WEBVTT 1 00:00:17.071 --> 00:00:18.007 Welcome back. 2 00:00:18.017 --> 00:00:19.817 It's good to see you all. 3 00:00:19.827 --> 00:00:21.320 I'm glad you made it. 4 00:00:22.910 --> 00:00:29.463 We've been talking about the warnings in the children's story. 5 00:00:29.473 --> 00:00:38.247 She was talking about the seventh trumpet and that was our theme last week as well. 6 00:00:38.257 --> 00:00:44.579 And we see that the trumpets are warning of difficult times. 7 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:57.343 And even some of the trumpet sounds themselves, like you heard in the video, can be rather almonds. 8 00:00:57.353 --> 00:01:04.318 And so that can have a troubling effect on us, in our hearts. 9 00:01:04.328 --> 00:01:08.989 But Jesus doesn't want us to be troubled. 10 00:01:10.379 --> 00:01:14.159 This is the book of John. 11 00:01:14.169 --> 00:01:25.950 John 14, and the first verse, Jesus is saying, let not your heart be troubled. 12 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:41.597 And the reason he starts off this way is because just before that, at the end of chapter 13, Peter asks him, where are you going? 13 00:01:41.607 --> 00:01:45.260 Because he said he was going away. 14 00:01:47.489 --> 00:01:53.248 And Jesus answered, whither I go, thou canst not follow me. 15 00:01:53.258 --> 00:01:57.640 Not now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 16 00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:04.025 And Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? 17 00:02:04.035 --> 00:02:07.214 I will lay down my life for thy sake. 18 00:02:07.224 --> 00:02:14.250 And then in verse 38, Jesus answered him, wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? 19 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:24.889 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me thrice. 20 00:02:24.899 --> 00:02:29.680 So this was a very unpleasant thing to hear. 21 00:02:30.419 --> 00:02:32.555 It was troubling. 22 00:02:32.565 --> 00:02:38.345 Jesus was saying, you say you will die for me. 23 00:02:38.355 --> 00:02:54.039 And then he says, verily, verily, that means very truly, surely, this night, it was the same night that Peter would deny him. 24 00:02:55.060 --> 00:03:01.884 And not just once, but three times, deny that he had any relation to Jesus. 25 00:03:01.894 --> 00:03:09.993 And that tells us that sometimes we may not know ourselves quite as well as we may think. 26 00:03:10.003 --> 00:03:14.169 So Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. 27 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:19.325 You believe in God, believe also in me. 28 00:03:19.335 --> 00:03:23.520 In my Father's house are many mansions. 29 00:03:23.530 --> 00:03:27.909 If it were not so, I would have told you. 30 00:03:29.090 --> 00:03:32.544 I go to prepare a place for you. 31 00:03:32.554 --> 00:03:41.947 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. 32 00:03:41.957 --> 00:03:46.039 That where I am, there ye may be also. 33 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:54.257 And whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know. 34 00:03:54.267 --> 00:04:03.594 And then they have an interesting little exchange because Thomas, he's got a question. 35 00:04:03.604 --> 00:04:08.789 He said, Lord, we don't know where you're going. 36 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.373 And how can we know the way? 37 00:04:12.383 --> 00:04:14.689 So Jesus answered him. 38 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:19.623 He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 39 00:04:19.633 --> 00:04:23.899 No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 40 00:04:25.589 --> 00:04:35.064 Now, when Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, that had a lot of significance. 41 00:04:35.074 --> 00:04:39.606 That significance has to do with his people. 42 00:04:39.616 --> 00:04:44.540 It's about a mystery, the mystery of the church. 43 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:50.689 And we're going to look at that mystery. 44 00:04:50.699 --> 00:04:53.745 And it begins in the sanctuary. 45 00:04:53.755 --> 00:05:01.300 Now, this is a picture of the old tabernacle that they built in Moses's time. 46 00:05:05.009 --> 00:05:11.465 And you'll notice there are three doors that are numbered. 47 00:05:11.475 --> 00:05:20.492 In the original tabernacle, they were just curtains, but they had names for them. 48 00:05:20.502 --> 00:05:23.709 The first was called the way. 49 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:32.488 And then inside, this is just showing you, there's also a wall there, but it's just a wall. 50 00:05:32.498 --> 00:05:37.090 They don't show it in the picture, so you can see what's inside. 51 00:05:37.100 --> 00:05:39.949 But the second door is called the truth. 52 00:05:42.250 --> 00:05:55.437 And then the third door, the priest would go there only once a year on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. 53 00:05:55.447 --> 00:06:00.519 And that door, guess what it was called? 54 00:06:00.529 --> 00:06:03.445 It was called the life. 55 00:06:03.455 --> 00:06:04.439 Exactly. 56 00:06:04.970 --> 00:06:08.340 The way, the truth, and the life. 57 00:06:08.350 --> 00:06:18.350 So, when Jesus said that he is the way, the truth, and the life, he was pointing to the sanctuary. 58 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:27.743 And this, the whole services of the Jews, all of their sacrifices, all of the things that they did regularly, 59 00:06:27.753 --> 00:06:30.230 all centered around the sanctuary. 60 00:06:33.709 --> 00:06:40.912 And they were all symbolic of the answer to Thomas's question. 61 00:06:40.922 --> 00:06:44.291 He said, where are you going? 62 00:06:44.301 --> 00:06:53.363 Or he didn't know, and he asked where, and he said that we don't know the way. 63 00:06:53.373 --> 00:07:00.430 And so, Jesus is saying, this is the way to where I am going. 64 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:08.869 And so, all of these things are very symbolic. 65 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:19.425 The first thing one would encounter when they come through the first door of the way is the altar. 66 00:07:19.435 --> 00:07:24.149 This represents Jesus' sacrifice, the cross. 67 00:07:24.810 --> 00:07:34.846 What he did, he gave his life like a burnt offering, an innocent lamb being burned. 68 00:07:34.856 --> 00:07:40.539 That's the first step to where Jesus was going. 69 00:07:40.549 --> 00:07:43.189 That's our first step. 70 00:07:43.350 --> 00:07:45.730 We have to come to the cross. 71 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:53.844 We have to, when the Jews would come there, they would bring the sacrificial animal, 72 00:07:53.854 --> 00:07:59.337 and they would put their hands over it and confess their sins, 73 00:07:59.347 --> 00:08:04.220 meaning that their sins were transferred to the animal. 74 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:12.399 And we understand that, meaning that they're transferred to Jesus Christ. 