Bible Study July 8, 2020

Okay, as you know, we record these so that it'll be available later on on the local websites as well. Before we get into the Church of Smyrna, let me go back. Well, before, is there anything anyone, any questions or anything people would like to talk about before we begin? You know, last week we covered the rest of Chapter 1 and the Church of Smyrna. Is there anything there that people would want to talk about and that maybe we need to revisit or anything? Let me go back then. Let me go back to verse 7 and chapter 1. Because it's a key verse. It's a key verse. And, you know, we had some discussion in the evening Bible study last week.

You know, there were some light shed on these things that I think is pretty exciting. So I wanted to share it with the afternoon group as well today, just so that you see that. In verse 7, you know, we talked about, behold, He is coming with clouds. And, you know, we talked about various things with that. But as you look at Acts 1 and you see that Jesus Christ ascended up into heaven and He disappeared into the clouds, it says that, you know, He'll come in like manner as you see Him go. So likely those clouds really are clouds that shield His brightness. You know, none of us would be able to look on God's face and live. He is so bright, brighter than the sun. So those clouds, you know, are likely the same clouds that He ascended into. And it says, every eye will see Him. And we talked about that last week. And we talked about, you know, God, you know, has control of the physical universe and whatever. However He will do that, you know, it will be literally every eye will see Jesus Christ return. And lastly, if you remember, it was brought up in this study, the afternoon one, that someone said, I remember, you know, years ago it was taught that, you know, Christ would make a revolution around the earth. And as we got into that, you know, more in the discussion in the evening, and somebody called in the afternoon with some verses to support that, that remembered it, hearing that as well. I thought I should share that with the afternoon group as well. Let's go back to Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Again, if you want to mute yourself, and then, you know, when you want to talk, that will be fine. Unmute yourself and Matthew 24. And verse 27.

You know, in verse 26, Christ is talking about when He's going to return to earth, and He's talking about false prices, and, you know, we just talked about this last Sabbath. Don't believe it if they say He's in the desert, He's in this place. In verse 26, you know, He says, if they say to you, He's in the desert, don't go, don't, you know, or look, He's in the inner rooms, don't believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

And in that verse, you know, Christ gives us kind of a clue as to what is going to happen when He returns. As the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, and as the sun rises in the east and goes to the west, so also, you know, will the coming of the Son of Man be. And so when you put that verse together with Psalm 19, turn to Psalm 19 last week, Psalm 19 verse 5.

You know, in verse 5, it's talking about, well, this is the Psalm where David is praising God. He's looking up at the sky. He is seeing, you know, it begins, the heavens declare the glory of God as He's meditating, as He's laying there watching everything in that night. As He's there in verse 5, He compares the sun, as you see in verse 4, like a pride groom. And we know who the bride groom is when He returns. Verse 5 says, you know, He has set us hevernacle for the sun, which is like a bride groom coming out of His chamber. You know, and that can very much reflect Jesus Christ coming out of heaven and returning to earth, coming to gather His bride and gather His people, which is like a bride groom coming out of His chamber and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. There's a course that He's running. Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. So from those verses, we can make the speculation, it's a strong speculation, that Jesus Christ may well be making a circuit around the earth in that 24-hour period, where people in a darkened area, in a darkened sky, see the light of Jesus Christ as He's returning to earth and makes a circle around the earth. Every eye will see Him, He says. And you can imagine with the armies of the saints that it talks about in Revelation 19 in 1 Thessalonians 4, that are a pair of following Him on horseback, on white horses, all arrayed in white, Him out front on His white horse. What a spectacle that will be, you know, and what an exciting spectacle to think of Jesus Christ as He's returning, and every eye on earth will see Him, and the brightness of His returning as He makes that circuit around the earth, just as the sun goes from east to west, and just as He says in Matthew 24, the lightning goes from east to west. So, you know, it's at 100% that we can say that that's going to happen. I don't know that we can say 100%, but boy, the church is exciting to think about that. And it's exciting to think about that as the whole world is put on notice. Jesus Christ is returning, and He returns to battle the armies assembled in Armageddon, and then land on the Mount of Olives. So I'll leave that thought with you. I don't know that we want to take a lot more time. I'll entertain some discussion on that. But I thought, you know, since it was kind of an exciting thing to put that together last week in the evening Bible study, I should share that with the afternoon crowd as well. And just put that in your mind as a possibility, as how, you know, what will happen at the end of the age, and the exciting times lie ahead of us as Jesus Christ returns to earth. So, plenty of pause there. And if there's any comments on that, well, you can be turning back to Revelation 1.7, because there's one more thing I wanted to address in that verse as well. So, okay, back in Revelation 1.7, it says, every eye will see Him. And certainly, you know, we can see as Jesus Christ makes that revolution, if that is the around the earth, and if the need that is every eye will be trained on Him. And verse 7, you know, it says, every eye will see Him. That's every eye. No one will not see Him. And even they who pierced Him. And we talked about that, you know, in the evening, and we talked about that last afternoon. And, you know, there was some discussion on how we all have pierced Him, and indeed, we all have pierced Him. We all have a heart in Christ.

But I think that as, you know, the way it's written there, even they who pierced Him, you know, I think I'm going to throw this out here. That the more I have thought about that verse this week, thought about that phrase, it sure appears that even those who pierced Him would be the Jews. Because as the one group on earth, you know, they did put Jesus Christ to death. His own people He returned to, and they killed the Messiah that they said they were waiting for. And even today, they resist. They do not accept the fact that He's the Messiah. And so even those who pierced Him, who rejected Him as Messiah, and who still today reject Him as Messiah, they will see Him returning.

And they will know. They will know. And as we talked about in Zechariah, you know, talks about Jerusalem and Judah, and how they will mourn when they see Him returning. They will mourn, and they will recognize what they have done. So as they see Jesus Christ return, and as they see what they have done that comes to their recollection and their recognition of what they've done, yes, Judah will mourn.

Yes, Jerusalem will mourn. If they will realize what they have done, just as Ezekiel tells us, Israel, you know, Israel, the modern day nations of Israel, when they see what they have done to themselves, they will loathe themselves for what they have done. So I kind of just wanted to leave those thoughts with you on that verse, you know, before we move on. You know, I wouldn't stake my salvation that that's exactly what they mean, but I think as we look at those verses, they fit in well with what Claude is saying there.

And, you know, we will let him interpret those for us and reveal more to us as his time comes. Mr. Chaimi? Yes, sir. I've always thought of the Jews at that time as representing all of Israel and the Roman soldiers or Rome representing the Gentiles, so that includes everybody. Could be. Could be. You know, there is a group that got a singling out there. He's already addressed every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. Whatever that group is, you know, we'll have to wait and see.

I would say you may well be right. I don't know. Chaimi? Yes. When you say those who pierced him, are we talking about the little ones that died years ago? Because when Jesus returns, will they be resurrected at that time? Because I'm thinking that no resurrection will begin until Jesus has returned. Are we talking about the offspring of the ones who pierced him? Yeah, I think some people think that that means that the actual people who were there at the crucifixion would be resurrected at that time. I don't think that that was made. I think it means the Jews, that, you know, or the Jews and other people. Those who had a hand in piercing him will see him, you know, those descendants of the people.

