Bible Study - July 1, 2020

We'll start the recording here. As you know, we are recording these Bible studies. We are putting them on the local Orlando website and the local Jacksonville website, so you'll always be able to go back and hear the discussion at a later time. And last time we began, you know, we got through Revelation 1 verse 6. I'm not going to take a look at it. Go ahead. In Duval County, I don't believe they have that face mask thing. They had a city council or county commissions or whatever it is meeting the other day, and they didn't actually go through with it. Oh, okay. Well, that's good. That's good, then. Okay. Because the plan right now, we'll have to double check with the church up there, since the Jacksonville where we rent the hall from, they've suspended their Sunday services in the next two or three weeks.

We'll have to get a call into them and make sure that they don't have any problems with us being up there on July 11th. But we'll find that out here as we get into next week. Mr. Shaby? Yes. Yeah, Vic and Frank are trying to get in. Okay. And for whatever the reason, I won't connect. Are you seeing a login from them? No, I'm not. I'm looking at the waiting room, and there's no one in it right now. Huh. Okay. Well, they're trying to use the link that you send me, because evidently you don't send the link specifically to either one of their emails. No, no, no. Both Frank and Vic are in my email list, unless they've changed their email addresses. Hey, guys. Did you hear that? Mr. Shaby said he sent an email to both of you. So you can go into your email and click on that link, and that should bring you into Zoomie. Yeah. Yeah, and it came out under rick underscore shaby at ucg.org. Maybe they didn't look at the same thing. Okay. Yeah, and I think that's part of what Zoom's doing now. If you get the invitation, you use that link. Okay. Very good. Thank you.

Okay. So we got through the first six verses of Revelation last time, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time recapping that. If you want, if you missed it and you want to go back and listen to the the tape, it's there on the local website. You can do that.

You know, I'll just recall that it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. God the Father gave it to Jesus Christ. He gave it to an angel. The angel gave it to his servant John, and John recorded it for us.

And we went through, we talked about the purpose of the book of Revelation. We talked about John, and he's the Apostle John who lived and walked with Jesus Christ for three and a half years.

Christ was on earth, and so he has, you know, he has the relationship and the history with Jesus Christ all the way up here until the 90s AD. It's, of course, the last book in the Bible, and it's kind of the capstone, if you will, of all the prophecies throughout the Old Testament.

You know, the kingdom of God, the millennium is talked about. The people back then may not have understood, you know, Jesus Christ coming back twice. We're coming back the first time to die to die for our sins, and then coming back the second time to establish this kingdom. But the book of Revelation pretty much brings everything together and takes us, you know, through the true prophecies through the end of time. You know, one thing I'll caution as we begin, you know, we'll get into some scriptures as we're in Revelation that are difficult to understand.

You know, if you don't have the Spirit of God, it is just about impossible, just about impossible to understand the book of Revelation. You know, we even see that in the translations. We talked about that with a few of the words where the translators are trying to make sense of it, and they try to put their own words into some of the things to make sense.

And you have to go back to the Greek and look at some of those things in order to understand what the real, the original text is saying. But there are some things that God is just not going to reveal and hasn't revealed to us yet. And I know it's fun to speculate, and we can kind of put our human reasoning together and say, well, this is how this is going to come about, and this is how that's going to come about.

And it can make perfect sense to us in a physical realm that can all look like it's going to happen. But, you know, there is a warning in the book of Revelation not to add to or take away from the Word. So as we go through this, we're going to have to be diligent in looking at what God has given us and, you know, challenge each other as to what is speculation. You might hear me say something and say, you know what, I think that's maybe speculation.

Does the Bible really say that? Because we've all had those conversations. We've all heard things over the years we've been in the church, but we want to understand what God says and let Him reveal it to us and be true to the Word here as we look at it.

So with that in mind, you know, we got through verse 6. Verse 6 ends with an Amen. You know, so be it. John is talking about, you know, verse 3 there. He says, Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy. And here is a just hearing, but, you know, hearing as it makes a difference in your lives as you hear these prophecies.

And there's that word and keeps those things which are written in it. So there's more than just reading and hearing. We have to actually be following God's way of life and letting Him lead us and committing our lives to doing those things. In verse 6, we talked about kings and priests and how Jesus Christ, you know, is both king and priest. And when He returns, He, you know, in Old Testament times, there was a civil government and there was the spiritual government, I guess if we want to call it that, or the religious government or hierarchy.

You had a king and you had a high priest and you see them working together. Jesus Christ marries those too. And the Bible tells us we will be, you know, those the first fruits, those who God calls now, who respond, and who follow Him, you know, faithfully through life, will be kings and priests. And we looked up the word, you know, for kings at that time and and and discuss that a little bit.

So before I get into verse 7, because verse 7 is an interesting verse that a lot of people will ask about. And it has some things in it for us to look at. But are there any questions, any comments anyone wants to about the first six verses as we as we begin here?

Okay, and remember, you don't have to raise your hand on the things. Just just open your mic and start talking. That's the best thing to do. And I'll be happy to, happy if we can do it that way. But let's look at verse 7 then. You know, John, you know, John says, Behold, he, he, Christ is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him, even so, amen. So again, he completes a thought. There's quite a bit of that verse 7 when we look at it. And some of it, you know, we can look at and we can see maybe we've been asked some questions about what does that mean? Because every word that God has in the Bible has meaning to us. And so let's just kind of look at that first, that first part of the first sentence there. It says, Behold, he is coming with clouds. Now, probably over the course of our collective lives in the church, we've heard comments made about what does that mean? Why would Christ come with clouds? Why is he not just coming in a bright, clear day? What, you know, what is that? What are some of the things that people have heard over the years about what that verse or what that phrase might mean or symbolize, even so.

Okay, well, and some of these things, you know, they're kind of incidental. What I hope is we look at some of these words and look at what some of the Bible says that, you know, when you read when you read Revelation 1 verse 7 again, be like, Oh, man, I see that a little differently now. Or at least there's some things in our mind, because I don't know that we can answer it 100%, but we can look at some things. And I've heard, I guess, I'd say speculation over the years that, you know, Christ will come with clouds because he's such a bright being. If he just came, the blinding light would kill everyone. People just could not handle the brightness of his return to earth. And so he clouds himself, you know, in clouds to kind of dim the brightness that he has.

And perhaps, perhaps that's part of it. I don't know. It might be what is totally there. But we can look at some verses, you know, you might think of some other verses where the word clouds appears. And we can go back to Acts 1. And in Acts 1, you know, it says Christ is ascending into heaven. And he makes a comment in Acts 1 that ties right into verse 7. In Acts 1, they're all gathered together. He's about to send into, send into heaven. In verse 9 of Acts 1, it says, And when Christ had spoken these things, while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. So as he went up into heaven, you know, there was this cloud, he went up into it, and he disappeared from their sight. And then says, While they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, He hold two men stood by them in white apparel, he said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him going to heaven. So completing that verse, when he returns, you know, he went up and disappeared into a cloud. When he returns to earth, there will be a cloud.

