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Alright, so you're there in Revelation chapter 1. So what this sermon is going to be is the overview of the book of Revelation. So this is kind of, just kind of like the first sermon I preached last Sunday morning on the post-tribulation rapture is kind of giving you the skeleton of end times prophecy that you have tribulation, you have the rapture and then you have God's wrath being poured out. So I want to give you an overview of the book of Revelation and hopefully this will help you understand how to read Revelation and what you're looking for in these chapters. And so what we have to see first of all is the fact that Revelation is in chronological order but you have to look at it as the fact that from chapter 1 to chapter 11 it's in chronological order then it goes back in time and goes through it again in chronological order. And so you may say, well why would you do that, well why would you have four gospels telling the same story and it keeps repeating itself. Daniel does the same exact thing, Daniel, the first six chapters are chronological order of Daniel's life and then it goes back in time with his visions and goes in chronological order with his visions. So this isn't something that's unprecedented when it comes to how God would lay out something in the Bible where he tells you the story then he comes back and tells you more details about the story. So that's what happens in Revelation is you have Revelation 1 to 11 goes in chronological order from in John's day till the end times till the end of all the wrath being poured out. And then you have chapter 12 starts back over at Jesus being born, you know the tribulation, the rapture, wrath and then it goes on further from there. So you're kind of starting off over here and getting to a point and then you're coming back and then going further with the next 11 chapters there. So when you realize that, when you get to chapter 12 that you're starting over it makes a lot more sense why you're going through stuff that had already happened because you're going through all this wrath, this finale and all of a sudden you're coming back to Jesus being born and then you're coming back to the anti-Christ having power and making war with the saints and so that'll help you understand the book of Revelation. But one thing to see here is in verse 19 of chapter 1 is that Jesus is giving this prophecy or it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so revelation means revealed. This is not a sealed book. At the very end of the book it says seal not these words and for the time is at hand. The book starts off saying for the time is at hand and then it ends saying the time is at hand. So this is a revealed book. This isn't something cryptic. There's definitely a symbology and there's definitely things that are symbolistic. So my general rule when I'm looking at the Bible is I take it literal unless it's clear it's symbolic. So when you have the woman that's clothed with the sun and the moon is at her feet, obviously that's symbolistic. But if it's not clearly symbolistic I take it as being literal. And so that's a general rule that I think you should take. It's just going to be obvious that it's symbolic. But in verse 19 there, notice what it says. It says write the things which thou has seen. There's one. So there's three things we're going to see here. The things that thou has seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter. So we have the things that are seen, the things which are and the things that are hereafter. Chapter 1 are the things which are seen. So basically he just saw this stuff about, he saw this appearance of Jesus. He's on the Isle of Patmos. He was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and he's saying write down the things that you've just seen, the things that you've seen. And I'll give you a couple of verses. Verse 12 there it says and I turned to see the voice that spake with me and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks. Verse 17 and when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. So what he has just seen is Jesus, these candlesticks and he's saying write down what you have seen but then write down things which are. Notice what it says. I believe chapter 1 are the things that he's seen. Chapter 2 and 3 are the things which are and I'll prove that because it says in verse 11 there, chapter 2 and 3 are all about the seven churches in Asia. He's writing a letter and it's just going down the line, all these churches, Ephesus, all these different churches, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira and he's going down that list and talking to these different churches and notice in verse 11 of chapter 1 it says saying I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last and what thou seest write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia. There's your which are. The seven churches which are in Asia and you know this is where the dispensationalists want to say that these seven churches are different dispensations of the church age or something like that. These are churches that were in John's day. Things which are. When those things were written, those churches existed and they were literal churches. Now we can definitely learn things from those churches, but those churches don't exist today. You cannot go find the church at Ephesus right now. You can't find the church at Pergamos or Smyrna or Philadelphia or Laodicea and so this whole church age thing falls on its head right there. So we have the things which he has seen which is chapter 1. Chapter 2 and 3 are the things which are, the seven churches and what's going on with them. And then chapter 4 is the hereafter. Notice chapter 4 verse 1. I'm going to try to go through this pretty quick, but I just want you to see what's going on. We're not going to go through all the details or we'd be here all night going through all that. So Revelation 4 is where we get into the hereafter. So from chapter 1 to chapter 3, it's all stuff that was going on in John's day. It's stuff he just saw in a vision of Jesus. Chapter 2 and 3 are churches that were there in his time and in his day. And I'm not saying that there aren't things that are said in those chapters that are prophetic, but what I'm saying is that he's writing to physical churches that were there in that day. The hereafter starts in chapter 4 and verse 1 there, it says after this I looked. Now notice this when you're going through Revelation after this, after this, then this, after this. That's a chronology, that's a course of events and so this isn't like going all over the place with events. This stuff is like boom, this happens and this happens and this happens and this happens. So chapter 4 it says after this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said come up hither and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. So there's your hereafter. Chapter 1, things that he's seen, then which are is in chapter 2 and 3 and then chapter 4 is where you start the hereafter. So from everything from chapter 4 to chapter 11 is all hereafter. It's all stuff that's going to be after John or after that present day. So this is all going to be future stuff. And so we see in chapter 4 and 5 that he's caught up in the spirit. Now I don't have time to go in to show you that this isn't the rapture but this is what pre-tribbers pull out and say that this is