Certainly when they're resurrected, they will see that. But I think they were talking about the descendants who were alive at that time, who still reject him as Messiah. My interpretation, and only my interpretation. Anyone else? And again, you know, we can discuss this further. Feel free to call. Feel free to email. We can talk about these things as well. I just, I kind of, you know, as we go through this, there's a lot of exciting things that go on in Revelation.

And we want to, you know, as I mentioned before, we want to be cognizant that we don't take our own interpretation and make it. But sometimes things are so exciting when you see the specter of it that it's like, ah, you know, that God, and I believe God would, as closer and closer we get to their His return.

And make no mistake, we are getting closer and closer to His return as you watch everything going on in the world today. God will open our minds to these things. He will, He will fan the flames of His Holy Spirit and excite us about His return. So, okay, if nothing else, let's go, let's move on to chapter two, then. You know, as you recall from last week, we're going to take just one of the seven churches, the messages to them each week, and just talk about one of them, so that we don't get bogged down in all of chapter two and three, and we could spend, you know, four or five weeks there, I think, and all the things that are mentioned here.

What a notebook! I don't know what I did with it. Must have left it in half.

So, yeah, so we're going to talk about Smyrna today, and we find Smyrna in chapter two and in verse eight.

Chapter two and verse eight. You know, we talked about last week about the angels to the churches, you know, and those may well be, you know, the angels is really the word messenger. It can be, it could be ministry. It could be a person that God sends a message that says to the angel of the church of Smyrna, right?

These things says the first and the last, who was dead and came to life.

So, as he introduces the message, you know, to this church, you know, it's interesting that he says, you know, Jesus Christ was dead, and now he's alive. He was the first and the last. And as you go through the very few short verses about Smyrna here in chapter two, you see that death is mentioned a few times. So, as he introduces it, he reminds them, you know, he was on earth. He died. He was brought back to life. There's that promise to us, you know, of a resurrection and eternal life if we follow God and we remain true to the end. And in verse nine, you know, he says something, he says to many of the churches, I know your works, you know, I know your works. He said that to the church at Ephesus. You know, so there are those in the world who would say your works mean nothing, right? You can't earn salvation, and we would 100% agree with that. We do not earn salvation. Salvation is a gift from God. Grace is a gift from God. But with that grace and what God gives us, he does expect works. You know, we read in Ephesians that we are created for good works. And so God expects us individually. And as the churches, you know, that are down through the ages and the churches that exist today, because, you know, as we look through these seven churches, I think we're going to see elements of every single one of them that are in our church, you know, the 21st century today, even within our churches. You know, as we talk about Smyrna, we're going to see some characteristics that don't apply to all of us, but do apply to some of us. And the same is going to be true for Pergernumus and Thyra-Thyra and the rest of them as we go through them. But he says, I know your works. So, you know, we do need to be people who are, you know, who do have good works, the works that God would have us have. And with this church, the people who are of this Smyrna attitude, you might say, I know your works, and I know your tribulation, and I know your poverty, he says, but you are rich.

So, you know, he knows what's going on with the church. And in verse 9, you know, there he says, I know your poverty. And, you know, there's this church in Smyrna. Smyrna wasn't a wealthy city, like Laodicea, for instance. Smyrna was a more, it was a poorer city, and that's the history of it. But, you know, we have those among us today who live in poverty.

And, you know, we have, of course, right here in America, some who are poor. We have, of course, all our brethren, you know, who would live in the have-not nations of the world, you know, that we would say who are poor.

And we recognize, we work with people who may have less, and I even said it to them about some of them. You know, you live in a different world and situation than I am. Because you have little, I see your faith. I see you praying for the kingdom in a different way than I might. And I learn from those things as I work with people, you know, and the various things. And God says, we'll always have the poor among us.

We learn from them, right? But we have here in America today, we have those who are who have a lot, and they would have, you know, when we get to the church at Laodicea, we would look at that and say, whoa, those people, you know, they may say, you know, I've got plenty.

I've got plenty and, you know, materially or materialistically, and that can have an effect on our spiritual life. And we see the effect on the spiritual life of those who have maybe more than what they need and who are living very comfortably. On the other hand, we have those in Smyrna, you know, who have the Smyrna attitude, who have very little today, and who have to do look to God in a different way. They do pray for the kingdom to come. And God says that, look, you know, I know your poverty, I know you don't have a little, but you are rich spiritually.

And you can kind of see God talking to that group of people there and drawing our attention to even those of us in these days, because these messages, all seven of them, are for us today. They're not just historical. There are historical elements, as we'll see here in a moment, but they are for us. So we can't discuss discount Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamos and Thyatira.

There are some of those churches in us today, not in every single one of us individually, and not in even some church in every church, you know, the Church of God's. We have different congregations. But, you know, as we look at the churches, you know, we can see maybe some that are that fit more into this category than, you know, another one and whatever.

So I know your works. I know your tribulation. I know your poverty, but you're rich. That's pleasing to God. He sees that they are they are doing the things. And here he's commending, you know, this church in Smyrna. In fact, as we go through the verses, you don't find anything negative about Smyrna at all.

We would all do well to have a Smyrna attitude, you know. The Philadelphia Church is the other one that he says very little negative about. But here in Smyrna, there's just nothing. Nothing negative of all.

I know your works. I know your tribulation. I know your poverty. And, you know, remember Christ's words, blessed are those who are poor in spirit, that you are rich. And you know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not. And so we have, you know, we have this this thing about, you know, about Jews. And let me just open that up there.

Why, you know, why, what is God saying about, you know, those who say they are Jews? Because certainly the Smyrna Church and all these seven churches are comprised of Gentiles and some Jews, some would say they were comprised of more Gentiles than Jews at that time. Why would God say, and are there any verses that we could look at to say, you know, when God says Jews, this is what he's talking about. He's not just talking about the race of Jews.

It means they pretend to be Jews or a real Christian, but they're not. And actually, you can probably go back to Romans 2.9, and it tells us that he is a Jew who has won inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit, and not in the letter of those who praise him not from them, but from God.

Okay, very good. Let's do that. Let's go back to Romans 2, because we can even see there, as Paul writes, he uses Jews as people who are true Christians. Of course, the people back in, remember at that time, in that age, it was Jews and Gentiles, primarily, and the Jews were saying they saw themselves as the people of God. And so following that, you know, Paul uses, it's kind of like, you're spiritual Jews. So in Romans 2, as Dennis quoted there, you know, it says, he is not a Jew who has won outwardly. It's not the race. It's not the ethnicity. He's not a Jew when we look at him who has won outwardly, nor a circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.

But he is a Jew. He is a true Christian who has won inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not from men, but from God. So, you know, we can look at that verse and say, when we see the word Jew show up in Revelation here, it's going to show up in the Philadelphia area, or Philadelphia Church as well, the message to the Philadelphia as we get to there, you know, it's not talking about just the ethnic group of Jews, all of us who have been called, all of us who have been baptized, all of us who have God's Holy Spirit, you know, we could be called collectively Jews.

And as, you know, I think in John, I wrote down another verse here, yeah, John 4 22, you know, Jesus Christ, as he's talking to the woman at the well, you know, he says, 4, John 4 22, you know, he says to her, you worship what you don't know. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews.

You know, it comes, he was a Jew, and he was born into, you know, he was a Jew ethnically and, and salvation comes by Jesus Christ. So he, you know, so that word, when we look at it in the New Testament, we shouldn't just look at it and say, oh, he's only talking about the ethnic group of Jews. Now he's talking about all three Christians.