75 00:08:13.100 --> 00:08:16.158 He died for our sins. 76 00:08:16.168 --> 00:08:28.983 And then it was slain, and that means that Jesus took our sin, and he died in our place. 77 00:08:28.993 --> 00:08:32.759 So, that's the first step. 78 00:08:34.990 --> 00:08:43.165 And then next, there was a laver, a wash bowl, basically, a basin. 79 00:08:43.175 --> 00:08:48.874 And the priests would wash their things there. 80 00:08:48.884 --> 00:08:54.809 And this represents the cleansing of the sinner. 81 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:06.433 When they would confess their sin, then they would be baptized, washed from their sin. 82 00:09:06.443 --> 00:09:11.138 That's the significance of the laver. 83 00:09:11.148 --> 00:09:20.899 And when Jesus was on this earth, he gave his life, and he was also baptized. 84 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:28.188 So, so far, this is in the courtyard of the sanctuary. 85 00:09:28.198 --> 00:09:37.126 But then Jesus went to heaven, and this was when he was talking with his disciples. 86 00:09:37.136 --> 00:09:44.000 And that part is represented in the inner part of the sanctuary. 87 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:59.836 Inside the sanctuary, the walls were made from boards of wood, but over that wood, it was covered with gold. 88 00:09:59.846 --> 00:10:05.879 So, inside there, it was all gold, shimmering gold. 89 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:15.143 And there was a lamp stand with seven branches, like this. 90 00:10:15.153 --> 00:10:22.683 So, one in the middle, and then six on the sides. 91 00:10:22.693 --> 00:10:26.535 And that was on one side. 92 00:10:26.545 --> 00:10:32.970 Then on the other side, there was a table. 93 00:10:34.009 --> 00:10:36.301 And on that table was bread. 94 00:10:36.311 --> 00:10:38.602 It was called the showbread. 95 00:10:38.612 --> 00:10:41.620 And they would replace it every week. 96 00:10:44.450 --> 00:10:51.053 And then, before the door, there was a little altar of incense. 97 00:10:51.063 --> 00:11:01.220 Now, these three things, in this inner part, they also represent part of the Christian's journey. 98 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:14.532 Once we have accepted Christ, and are baptized, then what does bread represent? 99 00:11:14.542 --> 00:11:18.001 What do we do with bread? 100 00:11:18.011 --> 00:11:23.685 You eat it, and you get strength from it. 101 00:11:23.695 --> 00:11:27.539 Bread represents God's word. 102 00:11:29.500 --> 00:11:33.527 Jesus said, I am the bread of life. 103 00:11:33.537 --> 00:11:38.369 And His word is what we read in the Bible. 104 00:11:38.379 --> 00:11:48.139 So, here we have a representation of the daily walk of the Christian, with the bread. 105 00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:53.545 And then we have the light. 106 00:11:53.555 --> 00:11:59.925 Now, the light represents the Holy Spirit. 107 00:11:59.935 --> 00:12:12.220 So, since Jesus went to heaven, he has been giving bread and light to his people. 108 00:12:12.230 --> 00:12:14.019 He is alive. 109 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:21.275 The Bible isn't just an old, dry, well, it's not old, moldy bread that's on the table. 110 00:12:21.285 --> 00:12:21.976 It's new. 111 00:12:21.986 --> 00:12:23.500 It's new every week. 112 00:12:23.610 --> 00:12:27.350 It's new every day even, in our lives. 113 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:31.691 And that's because Jesus is alive in heaven. 114 00:12:31.701 --> 00:12:39.360 And he gives his people, through the Spirit, he gives light and understanding. 115 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:42.834 He gives the bread. 116 00:12:42.844 --> 00:12:51.281 And the altar of incense would make a cloud of incense. 117 00:12:51.291 --> 00:12:55.720 And that is a pleasant smell. 118 00:12:56.379 --> 00:13:04.080 And that would represent the prayers that go to heaven, that go to God, that He communes with His people. 119 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:19.342 So, these things represent the the life of the Christian in their relationship with God, with His word, with the Holy Spirit. 120 00:13:19.352 --> 00:13:24.070 But there's a third door, the door of life. 121 00:13:27.009 --> 00:13:34.137 And this represents the last step of the Christian's journey. 122 00:13:34.147 --> 00:13:42.794 Because ultimately, in this part, we are on earth and Christ is in heaven. 123 00:13:42.804 --> 00:13:48.509 But we want to be together with Christ in heaven. 124 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:58.291 And that's the transition that's represented by that third door, the door of life. 125 00:13:58.301 --> 00:14:02.587 And in there was the Ark of the Covenant. 126 00:14:02.597 --> 00:14:06.549 That was the holiest place, that room. 127 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:14.985 And where there was the Ark of the Covenant, that was God's throne. 128 00:14:14.995 --> 00:14:26.830 And under that throne, that seat, which was called the mercy seat, underneath, it was sitting on a box. 129 00:14:27.799 --> 00:14:31.942 And inside the box were, who can tell me? 130 00:14:31.952 --> 00:14:32.649 Angels. 131 00:14:33.129 --> 00:14:35.319 Angels were on top. 132 00:14:35.329 --> 00:14:40.745 They were sitting on the top or beside the Ark. 133 00:14:40.754 --> 00:14:48.340 But inside the box were two tables of stone, the Ten Commandments. 134 00:14:52.009 --> 00:15:05.036 Yes, they also, through the experience of Israel, as Moses led them through the wilderness, they also put a couple of other things in there. 135 00:15:05.046 --> 00:15:08.200 Aaron's rod and the bowl of manna. 136 00:15:10.950 --> 00:15:21.866 But the main thing were the tables of stone, which represented, or they were on which the law was written. 137 00:15:21.876 --> 00:15:24.750 And that was under his seat. 138 00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:33.003 You know, you can imagine if he's sitting on this throne, he's sitting on the law. 139 00:15:33.013 --> 00:15:40.090 It shows the importance of his law for his government, for his kingdom. 140 00:15:43.049 --> 00:15:50.452 That's something that we'll talk about maybe next week more. 141 00:15:50.462 --> 00:15:58.234 But first, we want to look at this journey a little bit closer. 142 00:15:58.244 --> 00:16:07.600 Because if Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, he said, I am the way. 143 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:11.822 I am the truth and the life. 144 00:16:11.832 --> 00:16:22.549 And therefore, we talk about the sign of the Son of Man, and we should see that, therefore, in the sign of the Son of Man. 145 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:30.129 Because what Jesus identifies himself with should appear in that sign. 146 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:36.988 We'll look at that a little bit today. 147 00:16:36.998 --> 00:16:42.290 But let's first look at Revelation chapter 1. 