the rapture but this is one man being caught up in the spirit and this is not the resurrection. This is not when Jesus comes in the clouds. So he's caught up in the spirit and he's shown this vision, he's brought up to the throne. So chapter 4 and 5 he's up in the throne and he's describing what's up there. So in chapter 4 we see the 24 elders, there's 24 seats and elders sitting on these seats that have crowns and then we have the seraphims or the four beasts. One has the face of an eagle, I'll see where it says, in verse 7 of chapter 4 and you can just kind of follow along with me here. It says in the first beast was like a lion and the second beast like a calf and the third beast had a face as a man and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle and four beasts had each of them six wings about them and if you go to Isaiah 6, these are called seraphims that have six wings. So cherubims have four wings, seraphims have six wings, if you look at the etymology that's another study for another day. So the seraphims here are four beasts or four living creatures that are saying holy holy holy Lord God almighty night and day. And so we see that, we see the 24 elders and they're casting down their crowns to Jesus' feet and then in chapter 5 it just kind of continues on with this but now chapter 5 there's this book in chapter 5 that has seven seals. And so this is where we get into the seals of God in chapter 6 but in chapter 5 it's a prelude into that where there's this book that no one could open but Jesus. And so in chapter 5 and verse 1 it says and I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals. Now I personally believe that this book is a scroll or a roll with seals on it. The reason that I believe that is because it says that it's written within and on the backside. If you had this book closed and it was sealed could you tell me that there was something written inside of it? I don't think so. I mean unless there's something supernatural going on with that but you could say on the backside and on the front it was written. But if you had a scroll, imagine you rolled up a piece of paper and you rolled it up you could see inside of there to see that there's something written inside and on the backside. So that's just my personal belief. I mean a lot of times they had scrolls anyway because of the fact that it just kept things longer instead of putting all the creases and stuff wouldn't fall apart and all that stuff. It says a book but sometimes in the Bible when it says book it means a scroll or a roll that uses the term roll. Not the roll like you put butter on but a roll like a scroll. And so anyway I believe, now this is my, because in chapter 5 it talks about that no one could open this, no one could loose the seals except for the line out of the tribe of Judah in verse 5 there. He said that he wept but the elders said weep not for behold the line of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. He hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And so this lamb, it says that Jesus has a lamb that had been slain, he had seven horns and seven eyes and it goes into the seven spirits of God. So one day we'll get into all that, of what all that means, what are these seven spirits and all that but we're just doing an overview. He has this book and the God who is sitting on the throne Jesus came up to him and took the book out of his hand and he was able to open those seals. Now when we get into chapter 6 these seals start being opened. Now I don't, I personally think that this book isn't opened until all the seals are broken. It would be kind of like if you had a scroll and then you had seven seals on it, I don't believe you can open it. I don't think it's like where you're rolling it and then there's another seal to break. I don't see how you'd really do that with a roll, if that makes sense. I think you could maybe do it with a book where you'd have like a, where you'd open it and then there's another seal there somehow and then you had to open that to read the rest of it. What I personally believe is that when that seven seal is opened that book is opened and that's the judgments of God coming down on this earth. But I believe what's going on is as he's opening these seals these events are happening. Does that make sense? He opens the seal and he says come and see and this stuff's going on. So it's kind of like Jesus is opening these seals and as he's opening them Satan's doing all this stuff and then when that seven seal's opened there comes the judgment of God. And so that's my personal belief on that. I don't believe it's like he opens the seal and then he's reading what's being said in the book. It doesn't say that it's like opening the book and that he's reading it out of it. But that's just my little two cents on that. So I just personally think that it's kind of, maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe he is opening it up a little bit here at a time when he's opening these seals. But I personally believe that all those seals have to be opened before it can actually open the book. So but chapter six, so I know we're kind of going quick through here but I'm afraid that I'm going to take too long on these points so I'm just going to keep going here as we go through this. So chapter six we had the first six seals. So in chapter six verse one there it says I saw when the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard as it were the noise of thunder and one of the four bees saying come and see. And I saw behold a white horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer. So this chapter covers the first six seals being opened and as you can see what's starting here the tribulation or what we would call the beginning of sorrows in Matthew chapter twenty-four and it goes all the way into the I believe the fifth seal where you have the saints that are being slain, the martyrs of Christ and that's the abomination desolation and then the sixth seal is opened and we covered this in length about the sixth seal being when the sun and moon are darkened and when does that happen? After the tribulation. So when that sixth seal is opened that's immediately after the tribulation of those days, the great tribulation. So from the first seal to the sixth seal we have tribulation and great tribulation of the saints and so this is the tribulation period and so we have these four horses that come out. We have the white horse with the first seal, we have the red horse with the second seal, the black horse with the third seal and then the fourth seal is the pale horse and then you get into the fifth seal with the souls underneath the altar and the martyrs of Jesus and so at the end of the chapter we have the fact that Jesus is coming, his day is coming. So when that sixth seal is opened and then you have the sun and moon darkened that's when we're going to look up for our redemption draweth nigh because in verse seventeen it says for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? What's interesting about is come meaning that it didn't say has come meaning that it happened way before, it literally just came. When that sixth seal is opened the great day of his wrath is come meaning that it has just happened. It just came as soon as that sixth seal was opened after the sun and moon darkened and it started falling from heaven. So chapter six starts off the end times, right? So the hereafter we're seeing in chapter