And so we look, you know, we, we, and I got a thought that I've lost here, but you have to go back to Revelation 2. Oh, I know where it's going with that. As you go back to Revelation 2, you know, he says you got, you have some among you, some among you in your church that are saying they're true Christians, right? They've been baptized, they're, they're following God, they're, they have the Holy Spirit, they're going through the motions. He says, but I know the blasphemy, you know, blasphemy can be words that are spoken against God. It could be spoken against other people as well. It's kind of like you're against something. You don't follow, you're not really in line with everyone who is, is called. There's those that are, that are not there. And he goes, I know the blasphemy of those who say they're Jews, you know, they present themselves that way. They're, they're, they're with you on the Sabbath day. They're with you, you know, in your love piece, as we read in Judah and Jude and, and 2 Peter, you know, too. They're, they're with you. They say they're Jews, but he says they're not, they're not of the same spirit. They're not following me in the way that you would have us, you know, that God would have us do. I know the blasphemy of those who say they're Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. Now we have, you know, the word synagogue there. That's again, a Jewish word, but it literally means, it literally means church. You know, it's the same thing if he says they're in the Church of Satan, and it's kind of just what the nomenclature was at that time. Yeah, so I had a comment. Mr. Shaby, don't you think that this is also individually as a Jew or as a, as a, as a, that each church will be as a group? Each, each church is a, is a group, but we are looked at individually by Christ as well. Yes, I totally agree, and that's, that's the thing about these seven churches. When we read them, we have to look at ourselves individually, but then we can look at the groups, right? I mean, look at us, because each church, you know, I used to hear pastors say, each church has a personality, and they would say this and that, and I would always think, you know, well, no, we're all in the Church of God, but I'll have, I'll tell you, being a pastor for several years now, I understand what they're saying. There are churches who are very spiritually alive and very spiritually aware and very committed, and you can feel the energy in them and other churches, you know, that, that aren't, and you see that with people individually, some that are on fire, others that aren't on fire, and they're just kind of going through the motion, and, and you, you, you pray for everyone that we all will get on fire, right? And God tells us, just keep, keep, keep preaching, keep inciting people, inciting in the right sense of the word, keep trying to ignite that flame. But yes, these, these, we need to look at these messages, you know, they're for us today, individually, we'll see ourselves in it, but also our churches, because God, make no mistake, He is working with congregations. He's building a house in, in us individually, and He's building a house in the congregation that we're in, and we all have a part in that, and we need to be cognizant of that, cognizant of that, and commit to that building that God has, has made us part of. So yes, very good, good point, Miralisa. Jay, can I ask a question? Sure. Yeah. I'm looking at this, and it's interesting that He uses the word blasphemy.

I have always been under the impression that blasphemy was something that was done against God, not individual. Okay, something that was contrary to God's will, okay, saying things that were, you know, totally upright, untrue, etc., etc. Why would He say that, you know, blasphemy against the Jews, you know, would be an issue? I mean, the Jews are not God, right, but He's using the word blasphemy here. And I can't say that I really understand, right, the use of that word in relationship to the nation of Israel, or I shouldn't say the nation of Israel, but the Jews themselves. Isn't blasphemy more a pronouncement that is used against someone who's disobeying God? Yeah, I think that's a general term of it. I know as I was looking at that word, you know, it says it's generally it's they're saying something against, usually against God, but here it says, I know the blasphemy of those who say they're Jews. So they're part, you know, they're part of the congregations, if I could just use that term, right? But the blasphemy may not be against God. They're not outwardly saying, oh, I don't believe God this, I don't believe God that. They may be talking about certain elements of the church, for instance. They may say, I don't agree with this, I don't agree with that comment, I don't agree with what the church says here, and some things. So they may not be, well, in a way they are speaking, you know, against God, but but not directly as in, I, you know, I'm speaking against God in the way that no one of us would. But may be watering down the Word of God or whatever it is. I can't say that I fully understand that, because just as I was looking at that word and putting this together and trying to understand that, certainly if we had someone in our church that's saying they're in the church, you know, they're part of us, and they were blaspheming God, I mean, we would put them out, which I can no longer, you know, but there's something different here because they continue with us, you know, they continue with us. I was thinking something similar here, that the fact that, you know, God gave everything that He taught to the Jews right by saying blaspheming against them that say they are Jews, okay, it might be just a reference to the fact that, you know, they are just not keeping all of the commandments, all of the statutes and ordinances that God delivered to the Jews. Could they? Could they? It may be just like a covering word to cover everything that God has given to the Jews, but they're not following. Yeah, could be. I think we're on the same page. It doesn't mean it's something we say, right? Even by our examples, we can kind of be blasphemous and say, that's not important, I don't count that important, and others may follow our example, thinking if it's not important to us, it must not be important to God. So I think, you know, blasphemy doesn't have to be outright shaking your fist at God and whatever. It can be done in various ways. And what God says about those people who do those things, the Church of Satan, they're, you know, if you're not, God says that they're not for us, you know, they're against, they're against, they're against him. So, you know, he's got some pretty strong words there. And he says that even in this church, that he really doesn't have anything negative to say about, you know, he says there are some, there are some who kind of handle things that way.

Okay, let me look here and yeah, okay, so let's go let's move on to verse, verse 10. He goes, you know, he says that and here's a church that he would generally say, you know, hey, you're, you're a strong church, you're rich, he tells him in verse nine. And then you can see in verse 10, that suffering is going to come to that church. He says, don't fear, you know, man, we just have to as we live in the world we live in now, and we can kind of see things happening, and we can draw the line and see the leaves flooding on the trees and draw the line as to what this can all lead to, you know, it happens very, very little later, we'll talk about the day of small, you know, who despises the day of small things. And as we say, little things happen that lead us, you know, to wow, we can see the end now of what those were some of those prophecies tell us, you know, that the attitudes as they just kind of take the course as to what they ultimately lead to, he says, don't fear, you know, we're gonna we're gonna face some things in our lives, or it's going to be like, you know, even if we just kind of stop and look at the world we live in today, we can kind of feel a little fearful, like, well, things are happening, things are happening, we live in a different time. Things have happened that tell us it's not the same that it was before prophecy marches on, we just have to remember don't fear, and he tells this church this because they're about to face some tribulation, don't fear any of those things which you're about to suffer.

So this church is kind of in the same boat that we are today, you know, we don't awfully think of us, Myrna, as an end-time church, but here they were, they were keeping the word of God, God calls them spiritually rich, you know, we would we would pray that God will make us spiritually rich, and individually and collectively we would be following him, and we would be drawing closer and closer to him, and as we do, we find that tribulation follows, right, because Satan is going to attack those who are spiritually rich, you know, just like he did Job. He went up, you know, to God and challenged him and said, let me, you know, here's this man you say is blameless God, let me, let me put him into some tribulation and send some trials his way. So the same thing is happening to this very strong church here at Smyrna. Don't fear any of those things which you were about to suffer. God would say that to you and I today. Keep your eyes open, get closer to me, get away, but don't fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw you, some of you into prison that you may be tested. And indeed, we see if you, if you kept that or looked at that church history, the thing that I sent through, you can kind of look at at the, you know, the age that we kind of, the churches historically looked at as maybe it's the age of Smyrna, and I'm not going to put any stock identity these days, you know, I gather this from a number of places as I put this together a few years ago for our home Bible studies, but you can see the persecution and you can see the tribulation that that era of the church went to. They had to flee Jerusalem in 70 AD, and all the true Christians left. They just had to leave and the church was scattered. And then as the, as the, you know, Diocletian came into power there, there was intense persecution of the church, and from 303 to 313 AD, 10 years, intense persecution, and as you look at verse 10, you see this church that was trying to live God's way of life, they, they suffered. They had a lot of things happening to us, and he sent us the same thing, you know, to us in this end days. He goes, woe to the inhabitants of the earth! Satan has come down to you, and who does he go after primarily? Of course, he's going to bring the whole world, you know, to its knees, but the people of God, those who are strong with God, he's going to, to, to torment, you know. He's going to torment and, and throw them into tribulation. And he says, you will have tribulation, you know, 10 days.