So the question might then be, well, what is, you know, what is that cloud? Is there a purpose for that cloud? Is it a legitimate, you know, we look up in the sky and see the puffy white clouds up there? Could well be, or could there be, you know, another meaning? Is there any verses that might also come to anyone's mind about clouds and why they may symbol something, symbolize something other than just those things that float around in the sky? Yeah, Mr. Shaby, there's a few verses. First of all, when it kind of goes along with what we just read in Acts, Daniel 7 verse 13, I was watching in the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, talking about when Christ ascended to God's throne. It says, He came to the ancient of days and they brought Him near before Him. So that kind of goes along with what we just read in Acts, you know, it's, you know, they saw Him leave and then you go, you jump over to Daniel 7, you see the rest of the story of Him coming with the clouds, you know, and then when I think of clouds, I think of like when the cloud of pillar, the cloud that followed Israel, you think about that, and when God came down to give the Ten Commandments, you know, and the big majesty and everything that had to do with the cloud, it's that the clouds and the thundering and all the stuff that was going on with that, and, you know, that cloud followed them the whole time while they were in the wilderness, and it gave them protection, and I think the only time that it wasn't there was when the, when they would come to rest, and they would then construct the tabernacle there, and then God's presence would leave the cloud and go, you know, and be in that temple, that tabernacle area, but then when it was time to go, they would see, the cloud would reappear, and then boom, they would follow it, and they would have the pillar of fire, you know, to keep them lit by night. So, you know, I think clouds are very interesting. I've been trying to study more into them, and, you know, it's, clouds can be a symbol, I think, of, you know, God's presence, His protection as well, you know, just some thoughts about that. I don't know what somebody else think. Yep, no, that's very good. I mean, when you think about it, you just realize clouds are there, they're present in the Bible, not just, not just in Christ's return to earth, so very good. I don't remember exactly where, but there's a place where He rides in a cherub, and usually the cherubs are hidden in the cloud, either in the cherub or a seraphim of sorts.

Isn't true that that's, that's quite the creature that He made. Very good. Let's look at Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12 for a minute. In verse 1 there, I mean, of course, Hebrews 11 is, you know, we call it the faith chapter. You have all these men and women who, you know, live their lives in faith to God. Many of them were martyrs. They lost their lives as they were, they committed to God. And in chapter 12, in verse 1, it kind of wraps up, you know, chapter 11. And let's notice what, how God inspired it to be written here by the authors. It says, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. So here we see kind of in this cloud, you know, it's kind of using to symbolize all the people of faith. These men, these women who had died before, who have left us an example, you know, who sought God first, who, you know, were close, who gave their lives for God, who were seeking the kingdom rather than their own country that they lived in and everything.

And God describes that as, look at that, we're surrounded by this cloud of witnesses that have gone before us. And, you know, that's an interesting thing for God to say. As we, you know, as we go into the book of Revelation, we can see, you know, we can see some things as well. Let's go to, well, before we go to book of Revelation, let's go back to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians, and in chapter 4, and of course the last five verses there, talk about, you know, verse 13, you know, is Paul saying, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. But if we drop down to verse 16, as he progresses his thoughts and reminds them of the resurrection, verse 16, he says, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead and Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will always be with the Lord. So we have this picture of Jesus Christ returning. Those who are alive, he will catch them together, you know, bring them up in however God designs to do that, that we will return to earth with him, be caught up together in the clouds. So, you know, we're building a little bit of what the clouds represent. We've got this this thing of Hebrews 12, where the cloud can indicate people, right, witnesses, those who have gone before us. If we look at Revelation 19, if we look at Revelation 19...

Now let me get to Revelation 19. I should be going to Matthew 24 first, but since you're turning to Revelation 19, we'll go there for right now. You know, we have Jesus Christ actually returning to earth, and in verse 13, you know, it says, it describes what he was, he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. So we have, you know, keep that thought, but let's go back to Matthew 24, where I should have gone before I went to that verse.

Okay, Matthew 24, Christ speaking here in verse 30.

And then he says, you know, as he goes through the Olivet prophecy and says, these are all the things that are going to happen leading up to my return. Verse 30, then a sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And then talks about he will gather his elect from the four ends of the earth, and they will be with him as they return, as he returns to earth.

So, you know, we can put that together. We remember that in Revelation 19.

You know, the bride of Christ is clothed in white. And as we look at chapter 19, you know, we have this group that is returning with Jesus Christ. He is out front. He's on a white horse. We have this army of heaven that is returning to earth with him, all clothed in white.

The raiment of those, the fine linen of the righteous axles, saying, clothed in white, riding on white horses. And so you can kind of picture, as John is looking at this vision that he has, Christ returning to earth, and there's this white, this white that's coming back with him.

And it makes us think about what is. Is it just a cloud like we look up at the skies today? Or is he seeing this cloud of witnesses, this cloud of first fruits that are coming back with Jesus Christ, arrayed in white, on white horses? And as the world sees Jesus Christ return, do they see him along with the white and the sea of white? Because it's not a small army, it's an array of army from coming back. And each one of those examples, it was a plural in the clouds. It wasn't just a cloud. So I think it is a multitude of clouds that are coming down.

Because every one of those, if you notice, was a plural application of that word. Yeah.

Yeah, I don't think we all will know, maybe, until Jesus Christ returns what it is.

It's interesting that there's whites. It's interesting that in Hebrews 12, it talks about a cloud of witnesses. We won't know what that answer is until, hopefully, we're all part of that that return of Jesus Christ. And we come down to earth and we see, you know, what it is, what it is that that verse means. But would that mean, though, Mr. Shaby, then, that, I mean, because we would first, you know, the dead rise first, and then thus those who remain would have to rise to meet Him. And it says that He's coming with the clouds. Would that mean we would, you know, the saints, you know, resurrected, meet Him and then become bright clouds as that mass of clouds coming down with them? Because He wouldn't, I don't think He'd come straight from heaven because, you know, nobody's been, they haven't been resurrected yet. Or could it possibly be referring to the heavenly host or the angels that are returning with Him?

Don't know the answer to that. I just have, you know, what He says in 1 Thessalonians 4, and then we will be caught up together in the air with Him and never be with Him. So, what I'm doing is just kind of like, you know, look at the words in the Bible and how they're used, and kind of, you know, there's a reason that that description is there in Revelation 1.

And just for us to contemplate and see how these things that are in the Bible, in the Old Testament, all the way to the book of Revelation, they all have meaning. It's all part of the continuity and symmetry of the Bible, how it all fits together. God will reveal to us, but it's for us to kind of just pay attention, and this is just another one of those proofs of the Bible, and things that we just have to kind of wait and see exactly what God had in mind.

Brother Shaby, in the account of Elisha and his servant, and then early in the morning when the army was a Syria that came, and on the mountains there was clouds. That's what they saw, probably what looked like fog. But when God opened his servant's eyes, he saw chariots. And then there's our account in Psalm 104, verse 3, where it says, he makes the clouds as chariots. It's figurative, but a lot of times these clouds, there is an invisible beam that made the unit. It may be that a chariot came and picked him up, whether it be a seraphim or a cherubim, someone came to pick him up. He could have gone by himself, but that's just the honor then. Yeah, I think it's just when we read clouds, just pause and think about it for a moment, because there's a meaning behind it. It's not just, you know, there's white, not just white, fluffy clouds in the sky. There's probably a little more to it than just kind of describing what the sky looks like that day. So, Mr. Shavell. Yes, sir. Yeah, there's two different meanings in the strong when you're going from Hebrews and then going into on Hebrews 12, and it's saying that a cloud, a large, dense multitude, a throng, used to denote a great, shapeless collection of vapor obscuring the heavens as opposed to a particular indefinite masses of vapor with some form of shade, a cloud in the sky. And the other one just has a cloud that was like we were talking before in the wilderness. So, they actually have two different numbers and two different sets of what that cloud means. Okay, and there's some significance of that. The Greeks said, the Greeks were very detailed in their language and their vocabulary.

Okay. Mr. Shavell. Yes, ma'am. I also found it interesting that when Christ returns, it says, every eye will see Him. But back in Exodus, when He was a cloud to the Israelites, He was half darkness to the Egyptians, but He gave light to the Israelites. So, it's kind of like He blinded their eyes, and yet He was a light to those who, you know, to the nation of Israel.