148 00:16:42.300 --> 00:16:46.651 So, Revelation chapter 1 and verse 1. 149 00:16:46.661 --> 00:16:49.248 The revelation of who? 150 00:16:49.258 --> 00:16:51.100 Of Jesus Christ. 151 00:16:52.419 --> 00:17:02.480 So just with that, we see that we are talking about the same thing as what he was saying in John chapter 14. 152 00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:09.588 He said, if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. 153 00:17:09.598 --> 00:17:17.001 Because when it says the revelation of Jesus Christ, a revelation is a revealing. 154 00:17:17.011 --> 00:17:20.190 That means you're going to see him. 155 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:22.132 He's going to come again. 156 00:17:22.142 --> 00:17:28.140 And that's the first words of the book of Revelation, because that's what the whole book is about. 157 00:17:28.329 --> 00:17:37.405 It's about the revelation of Jesus Christ, the revealing, when he will appear, when we will see him, 158 00:17:37.415 --> 00:17:45.210 which God gave to him to show to his servants things which must shortly come to pass. 159 00:17:46.910 --> 00:17:49.090 That means quickly. 160 00:17:49.100 --> 00:17:52.427 And he sent and signified it. 161 00:17:52.437 --> 00:17:55.191 That means it's symbols. 162 00:17:55.201 --> 00:17:58.184 It's written in symbolism. 163 00:17:58.194 --> 00:18:02.170 By his angel unto his servant John. 164 00:18:05.109 --> 00:18:12.343 Let's look at the big picture of the revelation. 165 00:18:12.353 --> 00:18:21.848 The book of Revelation, we'll see it's kind of like a mountain. 166 00:18:21.858 --> 00:18:32.839 And the first chapters of the book, first three chapters are about Jesus. 167 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:40.423 In the first chapter, John sees Jesus and describes him. 168 00:18:40.433 --> 00:18:46.658 And then the next two chapters, Jesus gives letters. 169 00:18:46.668 --> 00:18:53.950 He dictates to John letters that are to go to seven churches. 170 00:18:59.960 --> 00:19:10.864 Then we have chapters 4 through 7, and that's where there's the scene of the throne of God that's introduced. 171 00:19:10.874 --> 00:19:15.876 And there's a special focus on a book in his hand. 172 00:19:15.886 --> 00:19:23.569 The book is not like our modern books, but in those days, it was like a roll. 173 00:19:24.309 --> 00:19:30.349 And this particular roll was sealed with seven seals. 174 00:19:32.180 --> 00:19:43.782 Now, I put two pictures here because this one, it shows how if you break one seal, because the Bible describes how when one seal is broken, 175 00:19:43.792 --> 00:19:46.619 then these certain events happen. 176 00:19:46.950 --> 00:19:49.759 And then another seal is broken and those certain events happen. 177 00:19:50.509 --> 00:19:58.292 And so it kind of shows how when you break this seal, then you read that part of the book. 178 00:19:58.302 --> 00:20:02.367 Kind of like broken into chapters, if you will. 179 00:20:02.377 --> 00:20:06.873 But regardless, it's about this book of seven seals. 180 00:20:06.883 --> 00:20:11.609 And that's a prominent theme in the book of Revelation. 181 00:20:13.230 --> 00:20:23.075 And you can see just from that much that it has to do with history, whether past history or coming history. 182 00:20:23.085 --> 00:20:30.160 Because when one seal would be broken, then things would happen on the earth. 183 00:20:30.460 --> 00:20:40.696 You could see a horseman ride or you would see scales of judgment or an earthquake. 184 00:20:40.706 --> 00:20:46.009 Different things would happen on the earth. 185 00:20:46.019 --> 00:20:53.029 So that's the book that is introduced there in chapter 5. 186 00:20:54.400 --> 00:21:00.679 And then the unsealing of that book also in chapters 6 and 7. 187 00:21:00.689 --> 00:21:05.619 And then the next chapters talk about witnesses. 188 00:21:06.549 --> 00:21:09.703 Now, a witness is one who sees something. 189 00:21:09.713 --> 00:21:11.713 They see what's happening. 190 00:21:11.723 --> 00:21:14.339 And there are witnesses in heaven. 191 00:21:14.349 --> 00:21:16.549 That's what the trumpets are. 192 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:24.051 They witness things that are happening and they give their witness in heaven. 193 00:21:24.061 --> 00:21:27.319 But they see what's happening on the earth. 194 00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:37.303 And then in chapter 11, there are witnesses on earth itself that are described. 195 00:21:37.313 --> 00:21:45.152 Interestingly, there are seven trumpets, so seven witnesses, if you will. 196 00:21:45.162 --> 00:21:49.329 But there's only two earthly witnesses. 197 00:21:51.710 --> 00:21:54.832 We'll talk about that later. 198 00:21:54.842 --> 00:22:01.200 Then at the top of the mountain, there's a confrontation. 199 00:22:01.210 --> 00:22:12.789 In chapter 12, it's a confrontation between the pregnant woman who's about to give birth and the dragon. 200 00:22:14.470 --> 00:22:24.571 So you have a very fearful beast and a very vulnerable woman representing the church. 201 00:22:24.581 --> 00:22:35.029 And it shows that we should never be too boastful or proud about how strong we might be. 202 00:22:35.789 --> 00:22:41.021 We're really vulnerable like a pregnant woman before a dragon. 203 00:22:41.031 --> 00:22:43.890 And therefore, we need God's help. 204 00:22:45.859 --> 00:22:55.613 And then in chapter 13, it kind of retells this story in a sense, but in an earthly perspective rather than in chapter 12, 205 00:22:55.623 --> 00:23:00.170 where it talks about the woman and the dragon in heaven. 206 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:05.490 She's clothed with the sun and a crown of stars on her head. 207 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:16.900 It's in the setting of heaven, whereas in chapter 13, it's now talking about what's happening on earth. 208 00:23:16.910 --> 00:23:24.279 And there's beasts and the saints of God that are in confrontation on the earth. 209 00:23:26.769 --> 00:23:28.685 Then we continue. 210 00:23:28.695 --> 00:23:33.653 And in chapter 14, it talks about a harvest. 211 00:23:33.663 --> 00:23:36.142 Not just one, but two. 212 00:23:36.152 --> 00:23:41.869 There's a harvest of wheat and a harvest of grapes. 213 00:23:41.910 --> 00:23:43.888 And what do you use grapes for? 214 00:23:43.898 --> 00:23:47.409 Sometimes we eat them maybe for breakfast or something. 215 00:23:47.419 --> 00:23:51.632 But if you have very ripe grapes, maybe they're a little bit soft. 216 00:23:51.642 --> 00:23:54.769 What's the one thing that you would do with them? 217 00:23:54.779 --> 00:23:56.910 You don't want to eat soft grapes. 218 00:23:58.069 --> 00:24:02.913 You crush them and you make grape juice or wine. 219 00:24:02.923 --> 00:24:05.849 And that's the other harvest. 