And I remember back in 2017, when we were doing that, you know, it's like those 10 days, some of the commentaries will say, oh, this is just historical, but they will point to 303 to 313 that that church, you know, John was writing this. They did have 10 years of intense persecution, you know, fulfillment for them in that time, but doesn't mean that it, that we're exempt from it today. You know, God, you know, whatever he means, it might be 10 literal days that we all suffer, it might be 10 years, well, you know, about 10 years, given the time times and a half of times, but, you know, as this church had to face the tribulation, so does the church, the end time church, have to face tribulation? And he says the same things to them that he would say to us, be faithful until death that I will give you, and I will give you the crown of life.

So, you know, Jesus Christ tells us, you know, blessed are those who would lose their life, you know, don't cling to your physical life, be willing to lose it, and you'll find life. If you cling to it, if you cling to this life, you'll lose eternal life. And he says the same thing here to the church at Smyrna, be faithful until death, endure to the end, you know, survive until the end, don't give in, stay close to God, do the things that we need to do to be clinging to him, and not lose sight of him through the very difficult times that are going to come.

Be faithful unto death, and I'll give you the crown of life, the promise that he has made us.

And so, in those verses there in Smyrna, we find a lot of things, you know, we find a lot of things that pertain, you know, to us. It's very much for us, you know, today, just as much as it was, you know, to the church in Smyrna at that time, because all these messages are for us, you know, today, and we need to take them to heart. And of course, in verse 11, you know, he closes the message to the church in Smyrna the same way he does to every church. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He goes, understand, take it to heart. Ask me to give you the understanding. What am I saying here? Don't just read the words and look at it historically. Pay attention to these words and take them into heart and let them change the way you think, the way you react and act and change your heart. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And then it's he who overcomes, you know, he who has the victory, and we know where we get the victory is not through our will or our might, as it says in Zechariah, but through God's Spirit. He who has the victory over life, self, the world, shall not hurt, be hurt by the second death. So he closes it, you know, with that word as well. You will have everlasting life. So let me pause there. And if there's any discussion, any comments, anything on on Smyrna, you know, we can talk about it. I'd be more than happy to hear any thoughts or discussion on it. So, Mr. Chabie. Yes, sir. Yeah. So a couple of things that come to mind regarding the verse 10, for example, about casting some of us in prison and being persecuted.

I guess I look at it two ways. One is that more often than not, when God calls people into this truth, there's a degree of persecution and testing, and you get, you know, certain you feel the pressure of the world and, you know, job-wise or family-wise, friends-wise. So that's one aspect of it. The other is that later in Revelation, he talks about the church at the end time. Basically, some people being supernaturally protected and delivered, and some other people that God deems necessary for them to be tested and refined by fire, by persecution. So it's kind of, you know, like we say, that basically this applied to that church in that time, but it also applies to the call at once through time until the end time. Yep. I think, yeah, no, good point. And we'll get to the latter, you know, Philadelphia later, we'll talk about some of those things that, you know, that God has said and whatever. But, you know, I think we all have to realize we're going to face some persecution in the world. I don't, you know, God will test us. We have lived in a wonderful time in the history of man where we've had freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and we see those things changing in America today. And we can draw the line, you know, when we see how the attacks are mounting against America and all the freedoms that we've had, you know, that we can draw the line and say there will be a time when it moves from this to that to that, and eventually people will turn against those who believe in God, right? I mean, we have the end time beast power who, you know, is drunk with the blood of the saints, it says in Revelation 17. So there will be persecution that we haven't felt, you know, and for us any persecution will be new.

You know, I can honestly say I haven't felt any persecution in my life, you know, even in places where I've been challenged on the Sabbath and whatever, it's like, yeah, those are times where you stand up for what you believe and whatever, but it's turned out, you know, it's turned out all well. But I've never had, you know, someone like, say, I hate you, I want you dead, I don't agree with what you say, I'm going to make your life miserable because of what you believe. But I do believe those days are coming. I do believe those days are coming for us when we are going to have to not be ashamed of Jesus Christ, you know, as it says, and he cautions us in the end time, don't be ashamed, don't be ashamed of what you believe, you know, and, you know, as I pointed out in the conversation I had earlier in the week, you know, Linda will be able to live in a time in the United States of America where people have been ashamed of even saying if they support one presidential candidate or another, right? I mean, there's never been a time when people have said, I'm not even going to, I don't even want to say what I support. And that's kind of a different thing in America. It never mattered any before. It was always enough to hear, hey, if you want to favor the Republican, favor him, if you want to favor the Democrat. This is a different time, and it isn't a stretch to say that, you know, that that same attitude can extend to Christians down the road, too, as a society turns more and more against God. And once we enter an age of lawlessness where they want to dictate what the laws are and the times are and don't want any kind of association with anyone who says this is the law of God. So, you know, I think we just have to face that. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't a place of safety. We'll talk about that more, you know, down the road and whatever, or what God has. But I do think we have to condition ourselves and establish our hearts and strengthen ourselves during the time we have that we will all face persecution.

God will see what's in our hearts, you know, what our hearts are and what we've done, you know, during this time of preparation. So...

Mr. Shavey. Yes, sir.

Talking about Sabbath and persecution, I have had a couple of experiences throughout my lifetime, especially in the work environment where keeping the Sabbath was very, very...

It was never difficult for me because I didn't care what they said, okay? But it came close to me being fired at least twice, right? So, you know, it didn't bother me at all that they felt, you know, this way toward me. I hate to say this, but I'm a pretty... It can be a pretty cold person sometimes, right? It didn't bother me at all. I couldn't care less, all right? Because I knew that the law and God was standing behind me, all right? The law was all, you know, actually kept them from moving ahead on some of the things that they wanted to do, all right? And so I knew that I was good hands, right? And I didn't worry about it. Now, the other thing I'm going to mention real quick is going back to the word blasphemy, okay?

The word blasphemy I found in the... And I was just looking this up online.

The Greek inter-linearity, it's using the word defamation, all right? And not blasphemy. They're trying to say that the original Greek is translating this as defamation, which I think can take on a different context than blasphemy, you know, going back to the fact that, you know, we think about blasphemy as something that happens in an attitude toward God. Defamation can be just, you know, you just don't like somebody, all right? And you said bad things about them. So I looked at that, and I said, that's not a bad translation. That's probably good. Yeah, actually, I agree with you. That's probably exactly what it means there, the defamation of someone. We can do that even within the church, right? We can turn people against each other, and we read that in 2 Peter 2 and in Jude, that that happens within the church. It's not outright blasphemy, like you say, that we would see, but a defamation, you know? Yeah, okay, good. I think that probably is a very good translation for it there. So, okay, anyone else? You know, again, you know, you can go back and look at the church in Smyrna as well and contemplate some of what God says there. And as we go through these things, it would be very valuable to keep some of those things in your mind, you know, meditate on them, and I think God will help us all see, you know, what we need to learn from those scriptures as we prepare and get ready, you know, for the time ahead of us. So, anything else? Otherwise, we'll move on to chapter 4 here, and then we'll cover the church at Pergamos next week on Wednesday.