four and five is kind of this little prelude of what's going on in heaven, he's explaining this book that has seven seals and only one person can open it and that's Jesus Christ. And so he's starting to open these seals and this is where the tribulation is going on and then in chapter seven, I believe this is still going on, the seventh seal hasn't been opened yet, the 144,000 are sealed in chapter seven and verse four there we can see that it says and I heard the number of them which were sealed and there were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. So first I want to see, actually first one there says and after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree. And so it says in verse two it says and I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea saying hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God and our foreheads. So notice God hasn't hurt anything yet. So that shows you that those first six seals are up to this point when we're into the sixth seal. God hasn't poured out any judgment. This isn't God doing all this stuff. This is the devil. This is Satan coming down with his wrath. This is where we have the tribulation of those days and Satan and we'll see that when we get into the second part of Revelation where it gives you more information on that. So we see that in chapter seven God hasn't hurt anything yet because that seventh seal hasn't been opened. And then the 144,000 Israelites, not Jews, Israelites, meaning that these are Old Testament saints from all the different tribes in Israel. And so we have them being sealed in verse nine. We have the rapture and we have this great multitude that says and after this I'll be held and lo a great multitude which no man can number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. Go down to verse 14. And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest, and he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So we see what happens after the sun and moon are darkened. Jesus is coming. He seals these 144,000 servants of God, these Old Testament saints basically that were of the tribes of Israel. And eventually we'll get into who those people are and what they're for. But then you had the rapture. So this is going to be the same chronological order as we get into the second half of Revelation. The same things happen. And then in chapter eight, go to chapter eight, this is where the seventh seal is opened. And this is finally where God's wrath starts being poured out. So we see that chapter six is all tribulation. All tribulation and immediately after the tribulation of Jesus coming in the clouds. And chapter seven is where you actually have the rapture. So we have tribulation, rapture in seven, and then wrath in chapter eight. Consistent, right? Consistent with 1 Thessalonians chapter three, four, and five as we saw last Sunday. Consistent with Matthew 24 where there's tribulation, there's the sun and moon are darkened, Jesus comes in clouds and then he pours out his wrath. So this is all consistent. This isn't something different. Chapter eight, verse one, it says, And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. This is significant. Every time I read this, I just think about that. Think about the fact that there's just going to be silence, dead silence. Like that. Where there's just dead silence, even more than that probably, where that seal's open and then boom, here comes the Lord's wrath. And so in verse five there, notice the first thing. This is the same day that he comes. So all that stuff, when he comes in the cloud and the great days of his wrath has come, he seals 144,000, we're raptured up in the clouds with him. This is the same day. This is the same day and notice what happens in that same day in verse five of chapter eight. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake and the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves the sound. So we see, first thing he does is he throws fire down on the earth. And so that's exactly what happens in Noah's day, that's what happens with the flood happening, that's what happens with Lot, the day he came out of Sodom and Gomorrah, the fire came down from heaven. And so this is exactly what we see throughout the Bible. It's consistent. So chapter eight covers the first four trumpets. So there's these seven trumpet judgments that happen and the first four are covered in chapter eight. Chapter nine covers the fifth and sixth trumpet which they call woes. So we have seven trumpets but the last three, five, six and seven are called woes. Meaning at the end of chapter eight it says, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitors of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound. So we call them the three woes because these are more extreme. So we see all this stuff that is going on with the trumpets, with the coming upon the earth, upon the sea, upon the rivers, upon the sun, moon and stars. And then we get into chapter nine where we're getting into the real big stuff. It's almost like you thought that was bad when a third of this was dying, a third of this was turned into blood, a third of this. Just wait until you get into the next one. So chapter nine and verse one there says, and the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit and he opened the bottomless pit and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit and there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth and unto them was given power as scorpions of the earth have power. And it says that they're given five months. So this is going on for five months once this goes on. So this doesn't count everything that's already happened with those first four trumpets but now they're going to be stung with these locusts that are coming out. It's dark. They're getting stabbed with these locusts and that happens for five months. So that's pretty extreme. That's pretty extreme. I'm glad we're not going to be there for that. Amen. This is the wrath of God. We're not appointed unto this. So if you're saved, amen, this is not something we're going through. We're going to be with God in heaven at this point. So chapter nine covers that and then it also covers the sixth angel and verse thirteen there it says, and the sixth angel sounded and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates and as you go on it talks about this army of two hundred million. Two hundred million. They have horses that have the heads of lions and their tails are as serpents and out of the mouths of these horses comes fire, brimstone and jacinth and so it goes crazy. Just imagine. And they're sent to kill men. So it goes on. That's a pretty extreme one. If you thought the locusts were bad these guys are actually going to kill you. See the locusts were stinging them and they were actually wanting to die and couldn't die. This is two hundred million. Think about that number. There's three hundred million or so. There's less than that men in America. If you think about that number, if there's three hundred million people in America and let's say fifty percent are women, fifty percent are men and you're counting children in there too, that means a hundred and fifty are men, there's two hundred million on these horses that are coming after. That's a huge army. Huge army that's coming after the unsaved here. Definitely a whoa. So chapter ten. So chronologically right? All makes sense? We're going from tribulation