I don't know, I just found something about that interesting.

And He is, and that's kind of the way He works today. But yeah, I'm glad, let's move over to the next next set of that sentence there. Every eye will see Him. And again, God doesn't use every, you know, like we might use every, it's like every eye will see Him when He returns.

And so, you know, we know this is a monumental event in human history. We don't even have a word to describe it. But when He returns, every eye all over the world will see Him. And I, you know, maybe we want to just contemplate that a little bit and think how that, you know, how, you know, we again, we are limited in our physical understanding of these things. We think of the world as we have it today. We think of the, you know, the firmament of heaven that we see out there. And we might ask, we say, how does that happen? How is every eye going to see Him when He returns? I mean, we have, you know, so many people of the earth on the other side of the earth here. How are they going to see Him? And, you know, we know that God is over everything. However, He does that, He's going to make it happen because what is written in this Bible is absolutely going to come through. But there are some other things in the Bible. I know we had a little discussion this afternoon on something that related to that as well. You know, one comment was that, you know, God will roll back the heavens as a scroll, and everyone will see Him returning, you know. So as He comes back and the heavens are opened up, which is going to be an event that mankind knows this isn't a natural event. This is something that is only a God. The heavens roll back as a scroll. Jesus Christ returns with this cloud, whatever that is, behind Him. And they see Him coming with a cloud, and He returns to earth. Is that supernaturally that everyone sees that at that time? Is there another explanation that might be in the Bible, you know, for that as well? You know, again, we won't know until Jesus Christ returns, but there are interesting things to contemplate. Yes.

What color is it going to be? Is it going to be a fluffy cloud, or could it be a really dark black coin cloud? That would get everybody's attention. I missed part of it. Let me, let me, I'm trying to see if we can turn our microphones off when we're not talking. It'll help. Okay, one more time, Frank. I'm sorry. All right. Hold on. Let me find. I'm going to mute you, Frank. I'm going to mute everyone, and then turn your microphone back on. Okay. Okay. I forget this. I think it's in Isaiah, but it talks about in that day, it, there'll be no night. So I've kind of gotten the idea that when he returns, he returns first over Jerusalem, and then circle with glow, with everybody pulling up, you know, from the dead as he passes over. So it's, it may be a 24-hour event. He starts a Jerusalem, goes around the world, comes back to Jerusalem, and then, then, here we are, we'll see. Okay. Yes, we'll see people being resurrected and taken up under the clowns with him. Okay. And the clowns will grow. Okay. Do you have any verses that, that might go along with that, Frank? Or?

It's the one I didn't, I can't remember what it is. It's a savior. It talks about, in that day, it will be no night.

Right. It's a enterprise. I can't remember where that is. Okay. All right. Thank you.

Yeah. Paul, do you want to, yeah, okay. Well, I would read Matthew 24 verse 27 and verse 31, and also Psalms 19, five and six.

Okay. Let's, let's, let's go over there. I had never heard that theory, or I shouldn't say theory. I had never heard that, that thought before this afternoon, so I find this very interesting. But Paul, you want to go ahead and read Matthew 24? What's 27?

I don't have it in front of me. Okay. Is it, is it, is it verse 27 you said?

Yeah, 27 and 31. Okay. Again, Christ's words, verse 27, for as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Okay. From east to west, it kind of gives the, gives the, you know, the, the, the path there. And in verse 31, and he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other.

So what, what Frank was describing, and Paul has given us some verses to look at here, would indicate that perhaps, you know, perhaps that's what it will be. A, A, and an event, you know, often, often I think, and I know how I think, it's like, what's the shortest point to get from here to there?

And if I was Jesus Christ, would he come from heaven, go right down to the Battle of Armageddon, go right to the Mount of Olives. But for all the world to see, you know, it might be that he will take rotation around the earth with the armies of heaven, following him as they see him circling the earth.

And perhaps as he goes, you know, putting verse 31 together with 1 Thessalonians 4, 17, that were gathered up in the air, you know, who knows? You know, who knows? There is some, there's something there that's interesting to think about, though.

Paul mentioned Psalm 19, too. Let's go back to Psalm 19. I'm going to be, I'm going to come back to Psalm 19 later on in this study as well.

Psalm 19 is the Psalm, you know, we sing to him in churches, the heavens, God's glory, duty, clair.

From the Shabbin. Yes, sir. Before we read Psalm 19, one translation reads verse 27 this way, as for the light of the day, as for the light of the day, which comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west. So that would agree with the, what the elder is saying there.

So it's not lightning, it's like as the light of the day shines from east to west. But there's like a second sun appears in east and moves for the west. The west.

And that's where Psalm 19 comes into play now. Oh, I see. For us, it's a lightning and it can just mean light too. I think if I look that up later, it could just be light for us. The light comes from the east and flashes to the west. The sun. I'll also say that it'll be dark, though, anyways, because the sun won't be shining. So when Christ comes back, it'll be even more evident, because it'll be him. If he does come and make the loop around, it'll be dark and it'll be unmistakable. The lightning is coming. And you guarantee every eye will see that, won't they? Imagine being in darkness, and then how bright it'll be with this bright light. It'll be super blinding. Yeah, it won't be something predictable like what's coming on the 4th of July. Everybody's like, ooh! Absolutely. Absolutely.

Go ahead, but there's so many of the things that we see in the New Testament, we can go back, you know, through the Old Testament and see. And it's just a little bit of light, you know, in Psalm 19. You know, when we look at Christ's words and the discussion we're having, you know, in Psalm 19 verse 5, right before verse 5, it says, in them he has set a tabernacle for the Son, right? Jesus Christ is the Son. Very, very, very bright, impossible to look at. He's the one who's coming back as it's like, he has set a tabernacle for the Son, which is like a bridegroom. And we know Jesus Christ is returning as the bridegroom to take his bride. He has set a tabernacle for the Son, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. Comes out of heaven, returning to earth, rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. So you look at that verse in context with Matthew 24, 27, and 31. And, you know, every eye will see him in Revelation 1.7. You know, if there's something that we see, you know, there as well. It's very interesting when you put the verses together and see what maybe the Bible is revealing to us. Mr. Shady? Yes, sir.

My wife found this scripture. I put it in the text and said, I'm Sakurai 14. It's a verse.

All the saints are coming with him. And then in verse 6 it says, in the Jacobic past, in that day, the light should be not clear or dark, but it is one day which is known to or not day nor night.

But it shall come to pass that at any time it shall be light. So that's where I got the idea. Okay. Yeah. Sakurai 14, 6, and 7. There will be no light. The lights will diminish. Exactly what you read. Yeah. Very interesting, you know. As we go through Revelation, we'll be going back to Sakurai because we're going to see some direct correlations between that book and Revelation. And there's one there. That would be a direct correlation to this verse. So Revelation 1-7.

Okay. So next time you read Revelation 1-7, but we have more in Revelation 1-7, you know, even besides that. So we kind of see what God is doing. This is going to be an event that mankind will have no doubt that something is happening they, you know, have never seen before and can't be explained as a natural phenomenon. The next phrase there in verse 7 is, you know, well, He has come with clouds. Every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.

So what about even those who pierced Him? What, you know, what, you know, I mean, what do you think about that? How would we explain that verse? Even they who pierced Him.