Okay, let's look at chapter 4 then, you know? And remember in context, too, as these seven churches, you know, as we were introduced in chapter 1, you know, John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, the Day of the Lord. He's there at the end time. So these messages are for the end time, as we see Christ walking among the churches, and then he records these. He says, I was in the, I was there. So these messages, we have to take each of them to heart because they were written, you know, in the context of I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day or on the Day of the Lord. So, anyway, let's move to chapter 4 and verse 1 here. Now, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the first few verses here. I think, you know, we've read them, but let's read through them just so that we have the context here because after God delivers these seven messages to the churches, you know, John finds himself in a vision in God's throne. He says, after these things, I looked and behold the door standing open in heaven. And the first voice, which I heard, was like a trumpet. You know, there we have a trumpet again. We talked about how in the verse in Revelation 1 that talks about us, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, you know, we heard a voice like a trumpet. And on the Feast of Trumpets, you know, when we talk about the trumpets that are being sold, it's the Day of the Lord we're talking about, along with the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the saints. And here we have a trumpet again. The first voice I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this. And immediately John writes, I was in the Spirit, and behold the throne set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he who sat there was like a jasper, and a sardius stoned in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. You know, we talked about that, I think, even a few studies ago. The very same type vision that Isaiah had, the very same type vision that Ezekiel had, and here now is John, you know, in a vision in the throne room. And he sees, you know, one, God the Father sitting on the throne. We know it's not Christ because we know he's, we're going to see him moving around, you know, moving around the throne among these people. And verse 4, we're introduced to some heavenly beings, if you will. Around the throne were 24 thrones, and on the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes. Know those that are righteous, just like the righteous will be clothed in white. And here these 24 elders are clothed in white robes, and they had crowns of gold on their heads. When we see gold, it's people, you know, we can think about, God says, I counsel of you, buy of me gold, tried in the fire to the lay of the sea and church. There's gold there. There's this fine, refined symbol that's there with these people, clothed in white, and they had crowns of gold. So, you know, and these 24, you know, let's just pause for a moment, look at these 24 elders and talk about them, because we're introduced to this group of people, you know, I say people, this group of heavenly beings, not people, not men.

And, you know, we don't learn much about the 24 elders, you know, we see them again over in chapter five and in verse six, and we, you know, we see them again, and we can learn some things about them again, just from what the Bible tells us, you know, in chapter four, verse four, there we learned they're around, they're very close to the throne of God, they're seated around the throne, so we know they're close to God, they're near to God, they are clothed in white, they are have crowns of gold, and in verse, you know, in verse six of chapter five, you know, it says, I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, which we'll get to here in a minute, and in the midst of the elders, as that group of 24 around, stood a lamb, and we know who the lamb is, as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out in into all the earth. Am I looking at the right one? Do you see where I'm... oh, 5-8 is where I wanted. Okay, we'll get to chapter verse six here again a little bit. In verse eight, it says, and when he had taken the scroll, we'll talk about it a little bit, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

So we see the four living creatures, we see the 24 elders clothed in white, crowns of gold on their head, situated around the throne of God, very close to him, and we see that each of them have a harp, and each of them, you know, have the golden bowls full of the incense, which are the prayers of the saints. So, you know, we don't know, you know, we don't know exactly what the role of these 24 elders are. We know they are created beings. We know they have a specific purpose. We know that something with that specific purpose has to do with music because they each have a harp, and then we find in verse nine, they sing a new song. They sing a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open the seals. You were slain. You redeemed us to God by your blood, out of every tribe, well, that should really be them, right, as we look at the Greek, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you have made them kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth. So we see these elders, and the little bit that we learn about them is that they sing to God, and we see that again in chapter 11, and we see that they praise God. So if we ever think that God isn't into music or that we can discount the hymns and the singing of God, and he would say that's not important to him, not at all, right? Not at all. God loves our music. We sing praises to God, like we talked about a few weeks ago at Sabbath Services, that a way that we can kind of fan the flames of the Spirit is just singing to him, even silently to ourselves and in the middle of the night. And we have this group of people who we know very little about what their real mission is, and we can speculate, but we're not going to take the time to speculate. We know they're created beings. We know they're not men who are 24 elders who have ascended into thrones. They are created beings that have a specific purpose that we may not know until the time of the return of Jesus Christ, but we see some of the things they do. They have harps. They have these golden bowls, which are the prayers of the saints, and they rise as incense before God. So they have a specific purpose. They have a specific purpose, as mankind does, as you and I do, you know? And God, you know, God will yet reveal what our total purpose of His perfecting us is. But these created beings have a purpose, too. When we see them situated around the throne, God is very close to them, and they have something they need to do. So let me open it up there if anyone's got, you know, some comments or something that you've heard about, you know, these beings.

Well, to get down to verse 10, right, it says that they cast their crowns before the throne.

Right? You want to comment on that? Yeah, well, actually, yeah. You know, it says, that's a good verse. So later on, he said, The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne. They worship him, who lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying, You're worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor. For you created all things, and by your will they exist, and they created. So we look at all those things. You know, what, one of the notes I have is, is when they cast their crowns, what are they doing? You know, we'll talk about the word worthy because it shows up a number of times here at the end of chapter four and chapter five, and it's a word that we would take note of. But what the elders do is, they have these crowns, but you see what they do? They cast their crowns before God, and they say, but before Christ, really, you are worthy. You know, we're not worthy. You created all things. They're mindful. They're humble. And mindful of the fact that God gave them the positions that they have. They never forget that. That it wasn't because they were so great or anything that they did is that God gave them those positions, and they worship him, you know, in spirit and truth. They are humble. They are yielded to him. And when they worship him, I think when they cast their crowns before him, it's like, you gave it to us. We owe you everything. And it's an attitude that you and I would be well to emulate no matter what God gives us in our lives, you know, whether it's physically or spiritually or whatever position we have, we owe it all to him. It's never been about us or our worth. Jesus Christ will say, he is the only one, getting a little bit ahead of myself, we'll get to chapter 5, we'll say, of all the angelic beings in heaven, the only one worthy to open that scroll, the only one, not any angelic being, none of the 24 elders, none of the four living, none of the four living creatures, only Jesus Christ. So even sinless beings weren't worthy to open this scroll. Only Jesus Christ was. And that tells us something about the word worthy here. And when the 24 elders who have a very high position, they're very close to God situated with him, they yield themselves to him, and they never forget that everything they have came from God. That's kind of my interpretation of what that is, and the lesson that we learn from, you know, from those, from them, the same attitude that we should have, that we, when we worship God, we would cast everything before him and just be grateful and thankful to him for everything that he's provided in our lives spiritually and physically. Mr. Shavey? Yes, sir. These elders obviously have great authority, and their crowds represent that, but they submit all their authority to Christ when they throw the crowns down before him. Very good. Yep, that's a better way of saying it. They submit all their authority to him. They are under his authority completely. Very good.