chapter six, rapture in chapter seven and then wrath chapter eight, nine, ten, eleven. Ten is an interesting chapter. It's basically this vision where this angel is coming down and he has this little book and he says these seven thunders and this is an interesting chapter because he utters these seven thunders but then there's a voice from heaven saying don't write it down. So there's something that's being said here that we don't know of yet. So it's interesting that we know that there's something that's going to happen or something that's being said but it wasn't given to us to know this yet. So I've tried trying to figure out what these thunders are and all this stuff but I have a feeling we're not supposed to know. We could try to study that out and look in Psalms and different thunderings and all this stuff but it could be other judgments. If you think about sevens in Revelation there's a lot of sevens, seven trumpets, seven vials and so maybe there's another seven things that are going on during this whoa of the second whoa here. And so this is the little book that he eats up and it's to his mouth sweet as honey but it's bitter in his stomach. And so we get some more information about the seventh trumpet in here. It kind of tells us once this trumpet it sounds there's going to be time no longer meaning that the times that the Gentiles are over, not the age. This is talking about what's going on with the trotting underfoot. And so anyway, so we see that there's this little kind of like little vision or thing that he's seeing there where he's getting a little more information. But you're still on the second whoa, you're still on the sixth trumpet until you get almost to the end of chapter eleven. Chapter eleven kind of gives us a little more information of what's going on. It gives us a little more timeline. So what we see here are the two witnesses. So there's these two witnesses. So in Revelation eleven chapter three there are these two witnesses that are going to basically be prophesying during basically while the beast is in power. So I believe this is going on basically when the beast takes power these two witnesses are there until basically he loses power. Because what we'll see here is the timeline of this. So in Revelation eleven three it says, And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth. And what you've got to understand is that it just got done saying that the city is going to be trodden underfoot for forty-two months. So one thousand two hundred and sixty days is forty-two months. Those are all three and a half years. A time, times, and half a time, one thousand two hundred and sixty days, forty-two months are all the same time. So do the math and figure it out. But those are all three and a half years. Three and a half years of time. And so basically Jerusalem is going to be trodden underfoot for forty-two months. And while that's going on these two witnesses are, I believe, going to be witnesses in Jerusalem. Because they're going to die in Jerusalem. And so we'll go into who the witnesses are eventually. I believe it's Moses and Elijah. But that's not the point of the sermon tonight. So we have these two witnesses and it's kind of giving us their timeline. So they die right before the seventh trumpet sounds. So that's why it's kind of giving us this information about these guys. But they came on the scene back before the sixth seal was opened. Does that make sense? Because they were there at the abomination of desolation. So it's kind of giving us that information. It's kind of going back to it. And saying, hey, they've been given this time. They're going to prophesy for this long. But we know that they die right before the seventh trumpet happens. Verse fourteen, I'll show you that. Actually, I don't know if I wrote that down. Where they died. Maybe I should show you that. Well, I don't want to read too much of it. But they died and they weren't put in graves. Verse eleven of chapter eleven, it says, And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And then in verse thirteen it says, And the same hour was there a great earthquake and the tenth part of the city fell. And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand and the remnant were affrighted and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe was passed and behold the third woe cometh quickly. So they race from the dead right as that second woe ends. Does that make sense? The same hour that they're raised from the dead, that's when the second woe was passed and behold the third woe cometh quickly. Meaning the seventh trumpet is about to sound. Verse fifteen, so you can see how you can backtrack from that, right? From when the seventh trumpet sounds, when time is going to be no longer, right? And that's when they died. It's basically right before the second trumpet sounds. And then if you backtrack that to the abomination of desolation. So, I don't want to get into those huge details. I'm trying to give you an overview. I'm going too deep into the details. Verse fifteen, it says, And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and worshiped God. Yeah, so basically this is the finale. This is the finale that, you know, basically this is the ending of God's wrath. Where this trumpet sounds. And verse seventeen, I want you to see this. And it says, Saying, We give thee, thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and wast and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned, and the nations were angry, and thy wrath has come, and the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroyed the earth, and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of his testament, and there were lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great hail. So, this is the finale here where we see the ending here. And what I want to show you is why would this switch back in. So, when you go to chapter twelve, we're going back in time and kind of going through the story again. So, why would it do that, though? Why would it go from the very end of God's wrath to now we're kicking back in time? Well, I think the key to this is of what it says in verse fifteen. It says, The seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. So, if you don't mind underlining, the kingdoms of this world, underline that, are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. If you look at chapter twelve, I want you to see this same phrase is used, but it's talking about heaven and not this world. Okay? So, chapter twelve, verse ten, it says, I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ in heaven. So, what happens? What starts off this whole thing? What starts off that seventieth week? Satan being cast out of heaven. Do you know Satan's still up in heaven, accusing the brethren? And until he is kicked out and his angels are kicked out with him, then it's basically, it's not completely cleansed up there. You know, Satan is still kind of roaming up there and going to and fro, kind of like in Job, right? He was going to and fro through the earth, and he was accusing Job. So, in chapter twelve, it's kind of kicking back and saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. And it's saying, okay, this is the end, but how did this start? It started because he kicked out Satan out of heaven, and now, at the end of all this, he's kicking him out of the earth. And so, the kingdoms of the world are now become, so now it's heaven and earth. It