I mean, we know who pierced Him, you know, the people at His crucifixion were there who pierced Him. Will they see Him at that time too? Or is it talking about at the time of His return? Is it talking by the time sometime when they're resurrected? What, you know, I've heard before in the past, Mr. Shaby, that, you know, that's referring to all of humanity because we're all responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. We're all guilty of that, including the people that were, are there at His return and then as those are, others are resurrected later and stuff. So I've heard, I've heard that too. You know, you got a, you got a verse in the Old Testament that we might be able to look at and that might correlate to that part of that verse. Let's look at Zechariah. Zechariah, because there's Zechariah 1210, kind of says the same thing in Revelation 1.7 there.

And it might shine a little bit of light onto, onto this. We'll see Zechariah 1210.

You know, my Bible, whenever it's talking about the Messiah and their opinion, it's a little star. It's a little star beside Zechariah 12 verse 10 that's there in the Bible and says, And I will pour on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and application. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Okay, they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn. And then, you know, as you read through the rest of the next three or four verses there that complete that chapter, you see that's a time yet in the future. So it's talking about those who pierced him and certainly, you know, in that context, it's, you know, we would all look at that and say, yes, we pierced him. We sinned. We were part of the cause of his death. You know, it's interesting when you look at that verse, it uses the word on, or is the word on, and I know one of the Bible dictionaries I looked at, Expositor's Bible dictionary, said, you know, probably more appropriately translated to where the word on is there, then they will look to me whom they pierced. And that puts a different spin on that verse and an understanding as well, because certainly when Christ returns, the whole world will look to him. He will be the Savior. He'll be the Lawgiver. He'll be the one who teaches and leads, and we will follow him. But there is a correlation because we got the same verbiage there about me whom they pierced, and then in Revelation, it looks like they will, every eye will see him, and we know in just the conversations that we had, that's, you know, we just had. Every eye that is alive will see him. So we're in the present tense, I guess, if you will, in verse 7, and then it says, even though they who pierced him. You know, I don't know. I don't know. You know, we've got, boy, he is coming with clouds. Every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. You know, we know every eye will. What does God have in mind? I don't know.

I didn't find anything on our church's website that really answers that question definitively, and that may be one we just have to wait and see what God means. Certainly we pierced him, but the word even, even is signifying a specific group of people there, and not all of mankind. It was all of mankind. It would be all of us who pierced him, even they who pierced him. Seems to indicate a specific group of people that will have pierced him and then, you know, see his return in glory. Could that be referring to Christians? Because we're the ones that, we're also ones that pierced him, and we'll see him. Just a thought.

I don't have an answer to that one. Just a thought. I think it's kind of, we just, when we look at it, and we can ask God, what do you mean by that? And we may have to wait until he returns to see what he has in mind. So, no? There's an example of when Christ was on the stake, and he spoke to the guy next to him. He said, today it was future-indicated. And it's the same thing here with every owl. We'll see his future-indicated. So, meaning, when he returns, during the millennia, and then those will come up from the rest of the dead. It's a big owl, yes. Yes, if we look at Isaiah 53 verse 5, it says, but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. In other words, the weight of our sin. This is, and instead of figuratively saying that he was pierced, you know, a particular group pierced him. We all pierced him by the weight of our sins which he bore for us. And I think that's what pierced means in this sense. And that's why it's every one of us, not a particular group per se, but all of us, all mankind pierced him because he was pierced for our transgression, not for the transgression of the Jews or the transgression of the Gentiles. He was pierced for our transgressions. That's the weight of the sin is what this is.

I can't disagree with that. I mean, we all pierced and we all had a part in his death, so I can't argue with that. And that may be exactly what that means. And I don't have any problem with that, if that's what it means. It's just an interesting way for God to have presented that. And when he talks about the magnitude and the specter of Jesus Christ's return and the supernatural way that he will do it. That's all we're all talking about here. You know, if we go first, go ahead.

Yeah, Frank.

All right. The thought that has been in my mind is who demanded he be crucified?

The Jews. And who was he married to? And that divorced the Jews. So, possibly, you know, speculation at this point. That could have been saying that the Jews are going to think that when they return, they appear. So, I mean, that's just another thought. Yep. And in Zachary 12, verse 10, it does talk about Jerusalem and the Jews, and they will mourn, right? And the last part of verse 7 there talks about all the tribes of the Europe will mourn because of him. They're not going to want him to return. So, Mr. Shavey. Yes, sir.

And the dead are asleep. And when you sleep, you sometimes dream. Is it possible that those people that he speaks to, even though they're piercing, are seeing this as a dream, as a vision, even though they're sleeping and not being erected yet? Would that be a way?

Yeah, I think this is a real live event, right? John is seeing it in a vision, but this is a real event. I mean, this is something that's, this is world-changing, if you will. So, now, I don't think it's a dream. Mr. Shavey. Yes, sir. I mean, the truth is real, but to the people who are asleep, the people who pierced him, they're not going to be there during that resurrection, during coming down. But they might be dreaming it. Oh, I see what you're saying. Okay. Hey, this is what's happening. You guys are still dead or asleep. But I'm resurrecting the other people now. Good night. Okay. Well, remember, the Greek says future indicator, so it's not going to stop until every human being I have seen. So, it's many returns during the millennia, be during the millennium, thousand years, and then the rest of the dead, among whom those Roman soldiers literally did the piercing, who would be among them. But they're also the ones that indeed, this was the Son of God. So, you know, it would be even more eye-opening for them at that moment when they're raised up, if they did not become one of the saints prior to their death. Exactly. Yeah, I think, okay, Paul, is that what you were going to say? Okay. Yeah, yeah, I think ultimately, every eye will see him, and that's right down to the two or three or four Roman soldiers that physically pierced him.

But we're all guilty. We all pierced him. He, you know, he was pierced for us, and I think it includes all of that. It's just a matter of timing. Okay. Hi, Matthew. Hey, James. Hey, how you doing? Um, I kind of want to go off my list and see if I can get this right.

I really do. Um, the sisters are talking about all the same and the same in the past.

My first best part is about teaching them some kind of a sentence. So teaching them to teach them about self-doubt, about the past, because if you remember the two sisters, after they were killed, they were really not human. And so, when the helpful boys in heaven came and did that, they were not human. When they were treated after heaven, they were not very sad. When they were willing to help them, they were not. So, um, they were kind of like a resurrection, you know, actually, before, like, two-thirds, you know, that they think that they could depart and they could escape. They're not, you know, third-party, or a five-year-old. So, I think that's what they're supposed to do. They're supposed to take a step back and say, okay, this is going to happen. You know, in our files, you know, it's not going to be somewhere in our files.

Okay, you might, I got just part of that, James. You might want to check your microphone and everything because I think maybe it's just, it was my reception. I was having a hard time following everything there, so.

Okay.

No, you're still there.