I had a question real quick. Sure. So are these elders, are they now, is this speaking of the present? Yes. I got this saying, this is what's going on now, up in heaven. Well, you see what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, no, I know what you're saying. Yes, I believe that as John sees these things, the 24 elders are already in heaven. They have been created in the past. They're not yet to be created because, yes, they are there. I did forget, so it's a vision. We're still in the vision. It's a vision, right, but he's seeing the throne at the end time these 24 elders are there, so. Okay. Now, some people, you know, some churches, not any of the churches of God that I know of, but some churches in the world will talk about that these are 24 men that have been taken to that. We absolutely know that's not true, right, because no man has ascended into heaven. So these are 24 created beings at some time in the past that were created that are sitting there before God. They have a different purpose than mankind. They're not taken from mankind. They are there just like God created angels for a specific purpose. We'll see. The four living creatures we'll talk about here in a minute. God created them for a purpose. We may not know what all those purposes are. One day we will. That's part of the excitement of when God calls us into his kingdom. We'll understand these things, but today everything functions, and everything functions against, you know, in accordance to the purpose that God created them, just like he is working with us and developing us for the purpose that he has for us for eternity. So, okay, any more discussion on that?

Okay, let's, you know, in verse five, I think, you know, again, we've read Ezekiel. We've read Isaiah. It says, And from the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. It's a magnificent throne, as John is envisioned here. And he says the 24... oh, oh, five. From the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. Seven lamps of fire. We've talked about the seven lampstands, right? Those are the churches that are there. Those are the churches that exist from the time of Jesus Christ until the time of his return. Those churches that are still there, the lamps are burning here in the day of the Lord. Those seven churches, seven lamps of fire, were before any... were burning before the throne. They're still alive. They're still the lampstands. They're still the lights to the earth, which are the seven spirits of God. We talked about that when we talked about chapter one and verse four, you know, a couple weeks ago, as God defines what are those seven spirits. And we'll see that again here in chapter five and verse six when we get to that.

Before the throne, he says in verse six, as he's describing what he says, there's a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes and front and in back. So again, he's kind of like peering up through this sea of glass, as he's looking at it. He sees, you know, God the Father with his back, you know, as he looks through this sea of glass. And I think we've talked about before this sea of glass, you know, we see the sea of glass over in chapter 15 as well. We just turned there for a second.

You know, and it says in verse two of chapter 15, I saw, you know, John describing again what he is seeing in the vision. I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. There's the music part again, where God is glorified by the songs we sing and the music that we bring to him, the music that is pleasing to him.

And they sing the song of Moses, the servants of God and the song of the Lamb. You can read that, you know, later. There is a song as they stand before God on the sea of glass, they sing to him, much as we sing. So don't ever discount the praise that we give to God in Sabbath services as a very necessary and a very appropriate song service in our part, you know, as we sit, as we come to Sabbath services, you know, when we are able to meet together again in person, and certainly as we are meet together by web, most of us today, that we, you know, we come before God and we praise him through song. God is very pleasing, very pleased with those things. So, you know, we see these four living creatures were introduced to them. You know, we'll see them in here in again a minute, so I won't take the time right now, but notice they're full of eyes, and we'll come to the eyes here in a little bit, but these living creatures, they can see in every single direction. And it says, the first living creature, the four of them, was like a lion. So, so, you know, John is describing kind of what he sees. The first one looks like a lion. The second one looks like a cat. The third one has the face of a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. So, you know, we see pictures of what's in heaven and what, as John sees these visions, and then we can kind of see God did create man in his image. There's one man up there, there's, we have calves on earth, and they look like something in heaven. There's something like a lion that's in heaven. There's something like an eagle, these creatures that are on earth. And, you know, we can go back and look at the symbolism as they appear in creation and realize, you know, they've got these things in heaven that God has put here on earth, and they have a meaning for us. The four living creatures, each having six wings, God repeats, were full of eyes.

Around and within. And they don't rest day or night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Now, I, you know, I don't know, yeah, I don't know if literally that means all those four living creatures do, if literally day and night, and we know there's no night in heaven, right? So, I think it's talking about a physical thing for us to kind of see what what these living creatures do, these four living creatures. Does it literally mean that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all they do, their entire purpose for being, is to say these, to repeat these words to God, and to praise Him, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come? And is, or is that something that tells us, you know, you know, why we wouldn't spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and stop everything we're doing, living our whole, our lives to praise God, that that should always be a part of our being, in our heart. We are always praising God, and that's part of who we are, recognizing Him as we go through our daily activities, our jobs, you know, the things that we do every day, that praise is just part of who we are, and it's in our hearts.

You know, I liken it to when Paul says, you know, pray without ceasing. You know, we can't give up our lives in just 24 hours a day, seven days, pray without ceasing, but we can always be in an attitude of prayer. And as our heart is conformed and transformed into what God wants, we would always be in a state where, you know, we are engaging God in what we do and seeking His direction. You know, just as I often give the example of Nehemiah before he repeated, before he said anything to the king, when the king acknowledged him, you know, as Nehemiah was praying to go back to Jerusalem, he paused and asked God to give him favor and asked God to give him the words, we might do the same thing in our lives. Guide our steps, order our steps, establish our hearts, help us to number our days, to know where we are, and to see where we need to be and how we need to be growing closer to you. So, you know, for living creatures, that's just part of who they are.

They're part, that's part of what we need to become, you know, as well as I look at that.

I'll pause. Any comments or anything? Again, you know, we learn from each other on this, and I know many of you have been in the church, you know, longer than I have, and whatever. If there's things from the past like we learned last week about, you know, Revelation 1 verse 7, you know, feel free to, feel free to share. I, you know, I don't... Mr. Shady? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. On the, when it's talking about the eyes within, some of my older notes, it talks about some of the translation, translations. It says metaphorically, the eyes of the mind and the faculty of know.

And I just thought that was interesting, the way they have, because it says of the eyes within. The eyes within. Yeah, one of the things I was reading last night talked about the eyes being intelligent. That would kind of be the eyes. We can kind of see things, right? Jesus Christ said, he who has eyes to see and things like that. So yeah, around and within. It's a deeper thing than just the sight that we have. Good, very good. So. Mr. Shady? Yes, sir. As we see this great meeting going on in heaven, certainly the greatest meeting we're privy to, we notice that the Holy Spirit's never mentioned since, you know, of course it's not a being, but it just seems to be painfully obvious, you know, that it's missing for a reason, you know, as an argument against the Trinity. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're right. It's never mentioned as a being. It's just he was in the Spirit. And we, you know, as we read these things, if we're in the Spirit, we see what they're saying. Yeah, good point. So.

Okay, well, let's move on to verse 9 then. You know, here we have the living creatures. They're praising God. And it says, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, right? God, there is no beginning, there is no end. The 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. And as we talk, cast their crowns, they yield their authority to him before the throne, saying, and there's this word worthy, you are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they exist and they were created. So, you know, here they're talking about Jesus, you know, Jesus Christ in verse 11. And it's like, he's worthy. He's the one that's worthy. You know, we can, we can, you know, you created all things. What they're saying is, you know, you created us. You created the four living creatures. You created the angels. You created the earth. You created mankind that lives on the earth. You created everything. You created all things. Again, when the Bible says all, it's not using the word all like we might live or really use it. You created all things and by your will they exist and were created.