starts with heaven, it ends with earth. And so, that's why I believe it's kind of kicking back. You know, you're seeing this finale, but now it's coming back to, this is the beginning of it. So, in chapter twelve, we see that we do go back to the birth of Christ. So, we have this vision. Remember, this is where you get into the fact that it's clearly symbolic when we're talking about this woman that has twelve stars about her head, and she's clothed with the sun. Then, in verse five there, it says, And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne. This is clearly talking about Jesus. I'm not going to go through all the references of ruling with a rod of iron and all these different references to Jesus. And this is clearly Jesus, and the dragon was trying to devour the child. So, we have the story of Herod trying to kill all the children from two years old and younger, trying to kill Jesus, but then he was caught up unto God and to his throne. Remember, Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. So, he's on the throne right now. And so, this is going back to that, and then it kicks forward to the tribulation. So, we see that. We see the war in heaven. I believe this is what starts that tribulation. When you look at Daniel, chapter twelve, and it says, Michael your prince shall stand for his people, and then it shall be great trouble since the world was never seen. Isn't it interesting that in chapter twelve what starts this thing off is Michael and his angels may have a war in heaven? I don't think it's a coincidence that that's talked about in Daniel, that starting that all off, and that Michael the archangel is a big proponent in this. I believe Michael is going to stand up and cast Satan out, and then he's going to come down to the earth, knowing that he has a short time, and he has wrath, and he's wrought toward all the seed of woman, and toward the remnant of her seed, which are the believers. And so, Revelation twelve really hits this as far as what starts off this seven year period. That's what starts this off. And I don't have time to go into all that information that links to this, but that's why I believe you're getting this switch where it's coming back in time, and then we're going to go through this again. And that's basically the pivot, I believe, in how you would see why would you go back. Why would you go back to get this information? The kings of this world are becoming the kings of our Lord and of his Christ, and he's saying, okay, that's where it ended, but here's where it started, with heaven, with Satan being kicked out of heaven, and then going through that story again. So now, if you look at Revelation twelve and thirteen, this is the same information that's going on in Revelation six with the seals. This gives you a lot more information, though. Remember, in Revelation six, there's not that much information. It's talking about famines, it's talking about wars, it's talking about people being killed and people dying of pestilence and disease, you know, all this stuff. But Revelation twelve and thirteen really get into the aspects of the devil and the antichrist and their kingdom and what's going on with that. So you had the first half of that seven-year period that happens in Revelation twelve. This is where Satan is going after all the earth. And remember, in those seals, remember, it's the fourth part of the earth that is killed. He gives them power to kill the fourth part of the earth. But then, at the end of Revelation twelve, he's wroth because he had this flood that was going after the woman, and the earth swallowed up the flood, and so then he went after basically Christians, and it says in verse seventeen, the last verse of chapter twelve, it says, And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So now he's not going after the whole world, particularly. He's going after the saved. He's going after Christians. And this is what goes right into the abomination of desolation, which happens in the midst of that seven-year period. So you have, and if you read this chapter, you have the time, times, and half a time, and the 1260 days, which is the same time period. Time, times, which is two, right? So you have time, which is one, times, which would be two, and then half a time, which would be half of the time, right? And what does that give you? Three and a half. So it's just a weird, it's not weird, it's an interesting way to say three and a half. Time, times, and half a time. And so, but we see when you equate all these, that 42 months, time, times, and half a time, 1260 days, is all the same thing. It's all three and a half years. So the first three and a half years of that seven-year period happens in Revelation chapter 12. The second half is where the Antichrist comes, and he's given power for 42 months. So, I hope all this is making sense. You know, chapter 12, we're starting over, and we're going into the tribulation period, and chapter 12 covers that first part of that seven years, that first half of that seven years. Chapter 13, we get into the Antichrist. We have this beast that comes out. In verse 5 of chapter 13, it says, And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue 42 months. So three and a half years have gone by. Now he's going after just the Christians, right? He's going to use the Antichrist to do this, and that Antichrist has 42 months. What? Three and a half years. There's your seven-year period. It never says, like, seven years, but it gives you pieces of it. Three and a half years here, three and a half years here. And so, perfectly in line of what's going on in Revelation 6. And it says, And he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. So we see, this is the great tribulation. This is where the saved are being martyred. This is like the fifth seal that's going on, where the martyrs of God and the souls underneath the altar are going to be crying out, when are you going to avenge our blood? And so we see that. Twelve and thirteen, tribulation. Fourteen, can anyone guess what that's going to be? You guessed it, the rapture. And so we have the 144,000 and the rapture. Seems like a coincidence, but my friend, it's because it all fits together and it's all chronological. So chapter 14, verse 1, notice who we see. So in Revelation 6, we have the tribulation and then all the saints that are asking for, the souls that are asking for vengeance. And then in 7, what happens? The 144,000 and the rapture. Well, chapter 14, it says, And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the mount's side, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his father's name written in their foreheads. Interesting. That's 144,000. And it goes through about these 144,000, gives us a little more information about them. Chapter 14, we have the rapture. So chapter 14 and verse 14, so 14, verse 14, And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man. Sound like someone we know? The Son of Man is going to come in the clouds, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And it goes through about this sickle, and the harvest of the earth is ripe. In verse 16, it says, And he that sat on the cloud, thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And so we have these two reapings, which is like the parable of the tares and the wheat, about how you have the children of the devil and the children of God, and he's going to reap both of those. One he's going to