Okay, okay. Let's, anyone else on verse 7? We spent almost an hour here and we've gotten through one verse, maybe. So, anything else on verse 7? We can spend the whole time on verse 7. It is certainly an interesting verse, so. Okay, let's, you know, let's move on to verse 8 and everything. Verse 8, you know, it's Christ, you know, John is completely taught there in verse 7. I am the Alpha, I'm the Omega, I'm the beginning, and the end says the Lord, who is, who was, and who is to come the Almighty. I don't think we have to spend any time on that. Jesus Christ, you know, He is the one who is, was, and always will be. We talked about John, you know, verse 9 last time, and John and, you know, his, well, who he was and how he, you know, how God used him to write this book. So, let's stop down to verse 10 here. John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. And let's just stop there for a moment. You know, many in the world would say that Lord's day represents Sunday. What do you, what do you, what do we think about that? What, how is, how would you, if someone said, well, it says right there, John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, the Lord's day is Sunday. How would you explain to someone that that isn't what John was talking about? Is there something, even a clue in that verse, that would indicate why that isn't a day of the week, or the Lord's day, as the world calls it? Well, even if it was a day of the week, it would have to be the Sabbath, because he said he was the Lord of the Sabbath. But of course, that's not, it's not talking about a day of the week, but if it were, it would have to be the Sabbath, not Sunday. Right. Okay. But to a Sunday believer who would say, there you have it right there, the Lord's day. He, this is where he's talking. God gave him this revelation on Sunday, on his day, and everything. Because we know, we know what he's referring to there, right? He's referring to the, does everyone agree? He's referring to the day of the Lord, not the Lord's day, as the world would call it, the Lord's day. And there is a clue right there in verse 10, you know, that tells us what he's talking about. We literally read through the whole verse. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard a voice behind me, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet. So when we celebrate the Feast of Trumpets, what is one of the things that signifies? You know, it signifies the day of the Lord, right? The return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the time of trouble that comes on the earth, the time of God's wrath on mankind, the day of the Lord. So as John is turning to see, and he's in the Spirit, he says, you know, there's that alliteration of a trumpet that's there. I was in the Spirit on the, you know, he could have just as well said the day of the Lord. I was in the Spirit on the day of the Lord. Lord's day is exactly the same as saying day of the Lord. And I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet. And so we could kind of look at the Holy Days and, you know, listen to the trumpets that are there and say that this is the same thing that we talk about when we're observing the Feast of Trumpets, and we talk about the day of the Lord. And that's where John is as he's putting the setting here. He's in the day of the Lord.

Discussion on that? Or anyone want to have another view on that or anything?

If not, I'm going to go on to verse 11, okay, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what you see, Christ says to John, write in a book, send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Now, we talked about before the seven churches that were in Asia Minor there. Let me just, you know, briefly remind us that the work of God in the churches at this point in time, the 90s AD, it was no longer in Jerusalem. The church wasn't in Jerusalem. They had fled during the time of Nero. The true Christians fled to Pelop. God began calling Gentiles. And we have these churches that have risen up here in Asia Minor. And the work of the church was largely centered there in Asia Minor. When you look at the epistles that have been written, you know, that we have in the Bible to us, we see, you know, we see Paul writing to Corinth and to Rome and to Ephesus, you know, Ephesus.

And, you know, these letters that are going to go out to these seven churches, we see others that write to the scattered churches, the scattered tribes of Israel. We have Hebrews who isn't addressed to anyone, but we don't have any letters that are addressed to the church in Jerusalem because it isn't there anymore.

That's not where the center of the work and the church is at that point. And in this time of age, at this time, it's in verse 11, it's in Asia Minor where these seven churches are on that male route that completes that route that God is talking about. You know, similarly today, you know, the church is pretty much in America today. This is where God is working today. This is where, you know, he has headquartered his church in this day and age. When Christ returns, it'll return to Jerusalem. But today isn't, it's not Jerusalem we look at today because it's not God's plan today that the church is in Jerusalem.

It's here in America. And so, just as it was back there in the time of the seven churches. So we have, you know, that is happening and Christ names them. Send it to these seven churches, these letters. And John, you can picture is that is, go ahead, someone has a comment or, okay, John has a comment, you know, he turns as he hears his voice. He says, I turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. So Christ says these words. You can picture John turning around and what he sees are seven golden lampstands.

You know, the word golden there is a very good description, I guess, gold, you know, we talk about gold, it's just a, it's kind of like the premier element that's out there. And the, you know, if it's golden, it's a very, very, very high quality. So these lampstands aren't just the run-of-the-mill lamps, they're just golden lampstands and obviously of high quality. So if we turn, you know, over to verse 20 of Revelation 1, we don't have to guess what these seven lampstands that John sees are because Christ interprets it right here in the same chapter.

And in verse 20, you know, he says, the mystery of the seven stars, we'll get to that in a little bit, which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands, which you saw, they are the seven churches. And remember, as we talked about last time, I think briefly, you know, lampstand, I've got a lamp, you know, right here on my desk, a shining light down on my notes so that I can see if I turned it off, I'd have a hard time looking at my notes, because it's beginning to get a little bit dark out there and everything.

So when God looks down at his churches, his people who have responded to him, those who have, have yielded to him, those who are, you know, have been baptized, whose hope and his Holy Spirit is living in us and guiding us and directing us and we're allowing him to do that.

What he sees is he looks down there, those are like lampstands on the earth. It's a very dark world, right? Jesus Christ came to bring light to the world. He says, I'm the light. I'm the one who brings light to the world. And he tells us, UV lights to the world.

And so individually we're lights to the world and collectively as the church, the church of God, we're the lights that he looks down on a very dark world that has lost its way, that's under the sway of someone other than him that doesn't know him, that doesn't follow him.

And so as you look at the symbolism of what God uses here, and we're part of that church, we're part of the light of that world. And along with that being part of that light, it puts a huge responsibility on us that we should be very, very happy that God has called us to carry and that he gives us the strength and the power to be able to be part of that light that shines on the world in our individual lives as well as part of the church.

Because individual lights don't light up much, but part of the church, you know, and these seven lampstands that go into the seven churches that are there in Revelation, but that also then, you know, light up the world from the time that Jesus Christ began his church until the time of his return, they provide that constant light in a world that would otherwise be dark. So we don't have to wonder about what the interpretation of that is because Christ gives us what the interpretation is. So let's go back to verse 13, then.

God turns and he sees these seven golden lampstands. Jesus Christ has just given him the names of the seven churches that these letters are to go to, this book is to go to. It says, in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet, girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine grass, as if refined and a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. You know, as you read through those things, it reminds us of other descriptions that we've had of Jesus Christ, right? You know, I look at that word, refined, in verse 15. When I hear the word refined, I mean, I think of, you know, what God says to the church in Laodicea. I counsel you to a church that has lost its way, that's gotten weak, that's gotten lazy, that's gotten one foot in the world, and, you know, forgotten many of the things that God has taught them to be, and hasn't really, truly come out of the world, but instead migrated back into the world in so many ways. You know, he says, I counsel of you, buy of me gold, refined in the fire. And here's Jesus Christ in a description of him, and it says, his feet were like grass, refined and a furnace. And we're told of him, you know, the only man, the only human has ever lived a perfect life, you know, he was made perfect through his sufferings. He was refined, he was made perfect through sufferings, and it reminds us that as we go through our lives, we'll be made perfect as we're refined, as we're refined in the fire, and we come out to be the, you know, the fighting workmanship that God is working in, in each of us. So let me, let me pause there, but you can be turning back to Daniel 10. And again, to tie some of these back into the prophecies, because the book of Revelation isn't something that God just came up with after Jesus Christ, and said, now we've got to finish the plan. And they gave it to John 60 years after Jesus Christ ascended. It was all there before the foundation of the earth. And we have, you know, pictures of the same things back in the Old Testament. And one of those is in Daniel 10 that has virtually the same description that we've just read here in Revelation 1. So be turning back there, but if there's any comments, any thoughts, you know, that's, that, that feel for, feel free to comment. So.

Go ahead, Bursar. Okay. And again, you know, you know me, I'm just going to keep talking, so feel free to interrupt me. Okay. Let's look at Daniel 10 and verse 5. Here's Daniel, right? He's, he's been in prayer. He's had these visions. He's asking God, give me understanding of what it is, that, that, what it is, that all these things that you're showing me mean. And he keeps asking, he keeps asking. And finally, God is going to give him the answers, much the same way we might ask God, give us understanding, help us to know the things that are there.