You know, we can go back because, you know, in my margin there, it talks about Colossians 1. Let's go back to Colossians 1 because Paul, you know, repeats the same things and same thing in detail here in Colossians 1. Let's just read through a few of the verses. I think it's always good to kind of read the context and not just the specific, you know, verse we're looking at so we can kind of get it and sometimes we the things fit together when we read more than just that one verse. So let's begin in verse 15 of Colossians 1. Just read through what it says there. He, speaking of Christ, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Now that's a monumental statement. As we get into chapter 5, we see Jesus Christ, He is the center of everything, everything that happens, you know, the focus is on Jesus Christ. And here, you know, where the 24 elders and the four living beings saying, by you, all things were created. You, this is about you.

You did this, and Paul repeats that here. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. All things. It's by His power, by His will. It's because, you know, that's why we don't have to worry about media or smashing the earth and destroying it, you know, because God is in control of Jesus. Christ is in control.

We know He's working out a purpose here below, and we don't have to worry about those things like some may worry. And He is the head of the body, His body, His group of called out ones, though, His church. He's the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. That we would cast our crowns before Him, too, when we, you know, if we continue with God and we had survived the end time and we stand with Him and He puts crowns on our heads, that we will be casting our crowns to Him, too.

That in all things, He may have the preeminence because it is because of Him and His love for us. For I please the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. God's given Him all authority on earth, Jesus Christ said at the end of Matthew 28 or at the end of his life after He was resurrected. He's given Me all authority. It pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace to the blood of His cross.

And then you can kind of go on reading if you choose to later. So we see Paul giving Christ, you know, the same recognition. He is, you know, He was sinless. What He did is beyond our minds to even comprehend, and we don't have words in the English language to describe them. I think in heaven they have a word to describe them, and that's what we're seeing John, you know, this probably weekly translated in our Bible when they talk about Him being worthy.

You know, there's a word we'll know one day and understand more fully about what it means that He, you know, He's worthy. He's worthy because all things were created by Him and by His will they exist and were created. So, you know, as we move into chapter 5, you know, again, these are chapter breaks man has put in there.

So, you know, as John sees these things and God has inspired the things to be written, you see the vision that John has, you see Him taking in all these things, and He sees the majesty of God's throne. He sees these four beings, these 24 elders, He sees them casting their crowns before God, talking about being worthy. And in chapter 5 verse 1, He sees something then in all this backdrop, in all this that He's seen, He sees something that's so important. I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne, Him who sat on the throne is God the Father, right?

I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Now, this is the first time in the Bible we see a scroll. You know, I'm not going to take the time. You can, your margin probably says Ezekiel 2 verse 9 there, and you can go back and see, you know, God used a scroll back in the time of Ezekiel to show some things that were going to happen.

You know, we can also, find my notes on chapter 5 here, you know, we can look at Zechariah 5. Let's go back to Zechariah. I mentioned, you know, in both of the prior Bible studies on Revelation. I want to be turning back to Zechariah because, you know, we don't talk about the book of Zechariah much, but there's a lot of parallels between what we see in the book of Revelation and what's written here in Zechariah.

So, Zechariah 5, Zechariah 5 were introduced to a scroll as well. It says, I turned, chapter 5 of Zechariah verse 1, I turned and raised my eyes and saw there a flying scroll. And he said to me, what do you see? And I answered, I see a flying scroll. It's like this 20 cubits and it's with 10 cubits. And he said to me, this is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth. Every thief shall be expelled according to this side of the scroll, and every perjurer shall be expelled according to that side of it.

So we have a scroll, you know, it's got two sides and on both sides, just like we read in Revelation 5 here, things are written on both sides of it. And he says, you know, thieves, those who are trying, those who steal, here's what's written about them and those who lie, you know, stealing and lying, you know, that's kind of, you know, just like God talks about idolatry and sexual immorality, lying and stealing, every thief shall be expelled, every perjurer shall be expelled. And later on in Revelation, he talks about thieves and liars won't have a part in the kingdom, so we can kind of tie all those together, according to that side of it.

It's a scroll, you know, and as we read, you know, as you look at something that's written on both sides, right, I mean, I don't know if you can see, I've been writing all my notes as I prepare these Bible studies on tablets rather than on the computer, and it's written on both sides, you know, when I go back and I have another thought, I have to kind of put it in the margins and whatever.

I didn't leave any space, but when you write something front and back, it's kind of a complete thing. You filled in all the blanks, right? I'm not like anywhere near like God, I'll go back and oh, here's another thought that's come to my mind or another scripture that needs to go, and I'll write it in the margins, but when God writes things, it's complete. You know, there's no room on the front or back to add things. He is very complete in His plan. It's not like an afterthought He has, oh, we should have done that, you know, before that happened. When these scrolls are written, they are complete, and they're not going to be altered, and they're written on the front and back. And verse 4 says, I'll send out the curse. It'll enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It'll remain in the midst of the house and consume it with its timber and stones. And you know, I'm going to leave it to you. We could spend probably the rest of the Bible study on Zachariah 5. I don't want to do that now. We may come back to that later because I do kind of want to get through chapter 5 and leave you with the vision today of where John is. We can move into chapter 6, but you can see the tie-in back to Zachariah with the scrolls. You can, you know, there's also a scroll in Zat Jeremiah. I didn't write well on what chapter is, but you can look at it, but you can kind of see God doing those things with scroll. And here, John, you know, John's in the throne, and he sees, you know, he who sits on the throne, he's got a scroll in his hand written, and he can see that. It's written on side and back as complete documents.

And it's got these seven seals as we go back to Revelation 5 verse 1. It's got seven seals.

You know, why not just one seal? Why not just one seal? You know, why is it seven seals that are unfolded? And as we go through the prophecies in Revelation and then match it with what's going on in Daniel and match it with what's going on with Christhead in his own words in Matthew 24, we see that these seven seals, they're loose one by one. You know, as someone in those days would loose one seal, there's only so much they could read, and they might have to absorb that, and then they would have to let them loose the next seal and absorb that. And so as we go through prophecy, we see things that happen, and we kind of absorb what went on. And then another seal is opened, and these things type happening, and then a third seal, and then a fourth seal right on through the seventh seal. And we'll see that as we go through there, how it all is as God unlocks these seals in time, and we see things move quickly at times, and other times they just kind of there as God is patient until the next seal is opened. And so John sees this. He sees this, and he knows it's an important document, and he wants to know what's in it as any of us would be, as any of us would be if we're in God's Spirit. And in verse 2 he says, I saw a strong angel. Now let's not minimize when God uses adjectives, right? He just doesn't say, I saw an angel. I saw a strong angel. Now whether this means that some angels are stronger than others in might, whether some angels are stronger in word, whether some are stronger, you know, maybe spiritually, you know, no, the angels up here have sinned. We know that. There are sinless beings as far as we can tell, you know. But he says there's this, here's a strong angel. Not, that's just any angel. Here's a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy? Who's worthy to open the scroll until loose its seals? Well, just a couple, you know, just a couple stanzas before you were in verse 11, the four living beings and the 24 elders said, you're worthy. You're worthy. And here this strong angel is asking, you know, asking, well, who's worthy? You know, it tells us that even the angels, even the strong angel wasn't worthy to open that seal. The 24 elders weren't worthy to open the seal. The four living beings, the four living creatures, they weren't worthy to open the seal. None of the group of angels in heaven were worthy to open the seal. Only Christ, only Christ of all those, if we want to call them, you know, created perfect beings who are sinless, you know, only they're worthy to only, only Christ is worthy. You know, so when we talk about, you know, us being worthy, and we're all sinners, right? You know, we're lower than that where the angels, because they're worthy. God has cleansed us, you know, with Christ's blood, but none of us would be worthy. I mean, it's a gift that God gives us, that we're even being considered for eternal life.