burn, and this one he casts into the great winepress of the wrath of God, but the other ones he's going to put into his barn. So he's going to reap the saved, and then he's going to cast the unbelievers into the great winepress of the wrath of God, because what happens after the rapture? God's wrath. God pours out his wrath on all the earth and on all the unbelievers. So it all fits. It all fits. Chapter 15. So we should probably be getting into the wrath now when we get into chapter 15. Well, that's exactly what happens. The first thing that's mentioned in the chapter is about these seven angels that are going to come out with the seven last plagues and the vials, these seven last vials. But in verse 2 there, it says, And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. That sounds exactly like Revelation 7. So remember in Revelation 7, you had the great multitude found in heaven. So we had the reaping that happens in chapter 14. And remember, they were there with palms in their hands and all this other stuff. So Revelation 14 and 15 is where you got the rapture, 144,000, the rapture. And then 15, they're up there in heaven with them on the sea of glass. And then what happens right after that? Verse 7 of chapter 15, And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels, seven golden vials full of the wrath of God who liveth forever and ever. So they give them these four vials of the wrath, or these seven vials of the wrath of God to pour out on the earth. And chapter 16 is where they pour them out. So all consistent, all chronological. Now, I believe that the trumpets and the vials do happen concurrently. They're complementary. They're not the same thing, although they deal with the same things, but they're complementary. And so I believe that that's why you can put these two passages. You put Revelation 1 through 11 together and 12 through 22. And that doesn't mean that one goes with 11, or goes with 12, and two goes with 13. You know, that's what people, they put up this straw man, like when we say that they're parallel and you can cut Revelation in half and have the story be told in one place and the story's told again, that the chapters are actually all parallel to each other, like one by one. No, that's not what we're saying. You know, Revelation 6 and Revelation 12 and 13 go together. Revelation 7 and Revelation 14 go together. Revelation 8, 9, 10, and 11 go together with Revelation 15, 16, 17, and 18. And 19, if you count the Battle of Armageddon in there, too. So we're not saying that you can just put, like, 1 with 12, 2 with 13, 3 with 14. And they use this knowing that what they're saying is stupid and knowing that that's not what we believe. But this is what, you know, like Sam Gipp, the Gipp at Endor, you know, tries to portray what we believe and then people look at them like, oh, that's ridiculous, you know, that this would match up. And, you know, they have to do that because their theory is so stupid that they have to start lying to people and say things that aren't even true. But anyway, so we have Revelation 15. It's kind of the segue. It's the preparation of these vials that are going to be poured out. And in Revelation 16, we have the vials being poured out. Revelation 16, verse 1, And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. So throughout 16, we see all these vials being poured out. So I believe basically how it does happen is that you have the first trumpet that blows and then you have this vial that happens. You have the second trumpet that blows and then you have this vial, the second vial happens. And as you can see, they're all dealing with the same thing as far as what is being poured out upon, upon, you know, upon the earth, upon the sea, upon the rivers, upon the sun, moon, and stars. But they're complementary. When you see this, you'll see that they kind of, they work together. So I'm not saying it happens necessarily in the same day. You know, it may not happen the same exact day. Because these trumpets and vials, or the trumpets, there's time, there's five months going on for that fifth trumpet. There's a year, a day, a month, and a week, I think I'm saying it right, for the sixth trumpet. So there's like a lot of time that's going on there. And so this isn't just happening in one day, all these trumpets and all these vials. This stuff is going on through a few years or so. So it's going to be going up until the end of that seven-year period. And so we see that even if you look at that chart over there, you can see that that period of wrath is going on for a little bit of time there. A little less than three and a half years, but it's going on for a little bit of time. So we see that in Revelation 16, we have these vials being poured out. And when that seventh vial is poured out, it is literally exactly the same as what is said about the seventh trumpet. So at that point, those things are, boom, they're the same thing that's going on. And there's a lot going on. The cities of the nations are going to fall. So that's huge. Just imagine every city that you know just falling to the earth. All the buildings, everything falling to the earth, and then there's this great hail, the weight of a talent that are falling on people. So we see that finality with that seventh vial. So just imagine the seventh trumpet blows, the seventh vial is being poured out, and all this is going down. Basically, it's just like everything's falling apart. Remember, when that seventh trumpet sounds, time is no longer meaning the kingdoms of our Lord are become the kingdoms of our, the kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. Now 17, because when you read through, it talks about Babylon has fallen, has fallen. So when this seventh angel sounds, we're going to see that Babylon comes into remembrance. So this is where Babylon, there's a lot of information in 17 and 18 about Babylon, but they literally get destroyed in one hour. One hour. But there's like two chapters dedicated to this Babylon. So no, you're reading all this and you think a lot of time is going on in this, but it literally happens in one hour. 17 is literally given, it's like a little interlude in the Bible, in this story about who Babylon is. It's kind of like stepping back and saying, let me talk to you about who Babylon is. Babylon's going to fall in one hour. So he's like, Babylon has fallen. I mean, he's going to fall here in an hour, but let me talk to you about who this Babylon is. And so in chapter 17, we see Babylon in this, you know, basically it's going to be this world empire where the beast, the, you know, the Antichrist is going to take over and it talks about how he's going to ascend out of the bombless pit. So it talks, it explains a lot about the Antichrist and how he comes into power. And so we see, you know, who this person is, their abominations or this city, this great city or this nation. You know, a lot of times a city could be a nation. And so we see who they are in chapter 17. Chapter 18 is where that hour of destruction is going on and it explains what's going on with this destruction and how all the merchants are going to weep and wail for them. So chapter 18 is just basically the judgment of Babylon. Chapter 17 is talking about who they are, who this Babylon is, the city and the Antichrist that used this Babylon, the great whore. He used it as a whore to get power, right? And then they burn it with fire. And it puts it in the hearts