220 00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:12.599 You have wheat that makes bread and you have grapes that make wine. 221 00:24:13.369 --> 00:24:20.502 That wine is representing the wine of the wrath of God. 222 00:24:20.512 --> 00:24:31.406 Whereas the wheat, that's the good harvest, the result of the harvest of God's word. 223 00:24:31.416 --> 00:24:38.009 So you see a contrast between the good and the bad. 224 00:24:40.549 --> 00:24:55.345 And then chapters 15 and 16 also continue that description of the harvest of the grapes, the wine of the wrath of God. 225 00:24:55.355 --> 00:24:58.740 It talks about the plagues. 226 00:24:58.750 --> 00:25:05.000 And then there's the outcome of the confrontation. 227 00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:08.498 The outcome and the reign. 228 00:25:08.508 --> 00:25:19.430 Because the winner between Satan and Christ or between his people and the devil is the one who will reign. 229 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:22.819 The winner takes all, as it were. 230 00:25:24.349 --> 00:25:29.425 And that is described in chapters 17 through 20. 231 00:25:29.435 --> 00:25:33.559 It describes how Satan's kingdom falls. 232 00:25:33.569 --> 00:25:35.029 Babylon falls. 233 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:43.000 And then it describes how Jesus returns in glory and He reigns for a thousand years with His people. 234 00:25:45.789 --> 00:25:59.740 And then the last part of Revelation is the last step of the journey, when Jesus is with the holy city in eternity. 235 00:26:01.509 --> 00:26:05.265 Now, the holy city, who's in there? 236 00:26:05.275 --> 00:26:07.528 Those are the saints. 237 00:26:07.538 --> 00:26:19.968 So I said it's like a mountain because if you look at these themes that are in the Bible, in the book of Revelation, 238 00:26:19.978 --> 00:26:23.289 you see there's relationships. 239 00:26:25.309 --> 00:26:26.787 It starts off. 240 00:26:26.797 --> 00:26:34.816 Jesus is in heaven and he writes messages like a long-distance relationship. 241 00:26:34.826 --> 00:26:44.111 You write to your fiancé your love letters, and he sends those to the churches on earth. 242 00:26:44.121 --> 00:26:46.940 So there's that separation. 243 00:26:46.940 --> 00:26:49.008 Jesus is in heaven. 244 00:26:49.018 --> 00:26:51.630 His people are on earth. 245 00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:54.559 In the end, they're united. 246 00:26:55.410 --> 00:27:01.471 Jesus is with his people, with his city, the holy city. 247 00:27:01.481 --> 00:27:12.274 And then there is the main part of the book where we have the throne described, the throne of God, 248 00:27:12.284 --> 00:27:17.009 and this book of history in the beginning. 249 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:29.386 And that parallels this part where it talks about the wrapping up of history, the outcome of the controversy, 250 00:27:29.396 --> 00:27:33.460 and who will ultimately sit on the throne. 251 00:27:36.700 --> 00:27:39.057 And then you have the witnesses. 252 00:27:39.067 --> 00:27:40.983 They see what's happening. 253 00:27:40.993 --> 00:27:42.299 They give warning. 254 00:27:42.440 --> 00:27:45.164 The trumpets give warning. 255 00:27:45.174 --> 00:27:51.985 The witnesses on earth warn each other, warn the people of earth. 256 00:27:51.995 --> 00:27:56.900 And as a result of that, you have the harvests. 257 00:27:58.339 --> 00:28:08.470 There's the harvest of good and there's the harvest of the evil for those who refused to hear. 258 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:19.569 But in this arrangement, where's the one place, if you're climbing a mountain, where do you want to go? 259 00:28:19.980 --> 00:28:22.079 You want to just go to the middle? 260 00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:24.622 No, you always want to get to the summit. 261 00:28:24.632 --> 00:28:27.329 That's the most important part, if you will. 262 00:28:28.589 --> 00:28:30.769 And it's the same in the book of Revelation. 263 00:28:31.420 --> 00:28:45.064 The most important part, at least in some sense, is about this confrontation between good and evil, the good forces and the evil forces, 264 00:28:45.074 --> 00:28:49.980 the beast and his kingdom and the saints of God. 265 00:28:51.240 --> 00:28:53.569 That's what's described in those chapters. 266 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:58.747 And that's where we are in history right now. 267 00:28:58.757 --> 00:29:02.879 We're at this time, more or less, in this area. 268 00:29:02.889 --> 00:29:05.940 We haven't settled the outcome yet. 269 00:29:08.210 --> 00:29:11.083 But the witnesses are sounding. 270 00:29:11.093 --> 00:29:15.449 We are in this time now of the seventh trumpet. 271 00:29:15.459 --> 00:29:21.650 We're at least very near, if not, I mean, all things are a process. 272 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:37.900 And we're definitely in this confrontation phase where we see how Babylon or the beast system, as it's described in chapter 13, 273 00:29:37.910 --> 00:29:46.829 is spreading its tentacles throughout the world and trying to control the world. 274 00:29:48.170 --> 00:29:50.669 And they do that in different ways. 275 00:29:50.679 --> 00:29:53.240 We've seen that with the censorship. 276 00:29:54.480 --> 00:30:03.512 You can't just publish what you want because, you know, if you put something on YouTube and then YouTube doesn't like it, 277 00:30:03.522 --> 00:30:05.230 they can take it down. 278 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:22.414 And there's many controls like that, that they can silence you if you say something that's not in line with what they want you to believe. 279 00:30:22.424 --> 00:30:27.950 And it's a confrontation between truth and lies. 280 00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:32.241 There's deception that is very prevalent. 281 00:30:32.251 --> 00:30:34.179 They want to hide things. 282 00:30:34.189 --> 00:30:44.269 And because they want to hide those things that would expose them, they just don't allow people to share freely about those things. 283 00:30:45.980 --> 00:30:51.140 For example, one interesting thing is about the mark of the beast. 284 00:30:52.750 --> 00:31:05.460 If you put videos on YouTube about the mark of the beast, especially in relation to certain themes that start with the letter V, 285 00:31:05.470 --> 00:31:06.751 for example, 286 00:31:06.761 --> 00:31:11.220 they will often get taken down from YouTube. 287 00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:16.277 Because they don't want that information to be put out. 288 00:31:16.287 --> 00:31:18.750 So they censor those things. 289 00:31:18.750 --> 00:31:23.338 There's a lot of deception in the world. 290 00:31:23.348 --> 00:31:29.543 But it's a confrontation between truth and those lies. 291 00:31:29.553 --> 00:31:39.400 And in the end, we know that the result, the outcome, is that the truth is victorious. 292 00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:43.187 Amen. 293 00:31:43.197 --> 00:31:54.975 But there's a heavy confrontation and there's a part for God's people to do in that because if we don't do anything, 294 00:31:54.985 --> 00:31:58.224 then that won't be the outcome. 