Anyway, if we go through, and you know, and John, you know, it explains that in verse 3, No one, no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. No one. So he wonders at this. Here's, you know, God the Father with this scroll, and they can't find anyone, man or heavenly being, anywhere in the universe that's worthy to open it. Tells us something about Jesus Christ. Tells us something that maybe we need to put in our minds, just how important it is and how important that we follow him and his example. So I wept in verse 4. I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to even look at it. No one.

So, you know, there's John, you know, and here's John. I mean, he, you know, he's in the 90s A.D.

here. He's 90 some years old. For 60 years, he's been following Jesus Christ. He's remained loyal till the end. He's, you know, he's talked to people. He's exhorted us even in the epistles that we have from him. The things that you were taught from the beginning, keep them. Don't let it become watered down. Don't put your own interpretation on it. Do it the way God said. Do the things and follow him implicitly in detail. You know, he's done all those things. And he, if I can use the word in a human sense, he was worthy to live until the end and have this vision that he's recorded.

But he weeps much. Why would he weep much? Is there some other place that we might look at? Why would John weep? Just because it's like he... Well, whatever. Let me open that up and see, you know, what some might think of that. Why would he weep much? Perhaps.

Well, you know, it could be because it's like he is so wants to know and he knows whatever is in that scroll is good for mankind. Or maybe it burners on borders on that word worthy. When he sees that no one is worthy, if we go back to Isaiah 6, you know, maybe it dawns on John how unworthy he is. Isaiah 6, we find Isaiah, you know, with a vision of God's throne.

You know, verse 3, verse 1, it talks about, you know, Isaiah, Isaiah 6. He saw the Lord sitting on the throne above its good seraphim. Here's the six wings. You know, verse 3, here's the words we read in Revelation 4. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory. The posts of the door were shaken by the voice of Him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. And so Isaiah says, what was me? In the face of all of this, it dawns on him, I shouldn't even be up here. I'm not worthy to be up here. You know, remember the men that we talked about last week, the men like Daniel, the men like Ezekiel, who when they were in the face of God, they fell on their faces. All strength left them. Everything just drained from them. They had no power. In the face of God, we see how unworthy and how powerless and how weak and how frail we are. And the only strength we have is when God says, stand up. And we see ourselves as we are and realize just how weak we are. And here's Isaiah in the same situation here. He says, woe is me.

I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people, of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. You know, maybe John, maybe John is having the same feeling there in Revelation 5 that Isaiah had. I don't even belong up here. Look at these beings. Look at the glory that's there. I see Jesus Christ. I've walked with him for three and a half years.

I see him in his glory. I see everything that's going on. I shouldn't even be here. I have no business being here because I am such an imperfect man and not like any of these creatures around. And Isaiah had the same feeling, perhaps the same feeling we have when we really see Christ as who he is and when we realize what God is working with us and we see how frail and how weak and how undeserving we are and how we owe everything to him and how we have to yield our lives to him.

Verse 6, Isaiah, one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live pole which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it and said, Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged. Okay, Isaiah, I forgive you. I forgive you. You know, just like we come to the realization as we repent and God calls us, we're sinful creatures and it's only by the blood of Christ do we ever stand. I mean, we have no business even being alive any of us today except for the mercy and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

And so, you know, here Isaiah is purged just like you and I have been purged when we accept Christ's sacrifice and when we repent, when we are baptized, when we have hands laid on us, and when we live and walk and are directed and ask God to direct our steps by his Holy Spirit, then it shows that we are mindful of what his calling is. And Isaiah, you know, Isaiah sees it and he says in verse 8, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, who will I send and who will go for us?

And he, Isaiah, is ready. I will do. I will do what you want. Whatever you want me to do, I will do. The same attitude that you and I, you know, should have as Paul says in Romans 12, that we would give our lives as a living sacrifice when we really understand what God has done for us. And I see our time is fleeing away here, so I guess we're not going to get through chapter 5, but maybe this is a good place, you know, to stop and pick it up next week, you know.

So I wept much, he says. So, you know, what whatever it is that John is failing, he's moved. His emotions are moved. You know, maybe it's just that he wants. But given the examples we have of other men who in the presence of God fall before him and see how weak and frail they are, maybe, just maybe, John is feeling the same things. And in verse 5, then, you know, he's told, as they see the attitude of John, the humility, the complete submission, the complete surrender to God, the complete realization of who he is and how how unstrong he is, you know, that the elder says, one of the elders, not the angel, the strong angel, but one of the elders says, don't weep, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

John, I see your attitude. John, I've seen how you lived your life. John, I see your submission to God now. There is hope. There is future. Jesus Christ has prevailed. And through everything that we go through and everything we do, we have to realize and remember we owe it all to Jesus Christ. And as Paul said, it is our reasonable service, reasonable service, if we really understand to follow him, to give our lives to him and let him transform our minds and give up everything, if that's what he requires, if we really get what he has offered us.

So let me pause there for let me pause there and mark it here. Verse five, we'll begin in verse six, verse six next week. You're gonna be reading ahead. We will get to chapter five and get into chapter six next week as well as the church at Pergamos. So okay, comments, thoughts, questions, anything at all. So.

Is it shaving?

Sir. So chapter five would be considered as one of the the inset chapters, not necessarily chronologically, but basically kind of providing additional information or going back and catching up on other things.

I think chapter five kind of lets us, gives us an insight into what John is experiencing as the scroll is opened, as he begins to write this. He sees the magnitude of God. He sees who he is and that this is of God. And I think we need to look at that as, you know, kind of reading it through what John is seeing. This is from God. Everything is from God. What we read from here on out is his word. I know I think this is the beginning. I think what we're seeing, you know, is chronologically, you know, the messages to the churches, and then God takes them into the throne, into the throne, and begins to unveil the prophecies of the end times to him. Anything else? Let me give you, I'm looking at my notes here. Let me give you a couple of verses you can look up on worthy, right? You know, I'll probably get back to it next week, too. But, you know, mark down Philippians 1, 27, Ephesians 4, verse 1, and Colossians 1, verse 10. And look at the word worthy there and how Paul uses them in the context of what he's writing to the Philippians, Ephesians, and Colossians. And then compare that, you know, it's the same Greek word that we see four or five times here in Revelation 4 and 5, you know, that we see in those three verses. It's a shaping and other translations of worthy that I found. It says that no one was fitting. All right. No one was... Yeah. No one was fitting. No one filled the build. No one else could do it except Jesus Christ. So. Okay. Anything else from anyone?

We might actually end on time. I'm trying to get us to the point where we end on time and edit everything. Let me... You know, Will, I sent out the links to the Bible studies. Those are the same links you can use next week. I'll send them out again. But, you know, the way it's set up now, you can use those same links through August 5th. So if you miss an email, just keep those on hand. And these links that you use today will get you in to the afternoon and evening Bible studies through August 8th. We will have Sabbath webcast again. You know, I... You know, this week we'll be coming to you from Jacksonville. We do, you know, just so you know, those of you in Jacksonville, we've got a new backdrop that we're going to be. Someone is just trying to join us here.

And let me just... I'm going to pause my recording.