End Times part 3
THE END TIMES. Part 3.
So let’s look at the book of Revelation.
Ch1;1 1The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
1;19; Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.
John is looking in three time frames; Past, present and future.
- Past; “What you have seen”. Ie, Jesus as Lord and King.
- Present: The letters to the 7 churches.
- Future: The rest of the book which is largely prophetic.
What must soon take place – what will take place later. Remember 2 Pet 3;8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.) So ‘soon’ or ‘later’ even after 2000 years, leaves us still in God’s time frame of a couple of days
Jesus was showing John things which must soon take place. We are seeing these things happen NOW. These are exciting days.
Rev 2 & 3 contain the letters to the 7 churches. ( The ‘Things which are’)
Rev 4 starts a new vision. “After this….” “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”
We have here a picture of the Throne Room of God. It may be figurative, but is obviously awe inspiring.
Compare Rev 4;5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God, with Moses on the mount getting the 10 commandments. Ex 19;16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
In passing it is interesting to note the similarity with the Tabernacle in the Wilderness. This was to represent God’s presence among the Israelites as they journeyed. In the holy place was a 7 branched lamp stand. Before the Altar was a ‘sea of brass’. The Israelites camped in 4 sections around the Tabernacle; to the east, Judah, to the north, Dan, to the west, Ephraim, to the south, Reuben. Jewish tradition says their four standards were respectively a lion, an eagle, an ox, and a man. It is as if God was duplicating the Throne room of Heaven on earth.
Rev 5. God has in His hand the book – the contents of which are not revealed. It may be that it is referred to in Eph 3;10; His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. It will not be until the end of the age that God will reveal what exactly has been taking place through the ages, and His Divine plans and purposes.
The question is not who can reveal what is going to happen, but who is worthy to open the book. It has been described as Man’s title deeds lost to Satan by Adam in the Fall. Only Jesus was worthy, having redeemed us and bought back our status with God.
Christ appears as the Lamb. See John 1;29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! and 1 Pet 1;18-19 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world,
Before we look at the next chapter and the seals etc. Let us look at;
The order of Christ’s coming;
- The rapture of the Church. Christ comes for his saints
- In Heaven Christ’s judgement of the saints. On earth, The Great Tribulation.
- The ‘2nd coming’ – Christ comes with His saints.
- Armageddon. Judgement of the living.
- The millennial reign of Christ and binding of Satan
- Satan’s release and final rebellion
- Great White Throne judgement
- New Jerusalem.
When we are caught up to be with the Lord, we will stand before His Judgement seat. This is compared to the Olympics where victors receive their crowns. Nb; 2 Cor 5;8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. 9Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
It is not a judgement of condemnation; see Rom 8;1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit
There are in fact 3 Judgements;
(a) The judgment of the church, i.e. the raptured; at the “judgment seat of Christ” before the Millennial kingdom.
(b) The judgment of the nations, i.e. upon the then living: at the “throne of His glory,” at the beginning of the Millennial kingdom.
(c) The judgment of the world, i.e. of the dead Rev.20: 12); at the “great white throne,” after the Millennial kingdom.
The Judge will be Jesus when He appears; 2 Tim 4;8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
We will all stand before Him. 2 Cor 5;10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
The judgement is regarding faithfulness and a suitable reward. It is described as ‘by fire’; 1 Cor 3;11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. We need to make sure we are building with solid materials – not inflammables! It is possible to be saved, but only as one who escapes from a burning building with his bare life.
John warns; 1 Jn 2;28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. literally, “from Him”; shrink back from Him ashamed, it stands in contrast to the boldness and confidence which the Christian ought to have at the coming of Christ.
The standard is our faithfulness (Matt.25: 21, Well done, good and faithful servant!), Salvation depends upon faith, reward upon faithfulness. As sons we receive His life, as servants His reward. (Rev.22: 12) Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
The REWARDS.
The victorious warrior — with the crown of righteousness (2 Tim.4: 8);
The steadfast racer — with the unfading crown (1 Cor.9: 25 -27);
The one faithful unto death — with the crown of life (Rev.2: 10; Jas.1: 12);
The unselfish worker — with the crown of honour (1 Thess.2: 19, comp. 3-6; Phil.4: 1);
The example to the flock — with the crown of glory (1 Pet.5: 3,4).
The GLORY. Out of it all, comes the final glory for the church. (Rev.19: 6-9). “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigneth. Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad, and let us give the glory unto Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready…. Blessed are they who are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb”.