295 00:31:58.234 --> 00:32:01.259 There's a role for us to play. 296 00:32:03.599 --> 00:32:08.569 So this is an overview of the book of Revelation. 297 00:32:08.579 --> 00:32:18.215 And this pattern, by the way, is very common in the Bible, in general, in many different parts. 298 00:32:18.225 --> 00:32:21.349 It's part of the Hebrew poetry. 299 00:32:22.289 --> 00:32:29.989 They would have this escalating part and then coming back down the mountain. 300 00:32:29.999 --> 00:32:37.596 And you have this relationship between the different parts of the mountain. 301 00:32:37.606 --> 00:32:40.930 Let's look back at the sanctuary. 302 00:32:41.809 --> 00:32:50.104 Okay, so we have the way, the truth, and the life. 303 00:32:50.114 --> 00:33:06.702 In our mountain picture, the way comes at the beginning when Jesus sent the letters to the churches. 304 00:33:06.712 --> 00:33:13.660 The churches, let me just read that verse. 305 00:33:14.380 --> 00:33:17.067 It's in Revelation chapter 1. 306 00:33:17.077 --> 00:33:21.061 And here, Jesus says, I am Alpha and Omega. 307 00:33:21.071 --> 00:33:27.928 So that's a key word that we're talking about, the sign of the Son of Man. 308 00:33:27.938 --> 00:33:30.410 It applies in that context. 309 00:33:32.380 --> 00:33:39.475 The first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches. 310 00:33:39.485 --> 00:33:41.726 So this is the very beginning. 311 00:33:41.736 --> 00:33:43.210 He's introducing it. 312 00:33:43.819 --> 00:33:50.047 He's saying, this vision I'm showing you of the whole revelation, you write it out, this book of Revelation, 313 00:33:50.057 --> 00:33:51.950 and you send it to the churches. 314 00:33:53.049 --> 00:34:06.730 To the seven churches, which are in Asia, modern-day Turkey, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. 315 00:34:07.849 --> 00:34:12.668 So these churches were more or less on a mail route. 316 00:34:12.678 --> 00:34:25.639 There was a loop that would go around this general area, and the messenger would take the books and go to church to church, or city to city. 317 00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:29.170 And the people who were there, he would deliver the book. 318 00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:37.153 So it's a way, it's a course that would be traveled. 319 00:34:37.163 --> 00:34:47.934 And we see that in heaven also with the comets in the sign of the Son of Man. 320 00:34:47.944 --> 00:34:53.800 They form also a way, a loop, if you will. 321 00:34:54.559 --> 00:35:05.652 And along this loop, this path that first the comet K2 travels, and then this way the comet is coming the other direction, 322 00:35:05.662 --> 00:35:08.380 and it makes the return path. 323 00:35:11.940 --> 00:35:19.403 And along this route, there are the seven churches. 324 00:35:19.413 --> 00:35:31.110 Now, we'll look at some of those now to see clearly how they fit in this course. 325 00:35:31.739 --> 00:35:48.161 But first of all, when we look at this sequence, this was the order that the churches or each of these towns would come on the mail route. 326 00:35:48.172 --> 00:35:55.539 So in this order, they formed a loop from Ephesus to Laodicea. 327 00:35:58.369 --> 00:36:18.059 Now, I want to look at the letters to these churches, and those start in Revelation 2, where first he writes to the angel. 328 00:36:19.269 --> 00:36:25.280 Now, that sounds a little bit strange, but the word angel just means a messenger. 329 00:36:25.290 --> 00:36:30.707 It doesn't necessarily mean a heavenly being with the wings and all that. 330 00:36:30.717 --> 00:36:32.329 It's just a messenger. 331 00:36:32.550 --> 00:36:37.391 So you could read this unto the messenger of the church of Ephesus. 332 00:36:37.401 --> 00:36:40.860 So he was the messenger who went around the way. 333 00:36:44.579 --> 00:36:56.500 Writes, these things that he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. 334 00:36:57.550 --> 00:37:05.800 So this refers to chapter 1, where John saw Jesus. 335 00:37:05.849 --> 00:37:16.751 And in the very beginning, here in verse 12, he said, I turned to look to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned, 336 00:37:16.761 --> 00:37:19.630 I saw seven golden candlesticks. 337 00:37:20.860 --> 00:37:25.349 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man. 338 00:37:25.900 --> 00:37:38.940 So he sees Jesus there in the midst of seven candlesticks, and he goes on to describe him and what he was wearing and his white hair. 339 00:37:39.619 --> 00:37:49.252 So Jesus introduces himself in his letter to Ephesus as one who is among the seven, 340 00:37:49.262 --> 00:38:02.829 or rather he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. 341 00:38:03.300 --> 00:38:13.760 In the very last verse of chapter 1, he says, the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, 342 00:38:13.770 --> 00:38:17.000 and the seven golden candlesticks. 343 00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:18.915 So here's a mystery. 344 00:38:18.925 --> 00:38:30.599 The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. 345 00:38:31.769 --> 00:38:41.380 So Jesus is telling him that there is a mystery here with the churches and these seven stars. 346 00:38:42.210 --> 00:38:48.883 And now I want to go to Stellarium so that we can see this. 347 00:38:48.893 --> 00:38:54.199 We want to see the seven stars in Jesus's hand. 348 00:38:55.860 --> 00:38:58.285 Here is the heavens. 349 00:38:58.295 --> 00:39:00.963 There is the ecliptic. 350 00:39:00.973 --> 00:39:04.248 Let me draw that line here. 351 00:39:04.258 --> 00:39:11.019 So now we have a line that shows us the path of the sun. 352 00:39:14.369 --> 00:39:23.800 And you'll notice you can arrange it so that you see it's really a circular path. 353 00:39:25.500 --> 00:39:27.562 And that makes sense. 354 00:39:27.572 --> 00:39:39.250 As the year goes, the sun makes its course through the heavens every month, more or less, in a different constellation. 355 00:39:42.940 --> 00:39:49.884 Now Jesus said he has seven stars in his right hand. 356 00:39:49.894 --> 00:39:53.100 Now let's look at Orion. 357 00:39:53.110 --> 00:39:54.960 Here is Orion. 358 00:39:55.050 --> 00:40:00.561 Let me see if I can get him right side up. 359 00:40:00.571 --> 00:40:02.671 So here's Orion. 360 00:40:02.681 --> 00:40:04.630 He's backwards. 361 00:40:06.579 --> 00:40:11.097 That's how we usually see him. 362 00:40:11.107 --> 00:40:11.859 Okay. 363 00:40:11.869 --> 00:40:13.074 Correct? 364 00:40:13.084 --> 00:40:19.829 So when you look out, this is how you see it. 365 00:40:21.610 --> 00:40:33.612 And you see that his right hand, he's facing this way, his right hand is reaching up to the ecliptic. 366 00:40:33.622 --> 00:40:42.050 And that's where the stars, rather the planets, they make their course. 367 00:40:45.030 --> 00:40:58.059 If I advance time, make it go very quickly, you see year after year after year after year, all the planets fly past his hand. 368 00:41:00.130 --> 00:41:04.339 And how many planets are there? 369 00:41:04.349 --> 00:41:13.980 Well, first of all, there's the sun and the moon that go through there. 