And he doesn't answer us at the same time, but as time goes by, we understand more and more. Here we pick up in verse 5. It says, I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with the gold of Eufaz. So we have Christ, you know, with a gold around his chest.

Here we have this man who's got a waist who's girded with gold, the fine quality, the fine quality that it represents. His body was like barrel, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.

You know, same thing that John is saying, the same vision that he's having in Revelation 1, Daniel is having back here in Daniel 10 and Old Testament times. And in verse 7, it says, I, Daniel, am the one who saw it. The people who were with me didn't see it, but they were afraid when they realized what was going on.

And he says in verse 8, I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me, for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. Now, I do want to draw attention to that. You know, here's Daniel, a man of God. He's prayed to God. He's given his life to God. He's, you know, we don't find anything negative written in the Bible about Daniel.

He was a very loyal servant to God, even living in the face of Babylon, you know, the greatest empire on earth at that time. And here as he comes into the presence of this being, you know, his strength leaves him. He just falls. He has no strength because he's in the presence of this being.

He never, you know, he had no nothing. He, he, it just drained him. And it's a picture, you know, we're going to see the same thing in Revelation as John, who walked with Jesus Christ, who saw Jesus Christ, who, you know, he was his friend for those three and a half years, and John remained loyal to him. We're going to see John having the exact same reaction when he sees Jesus Christ in the vision that Daniel has here, right?

And so he says, I just had no strength. And he goes, yet I heard the sound of his words. And while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep on my face with my face to the ground. Suddenly a hand touched me, which may be tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, Daniel, greatly beloved, understand, understand the words that I speak to you.

And then he kind of begins to reveal to him what those visions that he has, has. But, you know, look at, look at Daniel's reaction, which is the human reaction to being in the presence of a supreme, you know, a spirit being, a spirit being, right? And Daniel was, Daniel knew God, but there's something that, you know, we, you know, says that we will one day, our eyes will see Jesus Christ. How will we respond to that?

You know, perhaps exactly like Daniel did, perhaps exactly like John did as we go back here to Revelation 1. And we see in verse 17, you know, as John sees, as John sees his vision and, and exactly what this being, the Son of Man is, you know, walking around, walking through the midst of these lampstands, he's always with his church. He's always there when we're together. He's there with us.

He's very interested in what we're doing. And in verse 17, John writes, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. I fell at his feet as dead. You know, he knew Jesus Christ. He walked with him for those three and a half years. He knew him. He remained loyal all the years, all those decades between the time of his ascension and the time that he, you know, and the time that he's returning.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, but he laid his right hand on me and said to me, don't be afraid. I'm the first and the last. I'm he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forever. More. Amen. So we kind of see the reaction, and it probably is a picture of how we will react when we see Jesus Christ and we we behold him in all of his glory, you know, when that time comes. So, you know, I think that's just interesting as you put the pieces together, and as you look and see how the men of God who were very close to God, you know, how they reacted these things, and the similarity in the descriptions that we have of Jesus Christ and these spirit beings, you know, and Daniel, it doesn't appear to be Jesus Christ who was there, but in an archangel that that was there, but the complete lack of strength, the complete humility that comes when we're in the face of Jesus Christ or in the face of God.

No room for pride, even even the greatest among us, the most powerful who might think they're the most powerful in the presence of God. We are humble, and we are nothing, and that's the same attitude that God is looking for in us as we come into his presence and walk his way of life. All strength that we have in ourselves leaves now we know we have something in him. Yes, sir. Oh, what makes you differentiate between the one Daniel saw and the one John saw in the vision? Because later on it says he was battling with, he was battling with the Persian. Yeah, it was Gabriel.

Yeah. Yeah, and Christ says God doesn't fight with creations. Yeah. He would destroy them, or he sends a servant to fight with them. Yeah, but as as Daniel even saw that spirit being in his glory, it floored him. So, yeah, brother Shabod, the Greek word for glory has the root word for weight.

So, it has the root word for weight. W-A-I-T? Yeah, like weight, like heavy. Whoa, weight. Okay, okay. W-E-I-G-H-D-R. So, it has the recantation of weight. So, whenever we or anyone comes in the presence of a spirit being our spirit being the presence of God and Christ, they feel weight.

Okay, and it pushes us down, and here we have these men who are prostrate on the ground when they come in the presence. Very good. Okay. Oh, we behold his glory. Yeah. So, one brother says, God is the heavy weight or the heaviest. In a sense, a box again. Just use a human.

Okay, excellent. Okay, let's move ahead to verse 16. I'm not trying to get to the boy where he's left off this afternoon. I don't know if we're gonna get as far as we did this afternoon or not. In verse 16, you know, it says, he, speaking of price, he had in his hand, right hand, seven stars, out of his mouth with a sharp two-edged sword. Now, you know, when we read sharp two-edged sword, we know that we've seen that phrase in times before. I'm not gonna take the time to turn back to where it's sharp two-edged sword. Let me give you some verses here on sharp two-edged sword that you can look at later. Find where I am here. Sharp two-edged sword. Verse 16, Hebrews 4.12. That's okay. Very good. That is one of them. I'm looking at my notes. I don't have them highlighted here, but, uh, Hebrews... Oh, no! I haven't written my Bible. Hebrews 4.12, Ephesians 6.17, and then, of course, in Revelation 19 verses 12 through 15, you know, talks about Jesus Christ. His name is the Word of God. So, um, you can have those references. Again, the Bible is consistent in referring to Jesus Christ as the two-edged sword. We'll get back to the seven stars here in a minute, and it says, His countenance was like the sun. You know, we've already talked about the sun, right? We talked about Psalm 19. We talked about the brightness of Jesus Christ. His countenance was like the sun shining in its, in its strength. You know, you can also mark down, and you can take the time to look there later. Second time, you know, 23 verse 4 also talks about the brightness, and His brightness in the sun that's there. And the sun is the brightest thing that we know in this, in this universe we live in, and the only thing that John could possibly, you know, in his language or ours refer, compare Christ to is, is the brightness of the sun.

And He's that bright as He, as He returns to earth. Once we move on, then, you know, we've done 17 and 18.

19, Christ again is, is reminding John as we get into the messages of the seven churches, He says, write the things which you've seen and the things which are. Okay, John, you got a vision. Write down what you've seen. Write down the things that are and the things which will take place after this. So this is a prophecy that some of the things as we go through the seven churches, we're not going to go through all of them tonight or even the next time, right? We're going to kind of take it one by one with the seven churches is, you know, some of the things are, as we go through these, we're going to see where some of these prophecies have already been fulfilled, you know, about the church. But it doesn't mean that there isn't something in meaning for us going forward. So these are things that a vision is there of what's going to come. It's going to be talking about, there's the seven churches, things that are going to take place, some things that already happened to the church. Is this, this is talking about a church that began with Jesus Christ and it goes on until the return of Jesus Christ. And so there are prophetic things in here and some history in here as well. And we're going to see a little bit of that as we go through this.

So let's, but let's go down to verse 20 here. He says, the mystery of the seven stars, the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, right? When we see right hand, this is kind of the assistance. This is, this is, you know, our right hand is the one that we use to, you know, for right handed that we write with. And when someone is their right hand man, this is someone, this is something that, you know, God holds highly. These are, these are seven stars in his right hand. They're there, his assistance. The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands we read about, he says the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. Now we've already talked about the lampstands. In chapter two, verse one, he addresses this section to the angel of the Church of Ephesus. To the angel crisis, to John, to the angel of the Church of Ephesus, right. These things say he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, from the midst of the seven golden lampstands. Let's talk about the word angel there. Who is John? Who is God addressing this to? What might he mean to the angel of the Church of Ephesus?