While all this is going on in Heaven, things begin to hot up on Earth!
Rev 6;1-8;
“The great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? Rev 6;17
Revelation is a series of pictures of the coming events at the end of the world. But does in fact date from the early church. The 1st 3 chapters deal with the church on earth. When we get to chapter 6 we find the church in Heaven
The rapture appears to take place somewhere between chs 3 & 4.
The comparison between Rev 6 and Matt 24 is striking.
1 IMPERIALISM; Rev. 6;1-2
A conquering horse/rider. A regular sight at that time. The conqueror rode a white horse.
Some think the horseman is Christ. His crown Calvary, his bow the Word and refer to ch 19. This does not however harmonise with the rest of the chapter. Ch 19 at this point is still future. The other 3 horsemen are judgement and disasters, which would be in a sense out of keeping with the Lord.
These horsemen are best interpreted as forces or principles. (Conquest, war, famine, death). Since the Roman Empire there has been this spirit of wanting to conquer the world abroad.
Today nations and individuals are looking for ways to conquer.
2 WAR. Naturally! Red the colour of fire and blood. He removes peace. Ever since Roman times there have been wars in every century which have got bigger and bigger. There have been more wars in the 20th Century than ever before. Cp Matt 24;6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.. Christ’s prophecy of wars and rumours of wars at the end times. Despite all man’s efforts there has never been peace on earth. “Short sword = great – intense?”
3. FAMINE. See Matt 24;8 There will be famines. Black the colour of famine (see Lam 5;10 Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine)(nb; NIV “hot” does not convey the sense. Lit; ‘burnt black’) this is not absolute dearth, but a prohibitive cost of living. See v 6. Scales etc. speak of rationing. – The price. In ordinary times a denarius would buy 8 measures of wheat or 24 barley. A day’s wages, enough for one. Families must use barley. Oil and wine were more luxuries than staples, implying perhaps that luxuries were available, but the main support of life scarce.
We are seeing this come to pass frighteningly today. Luxury and famine side by side. “Ignore the hungry, they’ll go away”
4. DEATH. Vv7-8 Lit; yellowish pale green – the livid greenish white of putrefying flesh. While these four have in a sense always been with us, in the latter times, they will have special significance as heralds of God’s judgement and agents of His wrath.
5. MARTYRED DEAD. Vv9-11
They gave their lives for Christ. Recognised but apparently not yet rewarded. God is not yet ready to act on their behalf. They are conscious of where they are and what is happening. They are with God, in conversation with Him. They have white robes of righteousness (cp letters to churches). In contrast to the apathy of some, they staked their lives on Christ. It appears some are still to be martyred – in the tribulation?
6. COSMIC DISTURBANCES. Vv 12-17
The whole universe shaken. Earthquakes, sun/moon darkened. (See Matt 24; there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.) Stars fall. Some take these as purely figurative, speaking of politics etc. apostasy etc. But through scripture, when spoken of the universe etc., generally taken literally.
In May 1780 the sun was darkened in the north east of America for no apparent reason. No clouds, stars were seen, there was no eclipse, and it lasted too long. Cp Israel in Egypt. God’s agent of judgement was darkness.
Sky described as rolled up – how? Imagine if the earth was suddenly moved out of orbit? Scientists are afraid a tremendous atomic explosion could do it. The stress caused by such a change could well move every island and mountain out of place.
Vv15-17. Sheer terror rages. Man thinks he can explain everything,(through science) but God keeps reminding him he can’t. God hates sin. He will settle in full after he has given men every opportunity to repent. C6;16 – the wrath of the Lamb. He has taken the judgement of our sin on Himself and now will administer judgement to the unrepentant.
Chapter 7 . A pause. The winds held. Symbolic of judgement. The saints and ‘the elect’ marked for preservation. God seals those who are His. Cp Israel in Egypt (blood on lintel). “I will pass over you”. & Rahab’s red cord.
Judgement must begin at the house of God, but the wrath of God was averted at Calvary and will not fall on us. Nb 6;17. God held back his wrath with unsaved until now. Need to realise how God feels about those who reject Jesus. In times of judgement God has preserved a remnant; Zech 13;9. Israel and the Church. Servants/ slaves. Masters branded their slaves in John’s day. Those who are Christ’s are set apart from his wrath.
Israel ‘sealed’ cp 14;1. The Jews stand up for God in the tribulation. They worship God. Tribulation = persecution.
Then ; Silence. What is going to happen next?
