Study of Revelation and End Times - Golden Key - week 6

The Golden Key to the Book of Revelation - week 6

Last week we looked at how Jesus holds the keys to the book of Revelation, and by looking at the title, the target group, the subject, author, publisher, dedication, it helped us understand a little bit more about the book of Revelation.

We also seen four things about the Lord Jesus Christ which were, His grace, glory, gentleness, and government.

Tonight, we are going to look at the golden key which helps us to better understand the book of Revelation even further.

By looking at one verse, which is chapter 1, verse 19, it gives us a summary if you will or a golden key to the book of Revelation.

There is three sections to Revelation, the first two are short, with the last section taking up the majority of the book.

Golden Key

Revelation 1:19 NASB95

19 “Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.

The Lord Jesus commissioned John to write three things.

First, what you have seen.

What did John see?

A vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is things that are past.

Second, Jesus told him to write about what is.

This refers to the present things - the church age, which is recorded in chapters 2 and 3.

In that time there were seven Churches in Asia Minor: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

While these were actual churches, they represent all churches throughout all ages, even included in today’s time.

Today we are still living in the church age, and in the second section the what is - the present things.

Third, is what will take place after this.

The remaining chapters of Revelation, chapters 4-22 make up this last section, this final part, what we refer to as the prophetic time.

These things tell us that Jesus has come, Jesus is here today with us, and He is coming again.

The book of Revelation gives us a look at history and the future from the eyes of God. Not a guess, but a sure word from Almighty God.

Now let’s look at a panoramic view of prophecy as told in the Book of Revelation.

The Rapture of the Church and the Departure of the Saints.

Revelation 4:1 NASB95

1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

From this verse to the end of the book, the word church is no longer mentioned because the church will be raptured by that point.

According to Revelation, the rapture occurs before the tribulation, and the church then stands before the judgment seat of Christ and attends the marriage feast of the Lamb.

Those who remain on earth will enter the great tribulation.

The rapture will constitute the end of the church age.

We will see this in more detail in a few weeks.

A voice like a trumpet will shout, Come up hither!

1 Thessalonians 4:16–18 NASB95

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

This is not the second coming as Jesus never steps foot on the earth as he only comes in the clouds.

When will the rapture take place?

At any moment.

We are not looking for some sign.

We are not looking for prophecy to be fulfilled before Jesus can come for His church, it could happen before this service is over.

Luke 12:40 NASB95

40 “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

Jesus is coming like a thief in the night.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 NASB95

2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

A burglar never writes a note and says, I’ll be at your house tonight.

We must be ready, be prepared for Jesus to gather us up in the rapture.

The Rise of the Beast and the Deception of the Devil

The church is the salt of the earth.

So when the church is raptured, that which preserves, heals, and restrains is removed.

This ungodly world system resents salty saints.

It wishes we were gone. And one day we will be.

That is when corruption will really set in and the beast, with devilish deception, will come on scene.

Revelation 13:1–3 NASB95

1 And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;

Satan’s superman, who is called the Antichrist (the counterfeit Christ), is coming into this world.

And when he does, he will turn the world into a vast concentration camp with all of the inmates numbered.

No one will be able to buy or sell unless they have the validating mark given by this man, who is the beast.

John Philips has described the beast this way:

He will be a most attractive person - a genuine savior to a world

careening like an express train without throttle, wide open, out of

control, and without a man at the helm. No doubt his personal charm

will be great, his intellectual genius immense, his wealth and influence

proverbial, his authority overpowering, his passions and hatreds

extraordinary, his organizing shill unsurpassed, his techniques superb.

Men will follow him to death. Women will swoon at his feet and children

will say his name as savior of the world and the hope of mankind. Yet for

all of that, he will be totally and thoroughly bad. He is the man of sin.

The Great Tribulation and the Devastation of the Earth

Jesus was once the sacrificial Lamb, but He will not always be that way.

The Lamb becomes the Lion.

Revelation 6:12–17 NASB95

12 I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. 14 The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

During the tribulation, not only will the beast deceive the nations, but God will also pour out His fury upon the world.