And we say it down through each of the seven churches, through the angel of the Church of Smyrna, through the angel of the Church of Pergamos, etc. What might be the significance of that? That these little letters are addressed to the angel of each of these churches?

Could it be the ministry? It's the leaders.

It could be. If you look up, I don't know if Bob Luther is still with us, if you look up the Greek word for angel there, it's angelos, means messenger. You look at those things and you think, well, again, this is where you can't look at commentaries in the book of Revelation because they're all over the place. They have no idea what this is talking about. So they'll say, they're guardian angels from the churches.

They're there to guard the people in that day and age, or they're there to serve the church in that day and age. And yet we read in Hebrews that the angels are ministering spirits. They're there for all of us. So there's not just one guardian angel for each of these churches or church eras. This is that God is saying, you know, to this messenger, this is what to say to this church era.

And as we look at the various messages to the churches, you know, we come to realize it's, you know, what's talked about, Ephesus, isn't just about a church in Ephesus. It's about all of people down through the ages that God has called. We look at the things in Pergamos and Smyrna. It's not just their problem that we might be reading about. It's universal. It's for all of us to learn from.

And then the messages of the seven churches are very strong messages, you know, so we're going to take some time to go through those, but not one right after another. But let's... where am I here? Let's spend... you know, we already talked about, in chapter two, we already talked about Ephesus a little bit in the sermon last week, and not too long before that as well.

Let's look what God says to this messenger of the church of Ephesus. And I don't know. I don't know. I would... well, we don't know, but you know, we can look at Ephesus. So we see the Apostle Paul, for instance, right?

And when you read through Ephesians, and when you read through Acts, and you see where Paul began to work with that church in Ephesus, you know, he loved that church. They looked at him as the messenger, and he was there for several years, and then when he was leading, leaving, you see in Acts 20, he's just... he's very hard to program. He doesn't want them to leave, but he know he needs to, and tells him, I know when I leave, false prophets are going to come among you. I know that there's going to be those who rise up in the midst of you, and lure some of you away.

And he's heartbroken. That's his church, and as he's there, and they look to him, you know, could it be? Could it be that he's the messenger? He's already dead by this time that this is written, but you know, is he the messenger to the church of Ephesus? The very first era of the church, the very first beginning of the church there, that's headquartered in Asia Minor, because he was the Apostle to the Gentiles. Pure speculation on my part, I don't know. It's just interesting as you look at it, but this, you know, let's just read through the words here. You know, God telling the messenger to the church of Ephesus, I know your works.

I know your labor, your patience. I know that you cannot bear those who are evil. You've tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and you have found them liars. You know what church, the first church, all those who, as we come in the church, maybe the first time that we come in and we have the first love, he'll talk about it a little bit later. You've done those things. You've compared. You've proved all things. You're holding on to those things that are true. You've done those things.

You've listened to this and said, that's not of the Bible. I'm not following that person. I'm going to keep my, I'm going to keep my eyes and focus on the church that teaches the truth. Every word of the Bible. I know your works. You've had energy. You've done these things. You've done the works. You've been patient. You've been patient. You are discerning good from evil and truth from error. And you've persevered and you have patience and you've labored for my namesake and you have not become weary.

And yet, and yet, he says, I have something against you. You've left your first love. We talked about that last week and the first part of that sermon on surviving the end times. He gives a very strong message to all of us, not just the church at Ephesus, who may not have the first love. We all, as we have been in the church 5, 10, 15, 50, 60 years, boy, we need to examine ourselves. Have we left the first love? Are we the same people back then? Are we a zealous? Do we see things the different or have we wandered back into the world? Put some of our trust there.

And he says, he uses the word repent. Same thing that he says in Ezekiel to Israel, return to me. Repent. Turn from your ways and the ways you're doing things and return to me. Remember where you've fallen from. Remember how you used to be. Remember how things were in the beginning. And repent. Return to me and do the first works. And it's a certain warning, or I will come to you quickly and I'll remove your lampstand.

You'll no longer be the light that I called you to be from its place unless you repent, unless you return to me. You know, and John, the apostle John, he's in a unique perspective. He's got 60 years of experience here in the church and he's seen things happen. Through his life, he's remained loyal to Christ, right?

If indeed he was Christ's day, same age when he was called, you know, when he's a 95 AD, he's, you know, 90 years old, knows, and followed Christ for, you know, 60-some years here. Let's just go back to one of his epistles and I'll give you another thing to read on your own here, but let's go back to 2 John.

2 John, just one chapter. And John, who has been there in the early days of Jesus Christ, you know, he knows what the verse love is like. He's seen that as he's worked with people in the church and he's seen what's happened to people over the course of time. You know, in verse 4 of 2 John, he says, I rejoice greatly that I found some of your children walking in truth as we received commandment from the Father. The same thing that we taught back then, the way you were living back then, you know, you're still teaching it. You're still living that way. That's awesome! And I oh, I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. The truth of God is still the truth of God. You know, stick to it. Keep your, keep your zeal alive. Keep that spirit as we talked about. Keep the fans, the flames fan and alive. This is love that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. Return to me.

Go back. Remember the first works. Do the things the way you used to do it, not the way it's been watered down in your mind, not as you've allowed yourself to wander back into the world and forget some of the zeal that you had and the faith that you had and all the things that we have of God. And he says in verse 7, what happens? For many deceivers have gone out into the world who don't confess Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. They were with us, but somewhere along the line, they left the zeal. And you know what? They've gone back to the world. Look to yourselves, he says in verse 8, that we don't lose those things we work for, but that we may receive a full reward. What he's saying there is the same thing God's inspiring to write in Revelation. Return to me. Go back. Remember. Do the things the way that you did before. Clean up our acts. Go from a Laodicean attitude to a Philadelphian attitude. And use the spirit to do that. You can also read through John's third epistle, and you'll see the same thing.

You'll see the same thing there, as you see, you know, diatrophes. He used to be with them, but as he left his first love and got a little closer to this, a little closer to that, and allowed thoughts to come into his mind, all of a sudden he was gone. He was gone, and then he was maligning the Church of Christ. Then he was against it. And it's a very sad progression that you can see, but in this first epistle that applies to everyone, everyone that's ever lived that has been in God's Church and received his Holy Spirit, it's a warning to us. Go back, go back and look at those things. And that's a very strong message to this very first foundational letter here that precedes all the rest of the things that we will write, that we will read. Verse 6, I'm rushing up because I don't want to keep you too much longer, but I would like to get through, you know, verse 7 here.

And then he says, but this you have, you know, he kind of gives him a, he kind of tells him, this is where you, this is where you've left things, right? But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. And two times in these seven letters, God talks about the deeds of the Nicolaitans. So I think it's important that we kind of know, and maybe do some research into what those deeds of the Nicolaitans are. And so I'm going to kind of throw out something, you know, to the men out there, our sermonette givers, or those who would like to do some research and put together, you know, a sermonette that we might have in the next couple weeks as part of our Sabbath service on what are the deeds of the Nicolaitans? How does that apply to us today? What are the type of things we should be looking at in ourselves when God says, you know what, church and Ephesus? You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. And then later on, you know, he chives the church that, that, that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. And he says, get rid of it. I think we need to kind of know where that is. And we've probably heard those things. It's been several years. But I'll throw that out to anyone who might want to, you know, do a little research on that and put something together on it. I would like to see what you put together. And, you know, maybe here in a couple weeks, we can have a sermonette on that as part of a Sabbath service. And we won't belabor it here because I think we can take the entire Bible study time and just talking about the Nicolaitans and whatever.

