, 53:09 to have everything figured out so that, well, we do that 53:12 so that we can have some kind of man made peace, 53:15 as we trust God, we're going to be ready for the crisis 53:18 when we're not going to be in control of anything. 53:20 We're not going to have anything to be in control of. 53:23 But we can still trust Jesus. 53:25 God is preparing us for that time. 53:30 Another one that I think is important is found in 53:33 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 4. 53:37 It's a little bit trickier to understand, but it's 53:41 describing the dragon, Revelation 12 verse 4, 53:46 and how his tail drew a third part of the stars 53:48 out of heaven and cast them to the earth. 53:51 This tail is identified in Isaiah 9:15 as the prophet 53:57 who teaches lies. 53:58 He is the tail. 54:00 In other words, it was through lies that Satan drew angels 54:05 out of heaven. 54:06 It was through lies. 54:08 Now I think that I, as a Christian, am not a liar. 54:16 And yet, I find myself in situations at times where 54:19 I'm inclined not to tell the whole truth 54:24 and nothing but the truth. 54:27 "I'm not lying, really. 54:29 And it's not a significant thing. 54:30 It's just that if I tell the whole truth, 54:32 it makes me look kind of bad. 54:35 Or not as good as I could look." 54:37 You ever been in a situation like that? 54:39 I don't know. Trying to... 54:42 Well I don't want to give specifics, because 54:45 it'll make me look bad. 54:48 But the truth of the matter is, try for one day 54:53 just to be cognizant of everything you say 54:56 to everyone, everything you do, and see if it's the exact whole 55:01 complete unadulterated pure crystal clear truth. 55:06 Because Satan is coming in and he's trying to 55:09 develop in us just a little bit, just a little strand of lying. 55:15 He wants it to grow as a characteristic in our 55:17 lives and hearts. 55:19 And again, it's a form of not trusting God. 55:22 Another aspect I think that is important for us to recognize 55:26 in this context is force. 55:29 Revelation chapter 13:15-17 talks about how that 55:34 the beast power is going to force the world, 55:36 on pain of buying, selling and finally death, 55:40 to receive a mark in their forehead or in their hands. 55:42 Now as a father of a teenager still, 55:46 and one who just left the teenage years recently, 55:49 as in a few months ago... 55:51 My son is 20 and my daughter is 15. 55:54 ...I understand the temptation to use force. 56:02 And I can see that it's difficult, even now, to back up. 56:08 I wonder, I marvel, at the God that we serve, 56:12 who is the most powerful being in all the universe, 56:15 and who compels us and draws us only by His love. 56:22 It amazes me. 56:24 And I realize when I try to institute that, when I try to 56:29 apply that to my life, in relation to my wife 56:32 and my children, how challenging it really is. 56:36 Because I love them and I think I know what's best for them. 56:39 Especially my kids. 56:43 And I want them to not make the mistakes I made, please. 56:50 Can you imagine what it is for God to look down on us, 56:54 even now, and recognize the direction we're going in 56:59 and yet give us the freedom, that is love, 57:02 to go in those directions? 57:04 Even as we look at these characteristics, 57:06 friends, we need to recognize that God's love is the 57:09 only thing that can compel us and others. 57:13 And tonight, we need to pray for that love to be in our hearts. 57:17 Let's pray together. 57:19 Father in heaven, as we have considered the 57:21 characteristics of the beast, of the dragon, as we've 57:24 recognized Jesus Christ, the central theme of the Bible, 57:28 and as we've seen the conflict that is taking place between 57:31 these two powers, we are choosing tonight 57:35 to have the Lamb, to have Jesus to be the one who 57:40 surrounds us, directs us, the one that we follow... |
Revised 2014-12-17