370 00:41:15.989 --> 00:41:28.506 And you have to understand that in ancient times, you know, everything for them, they didn't have the concept of planet versus star. 371 00:41:28.516 --> 00:41:32.300 They were just bright lights in the sky. 372 00:41:32.300 --> 00:41:34.346 They were all stars. 373 00:41:34.356 --> 00:41:43.976 And that's why it says the seven stars, because it's actually referring to these seven bodies, 374 00:41:43.986 --> 00:41:48.990 the seven lights that pass through Orion's hand. 375 00:41:49.000 --> 00:41:53.789 There's the sun, the moon, there's Mars, Venus. 376 00:41:56.019 --> 00:41:56.857 What's next? 377 00:41:56.867 --> 00:41:58.262 Now there's Mercury. 378 00:41:58.272 --> 00:41:59.877 I forgot about Mercury. 379 00:41:59.887 --> 00:42:02.300 There's Jupiter and there's Saturn. 380 00:42:03.920 --> 00:42:12.739 Now today we know about Uranus and Neptune and maybe Pluto, but those were, they're too faint to see with the naked eye. 381 00:42:13.789 --> 00:42:27.056 There are exactly seven that you can see with the naked eye, seven heavenly bodies that go through Orion's hand. 382 00:42:27.066 --> 00:42:30.610 And those are the seven stars. 383 00:42:30.809 --> 00:42:35.210 They're the seven messengers, the seven angels to the seven churches. 384 00:42:35.210 --> 00:42:40.977 That means they have messages that they deliver to the church, 385 00:42:40.987 --> 00:42:49.349 at least if we look at the heavens and seek to understand them in the light of the Bible. 386 00:42:54.030 --> 00:43:04.519 Okay, so that's the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand. 387 00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:15.019 He's speaking as Orion with the seven stars in his right hand and the seven golden candlesticks. 388 00:43:17.190 --> 00:43:26.506 We could also, the candlestick is the fixed part, whereas the lights are in motion. 389 00:43:26.516 --> 00:43:30.210 We'll see that again in a moment. 390 00:43:31.329 --> 00:43:37.088 But we have also seven stars in Orion, like the seven lampstands. 391 00:43:37.098 --> 00:43:43.289 So this is how Jesus is introducing himself to his people in the book. 392 00:43:46.579 --> 00:43:56.699 And I'm just going to quickly look at a couple of these so that you can see how they fit into the sign of the Son of Man. 393 00:43:58.440 --> 00:44:11.450 Because we want to see how do these churches, like what is the way, what is the way, the heavenly way for these churches? 394 00:44:11.460 --> 00:44:19.300 Jesus began with Ephesus and he made the loop all the way until Laodicea. 395 00:44:20.750 --> 00:44:26.456 In chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3, yeah, let's start with verse 14. 396 00:44:26.466 --> 00:44:32.750 This is where he speaks to, he writes his letter to the church of Laodicea. 397 00:44:34.239 --> 00:44:40.300 Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things saith the amen. 398 00:44:42.750 --> 00:44:48.931 We saw that same word before when Jesus said, verily, verily, I say to you. 399 00:44:48.941 --> 00:44:52.639 It's the same word, amen, amen, I say to you. 400 00:44:53.210 --> 00:44:55.662 It means truly or surely. 401 00:44:55.672 --> 00:45:02.050 In this case, he's trustworthy, the trustworthy one, if you will. 402 00:45:02.060 --> 00:45:11.460 And he describes himself as the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. 403 00:45:14.170 --> 00:45:20.179 And then he says, I know your works, he says that to every one of the churches. 404 00:45:21.059 --> 00:45:29.510 Then we skip down to verse 20, because in his letter he gives counsel to the churches, each one. 405 00:45:31.710 --> 00:45:41.329 And he tells them what things he appreciates about what they're doing and what things are not good that they need to repent from. 406 00:45:44.000 --> 00:45:52.650 And then in verse 20, Jesus says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. 407 00:45:53.289 --> 00:46:00.929 If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. 408 00:46:02.099 --> 00:46:18.679 So there's a door, and that should ring a bell in the context of the sanctuary, because there are not many doors mentioned in Revelation. 409 00:46:20.679 --> 00:46:22.800 And this is one, and it's a closed door. 410 00:46:22.829 --> 00:46:29.249 He's knocking on the door, and he wants you to open the door. 411 00:46:29.259 --> 00:46:36.836 He wants the people of Laodicea to open the door so that he can come in. 412 00:46:36.846 --> 00:46:45.139 Now contrast that with the previous church in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 8. 413 00:46:46.480 --> 00:46:59.360 He's talking to the church of Philadelphia, and he says, behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. 414 00:47:01.590 --> 00:47:16.005 So on the one hand, we have an open door, and for the others, we have a closed door, and it's a door that he wants to come in. 415 00:47:16.015 --> 00:47:18.646 He wants the open door. 416 00:47:18.656 --> 00:47:27.559 So Philadelphia, that's this church, Philadelphia and Laodicea are contrasted. 417 00:47:29.710 --> 00:47:34.068 Jesus had nothing negative to say about Philadelphia. 418 00:47:34.078 --> 00:47:38.684 He just encouraged them and said, hold on to your crown. 419 00:47:38.694 --> 00:47:40.730 They already had a crown. 420 00:47:41.170 --> 00:47:46.135 He said, hold on, don't let anyone take it from you. 421 00:47:46.145 --> 00:47:50.347 He gave them encouragement, and that was it. 422 00:47:50.357 --> 00:47:55.590 But with Laodicea, it was a completely different story. 423 00:47:56.679 --> 00:48:00.869 In fact, with Laodicea, he had nothing good to say about them. 424 00:48:02.119 --> 00:48:15.300 He only had negative things to say, because they were really not, ah, they thought too much of themselves. 425 00:48:18.780 --> 00:48:29.301 And he says to them, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 426 00:48:29.311 --> 00:48:33.510 He's making a reference to drinking water. 427 00:48:34.829 --> 00:48:38.824 You know, you like water, usually cold. 428 00:48:38.834 --> 00:48:45.491 It's never really nice to drink water that's just warm, you know. 429 00:48:45.501 --> 00:48:47.530 It's the worst kind. 430 00:48:47.530 --> 00:48:58.239 Maybe if it's hot, you can handle that better than if it's just this lukewarm temperature, and so he uses that as an illustration. 431 00:48:58.590 --> 00:49:10.909 And it was very fitting because Laodicea was a city that was fed by a river, and the river that fed that city came from hot springs. 432 00:49:11.570 --> 00:49:20.788 So it was hot water originally, but by the time it came down to Laodicea, it wasn't hot and it wasn't cold, 433 00:49:20.798 --> 00:49:26.130 and so they couldn't use that water so directly for drinking. 