But let me kind of conclude in verse seven and, and, and, and finish, finish this up. You know, every single letter of the, of the letters ends the same way. It all begins the same way. To the angel of this church, write. To the messenger of this church, write. And it all concludes the same way. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. To he who overcomes. Yeah, we've had sermons on overcoming. It's been a while. It's something that, you know, would bear our study during the week again. You know, we are all called to overcome. Every, the book is full of, of over, overcoming. And just, just briefly, let me just go back to 1 John here, and I'll give you some other verses that, that you can look at on overcoming. Among the ones that you already know, but here in 1 John 4, and verse 4, you know, he's talking about those who discern, you know, discern the spirits and everything. It says, you are of God, John writes, the same John who received the revelation. You are of God, little children, and you've overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. You know, we know that we, we as human beings, we cannot overcome the world. We can't even overcome our own desires without the Spirit of God. It is his, it is his spirit, his strength that we rely on. And what John is saying there is you've overcome them, because he who's in you, the Spirit of God in you is greater than the Spirit that's naturally in you, the carnal nature, the human nature that makes us happen. You've, you've got to understand that what God has given you is the ability to overcome. Now John, in John 16 33, you know, Christ said, be of good cheer to his disciples, for I have overcome the world. And he's given us the same spirit that Jesus Christ has. And as he set the example that he overcame the world, you know, with God's Holy Spirit, so can we, if we're dedicated to it, and if we, you know, if we have the restraint that we have the self control that God gives us as a fruit to that spirit, to do that. In 1 John 5 verse 4, it says, whatever is born of God overcomes the world, overcomes the world, you know, comes out of the world, there's no longer partaking of that world, there's no longer there, doesn't happen overnight, it happens through the course of our lifetime, whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world. Our faith. Having faith in God. Who is he who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. And again, when you read that word, believes, remember that it means such a deep belief that that shakes us to the core, that it changes the way we think, changes the way we act, react, and our whole being that we follow, we follow him implicitly. So, you know, we could we could talk about some other things here in overcoming, but let me give you just a couple more verses you can look at if you want them.

You know, Romans 12, 21, Romans 8, 37, 1 Corinthians 15, 57, whenever you read of the victory that we have over self and over the world, it's because of God. And even here in the book of Revelation, later on in the book in chapter 12, it talks about, you know, the church in the end time.

This would be you and I. Chapter 12 of Revelation and verse 11, it says they, okay, the church that's on earth at the time Satan is cast to earth, and God says, whoa, whoa, you know, whoa, whoa to the people that are alive at that time, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they didn't love their lives to the death.

Kind of a picture of what, you know, God, the strength he's given us, and what we do when we yield to him, you know, to follow him implicitly. Let me pause there, and I'll open it up for any comments. Let me tell you what kind of what my plan is here as we go forward in the book of Revelation. We have seven churches, you know, we briefly covered Ephesus, but we've done that in the sermon, too. In the coming Bible studies, I would like to cover one church at a time.

So next time, next Wednesday, we'll cover the book of Smyrna, or the church of Smyrna, and we'll look at some of those things. And then the following week, we'll look at Permagimma. So we'll take seven, each church one time, so we can focus on what God is saying to that church, so that we don't mix things up, because each of these messages we have to take personally, right?

It's not just, we're going to see ourselves, and I mean individually and as a church, in each of these letters that are there, and we have to look at them. If we take them all at one time, it's overwhelming the amount of knowledge that's in there. If you take in the time to listen to Rex's sermons or Gary Petty's sermons, his series of five, you have an idea of how many are there, and I'll be looking to you, you know, to kind of chime in with some of the things that you saw during those times.

So as we spend the first part of the Bible study on one church, and maybe develop a list of the things that, you know, your own personal list, but maybe even things that we look at from the churches that we do, so we have the message that God is giving us, you know, as his body as well as individually, you know, it'll be meaningful to us. So we'll look at one church next time, Smyrna, and then we'll go into chapter four and should be able to get through chapter four and five next time.

What I'm going to do is send out by email here, you know, sometime in the next few days, probably, I don't know, maybe Friday. If you remember, we did some home Bible studies a couple years ago, and we talked about the history of the church, and we progressed the church from the time of Jesus Christ right up until the late ASEAN era, and talked about, you know, those things. And there were time frames that were listed among those things, and I think as we go through these areas, you might see some similarities in the things we talked back then, but some of the prophecies that we talked about, you're going to see fulfilled that that's all.

So I'll send that out, and we might take a little bit of time, but I'll let you more as a study tool as you look at each of these churches as we come into them, kind of look at that document that we put together back two, three years ago, and have that at your disposal. I think you'll find the messages to the seven churches come alive a little bit, you know, especially there's a part in Smyrna that will, you know, the history, I think that will speak to something that's specifically mentioned there in verse 10.

So I have talked enough, and I have... it's only 8.33. Okay, but I will open it up. I will open it up to any comments, questions that anyone has. Okay, I've worn you all out. You know, my wife, I should take a poll sometime, whether we need to reduce the Bible study soon. I don't want to wear people out. As soon as like an hour goes too quickly if we limit the Bible studies to 60 minutes. But if people thought that these are too long, let me know. I will come to take it a little bit slower and reduce the time a little bit on itself.

Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman. Yes. Oh, hey, Frank. Yes. Can God stand what I said about Zacharyv, chapter 14? Zacharyv 14, yes. All right. When Christ returns, He's bringing the light of truth. He's bringing the light of truth. So when He comes over Jerusalem, and as He goes around the world, when He makes a full circuit around the world, the whole world will be in light.

The whole world will see His light, yes. Yeah. Be in light. His light is enough to, you're right, His light is enough to illuminate the earth. That will be in light. They will be in darkness, but as He passes around, they will be in light. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, in Acts chapter, where Paul was explaining his experiences and counter with Christ, where Christ appeared to him, he described Christ as being brighter than the sun, His continents.

Yeah. It just depends on what got inspired in the light, because it really is just a comparative for our CUNY minds to really comprehend the glory of Christ and the Father and their angels and turbans and seraphim. It's really remarkable. It is. Yeah. In regards to Angelos, it's dative. So yes, you're right, Brother Shillier, where he says, it's whoever is a messenger to our time.

You say you're serving, this relates to you. If you are in this category of people, then it relates to you. Nobody's not just them, it's not just later, it's whenever.

And I think, you know, I think as we look at that church history, certainly, you know, there are names that are attached that come out in church history. I think we may even see what some of those people are and maybe the messages that they were preaching were very similar to what's here. They had no idea, perhaps, what they were doing, but yeah, it's very interesting when you look at that.

Okay, guys, anything else?

I'm glad everyone's home and no one has to drive, so that's a good thing.

You know, we will have our Sabbath webcast at 11 30. As usual, it'll be on the YouTube channel, the Sabbath. Again, those in Orlando who would like to come, if you can send me an email, just so I can kind of monitor how many we have coming, because I think I just told just about everyone yes, and I'm beginning to worry how many I've told. Yes. And then next Wednesday, we'll have the Bible studies again at 1 and 7. So.

Hey, Rick, we got one question to ask you. Yeah. Do you know if headquarters had taken their webcast off of Roku? I haven't been able to get it on Roku lately. Yeah, no. Yeah, no. Peter mentioned that in our meeting the other day, that there's something that's going on. They don't know what it is. It appears to be on Roku's side as opposed to ours. They've had all the systems looked at, but it might be a couple weeks yet before that live broadcast is back on Roku. That seems to be the part that's not working right. So. Okay. I was just curious, because I haven't been able to get it for a few weeks. Yep, yep. That's the problem. So.

Okay, thank you.

Good night, everyone. Bye.