of these ten kings that gave them this power in Babylon to burn this nation with fire. And it could very well be nuclear war. That could happen in an hour, you know, where you could just annihilate America, which I believe is Babylon, and annihilate it in an hour. And so that great judgment is going on. Chapter 19, so notice we're still at the seventh Trumpet, the seventh file. Remember, it says in the days of the voice of the seventh Trumpet. So the seventh Trumpet sounds, but there's still stuff going on, but it's God's kingdom. It's no longer the kingdom of the Antichrist. He's being destroyed at this point completely. The nation, the Babylon is being completely destroyed in an hour. Chapter 19 is where it basically discusses that a little bit into the beginning of chapter 19 about how God is just and holy and true to give judgment to that great whore to Babylon to destroy that beast. And then it goes on into the marriage supper of the Lamb. So this marriage supper of the Lamb is something that's been really preached weirdly for a long time in Baptist churches. I've heard this, you know, marriage supper of the Lamb, you know, that's where, brother, we're going to be out before the tribulation and we're going to be eating up in heaven in the marriage supper of the Lamb while God is judging this earth. It's like, where did you get that? You know, past the bread, because the bologna has already been around, my friend. I mean, this is just not reading your Bible because when you look at the marriage supper of the Lamb, it clearly tells us what that is. And so in verse 19, or chapter 19, verse 9, it says, And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb, and he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And so this is the marriage supper of the Lamb that we're dealing with. Notice in verse 19 what this supper is. It says in verse 18 there, it says, That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. So is this a feast with rolls and gravy and all this other stuff that we're talking about? No, this is where the fowls of the heaven are going to feast on all the kings of the earth. So it is a supper, my friends. It is a supper, but it's a different kind of supper. You know, we're going to be on white horses with the Lord Jesus Christ at this point, and we're all going to have two-edged swords in our hands to execute judgment upon all and upon all the ungodly and all their ungodly deeds, which they've ungodly committed. And so this is going to be a judgment on all these armies, and it's going to be without hand. He's going to be destroyed without hand because the Antichrist at the end of this chapter, the Antichrist, the beast, and the false prophet are going to be cast into a lake of fire, and they're the first two to go into that lake of fire. At this point, no one's in the lake of fire. Everybody's in hell in the middle of the earth, but hell is going to be brought up, and everybody in there is going to be cast into that lake of fire. But the beast and the false prophet are the first that Jesus is going to take them and cast them into the lake of fire. So we see that that battle of Armageddon is the finale before the thousand-year reign. So when we get into chapter 20, that's what we get into. So now, in chapter 20, we're no longer dealing with tribulation, God's wrath. We're now into what we call the millennial reign of Christ. So at this point, Satan, in the beginning of the chapter of chapter 20, is bound in hell into the bottomless pit. And this is why this is ridiculous. You've never heard that Apollyon and Abaddon is Satan. Because Apollyon and Abaddon had the keys of hell. The keys of hell, or the keys of the bottomless pit, was given to Abaddon in chapter 9. And they're like, oh, that's Satan. He's the king of the bottomless pit. Well, what universe? You've been watching too many Looney Tunes where Porky Pig is down there ruling hell. Notice what it says right here in chapter 20. Think about this angel being Satan. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. Chapter 9 shows us that that's Abaddon. That's Apollyon. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil, and Satan had bound him a thousand years. It's pretty interesting that Satan bound himself and threw himself into the bottomless pit. So, see what I mean? You hear these cute phrases and you hear all this stuff, but it never adds up when you actually read the Bible and see and define these things. Why don't you look up that angel at the bottomless pit and see who he is? And so, anyway, that's a side note. Apollyon, Abaddon, throws Satan into the bottomless pit. He chains him up, throws him into the bottomless pit for a thousand years. A thousand years of where we're ruling and reigning with Christ. So, in verse 6 of chapter 20, blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection on such and second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. So, you read over this, but it's like, here's the thousand year reign, now we're getting out of it. So, that's a lot of time in those few verses there, whereas the thousand years were reigning with Christ, but now, after a thousand years have expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. So, we have the thousand year reign. Satan's loosed out of the bottomless pit after the thousand years expired. He gathers together all these unsaved people to battle Gog and Magog, which is interesting because everybody's always talking about Gog and Magog, like that's happening here soon. Well, even if Jesus were to come today, which isn't gonna happen, but let's say that was to happen, you still have a thousand years before the Gog and Magog thing can ever happen. So, Gog and Magog is way in the future, way in the future, at least a thousand years and seven years ahead, you know, or something like that. And so, but then at the end of the chapter we have the great white throne judgment. So, after, we have this first resurrection, which are, when we're resurrected with Christ, when he comes in the clouds, that's called the first resurrection. Then, during that thousand year reign, there's gonna be people that are dying and all this stuff, there's gonna be saved people dying, there's gonna be unbelievers dying. And then there's gonna be another resurrection and this is the resurrection of the just and the unjust. If you go to 1 Corinthians 15, we're not teaching about the resurrection tonight, but there's the first fruits, which is Christ, then there is his coming and then cometh the end. So, even for believers, there's Christ the first fruits, he's the first one to be resurrected from the dead. Then, when he comes again, we, which are alive with rain, and everybody that's died before in Christ will be resurrected then, but then they're not gonna live again. Those that die in Christ during the thousand year reign, they're not gonna be resurrected until at the end of that thousand year reign. But then you have a great white throne judgment, which is all unbelievers. Death and hell delivered up the dead, which were in them. And so, in Revelation 20, or I'm sorry, Revelation 20 verse 11, it says, And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and it was found no place for them. So, we have the great white throne judgment. So, this is the finale after the thousand year reign. This is the final judgment of the lost. So, all the saved and lost have been judged at this point. Now, we get into the new