434 00:49:26.130 --> 00:49:36.800 And he uses that as an illustration because he's saying that's how they are, and when you try to drink that water, you can't. 435 00:49:37.369 --> 00:49:40.575 You just spit it out. 436 00:49:40.585 --> 00:49:56.606 So when we look at the sign of the Son of Man, we see a river, and part of that river is inside the sign, 437 00:49:56.616 --> 00:50:03.320 and part of that river is outside the sign. 438 00:50:03.320 --> 00:50:15.070 And it's even if you think of it as the whale, the great fish, then here is the mouth of the fish. 439 00:50:16.769 --> 00:50:25.619 And if you spit the water out of your mouth, that's kind of what we see here in this part of the sign. 440 00:50:28.119 --> 00:50:36.920 This is the part that is spit out, and this is the part that is already inside the sign. 441 00:50:38.739 --> 00:50:44.215 They have the open door, and here they have the closed door. 442 00:50:44.225 --> 00:50:48.869 They're on the outside, the other is on the inside. 443 00:50:53.210 --> 00:51:09.780 So we see that we're starting with Laodicea, and then we're going back around through the seven churches, and I will show you here. 444 00:51:11.210 --> 00:51:15.706 This is our Laodicea spit out. 445 00:51:15.716 --> 00:51:25.750 Then we have Philadelphia, and we continue on the line with Sardis. 446 00:51:26.639 --> 00:51:41.293 Now Sardis is interesting because in Revelation chapter 3, this is the church that represents most of Protestantism today, 447 00:51:41.303 --> 00:51:48.980 and maybe you can understand why just from reading these lines. 448 00:51:50.480 --> 00:52:00.599 And to the angel of the church in Sardis writes, these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. 449 00:52:01.199 --> 00:52:04.180 He introduces himself very similarly. 450 00:52:04.190 --> 00:52:10.059 I know thy works, that thou hast the name that thou livest, and are dead. 451 00:52:11.570 --> 00:52:15.106 So they seem like they're living. 452 00:52:15.116 --> 00:52:24.110 The church seems like it's living, but in fact, it's dead, and he says, be watchful. 453 00:52:24.110 --> 00:52:32.373 Strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God, 454 00:52:32.383 --> 00:52:35.969 and what was it that they needed to repent of? 455 00:52:37.760 --> 00:52:44.159 Remember, therefore, how thou hast received, and heard, and hold fast, and repent. 456 00:52:45.639 --> 00:52:48.827 And here comes the specific part. 457 00:52:48.837 --> 00:53:00.710 If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 458 00:53:01.929 --> 00:53:07.440 So this describes the Protestant church in general today. 459 00:53:08.400 --> 00:53:13.316 Maybe not just the Protestant church, but especially. 460 00:53:13.326 --> 00:53:16.469 They do not want to know the time. 461 00:53:17.449 --> 00:53:23.289 Most people will say, oh, Jesus said, no one knows the day or the hour, and it's true. 462 00:53:23.289 --> 00:53:24.526 He said that. 463 00:53:24.536 --> 00:53:36.230 He also said that in the present tense 2,000 years ago, was it meant to be a statement that no one will ever know the hour? 464 00:53:37.090 --> 00:53:46.920 Because here, Jesus qualifies that, and he says, if you won't watch, if you do not watch, then you will not know the time. 465 00:53:47.579 --> 00:53:52.349 Then it's when you watch, you will know the time. 466 00:53:56.130 --> 00:54:01.289 So this is the description of Sardis. 467 00:54:03.190 --> 00:54:16.289 And when we look at the sign of the Son of Man, let me bring this one up, we see that Sardis, this constellation of Lepus, 468 00:54:16.300 --> 00:54:19.081 the rabbit with the hair, 469 00:54:19.091 --> 00:54:22.303 is directly underneath Orion, 470 00:54:22.313 --> 00:54:28.208 right there where we have the hourglass constellation, 471 00:54:28.218 --> 00:54:29.389 the clock. 472 00:54:30.380 --> 00:54:40.845 So Jesus, who has the seven stars in his hands, that's how he introduced himself to Sardis, 473 00:54:40.855 --> 00:54:46.940 and right next to him are those who refuse the time. 474 00:54:47.269 --> 00:54:53.576 They're not watching, and he says, you need to repent. 475 00:54:53.586 --> 00:54:58.024 You'll notice there is a dog in there. 476 00:54:58.034 --> 00:55:09.460 That's not one of the churches, and the reason for that comes from Revelation chapter 22 Verse 15. 477 00:55:11.289 --> 00:55:19.906 He's talking about the holy city, and he says, outside the dogs, for without, are dogs. 478 00:55:19.916 --> 00:55:22.887 Outside the city are the dogs. 479 00:55:22.897 --> 00:55:30.900 So that means if the city are the people of God, then the dogs are those outside. 480 00:55:30.900 --> 00:55:40.670 And they're described here as sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whoever loveth and maketh a lie. 481 00:55:42.590 --> 00:55:59.719 And we see that today there's this battle between the lies and the truth, and those who hold to the lies are the dogs. 482 00:56:01.340 --> 00:56:21.555 So this is outside the city, and so that's not one of the churches, but the churches continue with Thyatira, Pergamos, Smyrna, and finally, 483 00:56:21.565 --> 00:56:23.301 at the end, 484 00:56:23.311 --> 00:56:24.610 Ephesus. 485 00:56:26.659 --> 00:56:30.469 So we see the pattern is exactly the opposite. 486 00:56:33.039 --> 00:56:45.489 The sign shows us parts of how the letters of the churches related to the sign should go. 487 00:56:46.780 --> 00:56:56.962 I won't talk about all of them, but let's look at Ephesus one more time, 488 00:56:56.972 --> 00:57:07.570 because Jesus gave counsel to Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 5. 489 00:57:09.940 --> 00:57:17.702 He said, Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; 490 00:57:17.712 --> 00:57:26.900 or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 491 00:57:29.460 --> 00:57:35.112 And this is actually what happened with several of the churches. 492 00:57:35.122 --> 00:57:39.969 They lost their candlestick because they didn't repent. 493 00:57:42.230 --> 00:57:53.906 Now it doesn't actually describe that, but that's where we see described in Revelation chapter 11, for example, there's the two witnesses. 494 00:57:53.916 --> 00:57:55.429 There's not seven. 495 00:57:58.090 --> 00:58:07.409 And in the letters to the churches, there's two churches that Jesus has nothing negative that he says about them. 496 00:58:08.699 --> 00:58:20.093 The church of Smyrna, who went through a lot of tribulation, a lot of martyrs were in the church of Smyrna, and Jesus said, 497 00:58:20.103 --> 00:58:22.780 be thou faithful unto death, 498 00:58:22.790 --> 00:58:26.300 and I will give thee a crown of life. 499 00:58:29.389 --> 00:58:36.319 He had nothing against them, and I mentioned already about Philadelphia. 500 00:58:36.329 --> 00:58:44.125 So Smyrna and Philadelphia are the two churches who witness for Jesus in the end. 501 00:58:44.135 --> 00:58:49.119 The other churches, Jesus removed their candlestick. 502 00:58:49.289 --> 00:58:52.602 They're not giving their witness, their light. 503 00:58:52.612 --> 00:58:56.420 We actually have that symbolized in our candles here. 504 00:58:57.190 --> 00:59:07.010 We have the two witnesses who are giving their witness, their testimony, their light, and then there's the five that are not burning. 505 00:59:08.030 --> 00:59:13.019 They're not giving their witness. 