It will be so terrible that people will desire to die and will not be able to do so.

Death will flee from them.

In this prophecy, first there will be the rapture, second will come the rise of the beast, and third will be the great tribulation, which will last for seven years.

There has never been a time like this, Hell will have a holiday.

Calamities across the world will occur - hail, fire, a burning mountain cast into the sea, a bitter star named Wormwood that poisons the waters, boils, cosmic darkness, locusts (which are really demon spirits), horseman who ride forth to bring pestilence, and the worship of the Antichrist.

The vials of God’s wrath will be poured out.

The sea and rivers will turn to blood.

There will be great heat and great darkness.

The Euphrates River will dry up.

It will be horrible beyond description.

Armageddon and the Defeat of the Beast and His Armies

The tribulation will end with a battle called Armageddon.

At this battle the beast and his armies will be defeated.

Revelation 16:13–16 NASB95

13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; 14 for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) 16 And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.

The vast plain you can be see from atop Mount Megiddo in Israel is where the battle of Armageddon will take place.

Revelation 19:11–16 NASB95

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

What a day this will be!

The Antichrist will come and rally the demon spirits to draw the world leaders to fight against the Jews and Jerusalem.

Then Jesus will come in power and great glory to judge Babylon the Great.

At this time He will not be coming for His saints (they will have already been raptured).

But instead Jesus will be coming with His saints to defeat the beast and his armies.

He will fight the battle with one weapon - the sword in His mouth.

What is this sword?

Well we see it used in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Judas walks up to deny Jesus to the Roman guards, and the Jewish officials.

John 18:4–6 NASB95

4 So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” 5 They answered Him, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I am He.” And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. 6 So when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

When Jesus said I am he, the people stepped back and fell to the ground, the words that came forth out of Jesus’ mouth are so powerful that they cause people to fall to the ground.

So the sword that is in Jesus mouth is, the very words that he speaks.

Jesus will speak words, and the armies of the Antichrist will fall to the ground dead.

The Millennial Reign of Peace and the Dominion of Jesus

Revelation 20:1–6 NASB95

1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.

These thousand years will be signified by the reign of Christ, when the lamb and the lion will lie down together.

It will be a millennium of peace.

And Satan will get the longest prison sentence in history.

The prophet Habakkuk described it like this:

Habakkuk 2:14 NASB95

14 “For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, As the waters cover the sea.

Isaiah said:

Isaiah 2:4 NASB95

4 And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war.

We are encouraged to pray for peace in:

Psalm 122:6 NASB95

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.

However, there will be ultimate peace in the Middle East only when Jesus comes to rule and to reign.

How we need to pray for the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Can you imagine what the millennial reign of Jesus Christ will be like?

No war, no disease, and worldwide peace!

The Final Judgment and the Doom of the Lost

Revelation 20:11–15 NASB95

11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

How does the millennial reign of Jesus Christ end?

With the final judgment of every unsaved man, woman, and child standing before the great white throne of Jesus Christ.

John 5:22–23 NASB95

22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Why does God delay the final judgment until this time?

Because the waves of sin have not yet hit the shores of eternity.

When you drop a pebble in a lake, the ripples radiate outward to the shoreline.

Just the same the ripples of sin go on and on, even after death they can effect generations, think of alcoholism, it can effect generation after generation.

The effects of divorce can ripple into other generations.

Therefore, at the end of the millennial reign, the great white judgment will take place, God will place the period on the last sentence in the final paragraph on the final page in the book of history, and mankind will experience cumulative judgment.

The unsaved will be judged and cast into the lake of fire.

The final state and the Destiny of Mankind

Revelation 21:6–8 NASB95

6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 “He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

When God created you with a soul, body and mind, He made you in His image.

You could not more cease to exist than God Himself could cease to exist.

For all time your soul will exist somewhere.

When the moon and the starts fall, the sun is darkened, the mountains crumble, the sky is split, and Jesus comes with His blood-washed armies of heaven, where will your soul be?

Revelation 22:17 NASB95

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.

Where will you spend eternity?

Have you partaken of the living water?

Another words have you accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?