heaven and new earth. So, chapter 21, we go, see, this is all chronological. From chapter 12 on, this is all just boom, boom, boom, boom. This is all going down the line. Now, obviously, there's a lot of time going on through that, because you have this thousand year reign, and you have all this stuff that's going on. So, in chapter 20, you're going through a lot of time in that period of time, from when Satan's bound to the thousand year reign and battle of Gog and Magog to the great white throne judgment, and now we have the new heaven and new earth in chapter 21. So, chapter 21 verse 1, it says, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea, and I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. So, in chapter 21, it talks about this new heaven, new earth, and particularly new Jerusalem that's going to come down from heaven. So, basically, God's throne is coming down from heaven. That city that's in heaven is coming down to earth on this new earth that he's going to create, or that he's going to make, and it says, so a new earth in the first earth, or the first heaven and first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. So, there's no more sea. That's interesting, and the first, notice it says first and not second. So, throw that pre-Adamite civilization and the gap theory out the window, because this is the first heaven and first earth, my friends, and so there was only one, and now there's going to be the new heaven and new earth. So, chapter 21 goes into all the details about the new heaven, new earth, and new Jerusalem. Chapter 22 kind of keeps going with that. So, you have new Jerusalem and the gates and going into that, and chapter 21, or 22, verse 1, it says, and he showed me a pure river, a water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielding her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. So, we see more information about this new Jerusalem and what's going on in it, so we have the tree of life on either side of the, yeah, the tree of life on either side of the river of life, and so all this stuff that's going on, there's no more pain, all the tears are wiped away at this point, all things are becoming new, and that can be truly said about everything at this point. Everybody's in a spiritual body, there's no more pain, there's no more death, death has been conquered. At the great white throne judgment, death is completely destroyed, and everybody that's unsaved is out without the gate, and in that lake of fire, but all the saved are going to walk in this new Jerusalem. So, we see that finale, and then this is the finale, remember it says, for the time is at hand at the beginning of Revelation, Revelation 22 verse 10, it says, and he saith unto me, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand, and it ends with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen. That's how it ends, that's how the Bible ends. And so we have this finality, basically saying don't seal this, this time is at hand, you know it's been almost 2,000 years, but it's still at hand, the time of these events that can happen is at hand, and so we need to be ready, we need to watch, and the book of Revelation is not complicated my friends, that wasn't complicated, and we didn't get all the little nitty gritty details, but really it's that simple that you have tribulation, rapture, wrath, tribulation, rapture, wrath, a thousand year reign, judgment seat of Christ, new heaven, new earth, finale. That's as simple as it gets my friends, so now when you read through Revelation, having that structure in your mind will help you understand it all, now when you're reading through there, you understand, hey this is all about the tribulation, so these are all the details that fill in that blank, if you don't have a structure when you're reading through here, you're going to be all over the place. If you think that Revelation 12 is a continuing, an event of what's going on after chapter 11, you're going to be really messed up, because now you're talking about all this extra information that's going on after the seventh trumpet sounds. So it makes sense, this isn't unprecedented that the Bible would do this, it does it in Daniel, and I believe Daniel is the other book, that if you're going to look for Bible prophecy, Daniel is that book that you're going to go to for Bible prophecy, and it's interesting that the first six chapters are in chronological order, and then it kicks back and goes back in time with his visions, and then puts his visions in chronological order. I don't think that's by accident, I think that's kind of giving you a key to understanding Revelation, and how it goes in chronological order, from the first half of the chapters, 1 through 11, and then 12 through 22 is all in chronological order. So it's easy to understand, my friends, it's very simple, and once you have that structure, then now we can get into the details. Now we can get into the details, we have tribulation, rapture, wrath, tribulation, rapture, wrath, everything that we've been reading, from Revelation to 1 Thessalonians to Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, we'll get into Daniel eventually too, but you'll have tribulation, rapture, wrath, it's always that structure, and as long as you have that structure, now we can fill in the blanks, and after that, you can have discussions with me and say, well, you know what, I think the vials happen after the trumpets, okay, I'm not against you, if you think that, but it's still wrath, it's still tribulation, rapture, wrath, you know, as long as we're not getting off track on all this stuff, and saying different things about that, so that's the overview of the book of Revelation, we'll get into more details, you know, we'll get into, maybe next week we'll just talk just about the tribulation, just what's going on during this tribulation about the Antichrist, the mark of the beast, and what's going on in that period of time, but now you can see that there's a structure to this, and that, you know, what's going on, and what these chapters represent, so when we go through the tribulation, guess what chapters we're going to be looking at? Chapter 6, 12, and 13, that simple, and maybe we'll get into 17 a little bit to get a little more information about the beast, but pretty much that's where you're going to be going to, and so when we're going to talk about the rapture, where do you think we're going to go? Chapter 7, 14, when we're talking about God's wrath, where do you think we're going to go to? 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, So you have a structure, and that's my main point tonight. If you're going to get anything, just get that structure of Revelation, so now when you read it again, hopefully it just flows better, and you're not daunted. You're not intimidated by it. Don't be intimidated by Revelation, and that's why people are intimidated by it because they have a wrong structure, and then they're just confused every time they go into it, and so, but let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. I thank everybody that came out, and Lord, just thank you for this church, and thank you for your word, and just thank you for giving us the revelation of the end times that are to come, and Lord, we know it's at hand, and Lord, just help us to watch and be ready, and Lord, we just love you and pray all in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.