506 00:59:13.029 --> 00:59:16.958 So on an individual basis, 507 00:59:16.968 --> 00:59:28.374 we want to be among those who are giving witness and sharing the light from 508 00:59:28.384 --> 00:59:39.780 heaven with others so that they can join us on the journey that we are on. 509 00:59:40.820 --> 00:59:47.099 So let's look one more time at the mountain of Revelation. 510 00:59:48.849 --> 00:59:57.614 We have the letters, and we saw the way of the churches in the beginning. 511 00:59:57.624 --> 01:00:10.340 That's the way, and then the major part of the book is talking about the struggle between truth and error. 512 01:00:12.360 --> 01:00:22.099 That's the part of the truth, and then in the end, that's when we enter into life. 513 01:00:23.239 --> 01:00:33.739 That's the last part of the journey, and that is also represented in the sign of the Son of Man. 514 01:00:35.889 --> 01:00:47.891 The Horologium clock is part of the sign of the Son of Man, and it is made from the comet that we talked about a couple weeks ago, 515 01:00:47.901 --> 01:00:50.199 Bernardinelli-Bernstein. 516 01:00:50.409 --> 01:01:08.620 It is the comet that was discovered on Jesus's birthday and has perihelion 2,000 years after his crucifixion, representing Jesus. 517 01:01:08.630 --> 01:01:14.550 And here is a symbol for the Tree of Life. 518 01:01:17.460 --> 01:01:22.660 I want you to look at that so that you can understand it. 519 01:01:22.670 --> 01:01:32.433 In the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation, he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal. 520 01:01:32.443 --> 01:01:34.340 We've seen the river. 521 01:01:35.369 --> 01:01:45.241 I'll show it to you again in a second, and that's proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. 522 01:01:45.251 --> 01:01:49.329 That is, remember, the throne room scene. 523 01:01:49.579 --> 01:01:57.860 That's where you have the four stars around the throne, represented in Orion. 524 01:01:57.860 --> 01:02:08.350 So we have Orion, and we have a river, and then we have in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, 525 01:02:08.360 --> 01:02:13.854 so on one side of the river and on the other side of the river, 526 01:02:13.864 --> 01:02:16.090 there's the Tree of Life. 527 01:02:17.260 --> 01:02:26.539 So the Bible describes the Tree of Life as having apparently two trunks, but being one tree, so they must be united. 528 01:02:29.179 --> 01:02:39.199 And they bear twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation. 529 01:02:40.929 --> 01:02:47.173 So there's twelve fruits, and there's leaves that are described on this tree. 530 01:02:47.183 --> 01:02:49.534 And that's what we see there. 531 01:02:49.544 --> 01:02:52.199 Those are the leaves of the tree. 532 01:02:53.980 --> 01:03:05.179 But when we look at the sign, here we have the throne of God represented with the four living creatures around the throne, 533 01:03:05.189 --> 01:03:09.769 just like it's described in Revelation chapter 4. 534 01:03:11.000 --> 01:03:17.830 And then it says there's a river proceeding from the throne. 535 01:03:17.840 --> 01:03:21.939 That's the river Eridanus in heaven. 536 01:03:21.949 --> 01:03:25.800 And then there's the Tree of Life. 537 01:03:27.460 --> 01:03:30.658 Now the Tree of Life is on both sides. 538 01:03:30.668 --> 01:03:34.035 The trunk is on both sides of the river. 539 01:03:34.045 --> 01:03:38.570 So this is one part of it, but there's also this part. 540 01:03:39.949 --> 01:03:50.895 And we have the clock and the hourglass, the two time-telling devices in the heavens. 541 01:03:50.905 --> 01:03:56.056 Those are representing the Tree of Life. 542 01:03:56.066 --> 01:04:00.940 Of course, you need time to have life. 543 01:04:03.079 --> 01:04:14.940 So that just shows you a little bit more about how the whole book of Revelation is showing us, or is being shown to us, 544 01:04:14.950 --> 01:04:18.030 in the sign of the Son of Man. 545 01:04:19.320 --> 01:04:31.737 From the way to the truth, which is represented in all of the symbolism that we've been talking about. 546 01:04:31.747 --> 01:04:43.059 The truth that time is important, especially in this last battle between the truth and error. 547 01:04:43.389 --> 01:04:55.049 We need time to sort things out, because that's how we understand the book of Revelation, is through a knowledge of the time, 548 01:04:55.059 --> 01:04:58.780 through the stars in the hand of Orion. 549 01:05:01.530 --> 01:05:12.160 And ultimately, we have the way I mentioned, the truth, and the life. 550 01:05:12.170 --> 01:05:30.651 Going to Orion, we have the Orion Nebula, which is also connected with the opening in heaven where Jesus will come from, 551 01:05:30.661 --> 01:05:36.349 and where we will go to be with him. 552 01:05:36.349 --> 01:05:37.183 Amen? 553 01:05:37.193 --> 01:05:41.026 So I'll stop with that. 554 01:05:41.036 --> 01:05:50.867 It shows us the process of restoring our first love, Jesus. 555 01:05:50.877 --> 01:06:00.179 That was the problem that the first church had, Ephesus. 556 01:06:00.530 --> 01:06:03.814 Jesus said, you lost your first love. 557 01:06:03.824 --> 01:06:14.820 And therefore, Jesus went forward through the churches, but now we're going backward through them to restore the first love. 558 01:06:16.360 --> 01:06:27.780 And it's all through the book of Revelation, from the way, understanding the truth, until at last, we come to the life. 559 01:06:28.219 --> 01:06:31.366 And that is our desire and our prayer. 560 01:06:31.376 --> 01:06:33.695 Therefore, we want to share. 561 01:06:33.705 --> 01:06:36.750 So let's close with a word of prayer. 562 01:06:43.769 --> 01:07:01.929 Dear Heavenly Father, once again, we are amazed at what you have put in your word, and how everything fits together in a beautiful package. 563 01:07:04.789 --> 01:07:14.686 And we appreciate your guidance and the instruction that you have given in your word, 564 01:07:14.696 --> 01:07:23.367 that it could be understood in these last days with the technology and the 565 01:07:23.377 --> 01:07:31.570 diligence to search the scriptures and compare them with the heavens. 566 01:07:31.570 --> 01:07:38.174 So that we can be warned of the things that are happening, 567 01:07:38.184 --> 01:07:50.699 and not fall prey to the lies in the world that the beast and his system are pushing as though it were truth. 568 01:07:52.650 --> 01:08:04.949 So we praise you for giving us these gifts, and we pray for those who have not heard these things, who have not received your gifts. 569 01:08:05.130 --> 01:08:18.921 So that they will open their hearts to your messages of truth, and they will make their way through the sanctuary, through the truth, 570 01:08:18.931 --> 01:08:20.270 to the life. 571 01:08:21.529 --> 01:08:30.515 And we pray these things in the name of Jesus, our Savior, the wounded one of Orion. 572 01:08:30.525 --> 01:08:31.050 Amen. 573 01:08:33.420 --> 01:08:35.949 Thank you, and come back next time. 574 01:08:36.090 --> 01:08:45.279 We'll talk more about the sign of the Son of Man, and focusing a little bit more on the Horologium. 575 01:08:45.380 --> 01:08:48.680 It'll be very interesting, I think.